Millmerran to Toowoomba – 53 miles

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I must admit it does seem unreal that a 53 mile bike ride with lots of climbing at the end feels like an easy day. I suspect as it was my last day morale was up. Along with the boys in hi-viz and the utes I was soon downing my last bacon & egg muffin and flat white and heading north into a gentle headwind on a very skinny hard shoulder.

Silo art is a popular thing in Oz but I hadn’t seen any although this large structure had some interesting graphics.

The initial part of the ride was flat but eventually the gradients started to appear and with the appearance of a petrol station I had to procure sustenance. All the fuel stations out this way seem to be owned or run by Sikhs. Many a man in a turban has completed the transaction also as you approach the building you can sometimes smell curry from their private kitchen. Now a proper ‘Indian’ meal is something I’m looking forward to back in York.

After my dismal failure at finding a live kangaroo I found these chaps. Scant consolation, I know.

So with a series of climbs I slowly got to Toowoomba. It’s quite a large town 80 miles west of Brisbane. It was here I was going to end the tour. I could get a train or bus eastwards from here. It was as northerly as Brisbane and so I’d done the distance but it was, after thinking this through after battling my way out of Sydney, never my intention to endure the traffic lights, heavy traffic, pavements, cycle paths etc that make up the misery of urban cycling and cycle up to my Brisbane accommodation. For what it’s worth I’d cycled into Brisbane in 2020. I had the medal.

So the last stretch was going to be by coach. This meant possibly being sat next to a millennial reeking like a polecat after my 53 miles cycling. Not nice. So as I’m cycling I spotted a large golf club and made my way to Reception where, explaining my predicament, asked if I could take a shower? ‘That’s an usual request.’ Came the reply.

Anyway it was granted and I cleaned up.

I continued by cycle paths to the centre where I had some lunch, looked around and waited for my bus. The bike cost extra as baggage but fitted comfortably in the hold.

Comfortable affairs with lots of space, reclining seats, charging points, loo etc

It was dark by the time we got to the centre of Brisbane. From here I cycled about a mile to the apartment Anna had booked.

So Australia had been a 653 mile bike ride. I’d climbed 5,664 metres. For the combined countries I’d totalled 1,171 miles or 1,885 km. Climbed 13,591 metres or 44,590 feet.

These are unique projects as I didn’t come across another cycling tourist in Australia!

So Australia this time? After Murrurundi it was a slog until Goondiwindi. When I cycled from Sydney to Adelaide it was only the last section that equated to some of this slog. After Goondiwindi it was back into large hot empty spaces until Toowoomba. Not the best route in places and I was a little unlucky with the heat. I suppose that makes it an adventure?

One more blog about Brisbane and meeting my remarkable cousin to follow.

Goondiwindi to Millmerran – 90 miles

The first part of the route had some trees near to the road. As the sun rose in the east it meant that this foliage kept me shaded for longer, however, eventually we were back to open fields.

So I pedalled on thinking about the long ride as a series of 10 mile segments with each one being achieved as a meaningful step toward my destination.

Even though the wonderful Google Maps didn’t show them there were a few pull-ins en route. Usually there was a toilet that was just a deep pit and if there was a tap it ran dry. All I sought was shade and a place to sit down.

That looked terrific to me. One thing that bemused me was that as I’m sat there, in the middle of nowhere, drivers would stop to use the facility but wouldn’t acknowledge or talk to me. How can a nation be so incurious about something as anomalous as an old bloke on a heavy bicycle in 38°C miles resting up before he continues up the road where the nearest settlement is over 50 miles away?

I knew on the longer sections I need to carry extra water. I’d planned for this requirement back in York. On this ride I did work my way through my standard 2.6 litres of water and have to use this extra litre. Hydration is an obvious priority and even if the body doesn’t ‘tell you’ you need to keep drinking. One side effect of poor hydration is cramp; I had avoided it.

Eventually I got within 7 miles of Millmerran and a petrol station came into view, my first ‘oasis’ in over 80 miles. An ice cold Coke has no peers. It also came with a ‘where have you come from?’ and after the answer, a ‘No way!!’

I was staying in a cabin at a campsite. The internal dimensions of my hutch would have fractured the skull of Tiddles should I have engaged in animal cruelty and swung him round by his tail. It reminded me of the cabin you got on a sailing from Hull to Rotterdam.

The main campsite residents were the workers who spent the week locally at the power station or in coal mining. They’d be back a little after 3 or 4pm and away at around 5am next morning. What struck me was the similarity with the US Mid West. A hard working baked landscape where unfancy folk went about their work with few complaints and, in one way or another, kept the national economies ticking over. As a people they seemed politically disenfranchised, for example, how many in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne supported mining coal? Also the multitudes, many of whom looked different and originated from different parts of the world lived in these cities, had other political priorities and, more importantly, were a greater body of voters to excite and engage the politicians.

