Wicked Australia

I have now worked at 2 different vineyards, Shepherds Hut and Alkoomi. It was really hard work and strained your back a lot, especially at Alkoomi. I started working at Shepherds Hut but that was only for a little more than a weeks work, I did mostly wire lifting which basically means walking up and down along the rows and liftig up the supporting wires for the vines. It was allright work, but got really tough when the sun turned up and the flies got bad.

Alkoomi was was a longer work, 4 weeks, and we had to do tree rubbing all the time. Meaning we had to get down to the trunk and clear it from any branches and twigs growing on the trunk and ground around the vine. Also it was contract work, we got payed for the vines we did. We got between 4-15 cents, so some days you had to do over 3000 vines to get a good pay. The back and thighs got really sore and it was really hard to work long days. We stayed on the Alkoomi farm and there I lived with a bunch of irish guys. It was a bit hard to understand them in the beginning but eventually I got used to their accent. I still had to focus when listning to them though.

Now Im back in Albany celebrating christmas in a very weird way. And soon I will be of to Indonesia which is gonna be amazing.

After having checked out of the pub, I made it to the YHA hostel and checked in there. And apperantly I was somewhat expected cause the receptionist knew who I was when I asked for a friends room. So after having settled in my room I went to the kitchen and planned to cook some noodles left over from the touring, and into the kitchen came the receptionist and asked if I wanted to work on a vinyard and I accepted the sudden offer. Also when I dont work I get to do a little cleaning in exchange for free living. So after about 30 min from checking in to the hostel I had managed to get a job and free living. Seems like it wont be all that difficult to find jobs here down under.

After a few days in Esperance, both resting and having my bike repaired, I decided to take the bus to Albany. So I went to the tourist center and booked a bus ticket to Albany, but I thought that it might be best to ask if the bus will be able to take my bike, so I went back to the center and asked and of course it wasnt possible. So I had to cancel it. I decided to ride of the next day on my bike, but as it turned out a storm decided to pass that day, and I was only able to make a few hundred metres into the wind before I decided to turn around. Instead I booked a bus to Ravensthorpe which was about 200km on the way to Albany. The bus that went from Ravensthorpe to Albny was the one that couldnt take a bike.

After arriving in Ravensthorpe I was about to set of for Jerramungup, but I talked to a lady outside of the IGA (supermarket) and she lived at a farm about 30km in the direction I was heading and asked if I wanted a ride, which I did.

So now I only had to ride 80km into the wind, and had about 6-7h before sunset. Not only was it the wind but the road went up and down all the time, so it took nearly 4h to make halfway, and I hadnt eaten anything by that time either, and after eating I had about 2h till sunset but that wasnt enough I noticed when the sun was about to set. But as it did an elder man pulled up beside me and asked if I wanted a ride, yet again I certainly did want it. And I was able to go with him all the way to Albany which was a great relieve. But it was a bit late at the evening so the only place I found that had room left was a pub, and there I stayed for a night.

After a few days in Norseman it was time to move on, which was a little sad because I really liked it at the Railway. But after saying good bye to the owner I started out for Salmon Gums, which was nearly exactly between Norseman and Esperance and decided that I would stay there for the night. And although the weather was great it was one of the most boring days on the bike, really nothing at all happened. But I eventually made it to Salmon Gums which had a pleasent little caravan park where I stayed.

The next day got worse though, first of all the wind had turned so I had head wind, but I started out anyway, with Esperance as the goal. It was really heavy work, and halfway I stopped for dinner and wondered if it would be worth to bush camp for a night just for it to get a bit more pleasant, but moved on anyway. And when I had about a quarter of the way left I pulled up to a gas station and went in to get som sort of energy cause I was exhausted. And when I stepped out the rain had started pouring down. But I had no choice but to pull on all sorts of covers for the equipment and keep going. But when I got closer to Esperance I blew a tube and had to walk the last stretch which was really, really annoying. But I finally made it to the YHA and checked myself in there.

Now I was in Norseman and for the first night I stayed a little outside of town in my tent, but I decided that I had to rest a little here. So I looked around a little at the cheapest places and found an old place called the Railway, and there I could stay at a decent price. And I did a few chores as well so I could stay a few more days for free which was great. I put together an Ikea furniture and took her dog for a few walks among other things.

So now I was finally at Nullarbor! I had prepared with a lot of water, about 13l, so I wasnt worried about that, but when I got to the first town I noticed that they didnt have a lot of it. So I had to buy water which wasnt very cheap. But I really had no choice. For the first few days it was a lof of hills, up and down, up and down all the time which was a bit tirering, but after about 3 days I made it to the Nullarbor Plain, and all got completely flat and no trees in sight. It was quite spectacular.

So after about a week I made it to the border to Western Australia, and went through the quarantine check. No worries there. Except that I noticed that I hardly had any food left, but luckily they had a little groceries in Eucla, a few miles after the border. So I bought a few kilo of rice and spaghetti.

After the border the wind got a little worse and it started raining quite frequent, so it got a little tougher. And one evening I crossed path with a thunder storm, and while out on the nearly treeless Nullarbor it made me quite nervous so I made a quick break for the next patch of trees. And while riding among the trees suddenly a lightning struck right behind me, and as I turned around I saw a tree branch fall over and smoke rising from it. Checked in at a motell that night.

But I finally made it to Norseman in one piece, and having rode over 2100 km I had crossed the Nullarbor.

It didnt really happen a lot on this stretch, I had great wind for a change and could make the whole stretch in 3 days. I stayed in caravan parks during nights and when I got to Ceduna I took a few additional days of rest before entering the Nullarbor!

