Day 18 - Sydney to Gosford to Lake Munmorah 45 kms

Left Michael and Robyn's about 8.00 am and headed over to Mascot Station. As usual, Joe had fun trying to fit his bike and trailer into lifts to get onto the railway station platforms. Astounded at the great value of rail ticket to Gosford from Sydney, only $7.60 each. Caught train to Central where we eventually found our way to Platform 9 where our train was waiting. As it wasn't leaving for 45 minutes we had time to get our bikes on board and settle down. Guard came and told we need to load our bikes in the compartment at the end of the carriage so they weren't blocking the door between the carriages. As there was only room for one bike in each carriage Tony headed for another carriage while Joe unhooked in trailer and hung his bike from a hook provided for the purpose. Tony ended up 6 carriages away as the other carriages already had bikes in place.

The train ride to Gosford was quick and we were particularly impressed with the scenery around the Hawkesbury River. Arrived to be greeted by a heavy downpour of rain that continued for quite a while so we went shopping for our lunch.

Bought some rolls, cold meat, cheese and lettuce at Woolworths before heading out along the Central Coast Highway towards The Entrance. Joe met up with another old friend.













The traffic was awful and the road was rough with little shoulder. We went for about an before pulling over into a bus shelter to avoid more rain. We ate our lunch and then pushed on. At The Entrance we stopped take photos of the pelican perched on the street lamp on the bridge over Brisbane Water.

After this the road improved and we were able to make good time to Budgiewoi (Aboriginal for "Place for Budgie Smugglers").

Stopped to purchase dinner from the supermarket where Tony had another adoring fan that wanted to be photographed with him. He obliged.













Then rode on to Lake Munmorah State Recreation Reserve. We were expecting a small reserve with picnic facilities but were pleasantly surprised to find it was a really lovely spot with proper camping facilities. There were already a number of family groups camping there but we were able to find a quiet spot to set up our tents.






Went down to the beach for walk. There was an "unclad bathing area" on the beach and I feared that Tony would head straight down there however he opted for standing in the shallows fully clad. The water was beautifully clear and warm. I went in for brief swim in the surf before we headed back to camp.

Tony decided he did required beer and got on his bike and rode back down the road to a bottle shop. (Of course this was after deciding earlier in the day to have and "AFD" (alcohol free day to the ignorant). How weak-willed he is!!

Had BBQ'd lamb, leek and sage sausages with salad for dinner and fruit salad for dessert. When it got dark we went back to the beach under the full moon. Offshore the was trail of lights from all the bulk ore carriers queued up to get into port to pick Aussie coal. We saw this at Wollongong too.
Back to camp and off to bed. It started raining about 10.00 pm and then rained all night.

Day 17 Rest Day at Mascot - 0km

Woke up late and spent the morning doing laundry before heading down to Circular Quay on the bus.  Took the ferry across to Manly Beach.  Enjoyed the scenery very much.  Wandered through the Corso to the surf beach. There were some surfers in the water but not enough wave action to help get a ride.

Headed back to the ferry wharf and had coffee and banana bread at "Choc Lat by the Bald Man". Joe felt at home for some reason.

After returning to Circular Quay we went for a tour of the Rocks tourist precinct. Joe did well with the chicks today.  He found a friend at a hairdressers at the Rocks, but she was a bit stiff.  He still had wandering hands though.

Joe got dressed up in traditional aboriginal costume and did a bit of busking.  Demonstrated his didgeridoo skills and impressed the tourists no end. Nice shades Joe.

Caught the bus back to Mascot where Joe had another opportunity to pick up a chick and did better this time.  Other photos breach values of normal human behaviour so have not been included.




Out to dinner tonight at the "The Souk in the City" restaurant. (http://www.soukinthecity.com/ ). Great meal.  Robyn knows the owner Omar who met us at the door and showered us with rose petals.  Met Michael and Robyn's friends, John and Helen. Food was Moroccan and very tasty.  We had a fish tajine and sumac roasted lamb. Hmmmm.

