Surronded by Mexicans

On a sutibly cloudy and damp day I made it back to victoria, less than 1000km to go, I once thaught that was a lot, but no, its nothing. its a bit strange seing all victorian niumber plates agean, Id got into the habbit of loocking at witch state people were from and was aften supprised to see Vic plates, now there everywhere.

parst the grampians,

And into balarat, after the reletivly unpopulated arias Id bee threw the massive number of big franchise stores and the commerchelisation of everything was a bit of a culture shock.

 

 

 the melbourne city skyline. it was a bit of anexpierence seing if for the first time since leaving, when I last saw it I was happy to have got the first 1000 ir so km and to have made it oult. I had no idea how the trip would turn oult.

 

 

 made it to melbourne, a smuth city entery and a great day, I was lucky enough to catch the melboure croud at the national day of climate action, it was a great event. with an amazing turnoult.

 

 

 

 

SA

Into Sa and along the top of the banduna cliffs,

I mean there wasent a lot elce going on, exept that I was lerning to coock with saltbush.

finally I was off the no tree plain and back in the woodlands. amazingly nothing really broke across the nulabour, and the wheel held up butifully with no broken spokes. but I did have a headwind every day, exept for the first afternoon. I was not impressed by this.

 

 

 I started my longest day of the trip just before Iron Knob, the birthplace of the australian steel industy. it was a thriving towm untill the mine shut down and the town basically died. forchenatly a small number of pashenate resedents have given thier time to give the place enegy and I had a great visit. this comunity is a brilliant example of what people can do with some comittment and effort. well done. it was my longest day of the trip, 250km good sun in the morning and a tailwind in the aternoon went a long way. the good weather did not keep up and it took another 2 days to cover the remaining 160km or so into Adelaide.

 after a days rest in adelaide, where it was a welcome novelty to not be the only bike, I headded back towards the border, less than ideal weather was slowing me down a bit, but not to mutch, the adelaide hills were loverly and a lot of the little hyway towns were quite nice.

 

 

Perth to the border

I headded oult of perth withoult any dramas, made it to the cute little town of York, its a loverly little place only100km from the city with lots of historic buildings.











At about york I hit the WA wheetbelt, finding good camps became a littler harder, but it was nice to have a bit of a change of seneary. unforchenatly it was only now that I discoverd how mutch better a little campfire was for coocking rice than a trangia flame. next trip I will know better. a big feture of this landscape is the rather large chunks of granete everywhere, good for breakfast.

 

 

After the wheetbelt I headded threw to the great weston woodlands, a vast aria of reletivly low woodlands, of some botanicla significance, ( what exactly Im not 100% shure) but it was a really nice aria to ride threw and I had half a day of tailwinds, a welcome relief after a week of head winds. the forest reminded me, somhow of the subalpine snowgum woodlands back home.

 

 

I stocked up with food in norseman, knowing that my next genrull store was 1200km or so further on and hit the Nulabour.

 

And ye it was straght. for a bloody long way.

 

I did become ( somwhat) bord at times and resauted to onroad selfies ( I beleave thats what people do nowdays) so the closest I get is a nulabour selfie.

finally I hit SA

Into Perth

Ive clearly become fairly lasy with updating this, ( sorry.)  From where I last left you I headded down the wa cost more or less withoult incedent, I stopped in to the Pinnicals for a quick loock on the way down.

it was a great ride down the coast, untill about 40km oult of perth I started popping spokes, on the NEW back wheel. Briliaant. the last time I started going threw spokes It diddent stop untill I had replaced ALL the original spokes, and I wasent ceen on doing that agean. on the bright side I was able to change a spoke in half an hour, a proses that had once taken nearly 4 hours nere  Wagga Wagga. still the ride down the cost was nice.

I did eventually make it into perth ( with the bike this time) and set about sorting my wheel oult, I discoverd that the spokes wernt really exelent quality so I decided the best thing to do was to respoke, ( basically compleatly rebuild) my wheel with really good quality spokes. after a bit of serching arond bike shops in perth I found some DT Swiss spokes the right lenth. and I respoked the wheel, it was the first time Id done it propery and was vearry satisfied ( and quite proud) of the result. on the 20th of october I left perth headded for the Nulabour.

I called the local  ( 350 km away) bike shop and managed to get a wheel sent up,  amasingly it  turned up that nignt and I was able to change all the important bits over that night. the old wheel had done an amasing job, though all that was original was the hub and rim itd done whell. it was sad to see it go.

note the chocolate (packet)


I was back on the road

with trees, and paddocs, then sewn crops, and setelments.

oult of gereldton, in tim winton coountery, following the beach along, its so diferent to further north. I had another discussion with the cops, mutch the same as outhers, one did say ( almost to my amusment, but I wasent in the mood) ' the thing youve got to understand abut WA is we hsvr trucks. He did know that Id just come from the NT, it just seemed comical to get that kind of walning just after the roadtrains started to become little ( and a bit pethietic.)

 

Im clearly becoming a bit slack with this. from broome I gunned it down to port headland, serious headwinds have been slowing be down a bit but, I still made decent time. it was really great to be back on the bike. I made it into port headland on my 19th birthday, celerbrating with an overpriced icecream wile I worked oult where I was staying. 

 ( water, woo hoo) I made decent time from port headland to karagini national park, headwinds in the morning, semi tail winds in the afternoon.

 

 this section of road did however have a shitload of roadtrains, witch are always interesting.

 

 

 

after a great tour in the gorges ( thanks to west Aus active) and thanks to my pairents for sending me on the tour. I headed oult to coral bay, shitty headwinds, painfully touresty but nice beaches and snorkering.

 

 

now Ive made it  about 120km south of carnarvon and managed to crack my back rim, new one's on its way.

 

 

sorry that its been a wile between posts, Ive made it to kununura (spectacular)

, lost my phone. made it to broome, (180km of witch limping on compleatly trashed bearirngs, think cable tires) after a couple of days in broome ( got new phone) on sunday arvo I somhow managed to get a couple of fingers caught between the drive chain and sproket, broke the tips of the bone, not pritty. thankfully a couple of amasing people from broome had given me somwhere to so I left the bike is with them. thankyou. I stayed in perth now with a family freand, and my fingures were operated on about a week ago. yesterday I got back to broome. im now waiting on a new set of front wheels that glow worm cycles kindly donated ( just when I needed a new wheel)