Thursday, October 25, 2007

DAY 21: day 2 off in Esperance

DAY 21: Day off 2 in Esperance
Fri 26 Oct 07
Just as well I planned 2 days off here because my boil is worse this morning - and egg-sized!! At 0800 then I was around at the Emergency dept of the local hospital and a few minutes later I was being ezamined - good service. The doc said that since a blister had not ‘developed’ yet they could not drain it and start the process of getting back to normal. She advised to come back tomorrow and they’ll check again, meantime if I could just ‘sit in warm water whenever possible to encourage development’ that would help - not muchj chance of that apart from standing in the shower for a while!
I consoled myself with a couple of fresh muffins from Woolworth’s (that’s a food supermarket here) and I headed back to enjoy with cuppa gazing at incredible view from veranda of hostel. I later went through all my stuff again and managed to find another 4 or 5 kg that I could do without for now, and posted off to Gareth and Jen in Brisbane.
I phoned Lyn at 0630 UK time as I knew she would be up and about, and we really enjoyed a little chat. I do miss her. For some reason her e-mails are not getting through to me, and we don’t know why - she will check the e-mail address.
I bought a mirror that fits onto the end of the handlebar so that I can better see vehicles coming up behind me, especially road trains which may not be able to give quarter due to their size and weight. After fitting tyhis I went a ride along the (500m) pier to watch and chat to a guy staying here who was fishing for squid - if he caught enough i was promised one, but as it turned out he only caught one. Lucky I treated myslef to a T-bone this morning - great value at only $5 (£2).
I’m enjoying the extended break - this is a lovely place to stay - but I’ll be happier when my nether regions are on the mend and I can get going again.

DAY 20: day 1 off in Esperance

Thurs 25 Oct 07

20 km tootling about (too much!)

Still feeling very tired this morning so need to chill out. Another clear blue sky and threat of high temps. As the weather might change tomorrow I was advised to check out the Great Ocean Drive cycle track which winds for 10km around the sandy beaches and idyllic blue sea to the west. This I did then, but found the steep hills exhausting, and flies so numerous as to be unbearable, so curtailed the ride sooner rather than later. I’m also troubled by saddle sores which have reached a peak today - not to put too fine a point on it I can hardly sit down, let alone on a bike saddle.I bought some goodies and headed home to the YHA and spent tyhe rast of the day gently servicing the bike and chatting endlessly to guests coming and going, this on a balcony facing the blue sea only 100m away, one of the finest views you can imagine.That was mostly it for the day then - just relaxing and nothing much going on - lovely!

DAY 19: Bush camp to Esperance



Weds 24 Oct 07
75 km @ 15.2 km/hr
modest headwind

My little glade in the bush was a pleasant camping site - no mozzies or other disturbances.
Away at 0800 and still a headwind unfortunately; I didn’t feel quite as energetic as yesterday. I knew there would be no cafes / shops before Esperance but I was well-rationed with chocolate and biscuits, which I indulged in every hour or so.
The last 10km was a slog, a couple of steep hills after 200 km of no hills to talk of, and an onshore breeze increasing in strength as I reached the coast.
The sea front at Esp is startling - pure white sand and clear pale blue waters - a beautiful sight. After finding out that the caravan park charged $24 / nt I plumped for the convenience of a single room at the YHA for $34 / nt. I dropped my bags and headed off to IGA for some fresh salad and sliced beef for supper - I am in need of some good wholesome food after the vagaries of the roadhouses basic fried fare. And a bottle of Oz Cab Sav to wash it down.
There were about a dozen other guests and we quickly got to know each other - people from NZ, Denmark, Oz of course. I rang George and he is in Norseman, 200km N of here at the start of the Nullabor.
I was feeling very tired and went off early, looking forward to some recovery.