Hmmm, I wanted to tour around the town checking out the lookouts before I went. Unfortunately, there was a heavy fog and visibility was down to next to nothing. It made just riding around a little difficult. In the end – that was a waste of time, so I just headed for the next destination which was to be Kangaroo Valley. As I descended the mountains, the fog lifted… or rather, I probably rode out/below it.
I avoided Sydney traffic by head south as soon as I could, and took the nice twisty into the Royal National Park (between Sydney and Wollongong). This brought me out to the coast at a place called Stanwell Tops – a launch pad for hang-gliding and parasailing. I chilled out and watched for a while.
Heading along the cost it wasn’t long before I reached the Sea Cliff Bridge – built out over the sea (duh).
I then took the Illawarra Hwy through Macquarie Pass – a steep ascent/twisty at the southern end of the Illawarra escarpment.
As I headed south to Kangaroo Valley, the weather started to turn – wind, cold and drizzle.
I had originally planned on camping within the valley (Bendeela Recreation Area) but as I approached I could see a storm approaching. Having monitored the weather for the last few weeks (it seemed to be following me) I knew the potential for this was there. I decided to keep going. A friend from work (Lindsay) had offered to host me for a few days in Queanbeyan/Canberrra so I took him up on that. Boy was I glad. I experienced some of the heaviest rain on the bike, lightning, strong gusting winds. It was a challenge on the bike – I didn’t want to be captive in a tent during that.
Having phoned ahead – I arrived in Queanbyan to shelter and a lovely hot meal… appreciating it greatly.