PROGRESS REPORT NO. 2
CANBERRA- SYDNEY, 15 AUGUST- 21 AUGUST
Day 30: Monday 16 August – CANBERRA TO GOULBURN
Distance: 98km
Distance so far: 1241km
Weather: sunny & cloudy to start with with cold wind across & behind. Started raining progressively
harder once we got to Lake George. becoming Horizontal rain with Icy chill wind. Rain eased up after
3pm
Terrain: Riding hard shoulder of freeway. Long hills, plus flat by Lake George/
First puncture later that afternoon! Froze our hands changing the tube.
Day 31: Tuesday 17 August – GOULBURN TO EXETER
Distance: 63.5 km
Distance so far: 1304.5km
Weather: chill in the air. Dry. High clouds. Some blue sky. Sunny
Terrain: Riding hard shoulder of freeway. Ascending up to over 750 metres. Long hills. Upland.
Stunning Anglican cathedral, built 1822 ish, redolent, of English city. Once more important and richer
than Canberra.
Roland and I fell out with each other, needing our space. Bouncing off each other. Non stop for a time.
It can be difficult for a gay man and a straight man to work together in such close proximity for a long
time. We have a renewed sense of opportunity to build and strengthen our trust in working together.
And perhaps there is a book idea here: gay man and straight man on bikes together. How to cycle
around the world and survive each other?
Spent morning in Gouldburn, procuring parts at bike shop, eg replacement tubes for both Roland’s
and my bike. The GreenGrocery combines deli, café and bike shop. Not cheap, but the boss did
reduce the Endura energy bars from 6 dollars to 5 dollars for us. Two of the local pros passed by, in
red.
Left midday. Good weather. Long climb on freeway out of Goulburn. And continued long climbs and
descents. Stopped half way at Maralan for water. Lemon and lime drink powder tastes better than
strawberry. Royal Hotel opposite. Built 1872. Licence revoked 1900.
We left the Barton Highway, after Hanging Rock, given the number of near misses from trucks
passing too close, and headed inland on a small road. We passed a farm advocating permaculture and
turned in. And knocked at the door. The owner was in, looking after the sheep, chooks, and
vegetables. The house has a passive design, with a quantum heat pump for the water.
Roland and I talked over some of the stuff coming up between us. He slept well. I (Chris) didn’t.
Day 32: Wednesday 18 August – EXETER TO WOLLONGONG (NAN TIEN TEMPLE)
Distance: 80 km
Distance so far: 1384.5km
Weather: overcast & quite cold up top, needing winter clothing. Humid, 3-4 degrees warmer below.
Terrain: some short steep hills, then a descent of 750 metres in 14km thru rainforest to the coast
0830 departure from Exeter
Up hill all day till about 2pm on the narrow Illawarra highway. Then 14km descent on the McQuarrie
pass through pristine rainforest, watered by the pacific weather patterns. A stunning series of hairpin
bends. The pass with its highly engineered side walls was finished in 1898, the same year as the
Blackwall tunnel was completed under the river Thames in London.
On arrival on the coastal plain we hit the bungalows redolent of “homes for heroes” so ubiquitous in
British coastal resorts. Highly car-oriented, and appearing to have nothing in common with nature or
the outdoors except for a stunning backdrop of the Great dividing range behind.
We cycled along the glass and rubbish-strewn hard shoulder of two freeways to get into Wollongong,
and stay at the Taiwanese Buddhist temple built on a former Wollongong municipal rubbish dump,
next to the freeway.
Day 33: Thursday 19 August – WOLLONGONG TO STANWELL PARK
Distance: 24km
Distance so far: 1408.5 km
Weather: Bright blue sun
Terrain: Cycle path, a few quite steep ascents into Stanwell Park.
Morning interview with ABC Wollongong about Bike the Earth, on the 10.30am talk show with Nick
Reinberger. Aside from Chris uttering the forbidden “f***” word, the interview/discussion went well,
and was appreciated by all there. No complaints phoned in either.
Afterwards – coffee and lunch at Leeandme, Wollongong, a boutique cum café where the goodlooking
and moneyed swarm in. Warm weather. Roland swam mid afternoon. Freezing cold. Bathed more
like it. Glorious series of well laid out, new cycling paths along the coast to Stanwell Park.
