Cox River to Sydney.

Monday 7 May 2001 : Cox River to Katoomba

43.2km, 3h 24min, max 43.5km/hr.

Have a nice day.

PART ONE

--- Our conversation went something like this... ---

Michael : Urhhhggh. (yawn) Why is there blood on my muesli bag... and my thermal top... and my finger? Why you little...

Leech : Heh heh. You won't find me mister.

Michael : That little slime dot has to be somewhere. He must still be in this here tent because I'm totally zipped up. He has to be fat because he's given me a good sucking. I'll find him somewhere. (After much searching no luck.)

Leech : (half an hour later) Oops. I slipped. I wonder if he heard me? I'd better just curl up and look like a sultana. I hope he doesn't eat me.

Michael : Hmmm. What was that little thud. It sounded like something dropping onto my sleeping bag. Huh? Oh! Why you little...

Leech : Bummer. He heard me.

Michael : You're going to have to leave the premises mate. However since you had a nice play with me, I'm going to have a play around with you. Here - get on this tea towel slime dot.

Leech : Far out, he is going to eat me. I'd better stretch out and high tail it somewhere. I wish I had a road map for this area. It all looks so far away. Decisions...

Michael : Not going to get on hey? Well it looks like I'll have to pick you up in it. Hope it's nice and dry for you. Hope there's some salty sweat on it too. Hope it's damn uncomfortable Mr. Slime Dot.

Leech : Oh no. Took too long in deciding. He's got me now. Well at least it's a better view... oh he's put me down. Now he's playing with a red bag. Maybe I should stop watching and continue my escape... it's along way up that wall again. Better get moving.

Michael : Ok slime dot. Let's smile for the camera now!

Leech : Arrrghhh. Blinding light! He's trying to cook me with some buzzing beeping microwave device. I can't work out where I am... Arrrghhh... he did it again! Man I gotta get out of here.

Michael : Well there's some evidence for the troops and a fine sample for my little collection, only I think the flash made it a little too light. Hey come back here you...

Leech : Well he's put that thing back in the red bag... I really have to keep moving - focus leechy, focus.

Michael : I think it's time for you to exit. This is the way out, and don't come back.

Leech : Well that's mighty nice he's given me a lift and he's opened the wall up for me. Maybe he's not all bad and hungry. I do think I will just step down off this old dry cloth as one fall for a morning is enough.

Michael : Get off slime dot! Here's the moist outside and all you want to do is hang onto the tea towel. So you're going to be a bit of a spider leech and cling on hey? Ok then - cop this...

Leech : Man this thing is a roller coaster! What is he doing? Just lower it down a bit buddy! Oomph. Well that was a kick in the leech guts. I guess I'm down now. That outside wall approached a bit rapidly. Didn't have time to grab on but at least it was bouncy. He's zipped his wall up quickly.

Michael : And don't come back buster! If any of your mates are in here there's going to be trouble with a capital 'S'! Consider yourself lucky slime dot one!

Leech : Well that was an adventure which I survived quite well. He's having a bit of a rant and rave I wonder what he's on about...

PART TWO

--- 9km from Leech-land to Hartley and the Great Western Highway ---

Nice and cool in the valley with high cloud and 'kids to school' traffic on this quiet country road. Mega hill which was painfully steep but not quite a 'pusher' to start but it was on bitumen. Eye on the odometer as the 1000th mile was approaching. Reached this at the cross roads in this picture and duly celebrated.

Got to singing in my head until Hartley where I stopped to enquire about my anticipated camp sites and the little caves around this area. All roads lead up from this point to past Katoomba so I was in for some climbing on a quite busy highway. The road's shoulder was ample in most places. A reversing semi with slipping tyres was an obstacle I wasn't anticipating but he was easy enough to go around. Didn't have his hazard lights on - only left indicator.

The day grew more and more miserable from then on. Rain on and off, cooling temperature with the altitude and increasing wind near the top. I pulled into Katoomba (after a short frigid stop at Blackheath) totally worn out, freezing and miserable to the max. Got some help from the info centre which had a difficult door and warm interior with other people sort of hanging around to avoid the exterior cold. Had to keep focused as the cold was slowly seeping into my bones. Checked out train timetable for a flash trip into Sydney from here. Couldn't sit still as wet as I was for that long and then navigate to Molly's without definite hypothermia, so I took off to the caravan park.

