The National Drug Prevention Alliance have manage to raise £744 to add to the tally. See sponsorship page for more details.
16-Sept-2000They made it. The cycling ends at Perth.
15-Sept-2000Its windy in Cunderdin.
12-Sept-2000Southern Cross, and a long e-mail.
09-Sept-2000Norseman. They hope to be in Perth in 5 days.
07-Sept-2000Balladonia.
05-Sept-2000In Caiguna yesterday afternoon.
26-Aug-2000Ceduna - ...from the Aboriginal word meaning "A place to sit down and rest".
21-Aug-2000Shortcut through Kimba.
19-Aug-2000Rest in Port Augusta.
17-Aug-2000Georgetown heading for Port Augusta.
12-Aug-2000Arrived in Adelaide.
09-Aug-2000Having a rest day in Mildura
07-Aug-2000Euston today - Not long till Adelaide now.
02-Aug-2000In West Wyalong
29-July-2000 Reported to be in Bathurst this morning. It was cold in Lithgow so they decided to go on ahead of schedule.
21-July-2000 Arrived in Sydney
20-July-2000 Left Heathrow for Australia
12-July-2000 Useful stuff appears on web site
12-July-2000 The two James's are rushing around to finish their preparations
By 0930 we'd done nearly 60km and got to Northam, the biggest town we'd seen since Port Augusta, more than 2000km earlier. We got some food from a bakery and carried onwards. Neither of us dared to believe that we'd actually make it to Perth that day - we were expecting the gale force winds to which we've become accustomed. However, they never came, perhaps due to the high pressure system, or the hills & trees we were going through. In any case, we wound through the hills, not caring about having to climb steeply, knowing that it would all have to return to sea level soon. The scenery was some of the best we'd seen in ages. Enormous gums trees and meadows full of yellow and purple flowers. At one point it looked like all the grass on the hillside had been dyed purple.
Up until 30 or 40km outside Perth the scenery was quite rural, excepting the
highway, just woodland and meadows all around. Then came the big downhill. It
was about 6 km long and had plenty of warning signs and an escape lane. The
gradient was 4% then 6% then 3%... I understand that's pretty steep for a main
road. As we descended, we could see the city hazily in the distance, and for the
first time we felt the wind. Once we reached the bottom it was a different
world. Midland was the usual Australian suburb consisting of mile upon mile of
car dealerships; somehow they had a certain respectability about them lacking in
those around Sydney... strange.
After about 20km of this we reached the city centre, which was, as promised,
clean, relatively airy and convenient to navigate thanks to plenty of parkland,
cycle paths and one of those sensible grid systems.
So we're staying at one of the YHA hostels in the city, which even has Internet
access for $1 per hour! We've been out and had a good meal and are just about
ready to crash out for the night. We won't be setting an alarm.
So we now have 4 days to recover, see Perth and the surrounds and pack up the
bikes for the journey home. The strange thing about travelling on an aeroplane
over that kind of distance, is that the seats aren't a lot more comfortable than
sitting on the bikes. Still, at least we can sleep on the plane.
Many thanks to everyone for all your support and encouragement. It was much appreciated. I'd also like to thank everyone who sponsored us. If you'd like to find out more about our charities, please follow the links from the website. A particularly big thankyou must also go to Paul for maintaining the website. Cheers Paul!
As promised I will make an effort to catch up with everyone when I get back.
Please write and let me know how you're all getting on.
All the best,
James
15 September 2000 09:11
Hi Everyone,
It seems that once again our old friend the wind is trying its best to slow us
down. We've spent today and the second half of yesterday plodding along at
about 10kph. It's incredibly frustrating when we're under 100 Miles from Perth.
We just got rained on for the first time in ages as well. Still, we're so
nearly there...
Although it's only 4pm we're staying here tonight as there doesn't seem to be
much chance of us making the 50k to Northam in any sensible time. As the wind
seems to be less in the early morning we're going to try and make a really early
start and do our best to be in Perth tomorrow (Saturday) night.
I've heard there is plenty of cheap Internet access available in Perth, so we'll
be sure to let you know when we get there.
