Jan 2007

Saturday evening of the camping trip, Simon and I hide in his ute to escape from the rain, and we ended up talking well into the night. I've seen a bit of him since then but hopefully we'll ride north this weekend to see the state...

I've spent the past few days hiking at Mt. Wellington and riding around the great roads in the Hobart area. Yesterday the weather cleared up and I drove out to Feycinet Peninsula. There are plenty of tourists here, and it's obvious why when hiking through the mountains and along the quiet, pristine beaches.

I camped at Cooke's Beach last night, which is in the running for best campsite of the trip! The bay was calm and secluded, with only a few other people (who were quite friendly, despite that common feeling I often experience between other campers/hikers of just wanting their space, peace and quiet) but plenty of wallaby's and we even saw a huge stingray hunting in the shallow waters.

In fact, I feel that I've been lucky with observing wildlife on my walks again this trip. I've watched a group of 4 massive yellow-tailed black cockatoos, crossed paths with a snake over 1 meter in length, and looked up to see a wedge-tailed eagle being chased away from a nest by a flurry of smaller birds.

I'm now enjoying the beauty of Wineglass Bay while I give my feet and knee a well-needed rest. The bottom of my arch has been giving me much grief for the past 5 or 6 days. I know I need to stop walking on it and give it a rest but there are so many good walks in Tassie that I want to do before I have to leave in 10 days...

I rode south with Nigel and Mick up into the mountains. They didn't seem to mind waiting for my slower bike, and it was opportune to have people to ride with who know the best roads in the state. We arrived at Nigel's place, where I'd been invited to stay with him and his two young boys, and played around with my bike a bit (I certainly learned a few things from the veterans...).

After a great homecooked meal we headed to "The Shed" where we met up with Mick and his wife Maria. This clubhouse is literally a shed, but with a gorgeous bar built in, a pool table, a kitchen area with a BBQ, and most importantly a fridge full of Cascade. Heaps of pictures showing bikes, friends, and friends on bikes decorate the wall around the wood stove and anything from Wolfmother to the Credence Clearwater Revival to John Butler blasts on the stereo.

A large part of the group, with myself tagging along, have driven down to camp at Cockle Creek, a prime fishing spot on the southern tip of Tassie. These folks are quality, despite copious amounts of alcohol and a bit of crudity, and seem to really care about each other. That said there has been no shortage of hard times given out! I suppose I get a bit myself for being the token foreinger. Fortunately, all in good fun... I'm reminded of fond memories of drinking with friends on Canada Day Weekend!

Aside from the rain, I've had a great time so far, drinking local beer and standing around the fire, eating freshly caught fish, abalone, and wallaby. Enjoying a great Tasmanian experience!

I felt like a kid again, with the excitement of driving onto such a huge boat. The overnight ferry from Melbourne to Devonport, called the Spirit of Tasmania, isn't large compared to some of the cruise ships I've seen, but it's the biggest boat I've ever been on.

I parked my bike beside a couple of men on Harleys from the Hobart region. Nigel and Mick seem like great guys, and we're currently sitting back with a Cascade (great Tassie beer!) watching the lights of busy Melbourne fade into the distance. Tommorow morning we'll arrive in Devonport!

It's certainly been a strange few days. I'm tempted to blame it on the rain but I think there's something else going on in my head, although I've yet to figure it out.

I feel as though my attempts at living peacefully have come to a skreeching halt. After my second day of driving through the intense heat in Northern Victoria I began to push. I pushed through the desert, I pushed through the farmlands and pushed my way onto Kangaroo Island. Even once on KI I was never really reaching for peace. Just trying to "see" the island. Just trying to get stuff done; to be "productive". Ugh... this pushing was an awful reaching for the future; a focus on where I was going and how much I should get done instead of the peaceful living-each-moment-as-it-comes.

And after that, mellow life in Adelaide was a shock to my system. I bounced in the opposite direction and made use of each moment to be as lazy as possible. Avoiding productivity at all costs.

