2018.02.01 – [AU] Auckland ==> Auckland (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – We had hoped to take a day trip, offered by the InterCity bus company, to the Waitomo caves. This popular tourist site was known for its extensive underground cave systems and glow-worms lighting up the place. Unfortunately, we learned, the previous evening, that all the seats were sold out. As it rained all day, we were not overly disappointed. We made good use of the time in our hotel room to catch up on our trip planning, blog and expense tracking. We had our evening meal at the hotel’s restaurant.
2018.02.02 – [AU] Auckland ==> Auckland (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – We took the bus to the airport to re-load our transit cards. We took the opportunity to stop at the nearby Icebreaker airport outlet for some additional clothes to start our Australia trip segment. The outlet selection was rather disappointing, nonetheless Jenny was able to secure a nice dress. We rode the bus/train to Auckland’s Newmarket neighborhood where we had a late lunch at a Chinese dim sum restaurant. Stepping out of the restaurant, we stopped at another Icebreaker store where we had better luck at purchasing some new clothes. We spent the afternoon visiting the Auckland Domain, the city’s oldest and largest park. Stepping out of the bus near our hotel, I inexplicably pulled/pinched something on my left knee. In the evening, we re-organized our luggage for our early departure the next morning.
2018.02.03 – [AU] Auckland ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – We had our airport shuttle scheduled for 6:30am. We were relieved to see that we were able to easily slide our bicycle box into the hotel shuttle van. At the airport, we were surprised to learn that our Virgin Australia carrier did not open its check-in counter before 2.5 hrs before the flight. Hence, we were left waiting, with other passengers, for over an hour before we could check-in our luggage. After weighting our bicycle box, the counter agent was adamant that we would need to pay $150NZ for the overweight luggage. We reluctantly offered our credit card to cover the charge but after a few minutes of trying to apply the charge on the credit card, the counter agent gave up and waived the overweight fee! We had a quick breakfast after our security clearance. To our great surprise the flight departed Auckland on schedule. The four hour flight was uneventful.
Unlike our recent Auckland airport experience coming back from Fiji, our arrival at Sydney was very efficient and fast – thanks namely to the very few aircraft arriving at the same time and the immigration automated booth. We were happy to retrieve our luggage and bicycle box. After a short and friendly chat with a custom agent, we were waived through the end of custom processing. We discovered that Sydney’s airport had a very convenient and well laid out express passenger pick-up.
Jenny’s childhood friend and her husband (Ling and Steven) greeted us with some warm smiles at the airport. With their help, we quickly loaded the bicycle box in Steven’s van and the other luggage in Ling’s SUV. Ling’s son, Richard, had graciously given up his room for us during our stay in their home. In the mid-afternoon, I started to reassemble the tandem and trailer. Before the evening meal, we met Ling’s and Steven’s daughter and son, Tanya and Richard. For the evening meal, Ling and Steven had invited another one of Jenny’s childhood friend and her husband (Peipei and Peter) living in Sydney. Ling’s family prepared lots of delicious dishes to mark our first night at their home. Jenny, Ling and Peipei were all very excited to catch up since they hadn’t seen each other for over 30 years.
2018.02.04 – [AU] Sydney ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – Ling and Steven had encouraged us to take advantage of Sunday’s capped public transport cost of $2.60 which extends to bus, train and ferry. Hence after our breakfast, Ling prepared lots of fruits for us to take along for our Sydney excursion. We set out to purchase and load our Opal public transit cards. We took the light train to Sydney’s harbor area and hopped onto different city ferries to explore the great sceneries offered by extensive waterfront. We kept on asking ourselves where all these rich folks with beautiful waterfront houses came from. Ling prepared yet another nice evening meal for us.
2018.02.05 – [AU] Sydney ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – After a delicious breakfast of xiaolongbao (type of Chinese steamed bun) prepared by Ling, I finished assembling and adjusting the tandem while Jenny did the laundry. We tried the tandem by cycling to a nearby 7/11 store where we purchased new sim cards with 1 gb (28 days) for our mobile phones. Steven called a few bicycle shops to help with the repair of a broken tension screw on my Brook saddle. The saddle issue became evident during a tandem maintenance in the Roturua (NZ’s North Island). After Steven and I visited a few bicycle shops, we realized that it would be best to fix the saddle using a custom solution. A very helpful machinist working beside Steven’s warehouse helped to fix the saddle. Ling and Steven prepared yet another great evening meal for us.
2018.02.06 – [AU] Sydney ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – After another great breakfast prepared by Ling, she packed lots of fruits again for us. We returned to the harbor front to view Sydney’s famous Opera House, the Botanic Garden and the surroundings. Later in the afternoon, we traveled to Bondi beach and took a stroll along this very popular beach. Peipei and Peter invited us, Ling and Steven, to a restaurant (A Taste of Shanghai) for a great tasty evening meal. Everyone enjoyed the delicious Shanghainese cuisine. After the restaurant, Peipei and Peter invited us to heir home for some tea and snacks.
2018.02.07 – [AU] Sydney ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – Ling and Steven treated us an enjoyable day trip to the Blue Mountains, named after the purple haze of eucalyptus oil. The drive to the mountains was slightly less than two hours away from Sydney. The views from the various lookouts were great. Back in town, we took a short rest. We invited Ling’s family to a Korean BBQ for an evening meal. On the way back home, we visited Bankstown’s Sport Club which is a popular neighborhood recreational facility offering restaurants, cinema and a wide-range of gambling machines. Jenny accepted Ling’s offer to stay a bit longer in Sydney. We agreed to delay our cycling departure by an extra day.
2018.02.08 – [AU] Sydney ==> Sydney (0 kms | Total: 3200 kms) – After breakfast, Jenny did one last clothes wash. Later, we visited a very good bicycle shop to purchase two large bottle cages allowing us to secure 1.5l water bottles to the trailer. We did a few others errands in the afternoon. Ling and Steven invited us to a nice neighborhood restaurant for our last evening meal in Sydney. Given the warm hospitality of Ling’s family, we knew that tomorrow would be difficult to leave their home.
2018.02.09 – [AU] Sydney ==> Coledale (53 kms | Total: 3253 kms) – Jenny and I woke up early. We quickly loaded the tandem and trailer before breakfast. Ling prepared one last breakfast of our favorite delicious xiaolongbao. We took a few departure pictures before leaving the comfort of Ling’s and Steven’s home. We hope we can host Ling’s family at our place sometime in the future. Our stay at their place provided us with a great base to start our cycling journey in Australia. It also allowed my injured knee to recover – thanks to some Chinese patches offered by Ling.
We relied on Maps.me to cycle out of Sydney. Although the route taken had light vehicle traffic, we were surprised to encounter many short and steep hills. After leaving Sydney’s limit, we cycled along the highway on a wide shoulder. Our last 10 kms were cycled on a secondary road along the coast. Arriving at our target campground, Coledale Camping Reserve, we were not surprised to see the “no vacancy” sign at this small beach side campground – especially on a Friday. What we did not expect was the rigid municipal rules which did not allow for any camping in any overflow areas. As we were fairly exhausted from our first day of cycling after more than three weeks hiatus, there were no way we could cycle 8 kms further to the next campground – without knowing their availability. We finally managed to setup our tent after reaching out to some German visitors who graciously agreed to share their campsite with us. We greatly missed the comfort of our past NZ Holiday Parks. We had our evening meal at a nearby bistro.
