We have a great many customers from the antipodes, a number of whom are repeat offenders and have become friends over the years.  Several of these live on our route and have offered us support in various forms.  Last night we arrived in Sydney, one third of the way through our trip and a nice round 1000km from the start, where we are staying in the lovely home of Lynn and Graham for a rest day.  As if this wasn’t enough, we have been lucky enough to spend a rest day on the yacht of another customer,seeing the sights from the waters of the harbour.  

 

When I think of Australia I automatically think of three iconic images: Ayers rock,  Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and today we ticked off two of them.

 

So what of the ride so far?  Fan-bloody-tastic.  The scenery is far more varied (and greener) than I expected, the people are incredibly welcoming, the roads vary between good and outstanding, and the provisions for cyclists are excellent.  My only dilemma in  considering adding a part of the ride to our commercial programme is deciding exactly which part.  

 

A potential concern was the heat but even this is not such an obstacle.  Temperatures are steadily falling as we head south and as the calendar advances.  On the hotter days we start and finish early and we make sure we take plenty of stops in the shade and drink copiously.  

 

We have seen a variety of fauna including kangaroos, bandicoots, large lizards and  kookaburras but sadly no koalas.  It seems that most Australians have never seen one in the wild either!

 

Our next leg, on to Melbourne, starts tomorrow.

 

Ps our ‘leader perma-tans’ are coming along nicely