Magical Mystery (Cycle) Tour

I had another week day off and as always during the week its difficult to find stuff to do that doesn't cost at least some moolah.

After some pondering I had a look at the map of the North Sydney suburbs and thought I should take the opportunity to get on the bike and explore some of the local coast line. I didn't think that the traffic would be too bad as most of the streets leading out to the coast are not main roads.

Sure enough, there wasn't that much in the way of traffic. I first stopped off at Stanton Library to drop off some books of Isla's, and I actually took the time to join for myself. It's such a nice library and it's in a lovely part of town with nice parks and buildings around it. The local council buildings are there also and there is a beautiful fountain just off to the left of this picture (which I forgot to photograph - sorry). I was good to get rid of all those books from my back pack and it made the cycling a lot easier.

After leaving there I headed over to the North Sydney Oval and sat in the park and had another look at the map. It seemed easy enough to make my way to some of the coastal lookout points so after watching some old men playing bowls I jumped on the bike and went in search of the sea. From the park there really is only one road that you can take and that's Miller Street. It divides that part of North Sydney in two and the only other main road there is the Freeway.

Over the next hour I spent all my time scouting around Miller St and the adjacent streets trying to find a way to the coast. Sure there were plenty of roads that supposedly led to the various coves and lookout points but they were all mentally steep. It didn't matter where I went. Every road was practically vertical and reinforced the difficulty in cycling in Sydney - it's incredibly hilly. I certainly don't have a problem with going down hill but the thought of trying to cycle back up them was far too daunting and I ended up bailing out. Instead I just cruised around the suburbs and enjoyed the sun and my time off work.

In total I spent about 2 hours just checking out all the different streets in the area and working up a sweat on the bike without even realising it. The more time I spend in Sydney, them more I like it and buying the bike was definitely one of the best things I've bought since I've arrived. People at work have noticed that I'm cycling to the hospital and a few of them have started blowing off the cob-webs from their own bikes and there is now chat about getting a big group together once or twice a month to go cycling. Apparently there is some amazing cycle routes north of the hospital so it'll be fun exploring those with some of the locals.