Inevitably these out of the way communities were more conservative yet more self sufficient, less aspirational, forbearing, older and certainly great contributors to the country rather than takers. Respect was due.

So I dined at the local pub and then Anna sent a WhatsApp asking if I’d seen my email? (She could read it all on my iMac in York.) I checked and my travel agent advised that Emirates had cancelled my homeward bound flights. Emirates also soon followed with a ‘Dear John’ billet doux.

I was regularly going to bed at 7.30 to 8pm. When this news came through I was just about ‘out of it’ and completely shattered despite being the kind of information that would wake you! An application for a refund was necessary and then the challenge of finding another flight route home was urgent and needed pursuing.

I couldn’t help, the brain had gone into ‘screen saver’ mode and I needed to sleep. Anna, as I crashed, found another flight, with Air France, via the USA, and booked it. This needed her to physically visit another travel agent in York, with cash (lots of it) to pay. For some reason this couldn’t be done digitally? Extracting a meaningful four figure some out of Lloyds Bank in York in readies immediately was another hurdle. She stoically chucked aside her day plans and delivered. Heroine. I’m a lucky man.

I woke to find all this was in place. However, Air France, my new airline, was to provide Gallic hurdles that I’d need to address in Brisbane.

One last bike ride now.

Rest Day Thoughts

Goondiwindi has parallels with ‘Hotel California’: you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. After the long ride up on the sun scorched and featureless A39 I thought I’d use the rest day to get further north and closer to Brisbane. This meant getting to the next big town 150 miles away, Toowoomba. This could be done by train, bus or even car hire. This would be a change to my schedule but I wanted to get past this section of the country.

This proved impossible, despite having a train line it’s exclusively for freight. This is a place where the motor car is king and so the 1990s had seen the last passenger train. So take the bus? Usually in response to a problem I’ve caught a couple of long distance coaches. They’re certainly a solution for the younger Australian. Via Goondiwindi Visitor Information and a lady at a tobacconist (!) I confirmed there were coaches out of the town but not on the days I was going to be here!Lastly in exasperation I attempted to hire a car. Hertz, located in my destination town, but supporting a sub office in Goondiwindi, had no vehicles available. A taxi would have a 300 mile round trip and an enormous cost assuming I could find one. The only way out after my rest day was on my two wheels. To head toward Toowoomba would take me to Millmerran. A mere 90 miles on the same kind of barren road. After that it was a hilly 50 miles to Toowoomba. I was starting to think someone didn’t like me.

So beaten I checked into a motel and over the remainder of that day, and the next, did some laundry, got the bike lock cut off my rack (for which I’d lost the key!)

Bought another bike lock, drank coffee, wrote up my blog and bought provisions to see me through the next day after another very early start. I also looked around the small and attractive typical rural town.

It was a lazy time and not my usual cock up of where I walk 16,000 steps instead of pedal.

I went to bed with a little dread, tomorrow meant a very long next day. All the preceding days’ terrain had been flat but hard going. It was flat tomorrow but that was little consolation. Anyway, it had to be done.

Moree to Goondiwindi – 82 miles

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In line with the crime concerns I reported earlier the security in Moree involved the motel locking a gate to stop any vehicle or person entering or leaving the property and its surroundings! I’m stood there at just before 6am waiting for the owner to unlock! I’d wanted to get off as early as possible. In the end he didn’t appear at 6am and five minutes after I’m calling him on his phone. Dishevelled and obviously just out of his bed he hurried toward the padlock on the gate to release me.

The temperature was a sublime 18°C (65°F) first thing and after stopping to buy a sandwich I was straight onto the highway heading north. At 5am many cafes and kiosks open in all these towns. Your average tradesman disappearing up the road to start work wants a coffee, that is, there’s business to be done in the hospitality sector. Given the hour of day they start I’m always impressed that they’ll stand around for 10 minutes waiting for their beverage. Clearly proper coffee or no coffee is the call.

I was headed to Goondiwindi but just before that was my first and only stop, Boggabilla. That turned out to be a very long way away. In the meanwhile there was no shade and nowhere to lean my bike up if I stopped and sat down before that settlement. I say shade because by 9am the sun’s well and truly out and hitting mid 30s. Later the temperature crept into the 40s. I was carrying lots of water, I was covered by a big hat and other exposed flesh was underneath sunscreen. The only thing I couldn’t stop was the complete enervation of being out on the bike for seven hours straight.

The road stretched before me. This was a good shoulder but note how rough the surface looked. Recent work on the highway had all been to degrade the quality of the surfacing to this roughness. The distance from the road of the trees meant no shade. Were there optional routes? Well sort of. I could have got north by following the suggestion of Google or Garmin for bicycles on very minor road but they would have been less direct, still approximate to this route and no less exposed. I’d have just had less trucks and a longer ride. No point.

