Tuesday April 15 2014

We left Wollongong on a lovely bike path that took us all the way to Thirroul.  Wollongong redeemed itself with the bike path that left the Town.  The path is a multi-use all the way, and for the most part well signed.

When we took these photos of the steel works and the port area there were 9 tankers waiting to get into the port.  This port ships Australian coal to China.

Allan and Paul (warmshowers host) had recommended that we take the train from Kiama into Sydney – primarily because the route gets progressively more urban and the car drivers more aggressive.  We decided that we really wanted to see the Seacliff Bridge and we would deal with the car drivers.  Once again the majority of drivers were courteous and gave us ample room.

We were first told about the Seacliff Bridge from Noel (the Information Centre Volunteer) in Orbost.  Ralf at some time saw a photo of the bridge and really wanted to cycle along it.  The Seacliff Bridge was constructed so the piers and bridge deck are well away from the rock fall hazard.  It is 665 metres long and took 18 months to build.

Unfortunately, the Seacliff Bridge does not have a  cyclepath along it.  We decided to ignore the “No Cycling” and cycled slowly across it – giving way to pedestrians.  Share the road, that is the most important thing to remember.

Ralf and I on the pedestrian way, with a cyclist on the road!

After the Seacliff Bridge we headed into Coledale and then up the hill to Stanwell Park where we caught the train into Sydney.  The train cost us about $6.00 each for an hour and a half on the train.  There were no dedicated carriages or areas for the bikes, we had to stand and hold the bikes all the way.  New Zealand trains had dedicated carriages and on the train from Wellington a dedicated area that passengers had to give up if a bike commuter needed the space.

Once we got into Sydney we needed to find a hostel as we were unlucky finding a warm showers host.  We found a lovely YHA in the Glebe area of Sydney – a nice bohemian area with boutique shops and lots of little restaurants and coffee shops.  Easy access on the bus into the City or to the beach.  We have finally decided to sign up for YHA membership.  It saved us $55.00 for the 5 nights and we also get discounts at some attractions while we are in Sydney and possibly other places where we will be staying.  We will also be able to use it throughout Europe and the rest of Australia.

Monday April 14, 2014

A little overcast to start the day, then the sun came out and it was a lovely ride.

The route was an off-road bike path all the way to Minnamurra, approximately 20+ kms. We meandered along the bike path, cycling up little off-shoots of the bike path to see what we could see.

The surf was really quite amazing all the way along the coast – partly due to the weather and the cyclone that hit northern Queensland.  Although we are a long way down the coast, from where the cyclone hit, the weather for this area has been affected by the weather further north.

Even with taking the time to explore the coast a little we were making good time until we got to Port Kembla, when the heavens opened and it poured with rain.

I am convinced that Ralf and I are solar powered, when the weather is good and sunny we really make good time.  As soon as it starts raining or it is overcast, our speed drops.  It should be the other way around, we should speed up to get out of the rain.

The off-road cycle path started again south of Port Kembla and we could have outskirted the downtown of Port Kembla and the steel works. We should have continued to follow the bike path around Port Kembla but decided to take the road – the more direct route to Wollongong.  The problem arose when we arrived on the out skirts of Port Kembla/Wollongong and got to the steel works, which is a massive plant and goes on for about 4 kms.  We could not find the cycle path again and when we did we were on the wrong side of road, we had to cross four lanes of traffic to get on the other side of the road to get back onto the cycle path.

Entering Wollongong from this direction and in the rain did not show Wollongong at its best.  Our first impression of Wollongong was that we were coming into the back-side of a very industrial City.  According to the guide book “Wollongong is a beautiful and sophisticated city that has outgrown its reputation as an industrial backwater”.  Unfortunately with the steel works and the coal port, our opinion is that it still is an industrial backwater.