Hot shower after fumbling with my tent trying to get it up. English fella by the name of Neil helped me out. He's also bike touring. A second English tourist by the name of Chris looked on. A long hot shower and it was nice to feel my toes and the soles of my feet again - a nice progression I had not yet had the (mis)fortune to experience on this trip.

Did a bit of eating and then went to the kitchen area to drink hot Sustagen in copious amounts until I felt normal. Most of my clothes were damp or stinky so had to sit around in my thermal and super blue jacket. Chris walked in a but later as I read some local information magazines with a guitar and I almost leapt on top of him. Instead I asked as politely and nonchalantly as I could if I could have a go.

The rest of the evening went something like this :

Talking to these two pommies, playing bits and pieces of songs, cooking an odd pasta based pasta, responding to some email, playing cards (with Neil, Chris and Tek a Japanese motor bike tourist), helping drink Chris' Southern Comfort, singing a song, then going to bed and falling asleep to dream of Emma Carney all night long.

I can say that the day only got better once I got out of the hot shower.

Tuesday 8 May 2001: Katoomba to Euroka Camp

57.9km, 3h 03min, max 64km/hr.

Tomorrow always delivers.

I was optimistic that today would not be as cold and miserable as the day before. To my immense joy and satisfaction it wasn't, and the day actually ended with the shafts of sunlight from the falling sun creating a rainbow whose 'pot of gold' lay in the area where I would be camping.

To start the day I had rolled 50m down the road all loaded up and, not paying nearly enough attention, had to voluntarily dismount my bike as it slid into the gutter at quite a few clicks. I found that you can unlock both your feet from those cleats very effectively and manage a running stumble instead of sharing your skin with the asphalt. My expertise in strapping my gear to the bike meant that it didn't budge an inch, so I just picked it up and went on my merry way laughing at my stupidity.

I checked out a lookout near Katoomba Falls where I spoke to an elderly Dutch couple before going to the Three Sisters around the corner. If you were exposed to the wind there you got cold rather quickly as it was blowing from a long way south down the valley. Many tourists were visiting the Three Sisters as was evidenced by the number of buses. Asian and American tourists mostly with few European accents to be heard at all. I said not a word the entire time I was there, so no one knew what continent I came from - an interesting little experiment of mine. As for the didge player - the rest of us were in jackets muttering about the cold wind.

A rain front was approaching so I moved off down the road through Leura (where Bob who I ran into at Happy Jacks lives) and found myself at the Toy and Train Museum. Why I am not entirely sure. I guess I felt like seeing a bit more before heading off down the road and something indoors at that. A variety and depth of collections that I can't say I've seen the likes of before. Apparently it's known worldwide for the size and diversity of the collection. The old and the new, the good, bad, ugly and pretty - it's all there. I can't imagine what their insurance bill would be like. The building it was all housed in, and the surrounding 5 acres of garden, were just divine.

The weather was holding out as I got on my way. Had my SES plastic yellow pants on but took them off after about half an hour. Plenty of downhill after Lawson to bring the average speed up a bit. Ang rang on the mobile and we chatted to the background symphony of semis, Harleys, vans, trucks, cars and buses that coughed, air-braked and roared by. Not long after I had to dismount and walk through a road work area. I then shamelessly contributed to the classic Aussie council worker 'stand around and chat' scenario for a few minutes with four workers until their boss drove up.

I'd spoken to someone in the last few weeks about driving through a drive through to order some food. The opportunity presented itself at the Blaxland McDonald's. As Dave Graney might say "I was feelin' kinda groovy" ...so I rode on through. The next time you're going through a drive through make all sorts of faces, pick your nose and wave your hands about - they can't see you. When I arrived at that magical 'first window' the girl there did a double take and said "Oh my god... you're on a bicycle!" I took my Big Mac and fries from the always giving 'next window' and took off down the road quite bemused with my small-minded self-amusement.

I chatted to Nigel the ranger at the NPWS office for about 20 minutes. He helped me get a permit from another more remote office so I could camp here night there. This is the only location in the Blue Mountains N.P. where there is a fee for entry and for camping. It's the closest to Sydney you see. I fail to understand why they would have the main permit office way out at Wentworth Falls or Blackheath. Nigel explained that it's really all about red tape and policy. We also spoke of the habitat here, burning off cycles, regrowth and the tracks and features in the N.P.