Most trucks moved over onto the other carriageway as they passed at 60 or 70mph. I never knew exactly when the truck would actually get past me, Would it be a truck alone, a truck with one trailer (‘Long Vehicle’) or with two trailers (‘Road Train’). Professional drivers are good and aware of the impact of their vehicles. They will give you space if they can. On more narrow roads where the truck couldn’t move over the draft created by one going past you, six feet away, at 60mph could be sold as an exciting fairground experience!

So some time later I got to cross into Queensland and into Goondwindi. The clocks went back an hour. I’ve little to tell you about my day. The concentration on keeping the bike going forward straight and not wandering into the carriageway whilst dealing with variable shoulder quality was itself tiring. However, I was never in danger and just kept pedalling. My legs or butt didn’t hurt and I was fine but getting more drained. The option to camp was disappearing. My early starts were essential but getting to a campsite early afternoon was hopeless. What would I do until about 8pm when the heat started to fall.

Narrabri to Moree – 68 miles

I must start with last night’s dinner at the RSL. Lamb shank with proper vegetables! Most restaurant menus I see are generic for rural Australia (and the USA.) Lots of fried food and sugary drinks. I must admit in the pursuit of sustenance and calories I’ve indulged but proper food was a welcome change.

Breakfast the next morning included fruit!

Outside of the cafe I applied sunscreen. That meant removing various things to get to my arms. I temporarily rested my Apple Watch on my rear panniers, finished applying the lotion and then cycled off a mile up the busy road with morning rush hour traffic before I looked at my bare left wrist and thought bad thoughts!

Retracing my steps I found it lying on the road near a high kerb I bumped over. I was very happy

The A39 is the main artery heading north or south between the few larger settlements. It is a direct and fast route which does a passable impression of being completely flat. The shoulder fluctuates all the time: wide, narrow, rumble strip, no rumble strip, beautiful flat asphalt or that gloopy stuff they drop small bits of rock into (like Scotland.) The latter road surface was the main reality and whilst you could make progress it was not the preferred surface. The traffic was reasonable with trucks moving over, if they could, to reduce the ‘draft’ and a few even tooted. It was safe. I listened to music and podcasts.

Compression brakes are fitted to US trucks. Australia uses US trucks. It is a feature where the truck can be slowed by suppressing the performance of the engine and obviating the need to touch the regular brakes that, by friction, stop the wheels turning so fast. Apparently this adds longevity to the regular truck brakes and prevents fade. These trucks are seldom without one or two trailers and the weight of the load is only matched by the high speed they roll along. If you use compression braking it can affect the exhaust and make a considerable racket. They are banned in Europe as they contravene noise laws.

Never camp at the bottom of a long hill that’s a main highway is my advice! Most built up areas request truck drivers desist, hence the sign.

On the long dreary ride I often had company. They descend in numbers and land on your sweaty face. I felt like one of those poor beasts you see in the corner of a field in summer spending their time swishing away with their tails at the plague of flies.l

I started with a tailwind and had it for most of the ride but ground into Moree in a headwind? I hadn’t booked any accommodation but I was starting to come to the conclusion that camping was too uncomfortable with high temperatures until late in the night and maybe motels would be the way forward. I darted into a McDonalds to research options where my only thoughts were an ice cold drink and ice cream. It seems McDonalds is my social hub. Vicky asked me if I needed advice. She was another farmer popping into get some lunch whilst a tyre was being changed. She had concerns about my safety. I put her mind at rest.

The temperature was 38°C (100°F) and I simply felt I needed 30 minutes to cool down. Remember I’m cycling for 6 hours solid, despite the sunscreen, big hat and a lot of water on board I start to fry.

Data:

I once, as a young manager, went to the Manager’s Canteen at work for lunch. I sat down at a communal setting with my plate and declared, expecting hero status, that I had run 11 miles last night and was quite weary today. A colleague called Graham Salmon looked up from his pie and gravy and with a profundity that still affects me today asked ‘why didn’t you get a bus?’ With that reality check that this was my choice to embark on this tour I have listed some New Zealand statistics for the various followers. Especially the Strava Anchors. I must point out there were no buses on any of my routes.

I actually cycled for 10 days between Carole and Paul. That (shamefully) included a rest day in the very nice town of New Plymouth. I cycled a total of 518 miles but more tellingly I climbed 7,927 metres (26,000 feet.) Given the bike had about 25kg (55 lbs) of luggage and another 2 kg in water on it to have averaged 790 metres climbing per day is quite an ask. Only on one day did I hit an average speed of 11.5mph (18.5kph). Given the challenges of gravel roads and climbing then sadly one day saw me post an average speed of 7.3mph (12kph), that is slow even by any measure but reflects the severity. My maximum distance on a day was 82 miles along with 1,579 metres of climbing: Raglan will always be my special place. Weather wise NZ was very variable during the day. If the sun came out it was like standing under a tanning lamp, however, that wasn’t often or long in duration. At the start of the day it could be cold, especially in the tent, but usually warmed up to around 20°C (around 68 to 70°F) but would fluctuate up or mainly down. Perfect cycling temperatures frankly.