Once again we enter a town in the rain and this time the closest camp site is another 5 ks away.  We decided to stay in a backpackers hostel.  It was a very interesting hostel, an old house which needs a lot of work to maintain it.  The house had a myriad of Thai and Balinese furniture.  When we decided to make dinner, the kitchen was absolutely chaotic and messy.  The residents were primarily young backpackers and surfers.

After settling into the room and having a nice hot shower we walked back into the downtown to find a grocery store.  The whole of the downtown core is being dug up.  Not sure for what purpose, but 4 city blocks are in accessible to cars.  You cannot see from one side of the street to the other due to the boardings that have been put up to protect the public from the road works. The Town, in the meantime it looks like a construction site from one end to the other.

Wollongong is also the first time that we have seen beggars, in Australia.

Sunday April 13, 2014

Once again we had an early start.  When we do not have a tent to pack up we tend to get going quicker.  The forecast is for more rain, but the day started clear and dry and the sun came out later – it was a good day.

We followed Paul’s directions towards Nowra and then took the coastal route towards Gerringong. Nowra is a big industrial town.

The coastal route was flat but a fairly busy road as this is the start of school holidays for NSW and as we found out later there were some major road works on the Princes Highway. Often on this ride we have cycled through a town which is just a dot on the map and there hasn’t been anything else there – just a dot on the map. As were coming up to the dot on the map called Gerroa, we were hoping for a small café that we could have lunch (or a second breakfast) it had this wonderful sign – Ralf commented let’s hope it has more than a road sign and is not just another dot on the map.

Gerroa has a lovely caravan park, and next door to it had a great café, we had a very good bacon and egg sandwich and coffee which was reasonably priced and carried us through until dinner time.

As we cycled out of Gerroa and towards Gerringong the road turned gradually upwards and we started climbing up the hills through Gerringong.  At Gerringong, we couldn’t find the coastal route to Kiama so had to take the Princes Highway.  It had major road works for about 3 kms, as it was Sunday no works were being undertaken. We managed to get on the other side of the concrete dividing wall and were relatively safe.  When we joined the main road again we were on an incredibly busy road into Kiama.  The first exit we could take off the A1 we took it and we came into Kiama through Kiama Heights.  We cycled straight to the Information Centre and found the thing that makes Kiama famous and that is the Kiama blow holes.

The surf along the coast was very high due to the winds that resulted in the cyclone in northern Queensland.  Lower down the coast we got high winds and big surf.

The Kiama blow holes also were very active.  We spent about 2 hours watching the surf and the blow holes.  We found a great campsite right on the hilltop overlooking Kiama town site.  It was clean and had good facilities, and was inexpensive.

We managed to get a load of washing done and I have sent some emails out for warmshowers in Sydney.  There are a lot of hosts in Sydney so hopefully we should be lucky and get somewhere to stay.  The only disadvantage is that it is coming to the Easter week-end and it is school holidays.

Saturday April 12, 2014

We woke up with rain on the tent, a wet start to the day. This was the first day that we actually packed the tent in the rain. We managed to get the tent down without the inside of the tent getting wet.

The rain stopped as we set out but, it was a very grey and overcast day.  The route was undulating, not too hilly.  Unfortunately, it rained on and off all day.  Only 10 kms out of Ulladulla and half way up a hill I got another flat tire on the rear tire.  We replaced the inner tube and found the nail that had pierced the tire – definitely need to get the back tire replaced as soon as we can.  It also started to rain again.

We called our warm showers host to tell them we would be later than expected.  I must admit I was hoping that they would say they would pick us up, but they didn’t and really, it is not part of the warm showers responsibility.

We got the tire fixed and carried on in the rain.  It continued to rain for the rest of the ride.  Again no photos of this day, although the scenery was very nice.  We arrived at Paul and Maggie’s house at about 3:30 pm, soaked to the bone.  Maggie was out playing her ukulele and arrived home about 5:00pm.  We had a lovely hot shower, and settled in with a cup of tea.

