YAY! We officially made it to Victoria!

Date: 28-03-2010 - 30-03-2010
Day 50-52: Mildura, VIC
Distance cycled: 79km

This is official because yesterday’s walk to Robinvale, VIC did not count. ;p

Same strategy, different conditions… a hell LOT of a difference!! We left 10 minutes earlier than we did yesterday but still arrived 1.5 hours later in comparison. The headwind that hit us most of the way slowed us down drastically. The road was less smooth and the traffic much heavier than yesterday. All these are factors not within our control that made our progress more than 5km/h slower.

That said, it was still a day much appreciated. To begin with, we reached our first milestone: arriving in Mildura, VIC! Next, we had a serendipity encounter with a gentleman who is not only driving his newly-acquired diesel car from Adelaide to Sydney, he has done it all. Sydney to Perth, Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Adelaide via Broken Hill etc: he has cycled those routes and perhaps many more making distances as far as 260km in one day! Truly inspirational!

When Helmut saw us riding in the opposite direction, he pulled over and spoke to us from his car. Not long afterwards, he parked his car, approached us and introduced himself before kindly sharing his experiences and some very valuable tips with us. He reminded us to travel light (even the extra lock is unnecessary), be very careful of all vehicles on the road (he would pick up his bike and take off to the bushes whenever he sees a truck approaching at night), watch out for the march flies in the Nullarbor (these flies have no mercy on any exposed flesh, they even sting through his clothes to get a bite of him!) and enjoy our ride (which we are already doing)! We also became more comfortable with riding before dawn when Helmut revealed that similarly, he departs early, if not earlier. When he attempted the 260km in a day, he started his ride at midnight!

Lastly, we felt fortunate that we just escaped the dust storm that hit Mildura (and presumably its locality) by 2 hours! We have arrived at the caravan park, set up our tent, freshened up and was having dessert after lunch at McD’s when the dust storm unexpectedly hit. Even our 5-years-old frequently-used tent survived the ordeal! What a relief!

Since a town as large as Mildura will be scarce as we cycle further west, we decided to have 2-3 days off here and hopefully leave Mildura with 2 new comfy gel-padded saddles! ;=p

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point - Hay - Maude - Balranald - Euston - [VIC] Mildura

Bushwalking in thongs, anyone?

Date: 27-03-2010
Day 49: Euston, NSW
Distance cycled: 81km (+6km bushwalk!)

We wondered if we are crazy to be getting up at 4:30am to prepare for our journey to the next destination. We learnt to be quicker with packing up our tent and panniers and hit the road before 5:30am silently as we promised our newly-acquainted fisherman friends. ;p

The ride to Euston was one of the best experiences we have had so far with close to ideal conditions. We were racing away with at least 20km/h for most of the ride. We were in awe when we found out in Euston that it was only 11am! But our bodies still need to adjust to being woken up before 5am. We both fell asleep in our tent still clad in our biking gears!

After an hour’s nap and a refreshing shower, we looked around for lunch. Euston is one of the smaller towns that we have visited so far with nothing more than 1 gas station, 1.5 convenient stores, 1 bottle shop, 2 hotels, 1 police station and 1 old court house. However, 2 minutes walk from our caravan park is located an ex-servicemen’s club (like RSL) along the Murray River. The Euston Club is definitely not something we would expect, especially in Euston. Similar to the RSLs that we know in Sydney, it has gambling facilities, food and pub. But this club seems much larger (not that we have been to many RSLs to say for sure) with tennis and bowling facilities as well as hotel accommodations.

Around 2pm, after a good and satisfying lunch at the Euston Club, Lukas said, ”How about a digestive walk to Robinvale?” He was told that it would be about 2km walk on a pedestrian path to Robinvale that has a large IGA supermarket. Sue slightly hesitantly agreed. In the end, we bushwalked for 6km return wearing sandals (a.k.a. thongs or flip-flops)! Nevertheless, some scenery was breathtaking and we did WALK into the state of Victoria to Robinvale as we crossed the bridge over the Murray River, which forms the border of NSW/VIC!

What a day!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point - Hay - Maude - Balranald - Euston

Watch out for male kangaroos!

Date: 26-03-2010
Day 48: Balranald, NSW
Distance cycled: 95km

Recognizing how the high-UV from the afternoon sun is not only bad for our health, it also always made the last 10km to the next destination in the heat somewhat agonizing. We trialled a new strategy: leaving in the wee hours of the morning. We left Maude before 5:30am.

Traffic was close to none as we rode south towards the Sturt Highway where we continued west to Balranald. While we were equipped with enough lights on our bikes, it was a still little spooky not being able to see beyond the road in front of us. Perhaps that is why Sue was especially talkative that morning. ;) In spite of that, the stars viewed in complete darkness cannot be more magical and magnificent.

