Ride With Us

Grafton to Home Sweet Home

2011-02-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

We got up, took our last shower before travel and the taxi arrived. We leave our bikes and gear at the train station and spend the day walking all over town seeing the giant fig trees and the historical buildings the town is known for. One of those building is the oldest and largest cinema (art deco renovated). We watch an excellent movie called The King’s Speech. Then we went to the mall for t-shirts and reading material for the trip – we struck out on reading material – we didn’t want to spend $30 for one book…. Anyway we piddle around waiting til 2am to arrive. We ate our victory dinner at the clock tower hotel, watched a tennis match at a bar in that hotel that was collecting bottle caps for us (we made a haul there! And the guy even washed them!).. Finally we just went to the train station around midnight and slept on the benches outside waiting for them to open.

The train arrived on time and we got on with our luggage and bikes and the journey began. The train ride was kind of obnoxious but we got through it – at the end of the train ride we were to find a way to the airport. We got off the train and headed for a cart, got our bikes and bags and headed into the train station to find all city trains free due to the flooding and a man who not only gave us directions but helped us get our bikes through the gates and onto the lifts, tells us the platform to go to and that the train leaves in 15 minutes. We negotiate the lifts and board the train within minutes. These trains are nicer – clean and bright. We are on an express train to the airport so there are only a few stops and we are there. A man offers us information about which terminal stop to go to and which side to get off. When our stop comes up it is pouring rain. Two men help Larry get the bikes off. He runs them down to the covered area one at a time while I bring the luggage down. We get pretty wet… and our boxes are cardboard. Larry goes looking for a cart and comes back with a cart and a woman who works for the train station who helps load the bikes, tells us how to get where we need to go and actually rides the elevator with us and brings us a second cart so we can negotiate the next two lifts easier. We get inside the airline and a woman greets us with a service to wrap our bike boxes to protect them which means it no longer matters that they got wet. We do this and then head to the departure area. Here we freshen up from the night on the train, change clothes and remove the stuff you can’t carry on the plane from our bags and get some coffee and a veggie wrap. While we are doing this Larry looks up and grabs the camera and gets me and we go out onto the concourse and enjoy a most beautiful rainbow which runs from one side of the sky to the other and is even double at times. This is how our last trip ended – with a magnificent rainbow. We choose to believe it is God’s seal of blessing on our trip and is a very special moment.

We finish changing our luggage from ‘train to plane’ ready and by then it is time to check in. There is no one in line and we go right to the counter. The man is very nice and in just a couple minutes we are done. We roam around the airport shops killing time (and purchasing a stuffed Kookabura for our stuffed animal collection and we are pleased that it also make the laughing sound!) and then board our plane which is half empty. People are stretched out all over the place and it is generally a happy affair! Couldn’t ask for better.

As we take off we can see the flooded city streets – that is the only sad part. The clean up is going well but it is definitely a nasty job and people are getting sick from the bacteria and fecal material in the receding flood waters…. What a nasty experience that would be – I know just from the water we sometimes get in our buildings at camp that it is nasty – I can’t imagine whole streets. The Grafton river receding was smelly enough and that was just open mud…..

We expect to arrive in LA at seven am and then straight to Nashville. We’ll be home by 4 tomorrow… but it will still be today…. And another trip will be over… and a very good one at that.

This trip will be remembered as one of the smoothest trips we have ever been on. It was very physical and we feel strong. It was uneventful, scenic but not spectacular, it isn’t our highest mileage, the weather wasn’t the best…. But it was a grand experience. God showed His amazing provision, we enjoyed each others friendship, we were part of a human drama in the flooding, witness to the most historic game of Cricket in Aussie history, met some great people, got more than eight hours sleep most nights, and rode in the bush and high desert on isolated dirt roads and high temperatures and lived to tell about it. We watched fears melt away from our hearts, joy spring up in its place, faith stand back up and laughter finds its rightful place. The kookaburra will be in our hearts for ever and we pray that our lives bring joy and laughter to the world around us the way the kookaburra brought it to us.

We have arrived home safely – tired but happy. Once home we rest in the comfort of our bed in a temperature controlled home with indoor plumbing. Cooper is happy to see us and in a very short time we have settled back into our lives with this surreal memory of a most incredible adventure – one that tested us, taught us, brought us joy and strength.

We see a hawk on the tree and are glad to be home. We approach the New Frontiers office with the awareness that when we open that door we will be picking back up the calling of our lives – we look at each other as if to say, “are you ready?”. We walk up the stairs to the office and there on the porch is a very shiny penny shouting to us that our trip and the lessons of it were and are very, very real.

We love you all and are thankful for those who help make these trips possible for us. We also thank the sponsors who helped us raise money for NF through this ride! This year Ride With Us raised _______________________!

Coffs to Grafton

2011-02-04T11:04:00.002-08:00

Our last riding day. We got up and had breakfast of coffee, muesli and strawberries, toast and jam. We read our proclamations and had devotions and then discussed some of our thoughts about the trip, goals for when we got home and so forth. It was a fairly slow morning – I guess we didn’t want to rush it.

We were sore from walking – we walked at least 12 K yesterday which is about seven miles. Anyway we began the ride to Grafton heading up through the banana plantations which were hilly but kind of interesting. The day was very hot and humid and misting. Sweat was just pouring off of us, hanging off our noses and ears and dripping off our arms.

The ride undulated all day long through fairly uneventful territory. After the banana plantations it basically looked liked rural America with rolling hills. We passed very few structures or services. We stopped at two towns – the first was fairly early on – a town known for its timbering. There were about seven or eight buildings – one a bakery with a very old oven for making bread. The second was at a historic general store in a town with about ten buildings – one the smallest post office in Australia. We found the dog at the general store more interesting. A black dog with bright blue eyes. We rode without our ipods because we were hearing kookaburras which we totally enjoyed. We will miss those birds.

Despite knowing it was our last riding day, and knowing that I would soon miss riding – I was getting really ready to be off my bike at the end of the fifty one miles of rolling and undulating hills. We arrived in Grafton and headed for the i-center as we were on a time crunch to get the bike shop and get the bike boxes before they closed. Everything was amazingly smooth – again God’s provision went before us – we know how wrong these things can go…. Last year we walked a couple miles from bike shop to bike shop looking for boxes. This year we get directions from the i-center to the shop that is saving them for us. We find it easily. The woman greets us with a comment about how we must be the travelers needing the boxes – she tells us her shipment of bikes didn’t come in so she doesn’t have any boxes, BUT she has made arrangements with the other bike shop and they are holding boxes for us. We ride just down the street and check with the other bike shop and yes they have the boxes for us and tell us a good clean cheap hotel to go to within easy walking distance. We go to the hotel and they give us a ground floor room (not always easy at a pub), they give us stuff to wash the bikes with too and arrange a taxi for us to get the boxed bikes to the train. We go back to the bike shop and get the bike boxes and return to the hotel. We walk to the train station and arrange our train trip to Brisbine… 2am in the morning. They agree to let us bring the boxed bikes early and check them in so we don’t have to carry stuff around all day. Very smooth.

We go back to the hotel and rest in the AC while it pours outside. We totally rest the whole next day until about 4 in the afternoon. We break down our bikes and pack up, watch ‘kitchen nightmares’ on the ‘teli’- a program about a consultant that goes into high end restaurants that aren’t making it and helps them turn things around– very interesting and some things to remember! Then we drift off to sleep talking about how ‘travel days can be stressful’ and preparing ourselves not only for travel, but re-entry. The next hours, which are really days condensed into one long day, will be filled with God’s grace and our emotions. We don’t know it yet, but tearing up when discussing the very fresh memories of our ‘together adventure’ will be frequent, as well as excited discussion about what we look forward to doing at home. This coupled with the very presence of exhaustion will make us rely on one another and God to make the journey home which will last more than 48 hours.

