It's been a little while since I've been here. I won't be able to commence my trip until about May next year because I'm committed to being in Albany for the summer tourist season. I do wine tasting & cellar sales for Wignalls Wines over summer so hopefully I can get going once the cellar closes. As a result I haven't had much to add to the trip but never-the-less it is still a constant theme for my day dreams.
However, I have just finished a five day trip back from Perth by bicycle and I'm inspired. Travelling by bike is the ideal speed. Walking is a bit too slow for me. I get bored with the time it takes for the scene to change. Plus walking makes my feet and back sore over long distances.
In a car everything just whizzes by and you are insulated from the sounds and smell of what you pass. A bike though covers ground at a reasonable rate, without insulating you. I now know what canola smells like! I'm used to the delightful sight of rolling paddocks of canola but have never smelt it before. It's not an especially fragrant scent. Kind of reminiscent of fresh tar but at least I know.
On the bike you see the wildlife too. Travelling relatively silently I surprised emus, roos, a fox (should've seen the look on his face), a couple of snakes and myriad bobtails & birds. I was serenaded most of the way by 28's (western rosellas that go 28, 28, 28), black cockys & the occasional galah. Being spring I did get swooped by about a dozen magpies but you feel reasonably secure under your helmet and the quality of their warble makes it easy to forgive them.
I only did about 60 to 80 kilometres a day which was enough to get the blood flowing without being too debilitating apart from a bit of a sore bum by the end of day. Trish my lovely wife came as support crew in the car. She makes dolls so was happy to while away her spare hours doing that and wandering round op shops in the towns we passed through. That was nice because she could collect me and transport me over the bits I didn't want to do.
We stayed in country pubs & caravan parks and enjoyed aspects of country life you miss when you fly through by car. Went to a quiz night in Darkan and watched the Dockers loose the finals (sob) at the Kojonup pub.
So now I'm inspired to do the Grafton to Newcastle section of Edward's trip by bicycle. I have ridden horses a bit in the past but from that I know that riding is something that you need to be in practice to do. Plus accessing and managing horses for a trip like that would be quite a task. I was just going to do it by car but now I figure that a bike will allow me to experience the country in a manner closer to Edward's experience. Can't wait.
