Day 11 & 12 - the final day?

Thursday 4th December, Day 11:-

An early start on the bike has to be postponed when I get up at 7am and quickly discover I can hardly walk (R achilles). I hobble downstairs and, instead, have a humungous breakfast of every possible conceivable breakfast item - maybe I just need to stock up on all the vitamins and minerals that a glass of orange juice, a bowl of muesli, a fresh fruit salad, some wholegrain toast and er.. a full greasy English breakfast fry-up can provide?

I ponder my options - there is a railway station here that has a direct train to Sydney... hmm. I have 220 -240kms left to cycle. Friday (tomorrow) is the deadline I have set myself - 1200 kms in 12 days was the original plan, although the distance will be at least 1300km. Tim (pal from Sydney) has arranged to join me for the final leg tomorrow and there is a meal and beers/wine ready for arrival Friday evening - I can't be late! I decide to visit the pharmacist for some ibuprofens.

Loading the bike up with the panniers, I realise that there is quite an important screw missing from the bike - I thought it was rattling around a bit yesterday? Bundanoon is only a small town, high up in the Southern Uplands of New South Wales... but it does bizarrely have a bike shop. I take the bike in to be fixed and spend a good 30mins chatting with Fiona, Geoff and Wendy about cycling here and in Europe. Yet again, more friendly Australians to add to all the others I have already met since being over here:-



By 10.15am the bike is fixed, the ibuprofens have kicked in and I am raring to go! I quickly catch the weather forecast - "Wind from the east this morning, 'freshening' from the north-east this afternoon, especially along the coast". What a surprise - the 1st 50kms this morning are heading east, then the next 70kms this afternoon are north-east, with the last 30kms running along the coast - marvellous...

The landscape changes today. Gum and eucalyptus trees make way for a more English-type vista, with lush trees, green fields, dandelions and winding hedgerows. The post boxes are still very much Australian though:-



The air is cooler and less oppresive, the scenery more varied and interesting than previous days and I enjoy the morning ride to Fitzroy Falls, deep in the Morton National Park:-

This place is amazing and I stop here to explore for an hour before heading north-east to Robertson, a small village located on the edge of the Illawara escarpement. Once famous for it's temperate rainforests and cheese production, it is now more famous for...

The World's BIGGEST potato! I shake my head with a hint of dismay... before taking the obligatory half a dozen photos from various angles of course.

I stop at the CT (community technology) centre and chat with Monica, the manager, whilst using the internet and updating the blog. However, time passes by and before I know it, it is 5pm! and I still have 60kms to get to Wollongong. That'll leave me 130kms on the final day tomorrow, ouch, hardly the relaxed amble along the Champs Elysées that I would have ideally envisaged.

I pedal hard through the hilly Jamberoo National Park and by dusk catch a 1st glimpse of the Pacific Ocean! I am 20kms south of Wollongong and heading along the treacherous Princes Highway before finally arriving in Wollongong at 9.30pm.

I have to give it to the Australian's. When it comes to anything with an incline, they don't flaff around with their words. I have cycled along half a dozen 'Hill Roads', struggled up several 'Big Hill's, and when it comes to mountains, they give them names such as 'Mount Difficult' or 'Mount Buggery' (it's true - you can Google them!). But whilst being renound for their straight-talking-no-bulls**t approach to naming, it is also good to see that the Aussie's do also have a sensitive side...

"Hello, is that 13 1114? Yep, Hi - Saw your advert on the side of the road? Yeah, I've got a really sore backside... Reckon you can help me out??"

...and whilst we're on the subject of strange signs:-

...a little harsh I feel! I've met some very nice Australian's since I've been here

But, back to today. I hang out in the centre of Wollongong and grab some food. It's Friday night and the boy racers are in town - suped up cars with lowered suspension, huge spoilers, neon lights and the coolest signs in town - the stick on P plates, haha, welcome back to city life!

I decide not to stick around but carry on in the dark and cycle another 20kms north, along the beach, before finally arriving at a motel in Thirroul at 11.47pm. The tent trick works a treat once again and I negotiate a good rate, including breakfast, before watching some mind numbing TV until 2am

START:- Bundanoon, 10.17am

FINISH:- Thirroul, 11.47pm

DISTANCE:- 126.42 km

CYCLING TIME:- 8hrs 03mins 19s

AVERAGE SPEED:- 15.7 km/h

MAXIMUM SPEED:- 71.3 km/h

TOTAL DISTANCE:- 1233.6 km

TOTAL TIME:- 75hrs 27mins 22s

Friday 5th December, Day 12 - the final day?

I wake early. I can sense the anticipation. The FINAL day, the end in sight (Sydney suburbs are only 50kms away) and, for the 1st time, I feel that I am going to make it! A buzz tingles down my spine. It has been a tiring journey, a constant battle against the elements and the terrain. To average over 100 kms a day sounded straight-forward. But the hills, the heat, the headwinds, the weight of the bike & panniers, the freak storms, the cold, the tiredness, the inadequate preparation, the injuries, the dehydration, the lack of shade, the emptiness, the quiet, the isolation, the loneliness and not forgetting the magpie attacks (don't laugh, it's true) - they have compounded to make some days feel like a life sentence!