Uranga to Coffs

2011-02-04T11:04:00.001-08:00

We started the day with our muesli and devotions and proclamations and then checked email and packed up. It almost feels like we should say goodbye to people as we have been here three nights! It was long enough to turn the grass yellow under our tent! We will look back at this section of the trip with fond memories. Good campground and neighbors, an amazing boardwalk to the coast, tons of noisy birds, a great ride to the rainforest, kangaroos. A good few days. Had we pushed on we would be in nasty flooded places and have missed probably one of our top riding days and sightseeing days. After breakfast John comes out and does indeed say goodbye and wish us a good ride and his little girl has a very important question for us – she wonders how Santa knew where to find us to give us our presents…. We told her they were waiting for us at home!

This day was a very short ride. We have realized that we are not going to get beyond Grafton because of road closures – and that we can’t get the train past Grafton and that buses won’t take bikes – so Grafton will be our summit. This is fine.. In just a few minutes at the Uranga visitors center, a very nice man went over the top to help us and make all the arrangements for us. He called ahead for us to a bike shop in Grafton who agreed to save bike boxes. He gave us weight limits, dimensions and time tables for the trains. He gave us road closures etc. He told us things to do in Coffs. So off to Coffs Harbor – a main holiday town for Australians.

The ride is pretty uneventful. A short ride on very nice section of the highway –we had a wide shoulder that was nice pavement all the way. We rode into the town on a bike path and made our way to the center of town. Here we found a subway and ate lunch. Larry had walked across the street to find out about the i-center and was gone for about ½ hour which was unsettling – but then he returned having not just asked about it but gone all the way to it and had the info we needed. We ate in a bit of shade as the day had gotten very hot and humid. We then went to a caravan park near the center of town as it is more convenient than the beach and tends to be more mellow. Once we settled in we were on a quest for a couple sites we wanted to see. We did get a cabin tonight as it is so hot and humid and the noise of the pacific highway is unbelievable – the cabin though is a bit disappointing as the AC unit is regulated so it doesn’t really get very cool and the noise doesn’t seem much better – but, we do have what we need to cook so it will wash out.

We headed down the walkway – like a greenway – to the botanical gardens. We spent about an hour there looking at various plants and going to a bird blind and basically trying to see things but stay in the shade. Then we walked the walkway to the beach which was very picturesque. What we were looking for was a petting pond that Coff’s Harbor is known for where porpoises reside. It is advertised as a free thing, with a show you can also attend that costs. We walked a very long way to get there to find the small print … and so we didn’t see any porpoises as we were not inclined to pay the $64 to see them when we have seen them in the wild for free… we weren’t really wanting to see them manipulated and doing tricks… so we walked to the national park out on the point of the coast called Muttonbird Island. The walk there was also long, but the coastal breezes kept us cool and we stopped for a popsicle along the way. The island was very nice. We saw a couple of hawks, walked up the hill of the island to the view point and looked out over the ocean. You could see for a very long ways and we also learned all about the Muttonbird. So we called it a success and started back. By now we were tired and realized we had indeed walked a very long way. We decided to take the road back instead of the walkway as it was shorter and went by the grocery. This was just drudgery but had to be done. By now our legs were tired and we were hot an bothered. We were very glad to get to the grocery and be in the AC.

We purchased our dinner food. Salad and….. kangaroo meet…. And beets. How is that for weird. The salad was great, the beets were great…. The kangaroo – well…. Let’s just say we can now say we tried it… but I don’t know that I would repeat it.

The cabin we were in had a TV and we watched a cooking with Jamie episode which we always find fun. Then we saw a show about a guy who gets dropped off in the wild and finds his way out… that was kind of dumb… we drifted off to sleep knowing tomorrow would be our last riding day – this always has mixed emotions.

Uranga Day Two

2011-01-17T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Water Break: Auora Snax

Rest Stop: John Curtis

So today we had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out for our coastal walk – five miles down the beach and around back by a lagoon. The beach was nice – it isn’t the kind of beach people swim on and it was nearly deserted. We walked along the driftwood strewn shores after completing the board walk. We watched the waves and walked barefoot on the edge of the water. Along the lagoon was frustrating – the lagoon was under brush so you couldn’t see much and instead of the beach it was a road with cars and heat.

We finished the walk and spent the rest of the afternoon watching a lawn bowling tournament. Actually pretty interesting. Then we spent the early evening making dinner of scrambled egg sandwiches and playing rummy in the breeze. The later evening was finished with a walk back down the boardwalk to the coast to see the kangaroos again and then back to camp where we looked at our pictures from the early days of the trip, poured over maps for how to get to Brisbane and studied train schedules.

Overall a nice day, but not one that yielded the opening of the road. Thousands of volunteers have showed up in Brisbane to help with the cleanup which has been really interesting to watch on the tv…. But we can’t make progress. Our neighbor told us of a great ride we can do tomorrow – again – we feel like we robbed the bank! I saw a brochure of a company that takes people up this road and they ride down it. Our neighbor saw me looking at it and said we should go up there to Doringo – a beautiful ride, couple cool towns, huge hill to climb and ride down and best of all it is called waterfall way and we should see waterfalls at peak rainfall and then end at the rainfall national forest which has a sky walk. We decide that we will do that tomorrow and turn in for good sleep – it will be hard – 54 mile trip with a six mile hill to climb that is steep enough for them to advertise as a great downhill. And we think the rainforest would be interesting as well. So here we are not able to go forward, but with one of the World Heritage Sights right here in this valley!

Uranga to Waterfall Way and Back to Uranga

2011-01-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!
Water Break: The Westbrooks
Rest Stop: Gene Franklin

Now that was a ride. We rode unweighted which was a blast. We got going early to beat the heat. We rode really well up to Bellinger. We passed a group of men playing with remote control airplanes – they were really serious about their toys… and their little dogs! Very odd. Then we came to people having an archery tournament! Anyway on to the mountain. We stopped in the last little town at the base of the mountain – we could smell the brakes of the vehicles coming down and started to worry a little bit about how steep it would be. We had a popsicle and headed up the mountain. It was a gorgeous ride. Through Bellinger the valley was beautiful – looked like say, a valley in the Smokies. Then up the mountain was gorgeous – two major waterfalls with lots of little ones as well. The day got hot, but there was always water nearby. Up and up and up – but unweighted was really nice! Finally we were at the top. We paused at the rest stop at the top to eat our hard boiled eggs and get our heads wet. Then on to the rainforest. The rainforest was really nice – the skywalk was really cool and you could see down four stories, out to the mountains almost to the ocean. We went to the visitor center and the park ranger came to us and said that we should bring our bikes into their office and then we could go where ever we wanted without worries. So we did! We didn’t ask for that – she just came to us and suggested it -how cool is that!

We went all through the visitor’s center which was excellent. Then we walked the skywalk and down the Lyebird walk into the rainforest listening to the birds and just amazed at the whole atmosphere. There was a ‘discovery channel’ type video on rainforests we watched as well – very interesting. We went outside to eat some crackers and cheese and a turkey walked right up to us – pretty funny.

We rode back the 3k to the mountain from the rainforest and then headed back down the mountain – full brakes most of the way! Then the long ride back through the awesome valley – although a little tired on the way back! I led and tried to ride as well as I could –and I was successful to Bellinger. There we had ice cream at an amazing little shop and then Larry led home. We were very tired when we got back – but it was a great ride!