When Maggie got home she suggested we go out for dinner to a lovely little town called Huskisson.  It is on the coast and has some very nice shops, coffee shops and restaurants.  The RSL Club we ate had a “Chippendales” show on that night, Maggie and I decided not to watch it!  When we got back to Maggie and Paul’s, Paul and Ralf sat down to plan the route to Kiama.  Paul suggested a route that was very scenic, but was 67 kms and we still would not get to Kiama.  Ralf and I modified the route to better suit our new riding style. Sometimes we do not take the advice of locals, especially if it is going to be a hillier ride than we really need to do.  Riding a fully loaded touring bike is a little different from riding a light road bike.

Friday April 11, 2014

We were up early this morning and we were on the road by 7:30 the earliest start for a long time.  Due to the fact that we were in cabin last night and had everything ready to go. The day started off overcast, and quite humid.  We had a couple of hills to climb out of Batemans Bay and then the rest of the route was undulating.  Most of the hills were very manageable, but because of the wet roads, we were not always able to get the downward momentum before going up the other side.  The weather was damp and humid with some rain, about two hours into the ride the sun came out and we arrived in Ulladulla in the sunshine.  Although the forecast was for rain overnight we decided to camp.

Because of our early start we were finished before noon.  The campsite is close to the harbor and the downtown of Ulladulla, which is very handy for shopping.

The problem with wet, rainy days, is that you don’t get the camera out to take photos.  Although the route today was mainly through forested roads and not very scenic.  Ulladulla is quite a large commercial town and apart from the harbor is not very scenic.  Apologies to anyone from Ulladulla who might be reading this.

The rain started again at 5:30, we will have a wet night in the tent.  Hopefully, tomorrow we will be able to get the tent dry. Tomorrow we are staying at another warm showers in Falls Creek (just south of Nowra).

Thursday April 10, 2014

I was awake at 6:00 (first light) and was packed and ready for breakfast by 7:30.  Marie cooked us a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and toast.  We were ready to go by 8:30 (ish), photos were taken of us with our loaded bikes and of we went along the continuation of the cycle path through Dalmeny and onto the A1 (Princes Highway).

The weather was rather grey and threatening rain.  Forecast for rain for the next couple of days.  Allan offered to drive us to Batemans Bay or we could stay with them for a couple of days until the weather cleared.  We declined both offers, although very tempting.  We need to press on.

We stopped in Bodalla to have a look at this lovely church.

The organ is only one of five that was shipped to Australia from England in the early 1900’s.  It is still used and is regularly serviced, which is why it is in good working order.

We met two touring cyclists on the road, they were from Quebec City – Pedro and Johanne.  They have been on the road for 4 years and will be back in Quebec in June of this year.  They have primarily wild-camped.  Not something I really want to do, but we may decide to do it, when the weather is better.

We had a lovely lunch in Moruya, baked potato, cheese, bacon and sour cream – it was huge.  Ralf and I shared one.  Unfortunately it was a lot of food to digest and both of us felt a bit stuffed for about an hour.

Of course by the time we had finished lunch it had started to rain and it continued to rain the rest of the afternoon.  We are staying in a cabin tonight.  It was awesome to stand under that hot shower and then put clean clothes on.  I could not imagine having to find a “safe” place in the woods, put up a tent while it is raining, prepare dinner in the rain and then snuggle down in a cool damp tent.  Not for me, I will spend the extra money and be warm and cosy.

Wednesday April 9 2014

What a difference the time change has made to us, we are usually awake and on the road earlier, because of the light.  It was dry when we started out although the tent was wet as it had rained during the night. But we stayed warm and dry.  Only a short ride today as we have a warm showers hosting us tonight in Dalmeny.

It was a fairly hilly ride, but quite nice.

We had to rejoin the A1 (Princes Highway) for about 10 kms – the shoulder was good and the traffic was not too heavy.  We stopped for lunch in Narooma and went to the Information Centre, they gave us a map that showed us the cycle route from Narooma to Dalmeny.  The cycle route was built by volunteers –  awesome.

