Swimming with the dolphins

I managed to convince John that swimming with the dolphins would not only be wonderful but also part of my 50th birthday. After all, I only have a year of being 50! So we set off really early on Tuesday morning and reached Glenelg where we found the boat Temptation and boarded with another dozen various people.

These pictures speak louder than words; it was a wonderful experience. In fact, jumping in the water and holding on to the rope (while the boat was still moving was an experience in itself!) I saw about 6 dolphins, always in pairs, and 2 came very very close by. Their elegance and friendly smile i will never forget. John enjoyed it too but he kept needing to go to the toilet! this involved taking his wet suit off, which was quite a business!

Burra to Adelaide

We left Burra and its copper mining historic sites early(ish) - i.e. too late for John and too early for me, with a bit of a tail wind and downhill towards Clare Valley. Too easy! We somehow encountered an unexpected steep hill just before the town of Clare which sent John into more despair and puzzlement over why we ALWAYS seem to be cycling uphill in the heat of the middle of the day. But Clare offered us a friendly cafe where we ate (and John slept) and a pot of Peppermint Box honey for $2.

Onto the Riesling Trail, which was absolutely wonderful.

At last a cycle trail designed for an overloaded tandem! 20km of disused railway line, built with much efort in the 20's and only removed in 1983 after a bush fire. So much work to build it and now nothing! but it offered us a bird's eye view of the countryside.

All around us vinyards amongst eucalyptus (strange sight!) and we arrived at a grassed camping site in Leasingham just in time to take a shower and go to bed before a few spots of welcome rain.

More Riesling Trail the next day took us to another lovely village, Auburn, where we met:

1) another tandem! (ridden by two Canadians who had come here especially for the Tour Down Under. You might not know this but the Tour down Under is the equivalent of the Tour de France and it was going on around Adelaide Hills.

2) Cogwebs, a cycle-internet cafe shop, run by Judy and her husband, both from Bournemouth. Judy was very efficient, friendly and was going to participate in the Tour Down Under the following day. It was very refreshing to meet an English person.

3) Cygnets of Auburn, a wonderful French style restaurant where we savoured a delicious cream tea (at 10 in the morning...) listening to French music. Merveilleux!!

But all good things come to an end and we pressed on to Saddleworth. This is when the chain started to give us trouble, jumping in and out of gear, causing us some consternation. However, after John's tender care (he cleaned it with an old flannel found on the side of the road back in western Australia - I had thought what a waste of space! how wrong was I!, then oiled it carefully)... Bingo! Chain working perfectly again! I must say I was very impressed with his expertise!

So we managed to cycle on through Marabel, consisting of one pub and the statue of Marabel, the undomitable mare whose special side bucking technique managed to throw off every rider for 8 years! Marabel holds an annual Rodeo and we love looking at the photographs of bucking horses and their riders. Eventually arrived in Kapunda, exhausted and ravenously hungry (as always!), with great expectations of a civilised meal. It wasn't to be. The campsite was lovely, set in a quiet grassy park (albeit with a dead parrot near the tent... was not too pleased about it but as I wasn't going to move the tent or touch the parrot, I had to put up with the thought of it). Food was disappointing: the one good restaurant was closed (usual story) so we ate a pizza in the take-away, surounded by loud music and Friday nighters. Kapunda is another copper-mining town (rich deposit of highest-grade copper was found here before Burra - in 1842) and with quite pretty lacy iron decorated houses. It was also the home of the "Cattle King", Sir Sidney Kidman, whose horse saleswere reputed to be the largest in the world. His properties covered 340,000 sq km of land (!) and he apparently thought that England would make a good horse paddock!

The next morning was a late start. Although we got up relatively early, I was pining for a coffee and tried unsuccesfully to get information at the tourist centre about the best way into Adelaide. Cycling into cities is always tricky. We left the town at 11 a.m. John grumpy because of the late start. Reached Nuriootpa, the start of the Barossa Valley then had an Apfel Strudel at Tanunda. The Barossa Valley (in fact a mispelling of Barrossa in Spain) with its 60 wineries (I prefer vinyards) produces about a quarter of Australian wines and is very scenic. Many of the towns here have a Germanic feel, are dotted with Lutheran churches and cottages (the settlers came here to escape religious persecution in Prussia and Silesia) and of course surrounded by vines everywhere. It seemed to us a much better way to use Australian soil than farming or cattle and sheep keeping.