We arrived back to camp to our neighbor’s greeting – duly impressed that we went all the way to the rainforest and back in one day – and with info that the store closes in ten minutes – so off to shop for dinner.

Tonight we kept it simple – pasta and sauce with a mushroom and a pepper.

We will sleep well tonight!

Kempsey to Uranga

2011-01-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

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.

Port Macquire to Kempsey

2011-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Water Break: Auora Snax

Rest Stop: The Hodum Family

We checked the news this morning and the highway is open for further travel but not past Grafton – for us a couple days north. The Brisbane River peaked and now the whole scene is more predictable. We catch breakfast at subway and head out. The sun is even trying to come out today. Thousands of homes and businesses were lost last night in the flood – but not many people died – they had lots of warning and worked well together to help get everyone out – they even turned the power off to the city and just let the flood waters rise and stabilize. What else could they do? Finally today they are putting out schedules of how things will open up again so we moved on.

The roads today were all highway and we are off route – avoiding snakes and the bushland in general!

Here in Kempsey we have found a place to be, are doing laundry and trying to figure out our route. A pretty simple day – surprisingly tired.

Laurieton to Port Maquire

2011-01-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Rest Stop: Gene Franklin

A simple ride today – just over twenty miles on the highway. It rained and there was little shoulder, but we did okay. We were passing some of the most beautiful beaches of the trip but we couldn’t see anything. The fog was thick, the rain the hardest we have experienced yet and at this point, sight seeing seems like a secondary issue. We stop at a grocery for coffee and chat with some people. Everyone is talking about the flood as to be expected. We get to Maquire and stop at a bike shop to get a new lock as ours broke. We find the information center and they tell us we can go no further and that the highway is closed ahead and that Grafton is already under water. We find a caravan park and join the other soggy campers.

I saw money on the ground all day today – always at times or in places where I could not stop to pick it up. It was uncanny. Not lots of money – just coins here and there. I asked God what to make of that – He gave me a number of thoughts to think through on that one. I pass it on for you to think on as well.

We walk the town dodging rain showers. The surf is huge, waves big and nasty brown. We think about taking in a movie but there is nothing of substance at the theater. We are now part of the ‘waiting’ community. We find a brochure about a program at the observatory and so we go take it in, learning about the stars of the southern hemisphere. We find this program fun and the day comes to an end. We have taken a nap, we have found a zillion bottle caps, watched surfers body board – too rough to stand up – and we have seen the stars on a screen though we haven’t seen them in the sky for days. There is a great breeze as we turn in for the night wondering what we will do. We pray and go to bed.

Forester to Laurieton

2011-01-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Rest Stop: The Westbook Family

We awoke to rain and so we went back to the BBQ area for breakfast. We slowly woke ourselves up thinking we don’t feel too bad after yesterday’s big day. We were able to sleep better last night as it was quiet and while hot the wind was blowing and it kept it a little cooler.

We packed up during a break in the rain and then went to the main office to purchase a wireless ticket. There we checked internet to find that my mom had had surgery! We headed for a payphone to call home and make sure everything was good. This was so strange as we have been so out of touch on this trip. We also learn that the Colts are out of the playoffs…. We are proud of our staff at camp and the children’s home as they are handling things very well – even in the snow! We are also proud of our Momentum team as they seem to be doing excellent too! So we are feeling good about how things are at home.

Today’s ride is another long one – 55 or so. It is also pretty boring at the beginning. We ride Lakes Highway to Pacific Highway and for most of the day we are on these major roads with major traffic. The Pacific Highway has a good shoulder and we ride in relative comfort although we do miss our exit and have to go back. The wind is stout but manageable – just tiring. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop on the highway with the trucks. We eat pb and J and bananas and continue on. The wind has picked up a bunch and bridges are difficult to negotiate but the rest is tough but manageable. We take the correct exit and find our road…. And everything changes.

Now we are on dirt – ‘a well maintained dirt road’ according to the book! This is simply ridiculous – the road is so bad you can barely hold your course. There is very little traffic for these last 20 miles through beautiful bushland full of wildlife and anything but monotonous! Well it is definitely bush land and we saw no wild life and it was not monotonous it was horrid. Larry decides it is like being giggled on a fat machine which makes us laugh so hard we have to stop and regroup. Then we stop laughing cause it just isn’t so funny. Three hours later we touch pavement again and are very exhausted. We rode very nice pavement into Laurieton and then started looking for a caravan park. We were getting confused with directions in this smallish town on a rainy, foggy tired evening. We check with the grocery story to make sure they will be open after we get set up. We see a small hotel that we decided to check into if they had a vacancy and were inexpensive. The woman there wasn’t happy about us having bikes but eventually warmed up to us. There was a puzzle on the wall of her office that was probably six feet by eight feet. It was amazing. We chatted about that and then she asked us which way we were riding. We said north to Brisbane and she said, “well you won’t get far!” which kind of shocked us. We asked why and she said “haven’t you been watching the news?” well as a matter of fact, we haven’t even seen tv in a number of days. So we see God’s provision again – we get tried out in the hotel and watch the news. The worst natural disaster in Australia’s history is taking place – and at this time Brisbane and the surrounding lands is the focal point. Flooding has been going on since we came over here but it has always been ‘up there in Queensland’… because we stayed at the hotel we realize that we are about to crisscross its path. We sit in front of the TV and stare at images that make Katrina look like a picnic. The events of the day that have changed everything is what they are calling an ‘inland tsunami’. Now Brisbane is evacuating and waiting as the huge amount of water that is already in the river systems and catchments begins to release into the city. We watch the tv as cars and boats are hurled through streets like ‘toys in the bathtub’. We realize that the places that they are evacuating are on our route.

We walk down town and get something to eat and discuss what to do. We thank God that we stopped at that hotel and learned about this situation. We decide to get off the back roads (the tv warns of snakes coming up out of the rain soaked lands – their snakes here are deadly as are their spiders so it is a real concern). Tomorrow we will take the PChighway directly to the first big city – Port Maquire and visit the info center and get our bearings. We can’t tell from our maps which way to go and we don’t know the areas that they are speaking of.

We go to sleep, not complaining about rain or bad roads, or even being tired. We go to sleep with images of people on rooftops, horses stranded in the water unable to get onto roofs and unable to keep swimming, with people crying, with people volunteering and setting up and preparing. Images of people waiting. We go to bed with prayers on our hearts and minds for the people who have lost loved ones and for the disaster that is coming and cannot be prevented. In spite of all of this – we do sleep very well. We were very tired and tonight we had AC and a comfortable bed.

Hawks Nest to Forster

2011-01-17T12:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Water Break: Auora Snax

This was supposed to be the longest mileage day of the trip according to the book and it was supposed to have some pretty good hills in it too. We debated at length about taking the shorter route the lady on the ferry told us about… but it would be dirt and it rained hard all night and it was really a walking track… we just weren’t sure and we didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere when the day was going to be long anyway. We decided to ride to the turn off she recommended and decide then.

We ate breakfast in the tent since it was raining, had our devotions and read our proclamations and then without much excitement we began packing up. Two kookaburras came by to visit and sat on the ground near us eating some bread someone had tossed out. That was kind of cool!

