The adventure kicked off at 2:30 p.m. EST in Kingsville on the Feb 6 and wrapped up at 8:30 a.m. on Feb 8.

To my surprise, I wasn’t completely wiped out when I arrived at Michael and Louise’s lovely apartment, nestled close to the Sydney bridge.

Perhaps those few 400+ kilometre rando rides I did last year made it a bit easier to handle 23 hours on a plane.

We had an excellent Aussie coffee at Barcycle cafe at the harbour front, founded by a former pro rider, the high octane long black kept me going. We had a good time before saying goodbye until March when we meet up in their hometown of Canberra.

I tried to stay up as long as I could to be on time with the locals, but after a burger and pint at the Lord Nelson brewery pub, I crashed at 7:30 p.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. on Feb 9! (The Lord Nelson is the oldest continuously operated pub in Sydney, dating back to 1841).

A long walk around Sydney harbour front and Miller’s Point was somewhat cut short by a constant light rain, but I managed a few shorter ones in the Banangaroo district. I even ran into a Super Bowl party with live music and cheerleaders at 7:30 a.m. on Monday…isn’t this a work day and also isn’t this American football, not real football?

I met up with fellow cyclist Seth for lunch in The Rocks district, a really cool revitalized old part of the city between the Bridge and Opera House. The sun finally came out after lunch, but it was accompanied by stifling heat and humidity…that made it official, I am now in Australia!

Later, I met up with good friends Jo and Jose, first with a mini pub crawl (at the Palisades and then Lord Nelson), then a fantastic tapas dinner and rose…what else would I have with a couple of Catalans?!!

And now on Feb 10, an early morning 90-minute flight to Hobart, Tasmania.

Checked into the Grand Chancellor Hotel for one night and will be back in 4 days for 2 more nights

 
A fresh caught fish and chips lunch dockside…

and a glimpse of the Hobart harbour front

Early this evening stopped by the Hope & Anchor pub, the oldest licensed pub in all of Australia, since 1807. I had a nice warm roasted beet and feta salad to complement a Tasmania Brewing Company pale ale.

More on Hobart in a few days. The Auswalks 3 Capes Hiking tour starts tomorrow.

On the hunt for Tim-Tams!

Life is good in Sydney…and Hobart