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Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 15:41:45 +1000To: studio@toysatellite.org From: Don Pattenden <dpattenden@pegasus.com.au> Nowra to Sydney; finally! It's Wednesday morning (July 9) as I begin this and my plan is to depart Sydney, at long last, just as soon as I've sent this off and loaded up my bike (the part I'm not looking forward to - shudder!). From past experience it's likely to be mid afternoon by the time I get organised, but no matter, I won't be riding far today, just from Bondi to Circular Quay where I'll catch the ferry across the harbour to Manly where I have a couple of people to look up. So I'll stay the night at the Backpackers. It was an absolutely gorgeous day yesterday, fine and sunny with the max temp in the low 20s (Celsius). Would have been just perfect for riding, especially up those northern beaches which I plan to do after leaving Manly. No chance of that though, I was nothing like organised. For one thing I had to lug a great huge bag weighing 16 kg to the local post office to send off to Cairns where it will wait for me. Looks like I'll be resting up in Cairns to wait out the wet season so I'll need a few extra things. Today is not too bad though; a bit cloudy but with sunny breaks, max 18 degs. And fine for the rest of the week so I'm really looking forward to be heading north. I'm more than ready for a change of scene. The good news is that I have completed the Melbourne to Sydney leg of my journey, finally. I arrived back here after riding from Nowra late on Sunday. I shudder to think how long it's taken me in elapsed time. Lets see, I departed from Melbourne (the first time) on February 20 and completed the journey on JUly 6; that makes it four and a half months! Some time I must calculate the number of days I spent actually riding & the average distance per day. A bit complicated with the two interruptions plus all the detours I made. The distance on the Highway (Highway One) is 1059km but I covered much more than that, taking in the Mornington Peninsula, Wilsons Prom., Seaspray etc. I'll work it out when I get time. I was very pleased with myself after the Nowra to Sydney trip; all in all it went very well. When I was last riding it was late autumn & much more conducive to touring, but now it's winter & there's been lots of wet stuff lately, so I was a bit worried about the possiblity of having to ride through heavy rain, freezing temperatures, with wet & slippery roads etc. But it was OK; I survived. It went like this. I spent last weekend doing nothing but just sorting out documents, pieces of paper. I've been here for two months so there were lots and lots of them. Some of them were important so it had to be done carefully, sorting them into 4 piles, one (very small!) to take with me, one to go in the bag for Cairns, one to mail to myself c/o Brisbane PO and one to wait here until I've finished the trip. Even on Monday (June 30) I had various admin tasks to do (mail to send, banking, re-direct my mail, some shopping etc etc) before I could even begin to begin the hideous task of packing up my gear for the trip. This I began on Tuesday morning but in typical fashion, it was after 4 PM by the time I was ready to load up the bike, obviously far too late to consider taking the train to Nowra at that stage since it is a 3 hour trip. Well, to cut a long (and dreary) story short, it was 1:38 PM on Wednesday (July 2) by the time I stepped onto the train at Central station, with my well laden bike. The weather in Sydney had been reasonable: cloudy & cool but remaining fine, but as the train approached Nowra the sky became very omenously dark and I noticed that the ground outside looked pretty soaked. People getting on weren't encouraging: "Better go back to Sydney, mate. Been terrible up here, raining all day." My spirits sank. I was equipped for camping and been thinking in terms of caravan parks rather than hostels for my preferred accommodation (as I'd done previously). But putting up a tent in pouring rain on soggy ground wasn't an appealing prospect. It was raining hard and getting dark by the time I arrived at the YHA hostel (the same one I stayed at the night of my accident; they remembered me). One thing though, at least I had the place to myself (one of the compensations of travelling out of season.) Overnight I looked up the Lonely Planet & my YHA booklet. There is a YHA hostel at Geringong, and a Backpackers at Wollongong. Not much else that I could find. Went to sleep feeling a bit more positive, but still many misgivings about the accommodation angle. I was woken after midnight by what sounded like a commotion -- much slamming of car doors & raucous laughter by what I took to be a bunch of yobboes booking in to the hostel. I found out next morning that they had all come from Canberra to attend a funeral on Thursday. Sure sounded pretty happy though; they'd been to the pub apparently. My room was not invaded however, blissfully (though there was one other bed) so I was able to do my yoga practices (after an interrupted night). Next morning the rain cleared and the sun came out. And from then on things just clicked and everything worked. The lady at the Nowra hostel got me a bit worried saying that the Geringong YHA never answer their phone, but thought I'd check it out anyway. As is my (inevitable pattern) it was early afteroon by the time I started riding but once I was on the road (at last! - been a long time!) it felt good, and I made it to Geringong easily. Found the hostel, behind the church but was told it was "full of cyclists" (the racing variety!) The manager was most apologetic though and suggested I stay at their conference centre where the men's quarters were empty (with Girl Guides in the womens quarters). He gave me a key and said "If you like it, you're welcome; don't worry about paying"> OK by me. Turned out to be very comfortable. Had the whole place, bedroom, showers, kitchen etc. to myself. Running out of time now so will have to truncate the rest:- So:-
