2014 - 15 Australian Bicycle Adventure, 1 Sydney - Canberra

Sydney - Canberra 1st. Leg

Sydney - Canberra Click for Map

                      

As it was getting toward the later part of November, it felt good to escape North America’s winter, to the summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Kristie joined me for the first 10 days for some sightseeing around Sydney, while staying in Manly, a suburb to the North. As I only brought the cycle gear along, I had to go shopping for a bicycle to ride on. Downtown Manly, I found “Favourite Cycles” and got to talk to the owner Andrew. As he rides an entry bike, TREK 7.1 outfitted with pannier racks for his daily commute, I thought it would be good enough for my trip as well. Within 24 hours, he had me setup with the wheels required to cycle parts of down under.

With Kristie returning back to Vancouver’s cold, I was finally on my way heading south out of Sydney, a town of almost 5 million where close to 20% of Australia’s entire population live. Whenever possible, I was following the cycle path away from crazy city traffic, then along Botany Bay, toward the southern suburbs. After leaving the burbs and a short ride on the Princess Highway (A1), came the turn off to the Royal National Park (second oldest after Yellowstone), which was a relief and brought some more peaceful riding. Although it was hilly, muggy and warm, the shade from the trees made it a pleasant trip to Stanwell Park, where the road met the ocean again. Along the coastal road to Bulli for the first campsite to pitch the tent, as it was just in time before the afternoon storms started up again, like they had for the past week.

The newly purchased 1 person tent from “REI” proved itself well, with the interior and all of the gear staying dry in spite of the downpours. A short ride along the coastal bike path got me to Wollongong. I stopped at “Simple Cycles” where they took the extra time on a busy Saturday morning to have mudguards fitted, preparing for the wet roads in the forecast.

I continued on secondary roads along the coast to Shellharbour, and then via A1 to Gerringong enjoying the nice coastal views. The country road to Shoalhaven Heads hugging the ocean brought my first hopping Kangaroo into sight. Before that, there were plenty of dead animals beside the roads, which I usually could smell before I would see. While stopping to take photos, I also got reintroduced to all those little pesky flies showing up in flocks, invading all the cavities possible in a body. This would be the one time a cyclist welcomes a headwind, as this keeps them little ba.t..ds away!

The ride went past cattle pastures and vineyards, before returning back to the highway, then mainly through forested areas on A1 to Ulladulla and Batemans Bay. Just by moving away from the coast a bit, I noticed an increase in temperature. The shade from the trees was a nice sight, as it kept it somewhat cooler. In Batemans Bay I checked into a motel for a change, to get a good night’s sleep that had eluded me so far.

Well rested and not having to pack up a wet tent, made it a pleasure getting up. Riding West on Kings Highway, I was not only leaving the coast behind, but some of the rude city drivers as well! Although one of them really put a smile on my face as he sputtered: “Oy mate, can’t you afford proper transportation!”

Overall though, most of the drivers actually were rather courteous, only for a couple of them I had a few choice words!

 

The rested body was timed perfectly, as not before long the road started to climb up to 781m Clyde Mountain. On some of the steep switch backs, it felt like I was going to roll backwards. The altitude change brought chill and fog into the air, which was ideal to cool down a sweaty body. Then as I rolled along the tablelands, it started to warm up again and with the sun coming out, so came the flies. With the slow speed of a touring cyclist, those nasty little critters swirled around everywhere. Now it was time to make use of my well spent 5 dollar investment, the head-net, which brought absolute relief and made riding pleasurable again.

The closer to Canberra I got, the wider the roads and the larger the roundabouts. The site of Canberra was selected as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, built from scratch and officially named in 1913. Today it is the 8^th largest city. The arrival to the capital city was superb, as I had just enough time to setup camp before it started to rain again and I had to boil coffee water once more from within the tent. The weather forecaster predicted rain for the next 24 hours, which worked out well to take a day off after being on the road for 7 days now.  Rainer, an old work buddy from Muller-Martini US who was vacationing in Australia with his wife, drove up from Sydney for a visit and some sightseeing. It was an enjoyable, relaxing day off with good company and the added bonus of getting chauffeured around to the sights not having to worry about any rain showers. . . .

Until next time from down under

Tony Bike

Sunrise in Manly

Sydney Skyline

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbor Bridge

Darling Harbor

Andrew from Favourite Cycles

Day of Departure

First Campsite in Bulli

South of Wollongong

Minnamurra Headland

Blue Tongue Lizard

5 dollar investment :)

Braidwood Pub

Tent view on rainy day

Telstra Tower Canberra

Canberra

Canberra with incoming rain shower

2014 - 15 Australian Bicycle Adventure, 2 Canberra - Omeo

Canberra - Omeo                        2nd. leg

Canberra - Omeo, click for map



 

According to the weatherman, the skies were supposed to have cleared up, but instead I left Canberra in a slight drizzle and a headwind. It must be a rather privileged job to have, in order to continuously mess up and be able to hold the position!

