The Longest Christmas

Day 51 (12/25): Sydney to Denver (Trains, Planes, Automobiles--Ha Ha!)

First of all, sorry all for the procrastination. I type this final blog posting on January 3, 2009 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I plan to spend the next two-plus months while Nola finishes her massage therapy school program. What/where comes after that has not yet been decided. Perhaps that is another Blog (but I doubt it)?

So, back to the trip and its conclusion...

Unlike the previous morning, Christmas day in Sydney dawned bright and sunny, so this time as I headed out for a final jog around town I had my camera in tow. The result are the shots below, all taken from the Royal Botanic Gardens. Since the trees of are one of two things that are most distinctive/indicative of Australia (along with the sun traversing the northern sky--but that is hard to photograph), I have included one final shot of a beautiful tree also in the gardens.

After my jog I returned to the hostel for a fairly leisurely breakfast, shower, and final packing session. Although I planned to take the train to the airport, I loaded my bike as if I were riding since it was the easiest way to transport all my "stuff." Being in my civilian traveling clothes, I never actually rode this last day, just pushed my bike along as needed. Headed out from Hostel at about 10 am for my 3:00 pm flight.

At the airport, Qantas had empty bike boxes (I was worried they'd be out of them), so I bought one and proceeded to strip down and box my bike and cram all my gear into one large duffel bag and one carry-on bag. Unfortunately, during the hour plus it took to do the packing, the lines built up at the check-in counters, so by the time the whole process was finished and I was at the gate ready to board it was nearly 2:00 pm (lunch and last phone calls complete as well).

The long flight from Sydney to LAX went much better/faster than the flight in November; the plane was much less crowded, but mostly because we left at on-time 3:20 pm instead of 1:00 am. Three plus hours in LAX passed quickly as well--no missed connection this time--and by 5 pm I was in my car with Nola heading to her friends place in Denver for a short second Chistmas celebration. Thus concluded my second, but by no means last Australian adventure.

I am going to stop typing for a bit and display my last photos now, but I've a bit more to say below.

Ok, you gluttens for punishment, before I close, I've a couple of reflections on this trip to offer. First of all, though I regret a bit not riding from Adelaide to Ayers Rock/Alice Springs after I decided to shorten my route, I am very sure I was correct in not attempting the "big loop." Simply put, the heat, wind, flies, bush camping, and huge distances would not have been fun and may have been risky/unachievable. Saying that is actually hard because it acknowledges both the limitations and wisdom that come from being 50 rather than 25 or 30! Sorry mom, but no promises I won't resurrect the big loop by-bicycle idea for a future trip--next time riding in the Australian winter when it is cool and dry up north.

From the contents of this and previous posts, I obviously hope to travel in Australia again some day. I've got many ideas, but am not sure what form the next trip might take. Australia is just such a great place to cycle/tour and the people are really delightful as well. I think in the interim though, I might be well served sampling a couple of other foreign destinations first just to see what they have to offer. I guess that could be future Blog fodder as well.

Anybody still reading? If so, take heart I'll finally close. I won't do so without first thanking you all for the interest you've shown in following this trip. Like the mail from home Sandy and I received while down under in 1992, your comments and emails helped me stay a little better connected while so far away and made some pretty lonely nights a little less so. Thanks! And a safe and happy new year to everyone as well. And here's one more shot from the trip--hungry anyone?

Sydney

Day 49 (12/23)/Day 50 (12/24): Sydney

As I type this entry at about 9:00 pm on Christmas eve here in the YHA hostel in Sydney, I bring to a close probably the best day I have had here in Australia! Granted no riding, but unlike last night when one of the other persons in my 4-bed room was ill (and rude actually) and was up banging around pretty much once an hour, I got a very good night's sleep. Then started day with a great run from Hostel to the far end of the botanical gardens on the water out near the opera house and back. That route made me realize how beautiful a city Sydney really is and also retraced some of the cooler spots we saw here in 1992 (the rose garden in the park, the giant chess set in Hyde park, etc.).

