sydney to the gold coast by e-trike

[Diamondback]

We broke camp at 7am. Had breakfast at Kulnura general store.
Bit of a climb out of Kulnura. Then we had about 10km of downhill. My max speed for the day was 67.9km/h.

Rode 34km to Laguna. Had lunch at the general store there. 2 very tasty sandwiches.
That was around 11am. Used 3.4ah for the 34km to Laguna.

Rode from Laguna to wollombi then into cessnock.
Arrived at cessnock around 2:20pm. Nice early day.
Plenty of daylight left for setting up camp and washing some clothes.

On to Dungog tomorrow. About 75km or so of undulating terrain.

Stats from today.

74.2 km
7.64 ah
361.94 watt hrs
4.8 wh/km
345.1 human watt hrs
108 avg human watts
Avg speed 16.7 km/h
Max speed 67.9 km/h

I have tried emailing pictures to voicecoils.
I think my ISP is down at the moment.

I will keep trying.

Jason.

 

[voicecoils]

I've received Jason's last few photos for Day 3, waiting for the earlier photos to come through and I'll post the whole lot.

I'm really enjoying seeing a ride log with both Human Watts and Motor Watts, very cool! 8)

 

[jkbrigman]

Thanks guys for the thread and photos of your tour. I get a big kick out of telling my friends here in the US about "our forum buddies in Australia".

 

[Diamondback]

No problems at all.

I have successfully emailed viicecoils the pictures
Taken on day 3. It's 5:50am here on day 4. Just woke up.

About to start packing up camp.

Updates again tonight. Thanks for watching.

Jason.

 

[voicecoils]

Day 3 photo wrap up. Updated with captions:

Where we camped on Sunday night.

Long quiet green country roads

Tony shortly after the climb out of Kulnura

Laguna. Lunch stop 16km

Convict built culvert.

Rolling hills and big blue sky.

More blue sky.

Tony catching up.

Amazingly blue sky. White cream puff clouds.

Laguna general store.

Hunter valley. Cessnock 30km.

Sculptures in a field.

Two llamas ? Alpacas ?

Cloud starting to roll in. No rain yet.

Cessnock

Camp set up.

Dinner at the Australian hotel.
Scotch fillet with pepper sauce. Yum.

 

[Diamondback]

Day 4.

Woke up at 5:37 am today.
Got up at around 6am. Packed up the gear and on the road around 7am.

Noticed that my rear tyre was a little low on pressure this morning.
Went to use my pump, and the bloody head broke !
The second I tried lifting the locking tab thing, It snapped right off

Luckily for me, Victors pump supports both valve types.
I'm the only one running car type valves. Type pumped back up and off for breakfast.

(Mental note: pick up a new pump in Taree. Another 2 days ride away)

Breakfast at the local McDonald's. hot cakes and a medium coke zero.

Left McDonald's around 8am.

Rode through maitland quick stop off around 10am.
Managed to loose my mascot somewhere between cessnock and maitland
Not happy about that. He was a gift from Tony and his wife Rebecca.

Stopped at Patterson for lunch just before 12pm.
While having lunch, I heard what sounded to me like an old skool steam train whistle !
Thought no way. Can't be......(it was !!!)

the steam train was pulling 2 diesel locos and a few passenger cars and some freight cars also.
I didn't manage to get my phone quickly enough to get a picture.
Tony did get a pic just as it was disappearing from view though.
I can't get the pic off his camera though so I can't email it to voicecoils.

It was a bit of an unreality moment seeing the steam loco. Had to do a double take.

About 35km to go from Paterson to Dungog where we are staying tonight.

At about the 62km point we faced a 1km (at least) 12% climb.
This "little" hill took most of my remaining power from the smaller 10ah pack I was using today.
I have about 15km more to go and only about 1.2ah remaining on this pack. This is going to be tight !

Some hills between that last one and Dungog, but mostly down hill runs.
Arrived in Dungog heart rate around 180bpm, sweating like a pig, no power left at all.
The last 4km or so was on LVC. Didn't want to stop and change packs.

