Finished!
The final day took us from Picton to Elouera Beach (one of the Cronulla beaches) and then back to Cronulla Uniting Church.
In a sense this day began the previous day as we realised that the showers we had at the end of that day were the last we would have before our own showers at home. And so on for each activity from then on. As the trip had worn on there had sometimes been a bit of a “Groundhog Day” feel about things. Now there was a finality about everything.
This last day’s riding started out brilliantly and got better as far as the weather was concerned. The ride took us from Picton in the direction of Appin via Broughton Pass to Sublime Point where we had morning tea. This journey was hilly, and the pinch out of Broughton Pass was the steepest climb on the trip. However that pinch was not all that long and everyone managed it OK. (For myself, having not used the “granny ring” all trip, it wouldn’t engage for me when I wanted it and I had to push up in the middle ring. Good for me I suppose.)
At Sublime Point we were met by a number of local riders who rode the last ~50km with us. One of them commented that he expected a bunch of weary riders who needed a tow from him to get home. What he found was the whatever speed he rode the bunch of us simply sat on his tail. Not weary but fit after that many days riding.
The road from Sublime Point in towards Sydney was hillier than I had expected and there was some work to be done before we were done.
Edna got back on the bike at Waterfall after the hills were all done for the final 20km.
We arrived at Elouera beach on the dot of noon as scheduled to be met by friends, relatives and representatives of the Bible Society. For the Kippax folk, Lyndelle Ramsay was there to greet us with a hug and a pile of balloons for Edna. Photos and general fun on the shores of the Pacific Ocean were then the order of the day.
Then it was on to Cronulla Uniting Church for the official end of the trip. A good crowd to welcome us and participate in the final presentation of certificates and medals, followed by a great lunch for riders, visitors and all.
Eventually it was time to pack up and go home. This turned out to be a much longer and trickier exercise than we expected. We needed to load our bikes and gear into Jim’s trailer which was on Roger’s car, together with extra bikes and gear from some who were to stay at Jim’s place, then at Jim’s place re-engineer the towbar on Roger’s car to take the bike beak, then reload all our stuff from Jim’s trailer into Roger’s trailer. Took a great deal longer than expected, by which time we realised we’d never make it to the Chinese restaurant booking we had in Canberra. So a cup of tea then as we got under way at 5pm there were lots of phone calls to get Louise and Jocelyn to cancel the booking, break into Kauffmans’ house, organise take away and contact those involved to come at a different place and time. We eventually arrived home at 8pm to Chinese takeaway and a welcome home from our families, and a celebratory cake lovingly constructed from a route map off the web.
And thence home to our own beds.
What sort of a journey have we had? We have been favoured with remarkably good conditions throughout the journey. Yes we’ve had wind, rain and cold, but not much of any of these things. Lots of tail winds when it really counted on the long days across the Nullarbor; only about three days of difficult winds; days when we’ve seen rain around and in front of us, even drenching the food crew as the travelled ahead of us, but the rain somehow avoiding the riders; benign temperatures almost all the way.
It will take us all some time for it all to sink in and come to understand what the journey means to us and what lasting effects it has had on us. A bunch of over 20 people living in close proximity for five weeks and all getting on well for the whole time has been a great experience from which we will each learn something. Although fundraising is the goal of the exercise, the journey is much more than that.
To all who have supported us in many, many different ways over the time, thank you from all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment