Please note that this blog is incomplete, like many of these old diaries the photos I took are in slide form, I should in the future be converting them to digital form to be able to post them here.
5/8/1982
Last night I was driven in to the city, and I boarded a Greyhound bus for Sydney, in the luggage compartment was all my gear for an unknown amount of time cycling to unknown destinations. After a midnight tour of Victoria and New South Wales and especially Sydney I finally arrived at the Sydney depot, I hopped on my fully laden bike for the first time and somehow found the road to the airport. I bought a locker for 40c, I thought you had to pay 20c to open it not close it, put all my goods in , then got changed in to shorts and T shirt and zapped back into Sydney, my main objective being the Opera House, it was as magnificent as I’d expected a pure art form of horrendous size, in certain places it made me feel dizzy and loose all perspective of life as I became immersed in the shapes looming and looming loud in my sights. I then lazed on the lower shelf by the bay, watching the ships sail by and listened to the trains rumbling across the Sydney harbour Bridge. Too soon it was time to head back to the airport. The traffic in Sydney is bicycle unfriendly maybe that’s why there are so few of them, I saw only a few all afternoon. Miraculously I managed to find the same road back to the airport though I really had no idea where it was. At the airport I found a seat and read my book, I had almost finished it by the time I got too tired to read. There was a Fijian who came and said hello and we chatted for a while, then he curled up on a seat nearby and went to sleep, I thought I was going to be the only one to cheat the local hotels by sleeping in the airport terminal, but I found 2 more later on after we were locked in by security at 1am though all the lights remained ablaze. I got up to get a drink and blew $1 on space invader video games before going back to my inverted comma bed.
6/8
At 6.00 I woke up for the last time on Australian soil and at 7.00 I put my luggage through after taking my bike apart, the people at the luggage check in were really helpful, they told me what had to be done then skipped me through the line, I then went and changed money and got $109 Canadian for $90 Australian, I then went through customs with no problems, I had forgotten to take my sheath knife out and put it with my cargo luggage, but they didn’t even query it, I wonder if I could have got a gun through there? Must be my innocent face. I asked for a non-smoking window and got a smoking window, ah well. The lady who sat next to me comes from Leithville Alberta, we chatted on and off through the flight. I took a good look at my new camera that I got duty free, a Canon A1, I can see many mistakes coming up as my old one was a Canon FTB, quite a step up, she’s a thing of beauty though. Fiji was lovely and warm with nice hillsides I wanted to take a look at them. Fiji to Honolulu was covered with scenic cloud formations, the lower ones seemed to lie upon the rich blue sea and the larger ones seemed like enormous cream puffs accompanied by violins from the free head sets the art of nature was perfectly set. The mood created serenity as I sipped my gin and lemonade, also free. Later as the sun set at 4.00 Melbourne time and the clouds turned the colour of the sea and the sky then became a meaningless black I changed to the rock and roll station since the violins meant nothing anymore. At Honolulu they shunted us into a little room with no fresh air, then back onto the plane, the flight is getting boring and monotonous as they showed another movie and shoved some more food into us. Vancouver was a hassle, we had to put our luggage through again, though no one checked it. They nearly refused me entry because I was only carrying $1,000 in travelers cheques, I promised to get more money in and had to report that I had. I met a nice Aussie girl while waiting for my connection and we chatted for a couple of hours. Then to Toronto in a Jumbo jet. I slept most of it, though they gave us a second rate meal and showed a movie they’d already showed before. Toronto airport was a mess, eventually I got my luggage together, then I was stuck, my tyres were flat with no pump connection (bad planning there) no place to stay, so after dithering for a while I paid 75c for a locker, put my bags in, walked to a service station about a mile away, walked back (I’d forgotten to put my pedals back on first) put my gear on and rode out of the airport at 11.30pm for a park, had a Kaiser egg salad and some Sprite lemonade and slept.
7/8
Up at dawn, I’d slept in the open, dew had fallen so my sleeping bag is wet, not too bad though. Cycled into Toronto, bought a map and some milk on the way. Into Scout HQ A Rover named Sarah was in there and she gave me her phone number and a likely place to stay, I went there, he wasn’t there, I phoned his mother (the phone tones are all different here) she said he’s not liable to be back before 6pm so I left him a note. Bought some film $13.26 with tax, I think I might have to limit my snap shots! I tried some fizzy grape juice and some fizzyless lemonade, strange beverages! Then sat in the nearby park. I went for short walks and occasionally knocked on his door, though being an apartment, there is a series of buttons with names on them, you press the one you want and lift up the receiver and talk to the owner who comes down to let you in the front door that’s locked. Anyhow, by 6pm Bruce hadn’t arrived so I rang Sarah, who wasn’t in, it was looking like another night in a park. I waited another hour, still not back, this time when I rang Sarah she was in and told me I was welcome to come stay at her place, so I hopped on my bike, it took me nearly 2hrs riding with my full load, but made it just before dark. David her younger brother was the only one home, so we talked and then went and bought some chips and soda pop (see I’m Americanised already), then we watched some of his 20 or so channels of TV. I taught him how to play the 2 handed 500 card game and we played a few records. I went to bed at 11pm.
8/8
Up 8.30, met Briggit Sarah’s younger sister, Sarah is 19. Today we had to clean up the house, so after breaky Briggit went out and I helped clean up, it took most of the day since they’d had a party on Friday night, but we managed though I think Sarah was a bit embarrassed about me doing it too, we had Kaisers again for lunch with dill pickles and summer roll (salami) and then we sat and watched Grid Iron and baseball, I lapped it all up. Later Bruce rang and came around, I think he’s a nice fellow and we might do a few things since he’s also a cyclist. Briggit came back and cooked a really nice spaghetti for tea followed by a strawberry flan, yummy. I had a drive of Sarah’s parents car with automatic everything including power steering, a real cruiser, no performance though. We sat and talked till 12.00 and bed.
9/8
I awoke really early for some reason and couldn’t get back to sleep, so when Sarah got up to go and pick up her parents from the bus terminal I went with her, they arrived just as we got there, and so I met her parents, back home for some breaky, then David and I went for a little ride, I bought a lock and chain for my bike for $9 and got $20 of stamps for the stamp collections of dad and I, then back home for some lunch, we played a game of badminton of sorts, it was a tennis net strung up between two apple trees and the shuttlecock kept on going into the trees, it was also a bit too windy, I wrote a small account of my events so far for mum and dad to send with the stamps, then we did very little for the evening but talk and watch TV, 12.00 bed
10/8
Up 9.00 bit of breaky then into Toronto, it takes about 1½hrs to cycle into the centre, I went to the CN tower but the queue to get up was a mile long so went for a walk around the city, taking a few pictures, then headed back home. I was taking some pictures of some weird work of art in a park when the camera would not work properly, it seems to be the telephoto lens. I bought some grapes, $2 for a medium sized bunch, it would cost half that back home, had some tea (they call it supper), went with Sarah’s dad to to a local regional shopping centre, much like High Point West back home except much larger, still open at 8.30pm, long working hours. Bit of TV then I showed them my slides, Sarah nodded off to sleep at one stage, 12.00 bed time.
Thanks
For reasons of poetry
For reasons of poachery
For reasons of munchery
That is crunchery at lunchery
I thank thee very muchery
For reasons of slumbery
Or peaceful sleep dreamery
11/8
Today I got up at 9.00 again and headed for Bruce’s place, but I broke my front derailer gear cable, so I was limited to my low gears. At Bruce’s we planned tomorrow’s ride and maybe some rock climbing. I found a bike shop at last but he wanted me to leave the bike there for a few days so I walked out, no more bike stores, so I caught a ferry over to the island park and rode around there. To get the bike out of low gears into the middle cog I wedged a stone between the cable and the body, so I had the 5 middle gears to work with. The island is a nice park, no cars, just lots of people, soon it was time to ride home, I had a hot dog and a submarine for lunch, I finally found another bike shop and bought a cable and came home to fix it. I fell asleep again in the evening but didn’t get to bed until 12.00 again. Bruce had rung up earlier to say that the climbing was off.
Another goodbye
Ah but when the party goes home
I’m still left all alone
With very few enemies
And still fewer friends
So when the dwindling reprise
Is left to its demise
There is no disguise
How disgusting
To see a heart rusting
A gut busting
The blood oozing
And still be still and silent
A stony bent sentiment
Upon a darkened hilltop
As the moon dips below its peak
And bids its last farewell
12/8
Went cycling with Bruce as promised, he had a better bike and was fitter than me so I set the pace. It was a nice day out in the countryside which has much the same look as an Aussie winter, lush and green, but with different trees and the houses do look different, but the atmosphere was the same. It took me an hour to ride to his place in the morning and 1½hrs to get back , I was buggered. Home and had a bath to iron out a bit of sore leggyness. There was a cute little girl who stayed over after tea we got on well and we had a bit of fun tickling her toes as we watched TV.
Pieces of fine leather don’t crack
That’s the way life should be
Making people laugh
making people cry
But mostly laugh
Little girls
And little boys
Are important
It’s important that they are happy
It’s important that they laugh
And just a few tears
To make the laughter brighter
13/8
26 today, 26 today, Oh God won’t it ever slow down? I’m getting too old for my body to cope with. I can’t be 26, I don’t look, feel or act it, someone’s not telling the truth! I lazed in bed until 10.00 then read. Went with Sarah’s parents to the local uni where Sarah will go. It was nice and new and sparkled with forthcoming intelligence, it radiated hope for an intelligent future. We then went to the fruit market and bought guess what and vegies, no not popcorn or candy bars dummy. I bought some peaches. Then back to the book until it was time to catch the bus, but I left too late to catch the one Sarah told me to catch and the next one was late, so I was very late. For 75c one can catch the bus and subway (which is always sub) to the city. The film we wanted to see Friday the 13th had a queue that was too long so we went and ordered pizza then we went to buy tickets to see The Poltergeist, it was a long walk, we got back in time to wolf down a cold pizza and walk back to the cinema. The film was fantastic exactly what I had hoped from Steven Spielberg, he really is a master of special effects, everything looked real, everything. Sarah only managed to scream twice, but they were good ones! Caught the subway back then David met us and drove us home, the rest departed and I went to bed.
14/12
I sat by a trickling stream slowly being drowned by algae and watched a bee with flaccid pouches settle on limp and shriveled flowers, across the stream some men were playing golf, small white balls skittered through the air and angry buzzing carts followed their every move. Off in the distance sat hundreds of inhabited obelisks, all hollow and teeming and vile, once a peaceful butterfly came gingerly across the stream but got too close and a gentle breeze sent it spinning off, stuck fast to the water’s plight, this is no place for me I wept, for people do not differ, but I’ve made the step, and I’ll not look back no matter how the wind doth blow.
Crime and Punishment
We all to quickly lash another’s feelings
Yet can’t understand why we are so lashed
No one is quick to realize that it’s just a human fault
No parent is perfect in their judgement
No child escapes their parent’s attack
No person is without fault and anger
So instant resentment can be expected
Neither party should be allowed to insult
Neither should they strike a blow
To vent their injured feelings
Complaints are often justified
And should be used as a key
To test the dealers motives and cause
And to all the stringent matter should apply
Does the punishment fit the crime
There is a lot of friction between Sarah and her mother, a pity because both of them are really good people.
15/8
All I did today was read and finish my book and sit and talk with Sarah as she cleaned out her room.
16/8
Up 9.00 and I hit the road at 10.00, I got down to the end of Dixie and I had some rubbing on the front wheel, so had to stop and fix the problem, and along came a bloke on a bicycle, so we cycled together all day, it was a hot day so we stopped a lot to buy drinks and somehow we made it to St Catherine’s where we camped by the lake shore.
17/8
It wasn’t a pleasant night, we were too close to the QEW expressway at 200m, we had camped near a set of wooden stairs, clomp clomp clomp it seemed all night, nearby were some kids who insisted on playing right outside our front doors, we eventually found some sleep amid the humidity. Up at 9.00 found the site of the rover moot no problems from directions I’d been given, enrolled and got my gumph and my assigned tent, then went to St Catherine’s to see about the bank draught that had been demanded to gain entry to the country, not in yet. Got some cards to send to Sarah’s parents, and mum and dad, had a light lunch by a river, it looked deep and it was flowing fast, then back to camp, ran into Burridge and his pommie mate and we yattered for a while, then I found out that the tent I’d been allocated was full, so had to chase up and find a new spot, that done I put my bike away and got changed. 5.30pm we headed off in uniform for the Australian contingent dinner, some 140 Aussies at the Sheriton Hotel, we had a smorgasbord and we all stuffed ourselves, went and took a few pickies of Niagara falls then back to camp and bed at 12.00.
18/8
Up for breaky which was surprisingly good, then loafed around in the sun. lunch then Burridge and I went and sold our stickers, we sold heaps at 75c each, then it was tea time then it time to get into uniform for the opening parade, we took some shots of our crew, Burridge, Lisa, Joanne, Lynn and I, the ceremony was interesting since we Aussies, New Zealanders and Canadians all hurled abuse at each other good naturedly I hope. We all got into our teams for the moot, Joanne is the only one I know in my team. We sat around and yarned in the marquee area as I drank a carton of milk. Bed 11.00
19/8
Up 6.15 for a shower but no showers, so just washed my face, breaky then we split up the proceeds of the stickers, $15 each, over to look at the demonstrations, everything from North American Indian artifacts to the local fire brigade, old rifles, Morgan horses black-smithing etc. Lunch, a short break then team games. Our team did really well. There was pony express, our team won with a bit of luck, we were well ahead of the other team but we kept on going, we were only supposed to do ten. Busting Bronco I did and lasted 4 seconds and landed flat on my back whump! Shooting gallery I did terribly, not one can over. We had a big team to go mud-wrestling with, but we beat the other team at passing water, that is an A! Log sawing I had a go at, not easy these band saws, luckily we had a sharp one and cut 6 pieces to their 3. Horse race we had no injuries, I was watching one bloke pushing the wheelbarrow when it dug in, handle in the stomach, oomph! Horseshoes I got both mine in but we only drew. Needle in the haystack we rooted around for 23secs, to their 14secs. Saving the maiden was all dressing up and splints, good fun. Knot easy we held the record of 6½secs with rope at least a foot thick. Tomahawk they got 2 to our none. Had a tea break then heaps of us played soccer, more good fun. Went up to visit Sarah for a while, then it was square dance time, I had a different girl each time, much more good fun. We even had a set for the handicapped, we all stood around a clapped, they loved it. Afterwards we sat around talking till the wee hours. I met a bloke named Rolf from Denmark who may be interested in cycling with me when the moot is over.
20/8
Overnight it rained quite a lot, not enough to cause panic or havoc, but I made sure all my stuff was well packed away. Lazed around for most of the morning in the clearing skies. There was a wine tour that I went on, the place looked good but the wines were not to my taste, though they were boasting saying how good they were, their wine industry here is very young, still a lot to learn methinks. Back to camp for lunch for the usual stuff, but I ate it, then we had activities, crews against crews but our girls piked out So I walked off in a huff and lazed around in the now hot day and talked to a few people. Not long after tea we had a casino with play money we started of with $5000, I made it up to $10000 before blowing it on my last bet. Got changed to go in to town to a local pub, we went out to the beer garden and some of them got quite noisy (just Aussies and Kiwis), I had my usual one drink that lasted me the whole night and a hamburger, which just goes to show you how filling normal meals are here, back to camp and bed at 1.30am.
21/8
Up 8.00, normal time now I think, normal breaky on a normal day, bit cloudy though. At 9.30 went by bus for a nice warm shower at a local school. Then we had international day, each country putting on a display for the local public and scout groups. I helped with the damper making and sang up on stage twas a good day. The Kiwis put on a film that lasted until tea, then chatted a while, and on down to the campfire where every country did a few songs and or skits. Afterwards I sat around and talked then bed.
22/8
Up 8.30, being a Sunday there was a mediocre service by a mediocre chaplain, he did have the occasional good thing to say such as those who honour Him he will honour. The next exiting event was lunch, then a whole bunch of us went for a walk along the Bruce trail which is just up the road. We went to De Crew falls where there is an old watermill, unfortunately no waterwheel. The house is a museum with all the machinery still there, walked to De Crew house which was disappointing then back the way we came. More idle chatting then into uniform for dinner. The place was packed with boisterous Rovers, all chanting and singing and happy, the above standard (for camp) meal was devoured with great gusto, then came the long long long though at least entertaining presentations and speeches by each country, the bus drive back to camp was very noisy, and I ended up with a hoarse voice because I was part of the noise.