We got to Dungog around 3pm. Camped out at the show ground.
Paid a very reasonable $15 each for powered sites. With hot shower facilities and toilet block.

Just after setting up camp we see a magnificent rainbow. I got a pic, but the pic doesn't do it justice at all.
This was super bright. Iridescent colored. Very nice after a hard days riding.

Dinner is at the Dungog memorial bowling club. A short stroll of about 2km or so.
It feels good to walk after all day pedaling.

Entree was spring rolls. Main was sweet and sour pork with fried rice.

Stats from today's ride.

80.5km
8.85ah
410.38 watt hrs
5.1 wh/km
410.7 human watt hrs
109 avg human watts
Avg speed 16.0 km/h
Max speed 55.2 km/h

I have emailed pics to voicecoils. He will upload them when he gets time.

Jason.

 

[voicecoils]

Photos and captions from Day 4:

Sunrise over Cessnock.

Dungog 49km

Nice homestead for sale.

Grey sky today. No rain though

Korea and quality in the same sentence ?

Pet rocks at Patterson.

Patterson general store and workshop. We had lunch here. Couple sandwiches for me.

More hills and more grey !

Train line to who knows where ?

Tony crossing the bridge over the above train line.

More grey. Still no rain

Dungog. I made it. Last 4km or so was with no power though.

Camp set up at the showgrounds at Dungog. A very reasonable $15 per site. Powered sites with amenities block.

The rainbow near camp.

Entree

Main course

 

[Diamondback]

Day 5 begins with lots of fog and the sounds of roosters crowing.
Woke up at 5:45 am. Before the alarm was scheduled to wake me.

We saw a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos this morning. Must have been well over 100 birds.
Very noisy. If we hadn't already been awake, we sure would have been by then.

My rear tyre was again low. Must have a slow leak. Will get it changed when we get to taree.
We have a scheduled rest day there, so I will have the time to take it off and replace the tube.

Breakfast at 7:50am at the local Bakery. Freshly baked sausage roll today.

Rode through some very scenic countryside to Stroud. 33km from Dungog to Stroud.
Got there around 11am. Had lunch here. 2 sandwiches and a zero.

Pulled into Gloucester around 3pm.

Decided to get a double cabin tonight instead of tenting it.
Looks like it might rain tonight. And we felt like having a real bed....
$55 for the cabin with cooking facilities. Split the cabin with Tony.
Sharyn and Victor decided to camp and take their chances with Mother Nature.

Minor disaster averted. My trip could have come to an early end today.

When I was unplugging one of the battery packs, the positive wire pulled out of one of my EC5
Connectors ! This happened around 4:20pm. This sent me on a mad and unpowered dash (sans trailer)
To try to find an auto electrical workshop that might be able to re solder it.

Quick google search on the phone tells me there is a shop on the Main Street of town.
I ride over and am quickly told " sorry but no one is here that can help"
He tells me of a local engineering shop that might help. I get directions and race off to find them.

I get there and again explain my problem. The old bloke there says he will try to help.
We start trying to get the pin out of the housing. Can't shift it

He tells me there is one other shop on town that might be able to help.
I get directions and race off to find it.

I get there as the owner is starting to close up.
I quickly explain my problem. He says "sure, I can fix that"

I show him the plug and he tries to get the pin out. No go !

In the end, he had to cut some of the back of the plug housing away to release the pin.
Gt the pin out and re soldered. Pressed the pin back in while it was still hot.
Taped it up to insulate it and it seems to be ok now.

It's a short term fix. It will have to last until I get home.
I asked the man how much ? He says ..... Don't worry about it. But be careful with it !

Country towns are amazing places folks.

The name of the business is Rod Fenning auto electrical.
Top bloke.


Cooked dinner using the kitchen in the cabin and supplies from the local supermarket.

Victor cooked for us all. Steak, sausages and mashed potato.
Tony and I will wash the dishes in the morning.

Thanks Victor. Very tasty.

I decided this morning early that I wanted to give my legs a little rest.
Decided to use a little more assist today and a little less human input.
So today's figures are a little less than 50/50.

Here are the stats.

