17th June - Eden to Narooma

Nigel says....Departed late at 0830 hrs from Eden after speaking to various people in UK and Oz to see what new arrangements could be made. Sound comments on the blog..thank you for all the support, and I know Gordon feels the same. Have spoken to him tonight and he sounded in good spirits. He has been to the doctor for his feet and is now pedalling his way north. Today he made it to Bega, so he is not that far behind me. We hope to meet up again soon. Watch this space for developments.

Mark, you were right, the second hill outside Eden on the Princes Highway is a real shocker! I turned off the Highway at Perimbula expecting a nice seaside route, but it was uphill and downdale, albeit the views and countryside were great. It was quite uplifting cycling along the seashore seeing the breakers. The upside to the hills is that there have been some absolutely tremendous downhill sections where I have been able to get up a really good speed. For most sections - no brakes and pedalling full way down the slope. I wish I knew my speed.. it must have been well above the 30mph level. It was nice weather for the most part and the hottest day I have had in Australia. My conclusion is that whilst the highway is boring, it is faster, and because there is usually a hard shoulder, it is reasonably safe. So far my experience of the logging lorries is reasonably positive, unlike the milk tanker drivers.

I had hoped to reach Moruya today, but it quickly became apparent that the late start and progress over the coast road meant that this would not be achieved without another monster night ride. I did quite enjoy last night's night ride in a perverse sort of way - especially the fast downhill sections as the traffic was extremely light, but I'm not sure my family would approve of the practice. I intend to avoid night riding and just stay at the nearest place when darkness falls - if possible in a planned location, but that may not always be possible.

I decided to get to Narooma and try to make up ground tomorrow. Getting advice from taxi drivers on the routes. There is an 8km climb near Bateman's Bay tomorrow... ho hum!