23/8
Up nearly too late to get breaky at 8.15, they’re clamping down on overtime for the caterers, then in for another warm shower. Team time. We made an apple pie that looked good with a bit of extra preparation. Lunch time, in the arvo I must have done something important because I forgot to ring up to see if my money had arrived. Ah ha I just remembered, I played with a frizbee up at sub camp 3, then there was a concert. Tea then talent quest time, our team lacked talent, even our apple pie which I got to taste and was great didn’t get a place, our chant was “cheat cheat cheat…” No place. Our beauty pair didn’t get a place but we bought our slave Henry back for $16000 camp dollars, one girl went for $250000 to the Italians and Mr Lian went for $400000. Our Vegemite arrived at tea time so we had a Vegemite party, though my buns were filled with salad not Vegemite, because I don’t like axle grease. Bingo was being played when I went to bed
24/8
Up 8.00 breaky, teams at 9.00, we looked like a motley lot, all our big guys were missing, we were all Rolf’s size or mine and we only had 6 of us. Keg ball or earth ball we drew to a heavier team, square tug of war we lost to a heavier team. Lunch, then got the diary out and got people to sign the back of it for people who I can drop in on as I cycle around, I got quite a few addresses. I rang up and found that my money was in at last. Paid $50 for the jamboree in Banff next year. We had a meeting for those intending to come on the Maritimes trip, looks like 9 of us which means we’ll need a minibus. Tea which involved lining up all the way back to the tents for a ¾hr wait but the wait was worth it with as much food as you could eat, roast meat salads and fruit, everyone ate their fill. Then to the soft ball game to watch the Rovers beat the radio station 27-20, walked and talked for a while, then got changed and took the bus trip to Niagara Falls, had one drink at the pub, then went for a walk with Mark to the lake shore to take photos, then back to the pub where I fell asleep. Back at 1am. It was pouring rain but the tent was dry and I was soon asleep.
25/8
The last day was a nothing day, got more addresses, lunch then closing ceremonies “Team No1 cheat cheat cheat!” We got second place. On cuckoos and humbugs day we got a wooden plaque. Finished at 3.30pm. Cycled into St Catherine’s and got $950 in travelers cheques, then a few of us went up to the lake to a nice pub where I had cake and 7Up till 11.30pm, bed at midnight.
26/8
Up 8.30 and got a carton of milk for breaky and on the bus at 9am bike and all to Toronto, there we hired a van type minibus and stopped at a hamburger place for a traditionally large meal, then to the Sexton’s where we’re staying, after a shower I collapsed until tea time and BBQ, talked till 11pm then collapsed again.
27/8
Up 9.00 breaky then after a lot of procrastination at 11am we caught the subway into the city, went around the Eaton centre, then to the CN tower, no queue this time so up the top we went, it was nothing fantastic, it was good though to see a city from a different perspective, the subway back to the Sexton’s. 3.30pm we finally set off, Barry drove us along the freeway, we took a side road to Wellington and Picton, really nice scenery. Stopped at Kingston for the evening and found a campsite at $1ea. We walked down the main street and had pizza at Mother’s Place, bought some groceries then wandered back to camp, shower bed midnight.
28/8
We dilly-dallied at campsite till 9.30 then dilly-dallied in Kingston till 11am trying to find a bank, then petrol then the way out, I was driving, the last two were accomplished and we headed off towards Ottawa, we followed a river with locks in it all the way, it was really quite beautiful. Stopped at Smith’s falls for lunch where one lock was 26ft tall. On to Ottawa where after much looking and petrol usage we eventually found the Youth Hostel, but not until we’d traveled every street in Ottawa. I bought some film changed a travelers cheque and doled out all the money I owed. I ended up with $20 which soon went at the Youth Hostel though at $6 not to bad. The hostel is a converted jail, we sleep in the corridors since the cells are too small, they are still doing a lot of work here. They wouldn’t let me sign up there though. We had a nice cheap tea the all but the Pommies went to see Robin Hood and Night Crossing for $3.50ea, not bad. Back to find that our stuff that we’d left behind had been mistaken for rubbish and had been chucked out, so we retrieved it, filled out a questionnaire and went to sleep.
29/8
We were off by 9.30 this morning. We walked around to the parliament building, where there were changes of the guard, they were supposed to happen at 10.00, but apparently the special one is at 2pm. We took a tour of the buildings that are still being built, they started in 1916!. Went and had lunch, I had a submarine with a bowl of salad, carrot cake and 7Up for $6, I was full, back to watch the special change of the grenadier guards, very good. Then it was off to Montreal, Jeanette drove like a mad man all the way there. We had a map of the city so we had no problems, but our contact Angel wasn’t in, so we went for a drive, then rang him again, not in again so we went to Granny Grunt’s place, Ian wasn’t in but his parents made us welcome, eventually we caught up with Angel and told him where we were, he hadn’t been able to find us accommodation so here we stayed at Granny’s place and talked till midnight when I collapsed in bed.
30/8
Up 9.00 to a big hot breaky , we went into Montreal in a big group, 3 more Rovers had turned up at 6am in the morning, and some more Granny Rovers came also. It was a slow boring look around the city, really didn’t see much at all, back by the Metro which runs on rubber tyres, bought some Kentucky Fried Chicken or Poulet Frit as they call it here, then we all went to a baseball game, which was kind of interesting, kind of confusing, and kind of boring, they have a big screen which they showed the score on, but they also showed a cartoon of what was happening on the field, like if someone hit a top edge and it went up in the air and was caught, they showed someone in a telephone box and the ball coming through the roof into his glove, and all manner of other strange interpretations.
The home team Expos won against the Cincinnati Reds. We went to The Mountain for a drink and a look, bed at 1am.
31/8
Today procrastination set in again and we didn’t leave until 10.00, went and had a look at the site of the 1976 Olympic games, a spectacular sight even though the the buildings still aren’t complete, then hit the road to Quebec, we had to fill up with petrol at 52.3cpl, then what seemed like a long trip along the eastern shore of the St Lawrence till near Quebec where we found a caravan park that charged us $2ea. Tea was jaffles and marshmallows neither of which Rolf has had before. I collapsed again in bed at 9.30pm
1/9
Didn’t leave today until 11.00! Into Quebec, caught the ferry to the old city where we walked around till 2pm, lunch till 3pm then the ferry back then drove to Trois Pistols near Rivierre de Loup. People here like to speak French which of course is incomprehensible to us but with a bit of cajoling you can get them to understand what you want. I did what little driving there was today. I’m getting rather frustrated traveling in a group, we see very little, each decision that is reached must be reached democratically, and usually after much argument, jokes and sundry other incantations, the point is past and nothing has been seen or done, so today we wandered around all day in Quebec and really gained nothing, sad but true, lunch and the fort were prime examples of this wasted time.
2/9
It rained all day today as it had all night, it was an interesting day for scenery nonetheless as we stayed by the coast all day, except the last bit through some hills. Stopped at a small fishing village near Cap Chat and also in the mountains near Gaspesie provincial park. Found the Youth Hostel or Auberge de Jeunesse at Perce, all very French but all very nice, a pity about the weather, we managed to pick up an English speaking radio station here so Burridge has no excuse to sing “Where have all the flowers gone” any more. Went into town and got pizza, I’m getting tired of all this take away food, bed 11pm
3/9
The tents and sleeping bags dried out, it’s a pity that the weather didn’t, The Rock was wet through and through, I took a photo in the driving rain and sprinted back to the van, then we just drove to near Prince Edward Island, I drove from near the New Brunswick border when the weather finally started to clear up. Found a campsite and went for a walk along the beach with Lynn and Rolf, bed at 10pm
4/9
Up early and on the road to the ferry, a nice sunny day. Drove up to the National park, on the north side of the park we had a relaxing lunch and played frisbee, we came upon a seaweed collector who had got his F100 stuck in the sand so we pushed him out. Went for a look at Charlottetown city hall and art museum then off Prince Edward Island and back to Nova Scotia to New Glasgow with no petrol, rang up the people who had promised to find us a place to stay, they met us and took us back to their place where we set up tent with the dog, oh the dog. We had our own stuff for tea, then sat around and talked and watched TV, some fresh corn on the cob was handed around. The Rover leader took us back to his place at 11pm which is where we stayed the night, I had a proper bed for the first time in weeks. Some people talked till 3.30, I went to bed at 1.30am.
5/9
Up 9.30, at 10.00 we went to a motel where we were treated to a free breaky, we filled up. At 11am we hit the road, we were shown an old time house. We met and picked up Judy who had to sit on the floor all day. We got to Dartmouth where we rang up someone who we had met that morning, he came and took us back to his place where we talked and played with an even more crazy dog than yesterday’s, especially with the frisbee. It was 2am when we got to sleep.
6/9
6am we got up to take Mark and Mary out to the airport. I tried to get an extension on my visa in Canada, but the place didn’t open till 10.30am. So we left the airport, picked up the others and headed for Bangor, we crossed into the USA mid afternoon where Rolf and I got 6 month entry permits, great stuff! The 12.00 ferry to St John was full and we were classed as a bus which is expensive, the 8pm one was too late so we drove around and got to Bangor just on dark and went out for tea, bed by 9.30.
7/9
Off by 9.30 after a nice hot shower, Lynn drove till lunch at the Androscoggin River near Bethel, then I drove through the White mountains which were rather spectacular, through Quechee gorge near Lebanon where I flaked it. Last night my cold came back with a vengeance plus I had a tooth ache which made my nose ache and my ear ache. I was all stuffed up and feeling generally RS. Had some tea then bed by 8.30pm.
8/9
Off by 9.30 after breaky. To Albany where we dropped off Lynn and Judy, to Syracuse where we dropped off Barry and Jeanette, then we drove till 11.30pm to Niagara.
9/9
Spent most of the morning looking at both sides of the falls then I drove the QEW to Toronto and back to the Sexton’s, dropped off all the gear, took Rolf to where he was staying, the lady there gave me a box of tissues for my still runny nose, then I took the van back and caught the subway back. The station we boarded at only had machines which means correct money only, the note changer wasn’t working, so we had to go and buy a drink each to get enough change. Back to the Sexton’s and we re-met everyone plus one more who had been there the last time we visited. So that’s 5 young children, we had a BBQ and talked till late, then James, Patrick and I sat telling jokes till 1am. Steve wasn’t impressed and Burridge just flaked.
10/9
Up 9.30, Rolf and I went in to buy him a bike. Rolf had priced getting his bike over from Denmark but it would cost him $114, so he decided to get a new one, we settled on a Raleigh lightweight for $260, a rear rack and paniers for $100. I got my film back and only had 2 blanks, not bad for a new camera, back by 3pm and lazed around and worked out a basic route for us to take using addresses of contacts Youth Hostels and bike routes. Tea was Kentucky Fried Chicken and fun was had during the washing up time with water. The parents went out and we watched a movie, Eileen sat on my knee, beside me and even behind me at different stages of the night, bed at 1am after the second movie.
11/9
Up 10.00, just lazed around all morning and arvo, did a bit of letter writing, rode down to see if Bruce was still in his apartment he wasn’t, so back had tea then we all went out to see E.T. A good movie again by Steven Spielberg, but not as good as the Poltergeist. Had a walk down to see the night life of Toronto, which was a bit boring. Home 1am
12/9
Up 10.00, did nothing all day again, Sarah rang back after I’d tried to ring her, and we talked for ages about this and that. In the eve the Sexton’s grandma arrived from Aussie and we went downstairs to play monopoly, I was the first one out, Burridge won, bed around midnight.
13/9
Up 9.30, after breaky Rolf came around all ready, I packed and we went around to Paul’s the old Rover leader, he gave us some advice, gave Rolf a hat and we set off at 12.00, it was hot with a slight head wind, I still have a sniffly nose and am not fit, we only made Rockwood and stayed in a little conservation park with a little lake, we went for walk and then a swim, then sat and talked with our next door neighbor for a while then bed.
14/9 85km
Breaky was a peach each that were given to us last night, with cornflakes in honey and raisins. We had left a plastic bag with some grapes, bread and milk in, an animal had eaten the grapes and bread, but the milk had foiled it. Hit the road at 10.00, and by 11.00 it was raining, but soon stopped. We were attacked by a railway line and it buckled Rolf’s rear wheel, all it did to me was knock me off balance, it was a nasty little crossing. Since then all railway lines have been taken with extreme caution. We had a big late lunch at Drumbo, they have an old disused railway line here with an old humpback bridge. From there it was a short ride to Woodstock where we camped by the polluted ugly lake at Pittock Conservation area, it cost us $3.50ea which is a lot considering that last night cost nothing and was much nicer. We set up camp then Rolf went for his shower, then a big thunderstorm came through, we decided to make a run for a big pavilion, so we picked up the tent with everything in it and hauled it over, then hung everything out to dry. I went for my shower when the rain died down, it cost 25c but it was good, bed soon after.
15/9 110km
Up 8.30 didn’t feel like getting up though, breaky and on the road by 9.30, it was a cool day with no rain and a slight tail wind, and we really pushed the pedals. At Coldstream we found a little place that we thought was a general store to get some lunch, but it was a tea room and clothes shop, a young bloke there told us where to go, so we had a hamburger for lunch just down the road. Then on to Rock Glen near Arkona, by then drizzle had set in and we were soon soaked, we met the young man who owned the park, he let us stay in the hall for free, so we spread ourselves out and cooked up a nice hot soup on their stove then had some pears out of their garden, we played a few video games, both of us were hopeless, we went for a swim at the okay of the owner, we also had a sauna and a whirlpool sauna or whatever you call it with hot bubbling water comin’ at ya. We played a game of 2 handed 500 until 10pm then bed.
16/9 90km
Up 8.00 bleary eyed and sore, the sauna and whirlpool had done no good, I’d had a good sleep only waking up once or twice, breaky was cereal and toast, but no jam or butter. Had a quick look at the falls across the river, they used to be part of the old mill, now long gone. We didn’t have to pay a 50c entry fee which was good because the falls were barely a trickle. We hit, the road, the owners weren’t around to say goodbye to, so we rode off into a head wind, with bits of drizzle all day. For lunch we had the proverbial hamburger at a posher place than yesterday and they charged us nearly 3 times as much for the same thing. I donned my coat for the ride over the bridge which turned out to be a walk, as cycling isn’t allowed. Into the USA, through customs with no problems. Being a freeway, Rolf didn’t want to ride the ¼ mile to the info centre, so I rode off, got the info and walked and waited for Rolf to arrive, it took him 15min to concede defeat and ride the freeway, because it’s the only way over the river. It was then what seemed a short ride of 25km to the campsite next to the I 94 and the Pine River, it cost $8.50 so not cheap, but we paid and set up camp, I cooked my tea which was potatoes, carrots onion and meat, then went for a walk. We booked ourselves into the Detroit YMCA.
17/9 100km
Up 8.30 bleary eyed again and sore nosed too, we didn’t get on the road until 10.00, it sunned and rained and winded all day long, we didn’t know what was going to happen next weatherwise, except you could see the rain a comin’ and the wind was just a dead cert comin’ at ya head on no matter which way we rode. Lunch was a roll with ham and salad with a free litre of Coke. We rode through suburbs most of the way, it wasn’t too bad, the roads weren’t the best though with what seemed like cubes of bitumen all with bad joins all the way, there were a lot of blacks around, and not many pretty girls to wave at. We got lost and a little old lady gave us directions which were good and we booked into the YMCA which cost $2.60ea for the night. The room was surprisingly good for the price, and it’s not full of bums, which was a relief. We went for a walk down to the river and saw the big shiny buildings of the Round Towers, in there we found shops and had tea at Olga’s then went to see Hound of the Baskerville’s and then back to the rooms.
18/9 30km (no panniers)
Breaky at 9.00, we payed another $2.60ea to stay again tonight and cycled out to the Ford museum where we spent the whole day for $7 and a nice lunch for $3, we saw such things as steam engines being worked, lots of cars, the flying 10 man bike, the gigantic steam train and lots more, at 4pm we emerged and rode back to our rooms, ate some stuff we’d bought, later we went for a walk and found a McDonald’s, Rolf said it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought since everyone raves about how bad the food is, back and played cards till 11pm bed.
19/9 90km
Up 8.00 shower, no milk to be found so we had bread and marmalade. 9.30 off we went, at 10.00 we found an open shop in the deathly quiet city (being a Sunday) and got some milk and bananas, we stopped and had our cereal then on to Toledo. At lunch time I noticed that the buckle in Rolf’s wheel was noticeably worse so I carried his rucksack which made me very heavy, but at least it relieved Rolf’s rear tyre. We got lost in Toledo so the people we were going to stay with came and collected us. We sat and chatted over tea then went and plated racquetball, much like squash with a short racquet and bouncier bigger ball, which is where I got continually caught out, the lady I was playing won all but the last game, shower and whirlpool sauna then home to watch TV till 2am, bed.
