Sunday: I chilled in Wollongong for the entire day, relaxing, map-checking, and preparing for the next day's journey... 113 Fahrenheit that day, definately not riding conditions. I also set foot in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life, and then sat on a craggy seawall, watched the booming surf, and reflected on life. More on that later.
Monday: I left pretty early in the morning; my goal was to reach Nowra by nightfall. The sky was mercifully cloudy, sparing me of the agonizing heat. The first third of the ride was fairly enjoyable, as the route hugged the coast and was flat for the most part. Easy riding. Then the middle third ripped out my lungs as I plowed up massive inclines; the Kiama Highlands proceeded to make it worth the pain. The views were absolutely spectacular. The terrain leveled out after that and I rolled through some more flat areas, including through seven miles of swampy bush.
Somewhere along the line my brakes decided to not work... the front ones are completely shot, and I have to use the rear ones now. As I contemplated this, every cloud on the east coast of Australia emptied itself on my head... I rolled into Nowra drenched, sore and completely exhausted. There was no place to camp, and it was almost dark, so I rode around town for the next half hour looking for a cheap place to stay. I managed to find a reasonable rate.
Once in the hotel I realized just how starving I was... but I didn't want to actually spend money on food. Expenses were mounting like crazy, far more than I'd expected. I had a bag of noodles and a can of chunky beef soup, but there was nothing to cook them with... so I proceeded to turn the bathroom into a makeshift kitchen. I poured water from the showerhead into the coffeemaker and boiled it; I poured the boiled water into four separate mugs of noodles. The can of soup I opened and sat in the sink, plugging the bottom, and poured the boiling water around the can. Ten or so loads of boiled water later, the sink was full and the soup was getting hot. I changed out the noodle water when it got cold.The noodles were slightly undercooked, and the soup wasn't as filling as I'd hoped, but I saved some money and had a lot of fun doing it.
Tuesday: Rain. I'd planned to leave around 6 am so I could shoot for Bateman's Bay by the end of the day, but it didn't stop raining until 10 am. It was pretty frustrating... luckily it slowed down soon after I got on the road. Around 2 pm the bolt holding my rear rack popped out and the rack jammed against my wheel. Miraculously I found the bolt, and then spent a good half hour trying to get the bloody thing back in place, parked on the side of the road in a cloud of flies and rainshowers. A good day all in all, but easily the most difficult day thus far. Hills exploded up and plunged down, not leveling out until a city block from the backpacker's hostel where I booked a night.
Camping is proving to be a bit difficult... finding a spot where it's legal isn't overly hard, but trying to time it with the end of a day's journey is. Backpacker's hostels are relatively cheap and a lot of fun, so I've mostly been staying in those. Expenses are soaring... everything in Australia is a lot more expensive (a number one meal at mcdonalds comes out to about $9.00 USD) and I may have to readjust my planning of the trip due to it. It's something I'll have to simply play by ear.
I'd write more but it's beachtime for Phil.
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