10/23/2005 - Day 1: Sydney to Newcastle

An early start to get our gear in the vans and get the bikes lined up along the boardwalk at Coogee Beach. My carpal tunnel had really flared up with all the city riding the last 2 days and a much stiffer clutch on the Harley than I’m used to. My left hand was numb just by going from the hotel garage to the beach. I hoped I’d be able to manage, but was frankly pretty worried. Thankfully, once we got out of the city it eased up some. We had a great ride up Mount White – at least until we came upon a motorcycle accident along the way. One of the bikes involved had apparently crossed to the other side of the rode and gone into (and was still lodged under) the guardrail. The blue tarp over the guardrail was an indication that there had been a fatality involved. That was sure a sobering moment for us.

We arrived at our next stop to a great welcome by group of local Harley riders. The Warrior’s Café at Mount White is a very popular biker stop. The group rode with us to our lunch stop at The Entrance – a popular beachside area. Then it was on to meet our first BCNA (breast cancer network Australia) survivor group. They put together a very nice event at Warner’s Bay – yet another beautiful beach area – where we had a chance to meet and chat with a number of fellow survivors.

This evening was our first stay at a Youth Hostel. How do I describe that experience??

One reaches a point in ones life where sharing a non-air conditioned room, on a second floor with no elevators, no screens (there are LARGE bugs in Oz…), no bathroom and 4 sets of bunk beds (which one has to put sheets on oneself) is not desirable. You all know I’m much more the mini-bar, room service, cable TV, chocolates on the pillow type. Then try to get all the snorers in their own rooms, and non-snorers in theirs, and then the sometime snorers in yet another, and you can imagine the scenario - a bunch of tired, crabby, sweaty women who end up arguing about who gets the bottom bunks. We were so grateful whenever we found an actual hotel with an elevator or a room with only 2 beds! Talk about luxury...

Though looking back we had a lot of laughs about it and it gave us something to bitch about - but when you’re hot, tired, and old – well, you get the idea. Eight women – 1 bathroom?? Hello!! (Although we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time that we actually had a bathroom in our room – AND we were on the first floor…)