Day 24 - A day of C's

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Yass - Murrumbateman - Waramanga (Canberra) 84km

On our pinboard at home, we both had a list of 7 dream adventure cycling tours - ones that you may never come to explore but you dream about, ones that are within reach and ones that are in the planning when you write the list (so you can tick it off).  This was an exercise inspired by the Adventure Cycling Association (US). One of the cycling adventures on my list was "riding from home to the capital" - no matter where home or the capital is. Well, got that one done, if we consider that home is currently 'on the road', and it took us 1,215km to get to Australia's capital city. 

For some reason, the day filled with words starting with a C. And most of them deserve to be written with a capital C. In order of appearance: Clouds, Cellar door, Clonakilla, Capital city, Canberra, Cycleways, Championess and Chelsea.

The clouds were a constant companion today and they moved fast. Unfortunately in the
wrong direction. The wind pushed them from the south east. Yes, you guessed it, the direction we were travelling. We thought it to be a wise move to break the day into small achievable 'chunks' and stop regularly for a drink, a chat, a swear or to taste some of Australia's finest wine! 

Rest stop in Murrumbateman 

Dear Colin at Adelina Wines (Clare Valley) wrote to us "you really can't go past Clonakilla" when we asked him for wine tasting recommendations in the ACT. So we didn't. We arrive at 11am on the dot, just a tick after the key to open the cellar door would have been turned. Clonakilla has legendary status in Australia's wine landscape and is a consistent contender in the Langton's Wine Classification, category 'Exceptional', with their Shiraz Viognier, a wine currently ranked number 5 of most collected wines in Oz. What follows is a tasting session that is just as exceptional as the wine itself. We are lucky, we get Rob Kearon, cellar door professional par excellence, all to ourselves and quickly immerse into a friendly and at times personal, conversation about the wine world and why we find so much pleasure in it. I will spare you from my tasting notes, but I can tell you that I won't forget these wines, white and red. 

Riesling not as we know it.

We need to move on, there are still more than 50kms ahead of us, but with the exciting outlook of a).riding into the capital and b).the reunion with a dear friend of dear friends (our Capital host for the next couple of nights), the pedal strokes towards Canberra are confident. It's a humble sign, at the end of a long and slow incline on the Barton Highway, that welcomes us into the ACT. But a great excuse to have a quick break and take the obligatory 'border' crossing picture.

Humble sign and proud cyclist

The at this stage the 'friendly' voice of the lady at Google Maps tells us it is 25km from 'current location' to our final destination in one of Canberra's south western suburbs. And we are hopeful that the expansive cycleway network will get us there. It turns out that the bike trail network in this city is so comprehensive that it even confuses the lady from Google Maps, as we start to criss-cross our way through the city. Eventually we get the hang of it and even find ourselves for some stretch on the famous Bicentennial Trail - it's bicycle heaven. 


Only 11km to go.

We arrive to Iris' chirpy "you are here!" and our hearts and legs (now off the bike) start to melt instantly. A true Championess of life, Iris welcomes us into her home like we have been friends forever (we have only met a couple of times before). The Chilean-Australian's vibrant and bubbly nature is so infectious, that the laughs and the story sharing roll in as fast as the clouds rolled over us the entire day. And then there's a cheese platter and a delicious dinner, what more could a pair of tired bicycle travellers ask for?

But wait, what's with Chelsea? We both fall into the best night's sleep under a signed Chelsea football jersey that's hanging on the wall in the room that has been kindly allocated to us. A Champions League winning kind of a day. 
Location: Waramanga ACT 2611, Australia

Comments

  1. FrancieMarch 4, 2022 at 8:03 PM

    Wow, again great reflections and observations of your journey. Enjoy the few days off the road. Must 'look up' that wine. Hope you catch a gallery or two.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JulietteMarch 6, 2022 at 9:05 AM

    Fabulous stories & great to read you are planning to say in 1 place with a solid roof for a few days. I hope that you miss he huge 'wet' that is pounding the coastal areas of NSW & QLD. It doesn't sound appealing for people bicycling! Raffa has been staying for a couple of nights while Kerry has a quick visit to Adelaide over the w/e. Hugs and dog kisses from the Auburn crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BrendaMarch 8, 2022 at 5:10 AM

    enjoy the dry and warm company.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMarch 12, 2022 at 10:15 AM

    Iris sounds lovely! So glad you are enjoying some personal hospitality. I don't know how you manage to peddle on after a wine tasting though. Impressive. Fun to see Adventure Cycling mentioned in your notes and I love the bucket list item Cycle from home to the Capitol. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. LizMarch 12, 2022 at 4:58 PM

    Not surprised you received such a lovely Iris welcome :)

    ReplyDelete

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