The morning was through bushland national parks. We were actually quite close to the ocean but you couldn’t see it. The roads were deserted and at least for the first ten miles they were sealed. We rode side by side, keeping a good pace and just riding. It reminded me of riding a stationary bike at the MAC so I asked Larry to change the channel, which he did – to Nick at Night, the Brady Bunch… and then we just kept changing channels…. CSI – ‘well, I took it to trace and you won’t believe what they found….’; ESPN … what about the Colts chances in the playoffs…. Australia went down shamefully at the Ashes in Cricket…., and well you get the idea. We were really bored. Long flat road lined with miles of ‘bushes’ heaped with wildlife that you never see…. There are huge locusts in these bushlands though – they are deafening with there collective roaring noise. We even joke about them coming to get us – here they come… run, ride hard, their getting closer…. Yes… we are bored with this bushland stuff! We did stop at one place because there were sand dunes and a path going up them. I put on my sandals and hiked up the dune (Larry didn’t want to get sand on his feet… how crazy is that?). anyway – it was actually a pretty cool experience. I climbed up the dune expecting to see the ocean just on the other side. Instead there was a higher bigger dune. So I climbed up that one and to my surprise it opened up in to a grand expanse of dunes – sand as far as you could see in either direction and the ocean in the distance. Very spectacular. I took pictures which Larry thought were cool.. but not cool enough to get sand in his shoes! Anyway I had fun – although I had forgotten it was going to be a long day so I shouldn’t take too many side trips!

We finished this section of the ride at a cable ferry that ran every half hour. We waited about 15minutes and then the driver brought it across and pulled us over – took about ten minutes for the whole thing to happen. We stopped on the other side at a small general store and got a drink and candy bar before heading back into the ‘bush’ on what would now be dirt roads.

Today would prove to be a day when we had ‘the lot of it’ as they would say here. A bit of everything. Rain, sun, wind, sealed roads, dirt roads, terrible muddy nasty roads, deserted roads, mega traffic roads, no shoulder, great shoulder… ah we just took it one piece at a time – each piece being what it was.

The dirt section we started on was fair to pour, but we hadn’t seen really bad yet either. It poured on us and then the sun came out and the humidity was obnoxious. We got tired of putting on the rain coats and then taking them off so we just got wet. Besides our jackets were smelly and clammy and well – why bother. We got back to pavement through some farm land rolling with hay and cattle and then rounded a bend and went down a hill and our deserted morning burst into life in a town and the busy Pacific Coast Highway. We ate lunch at the IGA sidewalk being blessed with some great peaches, grapes and pb and J. We rode the PC Highway for about 10 miles and then turned onto Lakes Highway. Australia has one main road – what we would call an interstate in the US. Below New South Wales it is called the Princess Highway and above it is called the Pacific Coast. It is not like our interstates though – most of the time it is two way traffic with one way having two lanes and the other one lane and then they switch for ‘overtaking zones’. Anyway they can be crazy busy and the speed limit is 60mph most places and sometimes there isn’t even a shoulder. The Lakes Highway was a bit better as the traffic wasn’t as bad. We had some big hills here (we had opted for the book route not the shorter route the ferry lady had recommended). We climbed well and the weather seemed to follow us – sun out on the up, rain on the down! We stopped in at a bus shelter one particular hard rain and got out a muesli bar and a banana. We had done 42 miles by now and we were pretty sure we were making good time, but the ride was very boring. We got out the ipods for the last 22 miles. This helped a lot. We were passing through ‘beautiful country’ today with lakes, ocean and bushes. Only problem was there was so much fog you couldn’t see the lakes, the ocean was covered by the bushes and well we really didn’t see anything… but we could feel the salt in the rain!

We finally got to Forester and found a campground. It was a very soggy place. It has rained almost every day of this trip and up here in the north the humidity makes it harder to deal with cause things don’t dry out. We got our tent up in the distant back of the huge campground – that’s where they put you if you have a little tent! It seems like miles to the bathroom! Any way we got out tent up quickly so it didn’t get wet and then walked to the grocery store to find some food. The walk there was in the dry – but it poured while we were in there! But it was just misting as we walked back. This place has a bbq, but we opted to buy a chicken already cooked, added salad. We went to the bbq to eat as there was a covered picnic table. We ate like zombies – it had been a long day and we hadn’t been sleeping well. The day ended up being 64 crazy miles…

After dinner we went back to the tent and laid down and talked a few minutes and both rested before evening chores. We both fell asleep for about thirty minutes. Then we got up and did our evening tasks before taking on a game of Rummy. Larry was out side the tent hanging up a towel under a palm tree (they will dry even it rain sometimes if the tree is good). He was about to toss the towel up on the tree and said to me “Hey that branch looks like an owl – hey it is an owl… no it’s a kookaburra!” and sure enough we were standing face to face with our very own guardian kookaburra! He stayed there, let us take pictures and still did not leave! We went to sleep under his care!

New Castle to Tea Gardens

2011-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Peddle Power: Blake Douglas

Rest Stop: The Westbrook Family

Well last night didn’t go quite as planned. Our very nice camp site changed dramatically when a fancy car pulled up and two boys got out and put up two tents. We didn’t think much of it until about 10pm when they returned with buddies and girls and drunk. They were incredibly loud. It poured and they got in the car and pumped the radio and turned on their lights and blinkers and were just crazy. I got up and went to the bathroom and came back and they were literally standing, wrestling and dancing just inches from our tent – I thought they might even fall on it. I was debating what to do when an older man – half drunk himself – came up to them and asked them if he could join their party. This didn’t please them at all and they had some choice words for him and then they left and went down to the beach. Finally, some peace and quiet. When we got up this morning we were clammy and hot and short on rest, but we were not in as bad shape as they were. They were soaked and mad and well – I don’t think their night ended as they wanted it to either. They left before we did and even left their skateboard behind.

We on the other hand had a delightful morning. We went to the kitchen area to find it locked and not opening until 8am. This was problematic because our food was in there! After a few minutes of being frustrated we said what has our motto for this trip – ‘Well Bob, it is what it is’. I had been fake interviewing Larry after a particularly hard day and said to Larry, “Well Larry, you have arrived at your destination once again tonight, what can you tell us about that?” to which he answered, “well Bob, it is what it is”. At first that didn’t make sense to me, but then he told me that there is a football coach who always answers that way. “your team had a great game tonight”- and he would answer, “well, it is what it is. We played a tough game etc” or “your team had a rough loss tonight” - and he would answer, “well, it is what it is. Our defense was strong…etc”. So now, that is our answer to everything – So, recognizing that breakfast would be delayed, we decided to go for a morning walk down shipwreck pier which proved to be very interesting and enjoyable. I think we even forgot that we hadn’t planned it. We saw various plaques honoring ships that had wrecked here along the Nobbies as they call it. People had also begun making the walk a memorial to loved ones they had lost. This entered us into some depth of conversation as well about our lives, death and living well, not wanting to be left to make the memorial and so forth. A tender morning complete with a visit from a little dog that was walking with a man on the pier. This dog was very friendly and seemed to enjoy coming to visit us.

We returned to camp for breakfast and had nice conversations with the people around us and hopefully were encouraging to them. We had coffee too which is always helpful but not always possible. This morning we had muesli, bananas and strawberries so we were feeling pretty blessed! We dropped the tent, packed our stuff and headed out to ‘Tea Gardens” - just a short 35 miles up the coast and a long ferry ride away. We hoped to find camping at Hawk’s Nest but the number in our book was discontinued and while the current campground would confirm the campground was still there, they would not call ahead for us and book it. So we thought, well… it is what it is… and rode off confident God would provide.

