I couldn't believe it: This girl was making my dreams come true

August 19, 2015

On the 17th of August we finally said our goodbyes to Catherine and Malcolm and began the last leg of the journey to the Gold Coast. We began by returning to the wonderful Sydney harbour from where we caught a ferry which would avoid us having to cycle through the busier parts of the city. This was a tremendously good idea because we had even greater views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from the boat, and with far less leg work.

The ferry took us to Manly, whose reputation preceded it and where Dea commented that Manly beach was a good place for a walk but “not the most beautiful beach in the world.” From there we headed north along the coast towards a place called Palm Beach, following more bicycle paths that provided a good mix of coastal riding and inland through parks and around lakes. It was an enjoyable ride until we realised that we were in danger of missing the ferry from Palm Beach and we had to sprint the last bit, which was also on a busy road, but of course we are both wicked awesome, and so we made the ferry with moments to spare.

Looking back at the ferry once we were at our destination

The ferry took us to a place called Ettalong and we were already now well beyond Sydney. Overall passing through Australia’s largest city via a combination of cycle paths and ferries had proved not only painless but thoroughly enjoyable. From Ettalong we followed another bicycle path alongside a lake to the town of Gosford where we camped amongst the trees of a reserve.

Rest stops don't get more comfortable than this

The next day we were back in the forest, and taking a particularly bad dirt road towards Cessnock. It was the worst that we had done and right from the start was very steep and very rocky. We were off and pushing and I was concerned because Dea for once didn’t seem to be enjoying herself. The road was a long one and I feared that if it was this bad all the way we might be in trouble.

Of course I should not have been worried in the least about Dea. She soon went on ahead of me and disappeared. I came to another very steep and difficult climb where I could see Dea had already got up. I myself had to walk, then all my bags started falling off because of the bumpy terrain and I had to stop to reassemble them. Eventually I did all this and managed to get going again, although by the time I eventually caught up to her, Dea was even walking back to look for me. “You are an exceptionally impressive individual” I said as she greeted me.

"Come on Dea. I would help, but someone's got to take the photographs!"

Australia's interesting conservation techniques continued to raise eyebrows

Fortunately the road did get better and we were able to both enjoy it more. It was once again great to be alone in the woods, cycling with one another (when I could keep up), playing games and camping together in the serene environment. But it was the following morning when things got really awesome. We stopped at a rest area called Pine Picnic Area and sat and ate like usual. Then, as I was preparing to leave, Dea looked at me with a cheeky grin on her face and said to me “Chris, have you seen what’s on the ground?” I looked around and noticed the pine cones. “Do you want to?” she asked. It was at about this moment that I realised that this was almost certainly the girl that I was going to marry.

I couldn’t believe it. The ambition I’d held of one day playing Pine Cone Wars was finally about to be realised after two years. This girl was literally making all of my dreams come true. Incredible. We excitedly ran around and gathered up ten pine cones each and then concealed them on our bikes and on ourselves. The rules were simply devised. Ten throws each whilst cycling, no stopping, five points for a helmet hit, three for a front pannier, two for a back pannier, one for a body hit. We lined up and began cycling again. Pine Cone Wars was a go!

A sneaky place to store your pine cones Dea

It began, of course, with a great rush of excitement as I went on ahead up a slight hill, cautious of an attack from behind. But instead I burst ahead then swung around, doubling back towards my opponent. It was a poorly thought through strategy, however, as I had no pine cone prepared to throw, and instead I was heading straight towards my armed opponent. A pine cone came flying towards me. I ducked just in time and it whizzed over my helmet. Then I swung around again, now behind the enemy but still unable to arm myself with a pine cone. Dea, now unsure of my position, braked suddenly, and before I could react it was too late. I crashed into the back of her, my front wheel colliding with her back left pannier, breaking one of the clips. Thirty seconds into Pine Cone Wars and we’d had our first accident. ‘Maybe this is why nobody wanted to play with me before,’ I thought.

Despite the dubious beginnings we decided to continue. It was the perfect location with the road levelling out to quite a decent gravel surface with a complete lack of vehicular traffic. I decided to adopt a different approach now, however, and tried coming at Dea from the side, but I missed with my first couple of throws and she responded with a direct hit to my helmet. A devastating blow to be sure, but I was just thrilled to be living the dream. I persevered despite more wayward throws. Then we had another moment of high drama as Dea, struggling to maintain her balance whilst simultaneously throwing pine cones, avoiding pine cones, and riding a bicycle, slipped and her bike skidded out underneath her.

It was Dea’s bike that seemed to be taking the full brunt of Pine Cone Wars. That and my helmet, which sadly suffered another direct hit soon after. Desperate not to lose at my own game I came back with a pannier hit and a couple of body hits, but I just couldn’t find a way back into the contest. In my defence Dea does have a very small head, which meant I was somewhat disadvantaged, although even I had to concede that she probably did deserve her final victory of thirteen points to five. It had been great to finally get to play Pine Cone Wars but with two accidents, a broken pannier, and one wounded ego, it seemed to be a game that would be unlikely to ever be repeated.

17/08/15 – 58km

18/08/15 – 55km

19/08/15 – 58km

Today's ride: 171 km (106 miles)
Total: 46,308 km (28,757 miles)

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