We made good distance when the morning sun finally shone on our backs. We also saw several road signs to watch out for male kangaroos. Only the males. ;p

We arrived around 12:30pm in Balranald. The Balranald Caravan Park located along the Murrumbidgee River was a very nice and well-maintained park. We checked out the town for lunch and the bakery saved the day! Our new strategy to leave early worked well as our early arrival gave us several hours more to check out the town and recuperate.

With more time left to savour the day, we took a dip in the caravan park’s pool with our chilled drinks at hand. Paul, Bob, Tom and Mick joined us under the sun shade at the pool area with their chilled beer at hand. ;) We both enjoyed a fun and laidback chat with these nice blokes who came from the neighbouring town of Swan Hill for the fishing competition this weekend held at the caravan park itself. (That explains all the trucks pulling into the park with their boats in tow!) Yes Bob, we will try to consider holding up our bikes and flinging it off a cliff when we successfully made it to Perth!

Hope you guys had some good catch of Murray cods and Yellowbellies!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point - Hay - Maude - Balranald

What a small world (and town)!

Date: 25-03-2010
Day 47: Maude, NSW
Distance cycled: 55km

Goodbye, Hay! Thanks for the nice day off!

Some days we feel the effects from riding more fervently than we do on other days. The distance we rode from Darlington Point to Hay is the longest so far. Taking the heat into consideration, it felt even further than it is. Hence, instead of attempting the 130km stretch from Hay to Balranald with little in between, we cycled to Maude. Maude is a small town, west of Hay, with a population of 60.

While seemingly near, it was still a respectable 3.5-hours ride. If not for the conditions like no wind, little traffic and relatively smooth pavement, it could easily have taken us much longer. Before we left Hay, we ensured that we are well-stocked with food (in our bags and tummies). After a good breakfast of a loaf of $2-cheese-and-vegemite pull-apart bread (yum!) and a chocolate muffin fresh from the bakery, we pedalled away.

We arrived around noon and decided that the rest of the hot afternoon will be better spent in an air-conditioned cabin than boiling in our tent. While we were shown our cabin, someone said, “Lukas, it is illegal to stalk in this country, you know?” Unbelievably, it was James whom we had a brief encounter with outside the Hay Library yesterday! Several hours of the afternoon were spent philosophising about life with James, who is a 69-years old writer and who has WALKED across the Nullarbor.

James reminded Sue of Robert Frost that she learnt in high school in literature class. Then, he recited the 4th stanza of ‘The Road Less Travelled’ which in his opinion, speaks a lot about life. We both agreed.

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

-Robert Frost

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point - Hay - Maude

Too hot or too cold?

Date: 23-03-2010 - 24-03-2010
Day 45-46: Hay, NSW 
Distance cycled: 119km

Knowing that it would be one of the longer rides, we left early hoping to lessen our exposure to the afternoon sun. We hit the road before 6am while it was dark, pitch black. We were really surprised how cold it was in the morning (plus the wind factor while riding)... and that we may have hit rush hour! There was more traffic when we left this morning than when we arrived yesterday afternoon!

And yes it was a long ride. The conditions along the highway change more often than we would expect. Sometimes the shoulders are wide, sometimes non-existent. The road sometimes smooth, sometimes it can be a bumpy ride. While the sun can be furiously bright, the wind can be alleviating the heat against our skin but a deterrent to our speed. Yet, the countless honks and waves we got by caravaners and truckies were gratifying and priceless.

It was a great relief when the caravan park in Hay (actually South Hay) was in view. It was about 4:30pm. We looked forward to a good meal in town especially since the day was fuelled by protein shakes, muesli bars, Staminade (similar to Gatorade) and shortbread cookies. Then one of the poles supporting our tent broke! With patience and good teamwork, we fixed it! Double YAY! ;=)

Unfortunately, we were too late and most shops in town were closed after 5pm. Dinner from the deli, it is! Not so yay!

And we decided to take one day off in Hay. Yay again!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point - Hay

Short and sweet..

Date: 22-03-2010
Day 44: Darlington Point, NSW 
Distance cycled: 61km

It was a shorter ride to Darlington Point today. With a well-equipped camp kitchen, we made ourselves some good breakfast before leaving Narrandera for Darlington Point around 8am. We rode along Sturt Highway and except for one or 2 mini-hills at the beginning, it was mostly level. Like what we were told, it will be flat from now on. We did hit some headwind that made the condition less desirable. By 1pm, we made it to Darlington Point. Yay!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera - Darlington Point

Man vs. Machine?

