Day 10

Wednesday 3rd December, Day 10:-

It's a beautiful morning as I set off from the Loaded Dog pub in Tarago:-



This morning I am heading to Goulburn and after an hour or so I pass the 1,000km milestone (or kilometrestone):-



Now, almost all Australian cities/towns/villages have some sort of claim to fame, whether it be the 1st this, or possessing the longest that, or the biggest the other, etc. (I remember visiting a village in Tasmania once that lay claim to having the most 'south-easterly' post office in the whole of Australia - wow!?!). Anyway, Goulburn's claim to fame is that it was Australia's first INLAND city?? Developed nearly 200 yrs, a railway was built here because of these things:-



We are now deep into sheep-shearing country! and more specifically the Merino sheep - famous for its wool, sent from here back in the 19th century, via the railway, to Sydney and on to be exported all over the world.

However, whilst there are plenty of sheep around, there are a few cattle 'lying' around as well (yes, it is real):-



I think this one must have been cycling a long distance! - it reminds me of what I musy have looked like lying next to the Merino highway yesterday - motionless with legs as stiff as a board. There is a funny smell around here? Not sure why...

Anyway, I cycle the 35kms into Goulburn and head for the tourist information centre. Whilst walking around in there, my eye catches a postcard and I'm forced to do a double-take... I examine the postcard, and gasp as I recognise the picture - I must have been here before on my travels here back in 1997?! I take the postcard over to the desk and make an enquiry to the lady there. She gives me the information I need and I head the 4 kms out of town to reacquaint myself with....



...the big Merino! - the biggest sheep in the world!! (Goulburn's 2nd claim to fame)

But that's not all, Goulburn also has something else - Australia's oldest surviving industrial complex - wahoooo!! The fact that it is a working brewery makes me decide that this place warrants further investigation, so I take a trip to Goulburn Brewery. I am in luck, the man who owns it is in the reception - Reverend Father Michael O'Halloran! I chuckle to myself and proceed to take the tour. Part of the entrance fee is a complimentary tasting... which I duly take part in. The stout is lovely and I order a pot to have with a spot of lunch before heading off:-



I am trying to make it to Bundanoon this afternoon, another 80kms away. It is very hot and very sunny - not the sort of day condusive to lunch-time drinking followed by a dehydrating cycling exercise. Never mind - I pedal on... and on... and on... My waterbottle level goes down... and down... and down... until suddenly I am in the middle of nowhere and I am clean out of fluids. I had been banking on Bungonia having a shop, but it doesn't and I realise that I have another 18kms to go until the next village - that'll mean I will have cycled nearly 90kms in searing heat with only 2 water bottles, 3 swigs of a variety of Goulburn Brewery's finest and a pot of stout, hmm...

...fortunately I still have the other half a pack of sour snakes from the other day, and I ration myself to 1 every km. As each sour snake hits the back of the mouth, I manage to generate just enough saliva to keep me from collapsing into a dehydrated coma! Eventually, arriving at Marulan I spend $15 on drinks...

30kms to go. The legs are obviusly tired, but it is the right achilles that is giving me a real problem and I find I can't stand up to pedal due to the pain. That makes hills even more difficult and I find that I walk up the majority of steep inclines:-



With 8 kms to go to Bundanoon, just as I am losing the will to live, a car overtakes me, screeches to a halt and 4 people jump out. The guy driving comes running over to me waving his arms and shouting at me - 'oh great, that's all I need - abduction!', I think to myself, although the idea of sitting in the back of a car and being driven off somewhere does have SOME appeal.

As it happens, he's saying "we're cyclist, we're cyclists!", and we proceed to have a great chat about both my own trip and their trip they have just completed in Europe along the River Danube. Having not spoken to many people to today and feeling a little dispondant, I really valued their passion and enthusiam and it spurred me on for the final 8 kms, before finally arriving into Bundanoon!

START:- Tarago, 7.30am
FINISH:- Bundanoon, 7.40pm
DISTANCE:- 132.15km
AVERAGE SPEED:- 16.9 km/h
MAXIMUM SPEED:- 55.2 km/h
CYCLING TIME:- 7hrs 48mins 00s

TOTAL DISTANCE:- 1,107.1 km
TOTAL TIME:- 67hrs 24mins 03s