We’ve been looking forward to visiting South West Rocks as many people say it’s one of the nicest towns on this coast.

We got up and fixed yet another flat tire on Jen’s bike.  It turns out she must of cycled over shredded truck tire wire which punctured the tire and tube in multiple places.  We’d fixed the obvious leak but failed to notice all the other holes.  Yesterday we’d seen a sign for a bike shop so first thing we did was cycle to the shop.  We didn’t have great hopes as we’ve visited numerous cycle shops looking for a tire.  Well what a surprise!  Crescent Head Cycles is the best stocked shop we’ve ever seen on this trip.  They had panniers, trailers, heaps of cycle touring gear, and most important of all, dozens and dozens of tires.  The owner was chatty and presented Will with a selection of 700x32C tires to choose from.  He suggested a tire he uses on his own cycle touring bike which has done 7000km without a puncture.  So now Jen has a new inner tube and new back tire that should be bomb proof.  That was a good start to the day.

We then biked on quiet back roads from Kempsey to South West Rocks.  It was great riding through rural countryside and it was nice to have a screaming tail wind.  Clouds started to threaten and just when it looked like raining we got to the pretty little town of Gladstone.  We stopped for a Devonshire Tea let the shower pass.  After our stop we continued to South West Rocks and arrived at lunchtime.  We checked into the nice caravan park with friendly staff and other campers.  We then walked into town and went to the pub.  It then started to pour with rain so we sat on the verandah and watched the rain.  It rained so much we were forced to have another beer while we waited for the weather to clear enough to walk back to the caravan park.

Tomorrow we are having a day off in South West Rocks and plan to have more of a look around this pretty town.  Leo is still in hospital and Michael says he is stable though still in ICU and sedated on a ventilator.  We know he’s getting the best care and it sounds like Michael and Sally are being looked after at Ronald McDonald House which is accommodation for families of sick children.

Sorry there are no photos today.  We’ll hopefully get lots tomorrow when we look around more than the pub in the rain.

Highlight of today:  A great bike shop, nice cycling and arriving in South West Rocks.