Cheers,
James
12 September 2000 09:36
Hello Everybody!
Firstly many apologies for lack of communication over the last few weeks. This
was due to us being in the middle of nowhere, the back o'Bourke - the Nullabor
plain. Even Australia's amazing distribution of Telecentres didn't cover these
remote parts. Often we'd arrive at a place to discover that it wasn't a place,
more like a petrol station. The other reason is that when we do get to places,
it turns out that the Telecentre is shut for the night, or it's a Sunday...
Anyway, we're starting to creep back into civilisation now, so we'll do our best
to keep you informed. :)
I think we last sent Email from Ceduna, although Paul has put up some info from
phone calls on the website. Thanks Paul! [could you spell check this before it
goes on the site, thanks!]
After Ceduna the towns became more and more spread out and we were forced to do
plenty of camping in (usually spacious) parking bays by the roadside. This was
partly a good thing, because although we were only paying around 15 pounds a
night each in motels, we were running low on the folding stuff and camping is at
least free.
The wind (as is becoming the norm) was not friendly, blowing in our faces all
day long. This effect was augmented by the increasingly flat terrain, although
it wasn't completely pancaked.
We began our journey through Yalata with some caution, as we'd heard some
perhaps slightly racially biased stories about the Aborigines in this area.
Luckily we didn't have any problems, and the only ones we met were friendly,
eccentric but harmless. But what did make us jump was when we nearly ran over a
snake! It was just sitting coiled up by the side of the road. We were
pedalling along looking down and both had to swerve to avoid it. We've been
told that they're basically all poisonous around here and although if we'd hit
the thing it probably would've been Rubber-1 Reptile-0... we're pretty glad we
missed it! From then on we were on the lookout and every bit of shredded tyre
looked like a snake! We did see a few slow-moving Bob-tailed lizards, and the
usual dead kangaroos, but managed to avoid any more encounters quite that close!
For anyone who's interested in snakes, we later identified it (and several
others) as a Western Brown Snake.
The Nullabor National Park wasn't all "No Trees" as we'd been lead to believe.
However, there was one stretch which must have been about 15 Miles long with no
plants above knee height as far as the eye could see. What's more, the entire
area is within a stone's throw of the coast, making wind a serious problem for
us. Apparently the trucks use 30% more fuel crossing East to West than vise
versa.
Besides the desolation, there were some great views over the Great Australian Bight; the Bunda cliffs being one good example. We could see for Miles up and down the rugged coast, with not a building in sight. Just a few tourists in caravans. We did manage to spot a group of 3 southern right whales as well. It was shortly after this that we noticed the way the wind dropped at night, and then spent a night camping in the bush (making use of the trowel for "personal convenience"). We were once again slowed to a crawl by the persistent westerly wind. For most of the afternoon we inched along at 10kph (oops, mixing units again!). It was frustrating and with 37k to the border village we stopped for some noodles and possibly to camp. A Frenchman in a camper van arrived and offered us some food or a share of his 200 litres of water, but we were ok. After a beautiful sunset the wind dropped as predicted and we set off at a good pace for the border village between SA & WA. Our only regret was that we thought we were missing out on some great coastal views to our left as when we stopped we could here the sea. At one point I got hit in the face by something the size of a grape. It didn't hurt, but really woke me up - it must've been one of the clumsy oversized beetles that we'd seen; they 're not too good at flying at the best of times. The cars passing us were few and far between and we could hear them coming and they could obviously see us too as they'd pull right out. Our only regret was that we couldn't see the looks on their faces they passed two cyclists Miles from anywhere! We got to the border village in a little over two hours, about half the time it would've taken in the windy daytime.
So from there onwards we made an effort to get some serious cycling done after dark, when the wind was negligible. We'd usually go as far as we could during the day, get to a roadhouse for a meal just before dark and then get back on the road for another 30k or so and camp between stops. Not only did we go further, we saved money. Our rear lights and reflective clothing meant the cars and trucks avoided us without any trouble; perhaps the kangaroos should invest in similar kit. Speaking of which, we did see one kangaroo only a few metres from us by the roadside, who'd obviously seen us and thought better of crossing. We were mostly lucky and the moonlight and stars gave us enough light to see roughly where we were going. So we'd found a way around the major problem which had really looked like it was going to foil all our plans.