After the run and b-fast I headed over to the Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Experience and splurged on a $50 entry ticket to both. Aquarium was cool but not "wow," but I really enjoyed the wildlife exhibit. They had insects/spiders, snakes/reptiles, koalas (all asleep), birds, roos, and some other stuff--was able to get great photos of lots of interesting stuff (see below). The only thing I did not get a good photo of today or on this whole trip was an emu. I saw them 8-10 times in car and on bike but they were shy/ran away when they saw me. I was surprised the wild life exhibit did not have any emus.

On the walk back from the wildlife place I stopped at a mall for one last minute shopping item. As last photo showed, it was scary crowded everywhere I looked--mall/store was worse than this street scene. I got the item I was looking for though!

Regressing, despite the bad sleep, yesterday was also a pretty good day. I bought a transportation system "day pass" and took trains and ferries around the town doing some checking on my travel arrangements for Thursday and also quite a bit sightseeing. Probably best part of day was taking ferry 30 minutes across Sydney harbor in the afternoon to Manly beach/wharf (really another Sydney suburb). That was great because I got a 20-minute power nap on boat ride over which perked me up quite a bit. Then in Manly there were lots of excellent souveneir stores right near the ferry dock. Some were cheap and tacky where I got the cheap tacky stuff I wanted (e.g., t-shirts), some were nicer but still reasonable and I got some nicer presents (e.g., small but original aboriginal art works). On the way back I got great photos of city and operar house. Best part of that was it freed me up to do what I did today without a list of things to do hanging over my head!

One funny thing also happened on Manly ferry ride. When I awoke from my nap, for just a second I thought I was on a train. At this momenet I looked out the window and saw water--it was somewhere between very confusing and terrifying until I quickly realized where I was. Laughed out loud when I did.

Enjoy the photos. I enjoyed taking them. Next time we speak I'll be a few km away from here--that makes me a bit sad to type but I am looking forward to seeing Nola and friends back in the states too. More on that subject in next/last post to come.

The Final Leg

Day 47 (12/21): Canberra to Goulburn; 114 km; 19 kph; Motel

Day 48 (12/22): Goulburn to Moss Vale (bike) to Sydney (train); 86 km/19 kph (on bike)

As with some of my driving on the long loop and my bicycle route out of Adelaide so long ago it seems now, some of my route these two days followed the same roads I/we did in 1992--albeit in the opposite direction. In this case fortunately but not sure why, I did not have the same sad/negative reaction. Generally, the repeat sections were very good rides in 1992 and again this time--yay!

Despite the km I have under my belt, these rides were also fairly difficult. Though not strong at all, I generally had head winds again and the routes were pretty hilly too. This points out something I have learned on this trip--it just has not gotten any easier to pedal such a heavy bicycle up hills or against the wind. I have gotten stronger in that I am able to recover fairly quickly for the next days ride (or even over lunch for afternoon ride), but it remains fairly hard every day to actually grind out the km. (Thinking back I think I may have learned the same thing in 1992, I just forgot the lesson!) Oh well!

Did have a minor last minute plan change on second day. Original plan was to only ride 67 km to a town called Bundanoon then train into Sydney from there. When I arrived at Bundanoon (just after 11 am), I realized it had pretty limited train service and I'd have to wait until almost 3 pm to catch a train to town. So, I ate lunch, then checked a bit and ended up riding another hour/20 km to Moss Vale where I caught a 2 pm train and was in the city not long after 4 pm. Worked out well for me and my bicycle (see photo).

Other photos: cute name for hotel/pub in Tarago. And there were at least a dozen of the smallest ponies I've ever seen in a field near Moss Vale. Cute.

Time Stands Still?

Canberra (12/20 and 12/21)

Only had from the late afternoon of Saturday 12/20 until the next morning when I cycled away to check out Canberra, but it was a great visit.

I'll describe it in terms of the photos below. With the hour or so before they closed at 5pm on Saturday I walked over to the Australian War Memorial museum. The displays inside (decorated uniform jacket and WWII V1 buzz bomb) were very interesting--as with most museums one could spend several days in there.

Also interesting was that when they built Canberra from scratch (in the 1940's I think) pretty much in the middle of nowhere but about half way between Sydney and Melbourne on purpose, they modelled it somewhat on Washington DC. Except in this case with Parliament House(s) and the war museum at either end of a beautiful mall type area. The last four photos show this setup. From north to south, there is war museum (first shot at far end), then long mall, then new Old Parlament Building (seen as lighter white bldg in first, second, and fourth shots), then new Parlament building (third shot). As in Washington, quite a spectacular layout.