So now Im up to date, and today I left Port Augusta and was planning on going to Kimba, but the head wind was still following me so I made a stop at Iron Knob, an old mining town. The landscape really opened up now that I have come a little more west. Much larger distances and spaced out places. A guy who was travelling by van stopped and asked if I wanted a lift but I declined because, as he put it, it is patr of my accomplishment to make the whole journey on bike. Im planning on buying another sets of bags as I dont wanna put so much weight on my back, and maybe carry a little extra water. Plenty of water was needed today.

It will probably be a little while now until next update but will try to make one before Nullarbor plains.

The first thing that happened when I woke up in Gambray Ck was that 2 emus surprised me outside of the tent. Was the first time seeing them in the wild as well as kangaroos. Otherwise this trip was a pretty though one as well, lots of head wind and lots of straights. But made it to Port Augusta at last.

This was a short but really tough stretch, lots of straights and had the wind in my face nearly the whole time. So I stopped early in Gambray Creek and stayed at a campingground, and Im really glad I stayed there. I got my first look at the kangaroos and actually nearly hit one of them.

This was a bit longer than the trip before and was a really good trip, sun was warm and clear, the road was a really fine one, and got to travel a bit by the ocean. But the ocean part wasnt all great, I was completely covered in salt when I arrived in Pirie, so I had to get a shower. And I had to spend quite a lot as the cheapest place was a motel.

Nothing special about this trip, except that it was really good weather. Sun was gazing so I drank a lot of water, but I didnt wanna go as far as the day before so all went well anyway. Stayed in Wallaroo for a day as well, one night in my tent, the other in a pub.

Now I dont have any notes from the first part of the trip, but I will recollect a little of what happened this trip.

First of all I started of from Adelaide at 10.00 and took my bike to the bike store for a quick look at it, and as suspected there was nothing to do, but keep going of course. So I left for Port Wakefield but took a wrong turn at the main road, King William st, and after that it took a good hour and a half to get right. And when I did I got to the highway, which had a nice little bike lane for starters, but that one ended a few km later. But it still has a nice and wide little side lane for me and my bike.

As it got later I realised I wasnt about to make it to Wakefield before dark, and I arrived at about 20.00 and took in at a hostel.

Yesterday I mostly just walked around a little to check the prices for equipment, and to see a little of the city. Later met up with a couple of Swiss, a solo travelling girl who is now moved out, and a couple. We all went out for pizza in the evening and hade a great time.

Today I bought all the equipment needed for the trip, got a little bit expensive but I want to have reliable stuff so I dont brake down half way. After all it is a long way to Perth. The bike will be ready for me tomorrow, and when I do get it I will take it for a virgin ride in the near mountains and leave it to them for a short service just to check all is well with it. So for now all I can do is wait for tomorrow. Will probably take a little walk along the river.

The last few hours in Sydney were spent walking around in the city, mostly in the Royal Botanic garden which was something else. Flying foxes were hanging in trees all over the place and the worlds rarest tree was there aswell. Unfortunally I didnt bring my camera as you could take some amazing pictures of the opera house and the bridge together from there.

Later on we all said good bye and I headed for the bus station for the ride to Adelaide. The ride was nothing special, saw a great bit of the outback which was really beautifull but most of the time the curtain was closed as the sun gazed like crazy. Had a few stops at diners, nothing fancy there either, only really tricky accents. But now Im in Adelaide were I checked in to the YHA again to get use of the discount, and am now off to look for a bike store.

Today I am going to leave Sydney, which is both awesome and sad. First of I will finally begin the real adventure, the one intended from the start. The bike ride. But it will be a little sad to leave all the great gals and lads here from WTC. Only just known each other for about 5 days but it feels like were all life long friends.

Yesterday we went to 2 zoo's, or zoo-like at least. One for wildlife and similar, the other was an aquarium. Both were interresting but smaller than we all thought, not really worth the money. We also found out that the most venomous spider in the world lives here in Sydney, in the outskirts of Sydney actually but enough to make me check every corner of the bed before going to sleep.

Now Im gonna check out of the hostel and pack get my belongings to the bus. 24h on a bus wont be fun, but it will be worth it.

These were the texts from the other account:   Sydney 2011-09-24 Sydney, Australia Inga kommentarer Redigera inlägget I just returned from a morning walk through Sydney, it was dark when I left the hostel, the sun is now up now that Im back at the hostel. What I wanted to see was the opera house and Sydney harbour bridge at night. Took some photos but didnt manage to get any good shoots. Although we were down at the harbour yesterday aswell, got some better shoots in the daylight. Will soon try to upload some photos. We also went up the Sydney tower to get a good look at the view, and it really is a beautifull city full of life. Also we went out to the local club yesterday. Was both a 20 years birthday party and a "finally at Sydney"-party, had a great time but some of the other guys dont seem to enjoy the aftereffects of alcohol, me myself got up at about 4 am for the walk mentioned. Today we will go see a wildlife center and a aquarium. The rest will mostly be spent at preperations for monday and what else is left to do at the Work and Travel Company. This trip is gonna be really awesome. Läs mer och kommentera Finally in Sydney 2011-09-23 Sydney, Australia Inga kommentarer Redigera inlägget After a very decent but long flight I finally arrived to Sydney. We are a group of about 25, who travelled together, all great people. The first few days here will be spent discovering and seeing Sydney, between all the paperwork that have to be done. Today I planned for the next step of my journey, a 24h bus ride to Adelaide. And once there I will buy a bike and equipment to be able to handle myself in the "Wild, Wild West". But first we are gonna have a blast in Sydney.