Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia

Prep

Having spent some time looking at maps and reading a number of blogs about possible cycle tours in the New South Wales area, I discovered a few that seemed pretty interesting. However, there turned out to be a major obstacle: buses here do not allow bicycles onboard. The problem with this is that for any of the tours I had read about, the starting point was always somewhere that could only be reached by bus. So....

Back to the drawing board.

This time I decided to start by looking at the train route maps and plan from there. Upon consulting these maps, I decided that I would cycle through the Hunter Valley for 3 very good reasons. 1) the trains run up to the north of the valley and so I could get to my start point easily, 2) Everyone had been banging on about how nice the area was, and 3) It's wine country with free cellar doors, so free wine!

The route I planned was approx 250km, running Muswellbrooke, through Newcastle and then back to Gosford. I figured I'd take 3 or 4 days to do it so I could spend time exploring and be in no rush if I find somewhere I liked. Planning done, I set my date to start, 13th January 2014. Heat Wave Week!

Day 1

Unlike virtually every touring blog I have read, the start of this tour didn't start at the crack of dawn. In fact I had a leisurely morning and just relaxed around the flat as my train wasn't until 2:30pm. The train up to my starting point, Muswellbrooke, only ran twice a day and so I wouldn't arrive at my destination until 6pm that evening.

First station, Gosford, I encountered my first issue. No lift! As anyone that has packed up their bike will know, it gets heavy, so first task was to carry my bike up a few flights of stairs to get to the platform. That done, I just waited for the train and was on my way.  Thank god for bungees as without them I'd have had to stand and hold my bike in place for the 4 hour train ride.

The train to Newcastle was event free, but then I discovered the problem with trains only running to anywhere twice a day is that everyone gets crammed on to one train and there isn't a lot of room left for bikes, let alone ones with tents, panniers and sleeping bags attached! While people were very accommodating of the bike taking up the very little space left on the standing room only train, I was heavily embarrassed.

Eventually as people started getting off at the different stops along the way, the corridor became less crowded but as we were travelling to what I've been told is bogan country, I was left on the train with just bogans. An interesting experience to say the least.

Having arrived in Muswellbrooke, it was just after 6pm. I only had to do 16km to get to the campsite and had about an hour and a half of daylight left. There was a very strong head wind the whole way and it was my first experience sharing the road with massive trucks. Not a pleasant start to the ride but once I turned off the main road, the wind died down, traffic disappeared and the views become amazing. I nearly doubled my travel time just stopping taking photos and watching the huge coal trains going past.


I arrived at the campsite just after 7pm and was greeted by a big peacock showing all its splender, and the very strong wind was back! I got my tent up as quickly as possible, got my dinner of spaghetti and meatballs cooked, enjoyed 2 cans of Guinness and had an early night.



Day 2

Woke up with the sun at around half 6 or 7am. It was quite overcast and I was glad to feel the wind had died down overnight. I slowly warmed my porridge and backed up my camp. I took a walk around the campsite to wake up and it was the most unusual mix of lovely lake views, interrupted by a massive power station.

I set off at around half 8 to get some miles under my belt before the heat of the

day. I had approx 15-20km on a lovely quiet road before meeting the freeway again. It was fairly flat with some small hills. At one point I heard some rustling in the bush just behind me. It sounded different to a bird so I looked round to see a kangaroo bouncing off away from me. Great way to start the day.

After 40km I reached the small town of Singleton. It was only around midday but I was already feeling tired. I found a small shopping centre and stocked up on water, coke, and then raided a bakery for food. After an extended lunch break, I hit the road again. I had hoped to get to Pokolbin by the end of the day, centre of wine country, and visit a few cellar doors that evening.

It was now the warmest part of the day and while the views were great and I was ahead of schedule, I was really starting to struggle, mostly because of dehydration. It was just so warm, I couldn't drink enough to keep up with how much fluid I was losing.