Day 34 : Friday 20 August – STANWELL PARK TO BUNDEENA
Distance: 53.8 km
Distance so far: 1461.8 km
Weather: Sunny. Warm by the beach. Cold high up on the hills in the national park.
Terrain: Very hilly & quite steep, from stunning rainforest to high altitude scrub and rock.
Left our couchsurfing contact’s glorious house overlooking the sea, having done yoga on the balcony,
and had an extended breakfast at the artgallerycafe who gave us our deli lunch sandwiches for free.
We learned there that Stanwell Park was the location for Hargrave’s research into biplanes which was
used when the French made the first safe commercial flight in 1905 from the Seine, in Paris.
Took off at midday up the huge long hill, and then into the Royal National Park. Cars still drove too
fast, but there were fewer of them. Took the trailer off road for 10km. Chris got lacklustre towards end
of day with so many hills and had run out of energy drink and chocolate.
Descended to Bundeena. Stayed at campsite. C O L D.
Day 35: Saturday 21 August –BUNDEENA TO BONDI BEACH
Distance: 42.8 km
Distance so far: 1504.6 km
Weather: Good sunny blue skies, but strong gusts of wind, and chilly.
Terrain: Coastal belt suburbia, hills, urban streets, Anzac Bridge
I had been warned that Sydney drivers were different from London’s. A young woman driving a Jeep
SUV cut into us 4 cyclists as we cycled out of Cronulla northwards towards Sydney City As she
forced her metal box towards my bicycle, I tried tapping her window to let her know that she had
nearly killed me, but she accelerated away with such velocity that I could see flavours of the Sicilian
mafia fused with Dehli driving here in Sydney.
Day 36: Sunday 22 August - SYDNEY/ BONDI BEACH
1. Sydney and London compared. Fusion of cultures. Dog eat dog. The view from Melbourne that
Sydney is a city of convicts is not something that is at all apparent to a one week visitor. True
Melbourne is stunningly civilised where Sydney is chaotic. But there is a definite buzz here in
Sydney, cosmopolitain, with a fusion of cultures.
2. Crossing roads. The way people from different cultures acknowledge the car or cyclist giving
way. Asians don’t look into people’s eyes usually – choosing not to acknowledge/thank the
person who has given way.
3. Incredible variety of Victorian architecture here in Sydney like in Melbourne.
4. Double decker trains (like on the RER in Paris). With station names so quintessentially English
Kings Cross, Sydenham, Penshurst, Liverpool, Petersham, Lewisham, Croydon, Guildford ,
Blackheath and St. Leonards.
Wednesday 25 August
Attended Transition Bondi meeting – filming of No Impact Man. Film deserving to be shown later on
Bike the Earth. A guy at the meeting read the leaflet I had handed out about Bike the Earth, and turned
to me as he read of my trans Himalayan cycle ride in 1988. “I’ve done that.” He said. Last year he
cycled the 600km over the 21000 foot Rohtang Pass that I had wanted to do in 1988, to be the first
person in the world to do by bicycle, but I was turned away by Indian soldiers given that in those days
that road was closed to foreigners. Now it is open.
I conveyed to the group some of the amazing initiatives happening along the way of Bike the Earth, to
inspire and connect the participants even further.
Meanwhile, Roland travelled to Manly to hear John Knox speak, and gave him some pointers to
improve his delivery and connection with the audience. Interesting that John was advocating
DESERTEC – something Chris has done along the route that John has followed “Bike the Earth” on.
Chris was at the inaugural meeting to launch DESERTEC at the European Parliament in November
2008, and has been actively pushing it for Australia, to be build on outback land subject to the full
involvement of, and consultation with the local people. This was something that Chris asked directly
of the Pacific Hydro representative in Ballarat at the Brease meeting we attended. It was especially
interesting to hear the surprise and interest from the Brease & 100% Renewables teams when Chris
questioned the Pacific Hydro representative about large scale plans & suggested this as a scheme
worth considering to the full audience during the question time. It seems that neither had thought of
this scale of operation as possible or probable.
(It was also very interesting to see the Brease & 100% Renewable teams surprise when Roland asked
in a later question time of the Pacific Hydro representative whether they had considered that
investing in the 100% renewable campaign could be seen as inexpensive & highly effective way for
them to get the policy changes & infrastructure investment they needed from the federal & state
governments. Roland later suggested that Pacific Hydro consider creating an Alliance between the
other sustainable energy companies to invest in the 100% renewable campaign and to present to the
government and public a united costed willing team of public and commercial interests.)