We knew the day was ‘flat as a pancake’ according to our guidebook and nothing could disturb this from being a pleasant day unless we had a summer north easterly blow in…. Well the rain quit by morning – but it brought and left a pretty stout wind. First thing the owner of the campground said to us this morning was how much fun we would have with this North Easterly wind right in our faces once he found out which way we were going. Oh well… it is what it is. The wind was stout – but not unmanageable and we were even able to make pretty good time, which today was important cause the ferry only ran at noon and at 3:30 and we were hoping to catch the 3:30. The ferry ride itself was supposed to be ‘lovely’ with views of dolphins and the like and it was actually a pretty long ride as well so we definitely didn’t want to wait til the next morning to get it done. Tomorrow is the longest day of the trip – don’t want to start it with an hour and a half ferry ride.

We did the first twenty miles really well. We stopped to joke about the ‘bushland views’ and the ‘great camping in the swamp’ signs along the way…. We pass through all these national parks – constant views of bushes…. Crazy. One cool thing we did see today though was a sign on the side of the road – one word – painted on a small piece of wood and tacked to a tree. TRUTH. I wanted to go paint an ‘e’ in front of it for Seek eTruth! I did stop and take a picture of it. I don’t know why it was there – but it was cool.

We made it to Nelson Bay where we were to pick up the ferry with almost two hours to spare – great riding by our fearless leader Mr. Larry who kept a great pace! We had eaten lunch at a picnic table at a Brewery – the only buildings along this route were military, wineries or a brewery…. So we stopped to get a bottle cap for Larry’s collection (which has been growing on this trip!) and we ate lunch there as well. We didn’t exactly eat at the brewery – a piece of cake was $9.50! We ate PB and J and bananas at the picnic table outside and we were very happy with that! Here at Nelson we had popsicles with the rest of the kids and waited in the shade for the ferry! There were lots of people to watch, lots of boats coming and going, seven public wharfs and well just buzzing with activity.

Our ferry arrived. It was a small boat that sat low in the water. We got on and off okay – which isn’t always the case! We took our seats and as the boat pulled away into the swells I thought, “Oh no – this is going to be a very long hour” as my desire to see the dolphins quickly left and my stomach began to swell with the wind whipped ocean waters. I thought I would be sick for sure – but we went outside and stood on the deck and then the boat made a turn that settled us out a great deal and the ride was actually quite pleasant. Yes, we did see dolphins and more ocean and more bushes! We saw oyster beds and shore birds as well and the lady on the ferry that was the ‘tour guide’ type figure gave us some pointers and a different route to take tomorrow through some beautiful coastal bushland! It was a shorter route – but all dirt. We’ll see. We thanked her though and got off the ferry and began negotiating our way through the Koala reserve to get to Hawk’s Nest. Tea Gardens was about five buildings and Hawk’s Nest is across the river on a bridge.

We headed over the bridge and saw a stingray in the water. We rode under the gum and eucalyptus trees but didn’t see any Koalas. We were soon in Hawk’s Nest and we talked about how we have seen hawks, but the thing that has kept us feeling God’s presence here hasn’t been hawks – it has been kookaburras! They get our attention all the time, we enjoy them and laugh with them and even when we are tired going up a hill or something – we’ll hear one and point it out to the other. Well here at Hawk’s Nest the Hawks and the Kookaburras were about to meet in our minds forever! We went down to the caravan park and sure enough they were booked solid. The other caravan park had closed down for repairs, but they thought they might have some tent sites. We went there – sure enough it was a construction zone and very little was working, but yes – we could camp there. We weren’t excited – there were showers, but no way to cook – not even a bbq or a hot water pot and no electricity… but we settled in because, well Bob… it is what it is!

We were practically the only ones there. There were a few others camped around but overall very quiet. We put up our tent and heard kookaburras and laughed and then walked back into town to go to the grocery store. We just got burgers at a Take Away store since we couldn’t cook. Then we went to the grocery for milk and strawberries for the morning and soda and cookies for a late night snack. We walked back to camp and found bottle caps and such. It wasn’t raining so we decided to go to the beach - this was really cool because the sun was going down and the light on the trees and the sand was really eerie because the skies were also really dark behind us. Then a rainbow started and soon fully developed. It was very beautiful. We took pictures and enjoyed it until we thought it was really going to start to pour at which time we hurried back to the campground and up to our site. When we got to our site there was a kookaburra bird sitting in the tree above our tent! He stayed there for a very long time and that solidified our idea that Kookaburras were our adoptive ‘hawks’ in Australia!

We played Rummy and listened to the rain. When the rain quit it got stifling hot. We ran water from the spigot on our heads and went to bed. About thirty minutes later a family pulled in and for about three hours they were just incredibly loud and foul. This part of these trips is hard. Sleep is important and it is hard enough to deal with the elements and sleep on the ground and walk for food and such… but there isn’t anything you can do about the people who come in around you. Ipods help a lot, but it is a strange thing that so many people can be so courteous and have a great time with their families and then one family or one group can just make things miserable. Yes… yes…. There is a metaphor in that…..

Day Twenty Five: Bundeena to New Castle

2011-01-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!
Scenic Overlook: The Peddie Family
Rest Stop: The Hodum Family

Travel day through Sydney.

A beautiful morning. We had a leisurely breakfast. Both of us very sore and sluggish. We had no idea how the day we go – only that it started with a ferry to Corndulla – a suburb of Sydney and then we would make our way via trains and ferry rides until we were north of the metropolis. The book highly discourages riding in this area and we didn’t feel compelled to see anything there either. We had laid the route out with this detour, but weren’t really sure how it would work. God’s provision proved more than adequate – in fact it was pretty unbelievable again today.

We got to the ferry site which is interesting in itself as there were no signs for it in the town or even when you got there. The locals just directed us and then we waited – and it came. While we waited I waded around in the ocean and we looked at little sea creatures. A man brought his dogs down to the beach. He had two of them – a big one like a lab and a smaller one. They were attached together with a leash. He would throw a stick into the water and the big dog would take off after it practically dragging the little dog with him into the water. The little dog didn’t really want to go into the water. He kept doing this and the big dog kept dragging the little dog…. Makes me remember to be careful what I yoke myself too.

After the ferry we got off and walked up the street to the train station, bought tickets to New Castle – this was cool – we didn’t know where the train went, but going by train was cheaper than the other ferry, quicker and didn’t mean more transfers so –yes- take the train. It was leaving in ten minutes so we basically bought the tickets and got on and we were off. We went to central station and followed the blue line on the floor walking our bikes right through the terminal and through elevators and all that to the platform. The train to New Castle was leaving in 15 minutes – so once again – right on board. The people didn’t appreciate us on the train with bikes as we blocked them from coming and going but the conductors and train police thought it was just fine so that’s what we did. The train ride was very long and we stood the whole way, but – it was easy, cheap and we were in New Castle. The book had said to go the five minute ferry ride from NC to Stockton for better camping. We got off the train and got a city map and the ferry was around the corner. We went around the corner and found it – had time to eat a pb and J before the 3pm ferry (which was the last ferry) and rolled our bikes right on. Five minutes later we were in Stockton. At the caravan park we got the last site and they put the all full sign up. We are blessed with this campground tonight – we needed electricity, internet, laundry and this has it all.

