There are some photos posted in an Online Album - the link to view is as follows (copy this link & paste it into the address bar on your browser to view photos): -.
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(All items below copyright of Susan & Michael Booth)
1. EXETER to CAIRNS (22/08 to 29/08/08)
The journey to Heathrow is via Exeter (Ian & Janet), Dorchester (Sue’s Mum), a campsite at Old Sarum, Sherborne St John (Gill & Andrew), & Battersea Park (John & Jennifer). We say goodbye to the bikes at Heathrow, & before we know it are flying low over the Great Barrier reef, just before touching down in brilliant sunshine at Cairns around midday. A 30 hr journey including refueling at LA & changing planes at Auckland. All without any hitches. It is a massive relief to be reunited with our bikes at 'outsize luggage'. Mike turns the handlebars back around, re-fixes the pedals & re-inflates the tyres. Customs officers insist on power washing our mudguards in case we have accidentally brought in some nasty foreign pollen, but are very friendly and chatty. They also wash the boots of walkers on the flight, & actually throw out a pair of some unfortunate's sandals that are beyond cleaning.
We cycle south past mangrove swamps to the near suburbs & a campsite with a fabulous kitchen. By 6.00 pm we are barbying steak & sink some celebratory 'vino gusto' amongst fellow happy campers.
Now for some shut-eye......
2. CAIRNS to CAPE TRIBULATION (30/08 to 03/09/08)
After 11 hours restorative sleep, we have the energy in the morning to stroll along the Esplanade towards Cairns centre. Notices warning that the sea is 'croc' infested explain the deserted golden sands. On our return, some hours later, the tide is a mile out. Now groups of children feel safe enough to stray onto the beach from the many nearby Saturday BBQ parties.
The large number of exotic birds, all new to us, is astounding (skip this paragraph if not a bird fan). Flocks of shore species include Australian Pelicans, Royal Spoonbills, tiny Red-Capped Plovers, Masked Lapwings, Silver Gulls & an Azure Kingfisher. In the park & campsite are people-friendly species including Common Myna, Peaceful Doves, Straw-necked Ibis, Magpie-Larks, aptly named Willy Wagtails, & the cheekiest of all, the Australian White Ibis, which strolls amongst the tents & hops onto picnic tables. This bird fest is not surprising, as more than half of Australia's bird species are found in tropical N. Queensland.
A Dutch cycling couple near our pitch tell us that the road N is tarmaced as far as Cape Tribulation (approx 100 miles from Cairns). We decide to cycle there so that we can claim to have started the great Oz trip at the very start of the tarmac road .So after a breakfast shared with a pair of noisy Rainbow Lorikeets, we cycle up the Captain Cook Highway in that direction, passing sugar cane fields & notices warn us about spreading 'electric ants'. Brahminy Kites soar overhead.
We lunch on the fabulous palm-fringed Wenagetti Beach (see photo) & camp in a site at the edge of the rain forest, just S of Port Douglas. As we approach here over a creek, we see our 1st 'croc', staring at us from a mud-bank. A pair of nocturnal Bush Stone Curlews are snoozing by our tent until dusk falls, when they go into hyper-drive, scurrying all over the place, like 'Roadrunner'. Our 3rd night barbying steak - we haven't got bored with this yet.
I will never complain again about Alice's cockerels as we were woken by a cacophony of Laughing Kookaburras. We go N passing sugar cane being harvested and sprayed into into impossibly long narrow,gauge freight trains. Black Kites are everywhere. We meet a couple of young English touring cyclists (Richard & Jane) who have been on the road for nearly a year, cycling India, Oz & about to tackle NZ.
The Daintree River is via cable ferry, followed by a sweaty, steep ride up through the rainforest, then we whizz down to a tea plantation. We camp in a rainforest site, high on a terrace under noisy Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos. There are the usual basic facilities laid on –showers and WCs ,connected to creek water . The only drinking water is bottled .Hopefully this lack of free drinking water is only a local issue as it will be an added burden to haul it along with us . We have managed to pack lighter on this trip than ever before –just two panniers each ,Mike balancing the tent on top of his and me taking the lighter load of the sleep mats
A shady road through rainforest takes us past a pair of Orange-Footed Scrubfowl & their egg-incubating mound (the size of a family saloon car!). At the end of the tarmac road we lunch on Cape Tribulation Beach, attracting the attention of a pair of 1.5m long Lace Monitors, & an Australian Brush Turkey. Having now made it to the end of the tarmac we can now head south and so return to camp via Thornton Beach, yet another endless stretch of perfect white sand set against the pale blue Coral Sea & the riotous green of the rain-forested hills.
We have now moved S into the Atherton Tablelands - new blog email very soon!
3. CAPE TRIBULATION inland to ATHERTON (03/09 to 05/09/08)
Back over the chain ferry, stopping 1st to buy 1kg of the sweet local Cape Kimberley bananas from a roadside stall. We passed through Mossman, & turned SW up a steep, sweaty woodland road to the start of the Atherton Tablelands at 430 metres high. We camped a small site behind a local garage/shop. All the other inhabitants were permanently living in caravans in various states of decay, but very friendly.
The Tablelands live up to their name, remaining flat the next day as we passed Lake Mitchell. Here a pair of Osprey were at their nest in a eucalyptus tree, with a White-Necked Heron stalking in the wetlands beneath. Then through eucalyptus groves shading many 3ft high termite mounds. Where there had been recent bushfires, only the mounds remained unscathed.
From Mareeba to our camp at a smallholding in Walkamin, flocks of Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos chattered in the fruit trees. We set off next morning uphill to Atherton (840 metres high) loaded down with gifts of local produce from the site owner - mandarin oranges, bananas, tomatoes & potatoes. We had to stop though, at 'The Big Peanut' store, to buy a packet of the best peanuts in the world. Fifty thousand tonnes of peanuts are harvested every June in this area.
At the gorgeous wooded campsite at Atherton we are neighbours of the English touring cyclists (Richard & Jane), who we met on the road on 01/09. We chose a small disused quarry on the site for our pitch, to make Mike feel at home (see photo). Red-Browed Finches dart around.
We are planning to return to the coast & head on S in the next few days.
4. ATHERTON Tablelands to LUCINDA (06/09 to 11/09/08)
Mike rose at 6am to catch a glimpse of a Duck-Billed Platypus in a nearby mud pond, then as we packed up, a family of Marsh Wallabies hopped around our pitch. It was an undulating road S in surprisingly green pastureland of dairy farms taking us through the small towns of YUNGABURRA & MALANDA. We bought 4 avocados for $2 (£1) from a roadside stall with an honesty box.
Before MILLAA MILLAA we camp on thick grass by a small fishing lake. I will make no excuses for mentioning that we had great views of a Purple Swamphen (looks like a coot with a purple front), a lot of Pacific Black Ducks, a Great Egret, Pied Currawong (a bit like a magpie) & a Bar-Shouldered Dove.
This area is known as the Misty Mountains for good reason - the next morning the valleys were filled with thick mist as we watched a White-Faced Heron & a Little Black Cormorant fish for their breakfast. The waterfall at MILLAA MILLAA is an iconic sheet of waterfalling into a plungepool framed by tropical ferns (see photo). No wonder explorer Christie Palmerston chose this spot to camp on his trailblazing trek from the coast in 1882.
We set off through more drumlin-like countryside, getting soaked through as the over-saturated tropical air gave off a fine mist. Astonishingly, this area has annual average rainfall of a whopping 8 metres! By the time we swept down the Palmerston Highway to the near-coastal town of INNISFAIL we had blown-dry. The campsite owner was amazed to greet his 4th pair of touring cyclists of the day.
Proceeding S we miss out a chunk of the busy Bruce Highway by taking the Canecutters route just inland, following the cane sugar train track past the sugar mill then an easy hop to MISSION BEACH. Here we meet a touring cycling couple from Holland with their 2 yr old in a bike trailer. We camp together beside WONGALONG BEACH. Overnight a heavy tropical downpour was noisy enough to keep us awake, so at 5am we went to the camp kitchen to watch Federer beat Murray in the USA Open.
We continue S for the next couple of days, mainly down the Bruce Highway through woodland, visiting CARDWELL, the tiny village of HALIFAX, and camp at LUCINDA where there is a 6km long pier for shipping sugar.
We plan to continue south to Magnetic Island for, hopefully, a spot of wild Koala watching.
5. LUCINDA to AIRLIE BEACH (12/09 to 19/09/08)
In the morning we cycled through the mangrove swamps to rejoin the Bruce Highway at INGHAM. Then S over a wide delta, crossing creeks, hosting many coloured water lilies. Frequently, large wallabies hop alongside or cross the road. To our right is an unbroken chain of wooded mountains, revealing glimpses of waterfalls. We camp 50 miles later at ROLLINGSTONE, in a very spacious shady site right on the beach. The yellow sand stretches for miles & is littered with pieces of coral & shells of pink & purple.
We took the car ferry from TOWNSVILLE to the 10kmsq MAGNETIC ISLAND (Captain Cook named the island as, when he was sailing past, his compass failed and he blamed this on the island being magnetic - it isn't), docking at NELLY BAY - a short but hilly ride takes us to HORSESHOE BAY and a campsite full of birds (flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets, dozens of Kookaburras & Curlews). Common Brushtail Possums are also frequent visitors around the site. We accidentally left some breadrolls in our tent overnight, & were woken by a Possum trying to get at them. He looked on with big sad eyes as Mike tied them in a tree - amazingly they were intact in the morning.
An Allied Rock Wallaby bounced past us at our breakfast table. We spent a day on foot, following the Island's walking trails, through woods strewn with enormous rounded granite boulders & trees with flowers like daffodils, down to the beautiful, quiet, sandy cove of BALDING BAY. We swam in the warm, slight surf, then tackled the hilly walk to the next beach at RADICAL BAY. On the way we saw what we had come to the Island hoping to see - a family of wild Koalas, with a baby like a cuddly toy, staring down at us from a nearby tree. Our last walk takes us past ARTHURS BAY (see photo) & on to some WW2 forts on a ridge (they were bombed by long distance Jap planes in 1942) & we come across a single Koala asleep in a tree, with his head resting on his front legs, like a man asleep at his desk. We celebrate the end of a successful wildlife spotting day by sinking a few Castlemaine xxxxs in a beach bar, while large fruit bats glide from tree to tree.
Back to the mainland and down the Bruce Highway, in searing heat, passing zinc and copper processing plants. We are now out of the Wet Tropics, into the Dry Tropics. In the early afternoon we go up an unsurfaced road to a spacious site right under the wooded mountains of the GREAT DIVIDING RANGE. The site is full of Wallabies, a dozen visible at a time. Fred, the 81 year old owner, has pickled samples of snakes he has caught, to help visitors identify them. It is the most dangerous time of year for snakebites, & the local paper mentions quite a few casulties.
Bird stuff- the lake at the camp is a bird paradise. A flock of Magpie Geese, Comb-Crested Jacanaì walking on the lily pads, Black-Fronted Dotterel at the waters edge, a bevy of Pacific Black Ducks and some Pygmy Geese (ducks actually).
At breakfast a wallaby & the large joey in her pouch watch us curiously. Back on to Bruce Highway, with the smell of caramalised sugar in the breeze as the sugar cane tops are burnt off in the fields prior to harvesting.We camp at the small town of HOMEHILL, where the camp fee included use of the olympic sized adjacent swimmingpool.
15 minutes into the ride the next day we pass a 2 metre long snake slithering through the undergrowth. Most of the day is through unpopulated prairies of sunburnt grass, as far as the eye can see,with a few wilting trees and dry creeks. Eventually one creek has some muddy water and on this we see our first Australian black swan. After this there are herds of black bullocks - so that's where all our bbq steaks come from. We are pleased to make the 65 miles to BOWEN in high tempertures, & camp near the seashore.
Next morning we sample our first Australian full breakfast at a truckstop - it was even better than the Irish - not only did it include all the usual artery blockers but also a steak! We then speed on our way to AIRLIE BEACH, to a beautiful wooded site for a boat trip the following day to snorkel the Great Barrier reef.
6. AIRLIE BEACH to ROCKHAMPTON (20/09 to 27/09/08)
The boat trip from Airlie was to Knuckle Reef in perfect weather, calm seas, clear for snorkelling. The accompanying marine biologist said that there were concerns for the reef but it remained 75% alive. Apart from the colourful fish & coral, whales were also seen from a high view point on the top deck - there was uncertainty as to type - possibly Humpback or Balleen.
In the evening we relaxed in the camp kitchen watching Australian Rules football on local TV, explained to us by our Australian camping neighbours, Dee & Brian, who have just finished an extensive outback tour in their 4WD & tent, & are heading home to Melbourne. The football pitch & ball are oval, there are 4 goal posts each end, & 18 players a side - fast and furious.
Back on our Southern track the countryside gets greener, as we enjoy juicy strawberries sold at a strawberry farm gate, finally camping right on the edge of the O'CONNELL RIVER, 100 metres wide at this point. Fellow campers are taking advantage of the great fishing here - we watch one man throw in a circular net & immediately haul in dozens of small fish, others fish with rods from small metal boats known as 'tinnies'. After a dip in the pool we barbie our first kangaroo steaks for tea.
The countryside the next day becomes more lush & the campsite at CALEN was like a welł tended botanic garden. The usual coconut trees, but also traveller palms (like a large fan) & the uncommon black & white version of the Bird of Paradise Flower. We had the camp kitchen to ourselves apart from a beautiful small green frog that took a shine to Mike and sat beside him all evening. Eventually Mike couldn't resist poking him with a chopstick, & the frog puffed himself up to a small ball.
We disturb 4 Galahs (pink and grey parrots) on the verge next morning, as we took an inland route for a change, a relief from the super-size articulated lorries (called B-Doubles here) on the main road. The farm road soon became single track but there was little traffic. Eating lunch at a field edge we are surrounded by a flock of chirping Chestnut-Breasted Mannikins (a type of finch). We daren't sit down as there are possibly snakes in the leaf litter.
As the usual afternoon breeze gets up, it is heavy with the smell of molasses as the sun heats the ripe sugarcane. We stop for the night at the smalł town of SARINA, criss-crossed by cane train tracks leading to their sugar mill. Next day back onto the Bruce highway for an undulating 60 mile cycle to CLAIRVIEW BEACH, yellow sand stretching as far as the eye could see (see photo). Friendly Brush turkeys wander around camp tables hoping for titbits.
Not all Oz creatures are so lovable - we keep getting mobbed by big aggressive Australian Magpies, as it is their nesting season. We've tried fending them off by throwing bits of sugarcane at them, & are thinking of trying partypoppers to scare them away. At our next camp in the tiny crossroad hamlet of MARLBOROUGH, over a thousand fruit bats were roosting like black plastic bags hanging in the trees, & they smelt worse than goats.
On our way to Rockhampton we pass through 100's of acres of woodland decimated by a cyclone - all the trees uprooted, & we spot our biggest bird yet at 1.25m, the Brolga (a big grey crane with a red head). ROCKHAMPTON sits on the croc infested FITZROY RIVER (2nd biggest in Oz). Our camp is just over the bridge, full of exotic plants and surrounded by a croc fence. The town exceeds expectations as it is full of beautiful, grand old buildings. The first building established here in the 1860s at the start of a gold rush was the venerable old Criterion Hotel, full of memerobilia of famous guests from the Queen to UK cricket team.
Heading on S towards Hervey Bay for more whale watching early next week.
7. ROCKHAMPTON to LAKE MONDURAN (27/09 to 30/09/08)
Just S of 'Rocky', we cross the Tropic of Capricorn, but strangely there is an absence of anything to mark this. Passing through unpopulated countryside of scattered cattle, with the occasional metal windmill pumping up bore water. We are mostly in sight of the freight railway line: 4 engines coupled together pull up to 90 coal wagons S, returning empty. The drivers always toot and wave as they overtake us.
Just past the village of MOUNT LARCOM a temporary sign warns of smoke - a nearly burnt out bush fire is on both sides of the highway. The undergrowth has turned to black dust, small fires lick at trees reduced to giant snapped charcoal sticks. Near the river CALLIOPE is a large Sunday market, attracting thousands in their 4x4s - amazing as there is little habitation within a 50 mile radius.
Still having trouble the ever more aggressive Magpies, so I have attached cable ties to my helmet, as recommended by locals to deter them, and it seems to work! The Bruce Highway detours qute a way inland now, still populated with the B-Double trucks (for aficianados, see photo). We cycle on through MIRIAM VALE and up to the MONDURAN RESERVOIR, where there is a very spacious campsite mainly used by recreational fisherman with their tinnies towed behind their 4x4s. It was not our hottest day yet at 34degs, but with the many hills we are out of water and v.sweaty after our 55miles, drinking a family size bottle of coke from the camp shop fridge before we have even given the owner our name - he was very understanding. He also has WiFi, hence this early blog.
8. LAKE MONDURAN to NOOSA (30/09 to 06/10/08)
BIRTHDAY SPECIAL!!!
The great thing about being miles from anywhere under cloudless skies is the night sky - trillions of stars we've never seen before & a dazzling Milky Way. The downside is its a long way to the shops, so we are relieved that it's only 15 miles, the following morning, into the oddly named little town of GIN GIN. So we stock up at the supermarket, the first we've seen for days. From here you can take the road to the coastal town of BUNDABURG (the rum capital of Oz - they've got to make something with all that sugar.) We elect to continue through the hinterland of decreasing hilliness, mostly ecalypt groves and citrus farms. Imagine our delight when a 4 wheeł drive pick-up stops and it is Brian and Dee, the Ozzy campers we met at Airlie Beach, on their way home to Melbourne.
We next camp at the little hilltop town of CHILDERS next to a couple of touring cyclists from Toulouse with their toddler in a trailer. To celebrate Mikes birthday, we eat out at a Vietnamese restaurant, followed by a few beers at a bar right out of a Wild West movie. Suddenly a young women in a short skirt flings herself around a pole we hadn't noticed, & starts squirming up it. Mike is impressed and grateful that I managed to arrange this birthday treat out in the middle of nowhere, but I have to point out that it is a spontaneous performance brought on by alcohol and the irresistable rhythm of the Status Quo background music. In no time she is near the ceiling, hanging upside down by one leg, revealing more than she should. Just as it seems this is going to end in tears, she manages to uncoil & lurched off to the bar for further refreshment, to an appreciative round of applause from her small but rapt audience.
Next day we head off the busy highway as soon as poss and immediately encounter the 2 street, frozen-in-time in the 1950s, village of HOWARD. Pretty clapper board houses with lilac coloured flowering jacandra in the gardens, & 1 room shops providing every need from bakery to bottle shop (off-licence ) - perfect. An even smaller road takes us to a tiny unspoilt spot -TOOGOOM. A sandy cove with small wooden fishing jetty & a few shady seats to watch the tide reveal sandbars and the Whiskered Terns diving for fish - paradise.
As expected HERVEY BAY is developed, but the restaurants and flats are separated from the 10 km beach by plenty of parks & a cycle path. We spend 3 nights in a luxury chalet for some R and R. It is amazing how after 1 month camping you appreciate having your own bathroom, kitchen, washing machine & aircon! We wander on the mile long wooden pier, where loads of families are enjoying the last few days of the spring school hols, fishing, catching small Herring & using these as bait to bring in the big Yellow-fin Tuna, plus a local speciality, the Trevellion. We catch glimpes of Humpback Whales & watch schools of Dolphins, rafts of Pelicans (photo) & squadrons of Crested Terns all enjoying their share of the fish bonanza in these crystal clear waters.
At the end of the bay is there is the harbour where we wander inside the sumptious boat club. Apart from an enormous swanky bar and restaurant there is a vast gaming lounge with approx. 500 Pokies (1 armed bandits) being fed dollars by ernest grannies - very Las Vegas.
Well enough lazing about enjoying ourselves - were off on the back roads again, first getting to MARYBOROUGH on the wide muddy river Mary. A charming town of many historic timber buildings and a statue to their favourite daughter, L.P.Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, born here in 1899. Then in welcome shade through 30 miles of the massive TUAN state forest, of giant pines. Saturday today so so no logging lorries to spoil the peace.
We eventually branch off to the tiny fishing village of POONA. The tide is far out in the afternnon revealing miles of sand, with lots of little crab holes. A few fishermen are collecting bait, & waders (Godwits and Stilts) are probing the sandbars. Fraser island is still opposite. The camp owners generously provide a barbie for us, so we try their lovely fresh flathead fish. As the Oz dollar is in free fall against Sterling (its weakened 12% since we got here) we can eat out so cheaply we are not bothering to cook for ourselves, so trying lots of local delicasies - our favourites, ribeye fillet & barramundi fish.
We are still going through forest all the next morning so are relieved when we emerge into farmland and head off to NOOSA on the coast. Wandering around their affluent suburbs, we are spotted birdwatching by a lovely lady who takes us home with her to let us see all the birds she feeds in her garden, Kookaburras & Butcherbirds which tamely come down to take titbits.
9. NOOSA to BRISBANE (03/10 to 11/10/08)
From Noosa down the Sunshine coast, except for the 1st hr we were in a thick pall of smoke from a big bush fire coming dangerously near the posh houses on our right. The fire and rescue weren't panicking, so we carried on, covered in bits of ash & with eyes watering. Later that evening we saw it on the news headlines, & they were still reporting with flames behind, & poor hoiuseholders training their garden hoses over their balconies - later the chemicals from helicopters finally quenched it .
At last downwind of the fire we stopped to watch the surfers at COOLUM beach, just as a family of Humpback whales rounded the headland. They did backflips & waggled their enormous tails in the air. Eventually we have to drag ourselves away to take a back road past the jagged Glasshouse Mountains; dramatic volcanic plugs. This road has been renamed the 'Steve Irwin Way' in memory of unlucky late Zooman, as the road passes his Australia Zoo. Here also were pickers in the fields of ripe pineapples .
We cycled over a bridge joining the mainland to BRIBIE ISLAND, from where we have views of the mountains & in the distance, the coastal suburbs of N. Brisbane. We had the very good fortune to be shown around this beautiful sand island by locals David and Beth Wade who we had met at Childers on their recent family camping hols. They took us to all the best bird haunts, where we had great views of everthing from Black Swans to two ducks new to us - Australian Wood Duck and Grey Teal. They also took us on a unmade track right up to herds(?) of kangaroos, including Joeys in pouchs, & big males (photo). We owe a huge thankyou to the Wade family for making us feel so welcome, & for all their generous hospitality.
Back over the bridge to the mainland passed turf farms & also strawberry pickers pushing themselves between the rows on little sunshaded tricycles. By back roads and cycle paths to ASPLEY in the northern suburbs of BRISBANE, pausing to glance in the enormous shopping mall at STRATHPINE.
Saturday morning we took a local bus into Brisbane centre & followed a walking tour. Will summarise the highlights which we would recommend to everybody - Anzac Square with its Shrine of Rememberance, the fine old Post Office building, Pugin's St Stephens Chapel (go inside to see fab modern sculpture), the commercial centre Queen Street Mall with splendid Brisbane Arcade off, city Botanic Gardens with enormous fig trees, & an absolute must a trip on the river on the City Cat. Also dotted around the centre are all sorts of modern sculptures from kangaroos to giant feathers. We are now in the fantastic modern State Library wifi-ing.
More local coast touring next before heading off S to Lamington Nat Park.
10. BRISBANE (12/10 to 14/10/08)
We are fortunate to be in the city this Sunday as they are holding a massive multicultural festival in the central Roma Parklands. About 50 foodstalls from everywhere - Vietnam, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Eritera etc etc. Singers & dancers just as diverse - I particularly liked the Russians. Amazingly we were privileged to be part of the audience where civil dignitaries officially confirmed citizenship on a group of immigrants.
