We’re having a fabulous autumn so far, with lots of sunshine and midday temperatures in the mid-20s after cool mornings. There are some beautiful deciduous trees around, with leaves which look very colourful against the brilliant blue skies and, because frost is rare, they tend to stay on the trees for much longer than in the UK. It’s not quite New England, but it’s very pretty!
Clive and I enjoyed a lovely day on our bikes yesterday. We drove up to Tuggerah (just over an hour north from Allambie Heights) to meet other members of the Northern Beaches Bikers and set off with them along the Yarramalong Valley road. This road is sealed and bordered by fields and rural properties, many of which are raised up on mounds of earth (the area is prone to flooding). We were to ride along this fairly quiet road with undulating hills for 22kms to a coffee shop, before riding the same road back.
Those who were feeling energetic could take a detour into the Ourimbah State Forest and ride along steep dirt tracks for an additional 10kms or so. Of course I didn’t, but Clive gave it a go, along with the ride leader, a South African lady, and 3 other men. Thankfully, all survived and we sat and had coffee together, along with bacon and egg rolls (Clive), walnut and date slices (me) or Rocky Road (an Australian ‘cake’ we’re not too keen on, consisting of melted chocolate mixed with marshmallows and nuts – in this case, locally grown Macademia nuts which were apparently delicious!).
The ride back was as enjoyable as the outward one and I was in heaven with horses everywhere, beautiful bellbirds singing in the trees and a pair of eagles soaring overhead. The final 2kms were hellish, uphill all the way which was very difficult on tired legs, but we made it! It would have been great to write that the girls had prepared dinner for us when we got home, but sadly, they were all too busy ‘doing other things’!