We went to the ocean and body surfed the waves in our bike clothes and laughed like little kids. We missed a few good waves but Larry was good at picking the best ones out and he always went way further than I did. We laughed and when I missed a wave Larry said, “no worries – that’s what’s fun about the ocean – there’s always another wave…” yes, there is a metaphor in that – with God’s waves of grace… but best not to become an Ausie surfer… best known for sitting in the water waiting for the perfect wave and in the meantime, doing nothing…. Anyway - Tonight is laundry so it doesn’t matter – we can get wet, salty, sandy… very fun! I think that is the first let down in intensity we have felt for most of this trip. It has been an amazingly good trip – but it has been intense in all its goodness. We walked to IGA and had burritos for dinner, then laundry and showers and well – we will hopefully rest well tonight. We thought it would be super hot, but we got to site number 247 – our site and yes, you guessed it – a big shade tree! Tonight it is currently breezy and looks like it will rain, but we are ready for anything right now – full of food, clean clothes and charging all our batteries!

Day Twenty Four: Wingdin to Bundeena (Royal National Park)

2011-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Thank you to our Ride with Us Sponsors!

Scenic Overlook: The Hodum Family

Rest Stop: The Westbrooks Family

The morning was blazing hot before its time! We got up quickly and packed up and ate and had devotions. Then we were immediately on our way. We felt pretty good despite the two sixty mile days back to back. Today was only fiftyish and the terrain was too be better. We were to ride a bike path through urban areas a good part of today. It took us a while to find it, but once we did we thoroughly enjoyed it. Very easy riding, lots of fun families out with their kids (we didn’t make good time, but we smiled a lot). The route ran along the ocean a lot, and it was a beautiful sunny day. At the very end of the bike route we stopped at one of the rest stops that had a refreshment spot. We had planned to get icecream, but it was suddenly cold and about to rain, so we still stopped – but had wedges instead. It poured while we sat there and then it stopped. The weather here is very weird!

Back on main roads again we knew we had some serious climbing to do. We started it out and while there was a lot of traffic, it was a scenic route and people were very good to us – there were lots of bike signs and other unweighted bikers so I think they were used to bikes. We climbed and climbed. I was pretty proud of how well I did – getting good at these hills. After a while we came to a bridge that was brand new in 2005 so it wasn’t in our guidebook. It was called the Sea Cliff Bridge and was built away from the side of the land over the sea because so many people had been killed or hurt by falling rock on the old road. It was a really nice bridge (see the pictures). It had a sealed in bike path too so we could walk and ride it without fear. We walked for a while cause it was beautiful and because it had become a memorial bridge – all along the railing were padlocks with memory messages on them to people who had died. It was in some way sacred.

Off the bridge we began climbing on very windy, tight roads. I got passed by two bikers riding unweighted but the guy said, “no way I’d carry that stuff up this hill”, so I felt better about that. Larry rode so well he caught one of them and passed him! At the top a train came through a tunnel and shocked us to death! We went around the corner and began the second long up and then the third all heading to Bald Knob Overlook where people hang glide. We made it and unfortunately it was rainy and foggy and so we didn’t see much but hang gliders and occasionally the sun would pop out and we could see the road far below along the side of the ocean.

We got cold so we started down. I but on my rain coat cause I was cold, soon took it off because it was a sauna and I was riding down hill having to pedal and feeling like something was wrong. I stopped to check if I had a flat tire – no everything is fine. Why is this such hard work? Going down. Road surface was terrible – maybe that was it. Then it started to pour so I stopped to put my rain coat back on and Larry caught up to me (he likes me to go first on a big down hill so if I get a flat he doesn’t have to go back up!) I asked him if he was having a hard time and he said no. So we continued on down hill. At the base of the hill we entered Royal National Park (the second National park in history – second to Yellowstone). We were immediately going to go uphill for the next 6k and I was exhausted. I stopped at a pull off where a campervan was parked and waited for Larry. I told him I needed something to eat – all we had on us was a bag of salt and vinegar chips. We hadn’t eaten those cause we thought they would make us thirsty. I was out of gas. There in the middle of nowhere, at the base of a big climb. I said – I am going for the chips. Larry agreed and so under a big tree in the pouring rain we housed the whole bag in less than five minutes – we hadn’t eaten since 11am and it was almost five. We must have looked funny to the people in the camper van.

After the chip frenzy we rode fine – right up the hill and then on to Bundeena which also had some grinders. Then we dropped down into our campsite at the national park – to find that the people in the camper van had beaten us there – they were warm and dry and eating dinner!

We set up camp and headed to the grocery store – this had to be the most tired walk to the grocery we have yet to do. We were both really sore and tired. Must have been all the climbing to the lookout. I thought I was going to have sit down and wait a minute to rest up walking back. Larry about got eaten by a duck. We were just walking along and we passed a bunch of ducks. One of them turned and looked at Larry and just came running at him with his mouth open and everything. I said, Look out Larry! And the duck turned and walked away. A couple of people were coming toward us on the sidewalk and Larry said, “did you see that?” as if to get confirmation that the incident really happened. The girl said she had and was a bit freaked out about walking by the ducks herself now! Anyway dinner was eggs and onions and mushrooms and toast on the Barbie!

The campsite was fine and the people around us nice, the ocean came right into the park pretty close to our tent and we were set for a nice night. For some reason though it got really hot and muggy and neither of us could sleep. We played cards and then tossed and turned. Finally I got up and went to the spigot and soaked my head wet with cold water, shook it out like a dog and then laid down to a fitful but finally asleep. The only disturbing thing after that was Larry shooing a opossum away from our tent!

Day Twenty Three: Sanctuary Point to Wingdin

2011-01-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

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Rest Stop: The Westbrooks Family

Got off to a good start this morning – thought we were heading to Shell Harbor but ended up going a little further to get good camping. After reviewing our proclamations, we read Philemon this morning and decided we would never want to get into a debate with Paul! The day was uneventful and I don’t know that we even took many pictures in the morning. We rode along side the coast but rarely saw it, although it was spectacular when we did. We even road a section called seven mile beach and never saw it. We had to stop a bunch in the morning finding the roads and staying on track as they were all back roads – rolling hilly but not bad. We stopped for lunch at an IGA – cottage cheese and pineapples with pb and J. We started off into a more industrial area and it poured for a while. We were doing fine, but I wouldn’t say we were enjoying the day. Just kind of going through the motions. A car went by us hauling a trailer with camping stuff, bikes and a kayak and they beeped and waived out the window. This made us think for a moment and then smile and wave back. They were our neighbors at camp last night. They were a cool family, but we got introduced because larry tossed me the key to the girl’s bathroom and it didn’t come far enough but instead landed on their kayak and went right down a hole in the boat – I thought it was like the hole in a guitar when you loose your pick… so I just kind of stood there not really knowing what to think. The guy started laughing and picked up the boat and the key was below it on the ground. We had a good laugh and of course knew we couldn’t do that twice – perfect shot! Anyway they had a cool dog – it was a small Australian sheep dog who was very smart!

Finally the rain stopped and it cleared up. About that time we came into a very flat section and started making pretty good time drafting. We stopped at Gerrora – the little coast town just before the big climbs for the day. We had some ice cream and wet our heads because the sun had now come out and it was humid and dog gone hot!

