A month on the road

The first month went by real quick - it just whizzled by! Some random notions of the trop so far:

-Accomodation is expensive! My original thought was to camp two nights out of three, but now it seems I try to avoid motels etc as much as reasonable. Hostels may be a solution, when weather gets bad.

-People are friendly, as usual.

-Time zones just mix things up, in combination of daylight savings... Its easier to just rise up with the sun. And go to sleep soon after dusk!

-South west of Australia looks so far to be my favorite part.

-Four weeks on the bike and approx. 8000km so far.

Big trees

Somethings are just different around here, trees as prime example. Some of them can reach 70m, if given time and not too many bushfires. The tree top walk was an experience, this must be the angle of Tarzan where he sees the world. Slept in a bush camp near Three Tops at Stirling Range, some 'roos came just after dusk to the field for their dinner. Other group hopped further on, against the sunset. I'm impressed of the South-West area, nice hilly area, with excellent wines! And trees growing on top of rocks.

Birdie birdy bird

While wandering around Albany in search of coffee, I was suddenly surrounded by birds!

Huoltopäivä

Ensimmäiset 7500km tulivat täyteen ja työnsin pyörän huoltoon. Ketjut menivät suoraan roskiin ja eturataskin oli kulunut sirkkeliksi. Muilta osin kaikki olikin kunnossa, uudet öljyt ja tulpat kehiin ja ei kun kovaa ajoa!

Ostin luonnollisesti toisenlaisen voitelutuotteen uusille ketjuille, jos vaikka sillä kestäisivät? Vanha oli Shellin Advanced MC chain oil, joka tunnustettiin laatutuotteeksi huollossakin, mutta nyt on vahamaisempaa Hondan tököttiä laukussa. Näyttää epäilyttävästi Bel-Rayn tuotteelta uus-brandättynä...

Myös ajohousut pääsivät pesuun, tänään ei paljoa ajella (varjossa +37 C).

About travelling

On the other day I had a thought: Travelling around and meeting new people is pretty much like going into a pub, sitting down on bar and you'll never know who you'll meet. Or you don't meet anyone, everything's possible.

Sitting at the bar is, I guess, a signal that you're there and would not mind chatting. So people with similar needs gather around and may tell each other all sort of tall or short stories.

After being on the road for a while, it's nice to talk awhile with strangers, to fill the social need. And most of the other travellers are alike in this. And the chances are that you'll never see these people again, so the guard is lower than usually.

So a pub is instant travelling!

Whale world

Between Albany and Denmark there's a museum about whaling, made out of old whaling station. This were the place where they tugged the carcasses, ripped the fat from the bodies, then cut the remains into size that could be processed further.

The size of a blue whale is just immense. Even a sperm whale looks tiny compared just to the jaws of a blue...

Stirling Range

The south west Australia seems to suffer from salination, the amount of salt lakes is just staggering. Apparently the current farming practises and the poor soil just doesn't mix well. As end result there's just so much light near salt lakes that taking decent pictures isnt so easy... And most of these were taken around ten o'clock! Maybe earlier it'll be better. I'm more used to the lack of light, not to the over-abundance of it;)

Mountains in the horizon are part of the Stirling range, a place I should visit after Albany and the mandatory motorcycle maintenance. The range looked quite amazing on coming over a crest with green trees framing them and light brown- orange fields as foreground! But no stopping on that particular spot.

At previous place I met two finnish backpackers who had been working there for the last three months at grain silos. They were just celebrating the end of their project, and it would have been rude not to participate... but not for too long, of course! Birds woke me up as usual before sunrise, the day was a hot one so I'm pretty knackered now. Maybe even dehydrated, as a six pack of Cola just left me thirsty for more.

At Porongurup is just now annual wine festival on going, but I'm not in a mood for such. Local area is one of the wine regions, so sampling their products is on the cards:) but not today. The old timers at camp seem to have enjoyed it though!

Ah well, it's the Labour Day on Monday here, so everybody is out somewhere on this weekend.