75.9km
9.21ah
434.99 watt hrs
5.7 wh/km
341.50 human watt hrs
97 avg human watts
Avg speed 15.5 km/h
Max speed 56.8km/h

I have emailed pictures from today to voicecoils.

On to taree tomorrow.

Then a rest day.

Jason.

 

[Hillhater]

..Train line to who knows where ?

Well, if you want to go north ( Brisbane etc,)...that is the only train line ! you will probably come across it again a few times !
I greatly envy you this journey and wish you all fair weather and tail winds.

 

[Diamondback]

Thanks for the info. We have followed it for a few days now.
Crossed over it a few times too.

Tony and I decided to take our 1st rest day in Gloucester instead of Taree.
Sharyn and Victor have ridden on to Taree. Tony and I will catch up
with them there tomorow afternoon. They will be having their rest
day in Taree as planned.

I will post a small update with a few pictures later this afternoon.
Tony wants to add some things to this thread also.

He will be posting using my log in.

Thanks for the well wishes

Jason.

 

[Diamondback]

Tony and myself decided to take a rest day here in Gloucester instead of at Taree tomorrow.

Sharyn and Victor decided to ride on to Taree, and we will catch up as they are having the rest day there.

Had breakfast at a local restaurant. They had 3 old motorcycles on display.
One old Indian, one old Norton, and an old dirt track race bike. Plus an old fuel pump.

Walking through the Main Street of town, I spotted a really nice big painting in a shop window.
It's a pic of a steam train and some children waving at the engineer. Closer inspection reveals that
this picture is for raffle ! Couldn't resist. I had to buy a few tickets. It's not drawn until the 18th may.
If I'm lucky enough to win, I'll have to drive back up to collect it. The trip would be well worth it.

Saw some bicycle racks in the shape of bicycles ! Very neat idea.

Gloucester has EV parking and charging stations !!!
Very progressive for a small country town. Nice work Gloucester

Did some clothes washing today, and replaced the rear tube. Patched the old tube too.
While we were in town, I went looking for a replacement for my broken pump.
Seems there is no bicycle store in Gloucester. I'll have to try to get one in Taree tomorrow afternoon.

Put my solar panels out to get some good Sun exposure. Took time to move then during the day to keep
them aimed at the sun, so I get maximum efficiency. Got both batteries fully charged. That's 11000 mah in about 9 hours.

Even with the panels pointed straight up when they are on the trailer I still get about 30-45%
charge in each battery per day.

I'm now paced up and ready to get on the road again tomorrow morning.
Will have to get a good early start. We have about 75km to do tomorrow. The 1st 45km is uphill.

I have emailed a few pics from day 6 to voicecoils.

Jason.

 

[thewmatusmoloki]

An epic journey indeed Jason !

I am enjoying following your travels.

I live on the Gold Coast, if you need anything when you get here just shoot me a PM. Happy to help.

Good luck and have fun.

Matt

 

[voicecoils]

Hi Jason,

I'm a day behind in posting photos, sorry everyone! Got a bit of a cold and fell asleep early last night.

What sort of pump did you have? We can easily send you one to any post office along your route using the Poste Restante system. The post office will hold the item for you up to a month and with express post, it only takes 2-3 days max to get there. That could save you the trouble of trying to chase down bike shops.

Cheers,
Abraham

Day 5 photos and captions

Very foggy morning in Dungog.

Main Street of Dungog

Nice scenery

Dungog can be seen in the distance in the valley.

Low clouds in the distance

Tony ahead.

Monastery and hermitage

Stroud. We had a bite to eat here.

The store in Stroud where we had lunch.

Almost rain fortest like.

From the forest like area into this. Big contrast.

A bit of cloud building up.

Gloucester shire.

Victor and Sharyn arriving after the climb into Gloucester.

Barrington tops national park.

Barrington tops national park.

Tony following.

Decided on a cabin tonight. Bit of a luxury. A real bed !

This is the place where I had my wiring issue fixed. Top bloke.

Panorama - click for full size

Day 6 photos and captions

Old Indian in the place we had breakast.

Old norton in the same place.

Old fuel pump

Old race bike.

