Day 35 - You are not there until you are there

Thirlmere Lakes NP - Campbelltown (ride) - Sydney (train) - Newtown 42km 

[Take two. And by that I mean writing this post. After two hours of late night writing (the light went off after midnight) I wake up to the news that my creations have disappeared into digital nirvana. Technology is clearly not my strong point. So here we go again.]

When we crawl out of the tent at Lake Couridjah in Thirlmere Lakes NP, I am overcome with a strong sense of anticipation. I have visions of us doing a fun selfie in front of the Opera House before riding into Newtown and being embraced by the long wished for reunion with our dearest friends Liz and Jackie. And the morning bliss surrounding our campsite is a stimulating backdrop to what's going on in my head and my heart.

Morning bliss at a World Heritage site

But anticipation alone doesn't get you anywhere, it is still a powerful emotion though.

Full of beans, we go about our morning routine, enjoy a lakeside breakfast and in my head, I start counting down the k's, only 40 to Campbelltown. But we are still here.

And will be a little longer. My anticipation suffers a bit of a deflation when Louise discovers that my back tyre is almost flat. But her cool, calm and collected analysis quickly determines it is probably only a slow leak and repairs can wait until Sydney. We pump up the tyre and our prospects rise, we'll be in Newtown soon.

We are only 1.5km into the ride when we get to the the next speed hump. Nature's force severely damaged the unsealed road out of the NP. What would be impassable by car, requires just a bit of push and shove by bicycle and also allows us to watch a goanna finding its place in the sun for a little moment.

Sunny side up.

Nature's road rage 

Still 38.5km to go. Piece of cake. I am busy creating new visions in my head. In the appealing little town of Thirlmere we receive some cheerleading - from a NRMA road side assistance mechanic. He asked where we are off to and after hearing about our cycling endeavours, he compliments us by saying that he will need to sit down, just hearing about our plans is making him feel tired. And we receive a genuine "safe travels and good luck!" The number plate on his NRMA ute says "1HELPU". You never know when you might need a guy like him. 

We cross Prince Street Bridge just outside Picton and are hit by a familiar yet not too pleasing smell. The sense of smell is such a powerful memory trigger. Where do we know this smell from..? Hang on! Bats! 

Hanging in there.

There are thousands of them, hanging in the trees along the riverbed. It's quite the sight and quite the smell! The Google search result of "what omen is an encounter with a bat" is not very promising (something about letting something die) and is not helping my happy visions. Although,  taking a second look, another search result indicates that the arrival of a bat in your life signifies an omen of change. 

Change is just around the corner, in the form of the B48, the major traffic link between here and Wollongong. It is hair-raising and it has the potential to deliver on the first search result. When we turn away from this horror road, the sign says 24km to Campbelltown. By this point I think, 'what? still more than 20k's to CT!?'

Fast forward to the Campbelltown train station. There was no way we were ever going to ride into the city, no matter how many bat colonies we would survive passing. I am doing my best to nurture my feelings of anticipation. But the arrival at this southwestern terminal of the Sydney Metropolitan railway network is a bit anticlimactic. So close but yet so far. Especially when we learn that the needed Opal card (public transport pass) can't be purchased at the train station but at the Seven Eleven which is 800m back where we came from. Yes of course, what were we thinking? Buying a train ticket at the train station? Anyway, I get the job of hunting down the needed piece of plastic while Louise is doing human studies at Campbelltown train station. If you ever find yourself in this part of the world, I can recommend the "Oh la la Patisserie!".  Best eclairs and almond croissants since Paris! 

Finally on the train, all stops to Circular Quay, we dig into our baked delights while the memories of our 3 years living in Sydney come flooding in. Louise and I have different attitudes towards this city but our time here has shaped us and our relationship in many good ways. And it has given us the friendship with Jackie and Liz, which is, to be honest, the reason we are here. But we are not quite there yet. 

Are we there yet?

Full of whipped cream and pastry we are re-energised for the fulfillment of vision one...

A fun goosebumps moment

We still need to get to Liz and Jackie's place in Newtown, a mere 8km away. I can tell that we have different ideas on how to get there. Louise soon discovers why she hates riding in Sydney when we push pedal our way from the Botanic Gardens via the Art Gallery of NSW, through Hyde Park to Museum station. That's it! All cycling credits have been absorbed and we push our bikes into the station. Honestly, the thought of taking two fully loaded touring bikes onto the train out of downtown Sydney, at peak hour, is more horrifying to me than the idea of riding to Newtown. But the determination of my better half wins. 

And the huge smile and sense of relief I see on Louise's face when we arrive at Liz and Jackie's place is worth a thousand words and melts my heart.

Finally there!

In all the years we have known the two, hardly an opportunity for Liz's world-class mastery of taking a group selfie has been missed. And when we sit over dinner and a fine bottle of wine, it had to happen...

So glad to be here!