No wonder I felt agitated as I was leaving the city. It was like I was just heading out to push, push, push all over again.

The first day back on the bike my butt was sore, my hands ached and I was fighting traffic and the road. It was a relief to meet a friendly couple from Ballarat camped at the 42 Mile campground in the Coorong (gorgeous salty marshes seperated from the ocean by the Young Husband Peninsula, and prime fishing grounds judging by the number of fishermen camped on the beach). I was invited to join this young couple full of energy, adventure and great stories to tell for dinner followed by a glass of port.

Heading back to my lonely tent and waking up to the rain the next morning did nothing to improve the mood of the previous day. After a quick walk to the beach I was off to check off my list of places to see Kingston SE, Robe and Mt. Gambier, all the while not really enjoying the ride that should have been fun despite the rain. Crossed the SA-Vic Border (check) and through Nelson (check) and decided I'd checked off enough for the day.

I thought I'd try camping at Swan Lake in Discovery Bay Coastal Park. The dirt road soon became super corrugated and potholes abounded. I reached a point where, although the scenery was beautiful and I could hear the ocean, it was time to turn around as I could feel my leaking forks probably wouldn't take much more.

DAMN!!! While trying to turn the bike around on the narrow gravel road it tipped... downhill. It took every ounce of effort I could summon to get the bike back upright after 5 long minutes of "on-the-verge-of-freaking-out" and "oh-my-goodness-i'm-stuck-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-no -cellphone-reception", not to mention petrol leaking out of my tank and who knows what else could be wrong with the bike.

I stood there shaking for a further 5 minutes before climing back on and slowly working my way back to the highway. Once on the highway I didn't know what to do. I felt homesick for the first time in a long long time. But I couldn't think of anywhere I'd like to be. Just not here, in the rain, on my own. And maybe this whole trip was a bad idea...

I decided to screw this camping/buliding character b/s and checked into a hotel room at a pub in Portland, the next town down the road. Once there I collapsed and lay motionless on the warm, dry, soft bed until I could summon enough energy to enjoy a hot shower, a warm dinner, and a good conversation with a friend who called just at the right time.

This morning I awoke with a new perspective and was able to approach the day more peacefully, taking my time and enjoying the moment. The rain cleared up momentarily as I entered Port Fairy allowing me to observe the surfers as I ate my lunch on the rocky shore. Driving into town my bike sputtered... and stopped... Oh No!!! Only 186 km on the odometer out of the 220 I should be able to get out of a full tank. But then why is the fuel tank creaking on and on and OH YEAH: I had forgotten about the petrol I lost when the bike tipped.
Ok, no problem. Caltex is only a few blocks away. Just then a local came out of his house of offer a hand. After pushing the bike onto his front lawn he drove me to the petrol station and bought me a 5L can of petrol!!!
He said it was in return for the friendly Canadians who helped him out when his son was sick in Quebec. Straight out of Pay it Forward...

So now I'm camped 8km off of the Great Ocean Road at Johanna Beach. It was pretty cool to see the coastline this far. I expected the 12 Apostles to be somewhat of a letdown, having seen all the photos before. But with the sun low in the sky, peaking through the storm clouds, the coastline accentuated with these natural statues was breath-taking indeed! It was a treat to stop taking photographs (yet another push-push-push habit) and just absorb the beauty of the waves, the mist, the rocks and the cliffs!

The Great Ocean Road is definitely not overrated: some great driving this far despite the rain and I'm sure more to come tomorrow.

It's going to rain today; I can feel it in the air as I pack up my bike to leave after four days of fabulous eating, drinking and general good-times with Len, Jess, Nick and Cass. Today I head NE into the Adelaide Hills (apparently great riding!) and stop at Handorf to watch the second stage of the Tour Down Under where the cyclists cross the finish line. Then it's off down the coast to who-knows-how-far-i'll-get. Hmmm... I feel as though I'm lacking in the motivation area. Hopefully my mood will improve once I hit the road.