Australia will follow, contain your excitement.

Gunnedah to Narrabri – 60 miles

I checked out of the Red Chief Motel and went to McDonalds for breakfast. I know you’ll be disappointed with me but it was Sunday morning, choice was not available, and wait till you see where I bought a sandwich!

(I had a McMuffin that replaced the bun with a waffle. Whoever made this recipe up should be shot after being made to eat 5 of them consecutively. It was disgusting.)

Jenny and her mum were at the next table and had been for a walk. It was my usual 7am routine and, no doubt, they were avoiding the anticipated heat and now restoring the calories, and more, they’d lost. Jenny first introduced me to an Australian government app for weather and then went on to tell me about her day. Yesterday she’d been mowing the stalks of some sorghum they’d harvested and today she still had 50 acres to complete. Sorghum is a bushy plant that the Chinese like for making alcohol and also adding to chicken feed. It makes the yokes darker. I worry Australia with its mining and agriculture is very dependent on them (Chinese not chickens.)

On the way out there were a great number of young people up at this ungodly hour on a Sunday and I enquired why? This character told me they were going to launch a rocket. About 20 other students all fell about laughing at this. They’re from a Sydney University working on rockets and they were planning on launching one today. He went on to tell me that the large team involved students looking at the propulsion, trajectory, duration of flight, monitoring etc. etc. Good for them. I’m glad he’s clutching a hash brown and not my waffle abomination.

I needed a sandwich and found one with tuna in it.

After some of the difficult days this was bliss. Flat, 24°C and no real traffic and certainly no trucks.

There are 17 million kangaroos on this continent but finding some who have avoided becoming road kill is uncommon. Apparently they graze at dawn and dusk but sightings by me are few and far between. I will start collecting the signs as I will see many more than the animals before Brisbane.

I was very surprised to discover that they grow cotton around here. It’s a very thirsty plant and you’d think that other lower cost countries would grow it instead. I was told the commodity price at the moment for it isn’t high.

Oddly you’ll see dead trees painted blue throughout NSW. It’s to do with a mental health charity. Their random appearance is meant to generate conversations.

I haven’t found a car museum but I do love these Holdens. They look so sleek and sporty.

I got to Narrabri, not a town that will live long in my affections, and pitched my tent and then locked up my bike beside it. As I did this a member of staff appeared and suggested I didn’t due to a high incidence of bicycle theft and that I should use a special shed on the campsite. Obviously I complied. He went on to describe the thieves very inappropriately suggesting it was the indigenous youth. Theft, generally, and some violence is now are putting the town on edge and is quite a blight.

I attach an Air Tag to the bike and the little rucksack shows it’s snug in the shed.

I couldn’t spend the afternoon in my tent and so I retired to the local equivalent of the British Legion. Here I drank, dined and used the internet. Several members were playing pokies. This refers to brightly lit neon machines that you feed cash into until you’ve lost sufficient to decide to stop.

Tamworth to Gunnedah – 50 miles

I would have liked to have been on the road by 7am but given the broken spoke I waited until the bike shop, Spoke and Throttle opened at 9am. The owner arrived at about 8.45am (on his push bike) and said it was no problem to replace my spoke immediately. Tony became a very happy boy. Phew. I was back on the road at about 9.30am. The owner apologised twice for the delay! I was certainly not unhappy but after he opened the store there were a deluge of punters around him he had to handle.

For the bicyclists reading this I had already taken the back wheel off the bike and so when repaired he just handed back a wheel. I enquired as to what psi he’d blown the tyre up to? He said he didn’t need to remove the tyre off the rim but had managed to use the existing nipple through the rim. Having studied YouTube videos the night before, as I contemplated doing this myself, this approach wasn’t mentioned.

Quietly thrilled I set off. I had been carrying my extra hat/rim that fitted to my helmet that would preclude my having to apply sunscreen except to my bald patch through the top of the helmet!

The route was broadly flat with a few gentle gradients up and downs. About time I found some easy going.

Just note that ‘High’ is only the third of four levels of concern on this board! Call a spade a spade with ‘Catastrophic’.

The ride despite being easy was dreary but the temperature was up to 40°C or 104°F and I had lots of water on the bike but I longed for some taste to cut through and I then remembered a peach I had bought.

The ‘girls’ found a little shade to hang out. We put our cows, in the UK, in byres or barns during our winter ie. during temperature extremes. Here the cattle stay out in temperatures that are quite amazing considering they’re all wearing a leather coat.

