Wednesday March 10 - Tim
'Morning is bro-o-oken...' sang Kelly between fits of 6am giggles. Today was her day as stage manager, perhaps the most serious of our rotating portfolio's, including alarm clock duties. She was quirky but firm as she demanded that we emerge from tents to start the day. Her leadership would have inspired the sleepiest of campers had it not been bellowed from the comfort of her sleeping bag, in her tent, between yawns and snoozes.
We eventually emerged, broke fast, and hit up the smallest school of the tour and possibly the state, Cann River P-12, totaling 50 students. It was a blast, particularly converting the skit to a pantomime style for a primary school performance. Grant, from the local DSE, and also of the landcare group, tour guided us that afternoon sharing his insights as both a public servant and landcare volunteer, thank you Grant. Jan and David hosted us for dinner, along with welcome stranger swaggie steve, and their li'l boys mason and Elijah entertained with musical items in the evening. In health news, Matt is a bit of a sickie dickie, Tim's toe is warding off infection, Rachel's leg may need amputation and Ania's bladder is flowing like rivers of yesteryear. Alice is eating things she normally wouldn't, Kelly's tattoo is staying healthy, Tony somehow still has his gloves, and Marieke is still Gluten Free.
Thursday March 11 - Ania
A beautiful forest bike ride today took us out of Cann River, up the shoulder of Mt Drummer (361m above sea level - a steady but easy climb despite locals' threats of a seriously deadly ascent) and down to the coast at Mallacoota! Unfortunately Matt was sick and had to ride the 70kms regardless of his condition, and it is reported that he didn't feel so alive upon arrival at Mallacoota. But he did it! Good on you, Matt! Luckily, Lucy's noodle restaurant was in sight and we'd heard great things from the locals, so feeling rather flat we popped in for our first meal out together - delicious rice noodles and dumplings!!! We even got the chance to check out the hydroponic garden out the back where they grow a lot of their herbs and vegetables. Later we paired up and went our separate ways to our billeted homes and flats! Alice & I were lucky enough to be billeted at Peter & Margaret's Adobe Mud brick Flats, 4kms out of town with lake views and beautiful birds surrounding our flat, it was worth climbing that steep hill! Margaret and Peter showed us how the male Satin Bower birds collect blue bottle caps and create an upside-down arch out of twigs for the female bird - amazing! And lovely to just chill out in a quiet house...
 
Friday March 12 - Rach
Mallacoota, loving it! Beautiful little beachside town near the boarder. We have been billeted out to various people in the community, this is the first time in 3 weeks that the crew has been split up-OH MY GOD, totally suffering from separation anxiety! One good thing to come out of it though is a great collection of Disney classics in the apartment Tim and I are sharing-woo Mary Poppins!
Had our performance at Mallacoota school, where we had fun, oh yeah!
With the afternoon off to relax and finish watching the Lion King we were well rested for an amazing feast at the muddy (a mud brick community hall) made with food grown within a 100 mile radius of Mallacoota. The community is in the process of introducing the Transition Towns and these dinners are a way to bring everyone together to meet, share ideas and skills. What a night, interesting proactive people to chat with, delicious sustainable food and even some wine to share. Mmmmm we love Mallacoota.
Weekend 13/14  March  -  Tony
We sure do love Mallacoota - what a place in which to have a day off.  The day started with Tim being interviewed on the local community radio. He handled it very well - the lad sure has a big future in this medium, should he choose to pursue it. After that it was back to our day off.
I had the pleasure of spending a good part of it with Michael & June Drake. Kelly and I were very fortunate in having them as hosts - in fact we all stayed with great people (Lorelle, Jenny, Peter and Margaret ) who went out of their way to make our stay pleasant.  We won't forget your hospitality, nor your lovely town
June and Michael are very active in the group of people trying to stop the completely inappropriate upgrade of the boat ramp at Bastion Point, a local iconic surf break. The group has been fighting the council and the State government over it for years, and has no intention of giving up.
Like all activists, they would much rather be doing something else, but they can't stand by while the place they love so much is trashed. We keep coming across such inspirational people on this incredible adventure.
On Sunday it was back on the bike again as we tamed the hills between Mallacoota and Eden  and enjoyed the beautiful views- once again the team work and support carried the day. The great thing about riding uphill is that you get to fly down the other side and recover to tackle the next hill.
It was a tired, but satisfied group which met our hosts Peter and Pam just in time for the community meal they had organized for us. Once again we met a group of people who are working together to forge a lifestyle which has less impact on our planet. Another lovely meal and stimulating conversations.
Once again, no-one needed any rocking to go to sleep.
 
