June 18th Narooma - Ulladulla

Nigel says....Chilly 0730hrs start as the sun was rising. Still plenty of hills, but not of the scale of the previous two days....or am I getting used to them? Once the sun was up it was great, nice and sunny, like a pleasant English summer day. Got to Moruya in time for an early lunch. If Greg is reading this, your town is probably the nicest place I have stopped so far. The Moruya Cycles are an excellent bike shop. I stopped to buy a bike lock, as Gordon has the team lock. They gave me an old one which is perfect. Not only that, they gave me a cup of coffee and advice on the route. Thank you to Mark and the team at Moruya Cycles. Your assistance was much appreciated.

After lunch I had to make a decision to either go for a route round the coast which is approx 8km longer with hills or to stick with the Princes Highway and brace myself for an infamous 8km climb in addition to "ordinary" hills. I went with the advice from the bike shop and took the longer coastal route which was hilly but pleasant.

It may be useful if I try to describe the ground we have been over since leaving Orbost. For those in the York area, imagine cycling over a piece of ground where there is a Garrowby Hill, Terrington Bank, or Whitwell Hill every 3-4 miles for miles and miles on end. It is either up or down, not flat. However, I hope we may be over the most challenging bit..............?

Managed to make it to Ulladulla in good order by 1745 hrs thus avoiding much night riding. The Highway seems much busier here. Will set off earlier in the morning to try and catch up on the schedule. Travelled 129 kms (81 miles)today.

Have spoken to Gordon today. He is cheerful, but still suffering and has been told by the doctor to keep pedalling but take it steady. He is somewhere between Moruya and Batemans Bay... he is not sure where. We are putting together a plan to reunite the team next week in Newcastle and to revise the routing based on our experience so far. I hope it comes off.......Gordon has the iPod charger.

Tomorrow the little yellow line should be nudging the southern suburbs of Sydney.

BREAKING NEWS.......BREAKING NEWS......BREAKING NEWS.........BREAKING NEWS.....
Gordon has gone commando! I never thought I would see the complete abandonment of the makeup bag, but it has happened! He now has no underpants, no panniers, and pretty much only what he stands up in. Because of the hills he is unsure if he is going any faster or not! Well done Gordo..."going commando" in these circumstances is a state of mind and not just a physical condition.