I focus on cycling up to the Sydney Opera House... it's an image that I have dreamt about for several weeks, but over recent days have feared would not happen... but today I am going to achieve my goal!!

...or so I think?

The days starts well enough with a beautiful 18km ride up the coast. To my right, pristine white beaches and the Pacific Ocean surf. To my left, the steep vertical escarpment of the Eastern edge of the Great Dividing Range Mountains, the 4th longest mountain range in the world (?!) stretching more than 3,500km from the northeastern tip of Queensland, down the entire length of the eastern coastline, through New South Wales and into Victoria:-

The road is exceedingly undulating, but adrenaline powers me along as I head to Otford train station to meet Tim. It will be 40kms from there, through the Royal National Park (2nd oldest national park in the world, apparently..) to reach the southern suburbs. Another 35kms should bring us to the harbour and to the end of the road - the Sydney Opera House

...but fate deals a cruel blow as I round the final corner before arriving at Otford station, when an acute snapping sound forces me to a skidding stop. I look down. A couple of spokes have broken and the rear wheel, from nowhere, has suddenly buckled into a mangled mess of metal!

Bugger... I don't know what to do but the bike can't be be ridden, the wheel won't make a complete revolution anymore. I glance at the watch. After a late start this morning, it is already 12.15pm. 90kms to go, and a bike that won't move. Tim arrives shortly after, all keen for an afternoon's cycling on a precious Friday afternoon off work. I break the news to him that after 1,250kms of zero problems, I am going to have to return to Thirroul to get the wheel replaced. On the plus side, we are only 100m from a train station (the chances of that happening in Australia are minute). Several trains pass without stopping (this is a minor station ) before we hop on the 1.30pm train back to where I started this morning. Kate, in the bike shop, does a stirling job in squeezing us in and fixing up a new wheel, despite a heavy workload and at 3.50pm we re-arrive back at Otford St - right 90kms to go, half through undulating bushland, the other half through the busiest city in Australia, and it'll be dark in 4hrs! We set off:-

After another hour, Tim starts whincing - not too sure what he is up to here though:-

but the pot of Vaseline is out... Caption competition anyone?

We are making reasonable time, but it is unlikely we will make Sydney Opera House until it is dark. I may have had a buckled wheel, but other than that it has been 1,300kms without a puncture and without having to even pump up my tyres! Tim, however had a puncture in the bike shop (admittedly my fault) and then another on the Prince's Highway, heh-heh

At 7.15pm, we catch our 1st glimpse of the city - it appears to be absolutely miles away, but at least it is in sight. Tim leads the way as we tour through the southern suburbs, taking in such delights as St George's River, Botany Bay.... and the Sydney airport freight terminal!? The light is fading fast, but the city skyline slowly but surely gets more and more magnified.

At 9pm we are close to the city centre - it is Friday night and the place is alive and buzzing! My heart beats faster and faster, I can't believe we are so close... we dart and thread, twisting and turning between buses and taxis, jumping red lights, mounting pavements, anything and everything to get there:-

Even Tim, who spends his whole working week down here adjacent to the harbour, is excited as we veer round the final corner, through the masses of people wining and dining, across and down 1, 2 more pavements and BANG! dun-dun-darghhh - there she is..

in all her full resplendant glory, the most iconic and recognisable building in the whole world (ok so I'm getting a little carried away!).. the SYDNEY - OPERA - HOUSE!

There ensues some hardcore fisting action (?), a few photos:-

and realising that this is the end of the road... a small tear



...well maybe not quite the end of the road. The goal was to cycle from Ad and Jen's house in Melbourne to Tim and Jo's house in Sydney, which is still 16kms away. Time is pressing. We cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge and proceed through the hilliest city known to man, jeez these hills are steep. Tim has a brief scare as he hits accelerates in the pitch black darkness and unfortunately slams into a hidden raised kerb square-on and flies over the front of his handlebars into a crumpled heap on the floor - I also crumple onto the floor, but from laughter, sorry mate that was bloody funny!

Pride bruised, but nothing more, Tim is back on the bike - there are only a few kms to go and we are surging along on pure adrenaline.

And then at 10.48pm, 12 days and 1342.8km after setting off from Ad's house, with 72 minutes left to spare, we arrive at Tim's house and (tears welling up once again) the end of this Melbourne to Sydney cycle journey:-

It's finally over... and I am ecstatic!

We celebrate with a couple of ice cold beers and some fantastic homemade pizza, courtesy of Jo (Tim's wife) - and it feels good... it feels SO good

START:- Thirroul, 10.30am

FINISH:- Tim and Jo's house, Manly Vale, northern Sydney, 10.48pm

DISTANCE:- 109.2 km

CYCLING TIME:- 6hrs 48mins 27s

AVERAGE SPEED:- 16.0 km/h

MAXIMUM SPEED:- 68.8 km/h

TOTAL DISTANCE:- 1,342.8 km

TOTAL TIME:- 82hrs 15mins 49s

Thank you all for reading and for supporting this blog. You're positive comments and words of encouragement have kept me going, particularly through those days in and around Canberra when things weren't great

I fly back tomorrow and will look forward to boring you senseless with all the stories! I will be writing one final entry into this blog upon my return.

But for now, thank you and Good Night!