Movie stage XIX

start date	activity	place	from - to	days	km	km/ day	comment
28.11	bike		Namadgi - Sanctuary Point	2.5	249	100	via Canberra
1.12	windsurfing	Saint Georges Basin		1	6		first time windsurfing after 23 years
2.12	bike		Sanctuary Point - Wollongong	1	112
3.12	rest	Wollongong		2	13		with family
5.12	spring shoes, hike, bike	Royal NP	Wollongong - Bundeena	2	78		Royal NP with family
7.12	SUP, ssilboat, bike		Bundeena - Sydney	1	57

Sydney and Melbourne fought for the title of best Australian city, so to settle the dispute, the capital was placed between them. Canberra in the local language means "meeting place", the city was entirely designed and built from scratch, and on January 1, 1901, the six current states of the British colony united here, de facto modern Australia was born (Federation).

Exploring Canberra by bike was quick and convenient, and after a lap in front of the Parliament I left the capital territory. What remained was the descent to the Pacific Ocean where I was invited by Georgio for a windsurfing lesson. After a short briefing, I was able to return to the starting point and I only fell into the water a few times.

The area is close to Sydney so I started to visit my friends along the way, lonely evenings were forgotten. It was worth doing more than 40 kilometers of mountain sections on foot earlier, because I managed to meet on time my family and good friends in Wollongong. Here I also tried spring boots - maybe it was fun, but the effort was too intense in the long run. After 11km I left these bouncing boots behind. It's a pity that I failed hanggliding, because I already had everything arranged, but there was no desired wind for two consecutive days.

The time has come for my favorite national park near Sydney, the second oldest park in the world (after Yellowstone). I've walked along the cliffs in Royal National Park many times before, but it's always beautiful there, and this time I was accompanied by my wife and son, so it was great.

 

I made up my mind that I want to enter Sydney itself like James Cook in 1770. For this purpose I needed a sailboat and again I was not disappointed in the people - through friends a complete stranger offered help. I reached the boat on a SUP with a paddle, because when leaving the port you have to use the engine, and I couldn't do it.

It was beautiful to feel the wind in the sails, the waves splashing against the side, tacking, admiring the high cliffs guarding the entrance to the Botany Bay. Standing at the sterewheel I directed the sailboat to the bay, just like one of the first explorers of this continent, it was an amazing feeling. We reached Kurnell, Cook's landing place where the history of the new Australia began (I see J. Cook as an explorer, not a colonizer - the latter was not his fault).

I jumped off the boat to my SUP board and paddled to the shore. My bike was delivered here and I rode the paths I knew well (this is where I did Ironman the year before) to my family's apartment in Marrickville. Life is Beautiful.

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