Our Last Ride

Another early wake-up... Mally and I enjoyed a breakfast on the beach with the rising sun... and then we loaded up our bike for the last time. Looking back, it is a bit melancholy, but that morning we were filled with excitement to reach our final destination. Dave, Johnathan, and John were also up and ready to go for our early departure (they didn't want two speedy girls to beat them to Sydney!).

We all set out along the beautiful Wollongong bike path for the first 10km. We weaved through early morning walkers, joggers with dogs, and other meandering cyclists as we made our way along the rolling ocean waves. I expected busy roads once we left the bike path, but the streets were rather clear of bustling traffic. We zoomed along a few hills until our road ended... Road Closed... "absolutely no bikes allowed"... no wonder there wasn't any traffic. We talked to a workman on the scene and figured out that we could take a train up a few stops and join back with our desired route... so we turned back for the train station and made it to the tracks just as the train we wanted pulled out of the station. After waiting around the station for a bit and munching on a few snacks, another train pulled in and we rolled along the tracks about 5k down the road to the top of our steepest climb for the day (aw shucks.... that's too bad... ).

After getting off the train, Mally and I let the guys go ahead as we took a more leisurely pace. Our route took us through the Royal National Park (second oldest park after Yellowstone). At first gorgeous views from looking out to the ocean below filled the scenery... then we entered a forest and zoomed through the cool shade of the trees down the hill we didn't climb (this is the way to go!). The road was as quiet as riding along the back roads in small-town Australia - were we really getting closer to Sydney?? I couldn't have hoped for a more beautiful and relaxing ride. We then had to actually climb our next hill back up to high heights overlooking the ocean.

As we zoomed down our gradual descent, distant buildings of Sydney came into view for the first time. WOW! What a feeling! Mally and I both let out shouts of joy. WOOOOOOOoooooooooO! The rush of excitement that makes one's tummy feel giddy and brings an unstoppable smile to one's face now poured out for both of us! We had ridden a month in New Zealand, a loop around Tasmania, the hilly Great Ocean Road, and now we had made it all the way from Melbourne with our final destination in sight. AHHHHHHHHHhhhh!! WOOOOOHhooooo!!!! What a Feeling!

We followed the road down to Bundeena with a few more views of Sydney peaking out from our left and glimpses of ocean waters down below to our right. There we met up with the Engligh-cycling-trio and hopped on the ferry to Cronulla. From Cronulla we all cycled along bikepaths following the busy beaches and blue ocean waters until we found a nice sunny spot with an ocean view to stop for lunch. After lunch we had about 15 km of busy city riding (which the guide book describes as "er - lively"). Again, it was good to have a posse of 5 riders along these bustling roads.

We finally arrived to our hostel... exhausted, hot, and dirty... almost too tired at this point to realize the excitement of reaching Sydney. We were just happy to get off the bike, clean up, and find food. We all went to a Hungarian restaurant down the road to fill up and relax after our long, momentous day. We then found a wonderful ice cream shop with ice cream suitable for celebration (the first cone where I have been full afterwards!) and walked around town until we decided it was a suitable hour to go to bed. That night we fell fast asleep... IN SYDNEY!!!!