On the riverside the nearly new museum shows exhibts about endangered Oz animals, WWII heroes and lots more. Next door is the equally new Queensland Art Gallery where we could have spent all day - the Aboriginal art was particularily exciting, especially paintings by the late Albert Namatjira (photo - Pelican sculptures). We finished off the day with another trip on the City Cat, heading downstream past the enormous shining tower blocks of the business district, Kangaroo Point cliffs, yacht marinas, the Storey Bridge, & posh waterfront homes. There is a long floating boardwalk down the river, for walkers and cyclists - brilliant.
Using the cycle maps provided by David & Beth, we toured the coast NE of Brisbane on traffic-free tracks & crossed the nearly 2-mile long causeway bridge to the REDCLIFFE PENINSULA. We have also explored parklands all the way into the city centre on cycle-dedicated routes. As we have completed over 1500 miles & are more than half way to Sydney we are taking a few days off & having the bikes checked at a super local bike shop.
(All items below copyright of Susan & Michael Booth)
11. BRISBANE to BYRON BAY (15/10 to 20/10/08)
With our bikes tweeked & pampered by John, the wonderful owner of Epic Cycles, we set off S on our travels once more, through the parks, where we agitated a black snake that we accidentally went too close to (we thought it was a big stick!) Just around the corner were 10 tiny Pacific Duck chicks - perhaps they were his intended brekkie? Lots of really big lizards were sunning themselves & posed for our photos. We encountered 4 cycling policemen, but few other cyclists considering it was Australia's Cycle-to-Work Day. What a strange sensation to cycle on the floating boardwalk by the river, when it was going up and down over the wake of a passing City Cat.
Out of the city we saw a roadside stall selling 'cooked bugs'!!! On investigation it turns out that 'bug' is the local name for a Moreton Bay lobster-type shellfish. To miss the excesses of the built-up Gold Coast we head inland & up to the high plateau above the village of TAMBORINE. At the spacious wooded campsite we are reunited with the Toulouse cycling family we had met in Childers 2 weeks ago!
The Rain forest up here is like something out of Lord of the Rings. Big exotic trees such as the Strangling Fig, Hairy Walnut & Shiny-leafed Stinging Tree have Elk & Stag ferns stuck to their trunks, & dangling vines from a Tarzan movie hang from the canopy. Pathways wind to waterfalls, rock pools & lookouts. We 'tick' 2 new birds, the Green Catbird & the Crimson Rosella (a red and blue parrot).
Just before we leave the plateau, we take in the view from where hang gliders are launched. Below is the charmingly named village of WONGLEPONG, with its horse paddocks & race training courses. In the distance to the SW is the volcanic plug from where all the lava originally flowed that formed this high ground. Roadside stalls sell avocados, pawpaws & rhubarb, then just as we tip over the edge for the steep descent, there are S facing slope vineyards.
We knew the road down was v. steep from the warning notices, especially the one saying buses must have no standing passengers - with the gradient they would all fall over! We stop half way to cool the brakes & take in the breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean fringed by the tower blocks of Surfers Paradise. We camp at a friendly little site at ADVANCETOWN (there is no longer a town - it is under the dam water!), with a view of HINZE DAM nearby. It's closed at present while they raise the dam a massive 15m to control local coastal flooding.
S through the hinterland, on a twisty, hilly road that we share only with thrill seeking Sunday motorcyclists & the odd snake. This route has gone to the top of our list 'Best cycle routes in the world'. First through hilly woods with the occasional panoramic lake or cliff view, then down into the lush NUMINBAH valley, full of wooden farm houses, fresian cows & spring flowers. We buy juicy oranges at a farm gate stall. To the right we are under a cliff of red/orange hues. The Sringbrook National Park Rainforest has tall Hoop Pines and Strangler figs & at a spot called The Natural Bridge a waterfall has worn a hole through to a large cave, where it falls into it in a shaft of sunlight (see photo). At the rear of the cave tiny Bentwing bats roost .
We gain height to a coll where we pass into NEW SOUTH WALES. As we pause to take in the magnificent view S to Mount Warning National Park, a pair of Wedge Tail Eagles rise up on the thermals. Mostly downhill now, across the wide RIVER TWEED at the pretty town of MURWILLUMBAH & camp on a flat grassy site next to sugar cane fields. The 2 clocks in the camp office remind us we are in a different time zone in NSW and have lost an hour.
Next day along the beautiful Tweed valley on quiet country roads, Dollar Birds chattering on telephone wires & tiny blue Fairy Wrens twitter in the verge. Verdant dairy land with new born calves, then banana plantations. Over the wide RIVER TWEED near the coast & into BYRON BAY with its lighthouse at the most easterly tip of Australia.
12. BYRON BAY to COFFS HARBOUR (22/10 to 26/10/08)
STORMY TIMES......
Byron Bay is a 30 mile semicircle of fine golden sand. There is a small tightly packed developed area of apartments & shops stocking enough surfboards & swimming gear to kit out the whole of Oz. However, the beautiful headland lighthouse area & small rainforest are all preserved, & the big beach to the S adjoins a completely natural Aboriginal area. Our camp site near the lighthouse is well hidden & sympathetically planted - a great place for watching the whales passing & the dolphins riding the surf.
Austrailia appeared to be immune from the financial disasters that we have watched helplessly strike our banks, pensions etc in Europe, because their trade is mainly with the strong Asian markets. However they have now been dragged into the mess, as funds were being withdraw from Oz banks to go into European banks since the G8 guaranteed all deposits. Kevin Rudd (PM) had no choice but to do the same. Also their main customer China has now reduced demand by 20% as its market to USA has diminished.
Mr Rudd has put in funds to help first time house-buyers, hoping to boost the ailing property market. He has also agreed one-off payments to pensioners & others, to stimulate an increase in spending, coming up to Christmas. The Australian dollar has weakened by 20% since the start of Sept, which has benefitted exporters. With the Australian financial services market earning a fairly sensible percent of GDP (like USA, approx 9%), perhaps Rudd's measures will be enough. It can't be so easy for us in the UK, with a scary 24% of GDP reliant on financial services; & Iceland, with an unsustainable 48%.
As the weather forecast predicted there have been occasional thunder storms over last 24hrs. We were walking up at the lighthouse, when a really big black cloud came over & everyone ran for cover. The heavens opened with enormous hailstones, literally the size of golf balls, but really jagged in shape. As the storm blew over we were sure our tent would be holed, but were amazed to find it in one piece, only a few big hail stones had bounced in throught the vent hatch. People near us had dinks in their car bodywork, & one tent was shredded.
We head inland E past cyclists heading to the beach with their surf boards attached on special bike brackets. Cars in the suburbs are pitted from yesterday's hail, & the damage features on newpaper headlines. We are now in an area known as NEW ENGLAND - deciduous trees & meadows in rolling hills. At BEXHILL near LISMORE we admire the open-air Cathedral, on a hilltop with panoramic views behind the solid stone altar - the pews are rows of logs. A pair of Eastern Rosellas (red, blue & yellow parrots) flit through the Banksia bushes. We notice the 5pm Sunday services include a barbeque - what a great crowd-puller!
Directly S now down the Summerland Way with Myrtle State Forest to the W and bush to the E. Swathes of spring flowers including enormous yellow daisies line the road side. As we approach Grafton we see our first spring lambs. GRAFTON is famous for its jacaranda trees (photo), lining every street, & this Saturday is their Jacaranda Festival. Our neighbours in their caravan are really fit looking elderly people, here to take part in the festivals Dragon boat racing on the wide bend of the RIVER CLARENCE. Apparently they are out rowing 5 nights a week!
Onto the Orara Way, SE towards the coast, through the neat little villages of GLENREAGH and NANA GLEN. We are surprised to be still crossing road bridges entirely made of wood - no tarmac surface, just worn railway sleepers. These are laid lengthwise along the bridge deck, & with worn edges, form deep ruts very hazardous to cyclists, like tramlines. Gorgeous green hilly countryside with beef herds, citrus orchards & then the banana plantations for which COFFS HARBOUR is famous.
Staying here a couple of nights before heading on S to explore the Waterfall Way near Doringo.
13. COFFS HARBOUR to PORT MACQUARIE (26/10 to 01/11/08)
The marina at Coffs Harbour is full of posh yachts, but also some big commercial fishing vessels. The sheltering harbour wall is full of small black crabs, & links to the National Park of MUTTONBIRD ISLAND, on which nest thousands of Wedge- tailed Shearwaters in their burrows. There is a fine view from the top to the rest of the uninhabited Solitary Islands. We also follow the boardwalk through the mangroves along Coffs Creek, where we encounter a pair of Sooty Oystercatchers, into the fab Botanic gardens, stuffed full of rare Oz plants.
S to URUNGA, then a 40 mile roundtrip to explore the quiet countryside, taking in BELLINGEN & the village of THORA. A landscape of Macadamia nut farms & woods. We 'tick' 3 'new' birds, Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos, a flock of Bell Miners (tinkling as their name suggests) & a family of Buff-Banded Rails, crossing the road from a waterlily covered pond. As if that wasn't enough, when we returned to our pitch on the banks of the Kalang River, 2 trees from our tent was a Tawny Frogmouth (owl) sitting on her nest, & a well-grown chick, both staring down curiously at us with big yellow eyes. We celebrate with Barramundi and chips on the seafront.
More country roads S passing a happily named Gordons Knob Road, leading, of course, to Gordons Knob at 103 metre high. We have now lost our 6th water bottle this trip. 1 we just left behind (like our washing line, no doubt still hung between 2 trees in Daintree Rainforest), others have bounced off into traffic and been squashed, but 1 was filled with water and left by he (oops!)-who-shall-remain-nameless & put in the freezer instead of fridge in the camp kitchen. The next morning we had a bottle-shaped lolly surrounded with strips of metal!
By the small town of SOUTH WEST ROCKS we reach the old gaol at its magnificent position, high on the headland, overlooking TRIAL BAY. From this vantage point we could see whales 'blowing', probably Southern Rights, identified by their double plumed big 'blows'. A pair of majestic White-Bellied Sea Eagles rode the thermals close by us at the cliff top.
Along the coast now the lie of the land is mostly flat, criss-crossed by rivers & drainage channels, lined with enormous white Water Hyacinths. Mel, at 'Mels Cafe' in GLADSTONE, tells us these beautiful blooms are in fact classified as noxious weeds, & will soon be eradicated by the authorities as they block the waterways - shame. Into HATS HEAD National park, where flocks of Rainbow Beeaters congregate on electricty wires. As the midday temp is well into the 30Cs we camp early to rest in the refreshing seabreeze at CRESCENT HEAD. This unassuming little town is the surf longboard capital of Australia, where the Malibu surfboard took off in the 60s. This all seemed to be news to the campsite owner though.
After watching surfing & tombstoning in pretty big seas, we pushed on S the next day 30k down an unsurfaced farm road passing Brahman cows, dark fleeced sheep with big lambs, lemon groves ready to pick, then into Limeburners National Park on the flat delta of Maria Creek. Finally across a cable ferry over the HASTINGS RIVER. As we waited for this carferry we watched a dolphin playing around amongst some pelicans. A couple of miles down the road & we are at PORT MACQUARIE. There are a good choice of caravan parks but we have to pitch at Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park as this is separated from the sea by the famous People's Gallery, where visitors have painted the breakwater with art for about ten years.(Photo)
14. PORT MACQUARIE to STOCKTON (02/11 to 06/11/08)
WILD BEASTIES.....
Totted up the distance & found we've now cycled more than 2000 miles in Australia.
We enjoyed friendly Port M. The historic balconnied Royal Hotel still dominates the park overlooking the sea & was hosting a jolly wedding. A life-like bronze of famous local boy Edmund Barton (the 1st PM of Australia) sits on a bench looking at a venerable 3 masted schooner, moored at the wooden jetty.
Next day going S there are immediately a string of unspoilt sandy coves & headlands, then through Crowdy Bay National Park heathland for 30 miles on an unsurfaced track. Very bumpy & occasionally we were enveloped in clouds of dust as 4x4s pass. Slightly worrying, there are new brutal signs warning of bait laid for wild dogs. How wild? Has the bait worked? We don't hang around!
On the news we see that the lovely beaches of Magnetic Island (where we swam a few weeks back) have had to be shut off. A croc has moved in & been seen licking his lips at the holidaymakers juicy white ankles. The tourist-dependent Islanders are livid as the croc was recently relocated to the area from the far N by some woolly-minded croc conservationists.
Down the tarmac Lakes Way, weaving scenically around the WALLIS & MYALL Lakes in the BOOTI BOOTI National Park. After the v. Smart 'Big 4' Camp sites, our next favourite stopovers are pitches behind friendly Roadhouse Truck stops. We arrive at one of these in the hamlet of BULALDELAH just in time to watch the Emirates Melbourne Cup horserace on TV with the Café manager & a few of her neighbours. The favourite came nowhere, & 2 outsiders were in a photo-finish, with the winner just ahead by a nose hair. Very exciting!
On an part unmade track to the little carferry at BOMBAH POINT, a narrow crossing of the lake. We just missed the scheduled ferry, but the kindly ferryman took us across anyway. This very quiet road through Myall Lake Nat Park was another top-10 bike ride. Completely unspoilt natural woods on either side, with spring flowers attracting all sorts and sizes of butterflies, some as big as small birds. Picnic spots on the lake shores were home to Eastern Water Dragons (lizards) hanging on branches over the water, plopping in when something tasty passes. Notices warned of the dangers of Dingoes, Red Bellied Black snakes & Brown snakes.
As the road reached the coast, massive white sand dunes were visible, higher than the trees. We climbed one at DARK POINT for a wonderful view of miles of dunes with a view to BROUGHTON ISLAND & the great Pacific beyond. This area is protected as a treasured Aboriginal site, where local tribes met & fished for more than 4000 years. As we progressd along the N shore of the natural harbour known as PORT STEPHENS, we passed villages with great names - Mungo Brush, Hawks Nest, Tea Gardens, & my favourite, Winda Woppa.
Emerging from this totally unspoilt scene, we were startled by a bizarre sight. Rock Service Area is a massive red fibreglass replica of Ayers/Uluru Rock, housing a petrol station and 2 fast food outlets. It's your worst nightmare of what could have happened to the real icon if the Aboriginals/Conservationists had not fought for protection. It is so tasteless, its fun. Pausing here we noticed that the old main road was still in place, though not on the map as superceded by the new Pacific Highway, so we scooted off down this peaceful alternative, to our destination, KARUAH, at the head of Port Stephens.
One of Mike's more adventurous routes today, an unmade track called Old Swan Bay Road, including a homemade bridge and bits where it was easier to carry the bike than ride! It did mean though we shared it with no-one except a small wallaby that hopped along in front for a while. The most pretty natural flowery woodland again, filled with bird song so worth every bump, & welcome shade as the morning temperature rose towards 30c. Our destination is STOCKTON where the camp site is a sandy peninusla handy for the ferry across to Newcastle. Our neighbours are a young Flemish-Belgian couple who are finding it very expensive to pay for the fuel as they drive round - we encourage them to buy a couple of bikes!
Our plan now is to explore NEWCASTLE, including its art galleries, then head through the Great Dividing Range up the Hunter Valley, doing a circular trip back to Sydney for Christmas. We caught a report on the US election result - interesting to see that their Stock Market gave an initial poor reaction. How much 'change' will Obama really bring?
As we have got unexpected free wifi at this site, here's a photo of us both as we write & send this blog.
15. STOCKTON to MERRIWA (06/11 to 11/11/08)
MINES & VINES.....
The wide River Hunter is busy with tug boats pulling freighters inland of the town, & seaplanes landing in mid-river. We took the foot ferry to NEWCASTLE & walked out past Nobby's Beach & the lighthouse, along the breakwater. This had been built to support a railtrack, taking coal to waiting ships. Newcastle is the site of the oldest coalmine in the S.hemisphere. This led to the establishment of a penal colony to man the mines. All the wharfs, coalyards & prison have now been gentrified or covered with seaside parks. As this was such a prosperous era there are many fine buildings remaining - balconied grand hotels, the Custom House & terraces of townhouses with intrigate filigree ironwork. An exhibition of old photos shows scenes of destruction from floods, & an earthquake during the past 100 years.
The main beach has the biggest surf we had seen, with the lifeguard using a tannoy to order surfers out of the worst of the dangerous 'rips'. An old lido is still in use as a safer option. A surprisingly large area of the headland is derelict & fenced off, including the swimming baths & bowling club, as if waiting decades for redevelopement that hasn't materialised. Many town centre shops are also empty - perhaps all the 'money' has headed S to Sydney.
As we sat to have coffee & muffins at the quaint railway station cafe, we watched a team of 5 railway workers checking the measurements of the rail line relative to the platform (photo). One held the clipboard (probably the 'boss'), the next held the tape. The one next to him held the other end of the tape, & his mate held the plumb-bob. The last one looked on with his hands in his pockets. Then the boss took a mobile phone call, so they all stopped for 20 mins whilst he dealt with that! Reminded us of good old England!
Back at Stockton for the evening we take out temporary membership of the local RSL (Retired Services League) Club, as usual, the smartest pub/restaurant in town & enjoy a roast dinner & drinks at a very subsidised rate as the 'pokies' & horse race gambling raise so much revenue.
Next morning, through hills where woods concealed 2 large modern coal mines, bringing us to the village of KURRI KURRI. A new hazard for us was the lumps of coal strewn across the road by the lorries. Difficult to believe now that Kurri Kurri was a colliery town, as it's famous now for its high quality murals - scenes depicted included cricketeers, a bowls contest & colliery life. We meet 2 enterprising lads who have made their own tandem by joining 2 old bikes (a 'cut & shunt') - they tell us they use it as a taxi! At a similar small town of ABERMAIN is a memorial giving credit to a Mr David, a young surveyor from Cardiff, for discovering the lucrative 'Greta' coal seam (12.5 feet thick) which brought prosperity to the area for 60 years.
As in many of these small towns & villages, the local Rotary Club have provided public park facilities including lake & free BBQs. Perhaps like us, frustrated by the frequently inaccurate weather forecasting, they have provided an alternative. The 'Weather Rock' is a piece of polished granite mounted on a frame carrying the failsafe instructions for use (see photo).
CESSNOCK is the gateway to the LOWER HUNTER VALLEY vineyards - the oldest vine growing area in OZ, dating from the 1820s. We meandered up country lanes past dozens of vineyards, Lindemans probably the biggest brand, with smaller operators such as McGuigan, Pepper Tree, Piggs Peake & Wyndham. We took a look around the Iron Bark Hill Estste, only 30 acres but growing 6 well known grape types from Merlot to Sauvignon & a top secret new one (I fib, I just can't remember its name). There is some diversification, with a few estates also growing olives, 2 large cheese dairies & the 'Blue Tongue' brewery. The only downside is that now we are further inland than we have been before we come upon pockets of the Australian Fly - they leave us alone when we are going a reasonable speed, but descend on our faces when we slow to go up hill. The result is we look even more like alien invaders now as we have bandanas round our faces as well as the anti magpie spikes on the helmets!
At BEFORD we get off the potholed side roads to join the New England Highway through SINGLETON then the Golden Highway (sounds better than the M5 & M6 doesn't it?) to take us up to the next wine region at the Upper Hunter Valley. On the way we pass a staggeringly large area of open cast coal mining - it goes on mile after mile. The coal, thankfully, not moved by road but rail. At the tiny village of JERRY PLAINS there are posters protesting against the spread of mining threatening the local heritage. Just past here we are soaked by sprinklers watering the paddocks of a horse ranch that is big enough to warrant it's own airstrip.
We pass the Arrowfield Vineyard just before we enter
DENMAN, where the campsite is one of the most attractive
yet, with acres of lawn & indigenous trees full of birds. And what luxury, we have our own bathroom with our pitch! Before we have got off the bikes we have 'ticked' a 'new' bird - a pair of Red-Rumped Parrots. A couple of Willy Wagtails are feeding grubs to a chick as big as themselves, & as we erect the tent, a pair of Pacific ducks hurry up from the creek to become our New Best Friends, escorting us everywhere. They are sitting outside the tent flap waiting for us when we get up in the morning.
Next day on our way to MERRIWA, we passed the Yarraman vineyards, then into some of the most attractive scenery of the trip. Steep forest slopes of the Great Dividing Range with weathered ochre sandstone escarpments & a flat valley bottom of ripe cereal crops.
16. MERRIWA to FORBES (12/11 to 19/11/08)
GOLDEN HARVEST....
MERRIWA turned out to be a very helpful little town. When the lovely Tourist Information lady saw how very long our next days ride was to get to another campsite, she phoned a friend who arranged for us to camp at the Bowls Club (not on the green, obviously) in a tiny dot of a place called Cassilis, cutting our journey in half. The very helpful Merriwa Council also provided us with a neat campsite in a corner of the town park - again with our own bathroom, at a tiny price. Our luck was in too at the only restaurant in town, the historic hotel, where they declared 'Tuesday Night is Rump Night' so we enjoyed rump steaks the size of Margaret Thatchers handbag, with all the trimmings.
Leaving next morning we were exchanging stares with a big kangeroo, when we noticed some orangey animals in a distant field - they were sheep, their fleeces coloured by the soil.
As there were quite a few big hills, we were glad of our stop by lunchtime in CASSILIS. There were only a handful of houses in the hamlet so we don't know how they find enough people to raise a bowls team, but sure enough, there was the Bowling Club with a small camping field next to it. The immaculate green was being watered by an ancient couple & a man was up a ladder painting the outside. It was obvious it had been a while since anyone had given the campsite any TLC though, as the grass was unmown and full of blue flowers, there was however lashings of hot water & plenty of shade, (it was the cheapest we had ever paid anywhere @ $6.00 i.e. £2.50)
We spent the afternoon cycling a valley farm lane towards Coolah Tops, past cattle & sheep stations, irrigated by pinwheel windmills (Photo). Everyone in the village was most welcoming, from the little old lady running a shop in a converted court-room, to the customers at the hotel bar. The policeman was friendly too, from the note he had stuck on the Police Station door saying 'fortunately this is a relatively crime free area but if anyone spots any crime while I am out could they please give me a ring'! There are, unusually, several stone buildings here - the hotel, courtroom & Police Station, a cottage & one of the 2 little churches - most buildings in rural Australia are of timber.
Next day the soil becomes deeper orange as we climb up to a pass @ 692m in the Great Dividing Range, moving out of the Hunter Valley area & down into the Murray /Darling Basin. A sign welcomes us to WARRUMBUNGLE SHIRE - you'd expect Hobbits to live here! Actually there is little sign of any habitation. The only clue that there were homes somewhere in the distance was the occasional letter box where a dirt track meets the Golden Highway. These were generally recycled oildrums or pipes - but we came across one where they had used their old fridge-freezer! They'd painted it bright blue & labelled it with their postal address.
The Highway became less and less used. Under the few big trees cattle and sheep gathered out of the sun. It was 35C in the shade when we drifted into DUNEDOO, putting up our tent in double quick time so we could stand under a shower.