We arrived in Dalmeny at about 1:30 and had a nice chat with our warmshowers host Allan and Marie.  After we got cleaned up and did a load of washing Allan suggested he take us for a drive of the area.  Although we had cycled through Narooma we said yes and I am so glad we did he took us to the harbor and to the “Australia” rock.  We would have never had known about this if he hadn’t taken us.

Of course we had to climb into Australia.

Then we had to climb down!!

Before dinner Ralf asked if he could play with Oscar the border collie.  Allan didn’t think Oscar would go with Ralf, but he did.  At the top of the boat ramp Oscar would stand with  the ball in his mouth, he would then put it down on the ground, hold it with his paw until he could see Ralf was ready, and then he would let it go.  Ralf’s job was to stop it, and throw it back to Oscar at the top of the boat ramp and they spent about half an hour Oscar at the top of the hill and Ralf at the bottom throwing the ball to a very intelligent dog.  Get the humans to chase the ball, it is much easier.

Before dinner was served we had an ‘interesting’ discussion over which is better Vegemite (Australian) or Marmite (English).  Marie and Allan had both – Marie prefers vegemite, Alan prefers Marmite. We had a blind taste test to see if Allan could really taste the difference.  Ralf prefers marmite, I personally think they are both disgusting.  Marie wanted to give Ralf a jar of Marmite to take with him.  I recently read that Canada has banned Marmite due to the amount of additives that are in it.  Sorry Allan I think Vegemite is better for you!!

Allan is also an avid birdwatcher.  Apparently there is a bird in Australia called the Jacky Winter.  He gave me a photocopy of the description of the bird.  They named a bird after me, even before I got here.

Tuesday April 8, 2014

We were up early again and were on the road by 8:30. We changed the clocks on the week-end (backwards) and have lighter mornings.  We have to be aware of the time change and how quickly it will get dark at night – at the moment 6:30 pm.

Today’s ride was a very hilly ride but quite nice.  The forecast was for rain, but we kept ahead of it.

At lunch time we stopped in Tathra which had an historic wharf.  Of course it was downhill to the wharf and a steep climb back up.

We had a lovely lunch in Tathra.  We bought freshly baked buns and some ham and ate it outside of the grocery store overlooking the coast.

The hills were manageable except the last one before we came into Bermagui.  We came down a hill, then instead of getting the momentum up the other side, we had a short single-lane bridge to cross and then the hill on the other side was an 18% climb.  We both had to get off and walk it (bugger).  Coming into Bermagui was rolling hills and a nice break from the climbs that we had been doing.  Even though it was a hilly day, we arrived in Bermagui at 2:30.

As we were setting up the tent Kate (an American) came over to talk to us.  They have been coming to Australia for the past 7 years, for about 3-4 months.  They have invited us to stay with them in their holiday home south of Brisbane.

The camp site was reasonably priced, the bathrooms were clean but unfortunately the kitchen had nothing to offer.  Two BBQ’s and a kettle and that was it.  We decided to eat in the local “Bistro” the pub.  Kate and her husband were already there so we joined them while we had our dinner and had a very nice chat with them.

We always seem to be cause a bit of a stir when we enter small camp sites.  Our immediate neighbours in a camp site will always ask us where we have come from, where we are going, how many kilometres we cycle etc.  Then we get the others who have seen us come in to the camp site and wait until they can wander over and talk to us or meet us in the kitchen so that they can ask us the same questions.  It is fun to see their reaction, especially when we tell them we have cycled from Adelaide and are heading for Brisbane.  I think we are taking an easy route.  Some cyclists have cycled up the Stewart Highway up to Alice Springs, we at least are taking it though a relatively populated area.

Monday  April 7 2014

We were up at first light, again and had a good breakfast.  The lori-keets were very popular with the kids.

They are very tame, and the campsite sells birdseed for them to be fed. The weather is good and we got a load of washing on the line.

