Archive for the ‘NSW’ Category

Day 4. 123km. Canberra – Goulburn

Posted: January 2, 2022 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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I cycled through the gate onto a grassy patch with paragliders waiting to jump over the cliff. Below me were the plains of Lake George and the Federal Highway snaking its way from left to right. I didn’t know I’d have this view, but it’s the unplanned things that are often the best.

Looking over the cliff

On the first day of the cycle trip, my goal was to get to Canberra as quickly as possible to have time to go into the mountains. Returning, I had the whole day and tried a different route – one that avoids the highway as much as possible.

I had time to pass Parliament House.

Parliament House

I have discovered Camberra’s cycle path network. There are at least 7 long routes. I followed C4 into the city and C1 out. Nicely marked, they keep the cyclists out of the traffic and make it a pleasant experience for cyclists.

The Canberra cycle network

Filling up with water, I started talking to a cyclist who was resting in the shade. He had a good tip of a side road to Gundaroo.

A peaceful gravel road rather than the busy main road

Getting from Gundaroo to Collector involved a bit of climbing on a dirt track. It was beautiful, quiet bush, and I took it slow. On one of the climbs I realised the bike has gone 81,000km.

81,000km

I had had enough by the time I got to Collector and decided on taking the highway to Goulburn. Not pleasant but mostly flat and quick. I quick stop to take a photo of the Goulburn sheep and then into the town for a celebratory meal. My short Christmas biketrip in the mountains was at an end.

The giant sheep

Day 1. 95km. Goulburn – Queanbeyan

Posted: December 30, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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“We can chuck it under there,” he said jovially, pointing to under the bus. There was noone else in the bus anyway. I was just happy I could get to Goulburn in daylight and have time to cycle to Canberra.

In the train replacement bus she goes.

The goal was to get to Canberra by public transport. The journey through the mountains starts from there. It was a bit grey and it drizzled a bit. Fine for knocking off some kms after lunch through the undulating countryside.

Thistle en route
20km to Queanbeyan
Molonglo River

After a quick dash through an outer arm of the Australian Capital Territory, I’m back in New South Wales for the evening, snug as a bug in a rug.

Day 4. 66km. Bulahdelah – Dungog

Posted: November 26, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW, Uncategorized
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“What’s that highrise building on the top of that hill?”

“It’s the highest private residence in Australia.”

I looked a bit stunned. This high rise building was in the middle of nowhere. The guy just shrugged and chuckled.

Today was sticky and warm with the ever present threat of rain that didn’t eventuate.

Time for a day off. Tomorrow will be wet with thunderstorms.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6303746141

Day 3. 88km. Hawks Nest – Bulahdelah

Posted: November 25, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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“The track might be muddy but you should be able to get through.” The track was lovely but not the adventure I was expecting.

Old Gibber Track

The road today started through koala country – or so I’m told. I cycled with the eyes up in the branches. Didn’t see any koala but I did see long stretches of sandy beach.

The road to Bulahdelah was a bit up and down, and I arrived quite early, all ready for an early dinner.

 

https://www.strava.com/activities/6299611300

Day 2. 83km. Newcastle – Tin City – Hawks Nest

Posted: November 24, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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The ramshackle collection of tin shacks lies in the sand dunes, windswept, at the end of the world. I love this place.

On the way to Tin City

The drizzle cleared and the sun poked through. The Tin City shacks were waiting.

Tin City shack
Tin City from above

I took side roads when I could, but the main road was a stark contrast to the desolation of Tin City.

Port Stephens is busy, and Hawks Nest is a quiet, laid back version of it. An amazing thin line of sanddunes stretches out to a headland. That’s where I cycled.

Yacaba spit
Yacaba spit
Yacaba spit
Yacaba spit

Tomorrow more new places to explore. Here is an old post of Tin City.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6295756568

Day 1. 173km. Sydney – Newcastle

Posted: November 22, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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“Where are you guys going?” asked the kid in his souped up hoonmobile who had pulled over as I inched up the hill in the dark.

“Newcastle,” I replied.

“F*ck me!” I guess lots of people had been wondering what these hundreds of cyclists were doing cycling though the rain in the middle of nowhere in the dark.

Newcastle Overnight checkpoint at Mt White

The Newcastle Overnight is an annual event where a wierd bunch of people (including me) leaves Observatory Hill near the Sydney Harbour Bridge at 9pm to cycle through the night to Newcastle, 173km to the north. It includes some longish ascents and descents in the dark to Gosford before the brain enters spaced-out mode, cycling past the Central Coast beaches and lakes when all are sleeping and only the crazies are out.

I met with Jo again. We have met on several of these rides and shared stories about the crazies. The famous one is of the 20 year old guy walking down the street naked at 3am near Budgewoi holding nothing but a branch. The event pulled the brain out of its inner processes to focus on the now. Once focussed, I had passed. No evidence photo was taken. Only me, Jo and dozens of others had seen it.

This year, no naked guys with branches but I did pass 80,000 km on the bike, just a few km from naked man road.

80,000km for the bike

Just after 80,000 on naked man road I passed a hungry man. There was no Budgewoi checkpoint this year and nothing open for about 20km. Luckily I like taking a lot of stuff on these trips. Although I couldn’t interest him in a kitchen sink, he was interested in some fruit cake and bread.

