As our visas were organised we said farwell to Canberra and started our second part of the Australian travel from across the Great Dividing range to the coast. What had been planed as a technical connection from where we got our visas to where the plane will leave truned out to be a great route we could recommend. We managed to avoid the two major Highways Hume and Princes except fort he 4-6 km there was no way around it and cycled mainly on calm small roads through picturesque farmland. We shared campsite with kangaroos and enjoyed the supurbe Australian sunset with its orange glow on the deep western horizon. We were impressed to look over the deep drop from the edge of the escaprment of the Dividing Range at Fizroy Falls, descended from it around many bends to find ourselves in the popular area of Kangaroo Valley, Berry and the Coastline south of Sydney. Easy to reach from Sydney make these places top destination fort he city people especially on long weekends. And it was longweekend, Easter, we shared with all of them on the roads, campsites, at the beach and in the coffee shops. There was no way to feel lonely!
Wollongong harbour is very busy and the big freight ships wait in line out in the ocean to unload/load. Main goods are coal, coak and ironore. No wonder, there also is a steel work situated there. However not everyone was happy about the business. We found many sings saying «water NOT coal» on the fences.
The touristy coast ends with the boundry of Royal National Park, the southern lung of Sydney. This thick forest Nationalpark streatches up to Bundeena, the little town from where a ferry lead us accross the harbour to Cronulla, where we set foot on Sydney ground. We have made it into Sydney by bike! What a joy to see centre point tower and the skyline of CBD in the mist as we cycled along Botany Bay north before getting off our bikes at the hous No 79, home of Anne and David.
