10.
‘I have now been joined by the legendary Dr James Gill AKA The Gill, Quadzilla, Gillipede, Gillepedros, and James Gill 007. It’s great to see James again and also to have some company for the next 1,000km.’
On 21 November, Charlotte was no longer alone.
James and Charlotte were friends from Cambridge. A doctor, James amused Charlotte by forgetting his rain jacket but remembering one 200-page novel and several medical textbooks. Their plan was to cycle from Brisbane to Sydney over the next ten days.
Despite the hard pace and endless heat, Charlotte felt herself again. It was some of the best riding of her trip. A shortcut along an unmapped coastal road from Forster-Tuncurry led them through a beautiful forest path. A stop at Anna Bay allowed them to watch the sun set over miles of stretched sand dunes and yellow shining hills. They camped that night and dug slugs out of their shoes in the morning.
Charlotte and James shared the lead. ‘During the break James’s famous quadzilla’s seem to turbo charge (he wonders why I like to keep the breaks short). Meaning that I am hammering all out attempting to close the widening gap … always a nice feeling on stiff legs and a full stomach.’
Even their missed ferry in Wagstaffe provided entertainment: ‘During the hour wait … I received a free sandwich, water and a box of cookies, met a famous Australian comic and secured a radio interview!’
Reaching Bondi Beach, Charlotte was scheduled to take part in a photoshoot for the Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph. The photographer confessed to needing a willing Speedo model for another story.
‘To me, this role had James written all over it. As a past Speedo model and regular Speedo wearer and a lost soul after his Speedos were forgotten ... ’ James was roped in and a crowd gathered. Charlotte had tried several days earlier to write ‘Goon’ on James’s back in suncream. The letters blended to look like ‘God’.
The piece would later run on page 14 of The Daily Telegraph, featuring a shot of James’s rear and one slightly distressed looking female. ‘Budgie Smugglers go by the Board’, the headline read.
‘Ironically, I have yet to make it into the newspaper,’ Charlotte reflected.
When James departed on 3 December, Charlotte was again by herself. ‘The couple weeks of great company, subjected cycling and general abuse has drawn to a close. I’m sad to leave Sydney, company, comfort and culture behind, ahead headwind.’
Alone, Charlotte cycled the next stretch of Australia with severe step-by-step focus. In Nowra, a group of travellers found her sheltering under the cover of a petrol station from a rain storm and scooped her up for a night playing Guitar Hero. In the approach to Batemans Bay, Charlotte’s hands became so cold under the fog and the steady wind (gusts of 70km an hour) that Charlotte couldn’t move her fingers to change the gears. The climbs of the south coast, averaging over 1,000m a day, created an additional challenge.
By the time 16 December rolled around and Charlotte cycled into Melbourne, she was ready to hit the next stage. ‘3,962km in the wrong direction,’ her blog post was titled.
‘I am so pleased to have reached the end of my journey in Australia. It’s been tough, it’s been great, it’s been lonely, it’s been incredibly welcoming.’
‘What I have learnt: Australia is a big place, not many people live here, the winds COME from the south, everything is expensive … and I like it.’
Only later, while flying to the next part of her journey, did Charlotte find herself thinking about the distance of her trip. ‘It feels like a long way,’ she noted.
‘So perhaps I have achieved something in my four months.’
