My mate Andrew and I rode from my place in Sydney to Gosford, over 2 days.  The route was approximately 195km.  Our original route, which Andrew had planned out using an impressive set of topographic maps, wasn't realised due to bushfires.

Sydney to Wisemans Ferry Andrew en-route to Wisemans Ferry. Melted truck, with myself for scale.

Day 1 : Sydney to Wisemans Ferry, plus a loop to St. Albans (110km) Surface: Good the whole way.  Some dirt near St. Albans, but only short sections. Shade: Due to bushfires, there was reduced cover.  No shade in parts of the approach to Wisemans Ferry. Traffic: Light to moderate, lighter past Wisemans Ferry. Shoulders: Excellent in portions of the suburban route, though equally terrible in others.  Generally speaking, shoulders are ample. Wind: For us, very low. Gradient: Some steep hills in suburbia, but the worst are closer to Wisemans.  The descent to Wisemans is quite steep. Sights: Other than bushfire-related sights, there's a lookout or two. Setting out around 7:30AM from my place, we travelled through Pennant Hills.  The going was good, as it was early Monday morning and we were heading in the opposite direction to rush-hour. Our first stop was at *quiver* McDonalds, where Andrew felt compelled to procure McCrud (even though I offered him real food at home), and I used an ATM.  As it turned out, there was one later-on at Wisemans Ferry, but it's better to be safe than sorry! Out of the suburban sprawl, we rode through great tracts of burnt bush, and at times were treated to expansive views of nothing but black and brown remnants of forest. At more than one point, we passed damaged vehicles - the most impressive of which was the melted truck (see picture).  Traffic was very light around here.  We stopped at a little food-stall, realising that we were miles ahead of schedule, and I had a vegie-burger.  Eventually we reached a lookout, and realised we were already at the Hawkesbury river.  Minutes later, after a prolonged and enjoyable descent, we were treated to much-deserved beers at Wisemans Ferry's historic pub. After beers, we headed down to the river for a swim, before returning to town to eat escape the heat.  After lunch we had well earned sleep on the back verandah of the shopping centre. After waking up, we eventually wound up eating dinner at the pub, which although bad was probably as good as we were going to get.  An investigation of pub rooms turned out a $60 fee for a 60 year old room, which wasn't clean or comfortable looking.  As Andrew had brought camping equipment, we headed back down to the river for another swim before setting up the tent in the adjacent park.   After getting bitten by some killer ants, and being mosquitoed to death, my side started to swell up (though I didn't notice until the next morning), and we tried moving to sleep on some picnic tables.  This was better, though I still got bitten and decided I wouldn't be able to sleep.  After Andrew, who was better prepared with a blow-up mat and other comforts, also failed to reach slumberland after a further 40 minutes of persistance we rode back up to town and slept poorly on our lunchtime verandah.

Wisemans Ferry to Gosford (just off map to the right) The ferry at Wisemans Ferry, which is operated 24 hours a day. Cramming the bikes on to the train back to Sydney.

Day 2 : Wisemans Ferry to Gosford, NSW (85km) Surface: Good the whole way. Shade: Great in parts, fairly scarce in others.  Definately better than day 1! Traffic: Light, but becomes moderate after Mangrove Mountain. Shoulders: There are actual cycling lanes close to Gosford.  In most other areas, traffic is so light they are unnecessary. Wind: Minimal when we passed through (early morning), though along the river would get windy later in the day. Gradient: Relatively flat to Spencer, the climb to Mangrove Mountain is the only major incline.  Some ups and downs thereafter, then a significant drop down to Gosford. Sights: Nothing special. A quick 85km ... starting early, we were exhausted due to poor sleep.  When we reached the ferry, Andrew  realised he'd forgotten his sunnies and had to ride back up to town to find them.  On the other side, it was a fairly pacey ride to Spencer before the first rest.  After Spencer, we rode up the inlet and then ascended Mangrove Mountain, about the only properly forested section of road all day.   Once in Mangrove Mountain, we had a break for some cold drinks, and chatted to an ex-Sydney person who couldn't get over how unfriendly the locals were (she had moved here some years ago).  Having done some travelling herself, it was easy to converse. After that stop, we rode eastward towards Gosford, and eventually ran in to some other cyclists.  Both older than ourselves, one of them was a Scottish career-cyclist who had retired to the area.  He said that he didn't think much of Australia's suitability for cycle-touring, relatively speaking, which was an opinion I can concur with.  He was very interested in my trips around China and Taiwan. From that point, we descended rapidly to Gosford, where we had the first decent food for two days before finding the train station and squeezing our bikes inside the next train south.  Both of us fell asleep on the train, and almost missed our stop!

Walter Stanish
Sydney, Australia
2002-12-20

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