Almost always going in the right direction and other adventures

Well, I feel almost like I haven't earned another entry, this past week has been so luxurious and restful. But I guess that's part of my point in travelling 'slowly and curiously'- that cycle touring doesn't have to be a macho, sweating, strenuous leg-pumping rush, but can actually be a really lovely holiday. I've also been making the most out of a string of contacts along this beautiful stretch of coast, as I know that the further I get from home the less frequent will be the familiar faces offering warm beds.

So, here is my week in a nutshell:
Wed 19th- cycled ~85 km from Port Macquarie to South-West Rocks (the last 40km flat as a pancake!)
Thurs 20th- exploration day in SW Rocks
Fri 21st- Cycled ~40km to Grassy Head
Sat 22nd- Cycled almost 80 km to Bellingen (with an involuntary detour and double-back via Bowraville)
Sun 23rd- rest day in Bellingen
Mon 24th- Rest and exploration day in Bellingen with my lovely cousin Kate
Tues 25th- Cycled ~30km to Sawtell to stay with the lovely Arthurs, friends of Mum and Dad, and their three crazy beagles.

It's interesting, living without deadlines, that I still seem to be good at creating things to rush for. Ferries with limited timetables, or a chosen destination for the day, with accidental sleep-ins and delays thrown in meaning that it ends up being a squeeze to get there in daylight... Has this been my way of living for so long that I can't help creating deadlines for myself? Or is it a necessary way of keeping momentum and motivation? I think it might be a little of both...

I did find myself involuntarily racing the sun on Saturday when after some energetic hill climbing on my chosen back-road to Bellingen I discovered that the rest of the road was actually non-existent, having been blocked by landslides about a year ago- the sort of information you just don't get from a wiggly line on a map. Fellow cycle-touring friends, Mel and Be, have the maxim 'you're always going in the right direction'. Normally I think this is true, but found it a little difficult to convince myself that when I suddenly had to back-track 10 hilly kilometres and my leisurely 50km day suddenly turned into almost 80km. But there's nothing like the motivation of a friendly face, warm abode and tasty dinner, and I pushed on, and was greeted by a picture-perfect sunset as I rode the last few kilometres up the verdant and humming Bellinger valley. If we want to play the happy game, I guess you could say I've learnt to ask locals about back-roads, or 'at least now I can say I've been to Bowraville'. Or you could just let me be a grump and log those couple of hours up as a waste of a lamington (my 'fuel' in Macksville before this particular detour- and I know it's not exactly low GI).



Despite these manufactured deadlines (which I do seem to be getting slowly better at shaking off), this week has had plenty of timeless wanderings and spacious adventures. The textured pocket-like beaches of South-West Rocks were my very own playground for a day, clambering over great basalt staircases, lazing on almost-empty stretches of sand, but for a couple of fisherman, and plunging into the frothy waters of the Gap Beach, which was saved from development years ago thanks to the efforts of a group of locals, including my hosts (my dear friend Perdi's parents, David and Karen). Later that day David, a fisherman took me for an outing in his boat, mentioning that we'd probably put out the lines and catch some dinner too. Some of you may have been surprised in my last entry to read of me eating fish, having been vegetarian for some twelve years now. Well I was rather surprised myself, after dabbling a little in pescivory, to find myself suddenly pulling in fish after fish after fish. A little overwhelming for this little inlander vegetarian! I confess after the excitement of the first few I started quietly willing the fish not to bite, a little guiltily knowing it's how David earns his crust. But luckily for David, and not so luckily for the fishes, marine cross-species telepathy is not one of my talents, and we caught plenty for dinner, plus bait for later fishing. And I do admit that dinner that night was pretty darn tasty, especially with the spectacular views from the boat still whirling in my head.
(This is a view of the Gap Beach)


In other watery adventures, I had a lovely afternoon canoeing with my cousin Kate on the Urunga estuary yesterday (azure kingfishers, a mangrove heron).. watched a whale flip-flopping its tail at Grassy Head, and have spent some delicious hours lazing by the glassy Bellinger River.
So much space and time for adventures and dawdling, and yet still covering ground. Onward, northward! I'm definitely reaching the land of t-shirt weather, bananas and tropical fruit -mmm I had a star-fruit from a roadside stall dripping down my arm for morning tea today- I could get used to this.