However, when we got to the famous 90-mile straight, after one day of shocking
tailwind, we camped and woke up only to find that they'd reversed and were
blowing a bigger gale than ever. So we put the flysheet up and got out of the
wind and rain until evening. Not to be fooled by this trick the weather decided
to throw wind and rain at us for a change and we managed a total of 35k that
day. Not good. So we camped again and hoped for an improvement. We got one,
but it was slight. No rain this day. After a tough 50k we reached Balladonia
(where the NASA Skylab crashed in 1979) early afternoon and got some rest motel
style.
After that the wind lessened and the hills increased - not a problem, at least
with hills you can go down them too! In collaboration with the trees the hills
not only slowed the wind, they created some wonderful views to reward each
difficult climb!
Two days from Balladonia and we got to Norseman, a town named after the horse who apparently discovered gold nearby. It had a post office, a bank and a very good backpacker hostel run by a friendly lady from Leeds. Instead of taking a day off as planned, we both felt good enough to carry on (after two good meals!). So we set off northwards, eager to be going in a direction other than against the prevailing wind. However, as we were packing to leave the radio announced NNW winds! Fortunately they turned out not to be too strong and we set new personal records even managing to get to Coolgardie for 9pm after 164km. We were really chuffed. Not to mention tired. However, a combination of motor racing and washing meant we didn't really get as much sleep as we needed. Nevertheless, we took advantage of the lack of wind again the next day and managed 154km to Yellowdine, 33km East of Southern Cross.
Our plan from there was to get to Merredin (142km), but when we got on the road
this morning, the ol' Westerly was back and we struggled to go any faster than
10kph. Frustrated and tired with only 370km to Perth we conceded that we'd need
to rest for a bit in Southern Cross. It's named after the star constellation
visible in the southern hemisphere which marks south and it claims to be a
5-star town. To be fair, it's not bad! Certainly the biggest place since
Ceduna (about 1600km away). So we're hoping to be in Perth soon enough to do
some proper sightseeing before we have to come back.
Thanks for all your replies, and news - good to hear from you all. I will make
an effort to respond personally when I return.
All the best,
James & James
26 August 2000 05:10
Hiya.
So we're now over halfway and have 1964km to go. The next stage is the infamous
Nullabor plain. It's long straight and packed to bursting with nothingness.
Oh, and the wind blows the wrong way. We have however, discovered that there
are a few more places to stay than we'd anticipated, and we don't need any
camping permits or anything. There are also meant to be some spectacular views
over the Great Australian Bight, including cactus beach, the head of bight and
southern right whales (Wales? That IS a good view!).
So it's about 1000km to Norseman, the next place of any size, so don't expect
too much communication for a week or two! :o
The last couple of days have been much better than the two before, and we only
got wet rather than soaking, and the wind was strong rather than gale force, so
we're doing alright. :) We're hoping to catch up the two days we've lost on
the way into Perth, but we'll probably have to take an extra couple across the
Nullabor if our guesses about the weather are correct.
We've got loads of food and plenty of space for more, along with a huge amount
of water. Luckily, there shouldn't be any serious hills to carry it up for
quite a while, which is a bonus. It still won't be easy, tho'.
Hopefully we'll be in Perth within 20 days! We fly back in 26.
Hope to catch up with you all properly when we get back. Thanks for the emails,
jokes etc, which we appreciate.
Bye for now,
James & James
21 August 2000 04:34
Hi,
We are currently in Kimba it's slogan 'halfway across Australia. It has
just started raining and we have been told it will continue for the next
week. As a result we may end up short of the days we had planned to do so we
may be later than planned into Ceduna.
We are hoping that the second half of Australia is flatter than the first
half which we have been informed is correct so just the weather to contend
with.
We are both fine and in good spirits although we are starting to feel like
we are entering no mans land.
We have just stocked up on enough food to last at least a week, so both
bikes are the heaviest they have ever been. But as we eat they get lighter!
nice thought that.