The next morning, another ' top ten ' ride on the Golden Highway along the valley of the TALBRAGER River. The 'Golden' comes from the surrounding crops of wheat, barley and oats. This road was also renowned for the 19C Bushrangers (highwaymen), including the only Chinese one -Sam Poo. At ELONG ELONG there are a few homes , old petrol pumps plus lots of grain silos & beehives. Because the road is so quiet, we see lots of birds - a Black Shouldered Kite on a bare Gum tree eating a lizard, numerous views of Nankeen Kestrels, our first sightings of Apostle Birds, & parrots of every shape & size. We cause a stampede of little brown calves, who in turn put up a cloud of dust & dozens of Ibises. After a very hot 60 miles we reach the Regional capital of DUBBO, where we treat ourselves to 3 nights in a cabin (including spa bath!) & luxuriate in the Air Con. In the evening, strolling into town across a bridge over the RIVER MACQUARIE, we stop to watch spectacular distant lightning. The News next day reports the storm we witnessed had moved E to Sydney where there were 1000 lightning strikes & resultant chaos at Sydey airport.
There is a really useful dedicated cycle path around Dubbo, either side of of the river & out to the aptly named Red Earth
Vineyard. It is called the 'Tracker Riley' cyclepath after an Aboriginal policeman whose brilliant tracking skills caught many serious criminals early this century. Looking down from the path to the river some 30ft below, it is very difficult to imagine it flooding, but a graphic exhibition in the town museum shows through News photos a terrible flood in 1955. The water came up to the top of electricity poles & washed houses away.
After a couple of days of AirCon, we move on SW down the Newell Highway, still not much traffic but what there is, is BIG. Double-length tankers & tall double-length animal transporters form small convoys with jumbo agricultural equipment. We congratulate ourselves at spotting our first group of White-Winged Choughs, & then find a family of them rooting about in the leaves just beside our tent at PEAK HILL. This little town's tag line is 'the town with the heart of gold', & sure enough, behind the one commercial street, is an opencast goldmine! The prosperty has waned in recent times lending the place a faded air, but we were given the usual good welcome at the RSL Club where the restaurant was run by a chatty Chinese lady, who very interested to learn there were lots of Chinese restaurants in England.
In the morning all the farmers were out combining at a furious rate - they must have known that rain was on its way. As we approached PARKES we could see 'The Dish', a powerful radio telescope which brought us all the Apollo 2 moonlanding pictures. By the time we reached FORBES it was raining, so we propped our bikes under the 1st cover we saw, the balcony of the Globe Hotel, & were greeted inside like old friends by the owner & customers alike (all male), given a towel to dry off & plied with free cream cake and coffee - almost worth getting wet for.
Forbes has the most beautifully preserved old buildings of any town so far & not surprisingly it has been used as film sets. (That reminds me, the film 'Australia' with Nicol Kidman premiered in Sydney last night, simultaneously in a cinema in the far outback where much of it had been filmed, which was a nice touch.) Forbes prosperity from gold fields here in the 1860s provided the town with a fine Post Office, Court room, Railway Station & numerous attractive hotels. The wealth also brought the Bushrangers to rob banks & stagecoaches. There are tunnels under the town where they transferrred money from banks to stage coachs to try and foil attacks. We visited the large old cemetery to see the grave of the most famous robber, Ben Hall (photo), alongside 2 of his gang and an Aboriginal police tracker - none of them out of their 20s. Katie, sister of Ned Kelly, is also buried there. Back in the town centre we are spotted by a couple of the customers from the Globe Pub who call us over for a chat, one claims his Grandpa knew Ben Hall & he says Katie Kelly fell to her death from the bridge over the River Lachan, when drunk, or maybe she was pushed!
Moving on next to Cowra, Young & Yass.
17. FORBES to CANBERRA (19/11 to 24/11/08)
NOT ALWAYS A BOWL OF CHERRIES......
Around 6pm a thunderstorm enveloped the town, & soon the site was awash. We watched from the camp kitchen as a large 'pond' lapped at the side of the tent, so in a lull we moved it to a higher spot, out of harms way. A lovely couple from Sydney arriving to stay in the adjacent cabin, had to take off their socks & shoes to paddle to the door, but it was fine inside so they invited us to dinner, washed down with some admirable homebrew.
The News next morning reported that Brisbane had suffered badly in the storms, with some substantial homes completely destroyed. Some places had 200mm of rain; I know they needed water but I don't expect they wanted it all in one hit like this. We set off in fine weather, though, on a really quiet road, the Lachlan Valley Way. For 5km an itinerant herdsman was grazing a large number of cattle along the wide unfenced verge. A few skittish bulls & bullocks chased us, which was really unnerving. Less frightening were the sideplate-sized terappin-like thingys which occasionally rashly strolled across the tarmac.
After 55miles we approached COWRA through vineyards and cherry orchards. Cowra is unfortunately famous for an incident in WW2 when a large number of Japenese prisoners of war broke out of their camp & were killed by guards. There is a concilatory Japenese garden now. I've finished reading the illuminating 'The Lucky Country' about Oz in the 60s & so head for the best place for a book swop, the camp laundry. Cowra's is not promising. The ubitquitous dog-eared Mills and Boons, but little else. That's why I'm now reading 'Fish' magazine. The lead article purports the theory that you can, after all, eat unopened cooked mussels; they are actually fine. As it's written by the Mussel Grower Association I'm not convinced they are entirely objective. I think I'll wait for a 2nd opinion on toxic shellfish.
Next morning down the Olympic Highway, stopping for coffee at Koorawatha's truck stop. As the proprietoress insists she looks for 2 uncracked, matching mugs for us, we have the opportunity to study her photos of the 1952 flood where the rail-line was washed away - sleepers & all. We detour here up a rough track, & through a ford into KOORAWARTHA Nat.Park. We have only seen enormous twisted, stringy bark gum trees, like these in Aboriginal paintings. The woods resonate with the call of the Currawong birds - named for their song. All sizes of butterflies from mini blues to black and white ones the size of small birds, flit over the parched grass (dont worry, we aren't getting obsessive about butterflies as well as birds).
After slogging up hill in a headwind we approach YOUNG. A sleepy lambing area until someone found gold & 20,000 treasure hunters arrived, with fighting breaking out between European & Chinese fossickers. Now the town attracts a more peaceable crowd of fruit pickers, for the crops of cherries & plums currently being harvested. In the evening, when the shops are shut, groups of young cherry-pickers gather around laptops outside businesses which have not protected their computer Wifi access (including a well-known bank!); hopefully they are only picking up their emails.
We are pleased that the only H.Potter film we have not seen is on TV at the camp. However, after what seems like 500 interruptions by shouted adverts, emploring us to buy a Toyota and/or a Miracle Weightloss Regime, we give up & retire to bed, leaving poor Harry in the grips of an very exictable looking bloke with no nose.
We salve our conscience for logging on to the internet for free at an unsuspecting Chinese café, by buying a fine breakfast there next morning. The internet forecast gives a severe weather warning for this area, with gale force winds & snow over 1000m. We are not going much over 500m, but cautiously decide to split the 100km trip to Yass and just go as far as BOOKAWARA today. We had 37deg at Dubbo 6 days ago, but now it is struggling to reach 10deg mid-morning. This is not a bad temperature for cycling & with a tailwind, we have cracking views from a ridge road of the western edge of the Blue Mountain plateau, but the short, sharp, hail-showers sting us.
Bookawara was originally settled by Irish cousins from Tipperary in the 1820s, celebrated by the 'Annual Irish Woolfest'. This features 'The Running Of The Sheep'. Not quite as dangerous as Pamplona, but a lot more fun, & with probably at least as much alcohol consumed!
A dry, but eye-watering cycle into the headwind, next day, slowed us a bit - necessitating pedalling even on downhills! At this pace we enjoyed the undulating farm views, on the way to YASS, including a herd of Alpacas and a recycled letterbox made from a microwave oven! The temperature now up again at 20c. The bridge over the river Yass into town is covered with evocative modern Aboriginal paintings (photo). The one main commercial street has an unsustainable number of fine old federation hotels/bars (now they are by-passed by the Highway), but I expect they are busy on the frequent livestock market days.
In sunshine we head off S towards Canberra next morning, passing the sweetly named village of Wee Jasper. We are in what they call the 'cool upland wine region', with as many vineyards as Hunter Valley. The 'cool' comes from the height & as we pass over a coll at 675m, we stop to take a photo of something we thought we would never see in Oz - snow! Stretched out in front of us is the dark purple silouhette of the mountain range of BRINDABELLA NAT PARK, with peaks and gullies highlighted with snow. Down now past the enormous Capricorn Stud Farm, its boundaries marked with crimson flowering roses. Notices on fences warn of wildlife deterrent - 'Roo Shoo' - which might explain why, sadly,we have to cycle round a larger than usual number of roadkill Roos.
At HALL we pass the sign letting us know we have entered AUSTRALIA CAPITAL TERRITORY, or to Aboriginals, Ngunnawal Country. It's an easy ride to the suburbs of Canberra as they major on cycle paths. We met a lovely couple from Canberra, Pat & Ted M when we were in Millaa Millaa in Sept, & are due to meet up with them to see the sights. They are so well organised that, at the campsite, we are handed a pack of helpful info left in readiness for us by P and T.
We have now completed more than 3,000 miles in Oz & are going to spend a few days sightseeing Canberra before heading off NE to Sydney.
18. CANBERRA (24/11 to 29/11/08)
OVER THE MOON.....
Pat & Ted M introduced us to the beautiful countryside around Canberra, where NASA's Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex with its giant radio antennas, sits in a tranquil valley surrounded by cows. It's exhibition includes fabulous photos captured from the Cassini mission to Saturn. There is an wonderful overall view of the City & suburbs from Mount Ainslie & from Mount Stromlo Observatory. It was staggering to realise the scale of the devasting bush fire of 2003, which completely engulfed the Observatory, destroying thousands acres of trees & 500 homes. It stopped just short of the Governor Generals fine old house.
The highlight of our tour though had to be TIDBINBILLA Nature Reserve, where Graham, the Park Ranger, volunteered to take us both in his 4x4 off road to get close up & personal with Emus! We had been scanning the grasslands fruitlessly for days for a glimpse of these. You'd think a creature so big would be easy to spot, but they are a camouflaged parched grass colour, so we were over the moon to be introduced to a family group of 7, who look rather similar to haystacks on sticks.
Near our campsite is an amusing fishy mural so we had to pose with it (Photo). In the city P & T showed us around the Duntroon officiers training camp & some of the foreign embassies, which are built each in the style of their country. This worked very well with some of the beautiful traditional Asian buildings, & the very mod Finnish glass box, but not so successful with the Irish oversized cottage. We are extremely grateful to Pat & Ted for taking the time & trouble to chauffer us around & giving us lots of info to help our further exploration by bike over the next few days.
First stop had to be the Bicycle Museum, run by a very enthusiastic lady who had just returned from a cycle trip down the Danube on a folding bike. She showed us lots of quirky bikes including an entirely plastic one from Sweden. Then a quick whizz round the Botanic gardens of indigenous plants, collecting another bird 'tick', the New Holland Honeyeater.
Canberra is divided E-W by Lake Burley Griffin, formed by damming the river Molonglo, & home to Black Swans and their cygnets. The Captain Cook Memorial jet fountain shoots up from the middle. It has a cycle path all round linking lots of the City's highlights, including the eyecatching new building housing the Nat. Museum where you can see all things Australian, from Aboriginal crafts to a 71kg nugget of gold (a replica actually), the biggest ever found.
At the Nat. Library we could have spent a whole week, just in their map room, which includes the first published maps of Oz. The French one (c1810) shows they favoured the name 'La Terre de Napoleon' for the new continent. Fortunately for us all, the more snappy 'Australia' was already catching on. The National Gallery has something for everyone, carvings from Asia to a giant Jackson Pollock, & examples of famous Aussie artists, the Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly paintings & our favourites, Russell Drysdale & Jeffery Smart. At a quiet spot on the lake, Blundell Cottage has been preserved, a stone farm house remaining from the Duntroon Estate that preceded the building of the Capital.
Anzac Parade has memorials to each branch of the armed forces & nurses caught up in warfare. This leads up to the Australian War Memorial, a magnificent museum, reconstructing many of the famous battles & scenes from 2 world wars, & personal, very poignant individual stories from prisoners of war & survivors of dreadful battles. The citations behind Victoria Crosses (many awarded posthumously) are just unbelievable. There is a tomb to the the unknown soldier scattered with poppies & an eternal flame. The name of every Australian lost in warfare is recorded on black panels interspersed with the contrasting colour of more poppies.
There is a small Canberra museum too, with a few more Ned Kelly paintings by Nolan, but best of all, a collection of old dolls houses - including the exact model I (Sue,not Mike!) had as a kid! - a 1964 Triang - doesn't that make me feel old or what? Crossing the lake we spot the tall 'bugs bunny' memorial - actually its an American eagle, but Ted tells us the pilots approaching the airport call it that as the upturned wings look more like giant rabbits ears - they're right.
We were allowed a really good look round the new Parliament building including both Chambers, but didn't spot anyone famous. For some bizarre reason a Korean couple insisted in taking a photo of us outside the front of the building - their holiday snaps must be even more boring than ours! At the outdoor shop, Kathmandu, we took advantage of their pre-Christmas sale to replace two of our lost aluminium water bottles at 1/2 price.
Heading N today through historic villages towards Sydney. Thought we'd do this short blog while we have free wifi!
19. CANBERRA to the BLUE MOUNTAINS (29/11 to 06/12/08)
RAILWAY ENTHUSIASTS.....
We head off up the busy Remembrance Driveway, where each rest area is named after a Victoria Cross holder. The old road, Federation Highway, is still mostly in position, so we nip over onto that for some peace and quiet. After 15k, at a high point, there is a truly astonishing view for miles - of absolutely nothing - an empty landscape. A flat plain of yellow grass, not a single tree, bush, fence post, rock, track or stream as far as the eye can see. On the map this is coloured blue as huge Lake George; but someone must have pulled the plug.
After going round the edge of the Plain there is a gentle climb past vineyards & olive groves to a pass at 792m over the Great Dividing Range once more. We knew we were approaching a town as the large billboards appear beside the road, some a tad insensitive (photo - apologies to vegetarians). Its an easy drop into the small, unspoilt Federation city of GOULBURN.
The campsite is a treat. The owners have put up Christmas decorations with kangaroos instead of reindeer pulling Santa, & the best ever giant train set, including backdrop of working chairlifts & waterfall. We hang our own extensive Christmas decs on the tent (actually just our 75cent Spanish Santa who is a bit faded after 5000 miles on the back of Mike's bike). The camp owners tell us that Lake George was never very deep, & dried up 7 years ago, although they have known it fill from empty in as little as 12 months.
A bit hilly next morning, through unspoilt bush, then a huge Alpaca stud farm - mostly white shorn fleeces but 2 dinky black babies (Alice, what are young Alpacas called?). Into South Highlands vineyards & very pretty Federation villages, the best MOSS VALE. From there we take the perfect Bong Bong dedicated cycle path by the river, almost all the way to MITTAGONG.
Next day a very hot, humid, & hilly ride but worth every puff as through Nat. Park on a quiet road. The usual gum trees & banksia are joined by dense undergrowth of every possible herb, fancy ferns & grasses & giant aloe vera plants. The pretty, unspoilt villages have familiar names - BALMORAL, BUXTON & THIRLMERE, where steam train enthusiasts have reinstated an impressive length of line & number of trains. Their expansion plans are delayed as bushfires have destroyed 2 wooden rail bridges. I don't expect a detail like that will stop them for long. Our road takes us over an eyegrabbing rail cutting - 100' deep through blood red sandstone.
At the top of the last big hill there is a view point & what a brilliant surprise - our first sight of Sydneys skyscrapers, 57 kms to the N. With binos we can easily make out the Harbour Bridge. A high-five moment! Its an easy glide down to CAMDEN through woods, with the call of the Bell-Miners literally ringing in our ears.
On a small country road further N, opposite Galway Farm, we stop to look at a lovely little brick church in the middle of an old graveyard. All is not as it seems. The church is an exact replica of one demolished to make way for Sydney airport. The graveyard, headstones & all, was transferred to this new tranquil site.
We have noticed an advertising trait which we do hope does not catch on back home. On estate agents 'house for sale' boards is often included a large mug shot of the selling agent himself. With their boyband hair cuts & unconvincing 'you can trust me' smiles, they look a fright. Having met 1000's of estate agents in my working life I can vouch that most are not eye-candy, & hope this trend never hits the streets of UK! We do however love the ad campaign against litter - 'Don't be a tosser' - brilliant.
We stop & camp in PENRITH by lunchtime. It is in a woodland clearing full of birds, especially the dear little fairy wren, but also the new 'tick' the Red Whiskered Bulbul, an Asian introduced species. It's not a complete idyll, as the train line runs nearby, & as many of the railway crossings here are not gated, the trains are forever giving long, loud hoots of warning.
From here we take a couple of days to do a recce into the Blue Mountains in anticipation of our week there with Janet & Ian in Jan 09. The highway up is v. Busy. Two little villages we pass are mainly boarded up as compulsorily purchased to make way for road widening. The 'garden' village of Leura is scarred by an enormous new road intersection. The preferable way to get to mountains is by rail & we pass several charming village stations on the line up, like the ones Beeching axed in UK. The major road works only skirt historic KATOOMBA, where the camp site is in a quiet forest area. We meet a pair of Germans from Hamburg in their off-road camper van, which they shipped out via USA; they are off soon to explore S. America.
However you get here it is worth the effort - the views from the many vertiginous outlooks are otherwordly - the blue air colours steep forests that plunge from a sandstone plateau to an endless unspoilt valley. We walk down an incredibly steep route from ECHO POINT to a ledge half way down to the valley bottom, & after a wooded trail of gorgeous trees & ferns the route winds back up alongside Leura & Lilo waterfalls. Even being super-selective with photos today we took more than we had in the previous fortnight - may need to invest in more camera memory on our return trip here!
Heading back to Penrith tomorrow to explore there & further N before going to Sydney.
20. BLUE MOUNTAINS (photo) to DURAL (07/12 to 11/12/08)
DISH OF THE DAY....
On our last afternoon wandering around KATOOMBA we were spotted by the owner of an outdoor clothing shop - he had passed us in his car as we strugggled through the roadworks a few days ago. He kindly showed us on a detailed map how local cyclists have found a quiet back way around, so we now look forward to our trip down tomorrrow.
At the campsite a friendly Basque cylcist, on a world tour, had arrived (the 1st touring cyclist we have seen for a month). He showed us photos of the countries he had enjoyed the most so far - Turkey & Iran. He had hated the dangerous Indian traffic, so had quickley flown on from Dehli into Darwin, but didn't recommend his cross country route from there to Townsville - too hot, lots of flies & no water or settlements. His tent is a 3-man Vaude, as he sleeps with his bike! - & I thought Mike was obessed! He took a photo of us to put on his blog.
The cycle back into PENRITH was much more enjoyable now we were on the back roads, & relieved to find that not all of Leura had been ruined by the road 'improvements'. Its high street of small Art Deco shops is very attractive. Then a winding country road through woods crosses a gully at Lennox Bridge, the oldest (1832) stone bridge in Oz. As we stopped to admire it, a black cloud swept in from nowhere with a peel of thunder, so we nipped down into the dry river bed to shelter under the arch. We were soon joined by an English walker & 2 Oz motorcyclists. The downpour lasted only a few minutes, but enough to make the last couple of miles into PENRITH a Turkish bath as the steam billowed up from the drying tarmac. Their Oval appeared to have attracted a flock of gulls - but on closer inspection we saw it was a huge flock of Little Corellas (white parrots) feeding on grass seed.
In the laundry I admire an illustrated chart on the wall showing 13 (!!!) local spiders we may encounter - 4 of them hopelessly lethal (eg male Sydney funnel-web;world's deadliest spider), 4 very painful, perhaps deadly (eg Black house spider ;common!), & 5 only unpleasant (eg Trapdoor;that's OK then!) And they all look alike to me! I think the message is, if it's big & spidery, run.
PENRITH has a population of approx 50k, but does not exist according to 'The Lonely Planet'. It is not on the tourist radar as it's a modern commuter town with no historic interest. However we found it had everthing we needed as a basecamp for the Blue Mountains & will stay for a 3rd time when we return to head down to the Southern Coast. The Local Library could not offer wifi so they introduced us to their colleagues in the Council Offices next door, where we were welcomed like old buddies. They provided comfy chairs in their entrance lobby & unlimited access to their wifi .
There are restaurants here to suit every taste, (the Thai's green curry dish could win prizes) & the best indoor produce market we have come across in Oz. We spend our last evening at the Log Cabin's outdoor restaurant, on the banks of the River Nepean, watching the Mississippi-style paddleboat ferry sightseers up & down, & finally drag ourselves away from the smooth Chardonney when dusk wakes the roosting fruit bats, who take to the sky in their hundreds.
Our last expedition, before we settle in Sydney for the festivities, is a cycle along the valley of the mighty HAWKESBURY River. It rises near Richmond then meanders E, entering the sea N of Sydney at Broken Bay. The small towns of RICHMOND & WINDSOR, on the rivers edge, were both founded in 1810 & retain gracious shops from this era, with colonades to shade the shoppers. A huge acreage on the outskirts is taken up by the RAAF Hercules Transport Base, then horse ranches & quiet fertile plains supporting crops of all sorts, from courgettes & herbs to oranges & grapes.
PITT TOWN also declares itself founded in 1810. Governor Macquarie did a job lot in 1810 declaring 5 settlements 'Towns' that year. Pitt Town is still no more than a village but deserves to be famous as home to 'A Bird in the Hand ' the oldest pub in Oz. A gem, full of character, but its pedigree & charm has not stopped the owner attaching a satellite receiver to it the size of which we haven't seen since 'The Dish 'at Parkes. History obviously doesn't pull customers as successfully as extraterrestial sports channels.
The dawn chorus at the farm campsite was provided by a Myna Bird, mimicing at least 5 different songs & throwing in a frog as an encore. The flat valley bottom & plentiful supply of river water makes this ideal for turf farms, where ready-made lawns are rolled & taken to the suburb gardens of Sydney.
SACKVILLE is not a village but a loose collection of farms. We pause for a chat at a fruit farm shop, with the 2 lady farmers of retiring age. Apart from their clothes, they are nearly identical sisters. The one in the shapeless floral frock runs the shop & makes the jam (frustratingly impractical for us to carry any away with us). The other wears a lumberjack shirt & mens trousers, as she drives the farm vehicles & had just popped in for a coffee. Their principle crops are figs & plums. Just up the road it is comforting that Sackville cemetery, founded in 1899, is virtually empty. A testimony to a healthy fruit diet, no doubt.
From there the road runs right along by the waterside, reminding us of the Tamar back home where the trees and cliffs come down to the waters edge near Morwhellem Quay. The occasional houseboat or speedier water skier breaks the peace. As we pass under sandstone overhangs, unhelpful signs announce 'Falling Rocks - Do Not Stop'. If a walloping lump of stone lands on my head, I fear it will be impossible to comply. At WISEMANS FERRY the river side road becomes a dead end so we take the convict built Old Northern Rd S, through apricot, peach & lemon orchards, then rose nurseries at DURAL before striking out E into the KU-RING GAI Nat Park.
(All items below copyright of Susan & Michael Booth)
21. DURAL to SYDNEY (11/12 to 19/12/08)
At the village of ST IVES, we stopped to eat our lunch in the shade of a gum tree, & watched 2 overs of cricket between St Ives & Visitors. It was quite energetic, with a 4 & 2 catches. In the heat of the afternoon at the beach resort of NARRABEEN the local cricketers were flagging - 2 fielders were actually lying down (I think 1 was asleep). The heat didn't deter Santa, though, as he & his little helpers toured the beach campsite in a red 4x4 throwing sweets to the children (Sue didn't get any again - 2nd year running now!).
We have had a reply from farmer blogees Alice & Brian, to let us know that baby Alpacas are in fact called Criers (is that cry-ers or cree-airs?).