Thankfully I soon got to the turn off for Pokolbin so I knew the free wine must be close. The road now took me past a lot of different vineyards that seemed to go on forever. At one stage the Brokenback mountains loomed and I was worried I was going to have to go over them, but instead of that torture, the Blue Tongue brewery came out of nowhere. A very welcome break. I'm not sure if I was more glad for a pint of beer or the air conditioning. Purely for the air conditioning, of course, I may have stayed for a second. The temperature outside was reaching 45+ degrees

By this stage it was around 3:30pm so I decided that it was time to visit the cellar doors nearby and scout for somewhere to camp. After visiting 3 or 4 cellar doors, I was told about a possible place to camp a few more kilometers down the round, which luckily took me past the cellar door I had hoped to visit when I was planning the trip. After doing some sampling, I bought a bottle of wine for the night ahead and found my place to camp. It was a picnic area but I found a space that was relatively hidden from the road and set up my tent there.

That night I met a French man that was touring around the Hunter Valley in his beaten up estate car, that doubled as his hotel, looking for some fruit picking work. We shared the bottle of wine I bought earlier and chatted using broken English and the occassional, usually incorrect, GCSE french phrases. If only he'd wanted directions to the cinema!

Day 3

I woke up very tired. My legs felt like they didn't have much in them, so I looked at my maps and decided that if I could just get over the mountains ahead, which is only about 50km, I would camp on the other side and take it easy.

First task after breakfast was to get to Cessneck, about 20km down the road. As it turned out it was a pretty gentle cycle over undulating hills, but my legs were so tired, it was hard work. When I arrived, I was wrecked, so when I saw the Golden Arches, I headed straight to them with the instructions, "Give me the largest coke you do and the largest strawberry milkshake".  Never has a milkshake/coke combo been so welcomed!

Newly rested, I decided it was time to get on and tackle the mountains. Luckily I knew I didn't have far to go today so could take it nice and easy. Ahead I could see 3 sets of mountains. I just prayed that I didn't have to go over them all!          

I did.

The first set of hills wasn't as bad as I had imagined and I found a small town nestled in the middle of mountains. There wasn't anything in the town but I found a shaded spot to rest in and a friendly trucker washing his truck that gave me drinking water to refill my bottles. After 20 minutes I decided to get going again.

This time, the going got a lot tougher. The mountains became steeper and bigger. The heat of the day was upon me but I knew I just had to keep going. At the top of the last set of mountains, I found a petrol station. I was exhausted. The grumpiest worker ever worked in the garage on the hill but I was so tired I didn't care.

It's amasing what chocolate and water can do to revive you. I rested for at least half an hour and then got going again. I wasn't sure what lay ahead but knew that the worst must surely be over by now. The next 10km was very hilly. Nothing very big but just up and down every few hundred meters.

I looked at the map and figured that if I headed towards the coast, I knew from there it was flat and since I'm up in the mountains, it must be mostly downhill from here. I was wrong. I had already come much further than I had planned at the start of the day, but it was only just after midday so thought I might as well go as far as I can so there is less to do the next day. I had previously camped in a town called Toukely so knew if I got there, I knew somewhere to set my tent up. it was only 37km down the road so I decided to go for it. Little did I know how up and down the next 37kms would be. At one point I was starting to feel sick and dizzy. I figured it was the start of heat stroke and dehydration so I stopped, found some shade and took on board as much water as I could. I had left my bike in the sun and when I got back, it was so hot, the LCD screen on my computer had melted and wasn't readable any more. Thankfully cooling it down again fixed it.

When I got to Toukley, I knew the next 15 km were flat so tried to contact a friend that lived there to see if I could crash at their place but I heard nothing back. At this point I was within 30km of home and still had 3 hours of daylight so decided to make one last push and get home. The last stretch took everything I had but I got home in just over an hour.

In total, because I chose to go over the mountains, the cycle was only 220km and had taken me just over 2 days of cycling. It was a great trip and a great way to see the Hunter Valley. The only thing I would change is the time of year. The height of summer is so hot and humid, half the weight of the bike is the water you have to carry and even then it never feels like you have enough.

Bring on the next trip!

Gearing Up

As you may have read in my previous post, I have recently arrived in Australia with no cycling equipment bar my set of Oxford Panniers. Since arriving I have bought a bike and some basic bits of equipment for day to day cycling (see last post). I am now ready to get out there and do some overnight cycling and so I need the necessary equipment. Most of it I have bought online and have either received or am waiting to receive it. In this post I will explain what I ordered and my thinking, albeit perhaps not good thinking, behind my choices. Feel free to add your own comments!