Finally, mostly by luck (though I knew ahead of time it was working out this way), I happened to make my short visit to the capital on the weekend. Thus as I said, except for the museum I did my sightseeing early on Sunday morning, which was great. There were literally no cars or people on the malls, sidewalks, etc. around Parlament circle as they call it. It made wandering around somewhat aimlessly and shooting photos hither and yon on my bicycle much easier (and safer). I was well on my way out of town before any semblance of traffic or people started to come out.

Going Somewhere New

Day 45: Thredbo to Cooma (12/19); 98 km; 23 kph; Bunkhouse Motel


Day 46: Cooma to Canberra (12/20); 119 km; 21 kph; YHA Hostel

As the average speed suggest, these two days were quite a bit easier than previous days. Interestingly, even though Thredbo is above 1300 M (elevation), the ease was probably more so due to great continuing tailwinds, especially coming to Cooma. There were some big downhills, but both Cooma and Canberra are still about 600 M high so I did not get to descend as far as expected. As you may have also noticed, I continue to not camp along the road now, though smaller towns like Cooma have pefectly fine caravan parks. It something I've thought about quite a but not figured out--I seem to have an aversion to camping right now, though I really do enjoy it when the facilities or weather aren't bad.

I did enjoy these two days riding, especially past Cooma when the landscape returned to the wide open spaces I so enjoy (see third photo below). I also realized I was looking ahead during these two days riding to seeing Canberra. It did not disappoint and I will devote the entire next post to that short visit.

I've given up on photo captions, but the first picture below is a typical (and most frequent) on the road lunch for me--a bread roll from a bakery (bought the day before usually) and a small can of flavored tuna--I make a sandwich. The tuna is quite tasty, very conveinant to carry and dispense/eat, and often quite cheap (I payed anywhere from $1 to $2.5 per can for it on this trip, stocking up with as many as 6 cans at once when it is cheap). The Pepsi is a bit of a splurge I only had it about a fourth of the time--when I have access to a fridge I buy it warm and chill it overnight before then having half at lunch and the rest that evening. Have I mentioned that chilled soft drinks are quite expensive ($2 for a can) while 1.25 liter "warm" bottles are usually $1 or less.

The water is Lake Jidabyne; Nola's friend Fern lived in Jidanbyne on this lake for a while in the 1980s.

Finally, when I see a sign like the last photo, my mind tells me "big uphill coming in 2 km." Once to the overtaking lane I look longingly for the "left lane ends" sign!

Three more posts to finish if my web time holds out.

Take It On Faith

Day 44 (12/18): Thredbo Village; Layover; Merritt Way/Dead Horse Gap/Riverwalk Hile (15 km)

















Must admit, I was dissapointed today. Based on the above photo, you can clearly tell the weather was not ideal for hiking, climbing, or viewing peaks. As the title suggests, you'll just have to believe me when I tell you the above photo is of Mt Kosiouszco (sp?), the highest peak on this continent.


I did hike up the ski hill from the village today in the rain, wind, cold, and even hail (it was low 40's and raining and windy on top). Once there I had a "picnic" and dried out a bit in the ski hill restaurant at the top of the lift. Note that I could have just riden the lift up for $30 to avoiod major hill climb, but Grandpa Neumann wouldn't let me. After lunch I considered continuing to head on up to Mt. K (only another 3 miles one-way of mostly flatish hiking). Based on the view (again, see pic) and that I had not carried full "cold/wet weather" gear up the hill with me, I thought better of it and instead took the long way round back down the hill. That was still pretty and fun and certainly a lot more tame than going further up.

Topping the cake, shortly after I got back to the hostel at about 3 pm it rained VERY hard for about half an hour then hailed several inches (see photo below). I was quite happy to be in the warm/dry at that point. You'll love this Nola: that evening I then planned, if it was clear in the morning, to spontaneously decide to take the ski lift up and hike Mt. K before heading out on the bike. Sadly, it was rainy and still socked in up high next morning too so no go on that plan. Mt K will just have to wait for next time

As to the rest of my visit to Thredbo, I quite enjoyed the YHA hostel I stayed at. There was a much more mixed group of folks there, even a couple of families with younger kids, one of whom celebrated his 7th birthday and gave out chocolate cake to everyone there! I liked the socialability of the place versus the somewhat lonely hostels (e.g., in Broome or Grampians) where most folks are young backpackers going about their own business.