Thursday Nowra to Geringong; hostel There was a hairy moment at first. Got to Stanwell Park at 3:45 PM and realised that there was an enormous hill ahead of me, with a longish ride through the National Park (no towns, no nothing) to Bundeena. Don't like being on the road after 4 PM so obviously not prudent to continue. Nothing much to Stanwell Park at all, a general store, post office, kiosk at the beach and that's it. No sign of any accom. But the man in the store referred me to Leo in the kiosk. "You're not supposed to camp near the beach but people do, and Leo will probably let you put the tent up behind his shop. Sure enough, Leo was very nice & said I would be quite OK if I camped close to the house (attached to the kiosk) because he lives on the premises. And the toilets & change rooms (with cold showers, no hot water!!) were close by. The weather by the way had been very kind. The pattern was for showers overnight and in the early morning but staying fine (with sunny breaks) during the day. So I was able to put the tent up (in the fading light) in dry conditions. First time I'd done it for two months but it all soon came back, soon remembered the system I have for stowing all my paniers in the tent around the sleeping bag (and Thermarest). It only just fits, but it works; it all stays dry and I know where everying is. And at last I had a chance to try out my new acquisition - the torch that straps on my forehead - what a wonderful invention; how did I ever do without it? Til then it had been in my bag unused. But soon came into its own. Just perfect for finding things in the dark tent. I had a plate of spaghetti at the kiosk to save cooking (since the tent site was a freebie) and retired early. But was woken around 11 pm by the rain. It sounded heavy. I was suddenly wide awake. How long would it go on? Would I have rivers of water flowing around the tent. I lay there flashing my torch around anxiously. But it was fine. I was dry, warm and snug all night. In fact I slept in til 4 PM way past my usual get up time. Even then I lay there listening to the rain, unwilling to make the dash (with all my stuff) to the change room. Finally I did though and after several trips back & forth I was well set up there. Lots of room to spread out my stuff. It's obviously popular there in summer, but at this time of year there was no fear of interruption. Plenty of benches to set up my cooker etc. Now was the time to try out my other acquisition - my little espresso coffee machine. Marvellous! The change room was soon filled with the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. Then I made my porridge. A home away from home!!! My espresso machine had been baptised at last - in the conditions it is meant for - camping. So I'm glad I have bitten that bullet at last. Camping in winter. Nothing to be afraid of. My sleeping bag was plenty warm enough, so looks like it's all going to work out OK. I cant afford to stay in hostels every night so I depend on camping much of the time. Another thing too: my new thermal undies (Thermax brand - a gift from a kind friend - thanks Sue!). What a boon. Very light yet very warm. Dry quickly too; easy to wash. Don't need them when I'm riding (I'm OK in shorts & T-shirt even in winter) but around the camp and especially first thing in the morning they make ALL the difference. Best thing since sliced bread! Sunday Stanwell Park to Sydney, via Bundeena & Cronulla (through the National Park to Bundeena, then ferry across to Cronulla) That was definitely the hardest ride of the trip. I knew I had been riding at the end of it. Didn't think I'd EVER get to Bundeena; the National Park seemed to go on and on and on. The road was very damp in places too, so I was taking it very easily too. Wet roads make me nervous and of course I'm very conscious of the shoulder of the road now (after the accident) I watch it carefully all the time. Oh, forgot to say that there was a really beautiful strip of coast on the approach to Stanwell Park (from Thirroul on) - lots a attractive looking beaches and winding coast line. Wish I'd had time to stop to take photos but as usual I was worried about the time. Also Stanwell Park is very popular with hang gliders. The sky is dark with them from morning to night. They were landing not far from my tent but I could never seem to have the camera ready at the right moment. They look so graceful up there gliding around, doing various manouvres. I'm terrified of heights, but I wonder --- --- Might try it one day. I'll never get to Manly if I don't send this now. It's 3 PM and I still have to pack.
Til next time. |