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| The beast in front of the Statue of Liberty |
Enough people have asked if I will be blogging for me to arrogantly believe there might be some vague interest in some self indulgent dribblings about cycle comfort, road quality, and dietary choices coupled with some ill informed views on Australian history, culture, and nature.
A few questions have come up again and again, so I’ll answer these up front:
1. Why are you doing this?
A few years ago I did this: uscoasttocoastwillwhite.blogspot.com. Ever since I’ve had a nagging thought that a lot of the success of the US trip was down to luck (which it was) and I guess I want to see if I can get lucky again.
Finishing in New York that time was also one of the most incredible feelings I’ve ever had. I’ve found myself between rental properties in London without serious ties like a mortgage, and work agreed to the time off, so figured I'd like to see if I can get anywhere near that feeling again.
On the slightly more hippy note I figure we all have roughly 1,000 months on earth, if you can’t spend the odd one or two trying to do something silly, that seems a shame. Would kick myself in the old people’s home, if I’d come up with a plan, found few reasons not to try it and not gone ahead with it.
On the slightly less high-minded end, have a couple of weddings in early summer, and fancy looking sunkissed and leaner for them. If big dream guff doesn’t get me there, pretty sure vanity will.
2. Why Australia?
After the US trip a mate mentioned the idea of cycling across Australia. It was one of those ideas that lodges in your brain, and makes you smile everytime you think about it. Also it’s a heck of a lot easier than Africa or Asia, and warmer than Europe at this time of year.
Australia’s full of deserts. From my perspective, there are few things more amazing in life than waking up pre dawn in the desert and riding out at sunrise laden up on water and supplies, hoping and praying you make it through the day. It’s an awesome mix of fear, beauty and wonder. And Australia would appear to offer a fair few of such opportunities. Obviously my perspective might be slightly coloured by the fact I’ve not got married or had kids, which I would imagine surpass any such feelings by some margin.
3. Why are you going Sydney to Perth?
North South through this country sounds insane, and misses the Nullabor Plain. There is something that really appeals about 900 miles (of a total 2,400) that is flat and treeless and virtually in a straight line.
The whole trip was going to go the other direction, but a last minute research on prevailing winds in February and March, meant a final shot in front of the Opera House had to take second place to not having the wind flat in my face for 5 weeks.
4. Will it be too hot?
We’ll see. 40C does sound a little terrifying, but hoping it will only be for a few hours on a few days. But we’ll see.
5. Will you be bitten by a snake or spider/caught in a bush fire/hit by a road train and many other inventive ways to die?
Hopefully not. People appear to have a rather morbid fascination with the scary side of Australia. Snake and spider related deaths are few and far between. Will be watching like a hawk in my mirror for road trains, and provided I keep abreast of them, the chances of actually being caught on the road in a bush fire appear extremely slim.
I’ll take all the precautions necessary, but after a point you feel a little fatalistic. If it’s you day, so be it. Way I look at it, you could be knocked down by an Espace after buying eggs at Tesco Metro in Bracknell, but you would be slightly nuts if you changed all your plans to avoid that eventuality.
There were also a load of practical questions around where I will sleep, clothing and the bike that I’m hoping will just come clear during the trip.
So with all that cleared up, onto planning.
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