What a lovely morning. Birds chirping, lots of nice chats to fellow campers, and the ranger, who came to take our money. We took our time, enjoying breakfast (well as much as you can with cereal) and coffees. Finally packed, we headed to IGA and the Chemist for some quick supplies, then Will decided he needed a "Pub" photo, so instead of heading left, out of town, we waited to turn right. A couple of locals coming from our right, not indicating, caused us to slow as much as we could, but it b came apparent, they didn't know what they where doing, so I just stopped (Due to previous mishaps, I was prepared). I looked to Will as he just toppled over! What happened there Willsie? Poor Will, he wasn't prepared, he doesn't have mishaps, so wasn't unclipped, and it was too late once his weight was over to the right. Luckily, he wasn't damaged, little graze on his elbow, but Yellow Dog suffered a broken mirror strap.
"The Penny" and we're heading towards American River.
Never mind, we still had to get the pub shot, so did that and fixed the mirror with a cable tie, then headed up to the Info centre. There wasn't much to see there, so we decided to tackle the huge Penneshaw Hill. The first section is very steep, but only 100mtrs long or so, so that got the heart rate up, and the breathing heavy. I was struggling a bit with the breathing, so I stopped to catch my breath, and begin again for the next bit, which was just long, with a couple of more steep sections. It was just going to be first gear all the way. But before we hit the next steep bit, I was finding it very difficult to get a breath in at all, and luckily Will had stopped to check out the cemetery. I pulled over, and proceeded to have, what seemed like, an asthma attack. It was pretty bad, and at one stage we almost called an ambulance, as I wasn't able to get calm and slow my breathing down. I have never had asthma, or an attack anything like this before. Gradually we managed to get under control, then I just sat and tried to recover. It took about an hour. Not really the start to our day we anticipated.
We've made it up the first tough section, but I really need a stop. Can't breath, coughing...
Finally able to get myself calm and under control, I feel exhausted. What a shocker.
With everything seemingly ok, we took on the rest of the hill, and I stopped briefly to breath, and make sure I didn't have another episode. Then carried on up the hill. It wasn't that bad, and we came to the top and as it flattened out, we were surrounded by gum trees. It was really pretty. We rode across the top of this hill, then down the other side. There were really only two more small hills to negotiate, and on the down from the first one, we spotted two other cyclists with trailers, pushing up the other way. We all waved and yelled greetings and carried on. The ride was pretty good after the shitty start, and we managed good time. We found our turn off, and the Pelican Lagoon, and it turned to dirt. It was a bit rough, with a couple of short hills, but when we found Liz and Scotts driveway, it was a Wow, moment. Real bush, thick with trees, birds and animals. We followed the track and came to their house, they have built themselves.
Feeling a bit shattered still. I am glad we are on the approach to our Warm Showers hosts.
Up this and a couple more, and we'll be there.
Pelican Lagoon, which is fed through American River and the ocean.
Going good Jen, let's go see what's in store.
This is it, let's go in.
Liz welcomed us in, made us a cuppa's, and we started to chat and discover this awesome preppers home. They are not on mains water or power, collect water, and solar power, which they store in batteries. They buy bulk grains and other foods, preserve food, grow food, and have four lovely chickens. They have been keen cycle tourers for 20years, travelling all over the world, and love taking in WWoofers (Willing workers on organic farms - check it out on the net, great thing to try all over the world). They obviously love taking in weird older cyclists, like ourselves.
View from the house, it is beautiful.
The house that Scott and Liz built. It is really great. Wow.
We had a great look around the property, and Scott and Liz went out and left us to sort ourselves out. After our very iffy start, this day ended with a fantastic finish, meeting these two great adventurers. We will stay a couple of nights and learn more.
Both Liz and Scott have Thorn Nomads, like us. They had custom paint jobs, that is why it isn't yellow or black.
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