The Bridge that never was…
Dearest Intrepid Reader,
We had planned to be in Ulladulla yesterday to give us a good chance to arrive in Sydney outside of peak hour.
We had a coffee in Nowra and then headed to Kiama, as Jenny had not been to the blow hole.
The weather was perfect and we took off a lot of our extra layers at Nowra.
We then headed towards Bulli on the Princess Highway so we could again hug the coast and take the Sea Cliff Bridge to Sydney. The Sea Cliff Bridge is 665 metres long, and is a part of Lawrence Hargrove drive just north of Wollongong.
The bridge was built to address geotechnical instability between Clifton and Coalcliff, that would result in road closures often for months at a time.
We had a beautiful day. We missed the parking areas for the photo opportunities.
It is an amazing feat of engineering.
We then headed into Sydney. We had timed it perfectly and the traffic was manageable.
Four Queensland bikers had a wonderful plan to ride accross the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and then we absolutely nailed going through the tunnel under the harbour. So here is a stolen picture of the bridge.
We did have a contingency plan if we were separated, and for a short while the MOTH and I thought that, Jenny and John, did not follow us and made it accross the bridge.
I had, ended up with a large piece of road rubbish tangled around my brake and foot. As it is on my throttle hand side, it was hard to pull it off.
I eventually did, but until I did, I had to keep my foot suspended so I could still brake, which is required, quite frequently in traffic while trying not to allow any space between the MOTH and I, so other cars can not push in between us.
However we are so good at staying together they went under the harbour as well. Oh dear.
We then regrouped and tried to head towards Newcastle. This also turned out to be difficult.
This is when we did end up separated. Luckily we all resorted to the contingency plan and all eventually ended up at the backup meet point.
The really hilarious part of all this, it was not actually the 7/11 Roadhouse we had arranged to meet at. That one was a further 7 kms down the road. Anyway we were all grateful to be together, so we had a crispy crème donut. (Accept John, he had a healthy option and neurofen) I could have had a couple of prescription drugs as well. But I refrained.
Anyway way we eventually headed out towards Newcastle.
That is a whole lot of freeway and was kind of a bit too much for me.
I did have trouble maintaining my speed, but with a bit of encouragement from the MOTH, I made it to Toronto.
We all arrived safely. We were all relieved to be here. There was a few moments of concern when several motels we tried were all fully booked.
It turns out the local power station is having a major shutdown and many workers have come from all over Australia. We finally secured the last two rooms in the Catalina Motel.
We could only manage a shower and delivery Chinese. John and Jenny had pizza.
Ok we did go out and get a few quiet drinks . However us country folk in the city definitely earned them today. Plus a few prescription only drugs if we choose to have them.
Give me the Nullabor, anyday.
If you ride out to find the way.
The way will appear, except if it is the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Until Next time!
MOTH and LOL