20/9
Up 11am, Gudrun had left a note saying to meet her for lunch so we had a quick bowl of cereal and put our washing on and cycled out to where she works. We were surprised to find an elegant mansion style building with offices in it, we had a nice lunch in their cafeteria, then she gave us a tour. At 1pm we cycled back but couldn’t decipher the key system, so we sat for ½hr until Erik came home, they went to do something about Rolf’s bike, I found a piano and plinked and plunked it then watched TV until Gudrun came home, then she took us for a drive around Toledo to the city centre, the good and the bad parts, though she said that she left out the really bad parts, we had a nice dinner then we showed our slides and they showed theirs, it was a mutual admiration society.
21/9
Up 10.30 had a nice lazy breaky, Robert came home at midday and we checked out each others cameras, he went out and Rolf and I played table tennis till 2pm then went for a ride to put our films in for processing and had a look at a park, it was okay but it just didn’t look right to me, Rolf had to borrow Robert’s bike which is a real cheapie, took a photo of Rolf on it with the expected joke of saying that this was his touring bike. Home and watched TV, walked the dogs with Robert. One was good, but the other was unruly. Later we all went out to a Mexican restaurant and burnt our mouths out on some really nice food, Robert shouted us all which was really good of him, it was a good night out, watched TV until 2am, bed.
22/9
Up 11.00, I’d just finished breaky when Robert came in, so we had lunch then he gave us a quick look at the hospital where he works as a psychiatrist then he lent us his car and we drove out to a game reserve to look at the birds then came back, picked him up and we went to play racquetball, Erik and I beat Rolf and Robert then we got some chili dogs and other horrific gunk and came home and watched TV till 2am.
23/9
Up 11.00. Rolf was talking on the phone and he had tears in his eyes, I thought someone in his family had died, but it turned out that his parents had quit Denmark to live in Greenland, which I supposed could be upsetting. We did nothing all day except play video games and watch TV till everyone was home then we went out to see if I could get a Walkman radio cassette, but couldn’t find one. So we then went to the restaurant that Klinger from the TV show MASH always talks about for dinner, it was a nice little fast food with a bit of taste place, then to another place to fill up on sundaes, I had a strawberry one. Home and played cards watched a movie then bed 12.00.
24/9
Up 9.00, Robert wasn’t feeling well so he took the day off and he alternated between TV and bed all day. I had a bowl of Kellogg’s Product 19 for breaky which seemed to have 100% of the daily needs of the body. I then tried to get a box to put my bike in for the bus trip, the first one was too small at 4ft 4ins, I would have had to take the bike rack off and mudguard too and shift my headlight. I managed to get hold of a 4ft 8ins one which with a bit of modification like a slit for each tyre and one for the front rack I got my bike in to. I crammed the rest of my gear in except the two blue panniers then Goody took me down to the bus station at 5.45, I found I was only allowed 2 packages in the trunk of the bus and I thought they were going to give me a hard time, but they let me take the extra bag on the bus with me with my rucksack. At 6.20pm off I went into the night. I met 2 guys, one from England and one from California and the Californian gave me his address. We talked for 3hrs as we had a lot in common. At Cleveland I was accosted by several blacks who loomed over me and demanded drugs, I said I didn’t have any, but they wouldn’t leave me alone until my two friends came to my rescue, the bus driver called it wacky weed. On to Pittsburgh at 4am, I slept all the way to Philadelphia where I got off. At 7.30am
25/9
I rang up Chris and woke them up, but she came down to pick me up, she was ¾hr later than expected because her mother who had answered the phone sent her to Greyhound not Trailways, but she eventually found me and I loaded my gear into the little old Corona and we went back home to the outskirts of Philadelphia to a really nice Italian looking house I showered and changed clothes and was all set up to go with her and her cousin to a party, she said she had to go to the bank first, then rang up to say she wasn’t coming back for me, hmm. I met their border Vicki and then met Chris’ mother June who took me for a ride after lunch, we went to the launderette that she owns in a block of buildings that were a bit shabby, then out to Pennsburgh manor a nice little place built in the 1680’s at the original settlement of Pennsylvania. Then home for some tea. We rang up a local scout master who I arranged to meet on Monday and meet some American Boy Scouts, watched TV till 11pm bed.
26/9
Up 10.00 sat and talked with Chris and Vicki and later the son John came and we sat and talked about a million things. I used some of John’s tools to tighten up all the bolts on my bike. At 2pm June and I went to a place on the outskirts for a bus, on the way we looked at a cathedral called Bryn Athyn in which everything is hand made or wrought and nothing is identical and nothing is straight. If you look closely you can see that the walls are bowed. We met up with 2 men friends of June and went to Atlantic City in New Jersey which is where the casinos are. On the bus we were given a refund of our ticket plus $5 spending money plus a $5 food voucher and a $5 voucher for next time. Needless to say $5 spending money didn’t last long playing the pokies at the Resorts casino, then I went for a walk along the boardwalk down to the Golden Nugget and took a photo of the Playboy from the beach, then headed back. There was a strong wind blowing and a light drizzle, found the others and we found a place in the Resorts Casino to use our food voucher, the restaurant cost $7.11 plus 35c tax for a smorgasbord, so for $2.45 I ate my fill of scrumptious food, a cheap night out. At 12.15 we got on the return bus that cost nothing and back home at 3am and bed.
27/9
Up 10.00 at 11.00 June and I went into Philadelphia and she gave me a whistle stop tour that included the old alley, flag designs house, the mint, the liberty bell, Independence Hall and the Pennsylvania Trust building, which on the top floor has displays and an excellent slide show, drove around town and back home at 3.30pm, put my bike and gear into her car and troddled off to meet Harold, found him, swapped my gear into his car and headed off to his place, out in a small town not far from Philadelphia, there we had tea and then into scout uniform and off to scouts where I gave a talk on bike touring and showed my Aussie slides, it went down well especially with the leaders and older scouts, then back home and Harold showed me some of his slides of Finland till midnight, bed.
28/9
Up 6.00 to a free breaky organized by a group Harold belongs to put on by a nice lady from Florida. 9.00 we got to Harold’s work worked out a route back to Chris’ place for me and I set off at 10am and got there at 11am, did some letters home then I tried to catch a train into Philly, I took my bike, but the 1.09 wouldn’t let me take it, so I walked down to the next line for the 2.09, at 2.30 it hadn’t arrived so I gave up in disgust and came home and did more letters home, then I thought I’d mow the lawns for them but out of 4 mowers I couldn’t get one working, so I gave up on that idea too. Later a bloke came around and with some tools fixed the ride on one so I gave it a high cut, and with the help of Chris raked it up, I’ll give it a low cut tomorrow. Lazed around, June was cooking a good meal, and all these people started turning up, after the meal I showed them my slides, several of the people were photographers and I think they enjoyed my slides, though one did comment that he though my shots were too dark, we talked till 11pm when I hit the sack.
29/9
Up 9.00 went and bought some oil for the mower, June got some petrol and I gave the front a low cut then raked it, then did some cleaning, cutting out the back. It was 1.30pm when I finished so I grabbed a bight to eat and cycled out to Harold’s work arriving at 3pm. We zipped into town picked up an Italian scout named Max and back to Harold’s place, grabbed another quick bight to eat then out to a Cub Scout meeting. It seemed a bit of a shambles, but it was their first night back after the summer break, it was all presentations and awards. We went back to the cub master’s house to show my slides and all were impressed, back home and Harold gave me a good 20-25 addresses all over the states, and he has lots more in Europe. Bed 1.30am
30/9
Harold woke me up just before he left for work at 9.15 to say goodbye. I got to Chris’ place at about 10.30, June cooked me some breakfast then I caught the 12.09 into Philly and walked out to the art museum, it was more than your average gallery with whole rooms decorated out in formations. The most ingenious one was this dark room with an old door at the end of it, now each set has a list of what it’s made out of, sure enough this one had old door, but then a whole list of other stuff, and sure enough there was a peep hole, through it one could see a reclining nude, a waterfall and all sorts of other stuff, but you couldn’t see all the nude and it was obvious that most of the other stuff was only half in view, there was a peep hole nearby, blank, another one blank, I checked out all the holes, blank, I spent more time trying to figure out the solution here than at any other art work in the museum, and came to the conclusion that there was no solution. It was a long walk back to the station, I had a few problems finding the right train but found it in the end. The stations that you stop at are not marked, so you have to listen to the train driver calling out the station through a speaker and he also tells you the next one, so you know which one you want. They have inspectors on the train, who when they have checked your ticket stick it to the seat, so they know who’s been checked. Home for tea then Chris and I went for a quick drive to do some of her chores then sat around till 9pm then to the local pub, Chris met a lot of her friends here, and I got left out and got bored and got lost in my usual day dreams, at midnight I couldn’t bare any more so told Chris I was going to walk home, but she insisted on driving me home, then went back,I went to bed at 12.30. This afternoon the old grandmother who lives here too was heard to say in a pleading voice “ Take me dear God, take me” They were the saddest words I’ve heard uttered in ages and quite heart-wrenching.
1/10
Up 10.30 and rode to Pennypack park which is a couple of miles down the road and spent the whole afternoon there then back just in time to see Chris off to her second job. Later we had tea and I fiddled around with stamps and snoozed. 9.30pm Chris came home, too late to go to the movies but she did some organizing for the trip up to the mountains. We collected a kerosene heater from the guy who owns the cabin that we are going to stay at, we were going to go down town but Chris was too tired and at midnight I went to bed.
2/10
At 6.30 we hit the road, we had a few problems getting our bearing right on the turnpike because the map we had wasn’t too good, but we got it sorted out and had a nice drive up the Jersey shore, but from there we took a wrong turn not far from our destination, we were way up north by the time we figured we’d made a mistake. We wanted to get to the Pen Grand Canyon and stopped in a little town called Galeton where Chris bought some walking boots, we found a large flea market and stopped, I bought some stamps and Chris eventually bought a knife for $2.50, then on to the canyon which was just a deep valley but nice, except they had a train line running through it, which seemed incongruous. We went on to Welsboro for a combined lunch and tea, then just on sunset we went to a park and found an old church amid the golden glory of autumn I took one picture then ran out of film, Chris had no film. The town was really nice and Chris said she’d like to live here. We got a better map and after a scare with a deer running out in front of us we found the cabin. We sat talking till 9pm when the phone rang, some of Chris’ friends are coming up and she said they may smoke dope, well didn’t that start some heavy talk! She told me of some of her spiritual experiences and I was less worried about her being dragged into the abyss of drugs, and began to see the potential that she has to be special to God, I only hope that she comes to flower fully. It was 3am when they rolled up and proceeded to have sex in the middle of the room with Chris on one side and me on the other, it was outrageously inconsiderate, I wanted to cry out loud, but they were Chris’ friends so it wasn’t my place. It took me a long while to get back to sleep.
3/10
Up 9.00 and went for a walk, with the steam on the creek and the fog in the hills and the stillness it was beautiful, I didn’t bring my camera, but my binoculars, I saw a few birds and a few chipmunks, but I missed seeing a bird of prey attack a fish by literally seconds, I heard the splash and saw something through the trees and the cry of a raptor, but by the time I was out in the open it was gone. I met Chris but we didn’t talk much, I could tell she was affected by what had happened last night. At 10.30 the others got up and we went for a combined breakfast and lunch, then took a look at a nearby dam. Chris was still acting mellow and despondent. We all went for a walk up the creek to a little place they call Little Italy, another peaceful spot, I sat in the sun and meditated and prayed, and still Chris didn’t want to talk. On the way out she got a blister from her new boots so lagged behind, so I stayed with her and we talked, and she explained the problem with those two, they are certainly crazy, the girl is married and separated from her husband and left him asleep in their car at a party, the guy is also married and separated, the two had just met at the party, I couldn’t believe it. They were definitely feeling guilty but hadn’t appologized to me. The whole trip back we didn’t say much, we had problems with traffic jams on the freeways and it took 6hrs to get back. June was still up with Pete and whatchamacallit who soon left, Chris stayed and talked for a while and went to bed and I sat and talked with June till 3.30am.
4/10
Up 9.30 and worked in the garden I destroyed the dog house and cleaned up the back yard of dead wood, and built a fire, it took me all day. I went out for a short ride to find envelopes, but no luck, then just sat around then watched Coal Miner’s Daughter on TV bed midnight, I’ve tried contacting my contact in Wilmington all night with no luck, in Kennet Square I’ve got the wrong number and directory assistance couldn’t help me, so I’ll try again in the morning.
5/10
Up 9.00 went through Proverbs today and noted the ones that spoke to me, then out into the garden and burnt more rubbish, got a new saw blade and cut some firewood for the coming winter, June came down and we fixed up the chicken coup which is just a junk shed, tea then sat around. I got hold of the people in Toledo and they gave me Rolf’s number so I rang him, and he’s expecting to arrive Thursday or Friday, but I’m struggling here, Chris is ignoring me, am I that uninteresting? I got to reading the bible again and was reading a passage in John about the Holy Spirit, and it hurt because I felt like He wasn’t with me. At that moment Chris came down after keeping me waiting for over an hour and I was scowling, and I scowled at her for both reasons. She went into the kitchen and I didn’t follow her, she came out and said maybe we could go to the movies on Thursday, she knew what was going on. Bed at midnight, feeling a bit guilty about Chris and sad about the Holy Spirit. I’m not good at relationships with either pretty girls or God.
The Lord is your protector
How can I appreciate
The value God has placed in you
Do you realize
Just how special you are?
Can you fight for Christ and win
Yes you can
Could you see the designs he has for you?
Yes you could
Would you brandish the flame of love for all to see?
Yes you will
For if you don’t I know the Lord will be hurt
Because it is those who are closest to the Lord
Who are capable of hurting him the most
You must find out what he wants you to do
You must take up your cross and be prepared to die
You must give love freely to all in need
For the Lord IS your protector
And no harm shall befall you
As he holds you dearly in his heart
I tell you these things
Because I know you
Because I know the Lord
As do you
6/10
Up 9.00 June gave me a book on interesting places in the USA, the Rockies, Grand Canyon and California coast are stand outs. After breaky I started clearing some of the unburnable junk. When I had a car load I waited. One of June’s friends turned up and took me down to the EL which is short for the elevated railway that travels at rooftop height, I took it to the university. I saw people sitting on the roof and lots of graffiti as we rocked and rolled our way through some poor parts of town. The archaeological museum was hard to find, I bought a bunch of grapes and walked around for ages before finding it with ¾hr left, so it was a quick look. I was dismayed to find no Australian exhibit and yet there was a New Zealand and Polynesian exhibit. The mummies were great. Got the EL to the end then tried to find the right bus which of course I didn’t have the faintest, finally found one that went to Bustleton, but it stopped short and had to get another one to get me close enough to home arriving at 6.30pm. Read the bible and watched TV till Chris came home at 8.30pm. She went upstairs to change, then went outside to do her nails, I went out to talk to her. At first it was awkward, but I managed to get on the right topic and explained what it was all about and we talked and were friends again and we talked till midnight, she showed me her pictures and slides some were really good.
7/10
Rolf rang at 7.45 and we went in to collect him in peak hour traffic jams, we got there at 9.15, June took all his gear, I had brought my bike so I showed him around the city of Philly, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall Penn Mutual centre and out to look at the Delaware and Elfraith’s Alley, the lady there was really nice this time and we had a look at the back, then to the art museum, Rolf at the old door room would have made a good picture, the “oh dear” as he found the nude was priceless, I kacked myself laughing. It was then a not too hard 1½hr ride home to find Chris already home, we chatted for a while then went for a ride, she showed us her favourite house and road, ah the road to Delaware at night, and her college that she doesn’t go to any more, then back to change as we were still in our grubby clothes, went to Burger King for dinner then went to see Pink Floyd’s The Wall, it was exactly how I thought is should be, an excellent film, with blood and guts and emotions splashed all over the screen. I saw what I might have become somewhere in there. Sat and talked and I read some of my poems, poor Rolf didn’t like it and read a magazine, but Chris liked the nice ones and showed empathy with the bad ones, a few times tonight she let me know that we are good friends. June wasn’t home when we got back and Rolf’s gear is still in the boot or truck of the car, so we sat up till 1.45am waiting for her, she arrived with Cathy and we decided to go to Atlantic City tomorrow. Rolf was asleep so I got his gear out for him talked till 2.30am bed.
