arctic-cycler.com

With the external and internal borders closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my cycling holiday was a lot closer to home. I love bleak, lonely landscapes, and luckily, New South Wales has some of these. So I was headed west. West as far as I could go. West to outback New South Wales. I headed west from Sydney over the Blue Mountains, following an Aussievelo route – a naissant version of Eurovelo – long distance cycle routes across the continent. A big highlight was Evan’s Crown – a great tip from a cyclist I met on the first day. It is a beautiful rocky outcrop on the top of a hill, overlooking valleys in all directions. It was magpie nesting season and swooping magpies were a common theme before I left the tree areas. The road got flat after Parkes and really flat and desolate after Hillston. Thanks to Kristie and the team in Hillston for helping me get in touch with farmers on the desolate stretch to lake Mungo. Another highlight was the Menindee Lakes. Lake Pamamaroo was filled with water. There was not a soul there, and I spent hours swimming and watching the pelicans. The endpoint of the trip was the Mundi Mundi Lookout – 35km from Broken Hill, looking out over the red endless plains. Only this time, they were green endless plains. It was a quick dash home along the main road – covering some large distances on some days. The last stretch was through the Hunter Valley and its endless coal mines, and then the familiar territory of the Hawkesbury River. 2858km later, I was back where I started – at Wolli Creek in Sydney. I was at the same place, but had a head full of amazing memories of a bicycle trip to the outback. And back.