Cycle Across Australia!
Aussie Day #22, 11/22/98
Lakes Entrance, VIC to Cann River, VIC
Today's Milage: 142 km (85 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 1627 km (976 mi)
Weather: Cloudy, Rain, Tailwinds, 15 C.
It was hard to believe our eyes upon waking, but the flag across the street didn't lie...tailwinds were finally here!
We had a beautiful day of riding through Lind National Forest...very lush, wet, tropical. The terrain was hilly, but with nice grades. And every long climb was always rewarded with a great descent! Even the scattered rain showers seemed non-existent.
Met a Canadian cyclist at this morning's chocolate milk break. He was riding from Brisbane to Adelaide, the opposite direction, and was looking pretty discouraged due to the fact he was getting two flats a day! We had dinner in Cann River with Guido, a Swiss guy riding from Sydney to Melbourne on a folding bike...had a great time sharing our stories!
Rented another caravan tonight to dry out and avoid the storms due to come. We're finally feeling at home on our bikes and at ease with the riding.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #23, 11/23/98
Cann River, VIC to Genoa, VIC
Today's Milage: 50 km (30 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 1677 km (1006 mi)
Weather: Heavy rain, 10 C.
Rain...
Lots of rain...soaked to the bone...four cappacinos each...hanging with Robert in Genoa, VIC at the "Big Nothing Cafe," where "nothing is possible" is the motto...
Deciding that the next 75 km didn't need to happen today.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Genoa, VIC to Tathra, NSW
Today's Milage: 124 km (74 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 1801 km (1080 mi)
Weather: Rain am, Sun pm, 15 C.
Made a break in the drizzle, excited by the fact that we would soon pass the Victoria border and that every kilometer north is closer to better weather!
Rode through Ben Boyd National Forest and reached Eden, NSW for lunch. Two cappuccinos later things were looking up...the rain ended and the sun was out! We surged on, fueled by our caffeine buzzes for another 60 km!
Dinner at the seaside Tathra Motel brought us some local knowledge from a hippie biker named Tom. He advised us to camp at the intersection of the river and sea where we could find shelter from the impending rain. At the park the only shelter we found was the entrance way to the public toilets, and at the risk of a $500 fine, we set up camp there. Needless to say, we didn't sleep too well fighting the ants, spiders, leaky roof, and the smell of "urinal cookies."
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #25, 11/25/98
Tathra, NSW to Narooma, NSW
Today's Milage: 83 km (50 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 1884 km (1130 mi)
Weather: Rain am, Sun pm, 20 C.
Quick wake up call at 6:30 as locals pulled in to check the surf. Broke our toilet campsite and wearily rode down to the next park to cook breakfast in a BBQ shelter (and watch another drizzly morning).
After the skies cleared, the roads got bumpy. We decided to take a less traveled route which included 20 km of poorly graded gravel roads...took us nearly two hours to navigate. We reached Bermagui for lunch. Tired by the mornings adventurous ride, we ate in silence.
We carried on a little further to Narooma under sunny skies. We were ready to call it a day here. Relaxed at the cliffside park, watching the tide go out, snacking, and planning our day in Sydney.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #26, 11/26/98
Narooma, NSW to Mollymook, NSW
Today's Milage: 144 km (86 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2028 km (1216 mi)
Weather: Sun, 25 C.
Happy Thanksgiving! Turkeys were the furthest things from our minds! Awoke to sunny skies at last...seems like a month!
The miles went easy as we pedaled past huge ant hills in the forests and then along the coast, where we had a little sun bathing break. The highly touted town of Bateman's Bay was only a tourist trap, but it did supply us with some McDonald's fuel.
Pulled into Ulladulla, NSW for our Thanksgiving dinner...Kentucky Fried Chicken...the closest we could come to turkey in a country where the words "Thanksgiving Day" aren't even mentioned! The colonel treated us right!
Just a few kilometers out of Ulladulla we grabbed a quick shower at a caravan park and then did a "stealth" campsite on the sea in nearby Mollymook, NSW (much better than a tourist town could provide). A bottle of Wynham's Bin 555 Shiraz closed the night as we star gazed, trying to decipher the inverted constellations of the Southern Hemisphere.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #27, 11/27/98
Mollymook, NSW to Sydney, NSW
Today's Milage: 77 km (46 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2105 km (1262 mi)
Weather: Sun, 25 C.
The sun in our eyes awoke us in our seaside camp. Breakfast of Weat-Bix (the Aussie equivalent of shredded wheat) at the beachside park.
As we made our way up the Princes Highway, traffic steadily got heavier and heavier on this two lane, 110 kph "super-highway" to Sydney.
In Nowra, NSW we did a quick presto-chango into our "city clothes," and rolled our bikes aboard the first train to Australia's largest city, Sydney.
We hammered down the tracks, watching as the highway next to us thickened with Friday afternoon traffic...three hours later, arrival in Sydney and culture shock!
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #28, 11/28/98
Sydney, NSW
Today's Milage: 0 km (0 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2105 km (1262 mi)
Weather: Sun, 25 C.
Nick Powers, Sydney activities director, awoke very early today to plan our much awaited "tourist day."
After a night of watching the freaks in our hostel surroundings of Kings Cross (the Sydney equivalent of Greenwich Village, New York or French Quarter, New Orleans) we set out to do all the things around the city that you never do in your own hometown.
Art Museum, morning tea in outdoor cafe, Botanical Gardens, Sydney Opera House, lunch in outdoor cafe, sailboat tour of Sydney Bay, Aquarium, and grand finale dinner at the top of famed AMP Rotating Pinnacle Tower (we in our surf trunks and sandals, others in tuxedos and gowns)!
Cheers! Nick & Nick