I’m always perplexed by these signs about flooding. These signs aren’t in valleys or areas where the water might be contained. They can be found in places where there are wide open spaces warning of a flood at 2 metres high! At the moment the locals all want rain as things are a bit parched. As I cycled I saw cattle but also there were a few fields that had been harvested and now with stubble were getting baked. Clearly arable is important.

In NSW coal mining provides 35,000 jobs. I well recollect the blizzard of young folk in hi-viz in Singleton. In addition the industry calculates that it puts about £5 billion into the community and an extra £1 billion to the Australian government in taxes and licences. However, it has its opponents and the industry has its own persistent campaign with billboards and newspapers reinforcing its contribution.

I weakened in Gunnedah and took a hotel. It was too hot to camp. I could get the tent up etc. but it was early afternoon and was I to lurk outside getting toasted until the heat fell off? For this project I looked at Booking.com and Google and found a cheap but reasonably rated motel. As the motel will give the agents around 18% commission (?) then I may get it cheaper going direct? So with the best internet price of AUD 120 I bowled up to Reception. ‘Do you have a room and what’s the price?’ ‘Yes, $130’. I was tempted to use the line that my friend Peter had once used in Carcassonne when faced with such a situation. He asked if the Receptionist would wait whilst he went outside and booked the room over the internet on his phone at the lower price! Anyway my Receptionist relented and matched the $120 but didn’t win me over as a friend.

So a good day on the bike and a comfy bed in prospect. All good here.

Rest Day and Birthday

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Another birthday. As my favourite youngest daughter would say… I am now 80 years old minus 9.

So to grip a preoccupation about flying back to the UK from Brisbane and being unable to speak to anyone at my travel agent or my airline I visited a local travel agent. They’d been dealing with the cancellation of flights and knew the likely solutions, which were a refund, offer of a (much) later flight date or…. it was over and I could fly. Whichever way it went I had to wait. My flight was too far out for them to be thinking about little old me. Paul, still tenaciously holding onto his responsibility of being my ‘angel of the blacktop’, using his vast flying experience sent similar soothing messages about it being ultimately alright.

Clearly, we’re all wondering what’s going on in the US President’s head as regard the immediate future. However, if anyone can work that out they could run a several day psychology conference.

Tamworth promotes itself aggressively as the Australian capital of the genre. (I had in my mind it was an interesting destination but it was on my route to Brisbane not a detour to visit the town.) The history is that a radio station became pre-eminent out of Tamworth playing early country music, that progressed to having an award event and then the town became the venue for a large annual January festival. There are lots of statues snd plaques around the town plus the museum but little else, outside of January, to remotely suggest it’s a vibrant hub of banjos and fiddles! Like Aussie Rules football, utes and Holden cars it is a peculiarly Australian phenomenon yet its evolution bears a lot of similarities to American country music such as English, Scottish and Irish folk music influences, large rural populations who played their own music for entertainment, the spread of its popularity through radio then on to TV.

Even with my knowledge of the genre I had little or no recognition of the artists bar a few: Keith Urban, Kasey Chambers, Tommy Emmanuel and Frank Ifield. We could debate how ‘country’ these four are in any case. I suspect readers haven’t heard of any of them! My memorable take away from the museum was the Receptionist. She was Iranian and had come, with her husband three years ago to Tamworth. We talked about the war (and not my relatively trivial problems) and her family back in the country and where it all might go at the end with the murderous Iranian Revolutionary Guard still embedded. She was hopeful. I dearly hope she’s right.

So contemplating my departure I thought I’d wipe down the bike. I’d got filthy putting the lock cable on the wheel and thought I should address this. To my horror I found a broken spoke on the rear wheel. I needed to get this fixed before I left the relative metropolis of Tamworth for smaller towns over the next 250 miles. It was going to be Saturday tomorrow when the only opportunity presented itself, all bike shops shut on a Sunday, and I needed to beg immediate attention at the shop I turned up at earlier today. Anna absorbed my misery and, as usual after feeling sorry for myself, I got on with trying to sort out the immediate problem in front of me.

Murrurundi to Tamworth – 55 miles

I liked the Murrurundi campsite: nice owner, neat and clean layout, great food recommendations and a quiet pitch. One ‘uncontrollable’ are the birds. If you camp in Australia then your whole journey has a soundtrack of squawks, shrieks and something that reminds me of a 56k modem connecting. It’s unique about the country. After dark they shut up. Next day in the darkness I did my contortions and packed the tent and made breakfast in the kitchen.

Some porridge and a coffee before the off. The ride started with a steep climb. As you can see by this elevation profile it wasn’t going to be an easy day up until the delightful long descent.

Sadly up this long hill, it took me 35 minutes to climb, I started to discuss the considerable ‘elephant in the room’ on this trip: how would I get home if Middle East airspace was closed due to Iranian ordnance? My return flight from Brisbane stopped over in Dubai. Of course, there is no one at your travel agent or airline you can speak to, it’s all chat bots. If there were contact numbers they’re busy with a message to go online. How very 20th Century to expect a human voice. The Emirates website still have the flights listed although advice that you could obtain a refund or delay your flight for free. I would work through my travel agent because I didn’t book direct. My travel agent, Trip.com, said if the flights are cancelled they will offer ‘appropriate follow up solutions’. Desperate to speak to a human, other than Anna, I will speak to a travel agent in Tamworth.

