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Do you realize how long we've been dying for a really good fish & chips? Last time we had fish & chips was back in Mount Isa,
and they were CRAP. Of course, it was the day of the Melbourne Cup, so I don't think the guy's heart was really into making them.
Anyway, Jurien Bay seafood certainly settled that craving. YUM!
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meet two other cyclists
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We've been travelling on these trikes for who-knows-how-long, and haven't seen another cyclist EVER (except that loopy German dude on the Barkly). Then on Sunday, we meet two! Holy Frickin' Frack! We're not the only nutters!
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Bjorn
Nationality: German
Age: 20-30
Bike: SOIL racing bike
Number of wheels: 2
Starting point: Brisbane
Finish: Darwin, the long way.
Distance so far: 6500km
Per day: 150km
Time: 3 months
How much cycling did you do before this? Not much, just to and from work, mostly.
What's your diet? I only have been eating bread, fresh fruit and vegetables.
You realize there's not a lot of that where you're going. I've been able to do it this far, but the towns haven't been that far apart.
Bjorn was the picture perfect cyclist, with his stretchy, lycra Adidas shirt, platypus water backpack, and
coordinated panniers. He was only carrying about 6L of water when we met him. He's in for a surprise when he
gets north of Gerro.
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Jean-Pierre
Nationality: Belgian (now Aussie)
Age: 45-55
Bike: Recumbent trike
Number of wheels: 3
Starting point: Perth
Finish: Darwin
Distance so far: 200km
Per day: 90-100km
Time: 2 days
How much cycling did you do before this? Years ago, I actually cycled from Belgium across Asia, then to Australia. I live here now, but have never ridden this stretch.
What's your diet? A bit of everything: pasta, rice, porridge, couscous, tuna, sardines, muesli.
Jean-Pierre's been around the block a few times, but this was his first big trip on a recumbent. His wife, also
a cyclist, decided to sit this one out and flew back to Darwin, while Jean-Pierre took the long way home. We
liked the fact that, like us, he was about function, not form. He was wearing any old shirt to keep the sun off,
and had stuff tucked away in freezer bags.
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these are the people in our neighbourhood...
Megan
On Monday, the radio called US! ABC radio saw our writeup in the newspaper and called us up to talk about our story, and oh
my goodness, she looks and talks and acts so very much like our good friend Alissa from New York, 'cept she was an Aussie.
Next up, Extraordinary, by Better than Ezra.
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Frank, Sara & Lilly
Pharmaceutical salesman by day, bad-ass surfer by night. Frank is a regular at Champion Bay, and this time he brought along
his wife-to-be, Sara and his daughter-to-be, Lilly. Don't take your eyes off Lilly, even for a SECOND, or she'll do a wee on
your hardwood floor, or steal your bacon.
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Terry O'Neil
Terry read about us in the Geraldton Guardian (Big Kev Sheds 25 Kilos) and considered himself lucky to have run into us before
we left the area. He also rides a recumbent (his is Aussie Made) all over the Great South West. He reckons the Perth-Margaret
River-Esperance-Kalgoorlie loop is one of Australia's finest.
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Peter, Joyce, Glen & Melissa
These poor battlers were stuck at the Badgingarra Roadhouse waiting for the RAC to fix their Mitsubishi. All they really
wanted was for someone to come along and tell them a good story. Good thing we showed up! (I don't think her name was
Melissa, but I'm pretty sure I got the other three right.)
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Things aren't always what they seem.
What do you think this is?
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wally's amazin' facts!
You Americans think Texas is big... HA! Western Australia is four times the size of Texas! Australia's
land mass is larger than that of the continental United States, and Western Australia takes up one third of it!
Jeepers!
This Week's Amazin' Fact: You know what my favourite late night talk show is? It's not Jay Leno, and it's not
David Letterman... then who can it be? Why, it's ROVE, of course! Yup, Rove Live at 9:30 every Tuesday night
on Channel Ten. He's so funny! Not everyone gets to meet Rove, but you can always meet Rove's parents! Ma
and Pa McManus run the pub up in Lancelin, only 120 km North of Perth! Consider it a brush with the parents of
greatness!
Here's a joke: What's black, clumsy, and doesn't eat Nutri-Grain? Answer next week!
Don't forget to look for Wally this week!
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Distance this week: 286km | Distance since Day 1: 8009km |
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What is Bikeabout? Click here to find out!
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Day 170: I can see Dongarra from here!
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Champion Bay Bed & Breakfast
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the local colour
Okay, Frank. One more night. But that's it. Then we really have to get going.
I don't think Frank from the Bed & Brekky wants us to leave the city until we've see every single street of Geraldton, WA.
This morning, while Aimee got a bit more work done, Kev, Roy and Marg we're given Frank's Personalized Geraldton Extravaganza
(ask for it by name). He took us to the spot where he and his dad used to fish, the cray factory where he gets his fresh
seafood, his mate's yacht at the harbour, the place where he used to collect mudcrabs for practical jokes, the church where
he was an altar boy, but was kicked out... See, Frank knows everybody and everything about this city, so if you want to spread
a bit of juicy local gossip, just ring Frank. Maybe he'll include it on his tour!
To book a room at the Champion Bay B&B, ring Frank or Sue at 9921 7624!
"I am a long passenger."
-Aimee.
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Day 172: Ding Dong
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42km
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27°
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5h
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8L
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Lots of Sheep
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Cliff Head
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pie in your ear
To us, Dongarra was going to be the icing on the cake of civilization. As we've travelled down the coast, we were told many
times about the World Famous Dongarra Bakery. The pies at the World Famous Dongara Bakery are NOT TO BE MISSED.
We made it our first stop in town (because it was the first stop in town). It was 8:30am and we proudly walked in
and announced our intentions to sample one of their World Famous Pies. We should have realized something was wrong when the
woman manning (womanning?) the counter looked at us curiously, then shrugged.
We sat back, and both bit into our pies. We both put up a good show that they were World Famous worthy. But inside we
were each thinking "Okay, they're good... but world famous? Enh."
We would have been satisfied with just thinking that the Dongarra Bakery was more hype than haute if we hadn't pedalled down
the road a bit and overheard someone raving about the World Famous Dunsborough Bakery, about 600 km further south.
And we thought we were used to the Aussie accent by now.
Pedestrian noticing flag: "You must be from Vancouver."
Kevin: "Why, because I can't back up my bike?"
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Day 174: Dyn-o-mite!
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25.3km
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29°
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2h
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5L
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Pretty Nice
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Between Leeman and Greenhead
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go nuts for donuts
If there's one thing Canadians do well, it's donuts. Thunder Bay has a Robin's Donuts shop on nearly every corner. Aussies, bless them for their meat pies, but they don't know how to do donuts. They put pink icing on them and try to make them look like happy faces for the kiddies. Don't they realize that a donut is a very grown-up, serious thing?
Not that I'm all that crazy about donuts, pink smiley face or otherwise, but as with all things that you're not able to have, I do get a craving for a well made, respectable donuts every now and then.
The Canadian Donut Gods must have been smiling down on Greenhead today because this little corner shop decided to make fresh sugar donuts this morning. Just for us, it seemed.
I ate three, Kev ate five. Bismarks they weren't, but they were still damn tasty.
"You're making a mockery of my bin."
- Aimee.
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