Day 1: Canberra, ACT to Yass, NSW

February 15, 2021

Canberra, ACT to Yass, NSW

The day started early. Serena and I were up at 5:45am. She drove to Blundell's Cottage and I rode. It's only a few minutes away.

When I arrived there, I realised that I'd left my phone and bag of electrical items at home. Luckily, I wasn't far from home.

The charming Blundell's Cottage was built in 1860, which is old for this area.

Over the years, the cottage has housed a ploughman, a bullock driver, and a shepherd.

https://www.nca.gov.au/blundel...

Soon I was on my way around Australia!

The weather was good to me for my first day. It was sunny and warm, with a tail wind all the way to Yass.

After one hour, I left the Australian Capital Territory behind, and entered New South Wales.

I stopped at a rest stop for a few minutes.

I rode some more and then found these yummy ripe blackberries by the roadside.

Blackberries are a bad weed in Australia, yet they're awfully tasty to a hungry cyclist.

I stopped in Murrumbateman to have lunch with my mate Blowy. Has 5 dogs staying at his house. Mostly Labradors, which I think are the best dogs. They were all running around so I couldn't get a good picture of all of them together.

Yesterday, I was changing the battery in my cycle computer and I dropped it, and it broke. Serena let me take the one from her bike, which is wireless.

It was working fine until I got to Murrumbateman when it said I was doing 199km/hr! The Appcon device I have is blue tooth and it interferes with the cycle computer. Bummer.

This was the scenery for most of the day.

Until I found an apple tree with delicious juicy fruit. I ate 2 and left the rest for the next cycle tourist.

The information centre lady said the only place that sold bikes in town was a camping shop. I went there and had no success.

I then contemplated what to do while enjoying a banana milkshake and a fruit tart.

I called 3 bike shops in Canberra until I found one that sold a hard-wired bike computer.

I checked into the Yass camp ground. ($25) while I waited for Serena to finish work early.

She went to the bike shop, bought the computer, and then drove it out to me. She's a very nice wifey. I'm a lucky man indeed.

The computer is installed and hopefully I won't have anymore trouble.

I enjoyed a short ride along the Yass River.

I made a rookie mistake today by not putting on sun screen until the late morning. This has resulted in some minor sunburn. I should know better. Hopefully I won't repeat this mistake.

I had a large and tasty dinner at the Yass Soldier's Club. I'm not going to lose any weight if this continues.

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 70 km (43 miles)

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Dave ErtelHi Vince
We are Dave and Nancy of leavewithoutpay.com. (most of our trips are logged there, a few on CGOAB).
We knew you were starting today and worried when we could find you on CGOAB. We were glad to finally find you here!
Anyway - have a great trip - this time you'll make it for sure.
We are in Sydney BTW...
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3 years ago

Veronica Joinerwell done for getting started Vince. Serena is absolutely amazing for going the extra miles for you. Lucky you.
Reply to this comment
3 years ago

Vince McCarthyTo Dave ErtelThank you Nancy and Dave.

I'll check out your site when I have a rest day.
Cheers
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3 years ago