Days 49 and 50 (December 21-22)

Meeting a rehabilitated Galah (note the missing eye).  Great to have an upclose and personal interaction with an animal that has made cameos and entertained us with humorous antics during our entire trip.

As I pedal down the road, I preoccupy my thoughts with planning blog content.  Much of what I experience day after day and end up writing about is likely “not worth writing home to Mom about”… which is ironic because she is guaranteed to read these posts!  Unexpectedly, December 21st held three events worthy of Mom’s (and your) time.

We spent the night of December 20th in a hotel in Hay, New South Wales.  Waking up at the usual 5:30am is always difficult when in the comforts of a real bed, but I stuck with the schedule.  Glad I stuck with the early wake up as my bike had a flat tire… gotten while in a carpeted hotel room! (well, actually, there was a centimeter long thorn in the side wall of the tire not discovered till after spending the night in the room.)  Removing the tire and patching the tube took an extra 45 minutes.  As I have likely mentioned, I am not much of a cyclist and as such I have never actually patched a flat tire all on my own.  Still haven’t, as Scott did the actual tire patch.  Thanks Scott!  After 3000 km of pedaling, this is our first flat tire.  Thank you Schwalbe Marathon tires!

A few hours after leaving Hay, a police vehicle roared past us with lights flashing.  As the Hay Plains are quite boring, both Scott and I were eager to find out what the upcoming excitement would be!  We were hoping for a minor incident that would provide an interruption to the daily grind.  Much to our dismay the incident was actually a tragically fatal accident.  We were held up on the side of the road for five hours while police, ambulance, and helicopters dealt with the horrific accident.  During this time, Scott and I sat in the shade and contemplated the ease at which high-speed travel can snuff out three lives.  Not really an uplifting event for the holiday season.  Please travel safe, folks!

Once allowed to cycle through, we continued towards our original destination of Darlington Point.  While scanning the horizons as the road passed under my tires, I noticed multiple small smoke columns.  Obviously the lightning storm from the previous day had started a few fires that were still burning.  Australia is known for its bushfires and it is cool to say I got to see some fire activity.  Unlike in the U.S., none of these fires were being attended to by aerial support or a noticeable suppression effort.  Surely fire suppression is handled differently here.

Due to the long delay with the car accident, we made it into Darlington Point later than would be usual for a 110 km day.  We made it into town at 5:30 pm, ate dinner at a pub then stayed the night along the Murrambidgee River.  The raucous calls of the sulphur-crested cockatoo helped bring us from our beds the following morning.

An example of some of the lush roadside greenery in the vicinity of the Murrambidgee River

December 22 was back to the daily grind.  The road shoulder was variable (often non-existent) with surprising upheavals and drop-offs.  The wind was light, but generally in our faces.  The temperatures are getting hotter (upper-80s to mid-90s F).  This day, from Darlington Point to Coolamon, was pleasantly interrupted by quaint towns with manicured city parks and gardens.  We are most likely off the Hay Plains (I hope) as the terrain now includes some hills, more trees and some creeks and rivers.  Tonight we are in the town of Coolamon.  We have been staying in increasingly frequent caravan parks so the showers are likewise more frequent.  Luxury!

In the next week I hope we make it to the coast.  I hope to spend a day or two pedaling along the coast.  Most of our trip has been in the semi-arid interior of Australia.  A coastal ride would diversify the scenery.  The mountain pass that takes us to the coast may prove difficult (especially for Scott who has less gears than I).  As always, we do not have a concrete route picked out.  We are talking to caravaners and locals in order to glean information on the expected road conditions.  What I look forward to now: swimming in the good ole’ Pacific!

Posted by Mattie