Date: 20-03-2010 - 21-03-2010
Day 42-43: Wagga Wagga & Narrandera, NSW
Distance cycled: 100km

A missing screw here. A partially flat tyre there. Some rickety noises here and there. Our bikes are definitely showing signs of wear. These were some good excuses to take a day off and show our bikes some TLC (tender loving care) for the rides ahead.

It was not too long of a ride from Gundagai to Wagga Wagga, but it felt endless. We were famished when we arrived in Wagga Wagga yesterday. After settling down and freshening up, we went food hunting. One giant full-o-veggies-and-cheesy pizza and some drinks later, our tummies were happy but our muscles were not. Not to mention how our behinds felt. We decided to get some meal supplement shake (it’s called a Mass Gainer! Yikes!) to up our protein and carbs intake since there is usually no restaurants or cafes that we could stop for a good meal along the way.

Seeing some wear from our bikes and feeling the work of our muscles, the thought whether our bikes (machine) or us (man) will last longer came across our mind. Not just physically, the long stretch and sunny afternoons can sometimes be challenging for us also mentally. We hope neither man nor machine will fail until we get to Perth as we find ways to make both go the distance.

For our ride to Narrandera, we left around 6am. We rode across the town of Wagga Wagga enjoying serenity in this relatively larger town and learnt to appreciate the work of some keeping the town clean before the break of dawn. Equipped with sandwiches for lunch, we skipped brekkie at McD’s and pedalled out of town towards Narrandera. It was flat most of the way. The only downside was that if our legs stop working, we stop moving. Sue sometimes missed the uphill followed by a rolling reward. ;(

At around 3pm, we arrived at Narrandera. We even had a chance to take a dip in the pool at the caravan park before heading into the ‘Town of Trees’ of Narrandera! Sadly, we just missed the John O’Brien Blues Festival and... the opening hours of the shops (because it’s Sunday). So dinner was food from the deli again (from Coles).

And FLIES! There are so many FLIES!!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga - Narrandera

Hydrate, stretch and slap…

Date: 19-03-2010
Day 41: Wagga Wagga, NSW 
Distance cycled: 81km

It was a similar start to the day before. The hills that we have to climb were less. But it also felt like there were less rest areas. We made sure we hydrate and refuel, stretch and slap on enough sunscreen at every opportunity. 

When we had dinner in Gundagai at Niagara Café yesterday, Sue read an article about the first 2 kayakers to successfully pedal 3,500km across the Tasman Sea in 62 days. The owner of the café is friends with one of the kayakers’ father and he has been an avid follower of the expedition since day 1. It was a very inspiring story!

In some way, it also made our attempt to cycle across Australia seemed a little less daunting. Today, there were barely any rest areas to stop but at least we can pull over to stretch our legs after every hill we conquered or whenever we felt like it. Unlike the kayakers, it’s the ocean and only the ocean. They would probably have to risk their life and jump into sea for a stretch in the presumably shark-infested water. Yikes!

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai - Wagga Wagga

Watch out for giant mosquitoes!

Date: 18-03-2010
Day 40: Gundagai, NSW 
Distance cycled: 109km

We got up at 5am and were ready to roll at 5:45am. It was still pitch black. We cycled for several kilometres from town to the Hume Highway that takes us to our next destination. The golden arches greeted us with a smile. We decided to stop and have breakfast at McD’s while we waited for the sunrise.

There were some hills to climb. But as Sue sees it, the reward of rolling downhill after each climb was worth the while. The surrounding views were breathtaking and given the wide road shoulders, we were able to enjoy them. Sue also noticed quite a few skid marks which reminded her of every possibly near-death experience of someone driving along the highway. It was a unnerving thought. For those of you who drive, please drive carefully.

We arrived at a camping and caravan park by the river in Gundagai around 2:30pm. We were quick to set up and head to town for our first proper meal of the day (apart from the brekkie at maccas). We walked to town to give our bums a break.

Every town is unique in its own way. However the similarities are also evident. As Lukas put it, “In Europe, every town centre has a clock tower. In Australia, it appears that every town has a bottle shop.”

Gundagai, also a historical town, has some nice walkways along its parks too! The walk to town for an early dinner was pleasant until we realised why we were the only ones walking through the park. We were under attack by horrendous giant mosquitoes! Thankfully (we hope), there were not deadly. ;)

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass - Gundagai

After 4 weeks, we are back on the road

Date: 17-03-2010
Day 39: Yass, NSW 
Distance cycled: 74km

There goes the alarm at 5:30am. After 4 weeks of late nights and not so early mornings, we felt barely rested. But we were both excited to get back on the road and pedal our push bikes. We took off a little after 6am. To our amazement, there are people already up and running (literally) or walking their dog. It was still dark!