It was very hot again and John was still grumpy but we manged to reach Williamstown, where we found a small and very GREEN campsite. John happier.

We also saw a friendly funny small flock of lamas

The following day I conceded and we got up and left very early. It was still dark! However that day was one of the loveliest rides of the trip. We cycled through gentle wooded hills with kangaroos grazing by the road side. Long shadows and a special light made everything so beautiful. It was also downhill! Much of the Adelaide hills are conservation and wildlife parks. Reached Cudlee Creek by 9 a.m. where we nearly had a divorce. I wanted to stay. John wanted to push on to Adelaide, only 30km away. As we couldn't split the tandem in two we had to find a compromise. I, the wise one of course, (not sure if John agrees with this) conceded and we pushed on.

As it happened, it was a good move, as usual good things follow bad ones. Everyone in and around Adelaide was watching the Tour Down Under cycle race, which, thank goodness, was that day in a different part of Adelaide Hills. Result: no-one on the Gorge Road from Cudlee Creek to Adelaide. The road was spectacular, narrow, windy and fortunately more downhill than up, following the gorge of the river Torrens.

It took us by chance to the Linear Park: a strip of woodland up to half a km wide, 40 km long, with a sealed cycle path following the river Torrens all the way right to the centre of Adelaide; and nobody had told us about this gem! We found the campsite easily right beside the cycle path. It was set in the grounds of the 5th earliest house to be built in South Australia, Vale House. Beside it a huge spreading magnificent Moreton Bay fig tree formed the centre piece of the caravan site and provided us with welcome shade. We'd made it to Adelaide!

Then.... Now...

Thank you

Tracy from Waroona tourist office who tried to save us from the monstrous speeding trucks by booking (unsuccessfully) a train for us to Bunburry.

Gunjar and Dhyana, met at Pemberton youth hostel and who invited us to spend a couple of days with them at heir lovely home in Albany. Thank you for your simplicity, your warmth, your spirituality, your generosity and for inspiring us to keep searching in our life. You are very dear friends now.

Carl, Bob, Neil and all the wonderfully friendly, relaxed, happy, professional and helpful staff of Woody Island. We will never forget the peace and beauty experienced there.

Dawn and her kind husband from Wellstead Stores, who gave us a high visibility fluorescent jacket to wear on the tandem. It has probably saved our loves a few times!

Don, cycling around Australia, met at Melrose. Your 18,000km made our 2,000km very insignificant. But it was so good to be able to share our common miseries: bothersome insects and unkind head wind.

Paul and Josh who enabled us to discover some of the beauty of the Flinders Ranges

Mikele and Neil intrepid cyclists from Italy and Irelandwho crossed the Nullabor and inspired us

Patrick O'Donnelly from Wirrabarra cafe who spent time with us sharing about his experience and upbringing

Chris and Mares who collected us in their truck and welcomed us in their beautiful Mill

Brian and his girl friend who saved us from a wet ride (and possibly worse) by picking us up on the road to Norseman in their camper van.

Adam and Angus met in Levi camping site and who shared with us thoughts on Australia, Aborigines and life in general in the kitchen and under the magnificent Moreton By fig tree.

Leslie and Patricia, most of all, who welcomed us so warmly in their home and are for ever a source of inspiration to us

Woody Island,a wonderful experience

This is a text John wrote about Woody Island, off Esperance. it doesn't belong here but I am not sure how to put it back where it belongs so here it is.

Years ago the sea rose and formed an achipelago of over 100 islands off Esperance. Some of these islands are just large rocks, others 1 km across. Flora and fauna are much today as when the water rose. Some islands have snakes, some marsupials.

We set off for Woody Island on an early ferry, having left our tandem at MacKenzies' office. MacKenzies are the family that operates the tourism on the island. It started back in the 50's when Don MacKenzies (now in his 90's) used to run sheep on the island. Sheep fared there better than on the mainland, the soil was richer and there were no dingoes.