 
 
Monday March 15 2010 Kelly
It was really hard to get out of bed today after yesterdays riding effort but after some home brewed fair trade coffee from Peter I was right as rain. When Rach and I are in a team together we go really slowly because she is notorious for flats and I'm notorious for broken spokes. Rach had two flatties and I had a broken spoke which were easily fixed when we pulled together to perform some roadside mechanics. A big thank you to Tim for his mad bike skilz and enthusiasm to help.  
Our day was also brightened by the bright shining stars at Wild Rise bakery in Pambula. How generously they filled our hungry cyclist bellies with vegetarian pies and delicious home-made cakes! Nothing like good quality fuel for these human-powered engines.
At around midday while on the road a car pulled up and we were greeted by Geoffrey and Helen our hosts in Bega and I loved their enthusiastic horn beeps. I have to say I felt it was our hottest day yet and Alice did so well with the trailer and many hills. When we finally got to Bega our awesome team mates had already made a start on dinner which was a lovely pasta dish - yum!  Much thanks to the friendly crew at Candelo wholefoods for their amazing donated box of organic and local veggies, basically planning our menu for us!
Tuesday 16 March- Alice
Bega has welcomed us so warmly today, with two school visits, and one more so keen to have us that we have decided to shuffle our schedule and stay an extra day. First off we performed at Bega High School to 200 students, our biggest group so far (so big they needed an aisle down the middle exclaimed Matt). We enjoyed treading the boards on a real stage in their big hall, and it seemed to pay off, as somehow they laughed at ALL our jokes (even the really cheesy ones- we are in Bega after all). Then in the afternoon we headed out of town to the Sapphire Coast Anglican College where we were treated to a quiche made by the lovely Beth, with her own duck eggs. Once again the skit went really well. After four weeks, it feels like we are really getting the most out of it, and having fun and improvising too.
After quite a big day, what better way to unwind than a pizza night put on by our host Geoffrey. It keeps happening- just when I think we have had the best meal of the tour (eg. Eden community dinner) it keeps on getting better! Laden with local veggies and herbs from the garden we stuffed ourselves full and then some. Mmm mmm.
 
Wednesday 17 March- Marieke
We woke to the sounds of a real rooster this morning. Thinking it was Tim (which was funny because he was sleeping beside me in the tent) I woke with a weary yawn. Waking Tim up (apparently I am not such a good sleeping buddy and tend to wake people up) he suggested a morning jog, so Rach joined us for a beautiful sunrise jog. After a lazy relaxed breakfast we all headed to the local Steiner school to do a pantomime performance to a very appreciative crowd of grade 4-6's. They loved boo-ing careless consumer best of all! The school kids allowed us to join them for lunchtime and everyone had a great time getting to know the kids (I particularly bonded over skipping ropes with the kindergarden group...I think the teachers were a bit concerned about this stranger hanging out with the kids)...
A well-deserved coffee break brought out our respective tales of first and current loves. How people met and how people moved on was a theme and everyone was sharing a story. So much love in the world...Tims tribute to his sleeping mat was special.
The afternoon was free for everyone to do what they wanted. I wrote postcards, read, swam in the dam, and was recognized by four different school kids from the day before who all crowded around me like I was famous. Others did more useful things like fixing bikes, fixing holes, fixing hair, and fixing dinner. 
The sun is starting to get lower, the smells from the kitchen is beautiful, and Rach wants me to help her fix up her hair cutting (poor delusional Rach who thinks I can cut!), cheers everyone. Meeks
 
Thursday 18 march, Tim
With nothing to do but cruise along the coast to bermagui, the two cycling groups could leave at their leisure. One disappeared at 6.30 to enjoy the sunrise as they rode, and the other four enjoyed Geoffrey and Helens house (and coffee machine!) a little longer, hitting the road at a lazy 10ish, coffee highs raging. Group 1 had a beautiful morning ride, only stopping when our trailer made suspicious noises- with small parts tinkling off down the road (luckily at the bottom of the hill). Oh dear- the pin connecting the wheel to the trailer was broken. We all had images of being stuck with a broken trailer and having long problem solving sessions for days. But no- in stepped our angels for the day! Firstly Jean-Pierre and Suzy, who drove the trailer into Bermagui, and then Albert who runs the local bike barn, and had it fixed by the time we got there!   After all that they hit berma' in time to visit the famous Bermagui Veterinary  Gelati Clinic, and were indeed treated (ha). Both groups  fitted  in a couple of swims and snuck down the rocky road to our host 'The Crossing' before dark.
Enjoyed some great support from wayne's gorgeous little grocery, and arrived at 'The Crossing' to a generous feast prepared by a local chef rob. Phwoaaar!
Friday 19 march-Monday 22nd March - Alice
After 4 weeks on the road we all enjoyed the chance to stay in one place for a few days, relax, refresh our energy stores and debrief on the adventure so far. And what a place to do it! The Crossing is an amazing centre nestled in a valley by Bermagui river, focused on youth empowerment and education around sustainability. Built largely out of recycled materials and based on permaculture design, we all loved our time there- laying our heads on real beds in an old train carriage at night, talking to the chooks and geese in the morning, enjoying the bounties of the veggie garden, and dunking ourselves in the river several times a day.
After a day off on Friday, we jumped into our mid-tour evaluation on Saturday and Sunday. I started us off with a deep ecology session, helped by a Joanna Macy book I found lying around, getting us reconnected with our reasons for being here. The rest of the weekend was jam packed with all sorts of activities- workshopping our skit and workshops (by the time we get to Sydney it will be perfect!), bike maintenance, and of course we couldn't ignore the fact that Sunday was world naked bike ride day (although there were only trees and birds around to witness our version)!
On Sunday evening we all enjoyed meeting Dean and Annette, the driving force behind the Crossing, as well as their son Jai, back from holidays. It is so inspiring to hear the stories, and get an idea of multitude of hands that have made their mark on the crossing over the years. Hearing about their involvement in koala research with the aim of mapping their last remaining habitat in the area to protect it from logging was also very interesting. I suspect many of us will return to The Crossing at some stage.
Tuesday 23 march, bermagui to moruya, doctor alice, congo
Wednesday 24 march, moruya high school