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