We will do our best to ring within a week and let you know we are safe.
Bye for now,
James and James
19 August 2000 05:28
Hi,
Adelaide was fantastic we took a city tour that showed us Victoria Square, a
church, the old F1 street circuit and Glenelg the harbour part of Adelaide.
We tried a pancake cafe that is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week fantastic
tasting pancakes if you ask me!
Since leaving Adelaide we cycled to Auburn on the 16th taking a train to
Gawler to avoid city traffic. This was the first time retraced our steps on
our journey so far which was quite a strange feeling. The road gained
altitude fairly gently but we had a strong headwind slowing us down to what
seemed like a snail's pace. We met a man that evening who is on a Pilgrimage
from Adelaide to we think Darwin. Walking that far seems ridiculous to us as
everything is so sparse but 'faith will get him there'.
17th Auburn to Georgetown: The first 30km we managed to find a Cycling track
called the Riesling Trail, due to strong winds again we managed to complete
30km in 3 hours. Further along the road we met a Belgian who has cycled from
Turkey and is heading for Sydney for the Olympics. He started at Darwin and
going to Sydney via Melbourne sleeping under the stars each night.
18th Georgetown to Port Augusta 130km : Fortunately the winds had calmed down
today and with our earliest start yet we managed to get 80 km to Wilmington
by 4:30pm we gained 1000ft over the course of the day giving us an altitude
of 1700ft. Once at the top we travelled 900ft downwards in 5km which took us
5 minutes. The views were spectacular of the Spencer Gulf and Eyre
peninsular on the other side. We finally arrived in Port Augusta at 7:30pm
ready for a big meal and a good rest .
James and James
13 August 2000 09:10
Hi,
Trip has gone a bit off schedule lately but we finally made it to Adelaide
last night we are staying in Backpackers Hostel for 4 nights in the south
east of the city. Today, Sunday we slept in to catch up on some well
deserved rest and spent this afternoon wandering around the city centre
which had a band playing classic songs from 60's and 70's such as the
Beatles and Rolling Stones so we sat down and had some lunch in a cafe and
enjoy the thought of making it this far in one piece.
In the last 3 days we have traveled from Mildura to Renmark a very long day
when the road was actually more bendy than we thought. We could only see a
maximum of 2 to 3 kilometres at a time instead of the usual 5 to 6. When we
arrived a local greeted us saying "Welcome to Paradise." this was due to the
palm trees growing there but we were just glad to have made it after 10
hours cycling it's a good feeling to stop. In Mildura we spent the
afternoon 'bulletproofing' our rear tyres from the Californian Cateyes that
look like Sea mines with prongs protruding from all sides of the seed.
Renmark to Blanchetown was a 122km day that took another 10 hours and still
no punctures since Mildura we arrived at Blanchetown and went to the
'Blanchetown Hotel' for a room for the night where James was told 'We don't
have any rooms mate. Not all Hotels have rooms!' So we were directed to the
caravan park down the road which was very nice.
We left Blanchetown at 10 am a bit of a later start than planned after 10 km
my left knee started to cause me severe pain and the pace was slowed to
10km/h and we were gaining an alarming amount of altitude. By 4pm we had
covered 45km and had arrived in a place called Truro where i managed to buy
a Pastie which i thought was appropriate. I also applied some Deep Heat to
my knee and it felt a lot better we pushed on and the pace picked up
alarmingly and we made it to Gawler by 7pm which was another 40km from
Truro.
So now we are in Adelaide, a day behind schedule but feeling confident we
can make it to Perth in time for our flight. In the next couple of days we
shall be sampling the many tastes and sounds of this city which I already
feel quite at home in, I suppose it's because we are here more than 36
hours, which is quite a novelty for us.
At this point I want to thank Volkswagen UK for their kind donation of 150
pounds towards the trip, it is greatly appreciated. And to everyone who is
emailing us with news and jokes from the other side of the world, it is
great to hear from all of you and know we have not been forgotten about.
James and James
9 August 2000 02:45
Hiya Everyone!
Hope you're all well and enjoying the British summer (hope the weather's good).