Desert was the best.  We had tasting platters that had Saffron Creme Brulee, Cinnamon Ice cream, Cardomon and Honey Milk Jelly (my favourite), Chocolate and Almond Truffle and a Moroccan pudding with Dates and Figs.  The best food and a great host.

Tomorrow we are catching the train to Gosford so that we can get away from Sydney.

Day 16 Corrimal to Mascot Sydney - 70km

A little rain overnight, but tents were pretty dry by the time we got up in the morning.  Forgot to mention that they are all very patriotic up here, but some of them seem to carry things a bit too far.

Tony tried to get a bit of early morning action, surfing action that is, with a few of the locals.

Showed them how to handle the waves.

Had breakfast in the BBQ area and then made a start along a bike path that runs along the beach.  A great bike path, good surface and wide.  Great riding in the cool of the morning and we were able to look at the beaches and houses next to the beach as we rode.

At the end of the bike path we got onto Lawrence Hargreaves Drive which is part of the Great Pacific Drive (a bit like the Great Ocean Road).  Again great riding.  A few steep sections but not too bad for a couple of superbly fit, sleek bodied athletes like us.  Interesting looking at the architecture of all the different houses along the way.  Strange seeing some ultra modern beach place beside a 60s suburban house.

Thought we saw a snake at one of our stops, but it turned out to be a worm.

Eventually made our way around to Clifton where the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge is.  It was great riding down it and was so interesting we went back to have a better look.

We were fascinated by the hundreds of padlocks that were locked around the bottom of the bridge railing, each engraved with a message for a loved one living or dead.

This is an example of one.

I think we found Andrew Demetriou's younger brother going by the name of Paul McLeay.

Kept riding and climbed Bald Hill, a long steep hill.  Tough going with no shoulder and all the  cars and trucks coming up.   Joe got a flat tyre on the trailer and had to push the bike up the hill until we found a place we could do repairs.

Finished repairs by the railway track and got going again.

Reached the top of Bald Hill, Stanwell Park and for some reason Joe thought it was a spiritual place.

Bald Hill is a launching point for hang gliders and para sailors.  We spent a fair bit of time there watching them jump off  and soar above the houses below.

It was fantastic.  Joe offered Tony $50 to do a tandem jump.  Tony declined gracefully.

After spending a fair bit of time watching the gliders we moved on to the Royal National Park.  Beautiful riding through the bush and quiet roads.  Great down hills and up hills were not too taxing.

Stopped at Allambie Flat for a short break by the river and headed of again.  A fellow cyclist going in the opposite direction told us the next stage was very hilly and would take us about an hour as he had taken 20 minutes to ride down hill.  not sure what drugs he was on, because it only took us about 20 minutes up hill.





Made our way down Princes Highway to Kirawee where we caught the train to Mascot.  We always intended taking the train through Sydney rather than ride because there are very few bike paths and the traffic is chaotic.  Getting the bike and trailer onto the platforms down lifts and into trains was a bit of a challenge at times.

At Mascot we navigated our way to Michael and Robyn's using the HTC Legend (a far superior phone than the old fashioned iPhone that some technical experts??? prefer).

Great to see Michael and Robyn, both of whom are looking well.

Went out for dinner at Zoi's, a Spanish tapas bar and had some great food at a great price.  Highly recommended.  Tony tried to demonstrate the finer points of a squirrel grip to Joe who all of a sudden got very shy.  This is the picture Joe didn't want included.

Here is the picture Joe wanted included.

Day 15 Shoalhaven Heads to Corrimal (near Wollongong) - 70 km

Had heavy dew overnight so dried tents while we were having breakfast.

Also got a few shots of the beach as the sun was rising.

2 big hills to start the day. The 1st was quite steep and the 2nd was quite long. There were wonderful views of the coastline but we were concentrating on getting up the hills. Further on the road improved and we had some wonderful riding including some fast down-hills. We stopped in Kiama for some morning tea that was really 2nd breakfast.

