Cycle Across Australia!
Aussie Day #29, 11/29/98
Sydney, NSW to East Maitland, NSW (train)
Today's Milage: 12 km (7 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2117 km (1269 mi)
Weather: Sun, 25 C.
Today was "domestic day..." a day to do our monthly laundry, relax a little, and get ready for the second half of our trip. While the clothes were getting sudsified, we had a leisurely "breaky" at the Fountain Outdoor Cafe.
Packed and ready to move on, we caught the first train out of town. Destination...Maitland...closest we could get to "wine country."
Off the train, we cruised to the east side of town, and after a scrumptious dinner of all-you-care-to-eat Pizza Hut, set camp under a jungle gym in the town's central park.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #30, 11/30/98
Maitland, NSW to Hexham, NSW (via Hunter Valley Vineyards)
Today's Milage: 115 km (69 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2232 km (1338 mi)
Weather: Sun, 25 C.
"I rode from Boston to Texas in 1950, on a dare! 1800 miles in 17 days! I slept on roadside picnic tables and ate $60 worth of hamburgers!" Meet 68 year old Louie...previous bike travelers, once US citizen turned Australian, man on the run. We sat back and listened to Louie (photo) tell his nutty stories of biking the US on a three-speed, balloon-tired Schwinn bicycle just to show his buddies at work he could! He bragged of being flagged down in Georgia by a cute girl who invited him to stay the night at her house. He slept on the front lawn, claiming that he didn't want to "monkey around" because her mom was home. But, he assured us that, "she would have!" Turns out he had to bail after getting too sick to continue on in Texas. Now almost 50 years later, Louie resides in Australia with his wife whom he met in New Guinea after contracting polio in his 30's. Still a fighter, though...just recently retired from the Australia Postal Service after 11 years of delivering mail by motorcycle with only one functioning leg!
After a great breakfast, we took a detour into Hunter Valley...famed vineyards, wine, and countryside...Lindemanns, Wyndham Estates, Tyrell, Rothbury Estates just to name a few. More than 20 vineyards lay within a 30 km loop! We had no choice but to do a few taste tests today!
Feeling a little buzzed, we looped back towards the coast and ended up in Hexham, just in time to get dumped on by a quickly passing storm.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #31, 12/01/98
Hexham, NSW to Tiona, NSW (Booti Booti National Park)
Today's Milage: 142 km (85 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2374 km (1423 mi)
Weather: Sun, Rainshower, 30 C.
Rough night...a rainstorm that nearly floated our air mattresses, trains on the half-hour, double-trailer semis roaring by only 10 meters from our heads, and the nearby intersection of Australia's two largest highways (New England and Pacific) all combined to create one restless night's sleep in our batting cage campsite!
Things were looking up after our morning cup of coffee. Once on the Pacific Highway, thanks to nice tailwinds and a full bike lane, the miles went by effortlessly. The sun dried out our damp spirits and underwear.
Ducked into Bulahdelah for lunch and to evade the afternoon's downpours while sipping cappuccinos. The sun soon welcomed us and things got more interesting...a detour through Myall Lakes and Booti Booti National Parks, brought us back out to the coast and to Elizabeth Bay.
The reward for last nights horrible sleep was tonights campsite, tucked behind the sand dunes of the secluded seven mile beach (photo). The surf was pounding, the sand was squeaky, and the moon nearly full. Beautiful backdrop for our special reserve bottle of Tyrell's Moon Mountain Chardonay, 1997, cheese and crackers.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #32, 12/02/98
Tiona, NSW to Kempsey, NSW
Today's Milage: 180 km (108 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2554 km (1531 mi)
Weather: Sun, 30 C.
