We spent a few days sightseeing in Melbourne, Dave went to the Melbourne Cricket ground, I went shopping!! The highlight of this was Melbourne's largest open air market. There was the cheese hall, cold meats, fish, butcher meat, cloths, etc...etc.. The smell was fantastic, it's just a pity I could not carry much on the bike!
We then bought a cheap (19 pounds including taxes) flight from Melbourne to Sydney, with United Airlines. This particular day, we had to carry the bikes on three different forms of public transport and I was not looking forward to it, however....
-)We cycled into Melbourne's city centre and caught the bus to the airport, the bikes went under the bus, no probelms
-)The flight itslef was also fine, apart from the airline inspecting every piece of luggage, including the bike!
-)Upon arrival in Sydney, we caught the train to Kings Cross, this was really easy as we wheeled the bikes on and off, all luggage intact.
........ all three journeys were not stressful at all but this was mainly down to the very laid back Australian nature, which made it very easy.
The highlight in Sydney was visting the boats involved in the Volvo Ocean round the world race and walking round the Sunday market at the 'Rocks'. Once it was time to get back on the bikes, we caught the train from Sydney town centre and got off at Newcastle, a little way up the East Coast. We then cycled about 350 miles in two weeks and then stopped off at the Scottish town of Maclean, just south of Brisbane, for Christmas.
Christmas - Was spent with Kevin , a fellow cyclist whom we met in NZ, and his family. We would like to pass a big thanks on to Kevin and his family for being excellent hosts, and made us feel very welcome indeed. Christmas was a little unusual for us, as we spent he morning on the beach and in the surf and then ate an enormous Christmas lunch of cold meat salad - ideal for a hot day!!
New Year - We found a very nice restaurant in Brisbane who were serving a three course meal and all drinks included from 7-2am. They even had piper to bring in the New Year. We had a great night, most of which was spent outside enjoying the weather!!
Cycling Highlights
- The deafening noise of the cecadas, as we cycled past the bush
- The bush itself was so very dense and thick in part (although the sad part is that some of the bush we cycled past has now been burnt in the recent fires)
- Beaches and Surf - We came across some of the nicest beaches we have seen so far on this trip
- Animals - We saw wild Kangaroos, Wallabies. pelicans, fruit bats, Kookaburras, and even a live snake!
- All the way up the coast are various ferries that you need to catch, it's a nice break from the cyling
Cyling Lowpoints
- The terrian was mainly flat, which can get a bit dull at times
- The scenery is much the same all the way up the coast, bush on both sides of the road, although the beaches are not so far, you just have to stop and go and follow the noise of the sea
- Only meeting two other cyclists
- The heat (although we only experienced the really warm weather when we stopped for Christams)
.HOME