7 March 2001

Sorting gear, rushing to get the office in some sort of order for four months away, making last minute permit applications for aboriginal lands........Yep it will be a relief to set off from Perth on Saturday and get into the rhythm of travelling under my own steam.

Perth2Adelaide will take some 4 months in total with some 6000km to travel - I don't expect to be home before the end of July. As always it should present some wild contrasts: the southern oceans pounding the south west Australian coast to the aridness of the Central Deserts. Traversing the heights of the Macdonnell Ranges in Central Australia to traversing below sea level on Lake Eyre. Lost amongst quiet gorges in the Gammon Ranges to watching the sunrise over Ayers Rock with hundreds of others.

To help carry certain loads of water on the bike, I'm towing a BOB trailer this time which should be interesting. I'm looking forward to all of it but the walk along the south coast of WA, the traverses of the Macdonnell and Flinders Ranges should be great.

Cheers
Huw

9 May 2001

After a month or so of wandering along the spectacular coast of South West WA it's time to leave the ocean behind, sit down for a while and put my feet up - ie. get on the bike! It's the last day of April and I'm enjoying the very civilized town of Albany, the first place settled in West Australia.

Later this morning I'll head north with some 2500km of riding ahead that will take me to the big red rock in the centre of this country. A couple of days on sealed roads then it's on the dirt on some desert roads to Kalgoorlie and thence deeper and deeper (hopefully not too deep in sand!) north from there.

So what of the first month? Much time spent on recognized trails - firsly Wendy and I walked for 7 days from Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, the most sou-westerly point in Australia. Great walking with some civilized places along the way. We shared the Trail with no other walkers but plenty of surfers and fishermen. Once at Cape Leeuwin it was good to turn east and start moving in the direction of Adelaide - the first few weeks from Perth were leading me further away!

A couple of days riding had me at Northcliffe, amongst the towering karri forests and ready to join the Bibbulmun Track to Albany. A bittersweet time as Wendy would leave me here to head home.

The Bibbulmun; a 1000km walk trail from the outskirts of Perth to Albany. Completed in 1998 and modelled on the famous Appalachian Trail in the US. The route is waymarked all the way and some 45 basic 3 sided sleeping shelters were built along the track. Word is slowly leaking out about this track but I didn't meet too many on the 2 weeks I walked the track as it wound its way close to or on the coast.

The feet are looking forward to a rest - for some reason (all the sand walking?) I've been suffering badly bruised heels that had me hobbling a bit so time to set of with my mate "Bob" ( a trailer I'm towing behind the bike) and move on.

Kalgoorlie 9 May

700km north of Albany, the beach seems (and is!) a long way away. The first few days through the wheatbelt were less than exciting - long, long straight roads with dry, dusty fields to the horizon. The scene occasionally enlivened by a grain silo towering over the landscape.

Arrived the first evening to the little community of Borden - houses, pub, silo but no people to be seen (died of borden,perhaps!) - assumed I'd be safe to pitch the tent on the sports oval. Light fades, dinner is cooking, when suddenly on come the floodlights - it's footy training night in Borden and this is conducted around my tent!

Contrasts between communities. At Hyden,the town is full of life and smiling faces. I soon tracked down Dobbie Graham in the pub, who everyone tells me is the expert on a bush track I wanted to follow. The Holland Track was cut through the mallee scrub as a route for prospectors headed to the new goldfields of Coolgardie/Kalgoorlie. The Holland Track, so named not because the country is flat, but the team was led by John Holland, was soon reclaimed by the scrub.

Dobbie pointed out where I might find water in rock pools if a recent storm had brought rain "out beyond the fence". I still set off with nearly 20 litres of water for the possible 4 days on the track - if you don't carry water, you don't find it, if you carry water, you find it. One of those annoying rules of the bush.

The Holland Track was magical, 2 wheel ruts winding through the mallee. Just me, the roos and the emus ( and the most incredible line of caterpillars marching in conga formation, head to trail down the track, up to 4 metres in length!)

Only saw one other in 4 days on the track, and that was Dobbie Graham, who on the first night planned to surprise me with a few cold beers. We actually missed each other but did meet at 8am the following morning. The beer still tasted good!