On the site next to us are the 4th Castlehill Scouts, who make us very welcome in their improvised kitchen. Baden-Powell would approve of the construction, using just lengths of wood, rope, & a big rectange of canvas; it stood up to the strong evening winds with barely a quiver, whilst shop-bought structures buckled & sagged all around. (B.P. might have been surprised that most of the Scouts were girls.)
Narrabeen beach at 8pm was a heavenly 20 degrees C. The sky, completely sundowner pink, contrasted with the rolling navy blue surf, highlighted with white spray. Every couple of minutes a surfer effortlessly picked up a tubular wave & raced along its face just in front of the curl. On the mile or so of clean yellow sand, couples strolled & line fishermen tried their luck for flathead fish.
At 7.30 the next morning the sea water rock pool was already quite busy with locals enjoying a refreshing dip. We cycled N out to NEWPORT where the biggest building in the village is the surf club. The beach was heaving with youngsters as the 'Newport Nippers ' were busy with surf competitions. We got chatting to lovely Heather, who was watching a grandchild compete. Originally from Essex, she had come out over 30 years ago when her husband took up a post as a Flying Doctor. They were based in Broome, far N Western Australia. What a challenge, to raise 3 small children about as far from the shops as you can be in the English speaking world.
We spent the rest of the day at the tip of the peninsula, PALM BEACH, where we understand 'Home and Away ' is filmed. Some more great surf in a stunning cove. As you would expect at such an exclusive resort, their Sunday market had stalls selling extra virgin olive oil, straw hats & Bay trees. We ended a perfect day with picnic dinner & wine on the beach at Narrabeen. We can't think of any reason to move on from here just yet.
A day pedalling down to the beaches just N of Sydney, pausing at COLLAROY, DEE WHY, CURL CURL and finally MANLY. All fabulous surfing spots. The combination of a full moon tide and strong winds had created monstrous seas. The life guards were out in force, planting yellow warning signs in the sands, forbidding swimming. The experienced surfers were undeterred. As they couldn't battle their way through the pounding waves off the beaches, they climbed down off rocky headlands to hurl themselves & boards into the foam. It looked incredibly risky. We emailed Chris to tell him we were at Manly, as this was where he had started his 2006 gap year, teaching dinghy sailing. Manly is heaving with that age group, girls in string bikinis & lads in Billabong shorts.
We could take root here in beautiful Narrebeen, but decide to make this our last day, & explore the road alongside
McCARRS CREEK. At the Creek head we gaze across at the impressive, architect-designed riverside houses, all glass & balconies, each with its own boathouse & yacht mooring. There are lots of yachts on midstream moorings too. I'll bet this is a really sought after postcode. It reminded us of the yacht haven of Newton Ferrers back home.
In the middle of the night someone let off a lot of fireworks nearby, which woke up the baby in the tent next door, whose crying woke up the ducks, who came rushing over to our tent quacking loudly - perhaps its just a well we are moving on!
We knew it would be a bit of a struggle with traffic to get to our campsite at LANE COVE NATIONAL PARK in N SYDNEY, but it wasn't far & we stuck to pavements if too frightening - then we had a stroke of luck finding a pedestrian back way into the Nat. Park. The Campsite, is run by the park wardens. We were 3 days early for our booking, but they managed to fit us in. Its an amazing site - we are right in the bush - unspoilt woodland along the beautiful river, yet within easy reach of the city centre. There are not many places 2 people can stay in the City at £13 a night!
There was a good dedicated cycle path most of the way to the Harbour Bridge, then we had to haul the bikes up 55 steps onto the bridge bike lane. We cycled across very slowly, looking down onto the ferris wheel in Luna Park on the shore of Lavender Bay, & watching the boats sailing under us. At the end we picniced at Observatory park, where office workers were spending their lunchhour working out with their personal trainers.
We didn't want to cram too much in on our first day but explored the areas right by the bridge - the hertitage area of The Rocks, Circular Quay where all the ferrys come in, & the Opera House. This building we felt we had known all our lives, but found there was far more detail to it than we expected, with the sun bouncing off each white tile & the reflections in the many full height windows. We took loads of photos in case it was not so sunny on our next trip in, then cycled back to Lane Cove.
In the kitchen we swopped travellers tales with Martin, the Swiss Border policeman, & some German gap year Triplets. Our noisy chatter attracted the possums, so I went to check out the tent by torchlight & caught red-handed a very guilty looking possum. He was standing by the tent with our cooler bag, which he'd managed to drag out through the ventilation gap.I think he was wondering how he was going to get it up into his tree when I interrupted him. He looked most despondent when I took the bag away.
22. SYDNEY (19/12 to 25/12/08)
BATS, BOATS & BONDI.....
An AMAZING coincidence - the couple who have moved onto the pitch next to us are the parents of the young Dutch cyclist, Ester, who, with her English husband, had their 2 year old in a trailer & cycled from Cairns to camp next to us at Mission Beach, & then got the bus to Airlie. They are carrying on to meet up with them on Tasmania for Christmas.
We took a 10 min bus ride into the city centre to continue our explorations on foot, this is just the highlights :-
• David Jones Dept store to look at the really clever/funny Christmas animated marionettes in their window displays
• Oxford street - bit like Carnaby St. with lots of little interesting boutiques & Victorian terrace side streets of houses with ornamental ironwork.
• The Storm Thorgesen exhibition in a studio gallery - he designed many of those famous album covers of our youth - remember the ' prism' cover of the Pink Floyd album 'Dark side of the moon'?
• WOOLOOMOOLOO QUAY. Preserved Victorian Wharf, converted to trendy apartments & restaurants with swanky yachts moored in front
• Art Gallery of NSW.The Monet Exhibition here for a few weeks on loan from the Boston Gallery of Fine Art, & a large collection of Oz art, including a new favourite, Arthur Streeton.
• Glanced inside the State Library; sumptious Victorian interior with authentic mobile wrought iron stairs to reach the top shelves of the massive bookcases.
• Gazed up at the Art Nouveau gem of the exterior at the British Medical Association building.
Back at camp 6 Korean families on a church outing were cooking & insisted on also feeding us - 2 wonderful traditional dishes - tender beef in soy sauce, shitake mushrooms & garlic followed by crispy bellypork in sesame sauce - mouthwatering.
We explore the cycle route from Lane Cove W towards Penrith, in readiness for 3rd Jan when we will cycle that way back up to the Blue Mountains. We managed not to get too lost following the detour that is in place so that bikes don't have to go through the tunnnel with the motorway trafffic.
In the evening, we join a small group being shown the nocturnal animal life of the National Park by Liz, one of the wardens. She was able to reassure us that it was not rats we had seen scurrying around, but bandicoots, who use their really long pointy snouts to dig up insects. She also explained how absolutely vital bats are in Oz. A 'keystone' animal, as she put it, as they cross-pollinate the gum trees & other plants which only have night opening flowers. We also learnt how to differentiate between the 2 types of possum - ring-tailed and brush-tailed.
On our next trip into the city we got off the bus before the Bridge, so we could walk over. We spotted a group just starting their bridge climb, each in safety harnesses; one lady was crying with fright - we wonder whether she made it to the top!Looking up at the Bridge metal framework, the grill supporting thousands of fireworks is visible. They have been shutting one lane of the bridge each night & working on the display - it looks nearly ready for NYE.
After exploring a few more of the narrow streets of the historic Rock area, we took the time to walk all round the exterior of the Opera House & nose around in the foyers. As the roof bends right down to the ground we were able to stroke the gorgeous textured tiles, not many buildings where you can do that - we just love it (photo).
Next we wandered through the Botanic Gardens which line the water front, & made sure we had a good look at the Wollemi Pine - one of the rarest plants in the world (looks just like a Christmas tree to us!) & a bottle tree - with its weirdly swollen trunk. The bats were not difficult to spot, roosting in a big group near a path - Liz the wildlife warden would be pleased. The park is really welcoming, with a notice 'Walk on the grass, smell the roses, hug the trees!' The handsome sandstone Government House is also there, surrounded by beautiful indigneous flowers.
Then it was time for our 2hr harbour cruise on the 'Captain Cook '. The size of the harbour is staggering, including over 60 bays. There were lots of Navy vessels, as they have all been brought home for Christmas, but mainly the water is full of yachts, including some getting ready for the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart Race.
The QVB (Queen Victoria Building) must be the original shopping Mall, now faithfully restored to its original splendour, housing topnotch shops on 4 levels. 2 baby grand pianos tinkle classical music without any pianists?! Their Christmas tree goes up through all the floors, with 15,000 crystals and 40,000 lights, the most gorgeous of so many in the city. A quirky one in the Rocks is made from discarded chairs - a true work of modern art. In contrast the Market City shopping centre in nearby Chinatown is a jumble of pungent fresh noodle stalls, trashy counterfeit goods shops & a Chinese supermarket.
We paused to sit at the outside tables of a MacDonalds, to use their free WiFi. There are big notices saying 'Don't feed the Birds' but there are opportune Gulls around, & then a 2ft tall ibis strolls along our tabletop to look down his long beak at our computer. We are not eating here but at a nearby Hannahs stall where 2 young Asian women are serving the queue at lightening speed with pie & peas, cooked in enormous ovens right behind them. Goodness knows how they find the time, but they are also the sole suppliers to the the famous harbourside eatery, Harry's Café de Wheels, started 100 years ago to feed the hungry sailors as they step ashore. Hannahs Tiger Pie is the favourite - handsized meat pie with mashed potato & peas piled on top, with a well for gravy.
Although it is Christmas Eve, the shops are not busy until we enter the enormous Fish Market, which is heaving with shoppers, queing at stalls to buy big bags of prawns & lobsters for tomorrows lunch. In every available space between stalls are small metal tables & chairs where extended Asian familes eat sushi & oysters.
At the modern extension to the State Library we view George Caddy's Photo exhibition from the 1930's. Wonderful black & white images of Bondi beach - those tailored strippy swimming cozies & the hunky men doing acrobatic displays. They are also showing old film archive of a 1940's Jitterbug contest in Sydney - boy they must have been fit!
Back at camp none of us get much sleep as some drunken youngsters get noisily out of hand - it takes the park ranger, 2 police cars & an ambulance before the kerfuffle is sorted. Full marks to the Parks people as, even though its Christmas morning, they get a bin lorry to take away all the empty bottles & the cleaner spruces the place up before we all rise & shine.
Christmas morning we pull a cracker with a nearby Maori family & admire the little girls new Sindy doll, then bbq a cooked breakfast before setting off by bus to BONDI BEACH (photo - Santa checking the surf!). The route takes us through the district of Paddington, with its elegantly restored tree lined avenues - looks the trendy place to live. The curved beach of Bondi is a lovely traditional family holiday spot. Ready for todays influx of youngsters however, the beach & adjoining parks are all stricly patrolled & alcohol free - every bag going onto the beach is searched & police monitor everywhere else.
Not deterred, we find a quiet little grassy knoll overlooking the beach to discreetly open our bottle of bubbly, hiding it in a pannier. Unfortunately it has got rather shaken up on the bus journey, so the cork flies out with an ear splitting bang & shoots 40 ft in the air, attracting stares from everyone in ear shot. We look innocently around as if we too are wondernig where the noise has come from. After we successfully finish the bottle & dispose of it without being arrested, we spend a lovely few hours down on the sand, people-watching & paddling. The many surf rescue staff are wearing santa hats of course. It is all very good natured. A small aircraft writes out a message with a white vapour trail in a cloudess blue sky - 'Call Mum'.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE. Hope you all have a lovely Christmas wherever you are.
23. Sydney (26/12 to 30/12/08)
SPIDERMAN......!
It's Boxing Day, so the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race kicks off at 1.00pm. We take a ferry from Circular Quay to the National Park on the north shore. Everything that can float in Sydney is heading in the that direction to get a good view. We walk round the coastal path until we find a rock to sit on overlooking the harbour, just past the start line, & looking out to the harbour entrance, where the sky is buzzing with media helicopters.
There are lots of yachts at about 30-40ft jockying for position, then 2 whoppers come into view - '7', & with its blue sails, 'Skandia'. When the start gun goes off its not surprising that these 2 rush ahead of the pack in the strong breeze - they tack just under our spot, almost brushing each other. In no time they are tacking passed Middle Harbour, healing right over, & disappearing out to sea.
We head back to Circular Quay and enjoy a drink in the sun in what must be the watering hole with the best view in the world - the Opera House Bar - on the waterfront right alongside the Opera House, & opposite The Harbour Bridge.
As we enter our local Coles supermarket, early in the morning to stockup, I hear a strangled cry from Mike & look round to see him frantically pointing at his left shoulder, where a spider easily saucer-size, is attached (see photo - it was like this without the red back, thankfully!). Afraid to annoy it into biting either of us, I try brushing it off gently, but it hangs in there, so I swipe it firmly off onto the floor where it scurries off to hide under the stack of shopping baskets. Everyone in the shop freezes & the poor young employee in charge of baskets starts squealing. A Crocodile Dundee type comes out of the checkout queue & bravely takes a look at the brute. After a moment of anticpation he says 'it's OK, it's only a Tarantula'. There is a collective sigh of relief & normal business resumes!
We cycle to Middle Harbour through a lovely residential area of detached houses in designer gardens, to picnic lunch on the shore by the marina. Only by now has some colour has returned to Mike's cheeks. We congratulate ourselves on passing 3 young cyclists on a long hill - we're made of tougher stuff than some old spider can intimidate (says Mike!). The news we have of the Hobart Race is that one yacht, 'Georgia', has sunk. They were really unlucky, striking something under the water at 15 knots which tore off the rudder & holed it. All the crew were rescued promptly by a fellow competitor. With sharks about, hanging around in the water is not advised!
Our next ride is up the wide Parramata river, leaving the suburbs behind & entering riverside parkland, then mangroves. Two Dragon boats with 16 crew each are racing neck & neck, with the standing coxs yelling themselves blue in the face, to a photo-finish. At every little public slipway cars trailing speedboats are queing to launch on the river, taking advantage of the beautiful holiday weather. Shiny small skinks (a snake /lizard cross) chase each other across the cyclepaths. At the Sydney Olympic Park there is a manmade mound with a cycle track going round & round, helterskelterish, to a view point at the top. Along the cycleway back at the Lane Cove River behind our tent, Water Dragons (lizards) from a few inches to 3ft are sunning themselves on every available rock.
In the evening we are soon aware the possums are out scavenging as there are yells & the sound of missiles being thrown, coming from nearby tents. We are smugly conifident they won't visit us as our food is in the fridge. Not so - there is a crash as our metal mugs are knocked over & the little culprit is sitting by our tent holding a pot of pepper in his paws. We watch as he delicately takes off the lid & looks in, then he pushes his little furry face in & eats the pepper! We can't believe it, he likes the stuff!
The City is gearing up for the 31st, with metal fencing installed at key points for crowd control & lots of notices advising Sydney streets will be a no alcohol zone for the evening. They will close the bridge to traffic from 11am & most parking disappears - there will be lots of extra buses.
Our campsite has had a 'No Vacancies' notice outside for days, but still lots people are turning up in campervans or on foot, looking for a pitch. The road outside has vehicles parked all along both sides as they wait, hoping for someone to leave the camp. Some pitches usually only allocated to one tent have been used for up to to 7! We are so glad we booked our pitch back in Sept! The theme of the fireworks display this year is 'The Creation', so we expect a Big Bang Finale. During the NYE afternoon our good friends Janet & Ian are due to fly in from a few days in Adelaide. We are getting excited about seeing the New Year in with them again this year.
24. Sydney (31/12 to 01/01/09)
HAPPY NEW YEAR.....
Having got a bit 'laidback' we thought we'd better have a major clean-up before meeting with Janet & Ian, so to while away the time whilst the washing dried we took a local walk. Apart from the over exurerbance of Christmas Eve our camp has been very peaceful, with the Park (closed to traffic after 7pm ) on one side & a very big cemetery on the other. We had been intrigued by large signs at the cemetery entrance advertising festive lunches, so we went in for an explore. Macquarie Cemetery is vast, serving 11 different communties from Anglicans to Chinese. The site includes a florist, café, picnic areas & a function room; they just stopped short of a barbi.
The function room reminded me of the sort of venue Halifax Bank used to chose for our business meetings. This in turn reminded me of the last visit I made to Halifax HQ. I had elected to go on a guided tour of the whole building (anything to avoid a stuffy meeting) from the Deeds Rooms 4 floors below ground (allegedly bomb proof), to the hallowed ground of the top floor Boardroom. Here the young lady showing me round proudly pointed out the 'Queens' toilet. Apparently, when the Queen had been booked to open the new Boardroom a few years earlier, as protocol dictates, an equerry had sent a list of Queenly minimal expectations which included a handy loo. Of course it being 'up north', it had never occurred to the Board that a woman would ever be important enough to visit for longer than required to bring the tea-trolley, hence there was only a blokes toilet. I expect their first penny pinching idea was to plug in an airfreshener, replace the 'gents 'sign with 'Queens', and just hope she wouldn't notice the urinals. Probably under threat of knighthoods going missing in the post, they eventually gave in. So there it is, right by the Board room door, a discreet wooden screen behind which is a comfy cubicle. Of course I insisted on using the 'throne' before finishing my tour.
Janet & Ian arrived in good time & we went on a whistle-stop walk round the City Centre before going to Circular Quay. Families had brought picnic blankets & staked their claim to a small space each so they would have a great view of the firworks from here later. The Quay was full by 5pm. Ferry boats bringing people into the City from Manly & Bondi directions all sounded their horns creating a jolly din. At 7 we sat down in 'A Flare' restaurant where we had booked a dinner for the evening, separated from the crowds by a crash barrier. As the evening progressed a very long queue formed in front of the restaurant, the entire length of the Quay. We imagined they were queing to get into the bar on the upper storey, but it turned out this was the queue for the toilets!
The towers at either end of the Bridge had colourful light shows projected on to them, the Navy training tallship strung with lights moved into position alongside, & police helicopters with searchlights buzzed back & forth, building to the countdown & then the magnificent fireworks (photos). They weren't just from the Bridge as we expected, but also from the tops of skyscrapers & a park beside the bridge. The finale included a vast white waterfall of light streaming from the Bridge. We later saw a rerun on TV, & learned the 12 minute show had cost $5M!
We were very grateful that we didn't have to struggle through crowds onto public transport back to camp, as we were able to stay with Janet & Ian in their apartment in the city centre. We walked back with them through the drifts of rubbish which miraculously had been cleared by daybreak.
25. Sydney to the Blue Mountains (01/01 to 08/01/09)
SOCIAL CLIMBING.......
Janet, Ian & I (Mike) did the Harbour Bridge Climb with wonderful views of the harbour, Opera House, city & its surrounds. Some 52k tonnes of best British steel went into the construction in the early 1930's (when we led the world in such things!) There were photos in the lobby of celebs who also had completed the climb, from Kylie to Matt Lucas & Prince Harry.
We packed up the tent, setting off at 7am to make sure we made it up to our Blue Mountain retreat before dark. An Italian cyclist in lycra on a racing bike paused to chat as he passed us on the cycle lane W alongside the M4. When I told him we were going up to Blackheath, he looked worried & said "Ees a beetav a heel, gouda lucka". It was a very big hill, but fortunately after days of very hot sunshine it was now overcast; great cycling weather. We got a bit lost trying to keep off the main road, at one point carrying the heavy bikes up & down loads of steps over a railway line!
We were very glad to arrive at our eco lodge at Jemby-Rinjah (see photo), where Janet & Ian were already ensconced, having come up on the train from Sydney. They had the wine & beer cooling in the fridge, just what we needed after 81 miles, all of it uphill. At about 1000m it was surprisingly chilly, but the logfire Ian had going made it really cosy. The lodge is made entirely of wood & is set right in the bush, so we are surrounded by birds including Rosellas & Black cockatoos .
It was gorgeous weather again for the next few days so we tackled the bushwalk from Evans Lookout into Grand Canyon & Neates Glen, full of lush ferns, waterfalls & impossibly steep drops into the Canyon bottom, too far below to see. The following day we kept more height along the escarpment edge out to Pulpit Rock - a stack projecting out into the valley, with 360deg views across to red & ochre coloured vertical sandstone cliffs. We crossed Govetts Leap Brook by stepping stones just before the water gushed out over the edge of the cliff. At Govetts Leap Lookout we could see a rainbow forming in the spray of nearby Horseshoe Falls. It was still hot by evening so we barbied steak outside enjoying the shade of gum trees.
We introduced Ian & Janet to Katoomba, & the view of the 3 Sisters pinnacles from Echo point. We clambered down the almost vertical Giants Stairway to the Dardenelles along under overhanging sandstone cliffs & on into Leura Forest, where fallen gum trees had blocked the path in places. Our way back up to the escarpment was via Lila Falls - getting a welcome cooling shower of water at several crossing points on the way, & a fortunate glimpse of a male Superb Lyrebird with his exotic tail feathers. The waterfalls are bronze coloured because of the iron minerals in the water, & tree ferns have sunlight pouring through their fronds.
In the evening we took the wind-up torch provided in the eco lodge & went looking for nocturnal mammals. We spotted a small fella that we thought was a baby possum until it 'flew' from one tree to another, & we realised it was a Sugar Glider, like a little squirrel with furry 'wings'.
The heatwave continues with temperatures in the mid 30s so we chose a walk under the cliffs through shady woods. We followed a stream the colour of golden syrup where red lobster like creatures lurked. A notice barred our way saying the path was blocked by a rock fall. We sidled past along a wooded walk which then became a cliff ledge. We were looking for the Beauchamp Falls. Just as we could hear its rush of water below we rounded a corner to discover the massive recent rock fall had indeed taken the path, & a swath of trees with it. The newly fallen rock was sharp clean lumps of sandstone in contrast to the older mossy worn crags. We accept defeat & head back up worn stone steps, watching Rufous Fantails flycatching on the way. In the evening we barbeque Barramundi & do our best to finish off the wine box as tomorrow is our last full day in the Blue Mountains. Mike & I are heading then to the beaches S of Sydney; Janet & Ian are getting the train back to Sydney for a flight to Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef & the Daintree Rainforest.
26. The Blue Mountains to Jervis Bay (08/01 to 15/01/09)
TIGER WOODS.....!
Our last night in The Eco Lodge it poured with rain most of the night, but ceased before we set off back down the hill to PENRITH. We paused for coffee & muffins after about 18 miles, near the railway line so we could wave at Janet & Ian as they passed in their train from Blackheath to Sydney. In fact I didn't spot any passengers in the double decker train, but the driver appreciated my star jumps & frantic waving, giving me a cheery hoot. (Janet & Ian have emailed to say they saw us cycling from their train & waved but we didn't see them - I waved at the wrong train - theirs was a few minutes later!)
Penrith Town Hall shuts at 4.00, but we were still able to make use of their wifi internet outside the front door. Then we went to the fantasic foodhall where hot dishes of all sorts are available, choosing Morrocan Lamb & Beef in black bean sauce to take back to the camp kitchen. We tried out our new 'sporks' (half spoon, half fork) as a change from chopsticks - a bit less messy.
It was more by luck than judgement that we cycled the famous GRAND PACIFIC DRIVE on a Sunday, meaning we were free to enjoy the fabulous twisting road down to the coast without being hassled by lorries. Being a very scenic route though, there were lots of groups of Sunday motorcyclists & more cycle racers than we have seen before, all in their lycra club colours. The SEACLIFF BRIDGE section is where the cliff hugging road was replaced in 2005 after it had been closed for 2 years because of continual rock falls from the impressive sandstone cliffs. The 'bridge' is where the road has been moved out of the way of rockfalls, built on legs over the ocean. There is a cycle path all along so we could safely stop & enjoy the view. Of the string of lovely low key seaside resorts we chose BULLI to make camp, by lunchtime, right on the beach & cycle path. It is gloriously hot, but a storm is forecast.