While we were sitting in the cafe a busker started up nearby singing Eagles songs. Tony decided to help him out.

After Kiama we had a fast ride into Wollongong along the Grand Pacific Drive (GPD). Unfortunately on the south side of Wollongong the GPD is not Grand and we might have been riding through any suburban highway. With some wind assistance we were sitting above 30 kph for a longtime.

The traffic around Wollongong was horrendous and Joe managed to fall off his bike when his trailer got stuck against the gutter. So we ended up taking a bike path into the city.We tried to book into the Youth Hostel and a Backpackers Hostel but both were fully booked so we headed down the beach-side bike path to Corrimal Caravan Park. Passed the harbour and some sea baths along the way.

After a long shower we headed into Corrimal Shopping Centre and went to the pub for some refreshment. For some reason Tony purchased Joe an exotic cocktail and then took offence when Joe rejected his advances and poured his beer over Joe's computer. There are some elements of this part of the story are true. You work out which! Anyway updates to the blog may be more intermittent over the next week.

While we were in the pub it started to rain which was unfortunate because Joe had left his tent unzipped. We spent an hour in the laundry with a sleeping bag in the dryer before heading off to the local bowls club for dinner (pizza). We were entertained in the club by the senior womens darts competition that was happening. After an enjoyable meal discussing tattoos, piercing and bogans we headed back to our tents for a really good sleep.

Day 14 Fisherman's Paradise to Shoalhaven Heads 68 kms

Cool morning with a bit of rain.  We both got up and went for a swim in Lake Conjola.  Very refreshing.  As usual send credit card details if you want the pictures.  Another great morning of riding. More hills but more gradual and a tailwind assisting.

What's with this?  An Equine chiropractor?  How do you get a horse up on the table?  Would you want to be the one manipulating the horses spine?

We reached Nowra (50 kms) by 10.30 am. Spent next 2 hours in cafe updating blog. We ordered coffee and a slice of Picnic Loaf each. Picnic Loaf is bread that has been baked with roast vegies in the middle. We were a bit shocked at the bill but it came beautifully presented and was delicious.

After this we headed on to Shoalhaven Heads, a quiet seaside town. BTW, did you know that Bolong is Aboriginal for Bullock? Joe wanted to vandalise the sign to make it read "aboriginal for bollocks". We also thought we were faster riders than we thought when we came across Coolangatta meaning "Splendid View".

We got to Shoalhaven Heads about 2:30 pm and had a quiet afternoon in the picnic area near the surf club reading while we waited for all the buggers wanting to look at the waves to go away. Tony purchased some beer from the "Little Bottler", Blue Tongue Light, which we consumed with our dinner of brown rice, yellow lentil dhal and greek salad.


Eventually everyone left and we made our way behind some derelict buildings where we were able to take another opportunity for some stealth camping.

Day 13 Maloney's Beach to Fisherman's Paradise 90km

Had some rain as we went to bed last night, but it didn't last long and we were dry in our tents.  Saw a couple of kangaroos having a go at one another.  Cheered them on, but they lost interest after awhile.Up early, breakfast and packed up.

Steep ride up from the beach but after that a FANTASTIC day of riding.  Tail wind for some of the day and hills were not too bad.

Stopped at Ulladulla for lunch.  Had the best Banana Bread I have ever had at Cafe Overboard overlooking the marina.  come to think of it, the pies were pretty good too.  They were pretty good there and let us plug the laptop in to update the blog.

Got some food for tea and carried on about 20 km to Fisherman's Paradise, a small community on Lake Conjola that seems totally devoted to fishing.  Easy to see why, there were fish jumping out of the water all afternoon.

We got there about 2:30 pm and  took over a table near the boat ramp for our gear and then went and read for a few hours.  We then went for a wander around a trail near the lake.

A few of the locals must of noticed us and and came to check us out to make sure we were not going to ?rob the place.  They were happier once we had a chat with them.

Great dinner of spaghetti marinara in a tomato base.