Kalgoorlie is too big for me. Big mines, big trucks, big miners, time to keep heading north to the rock.

Alice Springs, Sunday June 17th

Now shall I turn north to Darwin and thus get Perth2Darwin out of the way or head south to Adelaide as originally planned?!

Some 80 days after leaving Perth I'm enjoying a couple of days recharging the batteries in the first town (ie place where decent coffee is available!) I've seen since Kalgoorlie some 2500km and 5 weeks ago. Then it's time to head south for the last month or so.

Still on a high from the last 2 weeks traversing the West Macdonnell Ranges. What a magical place!

Imagine the bushwalking mecca of South West Tasmania with decent weather or for those poms on the list, the Cuillins of Skye with spinifex replacing heather and red rock replacing grey - soaring ridges, high peaks, deep, deep gorges. I'll be back for more.

Once completed, the Larapinta Trail that is being developed is surely destined to become one of the classic walks of the world. We were so lucky to be here in a year where there was plenty of water around 'in the desert' and we witnessed some wild, wild thunderstorms.

Indeed one evening we sat transfixed for 3 hours as a storm rolled in, painting the mountains a different colour every 10 mins or so. Then we scurried to our tent pitched high on a narrow ridge as it hit us - hard!

I say "we" as Wendy joined me for much of the walk, dipping out only when I decided to go 'cross country' for some days. A pleasant feeling in the last couple of days to Alice Springs to walk through Hugh Gorge (not my fault they spelt it wrong!) and on to Birthday Waterhole to arrive in Alice itself actually on my birthday (and a celebratory dinner at a Swiss Indian restaurant - Tandoori Rosti!!)

To reach the range I had enjoyed (endured) some serious 'pushwalking' with the bike up the sandy floor of the Finke River gorges (the oldest river in the world they say) as a means of cutting across from Uluru/Kata Tjuta (Ayers Rock/The Olgas).

When I'd planned my route from Perth, I'd decided to make a huge diversionary loop up to Uluru (and thence the West Macs) from south west WA. I'd never seen the big red rock nor the Olgas and thought I should include them somehow in these journeyings around the continent.

I was prepared for some disappointment - I'd seen the photos, the film footage, the hundreds of adverts featuring them. They TOTALLY blew me away!! As if some inspired, manic sculptor with genes drawn from Dali, Henry Moore and others had worked in conjunction with the awesome powers of nature to throw down these rocks in the desert.

Perhaps it was the fact that I'd approached them under my own steam from the opposite direction to 99% of visitors. But I challenge anyone not to be impressed even if you fly into Yulara and are driven out in an air conditioned coach from your air conditioned room at the resort. I could have spent many more days just wandering around both Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

To get there, I'd had my feet on the pedals for the 'long stretch' thru the Central Deserts from Kalgoorlie. Talk about wide open spaces! Just me, the wild camels (still not sure how best to handle these beasts when they refuse to get off the track!), the dingoes, a few vehicles and a couple of Aboriginal communities and roadhouses. (Again for those of you in Europe, imagine riding from Lands End to John O'Groats passing one village and 2 service stations en route). Some very funny and interesting experiences along the way eased the sometimes monotonous long days in the saddle but here is not the place to tell too many tales.

It's back on the bike tomorrow to head to Lake Eyre. Recent rainstorms have closed many roads along my route so will be interesting what I find in the next week or so. More interesting will be to finally discover whether I get to paddle on Lake Eyre itself - enough water or just thick, salty mud!

Huw

13 July 2001

Sipping a decent coffee (my classification of a real town) for the first time since Alice Springs a month ago. I'm in Hawker and also the first time on a bitumen road too.

Into the final week, with plans to arrive at Adelaide on the 19th July, weather permitting (for the 60km open water crossing from Yorke Peninsula). Since Alice there was some very wet desert to slog across. Mmmm, despite this being the "least canoed" of the C2C journeys, water has been a surprising feature. However not enough to allow a paddle across Lake Eyre.

As I rode past Lake Eyre South I felt twangs of disappointment: water appeared to stretch to the horizon. However all the experts (National Parks, pilots, locals) told me it was a thin veneer over the cloying mud. I consoled myself with an ascent of Mt Kingston, all 187 metres above sea level before camping at Lake Eyre at 10 metres below sea level.

