Up at 5.45 as I heard Bruce wandering around. He is an early riser and so we where both up at 6. I was rubbish at getting my stuff packed and out the door as I was a wee bit too sleepy. Bruce gave me maps and photos and pointers etc and then we dropped off my bags at his work so that I would not be so heavy with all of my equipment today. The route up Kosciusko is just a 110km up and down from Jinderbyne and so as I was coming back through town again there was no point in carrying everything. After food shopping in town, I headed up the mountain at 8.30-9. The road is sealed for most of the way except for the last 9km - which is a pathway. It was raining and windy in parts but it also cleared up every now and again. The first 20km are pretty much straight up but then the road goes up and down a lot.
Kosciusko is in the middle of the Australian Alps. This is the main area where Australians come skiing. I saw the ski lifts in Aus! They are very small compared to the Alps in France! It was very strange being in Australia and seeing all the snow still on the mountains in the middle of their summer. The UK is currently experiencing a major cold period and have had ridiculous amounts of snow! I took pictures of my bike in the snow to send home so that no everyone was so jealous of me in Aus in the sunshine (far from it the last few days).
I had lunch at the top of Charlotte's Pass around 12.30-1. Ended up chatting with loads of people and taking my time. Having been biking on my own for a few days it is quite nice to have some company. I then headed up along the dirt road the 9km up to the top of the mountain. It was tough going as the weather kept on changing from sunny to hail - when I had to shelter for a bit.
I saw a lad on a mono-cycle on the way down. He had biked up from the car park at the top of Charolot's pass. Awesome! Whenever I think I am a nutter I find other people more extreme. Cool. I have some video of him.
The path changes for the last km into a path for walking - it is narrower. As I had come all the way I could not leave my bike at the bottom so carried it over the snow and biked/walked up to the very top. As I arrived peddaling to the top I got a cheer from the crowd standing at the top :-) I videoed it with my little camera which attaches to my helmet.
The weather cleared in the 20 mins that I was at the top and I got some good photos :-)
The ride down was difficult because of the weather and it is not just down all the way. Jinderbyne is at 900m. Kosi is at 2228m. So the over all climb was up 1328m. However, as the road is not straight up to the top and goes up and down, the climbing was actually far more. I am in the process of looking up the altidues etc on my GPS tracker. A lot of the people I spoke to were supprised that I could do the ride from Jinderbyne to Kosi in a day becuase of the climbing - but infact it was far easier than yesterday! Being on sealed roads makes a masive difference to speed and difficulty.
There was one awesome downer which was 15km long! My breaks were shot from the wear that they got coming over the Barry Way and so I just sped down the pass without even touching the breaks :-) 65km per hour at one point (on a good road with no other traffic and great visability - before I get comments!).
My blood sugar levels dropped too low about 30km from Jinderbyne and I found the last part really hard. I thought that it was just because my legs where tired after all of the riding for the last few days but as soon as I got a snickers bar at the garage I felt like a different person again and my energy came back. I am now much fitter than when I started a few weeks ago.
When I got down into Jinderbyne again I stopped to spend some time planning where I am staying for the next few days, emailing and route organisation. I then started looking for a place to put up my tent etc. It was 7ish and I did not feel like going very much further today. I could not see anywhere on the way out of town that was flat enough and away from the road to put up my tent and so I called Bruce (who I stayed with last night) to ask if I could put my tent up in his garden (as he was in Canberra). He said not a problem and if I asked the guy in the flat upstairs then I could probably put it up in the garden at the back of the house.
I popped in for a cuppa with Dell upstairs and ended up having an awesome evening chatting to him and his buddies till 1 in the morning. Fab and fun people. We chatted about everything under the sun from haliousinogic drugs, sacred symetry, vacinations and the problems with generation Y! Dell has spent time with a number of different native tribes all over the world - including alot of time with Aborigines and walking along the nulabor for several months. I even had my taroo card read - very interesting.
The great thing about travelling is that you met so many different types of people and get a glimps into their lifes. When you are in the same area working etc you tend to just stick with your close friendship group and do not met so many different types of people. I am loving traveling so much!
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