An evening shower but no storm & next morning hot & sunny as we cycled down the coast on cycle paths for 10 miles, passing lovely beaches until industrial WOLLONGONG. Even here a cycle route found a green way past coal shipping wharves, then an enormous steelworks - the biggest industrial buildings we have ever seen by far. Soon we were by unspoilt beach again at the horseshoe shaped Perkins Bay where tinnies were bobbing silently as their owners fished. There were 5 small flat uninhabited islands just offshore. Then inland along the shore of ILLAWARRA LAKE, home to hundreds of Black Swans & Pelicans. Out to the sea again, camping on a clifftop site, overlooking 2 surfing beaches at KIAMI. 2 little girls in the next tent had made kites which blew very well in the onshore breeze.
We carry on following the coast until 7 mile beach - a totally unspoilt boomerang of sand, backed by the trees of 7 Mile National Park. Here we head E for another explore inland, through the charming historic one street town of BERRY & up the steep Kangaroo Valley Road. Though protected from the sun by the woods, the heat still gets to us as it soars to 35degs, causing us to dismount as we negotiate a particularily tortuous bend. Just as we the round the corner on foot, a darkly marked snake, about 1.5 m long, slithers out of the verge right in front of us. It hesitates, glares at us & then slowly sidewinds across the tarmac. We flag down the oncoming pickup truck so he doesn't flatten him, & I get a photo. The grizzled Ausi driver in out-back uniform stetson & chequered shirt tells us the snake is a 'tiger', (only a really venomous snake!). We feel relieved & jolly brave at the same time as it disappears into the other verge. It's then I remember that earlier I had been sitting on the verge having a break!
Eventually we reach a coll (535m) & begin a hair-raising descent down a steeply twisting, potholed road. There are a few safe stopping places in farm gates where the honesty stalls offer herbs and flowers. Then the 2nd mirage of our cycling jaunts (the other was a cold beer selling barn up a remote hot Swiss valley). In a farm entrance was a fudge coloured fridge under a fudge coloured umbrella &, you've guessed, inside was - fudge. From the wide range of flavours we chose orange - & it was the best ever.
At the bottom we were in KANGAROO VALLEY - spectacularily pretty (photo) with cow pastures, traditional wooden farm houses & babbling streams. The small campsite is almost hidden amongst trees beside the Kangaroo River. A 100yr old suspension bridge crosses the river here, with fragile wooden decking. Lorries are warned to go one at a time.
The river does not flow to the coast here giving us an easy route out, but heads inland to join a bigger waterway. So to carry on S we have to climb again, this time Cambewarra Mountain, at the summit of which we are rewarded with spectacular views back into the valley & S to miles of forest, & the distant coast. We head for 1 of many beach campsites at HUSKISSON on beautiful JERVIS BAY. The little town is buzzing with holidaymakers, but there is plenty of room for all on the long stretchs of sand & rockpools. My Mum will be interested to learn that a George Dent (my Dad's name) started a successful boatyard here in the 1870s, making use of the massive amount of local timber. In 1964 the greatest naval disaster in peacetime Australia occurred here when Aircraft Carrier 'HMAS Melborne' cut the Destroyer 'The Voyager' in half with the loss of 82 lives.
To take advantage of the scorching weather we stay here 2 days, doing the washing & visting nearby beaches & lakes. We also chat to our German neighbour with 2 small girls. They are moving house from Perth to Sydney, which will take the furniture van 10 days, so are holidaying on the way in a campervan.
Continuing S down the coast over the next few days.
27. Jervis Bay to Cann River (15/01 to 23/01/09)
UNEXPECTED HOSPITALITY......
This morning papers have front page photos of bushfires getting too close for comfort to N Sydney, due to really high temperatures; 43 deg in Sydney! Fortunately no fatalities. A bit cooler for us along the coast as we proceed S, pausing to take a look at picture-perfect George Basin. A big lake just in from the coast, it's ringed with woodland, the shore line blissfully undeveloped, just a few little wooden jetties & timber houses hidden in the bush. A couple of chaps are fishing from their canoes. Its an undulating route as we cross lots of creeks. We have cycled over hundreds of creeks in Oz - all of them named - with so many they find it difficult to come up with original names so there have been lots of kangaroo creeks, crocodile creeks, 1, 2 & 3 mile creeks, etc. It was very satisfying, therefore, to have our sandwiches at the side of 'Luncheon Creek'!
Leaving quiet cycle paths we have to join the busy Princes Highway (photo). It's a main route between Sydney & Melbourne, so as expected we encounter a few more touring cyclists. One couple were pushing their bikes through roadworks the opposite way to us. They had been 'on the road' 20 months, from Germany. We camp on another lovely headland near Warden Head lighthouse at ULLADULLA, surrounded by noisy Kookaburras. There is a small harbour here full of commercial fishing boats & a sizeable fishmarket.
After 10 miles on the Princes Highway the next day we turn off onto the Old Highway, for some peace. It is unsurfaced & rough, so a bit slower, but empty of cars, through lovely shady woods & as a bonus, we see our first Bronze Winged Dove. As we enter BATEMANS BAY we spot the powerboat 'Earthrace' which has been on the telly recently. It has broken a round-the -world record & is promoting an eco message as it is run on recycled cooking oil, amongst other things.
From Batemans we follow a quiet road along the coast, taking in the view of offshore islands at pretty GUERILLA BAY. At MORUYA there is an old wooden wharf where top grade granite was shipped from the riverside quarry up the coast to build Sydney Harbour Bridge. The campsite is in a particularily lovely spot, the river on one side, pastures on the other, backed by Mount Mongamula & Deua National Park.
By back roads the next morning to the impossibly tranquil village of CONGO. We disturbed a heron as we passed the mirror like river & 2 boys fishing from their tinnny waved at us. Our way S from here is an unsurfaced woodland track, meeting just a couple of cars who thankfully slow right down so they don't envelope us in dust. We pick up a fabulous cycle path hugging the shore with views of a rugged coast line of rocky headlands interspersed with empty yellow beaches. We have seen a lot of beautiful coast in Oz, but have been blown away with the unspoilt beauty of all this stretch south of Ulludulla.
We were assured by the campsite manger at Moruya that we will be amazed at the colour of the water at NAROOMA. Sure enough, at our first glimpse of the bay there we both took off our sunglasses as we thought they were distorting the hue, but no, it really is an incredible dark turquoise. Perhaps its something in the water but the campsite at Narooma is the friendliest yet. We had just put up the tent with a view of the beach, when our neighbours opened their Esky (coolbox) and brought out the beers & Chardonney. They had been holidaying there for 34 years so knew everyone on site & invited them to meet us. We were a group of about 20 when, after a few hours of drinking, we thought it best to dilute the alcohol with some food so had a jolly communal barby, throwing on all sorts from steak to potatos, kingfish & spicy kebabs. Folks brought out great bags of local fresh oysters which they just flung down their throats raw. By 10.30 they had introduced us to a toxic cocktail called a 'cowboy', an exotic mix of schnaps & Baileys. We slept like logs!
The next day S we took a little detour inland to look at the National Trust village of TILBA. It was only 1 street but the general store, village hall, hotel etc, were all little historic gems. Our eye was also taken by a caravan being towed through -the registration was "Lovshak" and even its brakelights were heart shaped! The next village was called Tilba Tilba! After this past wonderful lakes and over some on narrow wooden bridges. At lake Walaga we stopped to chat to a couple towing an off-road caravan. They own an aggregate haulage company and had taken early retirement, to the amazement of their sons, who they had left running the business & supplying them with a pension.
We tarried too long chatting so we got caught in a tremendous thunderstorm in the afternoon in the Bega valley, about 10 miles short of the next campsite. We pulled off the road at the first available entrance & sheltered, ineffectively, under the large plastic bags we had transported the bikes in on the plane. A car drove in through the driveway after 20mins, & then reversed back down to us. Inside was the smallholder, Andrew, who invited us to stay in his cabin beside his house. What a stroke of luck! The cabin looked like a garden shed from outside, but was fitted out with a big bedroom & a kitchen-diner on the covered terrace. Perfect.
The storm continued but eased in the evening. As we sat on the terrace having our tea a small group gathered to watch us -Jessie, their tiny white terrier, a family of 4 grey kangaroos, a magnificent cockerel & his harem, & lots of purple swamphens from the lake. Eventually Jessie could contain herself no more & rushed round in an excited circle, scattering all the others, the kangaroos running off in that zigzag way they do.
We were off early the next day through undulating woodland. A ute pulled over & waited for us. It was a builder wearing a very fetching old pink hat. He wanted to pick our brains about cycling Australia as he & a mate were planning their first long trip, from Darwin to Perth. He also recommended our next camp, between the river & the beach at Twofold Bay, EDEN, our last stop in NSW. At the end of this gorgeous arc of sand is a stone tower, built in the mid 1800s and used as a lookout by whale hunters.
Our last day in NSW was up and down through East Boyd State Forest. At the bottom of the first hill a 'Lycra' whizzing downhill shouted over "Douglas 300m",but we couldn't see anywhere called Douglas on the map. We passed the State border into Victoria then 14k to the tiny dot of a place GENOA. There was a very basic campsite with cold showers of bore water, but convivial company. The other campers included Dave & Pat in their 'Loveshak' & Douglas, a 73 yr old cyclist towing a trailer. It was he who had been 300m in front and had stayed so all day. He is cycling round Oz for his 2nd time!
The only eating opportunity in Genoa was the café, where the German proprietress said she could prepare a schnitzel for us at 5pm, leaving her time to watch TV afterwards. She had just finished preparing our meal when the village electrics failed, as apparently it often did, so the owner chatted to us instead of watching TV. She was from Berlin & the café was her project after retirement from her career as a quarry lorry driver.
We were away early next morning as we were running out of water so wanted to beat the heat. The next village & watering hole was 47k at CANN RIVER, & although Douglas had given us at least a mile head start, he caught up with us just as we got there.
Heading towards Cape Conran & then W across the S Victoria next. Hope to pick up the East Gippsland Rail Trail soon - looking forward to that.
28. Cann River to Leongatha (23/01 to 29/01/09)
IT AIN'T HALF HOT, MUM......!!!
CANN RIVER is a prosperous little place due to the employment provided by a Timber Mill, which explains why so many double length logging lorries have been roaring past us for that last 2 days. We have to stay on the Princes Highway now for approx 30 miles, one of the worst roads we have been for a while -very busy, no dual carriageway or shoulder, & lots of blind corners. We have probably picked a particularily bad day anyway as it is the end of the summer hols - so like August Bank holiday back home.
It was a great relief to turn off it & head for the coast down the Wilderness Route. The only caravan to turn off & follow us was 'The Loveshak', a brilliant surprise to meet up with Dave & Pat again for a chat. Dave has just bought a fishing permit for Victoria & is looking forward to catching his tea. At CAPE CONRAN it was soon evident there had been a bad storm as there were fallen trees & branches everywhere. A local at the beach told us a mini-tornado had swept through 2 nights ago. Just offshore waves were breaking over the shipwrecking 'Beware Reef'.
Further E along the quiet coast road we had lovely views of Frenchs Narrows (like Slapton in Devon but the scale of Chesil Beach in Dorset UK) where an enormous spit of sand has created a lagoon at the mouth of the Snowy River. At MARLO a succession of local fishermen hauled their boats up the launching ramp, & a man on the peirhead caught fish after fish. This is the home of the Paddle Steamer Curlip, which has just been rebuilt by local enthusiasts. The original used to tow barges & take passengers up & down the river until a flash flood in 1919 sadly swept it out to sea (the Bass Straits) & it was wrecked.
We followed the 'Railtrail' cycle path from the pretty little historic town of ORBOST through woodland for 50 miles. Despite it being a holiday & beautiful weather, we met only 2 other groups of cyclists all day. The enormous impressive wooden old railway bridges are still in place. The very neat little campsite at BRUTHEN was right by the cycle path & a brilliant old hotel serving plate size tender steaks. If we had forgotten that next day was Australia day, we were reminded at breakfast when a microlight flew over towing a vast Australia flag. It did a few patriotic circuits of the village & then buzzed off.
The Railtrail continued the next day, then we took flatish, quiet country roads through sheep & cattle farms. We have seen lots of big Wombat burrows & sad roadkill corpses, but no live ones yet. Our next overnight stop was at historic little STRATFORD on the Avon river, where, naturally, they hold a Shakespeare Festival every spring. Only 2 years ago the river flooded & the campsite owner showed us startling pictures of the caravan park & most of the village under several feet of water.
The papers & TV all say that this week Victoria is in for the worst heatwave since records began, due to be over 40 degs. Tuesday wasn't too bad, but we couldn"t stop in the countryside as our pesky friend, the Oz fly, was out in numbers, filling our mouths and eyes if we paused, but strangely they are not a problem near habitation. We chose for our morning stop HEYFIELD, 1 shop & a couple of houses, but 4 big timber yards. Acres of sawn timber, & tree trunks piled high were being sprayed with water, presumably to prevent them splitting in the heat. The men of Heyfield have taken dressing-down to a new level. Instead of investing in namby-pamby summer shirts, they have just ripped the sleeves out of their winter lumberjack numbers - a frayed (or distressed?) look.
I have to admit we were feeling the heat when, after 63 miles, we passed HAZELWOOD Powerstation & reached a camp on the edge of a great dammed lake. This is used by the coal-fired station to remove heat from its boilers. Boys were taking an evening dip in water that is, we are told, an unnatural 28 degs. We watched a White-bellied Sea Eagle effortlessly scoop a fish from the lake & take it to an island tree to eat. We wonder if the fish is par-boiled.
In the morning steam is rising from the lakes surface. The thermometers are expected to reaching a whopping 41 degs in the shade today, so we depart early to get our trip completed by midday. Along quiet country roads we roll into our destination, the town of LEONGATHA, at lunchtime. The tarmac is melting, the cheese in our sandwiches is melting, & the metal of our bikes is too hot to touch. We read in the paper that the heat is playing havoc with the Tennis Australia Open in Melbourne, with top seeds like Djokovic throwing in the towel as they can't cope with the temperatures. This makes me feel that perhaps we are not such wimps after all. Our thermometer registers 44deg in the shade, so it must be more than 50degs in the sun.
Currently on our way to Newhaven on Phillip Island, & then on to Jeanne & Roly's for the weekend. After days in the bush of Victoria we have at last found wifi (photo) in the mining town of WONTHAGGI.
29. LEONGATHA to MELBOURNE (29/01 to 04/02/09)
REUNIONS.....
At LEONGATHA, in the cool of the evening, we watched the qtr finals of the tennis between Simon & Nadal in the camp rec room. We shared this with a retired Swiss couple who had only a week ago left their home under 2m of snow. Mr Swiss was not aclimatised, so took off his shirt & lay spreadeagled outside on the grass, in the dark. If it weren't for the strict water restrictions in Victoria, I would have turned the sprinklers on the poor man.
At dawn the temperature had already reached over 30. It was an easy level run to WONTHAGGI, who proudly boast they are the state coalmining centre. We at last accessed our emails here - Swiss Martin, the Border Guard, telling us he now has flu from working outside in subzero temperatures. We pick up the sandy Railtrail again here through parched cattle farms to the coast at KILCUNDA, where the village has thoughtfully provided a pavilion & water. We put the the bikes in this shade & I run across the sand to stand in the cooling surf, fully clothed. Mike, more sensibly, changes into his swimmers, thereby not soaking his passport & money belt as I did. There are fine views of Philip Island, SE of Melbourne.
We decide to shelter from the ridiculous heat for a while, so I have time to change into dry clothes & wash my cycling gear. After hanging them on the seaside fence for 10 mins they're completely dry. By mid afternoon, even in the shade with a breeze, the mercury registers 45degs, so we continue to the nearest pub & watch a ladies tennis semi in air con (with a couple of cold stubbies). They have seen sense at last at the Melbourne Open & closed the roof on the Rod Laver Stadium, to prevent tennis players & spectators alike expiring. The papers say the heat is causing misery for Melbourne commuters as the rail tracks buckle & trains are cancelled. Outside the pub the road surface is literally melting - not a good time to cycle.
By evening it is cool enough for us to carry on, over the road bridge to PHILIP ISLAND, & spend the night at NEWHAVEN. We are off at daybreak next morning to make sure we can comfortably circumnavigate the island in the cool. It is the size & shape of the Isle of Wight, so not surprisingly the main town is called COWES! With such an attractive rocky coastline & sandy bays, the properties are mostly holiday homes, either traditional small timber bungalows or modern glass fronted houses with fab views. Its not overdeveloped though; still plenty of open space, where it's somehow odd to see kangaroos among sand dunes.
Mid-morning we rest in shade by the beach of pretty Cowes, until the evening ferry. Smoke billows from bush fires gripping the distant Gippsland area of Victoria, & we learn later 30 homes were destroyed. It is only a foot ferry to the mainland, so we have to manhandle the laden bikes down metal steps, & then frustratingly they insist on us unloading the bikes to carry them on, a lot of hassle for no real reason, as the boat is nearly empty.
We enjoy lovely views, sitting on top deck in the evening sunshine. The ferry passes 2 oil rigs resting from exploratory drilling in the Bass Straits. Their search was fruitless according to the young crewman. Our boat calls at French Island on the way. This sand island is mainly Nat Park & looks uninhabited, so we were surprised that 2 couples got off with their supermarket shopping. With Jeanne's brilliant directions we easily find our way from the little jetty at Stony Point to their rented house, S of Melbourne, at FRANKSTON, & a very jolly talkative reunion.
In the morning Mike services R&J's bikes, which R had economically purchased for a total of $100 - they now have working gears, inflated tyres & no excuse not to get out there on the local Rail Trail. We were then chauffered around the Mornington Peninsula by R&J, stopping for coffee at the village of Flinders where teams of Saturday Lycras were also resting, then to a coastal Bushrangers walk at Cape Schank with splendid views of the lighthouse & an egg-shaped stack, Pulpit Rock. A massive black basalt shelf protrudes into the waves, in contrast to the crumbling red & cream sandstone of the surrounding peninsula. There are vineyards & plenty of ripe strawberries to buy at farm gates, though the fields are all looking very parched. We have panoramic views from Arthurs Seat at 305m. It is definitely beginning to cool at last with a comfortable light breeze.
Roly elects to visit the Boat Show on Sunday while the rest of us hop on the train to sightsee, starting at the city's heart, Federation Sq., a rather zany array of modern architecture housing the Horse Racing Museum, Centre for Moving Image & Ian Potter Centre. We have been so looking forward to visiting the nearby National Gallery of Victoria & are not disappointed. I love the strong, simple building, which you enter behind a waterfall, & the European collection was far more rich & varied than we could have hoped - Manet, Rembrandt, Turner, Gainsborough, Constable, Lowry & Pissaro, to name a few. The gallery was particularily brave to have hanging 2 paintings they had purchased as Canelettos & subsequently found they were not! We were pleased to see 2 life oils by Joshua Reynold RA, as he is probably the only famous person ever to come from our old home of Plympton near Plymouth. As a brilliant bonus the English China collection included stunning Doulton, Minton, & Meissen; with a few examples of old poor Wedgewood who has just gone into receivership due to the recession.
Roly joined us for a Tourist Shuttle bus tour of the CBD, reporting the Boat Show to have been disappointingly small, some exhibitors pulling out at late notice, blaming the economic gloom. The bus paused beside the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, the University, bustling Queen Victoria Market & passed down Lygon St, the Italian district, where a large image of a cyclist caught our eye. This is the Olympic cycling gold medalist Bosari, who was racing in Oz when WW2 broke out. As he could not go home, he established a bike shop here. The tour then takes in the Docklands regeneration project of marinas, shops & offices, similar to the London equivalent, including its smaller version of the London Eye - The Southern Star. The bus driver commentator didn't mention that this is not operating as the recent heat has buckled some of the metal struts.
We enjoy lots of laughs & a great dinner at Dee & Brian's Mount Martha house (photo L to R - Roly, Jeanne, Sue, Brian, Dee), introducing them to J&R & catching up on each others news. (You may remember we met D&B when camping at Airlie Beach). Jeanne and Roly only had 1 contact in Melbourne when they arrived, Heather, who turns out to know Dee & Brian too - how spooky is that in a city of 4 million? We also learn that the word 'bungalow', in Oz, doesn't mean 'single storey house' as in UK, but 'Granny annex'- (in the blog I use the English sense)
Our 2nd foray into Melbourne CBD was even more exciting than the 1st trip, starting at The Ian Potter Australian Art Gallery, Fed Sq. Mr Potter, the philantropist, must have had such deep pockets, as the building is very high spec with a collection of truly impressive range & quality. We were delighted to encounter more Streeton, Cossington-Smith, Drysdale & Smart. Syd Nolan was well represented too, but sadly we still don't appreaciate his offerings.
From here we ambled through bustling Chinatown, with little shops & eateries, to more Art at the sumptious State Library. Old oils & photos of developing Melbourne were fascinating, & we hung out over balustrades to look down on the gracious domed reading room. Notorious Ned Kelly's story, armour & death mask were attention grabbing.
This weekend the 4 of us are off to NW Tasmania for a few days exploring, then next week we resume our pedalling around the coast towards Adelaide.
30. MELBOURNE & TASMANIA (04/02 to 09/02/09)
One afternoon we swam in the shallow warm sea off Mills Beach, MORNINGTON. A row of around 80 traditional wooden beach huts backs the beach, every colour of the rainbow, some painted with casual PopArt pics (photo).
Sat morning the four of us we left the house before dawn to catch the early flight to Northern TASMANIA for the weekend. As the Virgin Blue plane came into land at LAUNCESTON airport, we noticed strange circular field patterns, shaped to accommodate the spokewheel irrigators. We headed W in a hire car through the COG Mountains Range on the 3 Tiers Tourist route, surprised by how parched the grasslands were. We had a brief shower of rain, the first we had seen for weeks. "This is a working forest" a notice proclaimed, meaning, I suppose, they cut it down periodically for profit, particularily Blue Gum trees, their silvery leaves standing out amongst the other, duller greens.
At DEVONPORT we had arranged to meet Sarah & Hans, German postgrade gappies who had cycled some of Queensland with us before catching the train. They have found work in Tassie being paid by the metre for weeding, by the bucket for raspberry picking & by the tree for pruning apples. We had coffee with them at Tasmania Backpackers, a rather dour block of rooms but with a happy cosmopolitan atmosphere inside. They earned extra dollars running the reception here, & have now saved enough money to hire a camper van to tour the outback. They also spent some cash replacing their leaking tent with a more expensive model, but already have holes eaten in it by termites! This fills us with horror.
We carried on along the coast to the village of PENGUIN, named for the Fairy Penguins who come ashore to their burrows in the evening. Then we enjoyed a cliff top walk to TABLE CAPE Lighthouse, just before the peace was spoiled by a coach of sightseers. On next to STANLEY, at the foot of the NUT. This large impressive hard lump of BASALT protrudes into the waves providing a great viewpoint of the coast. The flat top is riddled with Shearwater burrows, & we disturbed Wallabies & Bandicoots feeding under bushes. Decades ago, 5000lbs of dynamite was put in the rockface to blow out stone for the quay, but it didn't shift. Twelve years later, the fractures caused by the explosion suddenly caused 200,000 tons of rock to collapse. Not best quarrying practice.
