Saturday, September 13, 2008

Freemantle to Waikiki






Fri 11th September 2008
Cloudy, rain, 21 deg C

After a slow breakfast I took down the tent after placing all my stuff on a covered table ready for sorting. It had rained a little in the night and I didn’t want anything getting wet this morning. I packed a cardboard box with those things I’d decided to send home in a parcel, which is much cheaper than paying excess baggage charges. I’d chosen the size of box very well and everything fitted in perfectly; mostly camping and cooking gear plus the tent. I had thought I might dump the latter because it’s had a hard life, but I figure I can effect some repairs when I get home so as to give it another lease of life. It has served me very well Iguess, justifying it’s $530 price tag.
I loaded up the bike for the last time and tied the box on top of the rear rack and trundled down to Freo and the Pack and Send shop. Cost of shipment was $272 (£136) airfreight, and it should be home soon after me.
With lightened load I set off to Andrew and Joanne’s place in Waikiki, Rockingham, some 35km south. It was a pretty foul day with regular squalls of blustery rain battering into me from the SW, i.e. to the front or on the right side, and quite cold except when the sun made it out for a few minutes at a time. The highway down to here was pretty busy but there’s a reasonable shoulder most of the way.
Andrew and Joanne cycled around Australia in 2003 and wrote a book about the experience, which I bought and have found very useful indeed - check out their website at http://www.where2pedalto.com/ for info about all their travels and the book. We had a lovely evening discussing our respective rides and comparing notes. It’s odd that we have camped almost in the same spots on occasions. It’s so enjoyable being with such like-minded people.

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