In 1954 CALM (now DEC), the body in charge of Western Australia Natural Environment declared the whole archipelago a Natural Park and asked Don to take his sheep off the island. Don was a man of many talents and one of his interests/jobs was in shipping. He also loved Woody Island and, in order to carry on going onto the island, approached CALM to see if they would agree to opening the island to tourism (Woody Island is the only island that is accessible by sea)

A well established partnership between the 2 bodies now operates the tourism on the island. Those who want to stay can do so in a range of accommodation: bring their own tent (like us), or stay in a safari hut with en-suite facilities. The centre of the island is covered with trees varying in height from 3-4 m to 7-8 m depending on the soil's depth. The trees provide a continous canopy over the island and attractive dapple light. The camping areas are under the canopy and young trees are protected from the 60 odd kangaroos that now replace the sheep. It is SO peaceful.

Birds flutter here and there, there is even a sacred king fisher that built a nest in a tree near the kitchen (we actually saw him just before we left, he was the most magnificent light iridescent blue... sorry no picture)

We joined a guided tour of the island which takes us to the highest point, from which we can see the varied flora covering the island.

The windward end is covered in lower scrub varying from knee height to 3-4 m. Leeward end is Skinny dip Bay but when we see entry into the sea is from boulders we give it a miss.

The island water supply is collected off the roof and pumped into 5 huge tanks hidden under the canopy on the hill. 70% of the islands electricity is generated by solar panels. The toilet accommodation is slowly being converted to composting toilets.

We spend the afternoon snorkelling and taking photographs. After supper we go to the windward end of the island to see the fleshy-footed shearwaters come in to feed their young at dusk and the penguins at the far end of the island. By the time the shearwaters appear, 9 pm, we are too tired to go and see the penguins. we disturb a kangaroo grazing near our tent and fall asleep listening to the wind rustling the trees above us. A day in paradise!

Port Augusta to Burra

I have realised how different it is to write a blog from writing a diary, or even emails to different people. For one, one doesn't really know who is reading it (indeed is anyone reading it?), but also internet cafes are not as homely as writing the days event in our tent... and I haven't got time to do both! Anyway, I find it very difficult...
Well, we left Port Augusta and its fumey power station on Friday, found a small road away from road trains but had to pay for this peaceful time by climbing a very steep hill, Horrocks Pass. There were road works and the workers didn't help by saying it would be very long and very steep... well we survived, despite the fact it was midday (why do we always lend up cycling uphill in the heat of the middle of the day?) and arrived in Wilmington, where we rested in a covered area outside "Beautiful Valley Cafe". No flies! cycled on 20km to Melrose, another small charming early settlement (1853), with many interesting old buildings and most importantly a campsite with GRASS! John realised he had had withdrawal symptoms from grass and was so happy! the campsite was nestled by the wooded Mount Remarkable (956m...a hill?) and was the home of hundred of noisy corellas (white cockatooes) who squwaked late at night and early in the morning so loudly one could not talk to one another! but we didn't mind and we met Don, an inspirational, modest and quitely spoken cyclist who was on his last leg of his trip around Australia: 17,000km! We have just completed 2,000km today (and it does feel like all around Australia to us!) he gave us his blog dons-bike-trip.blogspot.com
Next Day made Wirrabarra by 9.00 am, breakfast on home-made meat pie and pasties. I long for coffee and croissants... Had most interesting talk with the owner/cook Patrick O'Donnell. he was one of the "Stolen Generation" having been taken away from his mother when he was 9 and fostered. to his and his wife and children's surprise, he only discovered his father was Aboriginal when he was 40 (he looks very Irish). Patrick was not bitter, considered himself half/half, but life seemed quite difficult in this small rural community where different "groups" (perhaps 4 groups of 20 people) didn't talk to each other.
Replenished, we cycled on only to find that there was a wonderful coffee shop in the Old Bakery" at Stone Hut... and a hotel open in Caltowie (or "sleepy lizard water hole") where the proprietoress opened to sell us a coke. We had never been so spoilt for food and drink in the whole of the journey! Eventually arrive in Jamestown, where Chris, a cousin of Barrie, was to pick us up in his truck to take us to his home in Burra.

What luxury! Chris and Mares made us very welcome in their beautiful mill, Chris being such a talented architect. They drove us around Burra and its interesting mines and after a pub meal, Chris, Mares and I watched and listened to the very moving (but too noisy for John) DVD of the tribute to George Harrison until the small hours of the morning (while John tried to sleep). It was so wonderful to sleep in a BED!