8/10
Chris woke me up at 8.00 as the original plan was to go to New York today, I told her what was happening and went back to sleep until 9.30 then breaky, filled up two rubbish bins of junk from the back yard and put them in the car, later when Rolf got up we drove out to June’s launderette dumped the rubbish then went and bought tickets for Atlantic City. We got the same bonuses as last time then went to the info centre and got maps of New York and others then got dropped off at the bus. We had some unique pastry with pizza toppings inside, then onto the bus to Atlantic City. We went for a walk while the sun was still up and had a look in some of the casinos, saw the ‘Bird Cage’ in Golden Nugget, played a few video games, then there was a Columbus day parade parade of pretty girls, school bands and floats. It was a long one and all the bands were good. Then to Resorts Casino for our $2.45 meal, Rolf really ate a lot, I ate more modestly this time. I went to spend the last of my $5 on video games and got a good score in the end. Had a look around the casino then back on the bus getting back at 1.30am. June was waiting for us which was good of her, home and crashed.
9/10
Rolf and I were up at 7.00 but no one else was. We eventually got our lift at 9.00 up to Trenton where we paid $15.75 for a return ticket on Amtrak to New York, we arrived at Pennsylvania station then walked down 42nd St to the UN building. On the way I bought a Toshiba Walkman radio cassette for $80. At the UN building we had a $3 tour it was okay. Bought 2 postcards and some stamps for my collection and a lot of envelopes to put all my USA stamps in. It was then a crowded bus ride to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty for $1.50. We climbed up the stairs on the inside to the top for the cramped view. The walk up the arm to the very top was closed. We then went for a walk up Broadway via Wall St to the Empire State Building, and just on dusk we took the elevators to the top for $2.50. back down and bought some food at a steak bar, I had a huge sirloin steak and lot more for $6.50. At 8.00 we got the train home June came and picked us up at the station which was good of her… again, we talked for a while then bed.
10/10
Up 9.30 breaky then we put Chris’, Rolf’s and my bikes on Chris’ car and we drove down to Fairmont park and rode around till 2.30pm, we went to the area in front of the museum where they were having a fair and had some pizza, coke and a funnel cake, then finished the ride and back home. Chris went to work and Rolf and I mapped out our route. I finally found Lee’s mum, she had moved house so we arranged to meet, then we tried to get a place with Servas (an organization Rolf belongs to) in Washington. Tea was a large affair with lots of people, the evening was spent chatting till 12.30 bed.
Goodbye 2
And so it’s time to say goodbye
As a little comes to my eye
For you’ve become so dear
Not just a passing tear
As here forever I could tarry
With good friends it’s not hard to dally
But we are wanderers two
So as the sun strikes the morning dew
It’s time to say to you
A fond and friendly adieu
11/10
Up 9.00, we took Rolf’s bike up to a bike shop to get the rear wheel fixed, no luck. I got a pucker on the pecker from Chris as we said goodbye. June drove us all the way to where Lee’s mum works, I was expecting her to drop us off short and then we’d ride. I gave her a kiss as we said goodbye. We said hello to Lee’s mum then we rode down to the Brandywine battlefield area, the church and surrounds were picturesque and some of the gravestones were pre-civil war, the river was nice too, then down to Long Wood gardens, but it cost $4 to get in so we just rode around the perimeter and got back to Lee’s mum at 4pm, we still had to wait a while then she drove us down to Wilmington where we got Rolf’s wheel fixed. Then back to her work where we loaded all our gear in. I found my camera which I’d placed on the floor as we were waiting earlier, phew! Back to her condominium, a nice new place, clean. We unloaded the car as it started to rain. We chatted a while then went out to dinner to a Perkin’s restaurant, which is the chain that Chris works for at a different location, though I kept on looking at the waitresses expecting to see her. Lee’s mum paid, back to her place then one of her bot friends came around and we talked till 10.30, went for a short walk to get some breakfast stuff and chatted a while longer and bed at 11.30.
12/10 95km
Mr Whatshisname cooked us a nice big breaky then watched in amazement as we got all our stuff onto the bikes, we posted some stuff, mine to Aussie, Rolf to Denmark and we hit the road at 9.30. We rode the number 1 highway, but at the Susquehanna river they were doing road works and we got directed onto route 40. The bridge was a tall bridge and a nice policeman gave us a lift over in his Jeep. We had lunch on the other side, just as we were finishing a cyclist went by without seeing us, so we caught up with him, he’s been cycling since Oregon, we rode together. We took a parallel route 7 to route 40 which was a bit hilly, Rolf got a flat tyre and we used John’s patch kit since we had none, so it was lucky that we’d met him. We rode into Baltimore just on dark, we met the book keeper of the League of American Wheelmen and very nice girl called Sarah. We eventually found a place to stay, camping in someone’s back yard after many no’s. So the lady came down and picked us all up minus our bikes, took us back, gave us a nice meal, let us watch the Brewers beat the Cardinals at World series baseball, then it was out to our tent in the back yard.
13/10
We were shown around a wet Baltimore, yes it rained last night, we got a bit damp but the tent was soaked, we strung it up to dry during the day. Baltimore: Fort Henry, the Inner harbour, The shot tower, the railway museum. The view of the harbour from inner harbour shopping mall was picturesque, back home with it still raining. We had tea then watched the Cardinals just beat the Brewers. At 10pm we were whisked around to another place where they had fold out beds, there we watched the rest of the game then bed.
14/10 70km
At 9.00 we walked down by the stadium and caught the bus down town, there we readied our bikes and off we went by 9.30. Not far down the road Rolf stopped at a service station to blow his tyres up, which he did… literally, both tyres, John and I had sat on the road to wait for him and heard the explosions, and I had to laugh at Rolf looking forlornly down at his destroyed tyres. John had only one spare so John and I went to find a bike shop, the first one we looked for after finding it in the Yellow Pages, wasn’t there, so we rang up the Wheelmen and they directed us to one that did exist, bought 4 tubes and 2 repair kits and I took them back. One fixed okay but I put a hole in one tube, repaired that, but when Rolf went to blow it up bang! It blew, I couldn’t help myself from laughing at his misfortune. But then we figured out the problem, Rolf was blowing it up like a car tyre which can take some time to build pressure, for a bike tyre it takes but a short time to get to high pressure. This time he got it right. But not 200 yards along the road a bubble formed at it blew, so back up the horrible hill I went to buy another tyre and tube, this time everything went okay. John had gone on ahead to find a shop as by now it was lunch time, we caught up to him, bought some stuff, ate it and headed off for Washington. We were riding hard to make up lost time and missed a turn, but with some local guidance got back on track. We went through a really nice little town called Ellicot City. Then it was my turn to get a flat tyre on route 29 which took ½hr to fix. We eventually got near our destination at 6pm and rang them up, at 6.30 we got to their area, but they met us on the road and told us to wait as they had some chores to do, so we waited in the cold for ½hr when they showed up and took us back to their place, there we had a nice meal and talked and showed slides until 10.30 bed.
15/10
Up 7.30 after the first good night’s sleep in a while, a nice little breaky then we rode down the C&O canal (Chesapeake & Ohio), it runs beside the Potonac river, had a quick look around Georgetown, the queue to get into the White House was endless so we didn’t go in, the queue to get up Washington monument was shorter so we went up that, a quick look at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to see all the paper money , each stack of $20 notes was worth over $6.3 million, then out to the Jefferson memorial, by now I was hungry so he pizza and chili dog for lunch then into the air and space museum which I really enjoyed. 2Hrs later we emerged and rode down to the Capitol building, just as I was about to take a nice photo a cloud came over, so I waited 10-15mins to get my shot, then went for a walk around it, then off to Massachusetts Ave to see my embassy but it was after 5pm and it was closed, so I was fobbed off, we went further down the road to the Danish embassy which was also closed but he had a better reception from his people and chatted for ½hr with his people. Then it was back home, we had a nice dinner and sat around listening to records and chatting till 11pm, the Brewers went down to the Cardinals again then I had a midnight snack of a left over sanga from yesterday’s lunch and a chocky bar from Philly.
16/10
Up 9.00 and arranged to stay until Monday morning, after breaky sat and read the papers then we hopped in a car and drove out through some lovely countryside through small country towns with their antique sales, out across the fields large mansions could be glimpsed a legacy of the slavery days, many of the slaves quarters had been turned into small houses, lunch was a picnic by a river in a field, where, I don’t know. We found a section of the Appalachian trail and went for a walk on it and found some Witch-hazel, when we got back we found out that the trail had been moved and that we were on private land. We drove back home and had dinner at a diner which is supposed to look like the diner car on a railway carriage. The food was a bit disappointing but edible, back home and watched movies, one being My Brilliant Career which I enjoyed. Bed midnight.
17/10
Up 9.00 breaky the hosts went out to church, we rode down to see some more museums like Industrial and Historical where I found photographic and philatelic displays to get engrossed in. Then we met up with John and had a look at the Art and Trade museum, then the original Smithsonian museum. Rolf went to look at the Capitol building, John and I had lunch at the Natural History museum, he moved on and I looked around the museum, of particular interest was the live insect collection, they had all sorts of stuffed animals and bones of dinosaurs and a replica of a Blue Whale, loved the museum. On the way out we looked at the Lincoln memorial and a young men’s singing group sang very harmoniously, very softly and beautifully America, America, they started singing something else but some rangers or whatever they were came over and stopped them, a pity because they added something rather special to the monument for me. I found a beanie on the ground and snaffled it. On the way back I found I had a slow leak, so went to a service station to pump it up, then the valve started leaking, the two attendants wouldn’t help me so I cycled off in disgust, soon the tyre was flat, Rolf rode home, I walked, 7.30 I finally made it, I had to sing cheerful songs to keep my temper down. The hosts had come looking for me but not in the right streets. We had a nice late dinner and watched the Brewers defeat the Cardinals to make it 3-2 out of 7, watched a bit more TV then bed at 11.30pm.
18/10 55km
Up 8.00 shower, John had already gone, breaky fixed my tyre loaded up and off we went at 10am with a few goodbyes and many good lucks. I went to pick up the Servas info that I’d arranged last night, then to a bike shop where I bought 2 new tyres a tube and a valve remover, I’m still learning the kit you need! And a pump since my old one wasn’t working anymore. Had lunch at Fairfax in front of the supermarket. On to Centerville where we decided to camp at Bull Run park campsite and take a break. I listened to my radio and fell asleep. Later Rolf went back into town to buy some stuff for tea, I cooked a big meal that will also do for breaky all for $3, washed up then bed.
19/10 80km
Up 8.00, breaky, Rolf had a shower, I waited on the road till 9.30 when we hit the road, at 11.30 we noticed that Rolf’s rear wheel was buckling again, sure enough 3 spokes had broken so he hitch-hiked, I rode alone through some beautiful country, with low rolling hills, but nothing hard. At the route 29 I took a small road instead of the highway, it took me a long way north west, after a while I found one heading back south east, took it on the advice of 2 young black girls who’s eyes went wide with wonder when I told them I’d come from Toronto, but they had no idea where Australia was. After some very hard hills in the hot sunshine and beautiful scenery I reached Culpepper where Rolf was waiting, arriving at 3.30pm, his bike had been fixed for $4.50 a bit cheaper than the $8.50 in Wilmington, apparently as I had thought, his spokes were too tight. I went to the Chamber of Commerce to ask about a campsite, they said there were no public campsites in town, but they told me if I went to the Town Manager I might get lucky but I wasn’t. I got the phone number of a local Scout Master who had a meeting on tonight, he was only too happy to let us pitch camp in his back yard, in return for a talk to his boys, so he came and picked us up and retraced the route into town I’d taken for 4mls, we had tea with them then off to the meeting. It went down well. He gave us each an old scarf that they no longer use, we talked till 11pm and bed.
20/10 80km
Up 8.00, breaky and a quick yarn with Joe and we left soon after at 9.00. Rolf picked up some hooks that he’d ordered for his packs, then out on route 15 to Orange, all hills, then route 20 to Charlottesville, it seemed a lot of up hill and my legs were still sore from yesterday. We got in at 3.45pm and rang up our Servas host and sat around at the Texaco service station till they came at 4.30pm , loaded everything into the car and we retraced our route for a couple of miles. Once home we chatted and had a nice dinner and I showed my slides. The guy was big and quiet, the lady a run around storm, a sick looking 17yo girl, a 16yo boy and a 12yo, they’re a nice family that look like they have a lot of fun together, so they created a very pleasant atmosphere for us.
21/10
Up at 8.30, I’m sore! Everyone had gone, so we had breaky sat around till 10.30, then had a nice easy ride up and down hills to Monticello, Jefferson’s house. It was nearly worth the $3 entry fee. Back for a $3.50 lunch at Humpty-dumpty’s. Rode around the town for a while then back home. The rest of the people drifted in plus a German back-packer also a Servas traveller. I played him at table tennis he won, then I played some video games, dinner then Becky, Rolf, Andreas, Matthew and I played poker with 1c coins. We all ended up about even, bed at 10.30pm. I found out that Becky the 17yo has children’s arthritis, it should clear up, but she is in pain and off school and quite heavily drugged. I hope she recovers because she really is a cute kid.
22/10 110km
Up 8.00, breaky and off by 9.00, I got 2 yards and realized I had a flat tyre on the front, it was such a small hole that I had to take the tube inside to the sink to see where it bubbled to find out where the hole was, I also put the new tyre on the front as the old one was a bit cut up. So it was 9.30 when we actually headed off. It was a long day through the hills, nothing cruel though. We saw our first chain gang of blacks cutting grass along the road with crude looking cutters, they had a guard with a shot gun held across his chest, later at lunch we saw a truck go by with a wooden cage with small compartments, it seemed a terrible way to treat them, but we found out that they do get payed. We averaged 11mph including breaks and got into Richmond along the 250 at 3.45pm, and found our hosts without a problem. There was no one home so we flaked out on the front lawn. Later the daughter came home, but she wouldn’t let us in. At 5pm the lady came and let us in and the gent came ½hr later, we had dinner and chatted until midnight, bed very tired.
23/10 125km
Up 8.00 a big breaky then up to the local out door centre where we looked for a tent pole, no luck. Rolf bought a fuel container for the stove fuel, then in to Richmond, Rolf had a look at the museum of the Confederacy. At 12.00 we set off for Williamsburg along route 5, a nice scenic route through trees. At one spot I came close to disaster today, one of the advantages of having two fully laden bikes is that in a head wind the first bike breaks the wind, and the second bike can tailgate the first and get an easy ride, you then swap regularly to give the lead guy a break, of course the closer you are the better the wind break, today I got too close to Rolf’s rear wheel and clipped it badly as he slowed down, I stayed upright, but went careering off across the road, thankfully there were no cars around, and no damage was done. Lunch at Charles City where we met some local cyclists doing a 100 mile day, one of them gave us his phone number. On we went and got to Williamsburg, we decided to skip the town and go on the Newport News, but our contact wasn’t in, so we rang up the guy we met on the road today, he wasn’t in, so we pressed on a bit further and finally got hold of him, still no answer from our original contact, so we sat tight, and the cyclist guy eventually turned up in an MGB, but he had a bike trailer, I sat on the hump in the car and we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and Ed payed, so it was a cheap day. We couldn’t sleep at his place so he organized one of the other cyclists we’d met to take us in, he took us around there and we spent the eve watching TV till 1.30am, too much interesting TV!
24/10 85km
Up 8.30 for a big breaky then Bob took us over the water and under it too. It seemed weird to drive out over the Chesapeake bay then suddenly duck under it too, he dropped us off a fair way down at the junction of routes 64 and 168, there was quite a wind blowing, luckily it was mostly a tail wind and we made good time till lunch at Maple. The winds got worse with terrible side gusts, that would knock us off the road, the weather forecast said 35-50mph winds, that’s gale force at least. Then came the rain, we rode for a couple of hours through it and got soaked, we decided it was too uncomfortable to go on to our hoped for destination of Kitty Hawk, and we settled on a motel at Sea Oats for $20, where we dried out and watched TV. The lady kindly drove us up the road to a restaurant where we had a big meal for $5ea, then she came back and picked us up, we watched TV until 11pm when the power went off, so we went to sleep with the wind and rain roaring outside, it was a good decision to be in here with our wet clothing draped over every available hanging spot.
