Rain and Pain: The Second Legg

And I was off...

DAY 5 began in Tea Gardens...

I simply cycled out of work and kept going

...until my first flat of the leg happened (Number 4 since Sydney) ...only 30 km down the road.

But there are worse places than the Myall Lakes National Park to break down

And after the second flat, I ended up changing the whole outer tyre.

With a late start (midday) and the double break down, I ended the day early (40 Km), and camped out on the old mining trail heading towards Seal Rocks.

DAY 6: Old Mining Trail (Boomeri) - Forster

It's amazing what 12 hours of sleep can do for you.

Refreshed and rested, I cycled the 23 km dirt track to Seal Rocks and kept peddling through the torrents of rain through Booti Booti national park till Forster (70 km) where I pitched my tent and sat repairing my rain gear.

DAY 7: Forster to Port Macquarie

With mended rain coat and saddle bag covers I was ready for yet another day of sogginess.

Despite veering on and off the Pacific highway and it's traffic, it wasn't all dull...

I pushed hard and finally made my first over 100 km day (136 according to google maps).

Soaked to the core and exhausted, I checked myself into Port Macquarie Backpackers and treated myself to some high life living.

DAY 8: Port to Clambucca

I delayed the day to visit the Koala hospital.

And then finally pretended to be excited about heading back into the pouring rain.

From settlement Point I took a 400m ferry which added 30 km to my route, but saved me from the madness that is the Pacific Highway.

And quite suddenly the tar ended and 34 km of mud began.

I stopped in Crescent Head for lunch and quite enjoyed being back on the tar up through Kempsey and on to Clybucca

I camped out at a truck stop where I joined the plethora of truckies in watching the second game of Origin

DAY 9: Clybucca to Coffs

I was off bright and early.

97 km stood between me and a hot shower and good people and a home cooked meal and a real bed.

The sun even decided to make an appearance and even though my buttocks ached and my rear tyre had a slow leak, nothing would stop me from the goal!!

The Millers and a delicious hot pot meal

 It's a beautiful day today, and I'm almost finished demudding everything; now I just need to find a way to fix my battered buttocks:

A massive decision lies ahead, to buy cycling shorts and risk being mistaken for an actual cyclist,

or to add more weight to the bike and gel seat it...

Either way, it's rest day the second and I'm off to explore the awesomeness that is Coffs [in the sunshine] 

 662 km lie behind me and a flipping long way lies ahead - but it's good to know I'm doing it for an awesome cause!!

Visit www.bikes4life.com.au and donate today!!

BearFoot Cycling - The Inception

You know how sometimes everything just aligns... 

You need exercise... 

You need warmer weather... 

You need purpose... 

You need less shoes in your life...

You need a new challenge... 

...And then BAMM!!!!!

 Just like that you're barefoot cycling 2700+ km with your ginormous teddy up the East Coast of Australia for a freaking awesome charity.

Day one... when all was clean, ungreasy, and sun-shiny

THE ROUTE

Seeing as I've never been there, and because it's substantially warmer up that way, I decided I'd go to Cairns. Seeing as I don't have a car, I  don't fly, and I'm not particularly fond of public transport, I decided I'd cycle - What better way to emerge myself in the hidden beauties of middle of nowhere Australia??

THE CHARITY

I was lucky enough to stumble upon these guys; their cause, philosophy and mission lined up pretty well with what I was setting out to do...

 BIKES 4 LIFE is one of those proactive charities that's saving, transforming and improving lives with the simple gift of a bicycle.

Located in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane; they're a colourful group of legends collecting, restoring, and recycling old bikes for underprivileged communities around the world.

In remote communities, a bicycle is not only a means of transport to places of employment and education, but it also provides many with access to food, water, medicine and shelter.

One bicycle can support social rehabilitation and economic change and it is Bikes 4 Life's mission to get bicycles to some of the most marginalised and impoverished communities around the world.

To find out more // get involved // donate visit www.bikes4life.com.au

THE BIKE

Ninja (as I named him yesterday) is a beautifully recycled Bikes 4 Life Giant. 

He's fully equipped with all the mods and cons like brakes, gears, and 2 wheels.

I don't know very much about bikes (I'm not a cyclist), but I know that he has what it takes to get me to Cairns... I just hope I have the stamina to match.  

THE BEAR

The bear (or "Teddy Teddison" as stated in his passport) was given to me as a gift when I left Australia back in 2011. 

The challenge was to carry him for a month  - I ended up lugging him around for three and a half years and he has recently completed his first circumnavigation. 

He weighs in at just over 2 kg and has generally been quite a burden to bear; but he did save me from pirates in 2013 and he does make a reasonably comfy pillow (when he's clean-ish)

THE WARM UP

With the worst sense of direction and great aspirations, I set off from sun-shiny Sydney not too early on Tuesday morning.

I finally made my way out of the city and had a great ride exploring the beauties and smiles of the Central coast.

 

Day 2 bought with it rain

...And Teddy's foot got stuck in the spokes...

...And what I thought was a simple flat, was a fully blown outer tyre...

But with the help of the post man, the friendly residents of The Entrance, and the old bikes left out for council clean-up; a make shift wheel was created.

Day 3 saw the rear derailer get jammed and I was forced to do the majority of the day in one gear.

But it was good to go slow and appreciate the beauty of the Fernleigh trail.

The people at Newcastle Cycle Service did an amazing repair job; which made day 4 the best ride yet, despite having 2 more flat tyres.

I made it home (Tea Gardens) yesterday afternoon and took today off to rest my tender buttocks and do real world things like coffee and laundry... 

But tomorrow it begins again - and this is the real thing. 

2500ish km remain and while it's a pretty long way, the further North I get, the warmer it gets and I know that I have a flipping awesome cause to keep peddling for.

The Real World Can Be Good For You

Thirty. Broke. Unemployed. Single... it's not quite what I pictured... but man was I loving life!

It was a big step, but after three years of flightlessly travelling towards Spain, I decided to take a break and jumped on a plane headed back to where I'd started - back to Australia - with only a large smelly bear to my name.

Fortunately I knew exactly where I was headed

And even more fortunatelyer, Port Stephens is one of the most beautifulest places in the world!

While almost the whole staff and the uniform had changed, it was good to return to life as an outdoor instructor... even if they were a bit of a crazy group.

  

I became the proud haver of my own bedroom for the first time in years 

(Since this picture was taken I have even saved up enough money to buy sheets and pillows)

Having a home base I got to make friends who I'd know for more than just a few days...

Friends who didn't mind spending a night in a cave

Or going camping

And friends are important too...

Sometimes you need people around to stop you from making bad life decisions

It gets better too,

In the real world there's life jackets

And if you do get shipwrecked at sea you don't have to swim for your life or drift for 50 days, there's rescue boats

The real world has paved roads

And beautiful walkways

And when you have a home, your friends of old can come visit you for a change.

Even if you do force them to go free camping without a toilet.

The real world has toilets.

And while it's an adjustment staying in one place and having to be places at set times and having responsibilities... it's good to be out of your comfort zone!

It's good to be challenged to find new exciting local things to lick.

It's good to have to find new ways to challenge yourself.

It's good to be able to find your favouritest local hangouts and return to them

Mount Yacabba

Sea Rocks

Nelson Bay

Aldi

And despite schedules and times and responsibilities, you can still find trees to hang your hammock in...

You can still watch the sunrise/ sunset

You can still lick, live and be awesome.

No, even with all it's predators and routines, you can still enjoy the real world; in fact it might even be good for you!