The camp site at Euroka is a good one. I was a bit shocked by the road's gorge dive and resurface about 3km from the camp - not what I was wanting or expecting at the end of the day. I was a bit late getting camp set up because of my idle chatting but Nigel appeared to work with a staff of three females and I think he was glad to have some male company for a change so he was easy with his time. Temperature wise it was noticeably warmer. Plenty of kangaroos here, and in direct correlation - plenty of tourist buses and 4WDs. Too many kangaroos in fact. Maybe we could export a few of these to those newly proposed native resource farming areas in NSW.

Wednesday 9 May 2001 : Euroka Camp to Molly's

84.4km, 4h 33min, max 64km/hr.

Hard in the bush to soft in the city.

The early hours of the morning were characterised by these three things : howling, rumbling and an aura. The howling came from a lone dingo who approached to within 200m on the hill behind my tent. It was eerily beautiful. I felt no fear. It was a sound that I'd not heard much before but on this particular night it rang out in perfect Dolby Digital Sound. I wished my iBook had recording capabilities as this dingo had some serious talent for howling. The rumbling was a constant sound through the night from the roads a freeways of western Sydney. This I could have done without but it reminded me how you can be so close yet so far away to something at the same time. The aura was the light reflecting off the clouds that made whenever I woke seem like about 5:50am. This merely suggested that it would be overcast again.

I packed up and stored gear under the tree and then set off for a bit of tourist riding through the park. (The photos above are from my stroll to the toilet... note the tremendous choice of roll that you get here for your money.) Visited some burnt out areas along Bennets Track and then rode out to Red Hands Cave - a 28km round ride. It was good to be riding with a minimal load - I was just hooking it along the tracks. Barely spent any time on the smallest chain ring. Red Hands Cave felt very 'spiritual' in its little valley of granite boulders and slabs. The burnt out areas had a 'anticipative' feel while the other side of the track, which was unburnt, was a balanced contrast.

Snacked then left for Sefton. Not far down the Western Highway it became the Western Freeway which was good for it was flat and had a wide bike riding shoulder. The fumes and 110km/hr traffic were unpleasant and I thought long and hard about the fresh air of the bush. Dettol was a constant ingredient of the fumes. My expedition earlier had been a bit bumpy and I had occied my bar bag to my rack with the bottle on the bottom. Well, it cracked, and the contents seeped through the whole front pocket. I hope that I don't follow the smell of Dettol all the way back to Brisbane. That would be unbearable. I'll get a replacement tube of the stuff instead.

Into the Paramatta area at last and had to leave the freeway by no choice of my own. City surburbia and commercialia was now prevalent and I was growing weary in the legs. Rode over the Granville train line bridge and it seemed sturdy enough. Did some ATMing so I could cash up for this detour... and so I could get some hot chips. I ate these not far down the road at the Botanical Gardens as I was starving.

Not far to Molly's from here. I found the last 2km recognisable from my recent stay there for the Olympics. Chatted and then got cleaned up and settled while I thought about plans for the next few days. Talked heaps more and then finished the night with some journal typing as I was a bit behind.

Thursday 10 May 2001 : Mollys @ Sefton

Ride to Bankstown, no odometer.

Clean, oiled and brief - a relief.

Was delivered tea and toast quite early in bed - a delight so new it cleared my head.

The day was made for the bike and the wash - and this I did to extremes by gosh!

Dried the soggy tent and damp sleeping bag - scrubbed the bike then oiled like mad.

In between Molly and I chatted away - talked like two old friends who'd been far away.

Kath and Frank dropped on by - later Molly departed for Kath's birthday surprise.

Chester Hill has a Vinnies that's hot - a snazzy outfit (see below) is what I got.

Yeah, whatever! It cost me six bucks - (minus the shirt) and the pants fit what luck!

As for the brake pad that's easy enough - for 1 700km it did it real tough.

$16 at Rebel for a brand new tyre - a fair ride to Bankstown to retrieve it made me tired.

Some cheap Power Bars, hey what a deal!- spent dollars at the bottle-o to whet our evening meal.

Replaced the tyre with a beer (and some other tools) - chatted to Molly then was a camera fool.

My St Vinnies purchases had really impressed - a mend of the hat showed my needle work at its best.

A vege heavy dinner then to work on the site - chats about life then ice cream ...all right!

Did the email thing late and sent a fax to Dad - at 1:30am and he didn't get mad.

To bed a bit late, but this is how it goes - double bed comfort and no cold toes.