25/10 40km
8.00 the power came on and we got up, The rain had stopped and the wind was lower but it had changed direction, it was still a strong cross head wind, we pushed hard against it in low gears and crossed over to the islands, first was Kitty Hawk where yesterday the sea had eroded enough sand to send several houses into the ocean. We weren’t allowed out there but we could see the destruction. We had a look at the museum of the Wright brothers, where we lingered in the warmth for a while, but it was soon time to push on. We got to Whalebone where we had to make a decision, west or south, I wanted to continue south, though the road was closed because of sand across it I presume, Rolf wanted west, I gave in and we got to Manteo, where it got dark, nobody was sympathetic enough to let us stay. We offered the contact we had in Moorhead City petrol money to drive the 150 mile trip each way to come and collect us, they said no. We rode a bit up the road and went off into the bush to camp, we got a campfire going and had a peaceful night by it, bed 10.30.
26/10 70km plus 65km in car
Up 8.45, it had rained some during the night, we had a bowl of porridge for breaky, then rode back to Manteo and rang up the national parks people, they said the road was open, so off we went, south, the ride down was really nice and we were doing 20 miles an hour due to another shift in the winds to give us a gentle tailwind. Then I got a flat tyre, whilst I was fixing it along came a guy in a ute and offered us a lift to Hatteras, so he drove us all the way to the ferry there with a stop for a milkshake and donuts for lunch. We got there just in time for the ferry which took us to Ocracoke Island. Not far down the island the road was covered with sand, in several places the road is little wider than the spit of land, and sand was blown over the road making cycling impossible, we had to pull/shove/drag our bikes through it, very hard work for bikes so heavy I couldn’t lift mine. At one spot I came across a tern with a broken wing, I put it out of its misery, this was serious weather we’ve been through! It was about a mile of varying degrees of softness of sand, it was then a quick sprint to Ocracoke township for the ferry to Cedar Island, there we bought some stuff for dinner and rode another 10 miles through a beautiful sunset across a swamp and found a little place to camp where the wood was still wet and there were plenty of mozzies, but we managed to cook a nice dinner of carrots, cabbage and frankfurters soup. We had forgotten to fill up our water bottles, so I went to a nearby ditch, to my surprise the water tasted good, but we still boiled it.
27/10 125km
Up 8.30 for porridge, we used last night’s water which was dirtier than we thought, then off we went with the mozzies clinging to my elbows. We were trying to ring our contact in Long Beach, but each little settlement we came to had either no phone or a broken one. Out of Otway was beautiful riding. At Moorhead City I struck problems, I got a flat tyre, it was the same hole as the one on the Outer Banks, and found that it was the plastic covering the inside of my spokes that had worn away then the spoke stub had worn the tube away, so I put a patch on the rim as well. 100M down the road it went flat again, and I found another spoke had worn through, so another double patch, I also had to replace a leaking valve. Along the route 24 we stopped for lunch where we eventually found a phone that worked and got through to our contact. I went into a shop to buy stuff for lunch but they had nothing, a friend of the shop owner told me to go down the road a bit gave me $5! So we went to the shop across the way and got a free lunch! We went down the road to an inlet to see the fish jumping, then into Jacksonville, where after many phone calls, nobody knowing nothing we got hold of a scout leader, but his boys were going into the woods or something, we asked if he could find us somewhere to stay anyway, he said he’d get back to us, this was at 4.30pm, at 7.30 we were still there when someone came up and asked us if we were looking for a place to stay, he said we could stay at his place, but was going to night classes, he gave us directions, so we rang the scout leaders wife and told her we’d made our own arrangements, we’d spent $4 on phone calls. So we got to his church and there were some boy scouts, so we had a yarn with them while we waited, Sam eventually showed up and we went to his place which was a little shack at the back of a steak place. He was very judgemental of drug popping young Americans and promptly showed us some pornography and offered us some stay awake drug. He did give us a nice dinner and we slept in the lounge room, cum dining room, cum everything room, it was a real shambles, so we had an interesting night!
28/10 125km
Up 8.30, it was foggy so we sat and yattered until 9.30 after some stale Cornflakes, with thankfully fresh milk, we set off glad to be out of there! What an experience! We had a good wind and I spent most of the day in 15th (top) gear. We stopped and ate the apples that Sam had given us, which we felt sure he had been given. We took route 132 and 42 down to the Fort Pisher ferry where we bought some lunch, Rolf found a broken spoke. We had most of the lunch before the ferry came, then finished it on board, I went out on the rail, the ferry was traveling at the same speed as the wind and it was warm. Rolf fixed his spoke then we took route 133 over the bridge to Long Beach, where we met Harriet, the daughter of our host, she was short, fat and handicapped, she said she’d lost half her brain to Spinal Meningitis and was lucky to be alive. Rolf and I went for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset. Then back for a nice dinner that Harriet had cooked, she was a good cook, especially when she said she couldn’t taste. Our host turned up later and said she was tired and went to bed, so did Rolf and Harriet, I watched TV till 11pm bed.
29/10
Up 8.30, breaky of omelette and grits good stuff, got the washing done, then I joined Servas for $45 with a few forms to fill, I had to go to a local shop to get a form photostatted, and to the bank to get a $100 travelers cheque cashed, everyone was already dressed up for Halloween already. Back and had spaghetti for lunch, then we went for a walk down the beach, we took our sleeping mats and lay on them in the sun and listened to my Walkman, and froze! back home for tea, another good meal then sat and talked, later when the others had gone to bed I watched TV, listened to the radio, then had a bath and went to bed. Harriet has a craze for Pacman, it’s Pacman this and Pacman that, it gets a bit wearing after a while, but then you remember what she’s been through and keep mum.
30/10 135km
Up at 8.30 for a cheese souffle cooked by Harriet, top notch, we dallied until 10.30 oiling our chains etc., then we left. It was a long but nice ride to Myrtle Beach where we had a late lunch at 4pm, then just down the road to Huntington park. There we met a Swiss cyclist headed north, we stayed at the same lot which made it cheaper per head, we bought some crackers and stuff, went down to the beach to eat it. Bed 10.30
31/10 130km
The clocks were set back an hour last night so we got an extra hour’s sleep, Chris was up early and left as we emerged from the tent, it was still 7.30 the old time when we left. Just outside Georgetown my right had pedal sheered off, it left me helpless, so Rolf rode on while I hitch-hiked, it took me 2hrs when Keith in a Celica hatchback took pity on me, he took me first to his place which was a mobile home on a plot of land, then to a bike shop, but it was closed. Met up with Rolf and went in to Charleston proper and eventually found a place in the midst of moving who had the same pedals as mine for $6.25, back to Keith’s place, he offered to let us stay in the other end of the mobile home, but we felt obligated to try and find another place, one of the contacts we had were happy to have us, so we oiled our bikes and rode in the Charleston and found the place, Brendan’s parents came around and we all went over to a private island, it’s a closed community, the house looked expensively luxurious, a beautiful place in a perfect setting. The lady cooked a good dinner and we chatted over the meal, then back to Brendan’s place where we watched TV and The Final Conflict movie, which was very good, I beat Brendan at chess, then did some reading and writing till 1.30am bed.
1/11
Up 8.30, fixed myself a decent breaky then rode in to the town visitor centre but it wasn’t open, so to a bike shop where they wouldn’t look at my wobbly wheel, that put me in a bad mood, which came and went during the day. We found the ferry to Fort Sumter which left at 2.30pm, so over to the maritime museum to look at the Yorktown, a destroyer and a sub that you could walk through, then back over the bridge, we’d seen a dolphin coming over, non this time, we raced to where Brendan was waiting to have lunch a $2.85 all you can eat, so we pigged out, especially nice was the blueberries and ice-cream. Brendan went back to work and we rode around town until it was time to catch the ferry to Fort Sumter, which cost $4.50ea, reluctantly we paid, it was a good tour that took till 4.30pm. Round to a bike shop where I replaced the inner strips of rubber around the wheels, got my spokes attended to and replaced the brakes, this stopped them shuddering, so in the muggy heat of the arvo I raced home and just beat Brendan, who then had to go out again, we watched TV until 7pm when he brought his girlfriend around, a pretty medical student and we had home made pizza, we watched True Confessions on cable TV which I didn’t like, bed at midnight.
2/11 120km
Brendan left at 7.30, we emerged at 8.00, another good self help breaky and off at 9.00. Rolf broke a spoke and got exasperated with this recurring problem, we went to a bike shop at 9.30 that didn’t open till 10.00, and got all his spokes changed to steel ones like mine. At 11.15 we set off and were soon down to just shorts, a typical lunch at Jacksonborough then into Beaufort. My bike is making all sorts of noises, my front pannier sometimes touches the spokes, mud guards rub on the tyre, brakes squeal and my cranks click, at one time they were all doing it at the same time, and I got cranky, I kicked the panier to get it away from the spokes, I’d done this many times, but all the noises were irking me and this time I kicked it too hard and couldn’t control the jerk to the steering and promptly ran off the road, I slammed the gear change leaver down in anger and broke the cable, stupid boy! We met a bloke outside a pub who gave us directions to the council chambers and a bike shop. Rolf went to find some Boy Scouts and I went to a very negative and unhelpful bike shop owner, but he knew what he was doing, he put in a new cable and I got a spare, then he tightened up the cranks, but when I rode out I found that they still clunked and the free wheel race ball bearing has grit in it, so I went back and he shouted us dinner! We had a Yankee Burger with mushrooms, nice. Then out to Alan’s, the executive for Boy Scouts in the area of two counties, he earns $13,000 a year and a car to organize scouting in his area. We went to a Cub Scout round table meeting of leaders, and after their meeting we sat around and yattered, back home and played cards until 1.00am and bed at 2.00am.
3/11 120km
Up 8.30, Alan cooked us a great little breaky, then we packed and said goodbye, we got to Savannah with no problems, out the other side of the city we bought some food and ate the now traditional ham sandwich with the added attraction of a donut and some milk, we rested for ½hr, and just as were were about to leave a girl rode by with gear on, so we caught up with her, and rode with her to Midway and found a new house still being built, there was no one around so we stayed in the car port, made tea then talked for a while to Martha, she’s a mountaineering instructor for 6 months and works up in Vermont at a ski village for the other six months, she’s on a break in between at the moment and is riding down to Florida to visit friends, we were in bed at 7.00pm and chatted till 8.30pm, then tried to get to sleep, but with the mozzies, the dirty floor and a visitor who must have come close to discovering us I didn’t sleep well.
4/11 80km
Up 6.30 full of lumps from the mozzie bites, the others had non, off by 7.00 and had breaky along the way, stopped for a cuppa at Darien, I just had water, the others had coffee, at the 303 junction I realized I’d left my watch behind, so rang up the restaurant and ascertained that they had it, so I took off my baggage and raced back the 11 miles to retrieve it then back in 1hr 15min on a windy day, then a short ten miles to the youth hostel west of Brunswick, it was a head wind all day today with intermittent drizzle, we sat around the hostel and waited for the day’s outing people to come back, I went and spent $10 for food for lunch, dinner and breaky, then the others got back and I met another Euan! I couldn’t believe it, the only trouble is when someone calls his name I think they’re talking to me. I got talking to Martha and she says that she’s looking for someone to walk the great divide of the USA, it’s never been done before, so I said I want to do it, I’ve always wanted to do one of these great hard expeditions, she said it will cost $4000, we talked till midnight then bed.
5/11
Up 7.00 breaky and discovered we didn’t like the grape nuts cereal that I got yesterday. At 8.00 we got into the back of the hostel’s ute for an icy ride to the Okefenokee swamp, it was a cold morning and some people struggled with the cold, I was nearly comfortable, we hired canoes and had a paddle up the canals, seeing quite a few alligators on the banks. Some slid into the water ahead of us, and it was quite un-nerving to have such large beasts under the canoe, but apparently they are harmless to us. Lunch was taken on the grass at the 6 mile post then we paddled back, I was with a Swiss girl, and Martha was with Barry, and we splashed each other all the way back. It was then another cold ride in the back of the ute. Two cyclists rolled in to the hostel in the arvo, they had been behind us a day for quite a while and had heard about us and had been trying to catch up, so we yarned until 11.30.
6/11 120km
Up 7.00 shower and waited for the others to get ready, Jean had a broken spoke so he had to fix it first, so we didn’t leave until 9.30, at least it had warmed up from the 2 degrees at 7.00. So it was a 5 of us that set off together, I led the first 20 miles then others took over, it was a great day with lots of joke telling and laughing nearly all the way, along the way I found out that Martha is 32, she said I was just a young pup, so I said that she was an old crone, after lunch we got to the Florida border where we had a group photo. Eventually we made Jacksonville, where we split up. Rolf and I found where our hosts were and cycled out there, they look like quite rich people with 2 sons. The parents went out so we played table tennis and pool and watched TV till 11.30pm bed. I was sad to see Martha go, I found I was quite attracted to her and the things she does, it’s a pity she’s so old, I don’t know whether to do the trail with her or not, I suppose I’d bee a fool to knock the opportunity back, and I can tell that she likes me and we could be good friends, but somewhere along the line I suspect my heart would get broken.
7/11
Up 10.30, Boy did I need that sleep in! Had breaky by myself, the parents went out for the day and we stayed in, the kids had to work out in the garden, we asked if we could help but they said no so we played pool, I beat Rolf 2-1. Then I found a game that looked like the game I used to play with my high school friend Michael called Panzer Blitz, this one was called Arab Israeli Wars, Rolf beat me easily, we played a harder game that I was doing better at, but we didn’t get to finish it as tea was ready, afterwards we sat around till I gave my slide show, the kids had to go to bed, the lady fell asleep, but the man was interested, bed at 11pm.
8/11 105km
Up 8.30 the boys had already gone and the man was gone also, so we had our breaky and got ready, at 10.30 we hit the road and I was glad to be gone, I felt uncomfortable there, like they expected you to do something for them, but they wouldn’t let you do anything, there were a few bad vibes in the air. We found Jean and Chris and gave them our address in Orlando, then Rolf’s rear rack broke, it just flipped back onto the road, I cracked up laughing. We then had to find a place to get a hole drilled, we eventually found a place and they did it for free. Then out to the A1A and followed the beach down, we got to somewhere past Movine with a good strong tail wind. We found a place to camp in the woods and in the heat were in bed by 6.00pm
9/11 130km
Up 7.30 Rolf had got up at 7.00 and was waiting for me, he wasn’t impressed with my tardiness. We were on the road by 8.30, it was a cross and sometimes headwind today, and all sorts of little niggly things happened today, we had little water left over so I only took a small drink and Rolf drank all the rest, nothing to boil the blood, just mildly irritating, we eventually made it to Titusville, where we planned to ring around to see what scouts were having a meeting tonight, but 5 miles out a lady in an MG stopped, said she was a reporter and wanted to get our story, so we went to her office, there she found us one of her friends who lived on the beach front, which is as close as you can get to the shuttle launch pad. They said they couldn’t take our story yet as they were busy with a murder story, so we went for a ride and ate at Wendy’s Hamburgers, I had 2 of their specials, getting 2 hamburgers two fries and two drinks, back by 8.30pm and listened to the radio. I bought a cassette for my Walkman, Eagle’s Long Run.
In the forests of today’s uncertainties
A glimpse of reality is like a nuclear explosion
In the Jungles of tomorrow’s possibilities
A touch of love is like a guiding light
10/11
Most of today was spent writing letters, we hung around the verandah of the house. We rang up the newspaper bloke, but he never showed up. For dinner we tore out a coupon in one of the newspapers in the house that gave us two pizzas for the price of one, then we went to the Winn Dixie and bought some drink and grapes, back home and bed by 8.30pm. The town was very crowded with tourists coming in from all over the country for tomorrow’s event.
11/11
Up 7.00, we had breakfast with the reporter lady and talked with her until the shuttle went up, wow what a sight, what a feeling, what an event, the air reverberated with this loud crackling as slowly at first then accelerating into the still morning air it disappeared into the heavens, we talked some more, then she went to work. We packed up and went in to the newspaper office to say our goodbyes, there were a lot of other reporters there, and when we said we were going to Orlando a lady named Laura gave us her phone number. Just down the road we bought some milk and had breaky part 2. The ride to Orlando was easy and we made it in no time, though I got a burnt back from the sun. Our contact Russell who we’d met in Cullpepper wasn’t in, so we went to the information centre, where we found out where he lived, we also got the local scout HQ address, and rode around there and met the scout executive for the district, he invited us to a banquet on Saturday. We got hold of a leader who had scouts on tonight and was interested in having us run the meeting, so we went around to his place and met his wife who was from New Zealand, was an artist and a tutor, they had 3 chihuahuas and their son looked after snakes and alligators and was just out of hospital after being bitten by a rattlesnake. We had a nice dinner with them then off to the meeting, we had a lot of fun with a lot of the older ones and some of the young ones really enjoying our talk, there were the usual few nitwits. Back home by 9.15pm and watched TV, the son showed us some of his non-poisonous snakes, bed midnight.