Climb the Highest Mountain

Day 40 (12/14): Mansfield to Wangaratta; 114 km; 21 kph; cabin



Day 41 (12/15): Wangaratta to Tallangatta; 102 km; 19 kph; cabin




Day 42 (12/16): Tallangatta to Khancoban; 111 km; 19 kph; cabin




Day 43 (12/17): Khancoban to Thredbo; 62 km (bike); 13 kph; 18 km (pickup truck); YHA Hostel


Ok, lets go in order even though things did not get really interesting until the 17th. Covered some pretty good distances these first three days, each day with a pretty good climb or two (up to 500 m vertical) to help me get ready for the big day up to Thredbo. Pleasantly, I also had favorable winds pretty much the whole time though the climbing kept my average speeds somewhat lower than I would have otherwise expected.


As I moved north the countryside changed, first getting more hilly, then steadily drier. Then got the variation of Hume Lake, which is considerably smaller than 1992 and then the New South Wales state border. Still the same old wacko noisy birds and uniquely Australian trees and "feel." Almost started to settle into a bit of a rythym I'd even say. The caravan parks kept throwing me curves too. Generally I prefer to camp if nothing else just to economize. Well, cabins in Wangarrata were only $14 more than tent sites; the cabin in Tallangatta was only $30 (AU). Tempted like that I obviously jump for the roof/bed/etc every time even though tent camping can be quite pleasant.


So, from Khancoban (can-co'-ban) to Thredbo is about 75 km, with a net vertical rise of about 1100 meters (turns out total climb for day would be closer to 1800 meters I'd guess). This was the "big" day riding I'd known was coming for some time and was both anticipating (I really like riding in mountains) and dreading (hauling a 40+ kg bike up hills is hard). An uncertain weather forecast did not help anything.


So day started out fine at about 7:30 am. Cloudy but pleasantly cool weather, beautiful ride, quiet road, etc. Stopped and checked out some of the Snowy River Scheme hydroelectric power system stuff, took my time on climbs, was having a superb day. Then at about 10:30 the rain started. In and of itself, rain while riding isn't really a problem. When I do big climbs in rain, my rain gear works great in keeping me warm, but I still get soaking wet--outside from the rain and inside from sweat. The trick is that even if the outside is cool or cold, the inside stays warm.

Here's the dilemna: as you climb the temperature also drops, sometimes considerably as I expected going up to Thredbo. On longer climbs, I also get tired and really can't eat enough to replace the energy I'm expending pedalling AND generating heat to keep warm. So on day 43 about the time I got to the 50 km point at about 1:30 PM, it was about 50 Deg F, I was soaking wet inside and out, and also looking at about 25 km more riding, most of it steeply uphill.


I won't debate whether I've wisened in my years or gotten too conservative, but though still warm at the time, I felt myself a good candidate for hypothermia "up the road" a ways. (I actually had a full layer of dry cloths in my pannier, but they would have been soaked in 5 minutes had I put them on and continued riding.) So, as I started riding up the (really steep at times) hill, I also started hitch hiking as the rare vehicle would pass by. After about 40 minutes of this a pickup truck with an older couple stopped to check on me. Although he was reluctant, I convinced them to toss me and my bike in the bed of the truck (there was no room in the cab for me), where I rode the last 18 km up the hill to Thredbo next to their cute black dog Mack.


The truck ride went very well except for how fast the guy drove; how his dog stayed in there normally I couldn't figure. Sure enough, when we got to Thredbo, it was pouring rain and about 40 Deg F, but it only took me 5 minutes to find the YHA Hostel and get under cover to start the drying/warming up process. An hour and a half later I was warm and dry in freshly washed clothes making my dinner in the kitchen. Made it until about 9:30 pm before completely conking out. Didn't even set an alarm.


Quite an interesting day that I think I handled pretty responsibly if I must say so myself. Well, gotta go down and see if y panniers and bike shoes are finally dry as well. If not, that's ok as I am staying here two nights anyway. Bye for now.