Friday 11 May 2001 : Mollys to Robyn and Michael's (Sefton to Darling Harbour)

39.8km, 2h 28min, max 49km/hr.

Yeah, they're poor, but I'm not getting paid.

1. Was in bed for about 5 hours. Not really enough but it would have to do. I mean, what am I going to do - spend my time in Sydney catching up on sleep? I think not.

2. Molly had the bright idea of leaving all my camping gear at Sefton and only taking clothes and essential things further into Sydney city. This was a great idea, however theoretically everything I have is essential otherwise I wouldn't have it with me. I had a little quandary moment staring at the stuff scattered around the room, then packed only clothes and technology items... to still fill both panniers to the brim.

3. At 9:50 I rode into city via Paramatta Road which was hairy at times. I am sure I made some drivers swear at me, but I had many a mutter and waved/gestured to a few. Sydney drivers are good with cyclists though on a whole I found. I was riding pretty assertively so they might have been holding back a bit. That, or something made them realise I was a Queenslander and so gave me some space (and they had forgotten about the first State of Origin score line).

4. Got to Gail's after much map checking. Should have ridden straight through Kings Cross but a late turn denied me this experience so I did a few of it's back streets. We Trisha, Gail and myself) got organised then drove to lunch at Watson's Bay - Gail had kangaroo, Trisha chicken and myself beef followed by a fruitcake dessert. Gail tested my reflexes by knocking an ale my way, but my finely tuned senses detected the liquid's approach and I aptly moved to the side. Actually that isn't true. I saw it late, and in slow motion, and it got me all over the trouser leg.

5. We walked around what must be the smallest N.P. in NSW at South Head after lunch for views, photos and digestion purposes. This was nice. I was filled in on the unfortunate life ending episodes that have taken place here. Great views of the rocky shore line, the Pacific Ocean and the city all at once. I took a few photos for a Malaysian tourist while there and I hope they come out well for him. He was quite particular about there being no one else in the frame.

6. Went back to the unit after ringing Robyn and then planned the route to their place. Trisha, Gail and I talked about heavy drugs and their place in medicine, the injecting room, and travelling as suitable topical conclusions to my time in Elizabeth Bay near 'The Cross'.

7. Quickly pedalled around to Mrs Macquarie's Chair to take photos of the sun setting behind Opera House. It did this very nicely and almost on cue after I arrived. A wedding party was there getting their smiles worn out. The bridesbabes wore a lemon yellow colour which looked nice on. They too, in addition to about 15 other photographers, were taking advantage of the sinking sun and the Sydney icons combined picturesque ending to the day. This picture just came out great. The full size unedited version is better.

8. Rode through to Darling Harbour via the city on Market St. Got a call from Dennis on the mobile - my, it's nice to have that device working for a change. Ate a big snack of an assorted Mexican plate as it grew colder. Plenty of people about as I weaved through them along the broad walk which served as a conceptual loom.

9. After arriving at Robyn and Michael's we chatted, I showered, and then we walked to a local wok restaurant for dinner. A short time later we were all weary and yawning so we called it a night. It wasn't much of a dawn or midday so that was the best thing to call it. Watched snippets of Ransom, the footy and a subtitled Spanish SBS programme.

10. Apologies for the wealth of the humour in today's entry. It was just asking for it in some places so I tried to deliver. Read the title again.

Saturday 12 May 2001 : Robyn and Michael's / City Roaming

Walk and ferry about. "Oooh-hoo-hoo, I wanna be like you-hoo-hoo..."

Taronga Zoo is where I spent most of my day after breakfast at Balmain (quite funky) in the morning. These wacky creatures kept me amused all day with their antics. The animals were good to look at as well.

(Just a few extra photo samples for you. You'll understand why after you've read this week's last entry. If you want to see something really weird, click and drag to select over these animal pictures to see them in negative. What a wicked giraffe.)

Ferry trips were the transport genre of the day. After finishing at the zoo I caught a ferry back to Circular Quay and then back out past the zoo again to Manly. This is one of those things you do while in Sydney if you're a visitor - the Manly ferry trip. It was good, but next time I'll do it when there's a bit more light about in the sky. Some great views of the twinkling suburbs and neon topped city on the return trip. The gulls followed the ferry for some odd reason all the way across the harbour.

