(written by Nancy)

Today was one of those days that make bike touring so intoxicating. It didn’t start that way…

We were up early at the hotel, being the only guests, with the proprietors (Toni and Brad) offsite, we had the place to ourselves. It was very quiet and outside it was quite foggy – our energy levels were still a little low from the ride two days ago.

We ate breakfast, had an extra cup of coffee as we waited for the fog to burn off and finally headed down stairs, still a little low on oomph. This all changed when we reached the backyard and found Rex, the hotel’s resident Staffordshire terrier. Rex is not a dog that would let anyone pass without a rub and snort. He got us cheered up in time for Toni to return and continue the process. Toni gave us a nice history of the hotel and best of all, favorable reports on the road out of town. More importantly, both Toni and Rex delayed us just enough to clear the fog and let us strip our arm and leg warmers before setting off. Things were looking up.

The road from Walcha to Uralla (Thunderbolt’s Way) was a little up and down but nothing too hard. Our average speed was so much faster than two days ago, we felt like we weren’t even peddling – all things being relative. The sky was classic Aussie autumn blue with only a few clouds. The k’s flew by. We forgot to mention yesterday that Walcha has many outdoor wood carvings, benches, statues and the like – all pretty interesting. Just out of town, they even have a wood carved city limit sign (which Dave could not resist playing around on).

About 5k out of town, we came upon Bergen op Zoom bridge (named by a Dutchman who moved to the district years ago). Dave insisted we get a photo as when we lived in Holland I worked in BoZ, where GE had a big plastics factory – funny to see it out in the hinterlands of NSW, Australia.

Just to make sure we remembered we were in Australia, we soon came upon a fully grown blue tongue lizard right on the centerline. Fearing it would get smashed by a car, Dave stopped to shoo it to the shoulder. The lizard was not very impressed and there were a few minutes of stand-off with Dave not willing to push things too far (keeping the bike between him and lizard). Eventually, probably out of boredom, rather than anything Dave did, the lizard slid off the far shoulder. We didn’t get a photo but at least it didn’t get smashed and I can report that the tongue is really blue.

It is autumn here in New England. That may sound funny but this area in Australia is called New England. Just like in the USA New England, there are lots of trees that are turning colour. 

We stopped in Uralla for lunch at a cafe right near the visitor’s center.  Uralla is where Captain Thunderbolt, the local bushranger, met his untimely demise.  He was a ‘kindhearted bushranger’, according to the information available, and was not a fan of guns.  Always good to have a local hero!

After Uralla, it was quite scenic. Based on an email tip from warm shower hosts (Cath and John Henshall) and a confirmation at the visitor centre (including egg and bacon rolls for sustenance), we picked up a back road from Uralla to Armidale. The road was hilly to start but the fall colours, mixed with some good Aussie savanna made for a particularly scenic ride. There was no traffic, and great visibility. We rode side by side most of the way. We even ran into John (out on a lunch training ride) about halfway. One road called Hawthorn really stood out – it was only 5k or so but it had to be one of the most beautiful roads we’ve ridden – just the right mix of colours, sunshine, prefect autumn temps and zero cars.

Following John’s advice, we made our way to their house and yes it is up a very steep hill. We arrived around 2:30 were greeted warmly by Cath. We spent the next couple hours lounging and sharing bike stories. A very enjoyable afternoon. We learned that we were the second guests to stay with Cath and John, and the first guests were a French couple that was here last week, returning tonight to pick-up their stored tandem. They had spent the last year riding from Ulan Bataar (Mongolia) to here on much the same route we hope to follow. What luck we had a chance to meet them later.

Eventually John came home from work. The bicycle stories continued until Paul and Lauriane (plus Paul’s parents) arrived. We exchanged details and some info on the road ahead for both of us. They have French only web site at http://www.element-terre.fr – which we can read for both practice of our French and some tips further down the road. They are on a tandem, pulling a trailer – pretty impressive. Talking to them was exciting for us. Clearly for Cath and John it was also great – they were left with the “tandem bug” as a result – we can see another tandem coming to Australia in the future.

The evening continued with a fabulous dinner and many more stories and ideas. Cath and John helped us confirm our route north. We are going to stay up in the tablelands and avoid the coast until north of Brisbane. With long Easter weekend coming, we’ll have a quieter time up here. Plus now we have great local knowledge for the next few days that always make the trip more interesting. There was a point where John and Dave started talking some weird “Unix stuff”, related to John’s job – they seemed to really enjoy it – I’m not sure what they were talking about but there was some discussion about grep, sed and awk – I think.

We are definitely sold on WarmShowers. Cath and John have been great hosts. Touring cyclists as hosts know just how you feel at the end of the day. It is hard not to enjoy an evening of sharing tales from the road. And the local route knowledge is fantastic. Having hosted in the past, we’ve seen it from that side. On a trip, it’s even better. We are hoping now to stay at another WarmShowers host in Toowoomba – where Paul and Lauriane happened to stay two weeks ago.

Today, we are off to Guyra, short ride as we are going to the Armidale bike shop to see if I can find a new seat. Mine is really worn out – somehow we missed this before we started the trip. John says the shop is one of the best in NSW with lots of good nick. We’ll see how they go with woman’s saddles – a bit of a specialty item.

Again, big thanks to Cath and John – perfect end to a pretty great day on the road.