It’s an attractive landscape and hard to equate how it makes a living as mining isn’t a pretty affair but passing through you’d not really know about the activity.

My midnight nemesis below! Clearly a lot of clattering and clonking as they passed by.

In my blogs I will tell you about the hills but you’d be sensible to think ‘you knew what the profile was and you still went ahead with the trip, shut up’. Of course this is right but the solo traveller, a weary one can stop seeing the wood from the trees as the next hill appears, the temperature is starting to soar and you’re wondering what day you’ll get to fly out of Australia, will it have to involve 10 hour lay overs as you take the only flights available and you can’t resolve this because the airline is understandably dealing with immediate flights and it’ll be a few days before they worry about you. Just past Wallabadah I stopped, sat on some armco barrier at the bottom of a half mile climb scoffed a few Haribos and contemplated the meaning of life before pulling myself together and found the granny gear and trundled up the hill.

On the descent the town of Tamworth generated a few billboards.

Well lookee here. I’m partial to a little country music.

My time in Australia had been hot/warm but this heat was ridiculous. As soon as I hit the edge of the town I pulled into a petrol station, found the chill cabinet and demolished a tin of Coca-Cola.

Anna had booked me a room for a couple of nights with air conditioning. Now that would be lovely. As the Receptionist remarked when he passed across the key the ‘good news, its that it’s already been paid for’.

Budgewoi to Singleton – 71 miles

It rained overnight and so I awoke to a wet tent. Also the ground around was wet and I still had to pack. Frankly years of Pilates has provided me with the capability to operate in small spaces in positions best described as contorted. So I put on my head torch and rolled up my sleeping bag and liner and put that in the dry bag and then deflated my air mattress and stuffed that into its bag. Then I widened the tent by opening the inner tent up to the fly tent and stuffed, semi neatly, other nightwear and the like into my panniers.

With my panniers sorted I took down the tent but separated the wet parts from the dry parts by using a bin liner. (When I erect this later in the day it will dry in minutes.) I was ready to go. The man sat on the verandah of his nearby cabin who was gorping at my activity didn’t acknowledge me as I cycled off (before 7am.) Some Australians blank you, yet some are friendly. I can’t work them out.

I’d noted, from the night before, a cafe that was open early and did breakfast last night and so devoured a bacon and (very runny) fried egg roll with a flat white and embarked on the ride.

The ride was through residential areas, quite well heeled, until I emerged into countryside, in fact wine growing areas. The hills kept coming but after some consolidated sleep I was feeling more like it.

One continual piece of pressure is keeping the bike moving ahead in a straight line on the narrow hard shoulders. The bike is so heavy that both hands are needed on the handlebars. Added to the challenge are rumble strips and later in the trip flies that you can’t waft away. All this at 4.5mph!

I enjoyed my ride high up in the hills and it seemed a little French by comparison.

The regular caravan site in Singleton got desperate reviews. An alternative was a show ground that had a sort of small camp area and some ablutions or ‘amenities’ as the natives call a basin, WC and shower. I wavered but rang the number on the entrance board and spoke to Daryl who seemed very welcoming. ‘Can you ride and talk?’ I could and Dazza directed me to a sheltered cow byre where under a roof I could pitch my tent.

He then appeared in person, a sort of dishevelled David Bellamy dressed as if he’d been underneath a tractor fixing the gearbox. I was less enthusiastic about the shelter but then it started to rain! I relented.

The error was that whatever my tent was sat on was insect heaven and when dusk came all sorts came out of this straw. I got bitten badly. This is elementary schoolboy planning for a camper. ‘But Tony surely you carry repellent and bite relief?’ Well absolutely, in fact three types of repellent. I just need to remember to use it. The next day when I put up the tent I found dead mozzies in the tent. Oww…

Before the insect’s meal I’d found a local Returned & Services League (RSL) club and had gone there for a mountain of pasta and a beer.

Sydney to Budgewoi – 55 miles

In some ways Sydney was a pit stop after Wellington with a day built into my schedule in case I needed to sort out the bike. With no problems I loaded up the bike and headed for the Metro. Paul had volunteered that maybe I could escape Sydney’s traffic and cycle paths by getting to the north of the city. I’d cycled out of the city twice before and they were slow and frustrating, so why not Plan B? Taking the bike on the Metro was straight forward and I was off.

Using the lifts I was soon on the platform and heading for Central where I changed. For a train heading north.

