10/25/2005 - Day 3: Taree to Coffs Harbour

Beautiful riding today to Nambucca Heads. There was a group at Shelly Beach that met us and provided real food! We’ve been getting served free food by Baker’s Delight for much of the trip, and were SO excited to see fresh fruit, chicken and sandwiches – all prepared by the local BCNA group. The beach was beautiful as was the ride in down a long winding narrow road.

The highlight for me was being approached by one of the BCNA ladies, who had gone to the Changing Gears website and discovered that one of the riders was from Chicago. She found me and told me that her niece had been recently diagnosed and wondered whether I’d be willing to contact her – since she lives in Schaumburg. Of course I told her I’d be happy to (and have been in touch with Christine recently – who is a sweetheart, and was so grateful for her aunt's introduction).

From there it was off to our next Hostile in Coff’s Harbour. This was a particularly interesting night in that we had a dinner hosted for us by the local Rotary Club. They had about 70 people show up to meet us, and put on a very nice spread for us. The big event of the evening was when one of the women seated across from me passed out in her chair in the middle of dinner. In a true testament to the dedication of the Rotarians, the business part of the dinner proceeded without a hitch. The woman next to me, who was very drunk, commented “Her husband used to faint on occasion. He’s dead but he was a good Rotarian.” I have no idea what that even meant, but it gives you a flavor for the tone of the evening! She ended up being ok eventually, but it was quite exciting there for a while. Well, for a Rotary dinner, anyway…There was a gorgeous lightening storm that lasted hours that night. A bunch of us stayed up late just enjoying nature's show.