Bike racks in Gloucester in the shape of bicycles.

I'm getting tab lines from the helmet straps !

The cabin we stayed in.

Solar panels getting good sunlight exposure

Gloucester has EV parking and charging !

Tony on the long haul trucker with front seat driver Shawne.

 

[Diamondback]

Thanks for the offers (both Matt and Abraham )

I had a cheap pump. What I'm looking for is a topeak road morph. Used one (victors) and its great.

Will try to get one in Taree tomorrow afternoon. If that fails, I will shoot you a message and take up the offer of
sending one in the post for me.

No problems with posting pics.
Hope you get well soon.

Jason.

 

[Diamondback]

Tony has asked me to post the following about him.

Just so you have an idea of who I'm traveling with.

Victor and sharyn are working on something I can post about themselves.

Tony Penz
52yo
Married to Rebecca
4children. Squid, Magilla, Picton and Shawne
I am traveling with Shawne
We are riding a Surley Long Haul Trucker with Disc Brakes
My occupation is a long haul truck driver working for a mid size transport company called Exodas,
based on the Gold Coast although I live near Parramatta, just west of Sydney.
I have been an avid touring cyclist for several years
I have cycled the West Coast of the U. S, cycled extensively throughout Europe in the 90's,
cycled the east coast of Australia and New Zealand
Even though I am a little overweight, I get there eventually and enjoy the challenge.

Jason and I have been encouraging each other on this ride quite a lot and have been
friends for several years now and more to come

Enjoy the blog!!!

Tony.

 

[Diamondback]

Woke at 6am. Packed up what little gear we had been using.
Pack up was much quicker today due to the fact we were in a cabin and not camped in tents.

It's a little on the foggy side this morning. I'm hoping it lifts before we leave. (It doesn't)

Left Gloucester around 7am. Riding in thick pea soup fog for about an hour or so.
Some very hilly and challenging terrain between Gloucester and Krambach.

Got to Krambach around 10am. Had a quick bite to eat at the local store.
Used just under 5ah to get to Krambach. 37km travelled so far.

As I'm using the smaller 10ah pack today, and we have lots more hills to climb before Taree,
I made the decision to change battery packs, as I don't think I'm going to get to Taree on the
remaining 3.8ah in the smaller pack.

Tony and I discussed a small route change after lunch. The new route from Krambach to Taree
would be less hilly and a quicker ride, but would involve about 25km of the pacific HWY.
we decide to take the easy option.....

Rode 14km from Krambach to Nabiac then onto the Pacific HWY. now we have about 25km to go today.

Nice wide shoulders, and very clean for the most part. Not much glass or tyre debris at all.

Passing the 12km to Taree marker, we hit a gentle down grade. Maybe 2% or so.
I am able to roll all the way to the 7km marker. 5km free. No pedaling and no motor. Gravity rules (sometimes)
My speed for the 5km roll is varying between about 25-29km/h. not bad at all.

Around the 5km marker, there is a truck rest area. We pull in to have a short rest and a toilet break.
We notice two girls on touring bikes sitting at one of the tables.

These are the first other touring cyclist we have met on this trip so far.

They are Astrid and Jude. From Victoria.
They have cycled all the way here from Victoria and intend to cycle to Darwin and beyond !

We were told about two girls on touring bikes when we were at wisemans ferry.
They were a day or two ahead of us then. We had thought we may cross paths.

Good luck girls and may you have great weather and tail winds !
For anyone that may be interested, here is their blog.
http://foonsonbikes.wordpress.com/

Arrived in Taree around 2pm. Staying at the Manning river hotel.
We had been advised in Gloucester that we should avoid the camp grounds in Taree for our own safety sake.

Had a quick shower and walked back into town on the hunt for dinner and a new pump.
Not necessarily in that order though

I had KFC for dinner. Been over a week since I've had KFC and I was starting to have withdrawals :lol:

Saw a nice old Chevy truck on my walk into town. Probably 1930's.

Went into pedal power cycles on the Main Street and picked up a new pump.

Then to the pub for a few drinks before bed.

Pics taken today have been emailed to voicecoils.