12/11
Up 8.30 I rang up a few places to see if I could get some short term work, but it was illegal and no one was willing to take me, which is fair enough, so I gave up. Russell had got back so we packed up our gear and went via the newspapers to give our story and have our photo taken to his place, he was as cordial as before, but it was immediately evident that the wife didn’t want us, all day long little wars would break out as the woman bluntly complained about us, and Russell was adamant we were staying, very awkward. We went and had our hair cut, so I look human again, we had sandwiches for dinner and watched TV till 10.30pm bed.
13/11 20miles (no panniers) 10miles with light panniers
Up 6.00. Russell and wife got up too, but the mother stayed in bed, so we said our goodbyes and went to Bill’s place, my tyre went flat, but I put some air in it to get me to Bill’s place, we arrived on time, and we drove out to Ocala track in a pretty forest area and walked to Buck lake where I gave a lecture to the scouts. On the way back in the car I fell asleep. We rang up Russell who was there so we rode back, changed and picked up the stuff we needed for tonight and rode back into town. I forgot the directions we were given to get to the banquet, but I remembered enough to get us there. The event was centred around presentations and awards, it was a long night, but fun. We had a good roast meal buffet, then we had to stand up and give a short speech on scouting in Australia and Denmark, which went over very well, I gave our advertisement that any leaders wanting us to run their meeting for them, we’d try to fit them in and we were swamped at the end with offers and invitations. At the end of the night there was a raffle and I won a gas lantern. We got an invite to stay close by so we took it and left at 10.30pm, we put our bikes in his combi van and went to meet his wife and his son Chris, we talked till midnight, these are great people, one can sense it immediately, there’s an atmosphere of warmth and happiness about them.
14/11
Slept in till 9.30 and had a long breaky, then we cleaned the pool and some other work then lunch was taken at 4pm, somewhere in between we went to pick up the rest of our gear from Russell’s, and just caught him as they were going out. After lunch we went to a local park to throw a frisbee with one of Chris’ friends. It was a college ground and there were a lot of pretty girls about. We went for a soda and listened to some blacks playing music outside the shop. Back home for tea, soup and cherry pie, great stuff with great people, watched TV till midnight, bed.
15/11
Up 8.30, I’ve noticed that French toast is very popular for breaky in the USA, it was on again. Chris stayed home from school to show us around. I rang up the reporter guy who wanted to do a story on biking using us as cases, and I tried to contact the magazine lady with no luck, I was going to wash my sleeping bag as it’s getting quite smelly and dirty, so I rang up a shop and he told me what to do, as an aside he told me that there were three guys from The Netherlands on bikes at his shop, so I said to say hello and hung up, about 5mins later he rang back saying that these guys had heard about us and wanted to meet us, so the three of us zapped over to the shop, to chat with them. It turns out they have plans to leave Florida to travel west at the same time as us, so we made arrangements to meet up, so that was a well timed phone call. From there we biked into the city centre and had a look around, they have no big skyscrapers here, but some modern flashy buildings nonetheless. Then to see Chris’ dad who shouted us out to lunch and had a sub at a cute little shop, from there to a museum, a planetarium and an idea room with all sorts of weird things like a ball balancing on blowing air, a colour blind test, heart attack chance machine, thankfully mine was low, a kaleidoscope room with an endless procession of me in all directions. Back home, dinner then out to the scout meeting, there weren’t many scouts, but they all seemed interested in our talk that went til 10pm, we had dessert when we got home as we hadn’t had time during dinner, talked till midnight, bed.
16/11
Up 8.30 then we played video games till 12.30 when Chris came home, we had lunch then we went to have a look at Lea Gorgens, then to a mall where I tried to get an adapter for the gas lantern I’d won the other night, but failed. Back home at 5.30pm, dinner was home cooked pizza, then in the ‘Rye Bread’ (the name of their car) we went to the 246 scout meeting, they had a lot of kids, and although I had a few probs with the noisy ones and a hoarse voice by the end of the night, the night went okay. Back by 9.30pm TV till midnight bed, my sleeping bag got washed today, so it’s not so greasy and smelly any more.
17/11
I dreamt last night that I got married tomy friend Sandra back in Melbourne, it was a full ceremony dream. Up 8.30 Rolf went to see about getting an American Express card, I played video games. When he got back we packed our gear and rode out to Deltona. I’ve had a slow leak in my tyre now for a few days and have been too lazy to fix it, it came back to bite me today as it got worse during the 2hr ride. I still didn’t want to fix it as storm clouds were brewing. At first I stopped every mile from Sanford, but by the time we got to the host’s place it was every 100yds or so, at about the ¼ mile mark away it started to rain, I was so annoyed, if the lady had lived on this side of town I’d have been alright, but such was my luck, she lived on the other side of town, but we did get there. I got my Servas stuff, then Edith took us for a drive around the area, it’s a nice quiet area with lots of natural scenery and trees, back home and we moved some furniture for her and I had a dance with a life sized Santa, we had a nice chicken dinner and watched TV til 11pm and bed.
18/11
Up 8.30 breaky then we went to Blue Springs Conservation area, we got there at 11am which was too late for the presentation by the ranger, so we walked down to the river and saw 2 Manatees in the river along with a Garfish and lots of other fish in the clear blue water, we walked to the origin where it comes out of a chasm hundreds of feet deep, millions of gallons each day seeping through the limestone, quite a sight. Back home for a late lunch then I collapsed on my bed and slept until tea time which was taken in the outside area that’s enclosed by the essential mozzie nets, then we sat and talked, I had another dance with the life sized Santa which should be the last one, she gave me some stamps, and Rolf some Christmas cards, I talked about Australia as she’s going to visit there soon. Bed 11pm
19/11
Up 8.30, breaky then we packed up and left at 11am. I had fixed my puncture from the other day, but when we got back to Sanford it was flat again. I fixed it and got 100yds and it went flat again. Rolf went and bought me a new tube liner. When I turned my bike upside down to take the wheel off I had stood on an ant’s nest. I got bitten quite a few times before I got all of the aggressive little sods off me. By the time Rolf got back my ankle was a mass of angry welts. I fixed the tyre and headed onwards, but strange things started to happen, first more welts appeared all over my body but especially on my right leg where I’d been bitten by an ant the other day, at first I thought it was just old mozzie bites re-emerging but the swellings were huge then I started to realize that I was having a bad reaction to the ant bites as my crotch was a big rash where it was rubbing on the seat, my scalp itched terribly and my whole skin tingled. It was getting difficult to swallow and it felt like something was stuck there. When we got to Sanford Mr S thought I had sunburn as my whole face was red, but Mrs S took one look at me, made a few phone calls and took me into the hospital. I had an uncomfortable wait for an hour before they jabbed me a few times and the allergic reaction stopped, so that was my reaction to being attacked by Fire Ants. The bill for the hospital was $100 plus $10 for a kit to jab myself with if I get another reaction, there’s a possibility this could set off allergic reactions from bee stings etc. I was told of a post man who was bitten by death by them after getting around 110 stings. Apparently the number of stings I got from them was 50, as they keep stinging you until you kill them. So it was in a state of lethargy that I got ready for our visit to Patrick Airforce base with the 246 troop. We had sandwiches for dinner and headed down there. We erected our tents three times before they were satisfied with our position, we had our supper then we went to their mess hall where I had 2 hamburgers and chips and a soft drink for 75c. By the time we got back it was past my bed time.
20/11
Up 6.30 into breaky by 7.00 and we didn’t eat til 8.00 because the military men get to go in front of us, I had an omelette for 35c. Back to camp for a while then a young military man took us to the approach tower, all 38 of us, it took ages for us all to get through, I found the radar room interesting, but it had taken us so long to get through there that there was no time to see anything else. We watched cartoons waiting for the rest of the troop to troop through. Lunch was another cheap pig out session and I ate til I hurt. Then we played base ball, Rolf and I were team leaders, I had the oldies, Rolf had the big guys, we lost 11-6, but it was a fun game. From there we went bowling, I got the best score in my lane of 124, but when Chris and I teamed up against Rolf and Jose we lost dismally, I only got 100, Rolf got 122, this is his first time ever bowling, so he has no style, though I can’t talk because too many of my first balls ended up in the gutter, from there it was 25c hamburgers again at 9pm though I was still full from lunch, after dinner we walked the boys back to camp about a mile or so, it took 1½hrs, they have no discipline at all, I called them all sorts of things, but by the time we got them back to camp they were doing things our way, bed soon after.
21/11
Up 7.00 in for breaky. It took til 9.15 to get served today, so we had to zip around to the chapel for the service, which was quite good, the boys weren’t too bad, though not many payed attention during the sermon, at least they were quiet. Mr T got up and told the congregation about Rolf and I, it was a bit embarrassing, we had to stand up. Back to camp to dismember it, then off by midday and back to the troop’s church where Mr S was waiting for us, we left after a while and had a small lunch. I got a batch of slides back from processing and am reasonably happy with them, though I found that the film I’d bought wasn’t pre-payed so I had to fork out my last $16 to pay for them, wrote on the slides then had tea, hamburgers! Then watched TV til midnight, bed.
22/11
Up 9.30 and relaxed out on the patio, and wrote, went for a swim in the icy water and didn’t get a single goose bump, then played video games until lunch of sandwiches. Lazed the arvo away. In the eve we were due to go to a scout meeting to do our thing, but they rang to say they couldn’t fit us in, so we sat and watched TV.
23/11
Up 9.30 and went for a ride, on the way back I noticed a small case laying in the road, so I picked it up, it was a snazzy calculator. More video games til lunch then Rolf and I went to see Gourdy to see if he wanted us to see his scouts tonight, he said okay, then went to a bike shop to get Rolf a water bottle and holder, and then to a hobby shop. From there we went to the Scout HQ to get the low down on an event at Disney World, but it had passed, we did some shopping for Mrs S then had dinner. Gourdy came and picked us up and we did our show for his Scouts, there weren’t many of them and only one was in uniform. Home at 9.30pm and watched TV til midnight, bed.
24/12
Up 7.00 breaky then off to Disney World, Mr loaned us his Combi Van to drive out there, it wasn’t an easy drive. Mr gave us a card that got us in for $14 instead of $15. We had a good look around the place. It’s designed to appeal to young children, so a lot wasn’t appealing, but one ride in particular was brilliant, a lot of it was done in the dark, so you couldn’t anticipate what the speeding cart would do next. We left there at 6.30pm and drove home. We had a look at my slides of the trip so far, which have the usual mix of good and poor shots, Mr stayed up to see my Aussie slides. Bed midnight.
25/12
Up 10.30, some of the extended family came around, an effeminate son, an elderly couple, after a while they sat down and ate lunch, we waited to be picked up, at 1pm they arrived and took us over to relations of Mrs, where there were a hunk of people, after a long while lunch was served, we men all sat together, and all the women and kids sat together which included David and his strikingly beautiful cousin unfortunately. So at the table we ate, and the men talked of matters that I couldn’t understand half the time, so Rolf and I just ate, though I did talk with Mr sometimes. After the meal most fell asleep and I chatted with some of the others. At 7pm we started dribbling out and we headed across town via a park where we were given a short history of Orlando. So at this second place we met more family. The people for lunch had seemed rougher somehow and younger, but didn’t drink alcohol, these people seemed more intellectual, but did drink alcohol and were more interested in talking with Rolf and I. It was a more enjoyable atmosphere. We left there at 10.30pm. We’d had a good Thanksgiving day, by the time we got back home Mrs who hadn’t come with us had gone away to see her dying grandfather, and everyone else had gone, we watched TV til bed at midnight. Thanksgiving originated from the first white-man settlement when they used to sit down with the native Indians for a meal, I wonder how many carry on the true tradition. Like most holidays the original meaning is gone, and it’s just a reason for family to get together in this modern world.
26/11
Up 9.00 Mr had to go to work, but Chris stayed home, no school today. Didn’t do much before lunch, after which Glen came around and drove us all to the picture theatre where we saw The Empire Strikes Back, it was a good Star Wars movie, though the special effects weren’t as good as a Spielberg movie, that didn’t detract from the story or adventure of the movie. In the eve we played Monopoly and I won, I think for the first time ever, we finished at 2am when Mr finally admitted defeat. I went to bed, Rolf and Chris watched a movie on HBO cable that I’d already seen, when they had gone to play video games at a parlor.
27/11
Up 10.00, Rolf and Chris didn’t get up til close to midday, so I watched TV until then. We all went to see Bob who gave us some maps and info on the best way to get to Alabama, the others went to play video games, I watched TV. Lunch, then Glen came around and we painted walls and door trims, then we we played poker, we played wild cards 7&5 card draw and stud, I lost narrowly to Rolf. Then we made dinner, a spaghetti and veal cutlet mix, then we played Clue which is the same as Cleudo. Mr and Mrs came in later and Mr joined in, I won 2 Chris and Gary 1 each, Rolf 0, then three of us played Russian Roulette (without a gun), not a good game, bed 12.30am. I’m spending between $8.70 and $9.56 per day, so I can last for about 3 years.
28/11
Up 10.00. Everyone was in for breaky today, we moped around for most of the day, though I helped Gary and Chris wallpaper the bathroom, it’s definitely not a professional job, but it looks okay. Lunch was never really taken. Dinner which were sloppy joes, chilli sauce in hamburger buns. We played Clue again, Rolf won both games this time.
Praying for deliverance from the powers
Intricate pictures etched in lines and flowers
Bare feet bantering, cantering across a meadow
Trudge a muddy puddle
Murky little waves
Turkish little slaves
A flower in their torn lapels
Into dungeons deep propels
In a dark little corner huddles
Ripped feet limping, a cringing crumpled fellow
Scribbling intricate details, he glowers
praying for his deliverance from the powers
29/11
Up 10.00, put 4 of my best slides in to be printed, I’ll send some to Chris in Philly, played with my calculator and video games. In the eve we went to visit Mike’s scouts, troop 64, the guy who turned up to takes us there was in a sports car, no good for our bikes, so Gary lent us his van and I drove. We gave our usual show to the usual mix of ruly and unruly kids. Mike took us to the East India Ice Cream Company where we had supper, I had a strawberry sundae, and we talked. Drove back home and watched TV til 11.30pm bed.
30/11
Up 10.30, we organized our trip down south, I rang up 8 car rental companies and we worked out the cheapest and booked it. We played a few video games til lunch when Rolf cooked us a Danish hamburger, which was good. The people from troop 25 came too early, so they took our gear whilst we finished dinner, then Mrs took us over to the meeting, they were the best troop we’ve visited so far. David had run off the road on his bike and bent a wheel during the day and was still sore. We talked with a few people intending to ride to St Augustine. We were taken back home, and we said goodbye. I tried ringing John, but he wasn’t home, bed 11pm.
1/12
Up 7.30 which was a shock to the system!, breaky and packed, at 8.15 Mrs took us to American Discount Car Rentals where we paid for a weeks rental which cost us $150, we loaded up and headed for Cape Canaveral for a look at the Kennedy Space centre. We paid $1.75, it should be $3 for me but they believed me when I told them I was 18. The tour was good, there was the space shuttle Challenger on the pad, we saw the tractor moving it and the launch pad portable, and we had a look around the space centre, it was a well run tour. We drove down the east coast to Jensen Beach to try and contact one of our contacts but they weren’t home when we rang so we drove on through to Palm Beach where big mansions lined the sea shore, making the ones in Toorak back home look like doll houses. We tried to find a spot along the beach to camp but had no luck, so drove inland, we found a place away from civilization and parked the car. There were so many mozzies and sand-flies around that we decided to sleep in the car, and eventually dropped off at 9pm. The car is a 5 speed Nissan Sentra the gears are not easy to use, but it’s a great car with excellent mileage, it has less than 2500km on the clock we intend to do around 800.