I alighted at St Leonard’s and discovered the lift was out of order. Moving my luggage and bike up three flights of stairs was disappointing but I was soon on the pavement facing early morning workers all looking at their phones rather than me! It was busy and my route to the planned original cycle route was difficult. I muddled along.

Like a lot of Councils Sydney’s solution is to put white paint on existing pavements and roads and leave the cyclists to hope for the best.

Eventually I got free of the city and I have to be honest that I didn’t recognise any of the route I took in 2020. The climbing was NZ’esque and I eventually rolled into Palm Beach and found the ferry. In fact it was about to leave as I embarked.

The ride was tough. I was still tired after my revelry in Wellington and the 16,000 steps I took in Sydney. The campsite I was aiming for I’d stayed at before in 2020 and memorably lost my passport overnight. You never forget that. I did struggle in and remembered from 2020 that there were some restaurants near the campsite. I fancied a pizza and found Domino. I was in bed at around 7.30pm. I am usually spark out in minutes and this proved no exception.

Sydney to Brisbane

The departure from Wellington was straightforward although no one wants to hear their name over a tannoy and a call back to the Check In desk. My call back was to tell me I had submitted luggage that exceeded the baggage allowance and they required NZ$75. I thought I’d just about worked within the 30kg. I was a bit miffed but absorbed the blow.

A first for me was free wi-fi during the flight. I took a photo and sent it on WhatsApp to celebrate. Arrival saw my trust steed arrive and it crossed my mind that this is the third time this bike has been to Australia. Quite the traveller.

So I had to do a little overnight laundry in the room. In the morning I still had damp underwear. Three choices presented themselves for the day – go commando, walk around like John Wayne or find the hair dryer to accelerate the drying. I chose Option 3.

The hotel was within the Airport estate and the next day I looked around and bought some provisions.

Other items on the shelf were more familiar. The mustard would have been useful with the sirloin. I bought the biscuits but not the Coleman’s.

Sydney always seems to me a neat and efficient place. Good infrastructure and a young and busy vibe. The suburb I’m staying in, Mascot, has a very heavy Chinese/Asian population number. Most seemingly under 30 years old and walking directly toward me looking at their mobiles.

The high level of immigration means that there is a London situation on the customer facing jobs front. Many folk whose first language is not English. This situation had me badly advised on using the Metro and the correct ticket to buy. We stumbled around the pronunciation of the train stop I wanted and I had to repeat original questions. Later, in the day, another Information Assistant saved me money and time with correct advice.

For the record I made my way to Circular Quay for the photo op and to tell my global audience of my plans. I hope they enjoy the video on Instagram.

Wellington stop over

For some of my chores in Wellington to make sense it’d be helpful to declare that Wellington isn’t the end of my trip and I won’t be directly returning to the UK. The ‘maybe more…’ meant I was flying elsewhere to complete a bit more touring. However, more of that later.

So after having settled in with Paul I had to go into Wellington to sort a few matters out. Paul is a peripatetic Lancastrian who splits his time between NZ and the UK. Sensibly he spends the better weather months in the respective countries. Despite his youthful looks Paul is long retired and amongst various pastimes he lets the property in full or part as an Airbnb. His guests are fortunate to have this accommodation so close to the city albeit they may need a head for heights.

The good folk of New Plymouth not only retained my soap box/holder but also a pair or trousers that I absent mindedly left hung up in a hotel room wardrobe. These needed replacing. Wellington has several outdoor clothing shops so this wasn’t a difficult to resolve. Next came the purchase of a hold-all bag that I would need to haul some stuff on the flight before abandoning it in my next hotel room. I then needed to visit an optician to see if they could adjust my spectacle frames to more tightly grip my face: elsewhere I’ve raved about Asda glasses. I’m starting to understand why they were so cheap. Lastly, there was the need to get my bicycle serviced along with obtaining a box to ship it in. That was accomplished although timing was tight for me to get the job done and then get the box back to the accommodation to pack it. This was a stressful part of the departure process and I knew it was coming. I did have difficulty sleeping worrying about all this coming together with a fixed flight ticket already purchased. Anyway it did.

So after that it was time for sightseeing, fine dining, drinking and err… ukulele playing,

I used to strum an acoustic guitar but never a ukulele but I had one thrust into my mitts and given a few chords to learn. Amongst 40 other players and a band no one could hear what a mess I was making of it all. I did tell one other players that in fact I was playing all the right notes but necessarily in the right order!

We had a look inside part of the NZ Parliament complex. A small and serene affair with, predictably, a lot of security to get in and out.

There was a lot of imbibing and much to both our amazement Mango IPA was very drinkable.

Paul was an excellent chef. He knocked this up at a canter. Fabulous. I’d not seen proper vegetables since the UK. I must try them again.

Sadly none waddled into view.

‘William’ flew in for a date (piece of fruit not dinner, a movie and how’s your father…) that I fed to him by hand. Me scared I’d lose a finger? Certainly! He was very gentle. These birds are now prolific locally after earlier concerns over their numbers.