It's great to see how our questions connections & stand is feeding into John’s work & how we are
creating direct tangible results through these connections.
Thursday 26 August
Cycled at 6am down towards La Peruasa with Russell Port and some of his cycling friends who I met
at Transition Bondi. Coffee afterwards, then nearly 2 hours of yoga stretching parts of with Amelie of
YogaSynergy
Visited The Suv afterwards – a startling variety of delicious foods, non wheat, non dairy, non soya,
non sugar, non cocoa, non etc. Why aren’t there more shops like this in the world?
Attended, witnessed inauguration of, and took photos of signing ceremony for the OLCD – the
organisation for Local Economic and Cultural Development, informed by the OECD in Paris, but looking to
serve the local initiatives bubbling up. A memorandum of understanding was signed between:
1. Community Land Trust (already average property prices in Sydney are $600,000 thus making it
difficult for first time buyers, and perhaps contributing to the new dog eat dog mentality here);
2. Elizabeth Page/Sustainability Sydney,
3. Jnana Australia, Consultancy led by Karel Boele – charismatic lawyer/finance guy, MD of
Jnana.
And witnessed by Lance Lieber is also a Be the Change facilitator, a member of the Bamerangs group,
and chair of Transition Bondi.
Friday 27 August
Took the train from Central Station to Katoomba, high up in the Blue Mountains with Russell Port, It
was a good 10 degrees colder up there. Why are the blue mountains so called? Because, the essences
given off by the eucalyptus trees carpeting the mountains are blue, and so the hills look blue.
Visited a permaculture garden just off the centre of Katoomba, serving the community, providing free
fruit and vegetables to all those who would like some.
Met young civil servants from Australian Environment Ministry in Canberra. It bodes well for the
future of Asia/Pacific to have such committed individuals working there.
Saturday 28th August
Catching up on outstanding paper sorting before hitting the road again Sunday.
And a time to catch my breath, if that can be done in Bondi – Australia’s most famous beach – but a
relaxing place to be just before the crowds turn up in September. It is something of a conundrum
seeing on one hand the traffic, consumerism, surfing, and leisure lifestyle here, lots of cyclists in full
lycra whizzing through today (cycling is now the new golf, one cyclist told me), and on the other
hand, just an hour’s journey inland of Sydney there are remnants of life from the days when human
ancestors were as large as mice, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Parts of Australia are so OLD.
And all I see, enjoy and witness here in Bondi, derives from an imported anglobalised world, slightly
dismissive (until recently, atleast) of indigenous ways, and nature. Out to sea, another container ship
is heading into Sydney with another load of consumables from China perhaps. How long can these
two worlds coincide? Humankind is at the edge of the abyss, at the cusp of its greatest hour, when it
turns aside and treats the planet with reverence, rather than raping it, soulfully rather than soiling it,
protecting the planet rather than polluting it. That is why I created Bike the Earth – to spur, inspire
and connect people, to act for 100% renewable energy, and for leaving tiny footprints on the planet, if
at all.
Chris Le Breton
http:/www.biketheearth.net
http://www.planbig.com.au/Bike-the-Earth
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS WITHOUT WHOSE SUPPORT WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE
TO CARRY OUT BIKE THE EARTH’S WORK.
www.untouchedworld.com - Expedition Cycle Clothing
www.havebike.co.uk - Trailer
www.carryfreedom.co.uk - Waterproof Orange Box
www.bigfootbikes.co.uk - Bicycle parts and Bicycle Carrier
www.dhl.co.uk - Transportation of Bicycle and Trailer from UK to Australia
www.humanpowered.com.au - Subsidised bicycle and equipment
www.eco2sys.com - a tent
www.wordzup.com - a projector for our events
AND TO THOSE WHO HAVE DONATED FUNDS DIRECTLY TO US, OR VIA JUSTGIVING Including
Tony and Nada Smark, Castlemaine, Australia
Scott Kinnear, Daylesford. Australia
David and Patricia Le Breton, Westerham, England
Charles Haviland, Sri Lanka
-- THANK YOU -