Heading up the Coast

We spent the morning off our bikes in Eden... managed to find a few bakeries... and I made several overseas phone calls to figure out life after travels (do they really have to end?). We then set off for a short day of riding... a much needed rest... only... we discovered that it wasn't much of a rest at all. As soon as we left town, we began a steep steep climb up a long hill. At the top, I had to stop and "look at the map". My legs were in shock - they couldn't believe they had to climb more hills. And that was the first of many... we continued along the Princes Highway for the first bit of the ride and then turned onto a scenic coastal road. After 25 km, we pulled into the town of Merimbula, situated with beautiful ocean views. Here, we found a wonderful ice cream shop with oreo and mint chocolate cookie ice cream (Mmmm). We then took a bit of a break so I could make another phone call... during which time I got yelled at by an older woman and mocked by several teenage kids for taking too long (don't they understand that I am trying to figure out my future??)

We then set off from Merimbula and headed up towards Tathra... thinking that since we were near the coast the hills would end... nope! We kept on climbing, but fortunately only had 25 km to go. On our last hill into town, we heard a screeching sound behind us... it turned out that as one car slowed so as not to hit us, another car rear-ended the first car. The lady in the second car got out of her vehicle yelling "those f@%&ing bike-riders" - apparently some people don't like sharing the road. We stopped not knowing what to do, but the lady in the first car was quite friendly and told us not to worry and head along... so we did. A short while later, the cars passed once again. The lady in the second car had a few not-so-nice horn honks for us and a very unfriendly one-fingered wave. I guess I would be upset too if I rear-ended a car. It's a little disconcerting knowing that there is somebody out on the road that doesn't like us so much.

As soon as we came down the other side of the "incident" hill we encountered the ocean once again and finally arrived at our destination. After setting up camp on the coast, we took a barefoot walk along the beach as the sun highlighted the rock outcroppings that bordered its edges... a very pleasant evening stroll. We then walked around town to find some dinner... Tathra had a very small and friendly feel. The owner of the local market was quite chatty and told us all about our cycling route for the next day.

The next morning we woke up and cooked breakfast on the beach as we watched the sunrise. The breakfast didn't turn out so well (oops - too much heat!), but the scenery was terrific! After the sun was fully up, we packed up and set off down the road for another hilly, but beautiful ride. This time, we were back on the "bike book route" and counted down the major hills (8 in all) as we went along. We first headed inland for a bit and then joined the coast again about halfway through our ride where we encountered a beautiful beach with roaring waves. After passing the beach, we began climbing a couple more hills and as we approached the summit of each hill, we had sweeping views of grassy fields and green treetops leading right to the calm, sparkling, and seemingly endless ocean waters below - Ahhhhh...

We arrived early in the afternoon in Narooma, just in time for me to make a final call to a University of Chicago student... after which, I was confident that University of Chicago is the place for me! (Oh Boy! Life after travels is looking good!). We then found our way to a beautiful campsite overlooking a bay leading into the ocean. It also turned out that we had three English cycle-touring neighbors (who I have to admit happen to have a website a bit cooler than my blog - cycleaustralia.co.uk). It's been a long time since we have run into fellow cycle-tourers... we spent the evening sheltered from the increasingly steady rain and chatted about our cycling adventures. As it approached 8 o'clock (late night!), Mally and I had to turn in to our tent and catch some ZZZZ's.

Last night, the rain came pouring down. We managed to make it through with only a couple tent puddles, but as we looked outside our tent this morning, we had no desire to hop on the bike and peddle along in a rainstorm. After munching on some cereal in the tent, we decided to take the day off (which our legs are happy about) and we are doing our best to stay dry.

Tomorrow is Mally's 24th Birthday (at least in Australia time) so think lots of happy thoughts for her and send good wishes her way!