As is usual on these trips, you start together, have short stints cycling with others and having a chat, but most of the time is spent in a meditative brain state. I started cycling with Jo, and we met up again at the end.

Before departure in Sydney
Made it! 173km later in Newcastle

Thanks to Josh and Annie who both Jo and I had chatted with en route, for taking us back to Sydney in the car!

With the weather forecast of rain all week, I have decided to not cycle in the Snowy Mountains this week (through snow, sludge and freezing temperatures) but rather to take the Newcastle Overnight cycle as day one of my cycling holiday north of Sydney.

https://strava.app.link/l29O1teCnlb

New video: The Bayside LGA

Posted: October 7, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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With the lockdown in Sydney about to end, I have put together a little video of exploring my Local Government Area (LGA) during lockdown. Soon my horizons will be extended again!

Bayside Local Government Area – The perimeter and the innards

Posted: September 3, 2021 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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The world, Australia, New South Wales, metropolitan Sydney, the Bayside Local Government Area (LGA). With COVID-19 my horizons have been shrinking. With ‘the worst yet to come’ regarding hospitalisations, my cycling playground is now the Bayside LGA where I live. There is lot there, and today I checked out the perimeter and the innards and saw beach, marsh, ships and planes.

Sandringham beach

Sandringham beach

The Bayside LGA has the airport at its heart and Port Botany with all its ships and cargo containers on the eastern flank. With the ultra-dangerous airport freeway tunnel on the south side of the airport the only way to pass on the south, my trip today was divided neatly into two halves – the eastern Port Botany side and the southern Botany Bay side.

Here is a link to the strava map.

The East Flank

The foreshore at Port Botany is marshy with short stretches of beach.

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

Port Botany

The innards of this arm is suburbia

Kingsford

Kingsford

Gorilla

Gorilla

and industry.

Industry

Industry

The South Flank

There he stood on the grassy hidden path his eye all red and puffy. “Can I have some of your water to flush out my eye?”

He had a seed in his eye. My thoughts were COVID danger, but I should help him. I gave him my water bottle and stood back as he flushed out his eye, once and then again a few minutes later with a second attempt to get rid of the seed.

This was a part of my LGA that I wanted to discover for some time. I had seen what looked like a bridge crossing the swamp through the bushes behind a locked gate. There are other ways to get to this place – little tracks branching off into the bushes that pass under the freeway and through the soggy wetland.

Bridge

Bridge

BMX paradise

BMX paradise

Marsh

Marsh

Grassy path

Grassy path

Lookout

Lookout

Then there was the sandy beach looking out over the airport runway. I was the planes land and take off. Maybe I saw the 500,000 Pfizer vaccines arrive from Singapore. They were meant to have arrived today.

Plane landing

Plane landing

Plane takeoff

Plane takeoff

Beach

Beach

A tongue of sand reaching out into the bay at Sandringham reminded me a bit of Vlieland in the Netherlands with its endless plateau of sand. Admittedly this tongue of sand is a bit smaller, but it was beautiful all the same – and just 20 minutes cycle from home.

Sandringham beach

Sandringham beach

Sandringham beach

Sandringham beach

Inland, parallel to the beach is a thin strip of grassy parkland following a little creek. Evening cycles along there make me feel like I have escaped the bustle – even if only for 20 minutes.

Grass

Grass

Grass

Grass

There is a lot of see in Bayside LGA. This will be my playground for quite some time to come.

Tour de New South Wales – a COVID-safe bicycle adventure

Posted: November 15, 2020 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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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.

Evans Crown

It was magpie nesting season and swooping magpies were a common theme before I left the tree areas.
Magpie attack

Magpie attack

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.

On the way to Mossgiel

On the way 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.

Lake Pamamaroo

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.

Mundi Mundi lookout

It was a quick dash home along the main road – covering some large distances on some days.

Storm near Cobar

The last stretch was through the Hunter Valley and its endless coal mines, and then the familiar territory of the Hawkesbury River.

The dirt track to Wisemans Ferry

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.

Day 28. 110km. Wisemans Ferry – Wolli Creek

Posted: November 8, 2020 in Australia, Cycling, NSW
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Today was visiting some of my favourite places on the Hawkesbury River, and today was navigating my way through the suburbs of Sydney. The loop is now complete. Home – Broken Hill – home.

The approach to the city

The approach to the city


I followed the bends of the Hawkesbury River for a while, breathing in the nature before plunging into the Sydney traffic.

Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River


Approaching Sydney from the north or west always involves cycling on some busy, unpleasant roads. I have found a way out of Sydney heading south, but in other directions, stints on very main roads or freeways are unavoidable. This time I didn’t do too badly. Only once aggressive horn ‘get off the f*ing road!’

My good deed of the day was to save a little turtle sitting in the middle of a busy road, waiting to be squashed.

Turtle saved

Turtle saved


My Tour de NSW is now complete – 2858km in total. From the green and hilly coast to the desolate and barren outback, there is a lot to see in this beautiful state. Not a bad place to be in lockdown.

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