Stats from today.

78.2km
8.07ah ( turns out that I would have made it to Taree on the 10ah pack after all )
390.62 watt hrs
4.9 wh/km
357.30 human watt hrs
Avg speed 16.1km/h
Max speed 60.9km/h

 

[Diamondback]

The below is a post from Tony.

Something I noticed today whilst riding in the hills.
Because I was quite a bit higher than Jason I noticed I could see the stream in the gully or a bit more wildlife.
I think Jason cant see some of these things is because his head is about the same height as the guard rail.

Tony.

 

[Diamondback]

Day 8
Woke at 6:15am

We are meeting up with Sharyn and Victor at the local
McDonalds at 8am for the ride to port Macquarie.
Today should be a relatively easy 85 km or so.

Looks like it will rain today.

 

[voicecoils]

Day 7 photos and captions

Fog in the valley.

Gloucester is under that somewhere ! We rode through that for the 1st hour today.

Better pic of the morning fog we road through.

Hills

Tony and Shawne.

Panorama photo

The sign says it all

Krambach.

Little general store / post office at Krambach

Servo at Krambach

Tony ahead on the pacific hwy.

15km to go for today.

12km to go and a nice bonus coming up !

Getting close now

Koalas crossing...

We caught up with Jude and Astrid nearing Taree.

Crossing the Manning river into Taree

Bikes and trailer in the hotel room.

Got a replacement pump. Finally.

Saw this old Chevy truck in Taree.

 

[Rodney64]

Enjoying the photos and the blog. This is something that I'd like to do.

 

[voicecoils]

I've finally caught up on photo posting through Day 7. Anyone reading, scroll back through to see the great photos so far.

What are you up to now Jason, Day 8, 9?

 

[Diamondback]

Day 8 today

Thanks for posting the pictures Abraham. It's appreciated.

Woke at 6:15am.
We are meeting Victor and Sharyn at the McDonald's for breakfast at 7:30am.

Today should be a relatively easy day. 80km or so. Relatively flat too.

The 4 of us left Taree around 8am and headed out into what looks like rain weather.
Headed towards the hwy again. We planned to follow the hwy till the Kew turn off, then
Go through Kew, Laurieton, North Haven and lake Cathie.

The rain comes around 9am. It doesn't last very long and isn't very heavy.

Stopped off at Kew around 11:30am for lunch at the local diner / service station.
Did 45km on only 2.89ah.

Left Kew around 12, headed towards laureton, went through Laurieton, turned towards North Haven,
And who do we spot having lunch on the side of the road ?

Jude and Astrid again ! This is becoming a habit
We stop have a chat and decide to spend the night at the same park.

Sharyn got a flat tyre just after entering Port Macquarie.

We hit the outskirts of town around 3pm. Saw some camels in a field and found the camp ground at around 3:45pm.

Met up with Jude & Astrid at the park. After setting up camp and showering, we all headed into town
to a local pub for dinner. Desert at a pancake place in town (naughty but so nice)

I will shortly email pictures from today to voicecoils.

My stats from today.

88.2km
7.54ah
360.96 watt hrs
4.0 wh/km
397.30 human watt hrs
118 avg human watts
Avg speed 18.3 km/h
Max speed 52.5 km/h

Jason.

 

[rscamp]

Great stuff!

Livin' the dream...

 

[Diamondback]

Packing up camp.
7:15am we should be under way by 7:30.

South west rocks is our destination today. About 85km

Lots of low grey cloud about again.
We will probably get rain again today.

Jason.

 

[Diamondback]

No rain today (yet )

It's turned out to be a very nice day. Quite warm too.

Left the camp site around 7:30
Rode the 10km or so back out of town and into the hwy again.

Headed towards Kempsy.
Fairly uninteresting road. Not a fan of hwy riding.

Victor got a flat just as we hit the Kempsy turn off.

Pulled into Kempsy around 11:20am
Traveled the 48km so far on only 3.65ah.

I don't think there will be many pictures from day 9,
as one hwy looks like any other. Maybe once we get off it,
there might be something worth photographing.

Jason.