English
I have just been in Australia for the past 3 weeks which was bliss! The Dutchman and I went to celebrate my Dad’s 60th and attend the wedding of a very close friend of mine.
We started the trip off with a few days in Hong Kong exploring the sites and just winding down after a few hectic weeks leading into the holiday. I always struggle on holidays to focus and get all my training done, but was off to a good start on this trip. We had a running track right near our hotel, a decent gym and a 50m pool not too far away.
Once arriving in Australia we headed straight over to Cranks bike store in North Sydney where a mate Mike works. Mike had organised some lovely carbon road bikes for us to borrow for a week which saved the hassle of bringing our own. Our first stop was to the Central Coast of NSW which is gorgeous and famous for its beaches. My friend lives right on the beach and the sun was out making it all that more lovely for us.
We spent the next 5 days between the coast and the Hunter Valley, a wine region just inland getting in some great rides, and of course some wine tasting. The picture is from a dolphin watching cruise we did with my family, unfortunately I couldn’t go into the water as I had contracted an ear infection and laryngitis which put a hole in my swim training schedule. Thankfully I wasn’t so sick I couldn’t ride so we did some amazing rides along the coast looking out for dolphins and koalas.
I am from a rural area of New South Wales, A place near Parkes, a town made famous by the movie ‘The Dish’. My parents no longer live on the farm, my Dad travels out there each day to check the sheep, and crops and produce bio diesel from cooking oil which he makes for his own use in a plant he made himself. The biggest problem we faced when riding was that we had to keep doing the same road as it was the only one that wasn’t a major highway or run out of tarmac and become a dirt road. As you can see from the snap, there isn’t much out there other than farmland.
We did encounter some of the local wildlife whilst out and about….an Eastern Brown snake, considered to be the 2nd most venomous land snake in the world. We came across this decent sized one on the road at the farm and he posed for a picture before shooting off into the grass which they tend to do if not threatened.
Back to Sydney for a few days for the wedding staying close to Circular Quay which gave us great access to the Botanical Gardens and the Andrew Charlton pool. The botanical gardens wrap around farm cove and have fabulous views of Sydney, the bridge and opera house and have lots of undulating terrain to run and push the heart rate up. The pool is on the Woolloomooloo side of the gardens and is a 50m outdoor pool on the water. It was a real treat to go for a run with a pair of goggles in my pocket, stop off for my swim session and then continue the run.
We had another week of fun to go which we spent cycling the Great Ocean Road which you will hear about in a few days….
Until then, happy training.
Cx