At 9:00 we headed to the bike shop.  The owner was very helpful, although he didn\’t have a replacement tire, he did say the temporary tire will survive, it will be a bit slower due to the lower air pressure but will get me where we want to be until we can get a decent touring tire – probably Sydney.

We went for a lovely walk along the boardwalk, and through the upper reaches of the Town.

The boardwalk had some great views and we laughed at the pelicans on the boat.  There were four to start of with, preening themselves.  In the end another two joined them, rocking the boat.  These are big birds, with a huge wing span.  We thought they might sink the little boat, but it stayed afloat.

After our walk, we arrived back and our ‘camp neighbours’ invited us in for a coffee. Alwyn and Fay live in Lakes Entrance, they had a very nice caravan and we chatted about their work and our plans.  They have been retired for 15 years and were a really nice couple.

While we were getting dinner ready I was reminded of a very funny story from Lorne Elliot (Canadian comedian) about his daughters.  He told this story about his daughters and how they changed with age.  The first five years when they needed him to look after them, then the next five years when they thought he was the greatest thing, then at 11 to 13 they became dolphins and squealed at everything.  There were three girls in the kitchen playing a game, something like charades, and the girls squealed all the time, it was incredibly noisy.  I could see Ralf rolling his eyes at the noise, so I reminded him of the story and we both laughed.

Because of the bike emergency, and the ride to Merimbula, we now have to replan our route.  We spent about an hour looking at the map and planning our route.  We were going to go to Canberra, now we are going to head straight up to Sydney.

Wednesday April, 16, 2014

My apologies for being so far behind in updating the blog.  We are now in sydney and I will endeavor over the next few days to get it completely up to date.

Sunday April 7, 2014

Today was definitely a “Road Angel” day.  Susan (the owner of the motel) was the first road angel.

We had breakfast in our room and went over to see Susan (the owner of the motel) at 9:00 a.m.  She had tried to call the bike shop in Merimbula to see if they were open, no answer.  Susan went above and beyond to get me a tire that I can use.  A friend of her husband’s collects “stuff” from the tip and he thought he might be able to get a tire for me.  It turned out that he did have a spare tire which looked remarkably good.  We put it on and I did a test ride around the parking lot.  I was a little concerned how long it would last and was still interested in taking the bus to Merimbula.

Susan called the bus company for me to see if we could get the bikes on the bus.  It was half full, so the chances were 50/50 that we could get the bikes on the bus, but depended on the bus driver.  Susan allowed us to stay in the room until after 12:00 and didn’t charge us any extra for a late check-out.

If you are ever in Cann River and need a place to stay – stay at the Cann River Motel.  It is reasonably priced, clean and Susan is awesome.

Our second “Road Angel” was the cook from the local café he had offered to drive over to his friend’s place who ran a bike hire business, he thought he might have a spare tire for me.  We didn’t need to take him up on his offer as Susan had already come through with a tire.

The third “Road Angels’ were Carmel and Mark.  We were having lunch, while waiting for the bus, when Ralf mentioned to one of the staff from the café that I had a problem with my bike and we were waiting for the bus and hopefully we would be able to get on it to Merimbula.  Carmel overheard the conversation and came over to us and offered to take us to Merimbula.  They had a camper that we could strap the bikes on top.  We strapped the bikes on to the camper and off we went.  They were heading to Merimbula and would not take any money to contribute for the petrol.  When we arrived in Merimbula Mark drove us to the camp site and then showed us where the bike shop was.  Mark and Carmel are an awesome couple.  They were farmers and had also taken a few years away from their farm to travel around Australia.  They had worked in Cairns on a station that farmed Bramen cows, they had volunteered to help out in South Australia after the fires.  A really nice couple, I hope we meet them again.

The disadvantage of taking the lift is that we didn’t get the chance to take any pictures today.  There was some lovely scenery and we crossed over from South Australia into New South Wales.