The local Botanic Gardens were a local joy and strolling around the different vegetation was delightful.

With 24 hour news we watched the result in mid afternoon although it was Stupid O’Clock in Blighty. I have considerable challenges working out what day it is and the time back in the UK. Missing out on the politics isn’t a loss but following the football is a struggle.

Wellington has many hills. One early 20th century piece of infrastructure still runs up one hill and this is a tram. At the top we looked at its museum and then entered the Botanical Gardens.

Paul illustrating a sundial involving the observer putting their feet in certain positions and raising their arms. Wellington only occasionally kept to its side of the bargain by providing sun.

There are always interesting people. At 85 it’s a long time since he’s left Glasgow. In the interim working in Nicaragua, Australia and NZ kept him occupied. He was a fellow strummer at the ukulele class and told me a touching story of how he was dealing with all the time created by his now dearly departed wife. She’d left him with three instructions. First, get fit. He’s had several minor heart attacks. So now he goes to Pilates and has new friends from that. Secondly, he works at maintaining links with existing family. In the offing is a get together with a brother in Australia. Her last one was find a challenge: this is where the ukulele comes in. I’m not sure how good he’d become as I seldom looked around whilst I personally attempted to move my wooden digits around the fretboard. A very nice man getting on with life. I salute you sir.

On our tour of bars we found some excellent live music. Sadly I reverted to music critic mode about the song selection. Paul heard me out and we ended up bellowing to 80s classics in another bar… ‘Just a small town girl, living’ in a lonely world / Just a city boy born and raised in south Detroit…’

Lastly, Paul and I found our way to an upmarket restaurant for some fine dining and a little Merlot Cabernet Franc. All delicious.

So after exhausting the services of my chef, tour guide, landlord, chauffeur, carer and ukulele instructor I was ferried to the airport to embark on the next stage. Thank you Paul. Immense.

Paekākākiri to Wellington

In the familiar pattern it was a cold morning as I packed away the tent and headed south on my final ride in New Zealand. No one stirred around me. I stopped for a breakfast bagel and flat white but was soon onto a cycle route that would hopefully help me navigate my hilly ride into the capital city, Wellington.

I often write how frustrating cycle paths are: they’re mainly designed with safety and separation from motor traffic in mind even if they’re indirect, poorly maintained or hilly. I suppose if you’re popping to the shops on your ‘sit up and beg’ bike it really doesn’t matter but if you’re covering greater distances they’re a drag. To me they seem like a difficult and unfriendly way of getting to your destination. The ride was a difficult meandering route although it had some highlights with water vistas.

I progressed using a combination of the route on my Garmin cycle navigation computer and Google Maps on my iPhone. It didn’t always work out and memorably I was directed up one very steep hill into a cul-de-sac! It took me a while to stop laughing as I caught my breath. Google Maps latterly came up with footpath solutions but stairs are never easy on a heavy bicycle!

So it was by a wobbly route I eventually got to the Shepherd’s Arms where my old Manchester Poly pal and kind host, Paul, would collect me. 

The plan was that as he lived in the surrounding hills he’d load my bike and luggage into the car and we’d drive up to his house. I got off to a terrible start as he pulled up beside me at the entrance to the pub car park; I didn’t realise it was him and I bellowed at the driver/Paul not to drive into me! I felt very stupid when I realised who it was. However, this was the end of my ride.

Overall it had been as hard as I expected but the campsites were good, the people I met often interesting and helpful, the northern scenery sumptuous and the weather quite agreeable for cycling ie. cool and mainly dry but often mixed during the day with rain, grey skies with periods of intense sun and heat. It was clear that the west coast was not a prime destination for tourists and that any tourist cyclists, if any, stuck to gravel trails, which were well documented and followed. I had ultimately ridden lots of gravel and not particularly struggled with my 28mm wide tyres but they were not optimal. 

In the main I had pedalled through farming communities (dairy or sheep) with few settlements and all had exhibited the usual characteristics. Namely, traffic simply concentrating on getting from ‘A to B’ and putting their foot down on these big distances, whistling by quite close to me was never compromised and inevitably my concentration on keeping the bike in a straight line and ensuring I was to the left of the white line at the side of the road was a priority. I saw scattered houses and a few villages but never larger towns except where I might have camped. It was usually a poor and unsophisticated selection of food with much of it, I expect, starting the day being defrosted from a freezer. The roads that were originally horse or agricultural paths had progressed to have tarmac on them with little subsequent thought about gradients. That folks is New Zealand.

Back at Paul’s fabulous abode the beer was opened and I luxuriated in the thought that I wouldn’t be riding my bike for the next few days and my legs could recover.

The nature of Wellington is that it is a place surrounded by hills and after I’d showered we drove up to the top of one and took in the city below. A few days in comfort and good company awaited.