We started up out of the town and the hill was so steep you had to be careful cause you were going so slow – the views below were supposed to be great and they were – actually awesome. We stopped to take pictures and then just walked up the rest of the hill so we could stop at will and take pictures or talk about what we were seeing. Very very nice couple of hours followed. We rode some big hills, but the shoulders were okay – on one side the ocean views on the other side the mountains. We came into the next town on the Princess Highway which was now a big divided highway with a bike lane. We were going to stop in a town called Kiama to look at a blow hole in the volcanic side of the ocean that supposedly blew water 60 meters in the air at high tide. We took our ‘exit’ which was weird and then came down a screaming hill with a – no lie – 40’ wide shoulder on the turn! Then up and down these big hills – it was like El Paso on steroids – crazy riding and we weren’t even sure we were headed the right way as the blow hole was off route. But it was there. We dead ended into the ocean, the blow hole and a cool lighthouse. We spent time there watching the blow hole, watching the people watch and cheer for the blow hole – I always like it when people are amazed and delighted by God’s creation! Then we hiked up out of that town – very crowded and steep so we walked up the town road – it was the historic section lined with huge trees planted early on in the town’s history, looked at the buildings, a huge war memorial arch and so forth. Then we headed out of town and took our ‘entrance ramp’ onto the Princess. We rode amazingly nice divided highway with a protected bike lane all the way to Shell Harbor! That was cool!

We went through Shell Harbor and realized the place we had reserved was 5k further in Winding which was fine – rode it out, got to a Woolworths and shopped for food on the way and pulled into camp around seven pm. After dinner on the bbq, which we are getting quite good at now, we headed to the tent to play rummy. We kept hearing the ocean – but we had passed over and were camped by a lake. They mystery got to us so we got up and walked toward the sound of the waves. Eventually we came to a surfing club and looked at a map and realized that we were on a tiny piece of land between the ocean and the lake. So we hiked down to the ocean and watched the waves crash on the beach in the darkness with the erie lights on the fishermans rods blinking along the shore. We walked back to the tent, content with the mystery solved and tried to sleep.

The evening was difficult sleeping, bugs were too bad to keep tent open – too hot to keep it closed and we were right next to the bathroom that had a metal door that slammed shut every time someone went in…. this campground has 400plus sites… it opened and closed a lot. I finally got out my ipod and drifted off to sleep.

Day Twenty Two: Batesman Bay to Sanctuary Point

2011-01-10T20:20:00.001-08:00

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Rest Stop: Aurao Snacks

Tired. That’s what we are.

Sixty three very difficult miles and all on the Princess Highway which means constant attention to heavy traffic, glass on the shoulders, missing shoulders, bumpy shoulders and well – you get the idea. The guide book calls this the most difficult day of the coastal section – and I hope it is true. It was very long, very hilly and just intense.

God’s provision was evident again tonight – we had a hard time finding a place to camp but we finally found the caravan park. They could easily have been full by the time we got there but the guy looked at us and said, “You would have a very small tent wouldn’t you?” to which we replied – absolutely tiny! He gave us a spot. Then we couldn’t cook because we had spaghetti and there was no kitchen – just the BBQ. As we were attempting to boil the water on the bbq, a woman walked over to us with a stove and said, “Why don’t you use this? I forgot I had it til I saw you trying to boil water – just use it and bring it back when you are done”. Pretty cool – didn’t just respond to a need she was asked to respond to – no she just voluntarily saw the hard way we were having to do things, dug around in her camper for the forgotten stove, checked it for fuel and then brought it to us. The theme continues.

High points would be the road had been reworked on one section and so the climb was much smoother and the shoulder was wonderful on the toughest hill of the day – one the guide book had warned us about for traffic simply turned into a really nice grind on brand new road. We went over one bridge today that was just really cool – we were going pretty fast and thinking about traffic and just staying upright and so forth when we rounded a corner bridge that was normal at first and then over a rainforesty like lagoon so everything changed – the temperature, the light and the gully was very deep. We went up a big hill right afterwards and both of us stopped to comment on how cool that was – very unexpected. Saw some cool old timey cars and a Studebaker Hawk. We got to Sanctuary Point on a smaller backcountry road system that snaked all over the place – we couldn’t find the campground, the motel was full and we were starting to get really tired. Then we found the IGA and bought food as fast as possible and they told us where a campground might be…. It was there, the guy had grace and here we are. Overall though just a long hard day with a nice campsite to lie down in tonight.

Off to sleep to the sound of Kookaburras…

Day Twenty One: Narooma to Batesmans Bay

2011-01-10T20:19:00.001-08:00

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Scenic Overlook: The Hodum Family

It rained all night but it quit at wake up time which was really nice. We packed up and headed out. We felt so much stronger. Rest was good!

We rode hard. Fifty some mile of good solid riding. The first part was really rolling and hilly, then it flattened out for a bit and then massive (unmentioned in the guidebook) hills at the end – but we rode it well and in good time. We found a very nice campsite at a pretty isolated camp ground. Prices were low and the place was quiet. No bouncy ball thing, no rec room, no screaming kids, no… well you get the idea. Just people relaxing, sitting on porches and reading and some kids riding their Christmas bikes. Very very nice. An older woman came out to see what was up as we were trying to cook on the BBQ. We talked of weather and what we were doing, how long she’d been coming to this campground and so forth – she was a widow now… we wished we had thought to invite her to dinner with us – we had plenty! In fact we consumed massive amounts of food tonight. We had eaten an awesome lunch at Woolworths earlier in the day – salad, muffins, cream cheese and ham! We stopped at a beach latter on and ate another muffin with cream cheese and ham. At Batesman’s bay they had another Woolworths and for some reason fruit has hit a record low in price – we bought bananas and strawberries for our muesli in the morning and we bought grapes and cherries for a snack. Then we bought pepper steak and salad and potatoes and onions. We brought it all to the BBQ and cooked it up! It’s funny – we usually eat a lot of pasta – but there is no way to boil water – most of these kitchens don’t have stove tops – but they all have BBQ areas so we are doing a lot of creative cooking! Tonight we did it right though – fried potatoes and onions, awesome meat and a great salad. We are stuffed and happy…. And surprisingly tired. I don’t think we even took many pictures today – we rode mostly through forested areas and only saw the ocean once or twice. We did see an oriental woman cycling the other direction – I don’t think I could do this alone.

Batesman’s Bay has a drawbridge too and it has a really nice walkway and board walk area in town. We walked it all the way down before coming back to the Woolworths, and then walked back to camp and the sun tried to come out – maybe tomorrow will be nice!

Day Twenty: Narooma Rest Day

2011-01-10T20:15:00.000-08:00

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Peddle Power: Gene Franklin

Rest Stop: Auroa Snacks

This was a totally uneventful day – which is exactly what it was supposed to be! We are halfway through riding days and almost halfway through mileage (the mts are behind us though). Time to rest. We are very sore and have very little power to pull from in our legs before we are tired so it is time to declare a rest day. There are no rest days in the route but we are hoping we can make the time up by combining the days through Sydney where the route gives you ‘time to sight see’ and we have been to Sydney twice so we can miss that and still be happy! Resting is what we need.

We started the day with a walk around the bay which was pretty cool – there was a cycle/walking path like our greenway back home. We crossed over a drawbridge and went to the other side of the inlet. A very nice walk although the skies were overcast. We haven’t seen the sun in a while and it is cold. We are wearing our jackets! We like this place though – there are NO bugs! We could even leave our tent open for a breeze. Anyway the walk was about 2 miles according to the sign and we found bottle caps, the water was crystal clear and you could see all sorts of things in it but who knows what they were! There were tiny shops where you could buy oysters and such if you chose – we didn’t! Then there was a long wooden walkway over the inlet to take you out to the ocean. Very nice walk.

We returned and shopped for breakfast and then ate our muesli with toasted English Muffins with cream cheese and jelly and coffee. Very tasty – we were very happy with that whole ordeal! I spent the morning catching up on the blog and Larry wrote in our journal and then took a walk down to the visitors center. It was pretty rainy after that. We tried to send pictures and blogs over the internet but that was a long drawn out affair that was futile – blogs went I think, but not pictures. Connection kept dropping etc. Hours later we quit that whole thing and went for supper.