Tent

This is obvious, but the first bit of equipment I decided I needed before I head off is a tent. I know plenty of people go cycle touring and stay in B&Bs or hotels, but to me half the fun it to end your day by setting up camp and fending for yourself for the night.
Buying the tent ended up being trickier than I first thought. Initially I thought it'd be pretty simple, I'd order the tent from Amazon and a few days later I'd have my lovely tent in my hands, but alas, Amazon is in Australia. No problem I think, I shall go to a camping store and get a tent there. This is even better in fact as I'll be able to see the tent before buying it.

Nope.

It isn't that there aren't tents in Australian camping stores, of course there are, but the tents available are big heavy tents intended primarily for the glamping market. Designed to be thrown in someone's car boot until they arrive next to their pre-assigned site, then carried the 13 yards to where it is set up by the family. These tents were totally inappropriate for any sort of touring or hiking. I couldn't find anything in any store I went to, so I had to resort to option 3 - Ebay.

I love Ebay. I think for certain things it is hard to beat. I tend to limit those sorts of things to £2 screen protectors for my phone or a pack of half size M5 nuts for £3.25 including postage. The problem is, that is about as much as I trust Ebay with, so the idea of buying a tent for around $100 on there concerned me. It wasn't even that I thought I wouldn't receive the item, it was more that the quality of the tent couldn't be checked before receiving it. But I had no choice to I took a punt on a $79 Darche Hybrid 1 Person Ultra Light Hiking tent. I have to admit, I clicked the 'Confirm to buy' button with some trepidation. It was listed as weighing 1.5kgs and have a 5000mm PU coating.
Well...... the tent arrived yesterday, and I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed. It is a single skin tent so it will never keep me dry in a full storm but the skin material feels thick and of decent quality, as do the seems. I did however buy a tarp that I will carry with me until I trust the tent in the rain. I just hope my actual experiences with the tent are in line with my first thoughts of it.

Sleeping Bag

This item I was less concerned about than the tent as I am in Australia and for the majority of the time I am here it will be either summer or autumn so it won't get terribly cold. For the sleeping bag, I just ordered a cheapish one from Ebay. It is
listed as weighing less than a kilo and is 40x20x20cm when packed away. I havent received it yet but I'm sure it'll do the job.

Camping Stove

Getting a camping stove ended up being trickier than it needed to be. This one I can't actually blame on Australia, but instead on my friend's lack of knowledge of camping stores.

Back home, I have a great wee gas stove that screws on to a gas cylinder. It weights something like 100g and is fairly powerful. I hoped to get much that same thing here. Without my first port of call, Amazon, being available, my friend took

Similar to my home setup

me to a few outdoor stores to see if I could get one there. The only stoves they have were large 2 or 3 burner stoves that took large cylinders that take 2 men to carry. Nowhere seemed to have anything smaller, although a few sold the small cylinders for portable stoves. It baffles me as to way they wouldn't stock the stoves as well.

The only thing I could find the the stores was a Hexi-burner so I bought one for $10 as a back up stove for longer trips.

In the end I was able to find a store that actually stocked not just one but maybe 4 or 5 hiking stoves and so I was able to buy one with a built in ignition for less than $40. It isn't quite as small as I was hoping but it will do the job well.

Cooking Pots

Just as with the camping stoves, in the majority of stores, the only pots and pans available for camping were again for glamping and were big and heavy. This sent me back to Ebay. I initially saw these:

I thought they seemed like they would do the job well. They weren't too expensive but as they were coming from China, I wasn't too confident of the quality so I ended up buying 2 mess tins as a safe back up.

Conclusion

As you can see from what I purchased, buying light, portable camping equipment in Australia isn't as easy as in some other countries. Overall I am quite happy with what I have ordered but only time will tell. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to add a comment below.