Stanley is old worldly, full of wooden clapper board buildings & quaint churches. Tassie is rightly famous for seafood, so we don't resist the yummy creamy chowder served at the old hotel. We spend the night at nearby CRAYFISH CREEK in a wooden cabin, somewhat fatigued (the cabin, that is) but clean & with very comfy beds. We watch with horror the drama unfold on the television news of the fierce fires burning throughout Victoria. At the time of writing 108 people are confirmed dead but burnt out houses have not yet been searched, 700 hundred homes & at least 3 schools are lost. This is the worst fire in the history of Australia.The beautiful historic small town of Maryville NE of Melbourne has been wiped out. We think of kind Andrew who rescued us from the thunderstorm, as he lives in a wooden house in the Bega Valley (NSW) where fire is sweeping through. Unbelievably it is reported some of the blazes were started by arsonists.
We head for DISMAL SWAMP next day, where enormous trees & ferns grow in a damp valley, with crayfish living in burrows around the roots. J&R are very brave & whizz down to the bottom on a dropslide - the forest is still ringing with J's screams! From here we drive up a windy road to the marvellous MOUNT CRADLE National Pk. A magic landscape of the highest peaks in Tassie, a bit like Scotland with little lakes, forests, acres of button grass & something like myrtle bushes covered with white flowers. This is definitely one of the highlights of our Oz experience. To complete a wonderful day we at last saw some live echidnas! They curled up into balls of prickles at our approach but after a while they relax & carry on eating insects, searched out with their pointy snouts.
We spend the night in Launceston, exploring the beautiful TAMAR valley, seeing close views of ugly Musk Ducks with big black blobs hanging under their chins, and finally picturesque CATARACT GORGE.
Catching plane back to Melbourne now.
(All items below copyright of Susan & Michael Booth)
31. MELBOURNE to PRINCETOWN (09/02 to 15/02/09)
BOTH SIDES OF THE BASS STRAITS......
There were clear views of Tasmania from the plane as we take off, down the Tamar Valley, N to the coast. A farming area, mostly of sheep & dairy cows, with the occasional pocket of alpacas or strangely tall goats. Nearer the river are vineyards, cherry orchards & strawberry fields, all protected from birds or bats by netting. We have seen veggie crops on our travels here too, acres of potatoes & onions, but also poppies - which we guess are grown for their seed. The miles of empty white beaches are our final glimpse of an area of Oz we would all like to visit again. (Photo - Cradle Mountain, Tasmania).
Wednesday we bid a fond farewell to Jeanne & Roly, so grateful for their hospitality & great company on our trip to Tasmania. We follow the Nepean Highway, then pick up the Bay Trail, a sandy off-road route all along the coast, passing wooden jetties, beach huts & turquoise seas, out W onto the Mornington Peninsula. At SORRENTO we stay close to the beach at the house of Jane & Phil, who we met camping at Narooma. They show us the picturesque area around this end of the Peninsula, the choppy Bass Strait on one side, & sandy beaches of Port Philip Bay on the other. Jane prepares succulent roast lamb for dinner, shared withtheir neighbouring cycling friends, Aileen & Colin, who have some great experiences of tours in Europe to relate.
J&P had been going to camp at Wilson's Promentory, but this Nat park is closed due to a bushfire. Instead they head off to hone their golf skills at the local links course & we catch the 9 o'clock ferry from Sorrento, W, across to quaint little QUEENSCLIFF. As advised by J we take a short detour to the lighthouse at POINT LONSDALE. Pilots have boarded 2 of the big container ships waiting out at sea & they steer through the treacherous opening to the bay & on towards Melbourne. On quiet back roads we head W, through TORQUAY, to camp at ANGLESEA. An evening walk up the river, via sandy tracks & boardwalks is foreshortened as the water level is high, flooding the path & sloshing around the doors of boathouses.
The next morning begins the GREAT OCEAN RÐ proper as it winds along the top of salmon coloured cliffs, passed the headland with Split Point lighthouse. The road was built by some 3000 serviceman, returned from the WW1; a project to provide much needed employment & open up this area of glorious beaches for settlement & tourism. It was mainly untarmaced then, except a section near LORNE, specified to a higher standard by a local land owner who charged a toll to use it. There are lots of spots to pull over & enjoy the magnificent views of craggy headlands & sandy coves. At one of the few places where there are trees obscuring the view, koalas are asleep, high up, snuggled into crooks between branches & trunks. Taking advantage of the outlook, holiday homes are built precariously into the steep slopes above the road, one only balanced on top of a concrete column, like a storks nest.
The Saturday morning market is in full flow as we cycle through APPOLLO BAY. From here the road leaves the ocean, climbing inland through the wooded hills of GREAT OTWAY Nat Pk. As expected, its windy route makes it popular with weekend motorbikers. Just before we join the coast again is tiny PRINCETOWN. Perched high on a hill, it gives us views of the vast dunes between land & sea, & a reedbed lined river, from our grassy camp pitch.
Sunday onwards to "The Twelve Apostles"!
32. PRINCETOWN to MOUNT GAMBIER (15/02 to 19/02/09)
APOSTLES & SEALS.....
In the evening we follow boardwalks & sandy tracks through the reedbeds below our camp, where clouds of swallows insect catch, skimming the water. Over a wooden bridge, cricketers in whites cheer team mates at an Oval, strangely isolated from any settlement, surrounded by cornfields, where a large group of kangaroos graze.
We whizz down to the coast early, arriving at the famous "Twelve Apostles" by 8.30, before any coach parties mar the view. It's breathtaking, definitely exceeding our expectations (photo). Not only are there dramatic limestone stacks, but further on arches, bridges, cliffs & caves around every corner. It is all so well managed too, with carparks & the visitor centre all discretely well back from the cliff edge, leaving a pristine natural setting. Having only recently found the 'landscape' button on our camera, I take loads of shots, hoping with at least a few I'd managed to get a horizontal horizon!
A 20th century marketing man came up with the 'Apostles' tag, but it had previously been known as the more homely 'The Sow & Piglets'. As some of the stacks have, over time, disappeared under the waves, perhaps it is now an opportunity to rename the beauty spot something more wholly Australian. How about 'The Eight Stubbies'?
Having stopped every mile or so to take in different stunning coast views, we eventually got up speed passing through PORT CAMPBELL, then over a really flat area after PETERBOROUGH. We fairly sped along past farms of Fresians & Jerseys, with fir tree wind breaks at field edges. There was mainly only light traffic, but one commercial haulier was still busy, even though it was a Sunday - the double length milk tankers of Devondale Dairy thundered past us with monotonous regularity. We were not surprised to come across 'Dairy World', a visitor attraction dwarfed by it's neighbour, a giant cheese & butter factory. Apparently founded 100 years ago, but looking very 21st Century, with massive gleaming metal milk cylinders.
WARRNAMBOOL has a campsite on the outskirts with everthing we need, but being a big town, it's a bit of a drag cycling through the traffic next morning. Soon, though we're out in fields again, sheep as well as cattle now, &, a first for us in Oz, no gum trees! Perhaps gums don't florish in these thin limestone soils. PORT FAIRY, 20 miles on, is a charmer, somehow this 19thC fishing port has managed to keep all its historic buildings intact. Although a magnet for coach trips, they haven't let this ruin the town, which is still a genuine little working community. There are an unusual number of masonry, rather than timber buildings, with the stone cottages under metal corrugated roofs looking so Irish. We have photographed the concrete Giant Penguin & Giant Lobster in Tasmania, the Giant Peanut & Giant Ram in Queensland, so are very disappointed there was no Giant Fairy!
We stop at PORTLAND for 2 nights as we are making such good time & to explore Cape Bridgewater's walking trails. On the way in we pass Bay View farm, and can guess it's crop from 1km downwind - heavenly lavender. Our lovely campsite, by the lighthouse, overlooks the bay where there are ocean views to the E, but a view of a massive aluminium smelting works to the W! This is one of Australia's biggest export earners, & the reason the town looks so prosperous. Large flat- bed lorries head out of town with their valuable cargo of ingots piled high for all to see.
The chap in the adjacent caravan was at Byron Bay the same day we were (22 October), when we were peppered by those golfball size hailstones. He has had his car bodywork repaired, but his caravan still has all the pockmarks down the front. We head to a lovely old seafront hotel for dinner & discover its 'Seniors 10 dollar night', so very busy. However, as we are well on our way to becoming seniors, the restaurant staff take pity on us & give us a good discount!
On our 'day off ' we walk the sandy coastal path around Cape Bridgewater. The headland here is the highest cliff top in Victoria so extensive views back across Bridgewater Bay to the E and Discovery Bay to the W. There are also viewing platforms to look down onto the fur seal colony. About 500 seals live here on the dark basalt rock that juts out as their bathing platform. Its a non-breeding colony of immature seals, where they stay until they rejoin the main colonies & start their own families, on islands some 50k off shore. As you'd expect with youngsters on their gap year, they are all hanging around in big social groups doing very little, just floating on their backs with flippers in the air, occasionally stirring to ride the surf breaking on the headland rocks.
This is a part of the Great South West Walk, a loop which runs for 250km W from Portland. A little further along it is the so-called "Petrified Forest" - exposed limestone tubes the size & shape of tree trunks, but probably formed by a geological precipitation process (Mike wrote this bit - please try to stay awake!) In contrast to the natural scenery it is also the site for the biggest windfarm we've seen in Oz - perhaps the local smelting works needs a lot of extra juice? The only downside to this walk are the very irritating enormous biting flies.
We wake to yet another hot cloudless morning, when the Victorians would really love to see some much needed rain. In striking contrast Queensland & N. New South Wales are suffering from extensive flooding. Coffs Harbour & Bellingen, where we camped, are now under 6ft of water having had a years worth of rain in 15 hrs. Some communities are not expected to be accessible by road for another 4 weeks! When there is so much suffering we shouldn't complain, but this does mean there are no bananas in the shops; as the trucks can't get through on the flooded roads (& we do eat a LOT of bananas).
We are through an uninhabited area all day Wednesday - just forest, some bush, but mostly uniform fir, grown commercially. Where large sections have been logged there are views across vast tracts of dunes to the sea. An unrelenting head wind makes the hills hard work & there is very little shade as either side of the road is cu back for fire break. When we do stop to drink copiously we have to sit on the tarmac, as the verge is likely to be snakey. Fortunately the traffic is light, but sadly there is a high roadkill toll - mostly fresh kangaroo corpses- they may be searching around for water. Jeanne was telling us in Melbourne of perecorople reporting possums falling dead out of trees or approaching swimming pools, as they are so desperately short of watering holes.
We camp at NELSON 'the last vestige of civilisation before the SA border', as the Lonely Planet puts it. A sleepy village (pop 200) with a lovely spacious quiet site in the bush next to the river Glenelg. We record our first 'tick' for a while, a group of sparrow size Silvereyes are twittering around the bushes by our tent. Eating our dinner on the front lawn of the old Nelson hotel, we get chatting with 2 Oz blokes at the next table. They save a piece of their steak for bate &, as dusk falls, we all relocate to the nearby jetty to try our hand at fishing. A local has told them bass come into the rivermouth here to feed on whitebait, or so the theory goes. We leave them to it after a fruitless but merry 1/2 hr, & disturb a family of kangaroos, eating leaves off the bush by our tent. Their Joey is practicing his hops nearby, better than I would be with a trampoline!
Its a good job we didn't have any bananas as the border into South Australia is marked by a quarantine bin where you must deposit all fruit & veg. Not much further on we are spoilt for choice as to which quiet back road to take, & seeing us hesitate a passing cyclist stops to advise. Pete turns out to be a great help & invites us to have coffee & cake on the houseboat he is staying on. We follow him down a side road into the Glenelg River gorge, where a picturesque row of old wooden boat-huts on stilts edge the water. Pete is renovating a large houseboat for some friends & it is moored at the end boat-hut. We envy the lifesytle of the owners, what a laid-back existence.
Back on the road we are soon in MOUNT GAMBIER. The town is built on the slopes of an extinct volcanoe. We cycle all around the rim, looking down onto incredibly sapphire blue water.
Heading N tomorrow towards Adelaide.
33. MOUNT GAMBIER to ADELAIDE (19/02 to 27/02/09)
PINES & WINES.....
At the last count, we have completed more than 5,000 miles in Oz, the longest continuous tour we have done so far (with possibly another 2,000 to go!) From Mt Gambier, we have 2 choices going N, either the longer inland route to the wine region of Coonawarra, or along the scenic coast. So we compromise, heading to the first vineyards at Penola, then cutting across back to the coast.
Our coffee stop is TARPENA (pop 350) at the garage/shop/café. There is a brief history of the town on the fire station wall, with some notable dates - 1850 Tarpena is established, by 1860 it was a staging post for changing mail coach horses, 1902 the school was founded, not until 1960 did electricity arrive!, 2000 the Olympic torch passes through (were they lost?), 2004 Auspine employs 600, annually producing 650,000 cubic m of timber & 500,000 tonnes of woodchip, they have somehow calculated they are growing 10,000 tonnes of timber A DAY ! The pine forests are not as sterile as we supposed, for just out of town a group of emus race through the trees.
We reach PENOLA at lunchtime, camping in a small site used mainly by fruit pickers, quickly erect the tent, get the washing on the line, then head off to explore the COONAWARRA wine area. Far more compact than Hunter valley, we are able visit all the main vineyards in a few hours, Balnaves, Penfold, Punters Corner (on the road to the racecourse) & Winns to name just a few. Many are medal winners, especially for reds, with their smart marketing labeling this 'Australia's other Red Centre'. Winns was our favourite, as they had restored the lovely old stone buildings, & it would be difficult to improve on their smooth 2006 Shiraz, but at $75 a bottle we won't be bulk buying!
Penola town has numerous fine old buildings, but one street, Petticoat Lane, stands out. The National Trust have bought up some of the tiny mid 19th Century cottages here & restored them, with others lovingly preserved by occupiers. Information boards tell the stories of the original owners. One 3 room dwelling was built by Christopher & Ellen Sharam, who married when she was just 15, rearing 15 children. 3 died of childhood diseases & a 4th died falling from a Penny Farthing. Even the footpath kerbs have been retained - made of Red Gum; I don't recall seeing wooden kerbs anywhere else in the world.
Most of our fellow campers are Asian & at the 6am dawn set off in minibuses to bring in apple & onion harvests. We needed to be up & way early anyway as its 100km to the coast. The road is flat & straight the whole way, with no settlements, but at about midpoint there is quite a large school. It presumably serves the scattered sheep & cattle stations. The grasslands are so shrivelled, we can't think what the animals can find to eat. Our picnic stop is at the ruins of Kangaroo Inn, with cheese so delicious I have to give it a plug - produced by the Limestone Coast Cheese Co. at nearby Lucindale, it's a creamy Camembert, named 'Jackie White', after a renowned cheesemaker from pioneering times.
ROBE fronts a beautiful, long, sheltered beach & is also blessed with a wealth of historic properties from hotels to tiny cottages. After setting up camp, we walk the coastal path through sand dunes covered in salt-resistant shrubs. Everywhere are pretty pale pink flowers like our Sea Thrift. During the Goldrush, the state of Victoria tried to stop Chinese immigrants joining the fossicking, by levying a tax of them as they landed; undeterred the Chinese switched to this port of Robe, & thousands walked the 200 kms over the state border to the goldfields. There are memorials to them, as well as to those lost in the numerous wrecks along this shore.
Its only 30miles up the coast to our next pitch, right by the ocean at KINGSTON S.E. The sea is completely flat calm on this sheltered W facing shore, & the pristine white beach literally endless, as it disappears over the horizons to the N & S. Australia's only manned, off-shore lighthouse, from near Cape Jaffa, is relocated next to the campsite. Rescued from demolition by the local historical society, it looks vaguely like a Dutch windmill without sails. Just along the foreshore are the 3 wooden cottages of the lighthouse keepers who operated the lighthouse in rotation. We approached the town by quiet backroads, but inland the Princess Highway also skirts it, where Larry, the fibreglass Giant Lobster, is located, advertising the local delicacy & providing a photo opportunity (photo).
It must have been a nightmare navigating these waters 150 years ago, with so much of it unchartered. Around this time the poor "Margaret Brock" foundered just off Kingston on an unmarked reef. Happily all the 51 passengers (including 5 children) made it to dry land & then WALKED all the way back home to Adelaide. It took them 11 days. They knew how to toughen up the kids in those days!
There seems to have been a Winnebego convention S of us this weekend as, proceeding N, we are passed by dozens of them, some really big rigs towing small cars. A few of them & caravaners toot & wave as they pass. I'm thinking of putting a sign on the back of my bike reading "don't just toot, stop and make us a cuppa!" It's an undulating 95k, through sand dunes & cattle stations, to the next civilisation at SALT CREEK, which is exactly what it says on the label, a salty inlet floating with black swans. There is only 1 building, a friendly roadhouse, which we camp behind. They have rigged up a tarpaulin out the back, sheltering their cast off table, chairs & barbie; the most rudimentary but characterful of camp kitchens.
With a clear, star-saturated sky, it's a surprisingly cold night, down to single figures, but a lovely temperature for pedalling by the time we are on our way next morning. On N, through COORONG Nat pk. the road runs along the shore of Albert Lake, which is separated from the sea by high dunes. All the other smaller lakes are completely dried up, just white cracked mud, showing where they used to be. On the shore of L. Albert is the occasional faded metal or timber 2 room cottage. They sag slightly between their crude stone chimneys & room size metal rainwater tanks.
We are watching plump Shelduck feeding on a sandy spit, when a campervan joins us. The grey nomads are on their way to a Disc Bowls Convention at Port Augustus. Mr Nomad is delighted to educate us with the minutia of the rules of the game (which seems to be the same as bowls but using a wooden frisbee instead of a bowl). Mrs Nomad brings him out a mug of tea whilst he is in full flow, but, as she doesn't offer us one, we make our excuses and depart.
A pause for coffee at tidy little MENINGIE. Its 2 old wooden jetties are now no use for boat landing or fishing as the water level of Lake Albert is so reduced that they reach out only halfway down the foreshore. It used to be busy with paddlesteamers, ferrying passengers & cargoes of wool up down the lake. There was only one tiny piece of shade along the 30miles inland from Meningie to TAILEN BEND, so thanks to the Brinkley Sheep Station which had planted 2 little trees by their letterbox, as it enabled us to stop in the cool at lunchtime.
The campsite on the shores of the great MURRAY RIVER at TAILEM BEND is, like its owner, ageing & a little decrepit. They do have, though, a large avery, housing every type of Oz parrot, & it was interesting to compare them all in size as they are never seen together in the bush. By far the biggest, the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo is the size of a big seagull whilst the dainty Rosella is no larger than a blackbird. The BEND in the place name comes from the big wide loop in the Murray River.
There is no bridge, so next morning we are welcomed aboard the little cable ferry, "The Albatross", by the one man crew, to cross to the quieter shore. Guessing our way along farm lanes, past horses, calves eating breakfast hay & a cow giving birth, we head NW. Our destination is HAHNDORF, only because it has a campsite & is within easy striking distance of Adelaide. Hahndorf is a bit of a theme park, being the oldest German settlement in Oz, & attracting Japanese tour buses to inspect the kitsch German shops & houses. The Japanese wear hi-viz waiscoats, persumably to prevent them from being run over when they stand in the road to photograph something. I expect the German Lutherans who founded the town, when escaping Prussian persecution, chose this location as it is a bit like their hilly home & a good spot to raise vines.
Through some more 'normal' pretty hill villages in the morning; Bridgewater, Aldgate, Stirling & at Crafers pick up a dedicated cycle path. At 510m, there are fine views of Adelaide stretched out at the base of the hills & the Gulf of St Vincent beyond. We whizz down, past the old stone toll house to the Torrens River, much depleted by the drought, & a very central little camp. It's fully booked but as usual there is always a corner to put our tent in.
The car reg plates of South Australia carry the tag "The Festival State", & true to form, Adelaide is very busy for the next few weeks with "The Fringe" (like Edinburgh), a Caravan & Camping Exhibition, "Womadelaide" (live music), & "Clipsal 500" (cars racing through the city streets ). This last sounds like a legalised version of what happens in most modern cities these days! It is not scheduled until the 3rd wk of March, but banks of raked seating are already in place on the route, reminding us of the similar setup for Running of the Bulls in many NE Spanish towns! The couple in the super large campervan next to us are exhibitors at the Cara & Camp Exhibition, as sole distributors for 'Rocktamers' - roughy-toughy giant mudflaps.
There are many elegant old buildings in the city, including terraces of arcaded shops & old balconied hotels, but the 'earthier' side is represented by such as the 'The Squatters Arms Hotel', promising 'Saturday night Strippers & Sausage Sizzle' - surely an accident waiting to happen?
More on Adelaide to follow.
34. ADELAIDE to JAMESTOWN (27/02 to 04/03/09)
SPIDERWOMAN......!
Adelaide's Botanic garden is a triumph - the 2002 building housing the Rainforest exhibit, like a glass & metal armadillo, contrasting with the elegant Regency Palm House (photo). There are Amazon Waterlillies with leaves the size of elephants ears, & a thriving rose garden, amongst so much more. It's an easy walk from here to Australia's National Wine Centre, where a viewing platform looks down onto a vast wine-filled cellar, & an exhibition showcases the grape varieties.
Back to camp for a barbie with our neighbours & 2 other Caravan & Camping Show exhibitors (the latters product is a hose tidy). We fill the recycling container with an embarrassing number of empties & store our food in the outside food larder of Jo and Dave's motorhome, as a Possum from the adjoining park has discovered us & is showing too much interest.
Our next wander around the City's delights takes in the impressive Neo-Gothic buildings of the University, the buzzing main shopping area (Rundle Street), & the Asian food court beneath David Jones. Then the highlight of our visit - the State Art Gallery where there are a feast of European & Oz artists, including enough Streeton, Smart & Cossington-Smith to satisfy even us. The famous "Evening Shadows" by Johnson, depicting statuesque grand old gum trees, hangs in pride of place. Our last evening we sought out the Chinese quarter behind Central Market, eating an authentic Chinese meal in a tiny restaurant with a kitchen the size of a broom cupboard - delicious.
It wasn't too difficult navigating our way N out of the city, through the treelined suburbs of Prospect, then some sprawling, stalled developments, before gradually the landscape was taken over by stud farms, olive groves & vineyards. Its "Cleanup Sunday", so groups of good-hearted neighbours are picking up litter around their streets. The BAROSSA VALLEY wine area proper starts at the accurately named SANDY CREEK, & vines soon come thick & fast, with by far the biggest acreage owned by "Jacobs Creek". It was very satisfying to find this mass market label is named after the real little creek that runs through the estate, & not dreamed up by some marketing man.
We camped at a lovely grassy site by the very German Lutheran town of TANUNDA. It manages somehow to escape touristy kitsch, even though it is a magnet to wine buffs, & we love the old German cottages & original town centre - Goat Square. On a quick tour of the many wineries the next morning, Langmeil stood out as particularily attractive with all its preserved old stone buildings & an overpowering, heady aroma of red wine. Penfolds, at NURIOOTPA, was a bit of a disappointment, being uncompromisingly a vast factory. Opposite their 'Cellar Door' is brilliantly kitted Nuriootpa town library, mostly sponsored by the local vine producers. The very helpful librarian let us become members, providing us with a password which allows free internet access at any S.A. Library.
From here we kept off road, following the red earth Mawson Bike Trail, through bush & between vineyards - nearly jumping out of my skin at the bang from a nearby birdscarer. Then back on quiet roads in a cattle & sheep station region that is becoming unpopulated - the village of Hamilton completely deserted, with its 2 houses & 2 shops boarded up & derelict. MARRABEL fared a little better, with 1 pub, a couple of farms & 1 horse - the bronze statue of Curio, a famously fiesty horse which defied anyone to ride it for years at the local rodeos. Apparently Rodeos remain big crowd pullers around this area.
