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Ahhhh. Very good sleep and much needed rest — for me, at least. Dana was raring to go, but we both forgot the name of where we were going and Janet suggested “Coota-bloody-mundra” as a memory jog. It worked (though we didn’t add the “bloody” part when we were actually in Cootamundra). After making our coffee and posing for some quick pics, Ian was off on an exercise outing with friends.
Janet’s neighbor Max came over at breakfast and we chatted with him a while. His wife Crista (originally from Austria) joined us in the driveway and we chatted a while and Max brought flags to wave as we started off for Coota-bloody-mundra.
We could’ve gone through town again, but the shorter route we took turned out to be through an industrial park with lots of truck traffic. Oh, well. You win some… The rest of the route was better than those first 10 miles. On the way we met a couple touring south: he 78ish, she mid-70ish. He: “You just have to keep moving!” They were doing about 1/2 the miles a day that we are doing, but they were out there! Inspirational. Keep moving!
We did. For the most part on the highway with good shoulders and little traffic. So much so that even Dana agreed to stay on the highway vs. a side road with a big climb. We had a lunch stop in Junee, and got into Cootamundra before anything closed. Dana did her regular check out of the town and all the possibilities and I parked myself at the Central Hotel with a cold one until Dana joined me. Pretty pleasant ride all-in-all.
We then rode to our hosts for the night, Anne-Maree and David, and their beautiful home in a nearby neighborhood. David is semi-retired from the real estate business, and they both work with/for a bicycle touring company – Ride and Seek. They’ve been all over the world and in 2027 will be supporting a Sydney-Hobart ride — David riding sag, and Anne doing the meals and logistics. They also have a rescue pup — can’t remember his name — but he was quite shy and though he warmed up to us enough to stop barking, he still shied away when approached. We had a lovely meal and bevees (another Aussie abbreviation) and headed to bed. David and Anne were leaving at 5 am to go to the French embassy/consulate in Sydney to get their visas for an upcoming trip with Ride and Seek. Apparently, you have to show up in person to get a visa for France. Both NZ’s and Australia’s procedures were pretty painless — scan your passport, pay your fee, and you’re in.
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