Manly is a nice spot even in the dark. Quite a bit of life about, and even a plain clothes police officer with a will to disrupt an unusual free form dance by a topless bloke in jeans that were too small. Now there's a story waiting for a little more explanation.

Got some groceries for snacks over the next few days before leaving Manly and wrote a postcard while waiting for the ferry. Walked all the way over to Darling Harbour via a Irish pub in town where I had a Guinness.

Liverpool wins with two late goals! Another late evening/early morning.

Sunday 13 May 2001: Robyn and Michael's / City Roaming

Walk about. A no camera day. Finding things.

To Rushcutters Bay park area after picking up Peter from an unusual suburb which reminded me of the suburbs of London with the lane ways with garage doors and gates.. Michael and I had a bit of a walk after parking the car somewhat 'body-corporate illegally' in a set of units' empty carpark. A delightful park breakfast for a glorious Mother's Day morning. Kicked the footy around for a while emulating our Reds heroes who had won their Super 12 clash with NSW the previous evening. Our ball was slightly less air endowed though. A misguided and hilly walk back to the car enabled us to check out some of the fine (read 'really nice but exclusively expensive') living abodes in the area. Plenty of variety in the architecture and age of the buildings here.

A drive towards and around Bondi and the coast suburbs (Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee) to visit some exquisite little hidden beaches and take in some magnificent views. No camera today as a part of my self enforced routine changes, so there aren't any photos. Could have filled an album though. Saw Robyn and Michael's previous unit in Coogee before returning via Randwick Racecourse as the traffic built up towards 'hooter time' for the Brisbane Lions Vs Sydney Swans AFL game.

Walked briskly into Circular Quay - the transit hub of Sydney since the First Fleet set anchor in 1788. Contributed a small verse to the butcher papered easel in front of Customs House using a green texta which is a part of the current Sydney Writers Festival activities. Continued on to lie on the grass in a small park with ruin type sculptures in it between the Opera House and St Marys Cathedral. Strolled through the Botanic Gardens before deciding it was time to check out the Art Gallery of NSW. This was much better than the Canberra version. I was particularly taken by the suspended rocks, and an unusual black and blue multi faced work in the foyer. I realised that most non contemporary European paintings do little to entertain me. One did - it had a red lamp in it which perfectly cast it's oily light upon a pondering lady's white gown in the otherwise dimly pictured room.

The Centre Point Centre was the start of the next stage in this day. Had a look up and down Pitt St without moving my feet and then looked in and around the sports store offering '2 for 1'. In the HMV store had a peep listen to the new R.E.M. album but figured I could get it cheaper elsewhere. Sought out a Subway so I could use the deal docket Robyn gave me and a K-Mart where I might get that album cheaper. A long walk down George St followed with a double failure as both were shut.

The Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills is a place I've been meaning to visit. It's a singer/songwriters pub on Foveaux St just to the west of Central Station. It was quiet tonight, it being a Sunday. I scribbled some postcards while at the bar drinking a medium textured beer which I can't remember the name of (because I was in a frame of deep thought for the rest of the evening, not because I'd had too many of them). Medium in that it was sort of between Hahn Light and Guinness. It's got a wooden tap handle and a beige badge with script writing and a two part name if it helps!

A blues sort of band by the name of Black Smith Hopkins played three sets for about 11 of us through the evening while I was served from behind the bar by a really nice but seemingly cautious lass by the name of Jasmine. A real good sort who minded my hat and scribbling and decided I should have a Khalua and Milk to end the evening when I gave her the freedom to choose. Thought a lot while here and found that I found myself through the events and places in Sydney on the 13th of May 2001. Very happy as I strolled home in the increasing cool and changing lights of the Sydney streets towards Darling Harbour.

Notes:

David Wau. - I found this road that leads to Katoomba, but am not sure that it continues on to Rome.

The Wary - Be careful about taking my advice... especially about drive throughs.

Geeks - Does anyone out there know the process to take to get a site published online in 'text only' form? I'd like to be filled in so I can widen the audience. I am assuming it's fairly simple, but could do with some tutoring.

Found - One human traveller.

Brian - How long did it take you to get this far?

Neil - Will be arriving in Brisbane at the end of June. Leave a message on my mobile or email me if you and the Dutch bloke wish to stay over on your arrival. Then again, you might beat me there if you're doing the inland bitumen route. On that note - ask at a council office about camping at TSRs (Traveling Stock Reserves) in NSW. They are basically small empty paddocks by the side of the road.