Getting Closer to Sydney!

The day after Mally's birthday, we woke up early and ate breakfast with a Kangaroo as the rising sun let off rays of colorful light in our direction. We then got off to our earliest start yet (before 7!). We walked back along the gravel road, zoomed down Mt. Agony road, and joined back onto the Princes highway. The morning ride along the highway was back to our familiar up and down terrain with scenery of forests and fields, highlighted by a couple lovely lakes on the side of the road.

We arrived into Ulladulla after about 50km and decided to take a break and have a bit to eat. As we pulled into town, we saw our cycling friends pulling out of town. Excited to see them again, we yelled "Cycle Australia!" down the road trying to get their attention... we got a few looks, but not from our friends... they kept speeding down the road. Not wanting to chase them out of town and have to ride back for food, we sadly watched them zoom along... thinking we may never see them again (oh no!). We then pulled onto the sidewalk, bought some 9:30am lunch, and sat on a bench munching and telling several walker-byers about our journeys (one old man thought I looked quite young to be cycling around... he thought I was 16! - oh dear!).

After "lunch" the sun rays became stronger and stronger and the traffic steadily increased. With heavy traffic, we concentrated more and more on the road shoulder and missed taking in much of the scenery around us. We focused on staying upright, not getting hit, and drinking lots of water to avoid dehydration. As the morning wore on, we were anxious to finally turn off the Princes Highway... but shortly before our turn, we heard several shouts from the side of the road - we managed to catch up to our cycling friends (yay!) while they were taking a lunch break (at noon... what a late lunch!). We pulled off the road and chatted a bit... told them of our earlier sighting... and discussed cycling plans (they decided to keep on heading towards Sydney along the Princes, but we couldn't wait to turn off for our days end so we decided that we would have to catch up in Sydney).

We all headed down the road together and shortly afterwards, Mally and I came to our much awaited turn off. We finally left the trafficy road and turned onto a quiet tree-lined street with cool shade and fresh air. This route once again led us back towards water... passing along several views of sailboats in St. Georges Basin... and then connecting to a bike path which travelled along Jervis Bay beaches... full of white sands and a myriad of blue colored waters. A wonderfully peaceful end to a day of riding on busy roads.

We ended our day in Huskisson, set up our tent with a view overlooking Jervis Bay, and then took a walk along the beach into town for some much needed laundry soap and dinner.

The next day, we continued with our early starts to the day. We packed up and were back on the road by 7 heading closer and closer to Sydney. Unfortunately the morning started out trafficy right away... apparently our "get up early" approach doesn't work on the weekday. Once we were on the Princes, the traffic was non-stop... no more strolling along in the street. We were now confined to the shoulder... no matter how rough or gravelly it was. We rode through Nowra... the first bustling industrial town we had seen since leaving Melbourne... and finally came to our turnoff away from the Princes Highway (phew!). We headed along a river back towards the coast where we hit Seven Mile Beach National Park... while we couldn't see the coast from the road, the surroundings were full of lush forest and sounds of the ocean could be heard through the trees. Unfortunately, we also heard the nnnnnrrrrrmmmm and zoooooommmmm of quite a bit of traffic - the road certainly wasn't as busy as the Princes, but we longed for our quiet, peaceful roads of the two previous weeks of riding.

Somewhere along the way, Mally got a flat tire and as we stopped to fix it, the cycling trio from England came whizzing along. Apparently we managed to pass them with our early start to the day. They stopped as Mally put on her repaired wheel and we decided to ride together for a bit. It was nice to have three strong men in front of us to block the wind... they are much better to draft off of than skinny mally. Our group of five cyclists also earned a bit more respect from the traffic - the cars didn't zoom by quite so quickly and gave us a bit more room as they passed. This was especially nice when we rode a few more kilometers along the Princes. Overall, it was great to be riding with these three fellows (although they did push the pace a bit - wait up!!).

Later in the afternoon, the sun heated up once again and our wide open three-lane straight aways provided no respite from its rays. We pulled into the bustling metropolis of Wollongong where Mally and I were ready to find a cool campsite and end our day. The five of us all bought some lunch and found a shady spot near the ocean to refuel. We then discovered that Wollongong didn't have any campsites in the city proper (it was quite large) and we'd have to push on a bit further before stopping. Luckily, the rest of our ride followed a bike path along the ocean coast and right to our campsite... another relaxing end to a busy riding day. After setting up camp, all five of us refreshed in the giant cool waves of the ocean.

That night we went to bed knowing that the next day we'd reach Sydney at last (Oh BOY!)