Catch Up from Oz

• By: RTWPoker
• On: 02/25/2010 00:49:59
• In: Australia
• Comments: 1

They do drink piss down here but piss is just their standard word for beer.

Here are the pros of travelling in Australia..

Pros
Infrastructure is tremendous.  Roads and highway systems are world class.  Some of the best I've seen.  They put Canada's highways to shame.  Sydney and Melbourne are two of the safest, cleanest, prettiest major cities I have been to.  Ultra modern with some stunning remnants of heritage mixed in.

Cleanliness is something I've forgotten about for 20,000 km.
Roads that are well maintained and biker friendly with few exceptions.  They even remind you to ride on the left side of the road in Australia.  Very tourist friendly in case you forget. Scenery is spectacular.

Easy going - people are nice although sometimes they throw in an Ozzie term that may confuse you. Easy place to adventure with no significant language barriers after you get over the accents.

Cons
Price - The Aussie dollar is approaching par with the US.  This is high compared to a year ago and you will suffer from sticker shock on just about everything.
Exchange rates vary tremendously from vendor to vendor.  Don't be gouged, shop around.
Internet is 3rd world.  $5-$10 for 30 minutes of snail pace wifi access.  Worst I have seen in my travels.  They give this stuff away in Bolivia for shit's sake and they have the nerve to hold a gun to your head here for service that sucks.

Roadkill - why go to a zoo when you can just take a morning ride and see literally dozens of kangaroo and wombat carcasses.  We did see some living Koalas, sheep and cows and eventually 4 live Kangaroos. 
A good but expensive ($32) aquarium visit in Sydney was time well spent.
Heat - It gets frickin hot here.  We have seen 110 degrees F.
Temp Range - the range here in 2 days was 59-110 degrees F.  Tough to plan for.

Health Standards in Pub accomodation - they are cheaper but cobwebs in the bathroom had to be older than me.

Skin Cancer Risks - Melanoma is recognised to affect 400,000 Aussies per year.  The anti smoking campaigns have been replaced with skin cancer scare campaigns.  5 tips, Where a hat, cover up, Use sun screen, where sun glasses, stay in the shade.

New Tires in Cairns

It's always nice to get new tires fitted.  Wayne Leonard Cycles took care of the mounting and balancing on the same day we arrived in Cairns.  I am getting good life out of these things relative to others so am now on my 4rth rear tire and 3rd front tire since departure from Canada.

When it rains here it is comforting to have a little tread depth.  Cairns was fun.  Snorkelling on the great Barrier Reef and swimming with turtles was neat.

The most frightening thing we encountered so far was the mango chasing bats that inhabit Cairns.  They start waking up about 5 pm and take over the skys.  There are literally thousands of them.  If you wander about town during the day you see a meat locker full of them hanging from the trees.  Rats with wings, I am not a fan.

Solo to Alice Springs

New tires and heading west solo.  Over 2500 km in the next few days. Plan is to meet Chris Barnecut of thelongestfriday.com in Alice Springs in 4 or 5 days. I have a great departure route but run into trouble about 30 km out of Mount Surprise roughly 300 km down the road.  Surprise!! the road is submerged in 2 feet of water for over a kilometer.  The depth is manageable but the current is whitewater fast. 
If I had a spotter, I might have attempted it but visions of my gear floating downstream and my trip ending early win out so I get a $30 pub room at Mount Surprise and ponder my future.

In the morning there is no real indication of change to the water level so I backtrack and take the long route.  This will add 1200 km to my travels so get started early and keep the throttle twisted.

Back to back days of about 950 kms put me back on schedule and I arrive in Alice Springs on Day 4 a little saddle sore and glad to get off the bike for a while. Riding was dead boring straight and I would recommend you avoid this type of travel if you have the option.  My tire tread is half gone by the time I arrive in Alice.  So much for new rubber.

Camping with Chris and the Gun Barrell Highway

Camping with Chris of LongestFriday.com fame is scheduled for the next couple of weeks.  I have lined up permits in Alice Spring for a place I know nothing of.  Indigenous land requires permission to cross and permits are required from Northern Territories and Western Australia.  No charge but a whole list of dos and don'ts to consider.  A lot of confusion over where we are going or how far it will be between gas stations.  The maps warn about going into these parts reiterating the need for extra water and fuel.

There is a special fuel here in Alice Springs that I have been warned off of using by the KTM dealer.  It is a British Petroleum derivative that was designed for use in these parts to discourage the aboriginals from sniffing it.  Horribly sad to think that the problems that exist in remote Inuit communities in Canada is also quite prevalent here in Australia.
  The fuel is not supposed to be good for the bike but is all that is available once on the indigenous lands.  A bit of a dilemma but the Big Katoom survived bottle fuel in Bolivia so I hope it holds up here as well.

Day 1 is filled with last minute admin and food purchases.  Then the rain comes and does not want to stop.  It is rainy season but nobody has seen the river run like this at this time of year.  We may not escape Alice Springs on schedule but as I write this from a coffee shop I wonder which of the challenges will get to me first.  Will it be the rain, the bugs or the heat?  Or will the rain on the road hold us hostage and prevent us from even getting started.

On the bright side there is a poker game at the Alice Springs Casino starting at half 6 from Wednesday to Sunday.  Lucky for me I can find something to do here every night but Monday and Tuesday.

The next enrty will be an update on the Gun Barrell.  I don't expect to have internet access for a couple of weeks.  This will truly be an adventure and I am fortunate to be travelling with an Army Ranger Captain who has survival skills and training way beyond a retired Naval Officers. Hopefully Chris will haul my ass out of any trouble it gets into over the next few weeks.  Cheers... Capt ADV