2/12
Up 8.00. Boy what a night, there was more water inside the car than outside, the whole car was dripping wet with humidity and heat. Went to a Win Dixie our usual shopping place of late to buy breaky, then drove out to Lotahatchee Wildlife refuge and went for a walk, saw lots of birds and an alligator, in reverse position to the one at Okefenokee swamp, it was in the water real close and we were on the bank, saw a beautiful pair of butterflies mating, but I had my binoculars instead of my camera, pooh. We got showered on twice, but only lightly, it was really quite nice actually, strolling along with birds on all sides in the light rain. Drove on to Miami Beach which is just a wider than normal beach with green water messed up with seaweed. Give me Jan Juc back home any day! Went to the scout HQ where we got a lot of info from the organizer of the Explorers, we got a campsite in the Keys and a few contacts for boats and good places to go. Hopefully something will work out. Drove on down, buying lunch and some stuff for dinner at a Win Dixie, filled up the car with gas (petrol) for $10. We nearly picked up a hitchhiker but he wanted to go to Key West tonight. We got to the state campsite at Key Largo but it was full, and the manager wouldn’t let us see if anyone would let us share their plot, I wasn’t happy. We went on to Long Key and camped in the sate campsite there. We went for a swim in the quite warm water, but it was too cloudy to see anything, it was shallow for a long way out. Shower had dinner then listened to the car radio til 9.00pm bed.
3/12
Up at 8.00, had a walk along the nature trail in the state park, saw some Hermit Crabs, there were some strange looking cactus formations, lots of mozzies got me while I was trying to get a good photo of them, but I couldn’t find a good angle so suffered for nothing, drove down to the scout camp which is exposed to the wind but it’s free and not too many mozzies or sand flies. From the campsite it was a long distance phone call to Key West, so we drove closer until it was a local call, Rolf did the ring around our contacts and drew a zero, they said it was too windy to go snorkeling and the bottom was all stirred up. So we found a key that was a game reserve and went for a walk, found some deer, a long green snake a beautiful star spider and lots of Turkey Vultures, did the nature walk which was okay. Found some friendly Raccoons and fed them some crackers, they really are curious little creatures. Back to camp, we had a fresh coconut and sandwiches for tea, walked to the old bridge to the north of our key, despite the wind it was a peaceful spot. Bed at 8pm.
4/12
Up at 8.00, drove down to Key West, arriving at 9.00, the place was dead until midday. It has its pretty spots, but a lot of ugly ones too, Puerto Rican’s, blacks etc. in the slums, all manner of low life people hanging around all over the place. The quintessential big fat American white man tourist was there too with his camera and a child off each arm, neither of which he knows what to do with. We walked around the southern most everything, the beach was full of hippies, one girl with a child was wandering around topless. A big bronzed man with long fuzzy hair talking with his mates. We chatted with a couple of young men, one tried to sell me a half price air ticket to L.A. He said he just hung around during the day and got drunk every night, that seemed to be a typical lifestyle here. We rang up a Servas lady, but she said she’d just had some people stay for a week and needed a break, she wouldn’t even talk to us. We talked to an Assistant Scout Leader we’d been put in contact with, he arrived in his mother’s old Porsche and drove us around, he wore reflective sunglasses and whistled at all the girls, he said he liked to jump off bridges and get drunk, not what I’d expect from a scout leader. He had to go, didn’t say what for, and we were left on our own again, so we left this most uncomfortable of places with no friends and went to Bahia Honda to a state park beach, we got in for free with our pass from the first night. There we met some people who talked at the top of their voices, so we got no peace, thankfully they eventually left and we had a pleasant afternoon in the warming sun. Before it got too dark we went and got some steaks, apples and milk, and added a coconut from the ground, dinner and bed.
5/12
Up 8.00 and headed north, grabbed some breaky along the way, I saw an Osprey eating a fish on top of a phone pole, it took off as we got too close. North of there we met the three Dutch boys that were headed south on their bikes. We went to a Howard Johnston for a cuppa. We decided to head back to Bahia Honda to the state park to camp, we drove ahead and went for a swim whilst we waited for them to arrive, but only Lowie and Anton turned up, Bart had had a flat tyre, the first in 2000 miles, he’d claimed he’d get to Key West without a flat, but he fell short. I went back to pick him up since he had no spares. Then we all went for a swim in the ocean, when I came out I had a rash, similar to the rash I got from the Fire Ants, I was a bit worried, but it soon went away. We drove down to Key West in time for sunset, and found my camera wouldn’t take a photo, dead battery. We walked along Duval Ave to the southern most everything again. We had dinner at the International Pancake House where we ate them out of chicken, we had a good feed for $4.47ea plus a tip for the good waitress. Got some petrol, back to camp for some fresh off the ground coconut and tea, we worked out a schedule to meet up to head west together, we wanted to head out on the 15th Dec, they wanted the 1st of Jan, the compromise was the 18th Dec, north of Tampa, so it was lucky we’d bumped into them. Bed at midnight.
6/12
Up 6.30, woken by a screaming kazoo. I wanted to rip Anton’s head off, but I refrained, his nickname is Tarzan, that might give you a hint why. We looked at some fish in a pool, there were some quite colourful ones. I found I had diarrhea, damn. We had a shower and headed off and got to Key Largo in time for the 10am snorkel trip, but it was cancelled due to a lack of numbers, so we booked in for the 2pm one, got our snorkeling gear and went for a swim. I had a great time nosing around the mangroves, and got very close to a pelican. The only trouble was that it had rained whilst we were in and my towel had got wet. When we got out I got my rash again, it itches! Sat in the car for lunch. At 2pm we headed out to the reef, it was beautiful with all sorts of colourful fish including a Moray Eel and Angel Fish, it was like swimming in a huge aquarium. We saw Lowie and Anton again, Bart had had another flat tyre, then we headed out for the Everglades at dark, picking up some food and petrol, we stayed at the Scout campsite again. We had sandwiches for dinner and did some planning, bed at 9pm.
7/12
Up 5.30, drove down to Nine Mile pond to watch the bird feed, but there weren’t that many, then on down to Flamingo, there we watched the ranger feed, the fish, crabs, prawns and a starfish. At 9am we had our breaky and fed some unusually tame Red-winged Blackbirds, then did a slow drive up the park road stopping at all the points of interest. Mrazek pond was the best where I got a photo of a Green Heron. One walk called Christian Point walk was so dense with mozzies that we turned back even though we had repellent on, we were waving our arms around like madmen and still being bitten. The short walks were interesting all showing different aspects of the glades, from the seas of grass to hardwood hammocks, especially mahogany, the biggest in the USA, there were mangrove and pine areas. In the waters we saw alligators, turtles, garfish and Large-mouthed Bass. The birds were too many to name, no mammals though. Most areas weren’t too bad for mozzies, the moist areas of course were the worst. We emerged at 4pm and drove back to Orlando. My camera failed me as I tried to take a photo of the sunset. We arrived at 10pm and relaxed and talked. Bad news about New Orleans, our contact there is moving out of the USA, he gave us his girlfriends address with the warning that she may or may not help us. Rang up my parents reverse charge and talked with the family, both my brothers have Australian accents! Bed midnight.
8/12
Mrs woke me up at 8.30, I emptied the car and took it back, and rode my bike back, about 10miles, on the way back I broke out in another rash, it’s really got me worried now, we worked out the logistics of the trip we’d just done, 1947.2km at 51 miles per gallon. Wrote some letters. In the avo I went for a ride to the mall to get some runners I got a $29 pair for $19 and got my photo enlargements back, they come out darker than my slides which are always on the dark side, but they still look okay, cashed another travelers cheque. On the way back I got really soaked in a rain storm and came out in a big rash, I had to take one of my pills to stop it. I decided to take the course of pills I had got the prescription for from the hospital when I had the fire ant attack, in the hope that it will turn into a temporary condition, if it becomes permanent, I’ll be allergic to being cold or getting my skin wet, even from sweat! Watched TV till 11.30 bed.
9/12
Up 9.30 and wrote letters all day, TV in the eve and bed 11.30pm.
10/12
Up 9.30. Today I made time playing video games a lot and more writing of letters, in the eve watched TV until 1.30am. Rolf and Chris went out during the day to buy a new Atari cartridge and played the game until after 1.30am.
Possibilities
The shadows of yesterday
Have all but drifted away
The possibilities of tomorrow
Seem almost infinite
Some dreams are coming true
A real step towards life
Sometimes at a critical moment
The future seems in conflict
All my yesterdays come crowding in
But I’ve learnt to be careful
And not alienate myself from people
As I know I’ve done before
But even though many barriers have fallen
Still many more remain
And the barrier of true love
Still stands before me like an impenetrable castle
With smooth walls and a forbidding shadow
11/12
Up 10.30, all I did today was help Gary fix a door and watch TV. 11 hours of just sitting there from 3.30pm until 2am with only a break for dinner with the TV still on. At one stage we had a game of cards, I had no luck.
Drifting
Gradually melting
Sinking into the ground
Becoming despondent
Drifting off to sleep
Off in the distance a train rumbles
Another siren wails its warning
In the steady drip of fine drizzle
The crickets are trying to be cheerful
And I’m lying here with an ear full
A stomach full of this
Just wanting the day to end
12/12
Up 10.30, we wallpapered the kitchen today, I was the assistant, which meant passing the sponge, cutters etc. up to Gary. My hands got wet and they began to hurt and go red again, I couldn’t believe it. They got so sore Rolf had to take over. At 5.30pm some people came over and took Rolf and I out to dinner at their place where we met their family and parents, we talked then I showed my slides of Australia and the trip so far, they went down well, then they brought us home at 10.30, watched a bit of TV til 11pm and bed.
13/12
Up 9.00. Went down to base camp to see Gourdy, the shop didn’t open until 10.00. It was a cold morning and I hadn’t worn my gloves and my hand swelled up really badly and went horribly itchy with the hives. I decided I’d better go back to the hospital to see what’s going on. I got a very tired doctor who didn’t want to explain to me what’s going on, he said I should have taken the course of pills straight after the injections. He gave me two more shots minus the adrenaline and referred me to an allergist , he said that the ant bites have triggered off an allergy…duh! Why didn’t they refer me to an allergist the first time as everyone is allergic to Fire Ant stings? Anyhow I cycled back home feeling drugged up and weak and pathetic. Rolf took my prescription down to Walgreens to get it filled. I phoned my insurance people to see if I’m covered for the allergist, but they said I’d have to go in and see them… in Australia! The receptionist at the allergist said they’ll rush the results through for me and teach me how to inject myself with a drug to relieve the symptoms that may be around for 2 years! They require $150 up front for the first visit, ouch! Later I went into the Govt. insurance advisor who said my insurance should cover me. I borrowed Mrs car, Walgreens didn’t have the prescribed pills, they cost me $12.40. Back in time to get changed in to scout uniform and go to a court of honour where I gave a speech on Rovering and Scouting in Australia, then I showed my slides, people were impressed. Bit of TV after we got back to wind down and bed at 10.30.
14/12
Went to Dr Klotz at 2pm, he jabbed me, probed me and then put an ice cube on me, which brought about the hives in that spot, he gave me a nasty injection which nearly made me faint, and gave me another prescription. He was very good though and explained what’s going on so I could get a grasp of it. He charged me only $110 in the end. I didn’t get back til 6.30pm, watched TV til 10.30 bed.
15/12
Went to the hospital to sort out payments, it cost only $68. They won’t bill my insurance company directly, but I can make $25 payments with no interest, so payed the first $25 and got my prescription from the allergist. Didn’t do much in the avo, watched TV in the eve.
16/12 45km
Went back to Dr Klotz he asked me to come back at no charge because no one else has ever had cold hives reaction to Fire Ants before and he wants to write it up, he put ice cubes on me and got no reaction, he took blood and gave me a physical and we talked about this and that, nice bloke. Home to find that Rolf’s money isn’t coming through, so we drove down to the bank and I had words with a lady there, she’ll ring up the New York bank responsible for the delay. Posted a heap of stuff back home that I didn’t need for $7.45. We bought some presents for our long suffering hosts, back home and watched TV til 1am bed.
17/12
Rolf learned today that his cheque is lost, so we went down town to cancel it, he’ll live off my money until New Orleans when he’ll next be able to get some money over, we tied up a few loose ends, got some maps off Gourdy that were useless, but didn’t have the heart to tell him so and left Orlando after giving Chee Chee a hug and Gary a very warm handshake. We left at 3pm and got to Cleremont, bought some stuff to eat and rode just out of town where we found a patch of ground near an orange grove and collapsed into bed at 7.30, I was feeling very spaced out.
18/12 155km
Up 7.30 to a cold crisp morning, we rode to the next town where we had some breaky, and away by 9.00 down the 471 a long straight stretch and eventually into Tampa where we tried ringing Tim but he wasn’t in. A young chap on a bike rode up to us and wanted some tips, so we rode along and talked for a while. We stopped to call Tim again, again not in. So we sat there until 8pm and pitched the tent and went to bed. I was so tired. I didn’t get any cold hives today so hopefully I’m cured.
19/12
Up 9.00 and got in contact with Tim and his Japanese room mate. We talked for a while then Tim had to go off to work. 3 of us went to an American rules football game and watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinch a 1 point victory over the Buffalo Bills. It was a good game right to the end, even in this slow moving game of grid iron. Every time the Buccaneers scored I was on my feet clapping and cheering along with the sea of orange clad fans around us. I had thought it to be a dull game, but it’s one of those sports where you have to be there to feel the vibes. Once is enough for me though. Talked and watched TV til 1.30am bed for me, the other two stayed up til 2.45am when they had some ravioli, was this breakfast or a night cap?
20/12
Up 8.00. Listened to Search For The Lost Chord by the Moody Blues, it’s a good record especially the second side. Tim went to work. We didn’t get on the road til midday when we said goodbye to Yoshizimu and headed north on a crisp afternoon. I hadn’t taken my pill and wearing a T shirt I got a bit of a reaction to the cold, so when we met Tim for lunch having a sub and milkshake sitting outside in the sun I took my pill. On to a small campsite just south of Tarpon Springs we met up with the Dutch boys who were waiting for us, so we had a joyous reunion with a few stories to tell, lots of joking and laughing all night long, we cooked a communal stew and played cards til 10.30 when 2 Swiss people in a van turned up that the Dutch boys had met along the way, we talked and did some planning til late.
21/12 108.78km (Lowie has a computer)
Up 7.30. Bart and I rode on ahead to Haliday to try to look up a friend of his grandfather, we had no luck, the post office said he’d moved out several years ago. We met up with the others at the Win Dixie, then in a mild head wind which proved problematic for the leader and which despite it being a nice sunny day was really cold. Every time we stopped though the sun was beautiful. At Hudson we bought all our food at a Win Dixie where a lady gave us all $1ea and wished us a Merry Christmas, I tell you, you just never know what’s going to happen around the corner! We rode on to Weiki Watchee Springs which was a touristy place, we found a picnic table in the sun, and striped off and spread out and relaxed. Then it was back to the grind against the wind to stop at Crystal River just north of the township, after mucking about a bit we settled on a dirt road just off the main road with lots of firewood and flat ground. I went back to town and filled up my bladder conyainer with water, got the fire going, pitched tent and we ate a nice dinner cooked by Anton and Lowie, we talked around the campfire and went to bed at 10pm. Rolf and I talked about English grammar, me who failed my HSC English exam… twice.
22/12 85km
Up 8.00, I was the last one up, breaky then we hit the road in icy cold conditions, but the sun was out again, so it soon warmed up, no wind today, so with our target not far away we took it easy. We met an American from Indiana who was working locally for a while, we chatted for quite a while. Had three hamburgers at Hordies, I cashed a travellers cheque then we rode on to Manitee Springs State Park, Rolf and Bart went shopping. The rest of them went for a swim in the 68-72°F water, I didn’t dare with my condition still looming. We went out to the Swannee River and chatted with some Americans out there, including a lady from Alaska, who said it’s possible to cycle up there…hmmm! Back for a similar dinner to last night and a shower where I discovered I’d left my towel in Orlando. Bed at 9.30pm.
23/12 115km
Up 7.30 breaky and away by 8.30, we rode flat chat bare back all the way to Cross City where we had a long rest from 10am to 11.15am I had a cheap 2 glasses of milk, others ate a second breakfast. It was then another sprint bare back all the way to Salem where three of us had a 1 pint bucket of ice cream each waiting for Bart and Rolf. We had lunch at Reptile Land, admission was free, they had monkeys, bears and even lions in ugly wooden boxes, some looked sick, it was a terrible place, not clean or hygienic for the poor cooped up animals. So we moved on to Perry and arrived at 3.30pm, we stopped at McDonald’s, all I did was freshen up, the others all had a thickshake. We looked at the Youth Hostel but it was too expensive so settled on a campsite that cost $8.50 total, we had macaroni cheese and spam fried in tomato paste with garlic, a good meal. Bernie and Helen the two Swiss people turned up again so we planned where to meet for our Christmas dinner. Watched TV in the laundromat til 11pm and bed.
