Days 111-114 Island Bend - Canberra - Lithgow -Toronto
32532 - 33539 1007km
In the morning of boxing day it was time to hit the road. I packed my gear, said goodbye to Heinrich and Anna and got going.
My next destination was the capital of Australia - Canberra. Logically it's located in "Australian Capital Territory". Similar thing as "District of Columbia in the US. Naturally I didn't take the shortest route but an extremely beautiful Alpine Way that Steve suggested me when we watched the map at his place. The views were amazing as always on these smaller roads...
Finally I got to Canberra. Terry was waiting for me at the highest hill in Canberra Arboretum. Terry and Janelle are going to take a trip to the US in late summer and we had great discussions about gear and plans and everything. In the morning I rode with Terry to get a new clutch cable to Janelle's bike and then they rode with me for a while towards north.
My original plan was to ride all the way to Toronto (not the one in Canada) about 130 km north of Sydney. At some point I realized it was way too far as the roads I took were not the shortest route - as typical for me. I ended up in a camping area close to Lithgow.
A huge free camping ground was located beside a lake. I found a place in the shade but luckily before unloading my gear I noticed the ants - millions of ants. It was definitely time to move on to another spot. I decided to stop next to a huge birch and went to ask if it's ok for the neighboring campers if it's ok for them that I camp there. "What's the accent?" one asked. After my reply he begun to speak Finnish to me.
What are the chances of finding a Finnish speaker in a huge camping ground in Australia? Appeared Mika has moved to Australia as a kid about 40 years ago and lived here since. Such a great guy! He took me to a bush ride with his car - a real off road ride to the national park nearby. We went to see his friends' camp where they were riding with motorcycles and spending time with their families. Again I had a chance to enjoy Australian hospitality and friendliness.
After a good night sleep I continued my ride towards Toronto. I have tried to stay away from highways and about half of the way I succeeded. The sceneries were amazing again until I got away from the mountains and got stuck in the traffic out of Sydney. It took at least an hour to ride through the outskirts of Sydney and get to the main highway towards north. That highway was extremely boring as they usually are.
Toronto is a relatively small town outside of Newcastle which is a huge exports harbour. Millions of tons of coal and iron ore is shipped through that harbour to China, Japan and South Korea.
In Toronto I met Mirco, the Swiss traveler I rode with from Ulaanbaatar to Vladivostok and spent time with in Singapore. His stepfather Martin offered us a place to stay for a while and borrowed Mirco a bike to tour in Australia.
Friday was a maintenance day. I finally got my top box fixed. The bottom has been a little wrecked since I fell near Vologda more than three months ago. Martin and Mirco changed a rear tire of the bike Mirco will use here.
In the morning of boxing day it was time to hit the road. I packed my gear, said goodbye to Heinrich and Anna and got going.
My next destination was the capital of Australia - Canberra. Logically it's located in "Australian Capital Territory". Similar thing as "District of Columbia in the US. Naturally I didn't take the shortest route but an extremely beautiful Alpine Way that Steve suggested me when we watched the map at his place. The views were amazing as always on these smaller roads...
Finally I got to Canberra. Terry was waiting for me at the highest hill in Canberra Arboretum. Terry and Janelle are going to take a trip to the US in late summer and we had great discussions about gear and plans and everything. In the morning I rode with Terry to get a new clutch cable to Janelle's bike and then they rode with me for a while towards north.
My original plan was to ride all the way to Toronto (not the one in Canada) about 130 km north of Sydney. At some point I realized it was way too far as the roads I took were not the shortest route - as typical for me. I ended up in a camping area close to Lithgow.
A huge free camping ground was located beside a lake. I found a place in the shade but luckily before unloading my gear I noticed the ants - millions of ants. It was definitely time to move on to another spot. I decided to stop next to a huge birch and went to ask if it's ok for the neighboring campers if it's ok for them that I camp there. "What's the accent?" one asked. After my reply he begun to speak Finnish to me.
What are the chances of finding a Finnish speaker in a huge camping ground in Australia? Appeared Mika has moved to Australia as a kid about 40 years ago and lived here since. Such a great guy! He took me to a bush ride with his car - a real off road ride to the national park nearby. We went to see his friends' camp where they were riding with motorcycles and spending time with their families. Again I had a chance to enjoy Australian hospitality and friendliness.
After a good night sleep I continued my ride towards Toronto. I have tried to stay away from highways and about half of the way I succeeded. The sceneries were amazing again until I got away from the mountains and got stuck in the traffic out of Sydney. It took at least an hour to ride through the outskirts of Sydney and get to the main highway towards north. That highway was extremely boring as they usually are.
Toronto is a relatively small town outside of Newcastle which is a huge exports harbour. Millions of tons of coal and iron ore is shipped through that harbour to China, Japan and South Korea.
In Toronto I met Mirco, the Swiss traveler I rode with from Ulaanbaatar to Vladivostok and spent time with in Singapore. His stepfather Martin offered us a place to stay for a while and borrowed Mirco a bike to tour in Australia.
Friday was a maintenance day. I finally got my top box fixed. The bottom has been a little wrecked since I fell near Vologda more than three months ago. Martin and Mirco changed a rear tire of the bike Mirco will use here.
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