New Land, New Issues

Getting Started

New South Wales - Australia

I arrived in Australia just over a month ago. Before I left the UK I was building up my distances on the bike and getting the equipment together to start some bike touring. I actually got to the point that I was really happy with the gear I had (bar my bike which was a 20 year old mountain that hadn't been used for 10 years). Unfortunately when I started to pack for Aussie, I realised I was very limited in what I could take and decided the only thing I would take with my would be my Oxford panniers as they were relatively expensive. No problem, I though, I'll can pick up the basics of what I need when I'm over there. But no. What no one told me was that in Australia, nothing is as easy as you'd think. The first issue is that Australia is expensive. Generally everything is about twice the price. And the second issue is that internet shopping isn't as easy here. For example, Amazon.com.au only sells books. Nothing else. Ebay is here but postage takes an age and most items seem to come from Hong Kong so you could be waiting over a month to receive your item, if you ever do.

When moving, I had a certain amount of money with me to survive until I got a job and so I could not put a lot of money in to a bike before getting a job, however, not having a bike seemed a horrific idea. My friend took me to a store called Big W (Woolworths is still alive in Australia). There were some pretty cheap bikes there, none were ideal for touring and as a man of 6'2'', I only fitted one. (Or so I thought but more on that later). Perhaps it was the strong need for a bike, or maybe that I was still trying to come to terms with the cost of everything here, I decided to buy the cheap bike.

Bike bought, I needed some basic items: Helmet, Spare inner tube, Bike lock, Multitool, Pump, Water bottle and cage. All these items were purchased at Big W, weren't cheap but in Australian terms, they were.

When I first got in to cycling back home, a good friend of mine helped me get my bike back in to working order, and also gave me a good piece of advice, it is worth spending a bit more to get a decent item rather than the cheapest as you'll end up buying twice if you do. Or, you get what you pay for. I think this is extremely tue with it comes to cycling, and I was nervous while walking out of Big W. It turns out I was right to be nervous......

The Bike

I have to keep this in mind, I bought this bike as a stop gap until I get a job and can afford a better bike.

Actually the bike is fine. It is a mountain bike with 29'' wheels. Not ideal for road cycling but it does the job, just about. It has an steel frame and weighs around 16kg. The main issue with the bike is the frame has a dropped top bar. I didn't think anything of it when I bought it but to get the height I need of the seat, the seat post has to be extended to its very limits. Again, I didn't think this was a problem when I bought the bike, but very soon after I took the bike out for a couple of short cycles, I realised the seat post to being bent and so I was left with having to make the compromise of lowers the seat and so not getting full leg extension so the seat post isn't over extended. Not ideal.

Basic Items

Helmet - The helmet I bought cost $30 which seemed a good price. I am actually quite pleased with it. It is quite comfortable though I have worn more comfortable and I've had no problems with it. 

Spare Inner Tube - I haven't had to use this yet but was reasonably priced at approx. $5. Not a lot more I can say about this.

Bike Lock - $15. Not such a great experience here. I bought a combination bike lock from Big W. It worked fine for a while but about about 3 weeks, it suddenly the barrel suddenly stopped rotating and so rendered it useless. I have since had to buy a second lock. 

Multitool - $10. The multitool has been fine. The range of Allen keys and spanner sittings was large enough to cover everything on the bike. Also has a Philips and Flat head screw drive. Only issue was when trying to loosen the seat bolt, the spanner fitting was too weak and snapped off. 

Pump - $15. The pump seemed adequate with fittings for both schrader and french style valves, and the pump worked fine the rear tire but when trying to pump up the front tire, it wouldn't latch on and so wouldn't work. I had to borrow my friend's, cheaper, pump to inflate the tire. Another issue is that the bracket the came with the pump had no fastening so I was concerned that I small bump in the road would cause the pump to fly out of its bracket and I'd lose it, which would be a problem if I was in the middle of nowhere.  I have since had to replace the pump.

Water Bottle and Cage - $15. The water bottle has been fine. Hard to get a plastic bottle wrong. The cage on the other hand has been so great, but still functions. It is a metal cage and so strong enough, the bit that let it down was a small plastic cap on the top of the cage that broke off before we even left the store. The bottle is still held in place but is quite loose. I haven't replaced it yet but I can see that I am have to at some point. 

As I said before, I went for the cheap route due to limitations of funds so I can't expect too much from these items. I am planning a quick overnight cycle soon to test all my equipment before going for longer cycles in more remote places, so fingers crossed!