Coming from Queanbeyan in the south east of Canberra, it was around 8am when we left the capital of Australia. Canberra was in a good mood with its month-long birthday celebrations and gave us a nice farewell of fine weather. Looking at the road signs, it always felt like we are almost there. We pressed on and finally arrived in Yass just before noon.

Yass is a historical town dating back to the 1800s. The parks have grass as green and well-maintained as you would see in golf courses and there is a walkway along the river that takes you around the park. It was very nice.

Well, pushing on without breaks was a mistake we learnt not to repeat. We were both exhausted when we arrived. We did not have a proper breakfast except for a slice of bread with chocolate spread or a muesli bar. We did not take any proper breaks but were quick to stop and go. We did not pace ourselves thinking that “this will be the last hill” (NOT!) and “we’re almost there, let’s keep going!”. And so we will learn.

When we left Sydney, we carried 80kg on both our bikes. When we left Queanbeyan, we had 40kg. That was another lesson we learnt: to keep learning from the challenges we face. See the challenge as an opportunity to learn and become wiser.

Destinations: [NSW] North Sydney - Heathcote - Coledale - Wollongong - Robertson - Moss Vale - Goulburn - Queanbeyan - Yass 

Farewell with Dan & Agnes

Date: 14-03-2010 - 16-03-2010
Day 37-38: Queanbeyan, NSW

Our planned departure was on Tuesday morning at 6am. We were both stressed to the core on finishing the manuscript as well as some preparations prior to leaving. Then we thought, “Why not stay for another day?” So we did. Revised planned departure became Wednesday 17-03-2010.

On Monday, Dan (Sue’s brother) and Agnes (Sue’s brother’s work mate) farewelled us with a good authentic Indian dinner out and dessert at Koko Black. For those of you who haven’t heard of Koko Black, we were told by Agnes that “it’s like Max Brenner, only better”. ;p So on your next visit to Canberra, make sure you leave room for some chocolatey dessert!

As much as we would like to, Tuesday became a full day of ‘things to do’ rather than a relaxing afternoon and an early night. With the TV series Dexter playing on DVD in the background, we both ran around almost frantically preparing some documents, packing and trying to follow Dexter on their hunt for the ice-truck killer. Who is the ice-truck killer?!?!

A relaxing day...

Date: 13-03-2010
Day 36: Queanbeyan, NSW

We were invited by Ray (work mate from Sydney) and Aileen to celebrate their niece’s 1-year old birthday. It was a very enjoyable bike ride from Queanbeyan to Dickson (almost 20km one way) on bike paths shaded by rows of trees. The party was a new experience for us too! It was great to see family and friends (many drove 3-hours from Sydney) gather for this festivity filled with yummy (and endless) Philo food, decorations and games. A Philippino tradition we all ought to follow, don’t you think?

After that, we went to Smith Cycles to get Lukas’s bike fixed. Despite it being after their opening hours, Adam did a quick service on Lukas’s bike. You cannot get service better than that! Not that we’re recommending people to drop by after hours… Smith Cycles was the FIRST place where we gathered intelligence on the technicalities (and bought our clip-on cycle shoes) for our bike trip from Sydney to Perth several months ago.

The relaxing day continued with the celebration of Canberra’s birthday at Commonwealth Park together with Dan and the usual Friday night movie at home.

The end is near...

Date: 24-02-2010 - 12-03-2010 Day 19-35: Queanbeyan, NSW

… of our stay at Dan’s. Some asked: “Where have you been?”

The last 3 weeks and 2 days, we have been staying near Canberra. Despite all the latest electronic gizmos and gadgets available at Dan’s, it was more work than play. Lukas worked hard on his manuscript, reading and coding some newspapers in the UK and Germany for the last 10 years. Sue fuelled and fattened us up with some good hearty homecooked meals (see pics ;p) for the road ahead. That said, we have not completely abandoned our bikes. Some days we would bike about 30km to the National Library or Canberra city centre and back to run our errands. It took time to deal with the logistics, namely our visa, flights, insurance etc.

As spontaneous as we often roll, changes in our plan are inevitable. Instead of having until July to pedal ourselves to Perth, we now have until end of May to fly off from Perth (or Sue gets deported!) Based on our planned route, it should take us about 50 days to cycle to Perth. And if Clea and Garrett made it in 30 days, we should be able to do it in almost twice the amount of time. Right?

RIGHT-O! !
Thank you for all for your support, kind words and for following us! The adventure shall resume in 3.5 days. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will NOT be the same ‘wet’ farewell that Sydney gave us! Stay tuned.. ;=)

Next destination: Yass, NSW