Thence at last out of the desert and into the mighty Flinders Ranges. Some of the best mtb touring I've ever had and some equally fine bushwalking through the gorges of the Gammons and the ridges of the Flinders.

Finished this trip walking yesterday with a long long day including an ascent of St Mary Peak in Wilpena Pound, the highest point in South Australia. Ignoring signs that the climb was closed, I enjoyed an airy scramble in the mist. Perhaps a sad indictment on the future path of adventure- the summit climb is: "closed for redevolpment to make a safer, more accessible and more enjoyable experience for visitors". I found it very enjoyable as it is! Why this need to sanitize natural places? Let us all discover our own limits.

Anyway, off my high horse and back on to the iron steed to weave down the dirt to the Yorke Peninsula before the final days in the kayak.

Adelaide- restaurants, fine wines, good coffee EVERYWHERE.....

Huw

25 July 2001

I sat in millpond calm, 30km from land to west and east. Dolphins broke the mirror like surface and I sang loudly, breaking the rare silence of the sea (and sending the dolphins diving deeply holding their 'ears'!).

I'd left Port Vincent at 4-30am in darkness and heavy rain showers. By 6-30am dawn arrived and with it, celebratory double rainbows. What a fine way to finish the journey to Adelaide. My luck was in with the calm conditions for the crossing. The 2 previous days paddling down the Yorke Peninsula had allowed me to get my paddle arms going a bit, but 60km without a break was still going to be a test.

Slowly the feint grey outline of the Adelaide Hills turned more pronounced and green. Then the CBD office blocks of Adelaide could be picked out. Both disappeared and reappeared as rain squalls headed up from the south.

Indeed as I approached the Adelaide coast, the wind and consequent sea chop stirred an inner calm induced by satisfaction at approaching the end of the 111th and final day's travel from Perth. The final 10km saw me 'sneak' over the 6000km mark for the journey and a landing at Grange was a relief to get off my bum and stretch the legs after nearly 12 hours in the kayak.

Wendy and Cecilia were there with hot coffee and hugs. They also had the bike ready - I still had a final 15km or so to the Festival Theatre. The finishing point of the Melbourne2Adelaide journey in 98 and thus for this one too. With aching back and salty face, I scrambled onto the steed as darkness came and followed a winding bike path along the Torrens River to Adelaide City. The champagne and beer tasted mighty fine!

So the 5th of 7 is complete. Again I feel privileged to have seen so much varied and wild country. I also feel lucky to have come through well over a year's total human powered travel with no accident resulting in injuries or debilitating strains (mmmm, steady on Huw - cast your memory back to the feet problems in 97 and 98 - ah how time dulls the memory!). The numerous falls, twists and bashes have been harmless! Long may it last.

So many stunning camps, strange experiences and fine people met since riding out of Perth in March. Ocean, desert, mountain.

Mention should also be made of the awareness of the threats to our land that such journeys engender. To give but one example of what is probably the biggest threat facing the Australian environment - land salinity.

Up in the Flinders Ranges a week ago, I filled my water bottles in a stream flowing fast and clear from the recent rains. Later that day I boiled the billie for the end of day brew and watched in amazement as the water boiled over the sides. A quick taste had me reeling - saltier than the ocean! Salinity, land clearing, global warming, mass consumption. Huge problems requiring huge wills and efforts from all - world leaders to you and me (And Dubya doesn't seem to possess such a will).

Thanks for the support from so many of you. From the words of encouragement, to the sponsors providing support for the project. In particular for Melbourne2Adelaide a big thanks to Wendy for everything, to Cecilia and Lawrie in the support vehicle from Uluru, to Outdoor Agencies (Tents, food, packs etc etc), True Grit (BOB Trailer), AUSLIG (maps), Velo Vita (Bike bits), Perception (kayaks), Suunto, PowerBar.

The day after I finished we were sitting in a cafe in Adelaide with a friend, already discussing route options for the penultimate leg of Darwin2Perth next year! Even if I wanted to, I couldn't but finish this wonderful series of journeys now.

Good luck in your own personal adventures - at work, in the outdoors or at home.