Cycle touring
At the start of the year, after buying a new bike, I went all out and got a rack and panniers as well. About a week later I found myself on my first cycle tour. I am not going to go into depth about it, because it involved hitching a ride down to Melbourne with my Aunty and then a boat ride (which I don’t think is extremely energy efficient). I guess the point is I just got into cycling and wanted more.
Since then, I have started studying again so I haven’t had any large holidays, but I still have managed to get out into the countryside on my bike. I have done some massif day rides and a couple of weekends away. They have all been starting and ending on the train line which makes life easy as you can put your bike in the train no hassle (unless it’s a Countrylink in which case you need to box your bike). These are a few of the trips I’ve done. I would recommend them all!!! I have included links to www.bikely.com so you can see the path.
Bundanoon to Canberra
This was a pleasant ride through the countryside for most of it. It’s quite a long day, so I would recommend splitting it up and visiting Morton National Park (1 km from Bundanoon) before you start.
It starts in the cute little town of Bundanoon, where there is a Bicycle café and a good YHA (I haven’t stayed there but I’ve heard good things). You go along a tourist drive for the first part and then have a tiny section on the Hume Highway (5 km). After this, you find yourself on real rural roads – and then the roads become dirt and you only cross a car about once an hour. It’s pretty flat with some slight rolling hills to stop you falling asleep. It’s mainly grazing land and you can see the forest in the distant sometimes. The stretch towards Canberra presents itself with some hills and some cars, but you still get some fabulous views. The very last bit, I went along the federal highway, but maybe you could find a better way. Hopefully when you get to Canberra, there will be an exhibition at the art gallery or something to keep you amused.
Sutherland to Woolongong
Descending down to the Royal national park – you then go along a lovely stretch of dirt road near the creek called Lady Carrington Drive . You then meander up through the park at a nice gradient - to Otford, where you can get good apple pie and an amazing view of the sea. Soon, you find yourself descending rapidly, along a scenic twisting road through stanwell tops. There starts to be a bit more traffic, but if you can go on a weekday you won’t have a problem. Your get to go along the bridge over the sea (see pricture) and then you eventually find yourself at sea level and going along a cycle path through the tempting beaches north of woolongong. This is not a difficult day ride, so take you’re time and enjoy it.
Windsor to Wyong
This was a great relaxing day in the saddle. You start out west where you see lettuce being harvested with a backdrop of the Blue Mountains. You slowly make your way down to Sackville and your first ferry crossing, then up hill to the mian road and along to Wisemans ferry. You get a great view down to the river and the ferry a few kilometres before the town, and then it’s a sharp descent. After the river crossing, it’s a lovely meander next to the Hawksbury River to the town of Spenser. You have an uphill coming up through lovely forest, but first you go through some mangrove country. Once you get to the top of the hill you feel like you really in the back country of the central Coast. You have views to the West of the National Park. There are lots of oranges growing and everything looks quite fertile. The last part is a nice down hill run. The map is for the opposite direction.
Mount Victoria to Mittagong
This was two long days and one freezing night. After catching the train to Mt Victoria - this ride greets you with a beautiful downhill - you feel like you are going well for time - but then the hills hit - it’s pretty and it’s filled with ups and downs. You get amazing views back to the blue mountains and you get to pass a couple of huge wind turbines in the first stretch. Then we went through a some amazing enormous valleys which gave my gears a good work out. After lunch we went through so crazy plantation country - kinda eerie in a way. There were animals - foxes, kangaroos, wombats along the way. You are in the tablelands and there is a bit of monotony, but it’s beautiful all the same - particularly at sunset. We camped at Abercrombie River, in a big steep gully. The next day - is a crazy uphill followed by more rolling countryside - until you turn onto wombian caves road. This is a beautiful road - with some lovely forest on a relatively flat road to start with - then you have some lovely winding hills on dirt road. You can have a stop at the caves before you start your next ascent. There are some magnificent views and beautiful roads.
Melbourne to Sydney across the Snowy Mountains
I don’t know where to begin in describing this trip. We went in January, not any January, but a really hot one. We were, however, extremely lucky with the weather and if I believed in god I would say he takes special care of his cyclists. We started by hitting the dry hilly north east of melbourne, heading out along the Yarra cycle trail and then heading through a tiny town of Kangaroo Ground. We soon found ourselved struggling up the hills of the upper yarra national park - sweat and heavy breathing ensued. There was a beautiful down hill that followed, with lovely turns, trees and views of the valley below. I’m not going to to in to the detail of every curve, but our trip was filled with amazing forests, quiet roads, one very flat straight stretch, a mossie infested beach (paradise beach), hitching a ride on small boat across the gippland lakes, talls trees, shrubby alpine country, red dirt roads, beautiful roads winding around mountains (including one big ascent), some steep hills (lowest gear, up on my feet, snaking my way along the road), unexpected hospitality, very soft dirt, very rocky bumpy roads, phenomenal views, winding along next to rivers and creeks, protecting clouds, some small but awful stretches on the Princes Highway. There was a lot more than I can’t put into a short list, we made some discoveries - for example, the ingenuity of the toilet doors at berridale. It was an amazing adventure and I saw so much beauty in the world and in other people.