Entering the Clare Valley wine region we pick up the Riesling Trail, an old railway route, & almost miss our next campsite at LEASINGHAM as it was so tucked away amongst the vineyards. We were immediately befriended by a young magpie that sits beside our tent, chattering away non stop - we named it Chris after our very verbose son - can't think where he inherits that trait from. As I sit by the bbq area in the evening, writing this blog, I disturb a menacing 3 inch spider that jumps out from under my seat & is now watching my bare toes from only 2ft away (photo). In a minute the timed light switch, which I can't reach from my seat, will go out & I shall be in the dark with my spidery mate ........!
Chris, the magpie, followed us to the camp gate, giving one last prod at our feet, before watching us cycle off up the rail trail. Was that the wind ruffling his feathers, or was he waving? We just reached the end of the track at CLARE when the heavens opened, as forecast. Although rain is desperately needed, the vineyard owners in the pub last night had said they want it to hold off for just a few more days as they are about to bring in the harvest - they will not be best pleased.
For the first time this trip, we take a rain-check, booking into a motel, to sit out the heavy showers (not because we are bothered about cycling in the rain, but because the waterlogged roads are dangerous, a risk we don't have to take).
The morning feels so fresh as the rain decreased the humidity. However, we do not have an auspicious start, getting bogged down in mud on a rail trail that turned out to be a work in progress. There is no option but to retrace our steps. The road N turns out to be a super cycle route, just undulating & sparse traffic, so we make very good progress. The last few vineyards have birdscarers of large kites, shaped like birds of prey, flapping wildly in the wind. The very strong breeze can't make it's mind up on direction, but fortunately is never in our faces. Soon we are in a landscape with massive fields of yellow stubble & neat stacks of straw bales. In between working farms occasionally there is a ruined stone farmhouse, with tumbledown corrugated metal outbuildings. We reach our next campsite just after lunch, with immaculate facilities & an owner who never stops laughing. He reminds us of comedion Russ Abbott.
We have now just entered the Southern Flinders, & will continue to explore a bit further N tomorrow.
35. JAMESTOWN to WILPENA POUND (04/03 to 08/03/09)
RED UNDER THE BED......
We are following the RM Williams Way N, named after a local man who invented & sold the snakeproof leather ankle boots all the Outbackers wear. The road is straight as an arrow & virtually traffic free. We spook every ochre stained flock of sheep into dusty stampedes. At ORROROO we take a little detour to visit the 500 year old Giant Gum tree as the proprietor of the café "Maggies Rendevous" recommended, saying it takes 8 people to join hands round it. (Orroroo is Aboriginal for 'magpie meeting place' hence the café name). There are only 5 of us at the tree so we can't join hands, but estimate it has a 12 metre girth. We help a man take a photo of himself, the tree & a pink chair he has suspended from it by fishing wire. The chair apparently represents a girlfriend who has just left him & he is including it in all his holiday snaps. It takes all sorts.
Now in the FLINDERS RANGES, the landscape is completely burnt sienna colour; the bare earth fields, distant hills and sandstone farmhouses. We have made such good progress that we are back on schedule, making up the day lost to rain, camping after 95 Km at tiny CARRIETON (Pop 50), where locals have joined together in a co-operative to keep the village going, buying & running the campsite & only shop.
From here next morning we have a fantastic cycle - no traffic & not a cloud in the sky. No stock to spook, but we do disturb electric blue parrots, a kangaroo in a dry river bed, & 2 emus. But the sight of the morning has to be the 4 magnificent Wedge-Tail Eagles scavenging a roadkilled kangaroo. The Flinders Range hills are smooth, on either side of us, like terracotta sandunes, until we approach HAWKER where taller rugged hills close in. We make camp here for 2 nights, so that we can explore without our 'luggage' for a change. Not surprisingly there is no grass but the flour fine red earth is a soft.
In the relative cool of the evening we do a loop NW coming back by the red earth Mawson trail. It's like cycling through an oil painting - as the fading light turns the distant hills to purple and navy. Back at the Hawker's hotel for evening meal, we find we know 3 of the customers - a couple of caravaners (Bev & Andrew) from our site who are on a weekend away from Adelaide, & an Aboriginal, who had kindly stopped his dusty Ute to give us directions earlier. As we talk of our forthcoming travel plans, it emerges that Andrew supplies all the bedding for the Indian Pacific Train, & much more importantly, Bev works for the firm that makes wine boxes (casks).
There were kangaroos everywhere next morning, as we head NE towards WILPENA POUND, the really big red ones & groups of smaller grey or brown ones. They hop along ridge edges, highlighted against the deep blue sky, or hurry through dry creek beds. Twice family groups, including Joeys, bound along beside us for a mile or more, then cross the road infront and disappear over the hills. Wilpena Pound is a circle of hills, rising to more than 1000m, like an extinct volcano. We cylce along under its majestic rugged red cliffs, until we reach the turn-off for ARKAROO ROCK. Two km up a dirt track we lock our bikes to a tree out of sight & walk for 30 mins up a red stoney path, to a cave lined with Aboriginal drawings. Tree shapes, snakes & perhaps a simple landscape drawing, can be made out .
We have grown very fond of quirky little Hawker with its mixture of properties from a dilapidated, tiny, corrugated metal house in the town centre (photo) to a grander stone sheep station of 23,436 acres on the outskirts (photo). Quirkiest of all perhaps, is the petrol station, which has the seismic recording equipment for the region. We called in to inspect it at an opportune moment as the owner was very excited to have just recorded the 4.3 earthquake SE of Melbourne! As if they haven't got enough to worry about down there. He also showed us (in between serving petrol at the pumps ) the record from the Boxing Day Tsuamni - a riot of exaggerated lines, even at this distance from the epicentre.
Heading back S to Adelaide now, by a different route than the one we used coming N.
36. WILPENA POUND to BALAKLAVA (08/03 to 14/03/09)
WHEELY USEFUL.....
Breaking camp fairly early meant good sightings of Roos again, one family demonstrating they crawl under boundary fences instead of hopping over. We took a short break at derelict Kanyaka Homestead, to walk out to Death Rock alongside the only permanent waterhole for miles around. In this heat it is not surprising to find a small flock of dusty sheep were gathered for a drink.
The quiet road was almost downhill all the way to QUORN, mainly following the old Ghan railway line. This famous train used to pass through Quorn & Hawker on its way to Alice Springs, but the replacement line by-passed them in the 1950s. At Quorn, 3 railway hotels still manage to trade, these days servicing the Grey Nomads passing through.
Carrying on SW, cone shaped MOUNT REMARKABLE is clearly visible in the distance. Red devil columns of dust, some up to 200m high, spin at speed across the plain, in the winds. Along the verge, very low lying bushes produce green & yellow fruit like tennis balls, which Bev had told us are called Paddy Melons, & are definitely not palatable. WILMINGTON is our next overnight stop, a 1 pub town & a mostly empty campsite. The scarce amount of grass on the pitches is kept manicured by Bob, a miniature palamino pony.
Every sq ft of Mount Remarkable is covered with gum tree forest, in contrast to all the bald hill ranges around; strange, if not remarkable. We cross the Drought or Goyders Line, drawn roughly E-W in 1867 by the Surveyor of that name who accurately worked out that N of this it was not worth the investment in money, effort or lives, to settle people in any numbers. At the charming little town of MELROSE, the parish record of burials shows it wasn't much easier living just S of the drought line either as, of the 100 or so people listed between 1825 & 1875, only a handful had made it passed their 50th birthday. Its a holiday today, for horse racing enthusiasts & school children alike, as it's The Adelaide Cup.
Another typical sleepy historic town, LAURA, is our next overnight stop. The tiny population have inherited a genius for ice-cream making, producing the world class 'Golden North' since 1927. They modestly attribute it's success to the tasty Rocky River water & particular strain of grass their dairy cattle consume. Whatever the winning formula, we had to use maximum willpower to limit our intake to one big cone each. There is no camp kitchen to hide our food in from the possums, so we find a clean wheely bin & put our breakfast bag in that. The sound of the bin man in the morning makes us leap out of bed in time to save it !
We are having a look round the N end of the Yorke Peninsula; first stop PORT BROUGHTON. Stretching out into the sheltered, shallow bay is a wooden jetty complete with rail line. It dates from the time when wheat was loaded onto sailing barges here. Now a weekend retreat for amateur fisherman & their tinnies. From here S there are fields of stubble where the barley crop has been harvested, & a large herd of racehorses canter alongside us for fun. At 'blink-&-you'll-miss-it' ALFORD, we turn off the tarmac to an unsealed road nearer the shore. It's slower, but a beautiful day & we are in no hurry.
Now camped at KADINA for 2 nights whilst we explore the 'Copper Triangle ', where Cornish miners came & settled. Their expertise in copper extraction was used to full advantage in the local mines. Kadina is a surprisingly busy town, well serviced with amenities, including an excellent modern library where we pick up our emails. There is also a plethora of hotels to chose from for a nightcap, but we can't resist giving our patronage to 'The Wombat' Hotel.
It is not at all difficult to pick out the Cornish heritage. Down unsurfaced tracks are stone, single storey, miners cottages, & a few bigger homes for the Mine Captains. They look hardly altered from the 1880s. Someone must have embezzled the road budget, as there are more potholes & repairs than roads, even on the surfaced parts! The way deteriorates to a dusty track, ending at the derelict mine engine house (photo). Three storeys of fossil encrusted limestone, beside a sulphurous smelling shaft. In both MOONTA & WALLAROO, Cornish pasties are readily available in the street cafes, & stone non-conformist chapels could just as well be in St Just or Redruth, Cornwall, although the temperature ls a bit different here.
Across the top of the peninsula, are more vaste arable farms, which we passed through in searing heat, glad to reach BALAKLAVA & the little municipal campsite managed by Dave from Dagenham. We wanted to know why this little rural town was named after such a famous battle, so we headed straight to the library. This was just shutting but the lady librarian said she didn't mind staying open so she could chat with us. She was a farmers wife, lived here all her life, & had no idea where the name came from. Next we enquired at the old hotel where the barmaid was incredibly rude to all the regulars, & you could tell they loved it (like Carla in "Cheers"). She too had no idea where the town got its name & asked the oldest customer's advice. He was in his 80s & propped up against the bar on his zimmer frame. She had to shout at him as he was very deaf. He too had lived here all his life & had not even thought about the name. We gave up our enquiries.
We were woken from a sound sleep at midnight, by what sounded like a torrential downpour. It keep starting & stopping with an uncannily regular rhythm. Dave had forgotten to tell us about the sprinklers. Mind you, we should have wondered why there was such luxuriant grass. Mike, resourceful as ever, found a wheely bin & parked it over the sprinkler nearest us. We could hear the water hammering against it for about an hour. Five mins after it switched off, it rained, heavily.
Heading back towards Clare Valley then Adelaide.
37. BALAKLAVA to ADELAIDE (14/03 to 19/03/09)
FRIENDS REUNITED.....
The Sturt Highway is being upgraded to a dual carriageway. The new lanes are progressing well, but not yet open to traffic. As it's Sunday, all the roadworking machines are idle, so we slip past a barrier & cycle alone down the splendid new carriageway, all the way to GAWLER. Probably illegal, but very safe & convenient.
As we erect the tent on top of the narrow levé by the Gawler River, rain approaches but there is no danger of the river flooding - it has completely dried up & is grown over. Strolling around town we don't need an umbrella as the main streets are fully arcaded for shade. We pick up a local paper & read about the enormous increase in incidents of motorists stealing fuel from petrol stations. This is in spite of fuel prices falling, so it's a strong indicator of financial hardship. We also read that in SA there is a 10 cent refund on bottles, cartons & cans, which explains why we have seen mainly elderly men rifling through litter bins to extract those items.
Heading out of Gawler in rush hour traffic, Mike had a horrible fright when he heard 2 loud, metal crunching, crashes right behind him, & thought I was a goner. Somehow I had managed not to get entangled with the pile-up right beside me - 3 cars had ploughed into each other at a junction, skidding on the unfamilarily damp road surface. No one was injured, but the kangaroo-catcher on the speeding 4x4 did severe damage to the hatchback in front.
Making our way back through the N Adelaide suburbs; it feels like we're visiting an old friend - its a city where we really feel at home. We halt at a rail crossing for a passing train & are delighted to see it is 'The Ghan', on it's twice weekly run from Darwin. The gunmetal carriages & distinctive logo, of a man on a camel, are unmistakeable. We have booked a sleeper on it's sister train, 'The Indian Pacific', from Adelaide to Perth this coming Thursday. It's iconic logo is the Wedge-Tailed Eagle.
Pedaling along I'm trying to recall exactly what furniture we have stored back in the UK, when a billboard catches my eye. It is an advert for a local storage company with the catchphrase 'Put it where the sun don't shine!'. Fair enough.
For our few days in Adelaide this time we are in an ensuite cabin, in the grounds of beautiful old Colonial Vale House. Again on the River Torrens, just a bit further E than last visit, in the smart suburb of WALKERVILLE. A cyclepath takes us easily into the CBD, alongside the river which is full off water now; so much more attractive than the previous muddy dribble. Apparently it only took one really heavy downpour to top it back up.
Our first stop is the Central Market, with stalls selling everthing fresh; stacks of fruit & veg, jars of olives, strings of sausages &, not to be missed, the 'Smelly Cheese shop'. The busy coffee counters revive customers who are flagging & the whole happy atmosphere is reminiscent of Barcelona's similar market on The Rambla.
We can't resist one more trip to the State Art Gallery, though we still can't see any of work of local lad Hans Heyson as their whole Collection of his work is on a 2 year tour. Most inconsiderate we thought. As consolation we sample some of the Museum next door, particularily enjoying the Pacific Islands exhibition, the best Aboriginal information yet (did you know they used herbal drugs in waterholes to stupify animals to make them easier to catch? - apparently it worked particularily well with emus) & the Giant Squid Display.
On our last full day in Adelaide, we follow the river cycle path W, 12 miles to the sea & the modern holiday villas & apartments of West Beach. From here is a lovely new Promenade & cycle path, all the way down the coast to the older seaside town of Glenelg. The dunes are being protected & replanted to halt erosion, so wandering through them is forbidden, but there are lots of access paths through to the beaches. Taking the cycle route back on the other side of the Torrens, we are impressed by the enormous project being undertaken to replant miles of riverbank with indigenous species. In a few years this will be an oasis for wildlife. Talking of which we scored another 'tick' - a flock of jolly, red, green and yellow Musk Lorikeets were feeding from a tree.
What a delight for our last night in SA! Bev, (of the intrepid offroading pair we met in Hawker), collects us from the campsite for dinner, & to meet the menagerie at their home (photo) - including rescued Budgies, Lorikeets, Cockatiels & a tame Magpie! (as well as 2 daughters, 1 dog, 1 rabbit & 3 cats!)
Off now to board the train to Perth & explore Western Australia.
38. ADELAIDE to PERTH (19/03 to 22/03/09)
MAKING TRACKS.....
As we board the Indian Pacific Train (photo) in the afternoon, the impossibly handsome Matt, our young steward in his smart blue uniform, introduces himself. After showing us all the features of our compact cabin, including an ingenious fold down sink, he promises to come back & help if we can't lower the beds when we retire for the night. Having lived most of the last 7 months in the confines of a small tent, we find the accommodation quite roomy, but expect 'normal' people may have difficulty adapting to living in a 'cupboard' for 2 days.
The train slowly departs through the suburbs of Adelaide, then gathers speed as, for the rest of the daylight hours, we pass through the Adelaide Plains - flat wheat stubble - with some of the most isolated farms imaginable. The engine whistles plaintively at each remote gravel road crossing, but no-one is there.
Dawn rises over the Barton Sand Hills; scrubby bushes & trees on very red sandy soil, but by 9am we enter the flat Nullarbor desert proper, with only low lying grey Salt Bushes on salmon coloured soil; twice the size of England. From here is the longest straight stretch of railway in the world, 478km without a bend. The name 'Nullarbor' is from the latin - 'without trees' .
Just after 10am the train stops to take on water at COOK, population 4. This is where the trans-continental railway lines met in 1917, when being constructed from either end. Such an epic engineering feat was made possible by the use of camels, which brought out everything needed, from water & food, to wood for sleepers. There is no platform at Cook, but passengers are allowed to climb down for a stroll. The few remaining buildings are a row of mostly deserted bungalows, 2 old wooden jail huts & a souvenir shop.
We take the opportunity to look at the engine & the other end of the train, where there is a transporter carrying passengers cars. One of the vehicles is a white, vintage Rolls Royce. We wonder if this belongs to the occupants of the privately hired carriage at the rear, shut off from us normal folk. To warn us the train is leaving & we must hop back on, the siren at the fire station is sounded. No one dawdles - it's not somewhere you'd wish to be left behind!
A telephone wire, suspended on wooden posts, used to to run alongside the rail line, but has been replaced by underground optic fibres. The few posts that remain have been put to a good alternative use as each now support 3 or 4 nests for magnificent Wedge Tailed Eagles. Approaching the goldmining centre of KALGOORLIE at 6.30pm, the soil once again becomes brick red & gum trees flourish. We have gained 1.5 hours as we are now in the next time zone of Western Australia. The train stops for 3 hrs at 'Kal', refueling and taking on water, so the passenegers all disembark for an explore of the Victorian centre.Even though the sun has just gone down,it's a balmy 30 deg C. As you'd expect with a large town full of miners, there is a lively old pub on every corner, & apparently a thriving street of brothels.
At dawn we are back in civilisation, roads with a few cars, small towns & a hot air balloon floating on the horizon.Then the rails enter Avon National Park, following the beautiful, steep-sided wooded valley of the rocky Avon River until it meets the Swan River flowing into Perth. A quarantine officier does the rounds, asking have we any fruit, veg or honey, but being prewarned we had eaten our last remaining bananas for brekkie.
After disembarking we fleetingly visit the CBD to pick up some info from the tourist office, by chance catching a very polished classical performance by the WA Youth Ballet, as they are on stage in the sunshine of Forrest Place. We zip off then on cyclepaths all the way along the shores N of the wide Swan River, through parks, & exclusive housing areas, until we reach the sea at FREEMANTLE. A large container port, but today dominated by the enormous cruise liner 'Sun Princess'.
Continuing S down the coast - will 'do' Perth before we fly home in April.
39. PERTH to PEMBERTON (22/03 to 29/03/09)
THE GOOD LIFE.....
New development, housing & commercial, sprawls for miles S of Freemantle, mostly at a standstill in the early stages. I suppose in the current credit drought, there are few takers. Protected from the bulldozers is Mount Brown Nat Park, where the cycle path veers away from roads through the peace of unspoilt, exotic bush. Fine leafed ferns sport 2m high seed stems & Banksia are in bloom, host to small flocks of Port Lincoln Parrots (local name -Twenty Eight Parrot), their plummage green, apart from a distinctive black head & jaunty yellow collar.
MANDURAH is a charming seaside town on both sides of the water where the sea breaks through the dunes into Peel Inlet. Being a very sunny Sunday there are familes everywhere, on the water in their tinnies, barbequing in the shoreside parks, & filling every street café table. To avoid traffic we meander through suburbs of detached bungalows, where, it being a weekend, there are handwritten notices tied to lamp posts, pointing the way to 'garage sales'. Estate agents also have their signs out indicating house open days or on-site auctions.
Looking for a campsite at FALCON, I seek help from a passing pedestrian, who retrieves the GPS from her car, keys in 'campsites' and hey presto, there are the directions, easy-peasy! Once pitched, we switch on the phone & are amazed that son Chris has got out of bed at 7am on Sunday morning to text me a "Happy Mothers Day"; as he modestly puts in the message "aren't I a good son?". I ring my Mum who tells me the daffs are blooming in her Dorest garden, & she is starting a computer course!
The morning starts well as we follow the quiet shore of Harvey Estuary, spotting a Scarlet Robin on a fence. Detouring inland through beef country, we end up on a bumpy dirt track, with no road signs & without seeing another vehicle for sometime. Eventually a motorcyclist stops in a cloud of dust, but is of no help, as he too is completely lost. By using a compass to navigate roughly S, we arrive in HARVEY (not somewhere we were planning to visit!), a town thriving on cattle, fruit and veg.They are about to bring in the melon crop and produce also, oranges, mandarins, grapes and much more. After only a few words from Pat, the site owner, it's obvious she is a Yorkshire lass. Patriotically, she revives us with coffee & cake.
Next day a large roadside advert alerts us to yet another Harvey delicacy, "G-spot, probably the sexiest ice-cream in the world ", so now you know. Our navigating has improved as, via quiet country lanes, we successfully reach the coast. On the way we appreciate the ponds & rivers full of water, attracting flocks of Shelduck; such a contrast to parched SA. At the Leschenault Estuary, a path takes us along the waterfront, then through modern, bustling BUNBURY to the dunes of Geographe Bay. The Aunt & Uncle (Sally & Michael) of our friend, farmer Alice, live just inland of the coast here, & have generously invited us to stay. With Sally's excellent directions even we can't get lost.
Sally & Michael moved from Devon to Australia nearly 40 years ago, & after some years at Harvey, moved to their present locaton, building from scratch their lovely bungalow on 100 acres, & creating a garden Alan Titchmarsh would envy. Nearly everthing that appears on the kitchen table has been produced on their land, including morning fresh hens eggs, orange marmalade & loads of veg, but the pick of the crops must be the sweet, juiciest apricots ever.
After a sound sleep we all pose for photos on the lawn (photo) & reluctantly depart for an easy run, on country roads, through groves of peppermint trees. Then on dune cycleways to DUNSBOROUGH, where we camp beside a pond. Our first ever Yellow-Billed Spoonbill is sifting food from around the edges.
We take a bit of a detour here out to CAPE NATURLISTE to very picturesque Sugarloaf Rock, before heading S through the many vineyards of MARGARET RIVER. A shortcut presents itself as we cheekily nip through the back gate of Leston Vineyard (one of their wine brands has the attention grabbing name "Mad Fish"), & emerge from their impressive tree lined main drive.
Does camping get any better than this? Near Gracetown a genuine bush camp - great showers & kitchen, lots of pitches but so well spread out, each with a patch of woodland & wildlife. Our fellow campers are mostly lads in their 20s, as apparently the surf along here is some of the best in the world. Surfboards are propped against trees & towels hang from branches.
Just a few kms away, at pretty GRACETOWN, we dine at the only restaurant, on a balcony overlooking 2 fishing boats bobbing off the white beach. The cleanskin bottle of red from the grocers next door is the smoothest Merlot ever. Cycling back to camp at dusk the fields are busy with kangaoos starting nocturnal grazing. The other young campees are all fast asleep by 10pm, to ensure they don't miss a minute of tomorrows daylight.
Fresh Roo poo round the tent shows we had silent visitors in the night. Less quiet are the Laughing Kooaburros. As we pack up a young one, his oversize beak wide open for titibits, follows Mike around. We crunch along a nut strewn rail trail through woods to the town of MARGARET RIVER to reprovision. The sports field is awash with little tents, housing some of the 1750 anticipated paricipants in a mass cycling event. It starts tomorrow, & although it is fun to meet other cyclists, we are glad they're going round the peninsula the other way to us so we don't get snarled up in their ranks.
AUGUSTA lies at the mouth of the wide, full Blackwood River, where small childern are playing in the shallows. Suddenly the cry "stingray" goes up, clearing the water of screaming kids in a trice, memories of the demise of Steve Irwin, no doubt. The big ray clearly visible in the sunlight, just mooches off. Another short detour takes us to Cape Leeuwin, where a lighthouse marks the meeting of the great Indian & Southern Oceans, the most south-westerly tip of Australia.
