The day starts off cloudy. I'm awake before sunrise, and before then - I never did adjust to sleeping on the mat. I packed up and am off by 7 am. I plan to make it to Geelong by the end of day, which is roughly 110 km. My intermediate goal is to reach Lorne by midday, which is 40 km away. Birds, cicadas, crashing waves - these sounds surround me as I quietly roll north. Northbound traffic is sparse - a couple of delivery trucks and only a few cars. There are quite a few road cyclists going south, and most say good morning or nod. The road is cut into the cliffside and a shoulder is there but it is not wide; I'm glad to be mostly alone. After 9 am the traffic increases ... read more

I start the day at 7:30; not early enough to see the tops of the 12 Apostles bathed in morning glow, but early enough to mostly own the road. The landscape is beautiful, backlit and glowing. There are fleeting views of the ocean past the hills. It is at this time that I feel that cycling on the Great Ocean Road is truly the best way to experience it. The terrain slowly evolves, giving you time to savor the beauty. Birds flit and tweet to the background drone of the surf. All of this without the din of a motor. I savor the ride, expansive views of the coast, the strength in my legs. I stop at tourist spots: Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles, and Gibson's steps, steps that lead down to the beach. These formations ... read more

My next great excursion was a solo cycle along the Great Ocean Road. This coastline is known for the stone formations off the west-facing coastline such as the 12 Apostles, and the road cuts through the Great Otway National Park before hugging the coast up towards Melbourne via the Surf Coast. This bit of road is easily accessible via train transport from Melbourne, on the west end from Warrnambool and the east end Geelong, for a total distance of 450+ km. I would bring only ready to eat food (no stove) and a tent and sleeping bag, to cut down on lodging costs. The trip as outlined in the Cycling Australia book from the Lonely Planet series takes 5 days, and an online account of a trip took 3 days; I hoped I could do the ... read more

Ah Sydney. The photos don't represent well our time in Sydney because I was too busy having a good time to be taking photographs. By random happenstance (happy-stance?) we found an affordable room at the Haven Inn off of Glebe Point Road, which was a good start to our time there. It is conveniently located on a quiet road with numerous great restaurants and easy bus transport to the major sites. Wooden floors, balcony, tv with dvd library in the lobby, it's a great hotel. Our first day we targeted all the big city sites: Fish Markets, Opera House, Harbour Bridge. Though we arrived at the Markets mid morning, there were already people partaking of the sea's bounty. As a vegetarian, I found little to get excited about, as the fruit and veggie market, while brimming ... read more

We wake up to a clear orange sunrise over the water, broken only by flocks of seagulls. The campground only begins to stir, and we have a leisurely and pleasant breakfast by picnic tables near the water. Back on the road, a wrong turn becomes a welcome detour, as we wade in shallow waters at low tide, the first ones to leave footprints in the sand ripples. Up the coast the Princes highway finally meets the coast at Eden, and in our excitement we explore in detail the turnouts up to Haycock Point in Ben Boyd National Park: Pinnacles, Quondolo, North Long Beach, and Haycock Point. Pinnacles is a white and orange sandstone cliff face, which would be at home in Death Valley. Enroute a couple are staring into the brush, and point to an echidna, ... read more