A touring cyclists kryptonite! Sand box back roads en-route to Port Macquarie.  There were about 5 km of this stuff. Impossible to ride, and to push I literally had to lift Gaby as the sand was so deep.

Equipment replaced in the last 6 months: 1 set of tires, 2 cassettes, 2 chains, 3 spokes, 6 punctures.

I guess if I lived next to coastline like this I would also want it all to myself. Sunrise Crescent Head beach, NSW

Rural fields, and random side roads. It is impossible to totally avoid the main highway.

The coastal regions of New South Wales is currently having a cold snap! I am pedaling into a 50 km headwind and it feels like I am back on the Adriatic Coast where the strong cold winds are known as “Bura”. This morning I had a close call with a rest stop compostable toilet. Since leaving Asia I have gotten in the habit of squatting on bowls of western toilets when re-leaving myself. This rather cold and dark morning I squatted on a stationary toilet. One leg slipped off the side while the other one fell in! Luckily the toilet was positioned rather high off the ground, so that my leg, although fully down the toilet, didn’t reach the bottom.

Prostate cancer versus. The countries at the bottom all use squatting toilets

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The small beach cities have an outstanding number of “bourgeois” inhabitants who, when asked about picnic locations, respond by telling me (even though its early in the morning) that there is no camping outside of the campgrounds, and that the picnic areas are day use only. They scoff at me like I am some sort of parasite, while their poodle urinates on some else’s yard.  After they give me the canned speech, telling me “how some one camped in the park a few years ago and things haven’t been the same since”, they then turnaround and try to poison with processed flour and refined sugar by telling me how good the local bakery is.

By the next post I should be in Sydney or at least Newcastle. The roads between Newcastle and Sydney are extremely busy and I plan to avoid them by taking the train. I am not looking forward to pedaling the last 200 km as it is freezing and super windy outside, but soon, once the cycling stops I know I will miss this, however difficult it may seem.