Moved the following day in the afternoon to the nearby camping as Chris and Mares had to go to Adelaide and spent three lazy days visiting Burra, a copper-mining site from 1847 to 1877, where many cottages and other reminders of the mining days can be seen. John is happily wandering in the sun, visiting the mine, pump house, museums and Cornish, Scottish and Welsh cottages, while I am typing away in the cool of the library.
During this trip we have become aware of the harshness of Australia: climate either too hot, too dry, too wet, too windy... soil too hard and stony to fit tent pegs...Now we also realise that this hard environment is also a very fragile one. 40,000 years of Aboriginal occupation hasn't altered the continent, but European colonisation commencing in 1788 has caused catastrophic damage to the environment. We talked about the introduction of pest species, the destruction of forests and the effect of overgrazing a poor and thin soil: what is left now in many places is bare earth or treeless prairies. The different mines we have come across (gold in Kalgoorlie and copper here) are also witnesses of man's ruthless greed...

Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta

Left Kalgoorlie and the Big Pit and took the train at 01.40 am.

The train ride across the Nullarbor Plain was spectacular and very long (24 hours). Saw a few kangaroos, feral camels and eagles. Went past Ziggy's place, a small cottage literally in the middle of the desert where a retired rail worker lives. Apparently when he retired he didn't like it in the city and built himself a hut in the desert. Everytime a train comes by (twice a week) someone throws him a few provisions and water.
We arrived at Port Augusta at 2 in the morning, already exhausted by 24 hours of sitting down. There was nowhere to go at that time of the morning, found two benches and I felt relatively safe enrobed in my sleeping bag. The station was empty but we were disturbed once by someone collecting some bags (John saw him hiding first at the end of the platform and we wondered who he was) and next by a security guard flashing his torch at us...
So we have sunk into the luxury of not cycling for 3 days! Booked a tour in the Northern Flinders Ranges which were absolutely stunning, and visited a most interesting arid botanical garden.
Off tomorrow up the Southern Flinders Ranges (we hope they are not as high as the Northern ones) towards Adelaide

Norseman to Kalgoorlie

Well, we have broken our record! 134km in one day from Norseman to Kambalda, 6o km south of Kalgoorlie. We stayed one day in Norseman to recover from the dreadful heat of the previous day, let the storm pass and replenish ourselves with food and water. It seems that food and water is all we can talk about! a bit like school children who go on an outing and talk about their lunch... but it is a big issue for us here and we always seem to be ravenous. Anyway, left Norseman at the crack of dawn and whizzed along the relatively quiet road (the road trains were still zooming up and down) helped with our second tail wind out of the whole journey. What a difference! Effortlessly pedalling, we admired the beautiful road side "botanical garden": beautiful eucalypts with salmon or shiny olive bark and silvery salt bushes contrasting with the red earth. After 90km we reached the small town, well, the petrol station, of Widgiemooltha for lunch time, ate some soup before deciding to move on later in the afternoon. By that time, numerous speeding white trucks with orange lights had joined the road trains on the road and we were wondering if there was a fire somewhere ?? The scenery was deteriorating, with broken glass bottles strewn all over the road side and we eventually arrived in Kambalda, where a new mine has transformed the town into a dormitory for miners. It had the dubious distinction of providing us with our worst meal and worst campsite in Australia! John's description of the toilets is not repeatable and he killed a scorpion in the shower! The sign for the "Ladies" had been crossed out and replaced with "Hoes". It took me a while to realise what it meant!
Left early the following morning, eager to arrive in Kalgoorlie. Arrived there by mid-morning, assisted by yet another tailwind, making our grand total 1864 km.
Kalgoorlie is an interesting town but not our type. Established in 1893 after Paddy Hannan found gold, the railway arrived in 1906 and the town peaked then with 93 hotels, 8 breweries and a population of 30 000 people. Now, although there are fewer hotels, it still centres around gold and around 232,000 tonnes of ore are removed from the Golden mine Superpit each day. We went to see this pit at dusk, an impressive (but depressing) sight with a scar 1km across and half a km deep. Mining is carried out every day, 24 hours a day and it takes seven 220 tonne truckloads of rock to produce a tiny 2 ounce nugget! No wonder we were overrun by road trains!