Inland NE now through uninhabited, undulating woods of natural bush, minly jarrah trees. We pass a protest group camped in the forest, trying to stop this area being dug up for opencast coal mining. Hardly any traffic, just Black Cockatoos & Emus for company. Our destination is NANNUP, a village living off timber mills. Every building is made of weatherboard, all the houses, little shops, & even the town hall. Within walking distance of the pub, yet another brilliant Bush camp in a forest edge arboretum, where we pitch beside the trunk of a felled 250yr old Jarrah tree which has a 20ft girth.
People-watching at the only hotel in town entertains us all evening. We have not been in such a raucous bar since the frontier towns of Queenland. The men out number the women by about 4-1, & they are competing to look the most 'hard' - shaved heads, long fuzzy beards, lumberjack shirts, tattoos, & either dirty bare feet or filthy work boots (& that's just the women - no I jest ); & that's in the lounge bar, we didn't dare look in the public bar. The juke box is blaring Rock & the conversations, peppered freely with the 'f' word, are shouted over it. Well it is Saturday night , a bit like Newton Abbott!
We enjoy an extra hour in bed today as the clocks go back for autumn. The ride to PEMBERTON continues through undulating natural forests, but the trees become more majestic as we proceed, with the Karri valley road lined on either side with the most magificent gums we have seen. Their enormous, straight trunks, bare of bark at this time of year, are like marble columns. Another sign of autumn are the large white mushrooms poking through the verge. Pemberton is also a lovely timber built town, with the campsite in woods by a stream. We won't be enjoying a rumbustuous evening at their characterful old pub though, as the electricity to the village is being cut off at 8.00pm!
On further SE tomorrow, towards Walpole & Denmark.
40. PEMBERTON to KARLGARIN (29/03 to 08/04/09)
A SENSATIONAL TINGLE.....
In the local restaurant, a black & white photo showing a turn of the century local scene caught my eye - a man furiously pedalling his bike, going nowhere, attached to the saw-sharpening machine deep in the forest.
Not only was the electrical supply in Pemberton intermittent, but so was the wifi signal, which went down as we were sending emails - so our apologies if you received an email twice - we didn't know which ones got lost in the ether! It was just as well the village all had to go to bed early when the lights went out, as the first freight train in the morning sounded his horn long & loud, well before 6am; a necessity, rural crossings have no barriers, lights or bells to warn of trains approaching.
There are roadtrains around next morning, despite being an otherwise quiet rural road; loaded lorries coupled with 2 long trailers full of big red logs heading for Pemberton sawmill. We are soon into NORTHCLIFFE, a small, early 19c settlement. The local Visitor Centre tells the story of extremely tough pioneer days; English settlers carving a living out of the forest, with little more than rudimentary tools & back-breaking labour. We are camping early to off-load our gear & enjoy, unencumbered, cycling the forest biketrails, where we spot a Golden Whistler with his whip-sounding song.
A very tame female kangaroo joins us at breakfast, drinking from a water butt beside our outside table (photo). Her large Joey staring at us from her pouch before squirming round, 2 back legs hanging out of the pouch as he has his brekkie too. We are through uninhabited forests all day, with sparse traffic, but 20 vintage Rolls Royces pass, on their way to a rally. Blooms brighten the roadside; pale pink Easter lilies, a bit like daffs in bunches, & poppy-red bottle brush. It's a switch-back route nearly all the 100km to WALPOLE, with a cold, heavy shower soaking us towards the end. That was all the excuse we needed to book into a large motel room to dry out in comfort.
Although we have been immersed in forest for 3 days, we are not yet bored with trees, staying at Walpole for 2 days to see their famously large Tingle Trees, & explore the forest tracks. These include a section of the Bibbulmun, one of the world's great long distance walking trails, which stretches 964km from Perth to Albany. Being 100s of years old, the giant Tingles have all, at one time or another, been burnt in forest fires, hollowing out the massive trunks, but not killing them. As a result, some look like they are on legs, & could walk off like the Ents in "Lord of the Rings". Archive black & white photos from the 1920s show folks posing in the trunks on their horses, which gives Mike the idea to photo me in one, with my bike .
Leaving the motel early the next morning, we are ready to hand in the key before reception is open. We peer through the glass entrance doors, & are surprised to see Gandalf, complete with wizards staff! He comes to the door & reveals himself as a very hair-adorned hotel cleaner with sweeping brush in hand - he takes our key! We have seen quite a few of these Gandalf types in Oz, so it must be something they aspire to. As we head further E the landscape changes with great exposed granite slabs on hilltops surrounded by pasture. Mainly cattle country, but the odd Alpaca farm & an enormous herd of deer. The last 10 miles to DENMARK we take a railtrail - of mixed quality, the sand too thick to cycle in places, but some lovely old wooden bridges. As we approach the town, a sign points down a gravel road to a sauce factory whose logo is "a bit on the side".
Picturesque Denmark is the last seaside town we will visit on this S coast, where the river Denmark enters the Wilson inlet. A typical settlement of 2 short streets of 1 room size shops off verandahs & plenty of places to drop a hook in the water. Easter's approach seems really odd in Autumn; we've been so used to it symbolising the springtime regeneration of nature, it feels even more peculiar than a mid-summer Christmas. There is now a definite chill in the air, & it is strange to head N for warmer climes.
The next day's trip N brings sunshine, & the landscape surprising us with yet more vineyards. In WA, even in the smallest rural town pub, invariably we have found a choice of at least 30 excellent Australian wines. The local tipple grown here is the memorably named "Rickety Gate". We have discovered how the coastal wine label "Mad Fish " gets it's name - where the 2 Ocean tides clash, the turmoil in the sea causes the fish to rush around in a kerfuffle.
We reach the little town of MOUNT BAKER by an empty road, but it is also crossed by a highway, busy with roadtrains, stopping at the Roadhouse for fuel. They each have at least 58 wheels (photo). There are lots of historic buildings, including the old wooden police station built by convicts c1860, & the 1920s Plantagenet Hotel. This latter appears to have been dusted a few time since it was built, but has had no updating. Apart from customers traipsing through the lounge bar to smoke outside in the yard (anti-smoking laws), it is in a timewarp. On our walk back to the tent a flock of Regent Parrots flit through the trees - this corner of Oz is the only place they live so we are pleased to have such an easy sighting.
We could complete the trip back to Perth without going up mountains, but can't resist the lure of the Stirling Ranges, so head there along the Chester Pass Rd. We are so glad we did, as it turns out to be a cyclist's dream route, a gentle steady climb, with sparse traffic & heart-stopping views of the highest peaks on each side. As the range rises from a flat outback plain it has a more dramatic silhouette than the 1100m metres top would suggest. The steep cliffs & swooping curves stand out against the blue sky & are set in a pristine bush setting.
Camping near Bluff Knoll Mountain, a side road leads us close to this beautiful peak. Coming off the mountain are 2 Aussie walkers, Ann and Andrew, who are completing a 22 km round trip from the campsite to the summit; & they are still smiling! Not only are they carrying day packs, but have loaded the rucksacks with extra weight as they are in training for an upcoming 9 day trek in Papua New Guinea. We join them at their campsite cabin for a drink & chat later.
After A & A wave us off next morning, we soon pass a sign warning "Roadtrains, max length 36.5m, take care when overtaking" - as if! The habitations marked on the map are becoming scarcer & smaller, so it's a pleasure to find, as well as enormous grain silos at BORDEN, a general store. Stocking up on bread & calorific cake, we swap tales of the road with Outback Man who is replenishing gas cylinders. He is dressed in the local fashion - stetson, lumberjack shirt, immodestly tiny canvas shorts, & RM Williams boots. He had recently driven a truck across the Nullarbor at 100kmph, mostly in the dark, & in his words, "the roos were bouncing off the bullbars like herds of sheep". Charming!
People give us funny looks when we say we are heading for Lake Grace via ONGERUP. Not surprising, as it turns out to be a town all but closed down. Empty business units have been locked & dusty for a few years. The campsite owners are delighted to see us as they don't get many clients &, once they'd remembered where they kept the key to the showers, these were clean & hot.
We circled around the town centre a couple of times before we identified the pub; it was a white asbestos bungalow under a red metal roof like every other building, only the empty beer barrels round the side gave it away. The next problem was getting past their guard dog which seemed determined to eat any potential customer. Just as it's snarling fangs were nearing, the unusual occurrence of a Ute passing distracted him &, as he chased off up the road after it, we dived in through the front door. A few men in working clothes were on bar stools & the young friendly barmaid was a gap year student from Northampton. She said she had no choice but to take the job as there was little else in WA, but had grown rather fond of the place. She rang the Roadhouse (which had run out of fuel) & persuaded them to cook us a steak & chips before they shut shop at 6.30. I even managed to get a copy of "Lucky Jim " at the Roadhouse bookswop.
On the way out next day we take in some of the info on the centenary memorial highlighting events since the towns establishment c1900. The tarmac road reached here in the 1960s but for electricity and water they had to wait until the 1970s. Someone needs to find a few gold nuggets or something else valuable around here soon, or it will all have been in vain.
Fields of autumn lambs, endless wheat stubble & salt lakes fill the low horizon on either side of the straight 105kms to LAKE GRACE. There are a few splashes of blue water in the many pools, but mostly they are dried to a crust, with some salt sold at remote farm gates. We look through the binos at smoke in the distance, blowing over a wide area in the constant wind. Nearer, it is revealed not to be bush fire but stubble burning, & we soon stink like kippers! The few vehicles sharing our route are the roadtrains. In some places the tarmac is too narrow so they thunder along with 29 of their wheels on the hard packed earth margins - at least we can see them coming then in such a great ball of red dust!
The municipal camp in Lake Grace centre is run by a very sweet little old lady & we get a good quiet nights sleep. Noticeably it is no longer chilly in the evenings as we move N and inland. The supermarket has very strange morning opening hours - 6.30 to 7.45, when it shuts for breakfast, then opens again at 8.30!
This our last day heading directly N, & it is very wearing - a relentless headwind & strong direct sun in our faces. Our burnt lips had healed on the train trip, but are now very sore again -no amount of high-rated sun protection coping with these conditions. We base ourselves at a farm at KARLGARIN for 2 nights to explore the renowned Wave Rock phenomenon.
The farmers have set up a lovely new camping area to diversify after having to give up their cattle when their water supply virtually ran out 2 years ago. They still have some sheep on their 600 acres. We intended to camp on a patch of lush grass they have lovingly tended in the otherwise vast dustbowl, but take the offer of a brand new air-conditioned room in a cabin instead for the remarkably good value of $25 a night (£12)!
(All items below copyright of Susan & Michael Booth)
41. KARLGARIN to TOODYAY (08/04 to 22/04/09)
ANYONE FOR TENNIS......?
The little town of HYDEN (pop 190) attracts tourists to the nearby 'Wave Rock', an enormous granite mound, streaked with coloured lichen & shaped like a great breaking wave (photo). A new cycle path leads from here along to where 'The Hippo Yawn' cave rightly earns it's name with its gaping mouth. Striped lizards slip in & out of cracks in the sunshine. The path continues in a 2km loop through parched bush of Sheoak trees, past dry salt lakes & an airport! Actually the only attributes indicating this it is not just any old strip of flat red earth are the windsock at one end, & the telephone box at the other.
After an early start we are soon passing eucalyptus trees with thin trunks, so like burnished bronze that you want to rap your knuckles on them to see if they are metal. I suppose they leach up the pigment from the crumbly brick earth. Grain storage sheds the size of jumbo-jet hangers replace cathedrals in this wheatbelt. Apparently very sophisticated, sealed to outside air, any voids pumped full of CO2 to eliminate pests.
GORGE ROCK was not far up a dirt track from our road W. As big as the rock at Hyden, but without any marketable funny shapes, it is bypassed by tourists, so apart from a soaring Wedge-Tailed Eagle & camera-shy lizards, we have the view from the top to ourselves. The salmon coloured granite, covered with green lichen, stretches for acres & is the highest ground to all horizons. In the breathless hot air, miles of stubble shimmer, & the empty road we are following curves off towards woodland. Dams on the scattered farms are like mirrors framed with ochre earth banks. Ten miles on we enter CORRIGIN, & the welcome shade of a very well-equipped municipal site.
Good Friday morning, 24 miles up an empty road, a blue ute stops beside us & farmers Noel & Sharky ask if we'd like to come to their WAMENUSKING tennis club champagne, fundraising lunch. "Is it far?" we query - "you've just passed it". Following them back down the road, completely concealed in the bush, is a club house & 4 concrete tennis courts, soon thronging with the chatter of about 85 folks, mostly 3 generations of local farmers. After an excellent lunch, & losing 4 exhausting sets of tennis, we thought we were in for a well earned rest, but then the nets are taken down & a mammoth cricket match played, with as many as 30 fielders on at any one time!
During the evening, around snags (sausages) on the barbie, we learn a lot about local farming, but most of it is lost in an alcoholic haze. Some statistics did stick though, that nobody there has less than 6000 acres, or a similar quantity of sheep, just such huge numbers to us Brits. They all work hard & play hard, & could not have made us feel more welcome or included. After enthusiastic singing, marred only by the fact that none of us knew more than one line to any song, we were taken to Noel & Shauna Stone's Farm, where we enjoy a very comfy night, on a mattress in the shearing shed. In a corner are an impressive number of Show ribbons they have won with their Merinos.
After consuming more of Shauna's hot cross buns than was probably polite, we set off into a headwind. As we left the farm, we spotted the road name - "Stones Road" - a typical feature in rural Australia, the road being named after the local farmer. We also noticed a crop of sandalwood trees - it was news to us townies that the dense, aromatic, slow-growing sandalwood is parasitic, flourishing beside the bigger, host Jam trees. Then we come upon the Rabbit Proof Fence no. (before no. was finished the bunnies had got round the end & were heading for the wheat fields).
As we stop for a swig of water, a ute pulls up, it's Peter who had played us at tennis (a neighbour of N & S), he's glad to see we have survived Fridays excitements. A few miles further on another ute stops, this time Don & Yvonne, Noel's parents. They have driven from their bungalow at QUAIRADING to bring us restorative chilled water & invite us to tea when we eventually reach their home town. What lovely thoughtful people. That evening they introduce us to their neighbours who are, as they put it, living in a shed while they build their bungalow.
Easter Sunday we have a quiet & sunny pedal, mostly with a rare following wind, W on the Goldfield Road to the historic town of YORK. The main street buzzes with day-trippers from Perth enjoying the old world charm. One C19th hotel sports an antique sign "decorous accommodation befitting respectable couples"; that rules us out so we head for the riverside campsite. A family nearby is enjoying a chocolate Easter Egg hunt & allows us to join in. As it is soon apparent we're not going to find any before they melt, the kids generously give us a handful each.
After dusk, as we ponder the fish & chip shop menu, the other couple waiting (Mr/s Murray) start chatting. It turns out they had been farming neighbours of the Stone family & had since retired to nearby Beverley; we are beginning to feel like locals!
A couple of Sydney cyclists admire our bikes, especially the Brooks saddles, before waving us off in the morning. The road runs beside the railway line, where we disturb a flock of at least 1000 white Corella parrots, squawking like geese - maybe they feed on spillage from passing grain trains. Two miles further on the only bolt holding my saddle in place suddenly shears off! (no jokes about the size of my derriere thanks Mike K). Easter Monday, so there would be no hope of buying a replacement, & no other bolt on the bike was long enough, but with Mike's ingenious use of cable-ties, I'm soon back on the road.
Just round the corner, as if in celebration, 10 parachutists jump out of a small plane & drift into a field beside us. Alongside this stretch of road runs the 500m dia town water supply from Perth. In a few miles we come to a massive leak in it, water spurting out like the big fountain in the middle of Northam - the poor campers at York will wonder where their shower pressure has gone. We head on the 30k to NORTHAM, a big enough town to have a bike shop. The last 2 miles I have to stand on the pedals as the cable ties give way. The young bike shopman uses his very last reinforced bolt to execute a perfect repair & for fitting this & adjusting the saddle he charges the princely sum of $1 (49p).
It is a very pleasant ride to NEW NORCIA (pop 51), undulating empty, windless, roads, still through the wheatbelt. NN was founded by Spanish Benedictine monks as an Aboriginal mission and today consists mostly of a group of large Victorian buildings with unfortunate C 20th additions, a former convent and school. However the Spanish style stone old C19th monastery and church are charming. From here the 5 remaining Benedictine monks run a successful gourmet food business. They own everything in the village, including the roadhouse, where we shower & camp. We are invited to pay $15 to "meet a monk", but decide to spend the money on an excellent dinner at their Hotel instead.
As we pedal on next morning we spot 3 middle-aged monks in long white robes, behind the big wrought iron gates of their Spanish-style courtyard, hurrying across from the church to their breakfast. It wasn't far to our next stop, MOORA, a sizeable town, so good for stocking up on provisions & using the laundry. There we met some Oz Grey Nomads, travelling in an enormous Winnebago, towing a small car & tinnie. They wanted to give us a lift to our next goal, 'The Pinnacles' but as purists, we decide that would be cheating - we have to get there under our own steam. Besides we want to stop on route at BADGINGARRA National Park.
Pitching our tent behind the roadhouse at Badgingarra by midday, left us time to explore the walking trails. This must be what all the wheatbelt was like before clearing. The harshest imaginable climate, yet dozens of different shrubs create a dense cover for hundreds of acres. None are familiar to us, but similar to heathers & Mediterranean herbs. The thick dark stems of ferns poke above everything else, topped with ridiculous mops looking like wigs of green optic fibres. We have the park to ourselves, but follow in a kangaroo's footfall, the distinctive paw & tail drag fresh in the sandy surface.
The Badgy Tavern beckoned where we discovered not only was it 'Happy Hour', but 'Skimpy Barmaid' evening. The SB was not their usual barstaff, but she had taken the 2hr bus trip from Perth as a special attraction. Her attire consisted of a teeny-weeny bikini, revealing, apart from lots of flesh, several interesting tattoos (photo). Mike thought his birthday had come round again rather quickly!
Through magnificent untamed bush towards the coast next morning, stopping to watch Honeyeaters feed off the many orange Banksia flowering trees. At JURIEN BAY we turn S into a vicious headwind, cutting our speed in 2, very relieved to reach the seaside town of CERVANTES, where we are stopping 2 nights so we can take the dead end road out to the Pinnacles in the desert National Park.
We were expecting an area of desert only the size of a field, so we were really impressed with the 4km of sandy track through the many different sizes & shapes of rock columns. The sand dunes we cycled through to get there are white so the Desert stands out in contrast, as a golden yellow colour. Most pinnacles are yellow but some almost entirely pink which tones in beautifully with the pink & grey Galah parrots that pose on the tops - apparently they nest in the crevices. A short detour on the way back took us to empty Hangover Beach where the warm Indian Ocean breaks over the shallow sand bars, finally gently lapping the whitest of white beaches.
Two small tents have appeared next to us on site & it's a young Canadian trio who had camped beside us in Sydney! Since seeing us they have been to Tasmania & New Zealand. They are nearing the end of their trek round Oz too, & want to go to Fiji, but the political unrest has put them off.
CERVANTES is famous for Crayfish, with 10 or so commercial crayfishing boats bobbing on their moorings just offshore. The nearby restaurant specialises in the delicacy so we indulge. They are as big & tasty as lobster but clawless & easier to eat. The seafood platter we share is enough to feed a family of 4, but our excuse is we have 112 very hilly kms to cycle back to MOORA tomorrow.
Retracing our steps towards Perth, when we reach NEW NORCIA we forego the opportunity to 'meet a monk' again, this time preferring to spend the dosh on a bottle of their monk-made wine, a very smooth 2007 Cabernet Merlot. The next morning we ride S through glorious sunshine, but with increasingly ominous thunder clouds gathering behind, chasing us down the highway to TOODYAY - we just reach the campsite in time to shelter from a heavy downpour!
Our final Oz cycling adventure will be an attempt to ride off-road along the Avon River valley through the Darling Range. We saw this potential route from the window of the train as we came towards Perth 5 weeks ago - hopefully we can get through!
42. TOODYAY to PERTH (22/04 to 28/04/09)
ISLANDS IN THE SUN.....
The first few miles down the Avon valley are straightforward, but then we reach very substantial locked gates, & warning signs making it quite clear that to proceed was trespassing, illegal, really bad, etc etc. It didn't take us long to find a way round, & we are on a gravely maintenance track sweeping down between the rocky river & the railway. At one point we pass a railway maintenance team, but they say nothing, & then 2 train drivers clock us - perhaps the police will be waiting at the end! The benefits, of course, are a traffic free ride through a beautiful, unspoilt, wooded valley - kangaroos taken by surprise bounce away - they are a different variety than we'd seen elsewhere, grey, very tall, slim & long legged.
After 40 miles off-road the rail line beside us dives through a narrow cleft in cliffs, leaving no room for our track, so we drag the bikes under 3 locked barriers, over the line, & find ourselves at Bell Falls, where a tarmac road lead us through an equestrian area & eventually to the Swan River. In the gorgeous riverside Perth suburb of Mosman Park we stop in the dark to ring for directions from Jon Wenn, & a few minutes later are following Jon's car to his house to meet wife Sue. As Mike & Jon had not seen each other since far off college days, there was an awful lot of catching up to do over the next few days as you can imagine.
We are exceptionally fortunate during our stay, not only to have river views from the guest room at their lovely home (photo) but J&S also take us in their motor-cruiser up the Swan, from the river's mouth at Freemantle, under the Narrows bridge to the CBD, probably the most attractive view of the city. Even more exciting was the trip out to Kraken Island just off 'Freo', where we drop anchor for lunch opposite a sandy cove; seals sunning themselves, & obligingly letting visitors wander between them. Dolphins follow the boat on the return trip. Later, to top it all, Mike had a dream come true, when he went for a spin in Jon's E-Type Jaguar V12 (photo), & was allowed to drive it as well.
We do the tourist bit in the city, visiting the State Art gallery & walking the treetop bridge in the Kings Park Botanic gardens. Then J&S generously lend us a sumptuous BMW saloon for a days drive N to see the Sunset Coast. For our last whole day in Oz, we take advantage of the continuing dazzling sunshine to travel with the bikes on the ferry to ROTTNEST ISLAND, 25 mins off Freemantle. The Ferry was full to bursting as this is a long weekend, commemorating Anzac, & the end of the school hols, but we soon lose the crowds as we cycle round the island, stopping to snorkel at sheltered empty coves. There are only a few local vehicles - no car ferry for visitors, so it's blissfully peaceful. A large lake has attracted many waders, including the classy Red-Necked Avocet, & a friendly Quokka (a bit like a rat on bouncy legs) hops out into the road to look at us.
For our farewell dinner, an 'au revoir' to Oz, Perth & our new friendship with Jon & Sue, we pick an Italian restaurant in Freo. This area was heavily settled by Italians & so the restaurant has authentic high quality fare, though the charming waiter had to admit he was actually Ukrainian.
We cycled to Perth Airport before dark, checked in the bikes etc & are now sitting in departures waiting for our flight back to UK. To everybody we met on our travels through Oz, thank you for your company, generosity & encouragement - bye for now.
About Us
- Sus and Mike
- In our retirement, cycling Europe (and elsewhere) before we get too old. This blog now has records of our tours of the UK (2007), Western Europe (2007/8), Australia (2008/9), UK to Hungary (2011), the Celtic Tour (spring 2012) and Pacific West Coast tour (Aug to Nov 2012).