We're now in Mildura after cycling over 1000km (best part of 700 Miles) from
Sydney across New South Wales into Victoria.
We're having another day off (hence the opportunity to email) and we're now a
couple of days behind. Mildura is on the Murray river which divides Victoria
from NSW. It's a huge fruit region, and has many fruit based products. We saw
oranges and apricots growing, and could even smell them as we cycled past.
There are also more vineyards than you could wave a corkscrew at.
We're pretty tired. And kinda fed up with the fact that we've had 9 or 10
punctures (now know simple as the 'p' word!). We're going to go to a bike show
and work out some kind of solution which should save us considerable time if the
vile roadside cocktail of broken glass, bits of wire and "catshead" thorn-burrs
continues.
Still, we are enjoying seeing the country (which is quite big, actually) :)
Luckily it's also pretty flat, once we got over the Great Dividing Range.
People are almost always friendly and the accommodation isn't too pricey
(cheapest so far is 6 pounds a night, twin room). Equally, the internet cafés
are far cheaper than at home - which is good.
Thankfully, the roads are fairly wide, often with a good six foot shoulder to
ride in (although sometimes it's a little rough). The traffic is fairly sparse
too, sometimes so much so that we feel inclined to wave when we do see
something. Lots of the drivers beep their horns or wave. We can't decide if
it's friendly or mocking us... it generally depends what kind of mood we're in.
The wind has been a mixed blessing, sometimes propelling us along effortlessly,
and other times making it feel like an uphill struggle. Still, we're going to
be very happy to get to Adelaide, let alone Perth. It's not easy, but I know
we'll look back on it favourably.
Thanks to everyone who's written to us. It's nice to know what's going on at
home from time to time. Keep writing and enjoy your summer.
All the best,
James & James
4 August 2000 08:46
Hello Everyone!
We're now in Griffith, a relatively large town in the middle of nowhere. We're
pretty tired after the ride from West Wyalong yesterday, so we've decided to
take an extra day here, which we're spending resting, shopping for food and
catching up on communications. We plan to make an early start to get to Hay
tomorrow, which is slightly less distance than we just did (see The Route from
the main page). The weather is great, about 15-20 degrees, not too windy and
virtually permanent blue skies. We did get rained on heavily once after leaving
Cowra a few days ago, but otherwise we've been lucky. We have now both acquired
thermarests so camping looks far more appealing. Thanks for all your emails.
Drop us a line and we'll try to reply when we get to Adelaide in a little over a
week.
Bye for now,
James & James
22-July-2000 10:10
Hiya,
It's great! See we're in Sydney now and things are a bit different. For a
start it's winter... but still 19 degrees - Mmm. Seems like the whole city is
busy preparing for the Olympics. Oh yeah, and Burger King is called Hungry
Jacks - damned deviant if you ask me.
Anyway, we're a little tired, jet lagged and fairly pooped having walked round
the city looking for bike shops etc today. Did eventually find one, and James
has chosen a bike which we'll pick up tomorrow. I'm considering (maybe) getting
a better saddle considering I'll be using it rather a lot. Then again, my
current one is alright. Plan is, to get the bike then cycle round the city
getting photos of us and them all over the place. Just to prove we were there,
like.
We're also thinking of taking the first two days in one, as it doesn't look like
Paramatta has much in the way of accommodation pitched at our prices.
Also planning a trip to the blue mountains, in case we don't see the whole lot
as we cycle thru.
Hope you're all well back home. We'll continue to keep you informed via the
plethora of cheap internet cafés in Sydney. Do write and let us know how you're
doing. :)
Cheers,
James & James
21 July 2000 14:08
Hiya,
It's a bit late, so just a quick one for now, more in the next couple of days
when there's more to say.
We've arrived safely in Sydney, with a miraculous lack of delays! :) Even the
bike appears to have made it intact. We got to the YHA by bus with minimum
hassle then popped out for a walk to see the harbour bridge and opera house.
Which was nice. ;)
Not too tired at the moment, but we're planning to get as much rest as needed
before exploring more thoroughly.
We'll let you know more as it happens.
Good night (!)
James & James