I got an early start today - after breakfast in the hotel I was on the road by 7.30am. It was cool and actually quite overcast for most of the morning, far better conditions for cycling than yesterday. The going was much flatter too. Leaving The Entrance, the road north crosses a bridge over Tuggerah Lake. There was a good bike path alongside the road for the first 20km, apparently dedicated to a local cycle racing champion who was killed in a vehicle collision here while training.
The route then joined a section of the old Pacific Highway, a faster road which still had a good bike lane at the side. It was fairly flat and good progress was made. By 1130am I had reached Newcastle. Since this is the biggest town between Sydney and Brisbane it was worth spending a couple of hours looking around. It’s a former industrial city which is obviously making strenuous efforts to reinvent itself as a tourist destination. It does have an excellent beach and a lot of attractive buildings. Had lunch in the Juicy Bean Café and made full use of the internet facilities there, having been unable to get access in The Entrance the previous evening. After lunch I took a ride along the waterfront towards the ferry over the harbour to Stockton, where the ride continued north.
Newcastle harbour front walkway
View of Newcastle Cathedral from ferry. The crossing takes 10 minutes.
View from Stockton
From here the route followed a minor road which ran through a swamp for quite a long way. Road surfaces were all pretty good and there was very little traffic.
Eventually the route rejoined the main Nelson Bay Road which had a generous hard shoulder leaving plenty of room to cycle in safety, despite a lot of fast traffic whizzing past. I came across this unfortunate snake which looked still pretty fresh:
Generally this was a much easier day than yesterday. I arrived in Port Stephens, my destination for the night, shortly before 5pm having covered 123kms that day. Total distance from start 203kms.
Port Stephens is an agreeable enough town, with plenty of eating establishments and places to stay. I enjoyed a fine steak in the Hogs Breath Café by the waterfront, and returned to my hotel for a few drinks. There was no point in getting an early night, because the first ferry across to the next stage of the route wasn’t leaving until 8.30 the next morning.
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