Feeling wet and cold, I headed south on the Monaro Highway toward Cooma. The clouds disappeared after a couple of hours, the roads dried up quickly; and with a nice shoulder to ride on, it was back to business as usual = pedaling.

Now with a good distance away from any major city, the traffic had dwindled down to a trickle. The fast food rubbish next to the roads as well as all that nuisance tire piercing junk such as nails, bolts, rivets, brackets, tools, drill bits, springs, coat hangers… had disappeared.

Leaving Cooma in an easterly direction toward the Snowy Mountains also meant going uphill to some higher elevations. Another stop was Jindabyne, a town that was relocated in the 1960’s due to Jindabyne Dam. The original site of the town is now submerged in the lake. Although the town is only 915m above sea level, the temperatures at night dropped down to the single digits (C). This was colder than I had anticipated, as it was summer after all, okay for cycling, but not for sleeping in a tent with lightweight equipment. Cold toes during the night forced me to go and purchase some heavy duty woolen socks, which made a world of difference in sleeping.

The road then leads to Kosciuszko National Park, with the same name as the highest peak in Australia of 2228m. It was named by Polish geologist and explorer Strzelecki in honor of fellow Polish hero, General Kosciuszko. Further up the hill is Thredbo, one of the Australian ski resorts, which also sports the longest ski runs in the country. With the slow pace of going uphill and lack of traffic, there was plenty of time to look around, taking in the different smells of eucalyptus, pine trees and flowers. The top came with the arrival of Dead Horse Gap of 1582m and what a relief it was. Unfortunately it wasn’t just cruising downhill thereafter, but there were more ravines to cross with some nasty steep uphill climbs, eventually leading to the Murray River.

Along the Murray was one of the most peaceful and flat stretches during a 100km ride, perhaps a car every half hour or so, just beautiful! The biggest distraction would have been the Upper Murray Estate Vineyard in Walwa, where the handlebar just wouldn’t go straight anymore. As it was lunchtime, it was perfect to take a break for some wine tasting. Rested, but with some extra weight in the panniers, I headed west following the river past eucalyptus forests and cattle farms. This is also the area where the Murray Grey Cattle comes from, which “we” all love on our plates.

At the end of that day, rather tired after riding 120+ km, I reached Granya, a town that was established during the 1860’s gold rush but has the feel of a ghost town today. I only found a couple of souls in town at the Granya Hotel, the owner and the cook. Normally they’re closed on a Monday, but as it was getting late, with no other civilization within 40km and averaging 20km/h, it would have taken another two hours, so Mick opened up the place for a lonely cyclist to serve food and drink. With the approach of thunderstorms, he also let me sleep on the premises. I’m still very thankful for his hospitality that day and hope if ever anybody travels that part of the country to stop by for a cold one to say “G’day.”

Now the turning point had come to pedal south again. Though the roads were still wet from the overnight thunderstorms, I left Mick’s Pub with fond memories. Soon I arrived at the junction to the Omeo Highway leading to Mitta Mitta. The “Highway” (a road where 2 cars can pass and without a center line are in Australia often referred to as Highway) snakes over parts of the Victorian Alps and the paving of the dirt road was only just completed as of May 2014. It took 2 days to cross, and it was a very scenic and enjoyable ride with no really steep grades over the 1345m pass. With hardly any traffic, I only saw the occasional logging truck, which changed the air scent quickly from eucalyptus to fresh cut lumber. The funniest thing on this stretch, though, would have been appropriately at the “Joker Camping Area” where a Kookaburra (see pic) was warming up over a campfire!

In spite of the lovely countryside, it was a pleasant feeling to roll into Omeo, as it meant fresh coffee and a hot meal.

Until next time from down under,

Tony Bike

Great Dividing Range

Lake Jindabyne

Sheep Country

On The Road To Thredbo

Thredbo Skilifts

Dead Horse Gap

Love This Signpost, A Bikers Dream

Echidna

Khancoban, NSW

On A Shortcut To The Murrav River

More Flies

Lunch Break

Cheers

Hotel Granya

Porch View

Mitta Mitta

Victorian Alps

Blue Tongue Lizard

Joker Campsite 

Joker Campsite

Joker Campsite

Kookaburra

Joker Campsite