Sydney-Byron Bay Update

Alright so here's the scoop, and it's a big scoop so brace yourself!

Day 1, Friday Feb. 16th: Cycled from Sydney to a small town called Kincumber (46.03 km). Lots of traffic as it was a Friday, so didn't quite make it to where we wanted that day. Stopped and asked a guy for the nearest accomodation, and he told us it was a ways away. He ended up offering us a bed at his house, so we took him up on it. Really nice guy - gave us a bed and let us do smoe laundry and stuff.

Day 2, Saturday Feb.17th: Had a nice 7am start and cycled from Kincumber to Swansea (68.2 km). It was a good day, and great roads. Lots of pretty ocean scenery. Bought supper at Coles (comparable to Safeway or Co-op back home) and went and ate it at McDonald's outdoor area. Ended up chattin with a Scottish guy who has been living in Auz for 30 years. Spent a good while cahatting about travelling and what not and guess what? He ended up inviting us to his place to spend the night! Really nice gentleman, and took care of us splendidly! Fed us lamb and prawns for supper, and made us a big omlette for breaky! Also hooked us up with some dandy reflectors for our bikes! We're starting to become overwhelmed by people's generosity.

Day 3, Sunday Feb. 18th: On the road again early, and cycled from Swansea to Nelson Bay (64.85km). It was a nice day again, but a bit on the warm side. Also had a couple flat tires, which made the day drag on a bit. Ended up parking our tent in a park at Nelson Bay, and hoped that we wouldn't get caught!

Day 4, Feb.19th: Took a ferry from Nelson Bay to Tea Gardens, and saw dolphins in the process!! Pretty cool cause they were pretty much right up beside the ferry! Camped at a caravan park that was right on the beach, and spend the rest of the day lazing in the sun! It was a beautiful beach - 14km long - and only a handful of people on it! Fantastic! There were also some really nice people at the campground, and evryone's always interested in what we're doing and where we're cycling to. The bikes make for a great conversation starter. Also met a couple from Canada on the beach.

Day 5, Feb 20th: We were told from some locals that the roads up to Taree weren't all that great, so we decided to spare ourselves some tires (hahahaha) and catch a bus from where we were to Taree. So we caught the 4pm bus, ended up setting up camp and a horse showgroudns for $6 each, and went ten pin bowling!

Day 6, Feb 21st: Had another really early start and cycled from Taree to Bonnie Hills (70.24 km) and had ourselves another couple flats! Went to the post office to ask about where to find some tubes, and one of the women there, Elizabeth, offered us a place to stay at her house for the night! So we stayed with her and her husband, Steve, and they were a super laid back and friendly couple. Steve is a potter and had some stunning work. He also built their house, and it was super unique.

Day 7, Feb 22nd: Slept in and then went to watch some kite surfing at a beach near Bonnie Hills. Never even heard of kite surfing before, but Elizabeth told us we should go check it out and we were really glad we did! Spent the whole day on the beach, then we went with Steve to watch Elizabeth play net-ball, a sport that we don't really have back in Canada. After Liz's game they took us around to do some sight-seeing, and then we had a BBQ back at their place. Just an all-around great couple, and we really enjoyed their company!

Day 8, Feb 23rd: Cycled from Bonnie Hills to Port McQuarie (30km) and decided to beach it for the rest of the day!

And that brings you up to date! We have 8 more days of planned cycling before we get to Byron Bay, and we hope to be there by the 4th of March. We're really enjoying ourselves - the cycling is great, and you sure can't complain about the beaches and the weather!!

Hope all is well with all you back home, and we'll talk to you again soon!

"I put my blue jeans on, I put my ol' blue jeans on!"

For those of you who don't know, we are HUGE Keith Urban fans, and as of 2 minutes ago we are proud ticket holders to his concert in Brisbane on May 11th!! WOOP WOOP!!

Ready, Set, Go!

The bikes are tuned, the saddle bags are packed, and we're rarin' to go!

Today we embark on our east coast adventure up to Byron Bay. According to our cycle guide it's an 11 day, 807km trip. However, there are many beaches along the way so I'm sure we'll get a wee bit side-tracked!

A bit of a side note: We are beginning to think that we bring on rain! When we first arrived in Melbourne they were in a serious drought and had not had any rain in many months. However, within a couple days of arriving they received a downpour. Same thing in Tasmania, expect they received even more rain! They haden't seen rain like they did while we were there since 1954! Lastly, after four days in Sydney, a two-day downpour set in. The owner of the hostel told us that it had been 4 years since they had seen that much rain at once. So to all you farmers out there: you know who to call when we get home and we're broke!

Take care everyone, and we'll be sure to keep you posted over the next two weeks about our adventure on the road!

Oh and one more thing: pictures from Tasmania are up, so go check them out!

From Hicks to Hookers - Sydney, Australia

After being in Hickville for over a month, it was a bit of a shock coming back to a city! We flew into Sydney late on Tuesday, February 6th, and have been staying in a hostel in Kings Cross since. Kings Cross it the 'red light district' of Sydney, and it ceratinly does have a lot of character!

Our first day in Sydney we went for a walk around the harbour, through the Botanical Gardens, and to the Sydney Opera House. It really is quite a beautiful city, and the views are spectacular! There are also lots of summer sales on, so we've been doing a bit of shopping as well!

Saturday and Sunday we spent at Bondi Beach, and it was fantastic! The beach was beautiful, and it was great to just relax! It's crazy to think that a beach can be so close to such a huge city!

Saturday night we went to the Sweeny Todd Production at the Opera House. It was superb, and we would love to see another show there at some point!

Our bikes are currently in the shop getting tuned, and as soon as we get them back we might start our trip up the east coast to Brisbane. Things are a bit up in the air now though, so we're not exaclty sure if that's what's next to come. We'll be sure to keep you posted though!

Caves, Wine & Good Times!

On February 1st we packed up the car and went on a bit of a roadie! We went to the Tahune National Park and and went on the airwalk there. It wasn't all that fantastic, and the airwalk that we went on in Borneo was much cooler. From there we went to the Hasting Caves and Thermal Pool. The pool was also a bit of a let down, but the caves were super cool. They are something like 400 million years old and 1.7km. However, the tour only took us on about .3km. Very dark, and very interesting. Also a bit chilly. The caves are 9 degrees year round.

On the 2nd Vanessa took us on a wine tour and we had a fantastic day. The weather was beautiful and so was the wine! We visited the historic town of Richmond where the oldest bridge in Australia was built. It was built in 1813 by convicts, and it still stands and functions today. The town was very quaint, and we enjoyed a lovely lunch at a little bakery. From Richmond we visted 2 wineries and then ended our tour at the oldest continuously licensed pub in Australia, which is in New Norfolk. A superb day!

We have work tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday, and our flight for Sydney departs Hobart at 6:10 on the 6th. We're really going to miss Tassie and everyone we've met here, but at the same time we're very excited for Sydney. We don't have any concrete plans, but we'd like to go to a show at the Sydney Opera House. It turns out that Jon's brother and sister in law play in the Sydney Orchestra, so we might get to see them perform. We're also going to get in some serious beach time, and we're looking at doing some couch surfing an hour south of Sydney.