0600 Hours: Dawn Patrol body surfing. Fun was had by all who attended. 0650 Hours: Dolphin watching from beach. 0800 Hours: Arrival at McDonald's (Forster, NSW). Menu: (2) Bacon McMuffins, (3) Large Coffees, (1) Large Coke, (1) Hotcakes, (1) Muffin w/ jam. Ditto for Nick 2. 1100 Hours: Snack. King Size Snickers Bar. Orange. Apple. Ditto for Nick 2. 1250 Hours: Arrival at Pizza Hut Lunch Buffet (Taree, NSW). Menu: (6) Pieces of pizza, (2) Salad Bar Trips, (4) Large Cokes, (2) Dessert Bar trips. Ditto for Nick 2. 1700 Hours: Snack. Large orange juice. King Size Snickers Bar. Peanut butter on crackers. Ditto for Nick 2. 1950 Hours: Arrival at Mcdonald's (Port MacQuirie, NSW). (1) Large Coke, (1) Large Fries, (1) Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese. 2350 Hours: Snack. Large chocolate milk. Snickers. Orange. 0100 Hours: Sleep.
This is just a typical menu for one of our days...not usually this many stops at McDonald's...just happened to hit a good run of them today.
We've been planning a night ride for some time now and tonight was the night. Full moon. Clear night. Wide-shouldered roadway. We set our after dinner at 9 pm, with all the safety gear and headlights.
The moonlit ride that we had anticipated soon went awry. Clouds covered the moon. Convoys of huge trucks continued to roar by, only inches from our bodies. The road turned to gravel in a construction site. Nick Motz got a flat here. With no place to go, we changed it in a drainage ditch.
Pulled into Kempsey, NSW at 1 am, and made camp in a riverside park's picnic shelter.
Cheers! Nick & Nick k
Aussie Day #33, 12/03/98
Kempsey, NSW to Coffs Harbour, NSW
Today's Milage: 130 km (78 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2684 km (1609 mi)
Weather: Sun, 30 C.
We got a later start today due to last night's late adventures. Nearby trucks awoke us from our camp (photo).
As we head north a few things are changing. Temperature is definitely getting warmer. Traffic getting heavier. Population more dense. Coast is becoming more "touristy," with more suburban developments. More backpackers traveling this area.
Arrived in Coffs Harbour for evening body surfing session. Checked out a hostel recommended to us by a motorcyclist the other day...checked in. Began drinking Guiness with some local college students on holiday. Drank into the night, teaching them the latest phrases and lingo from the States, so they could speak like Americans.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #34, 12/04/98
Coffs Harbour, NSW to Grafton, NSW
Today's Milage: 99 km (59 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2783 km (1668 mi)
Weather: Sun, 36 C.
The day got off to a slow start...we had lunch for breakfast.
After a heavy night of drinking with the Aussie kids on "holiday," we both had decent hangovers to wake up to, which were further enhanced by the loud, mechanical sound waves of the crickets and the beating hot sun. Today was our initiation to the "heat of the north" that every person we have met mentions.
To avoid the heavy traffic of Highway 1 that we've been fighting since Sydney, we took a lovely back road to Grafton. After a HUGE, un-graded climb up Red Hill on the outskirts of town, we had a fantastic ride through rolling country of banana (picture) and eucalyptus orchards intermingled with cow pastures. We reached Grafton at sunset.
After an Italian pasta dinner in town, we scouted out the local high school, and found a classroom with a nice little porch (photo) to shelter us from looming clouds. Just after we "showered" at the school's outdoor spicket, and got settled into our bags, a car pulled into the courtyard...a security guard! We thought we were "busted" for sure as he approached within 10 meters with a search light right on us! Luckily, he must have looked the other way as he passed us...we were saved! We hid ourselves a little better after he left...moved into a corner and covered our reflective bikes with the tarp.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
Aussie Day #35, 12/05/98
Grafton, NSW to Lismore, NSW
Today's Milage: 149 km (89 mi)
Total Trip Mileage: 2932 km (1757 mi)
Weather: Sun, rain, hail 32 C.
After all the penance we paid yesterday (hangovers and heat), the good Lord must have been shining on us today!
We had the Summerland Way secondary road (photo) all the way into Casino, NSW with very little traffic, healthy tailwinds, sunshine mixed with clouds, and beautiful Aussie countryside!
After a late lunch of a half chicken for each of us, the weather changed: black clouds rolled in and headwinds blew hard; the clouds broke and the sun came out; the clouds came back and it rained on us; then they broke again; we found a public pool in Lismore and went for a swim (photo); then it hailed; we found a pub and drank Toohey's Red; we camped at the local Catholic high school.
Cheers! Nick & Nick
