The Trip

Well I've finally done it. I've killed my bike. I suppose asking an aged high-miler to make the trip with me to Adelaide was too much. In its disgust the battery committed suicide in the middle of nowhere leaving me with that sinking feeling. I tinkered and fiddled as best I knew how to no avail. I then reverted to the "easy" way out and put my packs on and started walking. I was about 150 km from Albany in SW Australia and in the countryside. I was lucky to find the farm that I went to and asked to use their phone. As it happened the man was a keen biker too, but a traillie. I spent half an hour waiting for the RAC agent to arrive with him advising me to ditch the Kwaka and get a Suzuki whatchamacallit like he has. Nice. They were friendly though and the coffee was welcome. He knew the RAC agent and they enjoyed teasing me about my choice of bike, headgear, etc. "Hey look! Going across Aus with a postie's helmet on!" It was a matter of simply jump-start...

CANBERRA, May 12 (Reuters) - Australian diplomats were left red-faced on Thursday after mistakenly warning that the world's most isolated city, laid-back Perth in Western Australia, "is dangerous at this time of year". The warning was sent in a test email to media, travel agencies and subscribers to the Australian government's travel warning service, which warns of the dangers of travel to places like Baghdad and East Timor. "This is a message to let you know that Perth is dangerous at this time of year. XXX," the email said. The Department of Foreign Affairs website manager, Alan Walsh, apologised for the email, which he said was sent by an external contractor who was testing a new email system. Eyewitness Travel Guides describe the capital of Western Australia as the world's most isolated city, closer to South East Asia than to other Australian state capitals. The Rough Guide to Australia says Perth's 1.3 million people enjoy a laid-back lifestyle ...

Forget what vibrating tourists who come back to England tell you. It is like England in many ways, which is no bad thing. The only difference that the weather is far better, they play a lot of sport, and Australians know that Fosters is shite and don't touch the stuff. I have been here for two weeks now and staying with family in that time. This has been good as I've seen the cities of Perth and Fremantle from the perspective of a "normal" person and not a soap-dodger. I have been shown around, met my cousin's mates, been to their houses, etc. This has been really nice as it's felt more like a holiday. No messing around with crap showers in a hostel for me. No trying to converse with name-dropping hippies. No, sir. The hospitality has been great so far, with the only exception being the surly cow who took my money in a cafe yesterday. So yes, like England. Very outdoorsy people though; very sporty. My cousin knows a lot of people and most of them are from spo...