We got hotdogs and chips and then walked around a bit again. The day was restful in that we were not on bikes, but it was active mentally and these teenagers from the community kept coming into the park and getting chased out and well there was just a lot of activity at the park. It was good to be in shelter though and not out in the rain biking! A good day. We finished it playing Rummy in the tent.

A couple things that I have been meaning to put in the blog are some funny moments. One was when we were riding up the big hill to Gelentipy. About six or seven moped sounding tiny motercycles went by us. They were decked out in neon yellow vests and just having a great time cheering us on – hooting and hollering for us and waving. You might have had to have been there – but we both busted out laughing and waved back! Then there was the regular motorcycle that went by Larry on a big downhill in the Candella epic ride – that day where we went up and down those huge rollers - Larry was ahead of me and he was on the downhill and I was just starting it. A motorcycle went by me – actually three of them – and they caught up with Larry. Larry was pretty intent on the down hill because they were so steep and one wrong move could be – well not good. I saw Larry move out further into the street to avoid a flaw in the road and the motorcycle was right behind him and he moved over also. I could see him riding right with Larry and wondered why he did not pass him. Larry said the guy scared him to death coming up along side of him like that – but then the guy just cheered for him and was encouraging him on the up hill and having fun giving him the thumbs up and riding with him!

These kookaburras are hysterical. As I am writing right now the woods around us has just exploded with laughter! One of them starts with a little chuckle and then breaks out into a full-on laugh. Then the others join in and it is like listening to a whole room full of people just belly laughing. As we listen to them we start laughing and it would be just really fun to have these birds at camp! There is another bird that is pretty wild. It is called a whip bird. I haven’t seen one yet, but the male makes a noise that sounds like the beep the cashier’s machine makes at say, wal-mart. Then the females respond with two beeps and on it goes. So as you go through a forest road it sounds like a very busy day at the supermarket! The kookaburras have just flown right over our tent and they are laughing so hard that we have had to stop and just laugh again – I think Larry is going to laugh himself silly! I wish you could hear them!

We also have thought a lot about Dave and about Ralph. Dave was the guy at Seldom Seen with all the junk. He was so proud of all of the stuff he had and all the things he knew (or thought he knew). He was the king of him empire. But he was king of nothing but junk. What a metaphor for how God could see us – If we spend our days collecting our empire of junky stuff and knowledge that is of no use and then spend our time showing it off to other people and thinking we are so big… God just listens to us and then shakes his head as we did with Dave… and wonders why we are wasting our days chasing junk. Makes us think about how God sees how we have chosen to live, what we collect and how we interact with others. Then there is Ralph – the guy who sold it all to ride his bike…. Somewhere, where ever. He refused to pay the money for a camp site convinced the people were ripping him off because prices have gone up for the holidays. We paid the price – knowing that people have to make a living and their primary time for making it is during these two weeks – the book told us the prices would be higher. They would be a NF too – there is prime time and time to give deals – made sense. But not to Ralph. He wouldn’t pay it and holed up somewhere with out services etc. we paid it and rolled into camp to blessing after blessing. Coffee upon arrival, free dinner, new friends etc…. Sometimes there is a price to pay before you receive the blessing.

Day Nineteen: Tathra to Narooma

2011-01-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

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Peddle Power: The Pricherts
Rest Stop: The Pughs

We awoke this morning knowing we needed a rest day. We did laundry while we waited for the kitchen area to open up so that we could do coffee and breakfast. We took our time and discussed taking the rest day today, but we both thought Narooma would be a better place even though we really didn’t want to ride. But by the time laundry was done and we had eaten we felt pretty good.

We rode out of town and started down the road to Narooma in pretty good spirits. We had stretched a bunch and were ready to get on with it. The skies were dark and it was cold and misty. We rode out up hill from the coast and into the hillsides that were lined with forest. We saw a little wallabie and a wombat which was kind of cool. The hills were rolling today along the coast but they were the kind where you can get enough speed on the downhill to almost make it up the next one. Some guys on mountain bikes went by and the last one went by me saying, “commendable, absolutely commendable” as he drifted right by my huffing self. We were aiming for a town 30 miles into the ride for lunch and the ride was not easy it wasn’t extreme either. Rest breaks did bring relief and some of it was even funny. We rounded on bridge to find an 500 meter uphill that Larry just laughed at. We got maybe ½ of the way up and had to push. Itwas not hard though because it was short and we were soon on our way again. It was much cooler and even rained a few times. We came to a beach and talked to a man there who simply walked up to us and said, “you can’t be Austrailian”. We said, “American” and he said yeah that makes sense – no ausie would do that…. Then he talked about the beach and the road – which we had expected to be gravel and was now paved. Then on the town famous for fishing – we arrived there and it was culture shock. People everywhere – like a little Gatlinburg. We got lunch there at a café and watched it rain pretty hard. Lunch was amazing- we got these wraps – Larry got chicken and I got BLT.

We headed out for the last twenty – half of which would be on the Princess Highway. Up, down and around and up, down and around and before you know it we were at the highway. This made for easier grades but bunches of traffic – maybe people going home from the holiday because it was Sunday. We saw an ambulance go by and then a cop and then all traffic was stopped. We scooted by and sure enough there had been an accident – looked pretty bad – truck dropped off the steep side of the road about 25’ and it looked like another car was involved but had stayed on the road. This was sobering as it didn’t look very good. The ambulance went by us again – without lights… either a great sign or a very bad sign.

This was the final ten miles and I was spent – I had been riding fine but the constant up and down was wearing me out. We rolled into Narooma and I was glad to see the sign. We had made reservations so we were looking for a particular holiday park. We saw a man on a bike and Larry went over to him – his name was Ralph and he was from NZ. He had sold everything and made a rack for his bike and was into his ‘new life’ now five weeks. He had started in Brisbain. He would have chatted for a long time I think and we did probably chat with him for 45 minutes – long enough to get cold and stiff. He seemed to need to talk though so we talked. He is thinking of spending his life this way riding from country to country and seeing the world. I don’t think I could do that – I want a place to belong and a work to do and so forth.

We pulled into camp and they showed us our site. A couple came up to me while Larry was in paying for it and they were just really nice. They told me that we should stay here for a day and enjoy it and a few places we should visit. I thought that was odd – but we were planning to get a rest day in – maybe tomorrow we would stay. As we started to set up the neighbors were a young couple in their twenties who were initially afraid we were taking a spot reserved for their friends coming in the next day but then settled down when they realized we were just here for the night. We set up our tent and a few minutes latter I hear my name called and she (Kat) is asking me how we take our coffee! So on a cold rainy day we pull into camp and our served hot coffee with cream and sugar! We sit at a table with her and her husband Matt. Kat walks down to the bathrooms (she is pregnant and goes there often) and passes the Lion’s Club tent where they are selling food. She tells them about us and they invite us down to have whatever we want for free. So God’s provision tonight is amazing – roll into camp to coffee and dinner already prepared and costing us nothing. We spent the whole evening talking to Matt and Kat. They are Christians and were in ministry but are not now. We discussed with them many different aspects of our faith and while I believe we were meant to talk with them, God used them in our lives in a strong way also showing us once again that God is not only interested in providing for us, but is invested in it.

We went to sleep tonight knowing we are loved by an amazing God and ready to rest tomorrow in this wonderful spot. In the morning we would walk the boardwalks and and explore…. But we would not ride. We are half way through the days of riding and have just about 700 miles – the most difficult ones, behind us. Larry snored so loud I had to get out an ipod.