Posts Tagged ‘Balhannah’

Day 1. 202km. Balhannah – Parilla

Posted: November 30, 2016 in Australia, Cycling
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The road through the mallee was long with lengthy stretches with noone. To pass the time I repeated the town names, over and over again, rolling the r. Lameroo. Pinnaroo. Lameroo. Pinnaroo. I didn’t make it to the Victorian border in one day, but almost. Over 10h30 on the bike.

Lameroo

Lameroo

I learned early on that I should not follow the ‘bike route’ that my app constructed.

Not an easy road

Not an easy road

I’ve had lots of sandy road before in the desert in central Australia, but I don’t need it here. I only had 500m or so of deep sand, but it was a bit of a slog in the sun.

The rest was just keep on pedalling through the quite strong side-wind. Tomorrow Victoria. Yay!

Day 0. 35km. Brighton – Balhannah

Posted: November 29, 2016 in Australia, Cycling
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And he came galloping down the road as the cars banked up behind him, and behind me. A cute galloping koala – I’ve never seen one run like that. Frightened by the cars, it cowered away from them, at my feet, looking up into my eyes. Finally he crossed the road and clambered up a tree. The cars kept coming and coming as I waited to cross the road too, and be with my new little friend.

My friend the koala.

My friend the koala.

My friend the koala

My friend the koala

Today my distance from the starting point was reset to zero. The starting point of this trip is the end of my last one – Brighton jetty – which is 41483km from Eindhoven by bike. This trip is less ambitious – a little jaunt to Sydney for Christmas. I’m looking forward to getting on the road again – even if it is only for a few weeks. I hope to scale Australia’s highest bump (mountain) on the way. 🙂

Zero kilometres - Brighton Jetty.

Zero kilometres – Brighton Jetty.

Good bye Adelaide for the time being. I will be returning in the new year to study the aboriginal pitjantjatjara language. If all goes well, this will be important for my future projects.. More on that later if my hopes develop further. Anyway, for the time being, Sydney – here I come!

Day 471. 60km. Balhannah – Novar Gardens

Posted: October 5, 2016 in Australia, Cycling
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I took the lead today, navigating without a map. This was the tourist trail of Adelaide for Clement, and cycling in extremely known territory for me. Past Mt Lofty – the highest hill behind Adelaide. Past Cleland National Park where you can pat the koalas. Past the city, along the river, along the beach. It’s unreal being here. It doesn’t feel part of this world trip, so familiar is everything, but it is. It is the end. The final chapter of this life-changing journey.

Beach

Beach

Mt Lofty

Mt Lofty

Day 470. 44km. Williamstown – Balhannah

Posted: October 4, 2016 in Australia, Cycling
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We woke up in the rain. It was cold rain, and it continued all the way to my father’s house in Balhannah. No photos. It was a case of – let’s get this over with. The final run down to the suburb of Brighton where I was born can be done when the weather is better.