Kempsey to Uranga

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Rest Stop: Liberty Machine Shop

We left Kempsey after a great breakfast of crumpets and muesli and coffee and a time of devotions and proclamations – we were feeling pretty good – clean clothes, caught up on routine tasks and ready to make decisions. . Unfortunately we still don’t have enough info. We have talked about everything from leaving the route and just ‘biking around’ for a couple days and then taking the train to the airport – to going to the airport via the train immediately and joining the volunteers who are trying to help with the clean up. Both pose numerous problems… mostly because we have bikes. Anyway for today we just got up and started riding, staying on the main road for most of the day – taking one route up through the mountains to get off the highway for a few hours.

The ride was smooth and constant. We stopped very little – now that we are on the highway the only stops are rest stops because to exit wastes energy. The first rest stop had a gas station with it – only one like this we have seen – kind of like a truckstop only everything was major expensive – like $5 for a cup of coffee… so we passed on that and had a banana from our bags instead and drank some of our water which is actually tasty because we put packets of lemon and lime in it. Anyway we rested for a few minutes and then put our rain covers on our trunks cause it looked like rain – people coming towards us with lights on and wipers going. It didn’t rain but a few drops though so not bad – the sun actually came out a few times today. In and out. In and out. Later on down the road we put on our ipods and just kept the peddles moving. The views from the highway were fine – actually looked like home – rolling hills, hay, horses and cattle.

Another stop today was at a rest stop that was pretty run down. It had gotten very hot and humid (I know the folks back home dealing with snow don’t want to hear us complain about that!) although we aren’t complaining – it didn’t rain and we didn’t loose our home in a flood ….. we ate pb and j and bananas and soaked our heads in rain water from the rain water catchment.

Our last stop for the day was at a “stop/revive/survive” station. Here they have the rest stop manned with people who give you coffee. If you have been driving over two hours you are supposed to stop and get out and stretch and get a drink of coffee. So we stretched and got coffee. Larry struck up a conversation with the man there asking him about the back road that our book suggested. The man told us the road was good and that it was open so we decided too take it. The cool thing about the stop though was that we were planning on staying the night at Nambucca Head – about 10k off route but looked like a good option. The man told us not to go there – not really the best place to go and very hilly going – he suggested Uranga which our book didn’t record as an option. We took the back road which was just as the man had said – sealed all the way and though hilly it was a good feeling to not be on the highway. We could hear the birds again and so forth. We almost got a camera out when we saw a fox, but we weren’t quick enough.

The back road ended at the upper end of Nambucca and yes it was immediately very hilly. We stopped at the gas station there and got popsicles and soaked our heads. We rode through the upper end of the town to catch the highway again and saw a really cool mural that was actually a bench that stretched a whole block. It was very wwell done made out of ceramic pieces of all sorts – tile, cups, plates, mirrors – all with a theme of the sea. Very cool.

Back on the highway again in now stifling heat. The highway was now just a ten mile stretch to complete our fifty three mile day to Uranga. The last ten were laced with grinding climbs but they went pretty good – then we were supposed to take a back road into Uranga but we just stayed on the highway – six of one/half dozen of the other we thought. Well we should have gotten off cause later we actually walked the other road which was a lousy walk but would have been a fine ride into town and would have come right into our campground – instead we had huge undulations in the middle of very heavy traffic and no shoulder and atrociously bad roads. One bump was so big when Larry hit it his bungy cord flew off our tent. He stopped immediately cause if it got caught in his wheel it would take him out and he would be flown off the bike which at the moment was not a good thing… in fact death entered my mind as I flew by him not able to stop as I was going around 30mph with a semi on my tail trying to negotiate the road holes myself. At the top of the hill I watched Larry go look for something and then walk his bike to the top of the hill which was really steep – no way to restart in traffic in the gears we were coming down in. Anyway – a moment of apprehension.

Finally we got to Uranga and felt immediately at home. What a God-thing to meet that man who told us about this place. It has to be the nicest place we have stayed. There is a 700 meter board walk out to the ocean which is a ways away because the river comes into the ocean here. The kitchen has everything you could want to cook with and the grocery store is nice and directly across the street. Mostly families here and so it is very calm. We were immediately taken under the wing of our neighbor who showed us the ropes and helped us figure out how to get information about the trains and so forth. There is free wifi here as well which is unheard of in Australia – at least where we have been. There is lots to do too.

Tonight we cooked up hamburgers and crumpets and then headed to the board walk. We walked all the way out and the sun, while it sets over the mountains, it gave a nice glow to the ocean – a pretty rare scene these cloudy, foggy days. We saw three kangaroos on the way as well as lots of ‘sea creatures’ in the lagoon on the way out there. We returned to camp and it was family movie night right by out tent where they were showing Toystory 3! We love that movie so we watched it with al the other kids!

We finished the evening discussing how once again God’s provision has been evident in our day. We met the man at the drive station which changed our destination, our neighbor has been amazing, the tv here has all the news we need to watch and this is a wonderful place (and inexpensive) to stay. The ocean breeze is strong as well which will really help with drying out and sleeping in the tent. What a day – the highway made the journey seem like it would never end – but it has ended really nicely. Our discussion tonight centered on staying here until the road cleared. There is a really nice coastal walk we could do tomorrow and then the roads should be open. We can’t ride to Brisbine as planned – the road won’t open in time. We will need to find a train or a bus – so it doesn’t really matter where we end up, as long as there is a train station. For now we know we can only go about thirty miles further anyway so tomorrow would just be a short ride into the mess instead of a nice place to be and food and campsites that haven’t risen in price due to the floods. The flooding is everywhere now – Melbourne – down where we started flooded today and Tasmania is struggling also. For our area there is a cyclone watch. Right now a coastal walk and a day off the bike might be just the best thing to do. One thing we know – we think we are supposed to be here… so we will stay tomorrow.