24/12
Up 8.00, last again. Breaky, then we split up for the ride, Bart and Rolf went on ahead, Lowie, Anton, Helen and I went shopping at good old Win Dixie and spent $53 for 2 days food for 7 people, not bad shopping. Then we hit the road, the 98 was a nice road through mainly forested areas to New Port where we had a few sandwiches, met up with Rolf and Bart and we straggled on to Mendant with me in the lead with a nice head wind. I changed the batteries in my radio as the old ones weren’t picking up the Tallahassee stations, they’d lasted well though. On to the campsite where Bernie and Helen were waiting, reading books, they had pitched our tents, though had pitched mine wrong with the pole on the inside, so I had to re-pitch it. We sat around for a while til 4pm then started preparing dinner. Lowie and I made the fruit salad, Helen cooked a curried chicken with help from 3 of us, the meal was a good one eaten by candlelight a half moon, not too cold an evening with the stars out and no wind, a small fire smouldering in the background, as we ate and laughed and talked til long after the meal was finished. Rolf and Bart washed up, then Bart went to bed and the rest of us played cards til 11.30pm, when we finally dropped in to bed. On the whole I’d say one of the most memorable Christmas Eves I will probably ever have.
25/12
Up 8.30 and drove in to Sopchoppy to try find a church, there were lots of churches, but no services, so we drove back to camp and there we lazed til lunch time when we had French toast, then we sat around and played cards and talked, until it was time to start preparing for dinner, Lowie and I did the salad, Helen made some sauces and we had a BBQ, another good meal, more cards until 10.30, shower and bed.
26/12 119km
Up 7.30, I cooked pancakes my style (crepes), but we only ended up with 2 each, we took some group photos, then we said farewell to Bernie and Helen and we hit the road. At Carrabelle the others stopped for breakfast I had nothing. When we were crossing the Ochlokonee we saw some land turtles or tortoises and an albino squirrel, then on to Apalachicola and across the bridge 5 miles long, we eventually found an open shop and bought some stuff for lunch and dinner, we stopped just out of town for a bight. The ride was a bit lumpy on the 98 but with the towns and beaches and scrub it was a really nice ride. Then rode up to St. Joseph’s State Park out on a peninsula. Towards the end of the peninsula we had a sprint race, I teamed up with Lowie, Rolf with Anton, poor Bart got left behind. When we got to the park we found we didn’t have to pay until the morning, we found a nice campsite except for the sandflies and a few mozzies and had American style pancakes out of the packet for dinner, they were okay, filling at least. We went for a walk along the beach for an hour then played cards and ate donuts till midnight then bed.
27/12 113km
Up 7.00, shower and on the road by 8.00 and back all the way to the 98 and on to St. Joe Port, I rode with Anton and Rolf, with Anton taking the lead, with a tail wind Anton had really wound it up and we were in Panama City by midday, but with a time zone loss of an hour it was really 1am. We were stopped by a guy who told us to go and camp at the youth hostel, but even with a discount it was $3.50ea, at the state park it was $6.30 for the lot of us, so we went there. In town I cashed two travelers cheques, one for me and one for Rolf. At the state park we met an American named Tom, he went out to dinner, we cooked our own hamburgers, had showers etc. Anton had exhausted himself today and went to bed at 6.30pm without dinner. We were getting a bit of drizzle, so we shooed off the Raccoons and went to bed early.
28/12 85km
Up 7.30, Bart and I were ready first and took off, Tom decided to travel with us to New Orleans, before he headed back to Tampa. We got out to the 98 when big clouds came over, and the drizzle started, we went a bit further then decided to wait for the others, we decided to go on to Destin in the rain. Nevertheless I enjoyed the day and stayed mostly dry and warm enough. At Destin we found that the campsite we’d chosen was county park and cost $8.50 for all of us, but it was a dirty, badly kept place. We cooked canned stew and watched dismal weather reports on the very small TV. We went to bed in the rain at 8.30. My tent looked weird, we backed it up to a tree, tied a pole across the top and draped Rolf’s poncho across the top to create a fly, as the old Paddy Pallin japara tent was no longer water proof. I slept alone with a lot of people’s gear.
29/12 90km
I had a small wet spot on my sleeping bag where I’d dipped into a pool in the tent. The rain hadn’t stopped all night. Up at 8.00. We decided to make a dash for Pensicola. We had breakfast in the games room and got some weather reports. Tom and I rode ahead, we had more rain for quite a while. We took a break at a JR store and the others minus Anton turned up. I was getting cold, so we rode on whilst the others took a break to wait for Anton, and talk to some racing bikers from Louisiana who’d stopped to chat. By the time we’d got to Pensicola it had stopped raining and we waited for the others at the Burger King just over the bridge. Anton showed up an hour later, he’d had a puncture 24 miles out of Pensicola and with all the rain the patches wouldn’t seal so he had ridden 3 miles pumped, 3miles pumped etc. so he was had it again. We put a new tube in for him, then not 100 yards down the road I got a flat, so I put a new tube in mine too and we eventually got to our host’s place, they were only expecting 3 people but took all 6 of us graciously. The man had a workshop in the garage so we took turns fixing and cleaning our bikes. My rear wheel though is un-fixable, he had no spare spokes the right length, so we’ll have a second go at fixing it tomorrow, we hung everything up to dry, and piled our dirty laundry all the way up to the ceiling, and talked after a nice spaghetti and salad meal til midnight.
30/12
Up 8.00 after a good night’s sleep, we lazed around in the morning, at 1pm we piled into the van, dropped my wheel off at a bike shop to get fixed , then out to a mall, I bought some hard sweets to suck on whilst I ride, back to the bike shop that charged me $23 and back home, then out to Duff’s with Mrs we shouted her dinner, for being such a good sport in taking us all in, we ate til we were full and had a great time doing it. Back home and did some more cleaning and fixing of our bikes, then we sat and talked and watched TV til midnight.
31/12 123km
Tom woke us up at 6.30, we had pancakes again, packed up and were on the road by 8.30. Mrs rode with us up to the Alabama border, there we took a group photo. The scenery changed dramatically over the border from a junk yard to nice neat farmland with trees in winter mode, no rain. We took small back roads with gentle rolling hills to a small village called Silver Hills, there we stopped for a cuppa, then on to the 90. I noted that Bart’s wheel was buckled, we checked it out and found that the hub was broken on the spoke rim freeing 2 spokes, we limped in to Mobile, the beautiful scenery slowly making way to the Mobile city mess. We got baulked by a tunnel, so we had to go the long way round by the paper mills on bad roads. Rolf was the bad luck boy, he hit a big pot hole, both his panniers flew off breaking a spoke and buckling his wheel. It was still rideable, so we kept going into Mobile, we found a bike shop but he said he was closed and shunted us out the door, we rode out along the 90. We knocked on a preacher’s door asking to camp, he told us to go to the Salvation Army, at the next church there were some youngsters playing and they found us a nice back yard, so we pitched our tents and went to Krystal’s, a hamburger joint. By now it was raining and we got wet walking back. The people were out, so we sat on the porch and sang and were generally silly, when they came back we sat and chatted with them. The Bart and Anton went to bed at 11.30pm the rest of us went to church, it was a simple service, we lit candles, and then I fell asleep as we prayed. Afterwards we met some of the congregation and then back home at 12.30am. We were invited to stay in the living room, but Tom preferred his tent, so three of us slept on the floor, whilst it still poured down outside.
1/1/1983 67km
Up at 8.00, we went to Fletcher’s BBQ place for breakfast, I had an omelette with a hot sauce, hash browns, French toast and scones, it filled me up but cost me $6. In the steady light rain we hit the road after saying our goodbyes. Bart got a flat not far out, the others went on and I stayed with him, we met some local people whilst fixing the tyre, they gave us an address in Denver to go skiing, we told them about the LAW (League of American Wheelmen), then on to Pascagoula where the others were waiting. Both Lowie and Anton had had flat tyres, boy what a bad run. I phoned the pastor we’d been given the address of and he gave us directions, along the way the others had some snacks, I was still full from breaky so had nothing. So we rolled up to a nice looking house, we chatted and I organised myself. Later we went for a drive to see the ship yards. For dinner we got a large and extra large pizza. Anton was eating crackers and boiled rice for an upset stomach. Chris the reverend’s son ate with us. We then sat and watched TV til 1am. Interrupted when a lady came around and gave us and address in Biloxi to stay tomorrow night, the guy had a couple from California staying with him tonight that were going to stay with her tomorrow night, also cyclists.
2/1 47km
Up 8.00, shower and off to church, Bart didn’t come because he went last night. The service was okay, though being an Anglican service it was straight out of the book and I lost track of where we were. We talked with some of the congregation afterwards and got 2 address, one in California and and one in Colorado, they were mostly older but very nice ladies. Home for lunch, then Raoul came around with his father and another guy and we set off for Biloxi, we had a strong headwind, but no rain, and we made reasonable time. We found the house which looked like a ramshackle place, we were a bit dubious about staying here, but the guy came out, we put our bikes in the back room and he turned out to be okay, we talked and ate pecan nuts, his father came around who was of Dutch origin. We all went out for an all you can eat pizza and we ate all we could. Lowie did his usual trick of eating too much so when he laughed he doubles over in pain, the meal cost us $3.50ea. Anton tried ringing one of our contacts in New Orleans, he just got through his introductory speel when the person hung up, so now he doesn’t want to use the phone any more, we still have nowhere to stay in New Orleans, hopefully something will work out. Some of us played cards til 3am Rolf and Anton beat Casey and me at spades, though I won the cut throat session.
3/1 56km
Lowie and I slept in til 10.30 whilst the others went off to a bike shop to fix their bikes, apparently for very little, especially Bart who’d had to have his rear wheel rebuilt. We had lunch, packed and rode off with Casey on his Cruiser bicycle who cycled with us for a few miles. We did the short hop to Buccaneer State Park with the usual hassles of aggressive drivers getting too close to us, and someone fired a firework rocket at us, it exploded near me and gave me a hell of a fright. We made a nice big bonfire and Anton cooked French toast for us all mixed with peanut butter sandwiches. Bart and I sat around the campfire listening to my radio til 9.30pm, then had a nice hot shower and bed. Unlike most state parks the fee here is $8.00, maybe the ranger saw us using power.
4/1 94km
Up 7.30 to see frost, breaky was quick and cold with iced milk and cereal, decamped with soggy tents and cold fingers, rugged up and headed for New Orleans, it was a really nice day, not a cloud in the sky, cold at first, but the sun soon warmed up to be a reasonable day, when we got to New Orleans the first stop was a Burger King for lunch, I gave Rolf $20, then on on to our host’s after getting directions. She turned out to be a good laugh, with a cute kid of 18 months. We unloaded and set up our stuff, then caught the bus into the city, the driver was typical of drivers here, a pushy speeder, it was a hell of a ride. The city was busy, the French quarter quite charming in a European sort of way. The Mississippi was full, we watch a large chemical ship negotiate the rapids, it looked weird with the ship sitting well above the houses as it cruised between the huge levee banks on the high river. We walked around and eventually found a suitable place for lunch. Rolf and I went to collect our mail from Rosalie, my brother Rae had sent me $5 to add to my kitty. Back home and chatted with Chris and Gale (Gale being male). They went to bed early and we went soon after on the lounge room floor.
5/1
Up 8.30. We went to the city in dribs and drabs. Rolf and Anton went at 9.00 to get Rolf’s money, Bart went next. I sat and watched TV til 11.30 as Lowie wrote letters, then we caught a bus in. This bus driver was incredibly slow, stopping at every stop whether there was a request or not. We all met at the information centre and went for a walk. I got separated from the others taking photos as I tried to get into my photographic mind set, I didn’t take many. I ate at Burger King, then managed to catch the wrong bus route home, but I got close enough to walk, so had a nice walk home. Dinner was a jambalaya dish with coleslaw and pecan pie. Mike the guy who had put on to these people came around. After dinner I beat Gale at chess twice, then I showed my slides with interruptions from Ray the kid who screamed and carried on, I only just kept my cool. Gale beat me at chess this time, then I did some recording on to blank cassettes, Bob Dylan, Carole King and John Denver.
6/1 16km
Up 9.00, did nothing all day but watch TV and write a few letters. At 4.30pm Rolf and I packed up and round round to Joe’s place just off St. Charles. Rolf got a flat, so we walked the last bit a big big house, we met Joe, later a girl, later a few more people rolled in, we went upstairs to find more people, we were watching TV when more people came in. We bought some pizza for tea, and some more people came in. We decided we weren’t full so 5 of us hopped in a car and drove to a crowded inn with number plates and cards all over the walls and lots of atmosphere. I had a go at eating, or slurping, or just swallowing fresh oysters, I got quite a few down before I devoted my time to my 7UP. We went back home and met some more people, we watched TV and talked til midnight and bed. I found out that only 9 people actually live here ranging from 20’s to 50’s, and disappointingly they smoke dope, boy what a place!
7/1
Up 8.30. At 9.30 the Flying Dutchman came. They caught the trolley car in to the city, Rolf and I rode out to a park then followed the Mississippi into the city, there we went to Burger King’s for lunch, and then went and got Rolf’s money, boy was he relieved! Then back home and read for a while. Dinner was pizza again then we played the game of Risk. I was winning when we gave up owning Africa, S America and with Europe in my grasp, Rolf and Anton were also strong, but Lowie was about to be obliterated. The others went out and I read my book til 3am bed.
8/1 69km
Up 8.00 and slowly packed up and got on the road by 10.30. We took the ferry across the Mississippi. Bart had an upset stomach and couldn’t ride fast, so we had a slow ride to just outside Raceland on the 90, there we camped on a private hunting club ground and had tea in a mozzie infested area, some drizzle came in so at 6.30pm we all went to bed, it was still raining at midnight.
9/1 84km
Up 7.30, it was a misty mozzie morning and the sun looked great as it gradually dissipated the fog. I rode by myself to Thibodaux and really enjoyed the peaceful ride with not many cars on the 308. At Thibodaux we all met up at the McDonald’s style restaurant called Mr Cook’s. Anton and Bart went ahead and 3 of us went shopping. Lowie got a broken spoke on the rough road that we took to get us onto the 90. later Rolf got a flat and Lowie broke another spoke, finally we met up with the others at Amelia, none of us were really hungry, so we had a few sandwiches. Bart was still not well, so we sat in the sun with our shirts off and relaxed for a while then on to Morgan City, we found the city campsite, but they charged us $13 for 2 soggy sites. We put all our stuff out to dry, later we cooked dinner then played cards. Bart still wasn’t up to our stewing steak, baked beans, tomato paste and boiled rice, but it was good stuff. Shower and bed at 10.30pm
10/1 102km
Up 8.00, the others left so I had breaky on my own, de-pitched the tent and rode all day alone to New Iberia, it was a hard day with a fairly strong head wind all the way. I took the 182 most of the way, which being a small highway didn’t have much traffic. I stopped in Jemarette for lunch then on to the Shermac campsite, where we’d agreed to meet. I was the first one there, but I found that they wanted $16, so I waited out the front in the cold wind for 2hrs. At 4pm Rolf and Lowie showed up, their bikes fixed, and I told them the price to camp here, we decided to see if we could find a scout group, so we found Anton and Bart and after a few phone calls we found one, and were directed to go to the flower shop, there we were directed to the National Guard HQ where we organized ourselves. At 6.30pm the Scout and Cub leaders started turning up from around the parish for their round table. We were all introduced, they had their meeting, Paul, our contact, then took us out to a fancy restaurant where we had the crawfish dinner, which was a soup and a mixture of all their crawfish dishes. A Catholic priest joined us who was from Holland, an old man, but quite a character, he took us back to his church where the others had after dinner drinks, then it was back to the hall where we slept on the concrete floor.
11/1
Up 8.00, shower and breaky. Paul had called the newspaper in town and they sent a photographer and reporter around to get our story, so we gave our story and they took our picture, then we went via Paul’s flower shop to the laundromat to, you wouldn’t guess it, yes, do our washing, that took a while. Bart and Anton went off. We took the clothes back then went for a ride around the nice town. Anton did an excellent job as cook for dinner, then we played cards. Bart and I lost 2-1 to Rolf and Anton at 500. bed 10.30pm.
12/1 97km
Up 8.00, quick breaky and on the road by 9.30. We said goodbye to the girls in the flower shop. The road to Abbeyville was terrible. It was an old concrete road they’d layed bitumen over, but it had cracked and buckled. Bart was had it by the time we got there, fortunately no one broke anything. The road out the other side was better. On to Lake Arthur. Rolf and Lowie were off in front and had just passed the bridge when they were waved down by a guy in the front yard of his house on the right hand side. We all eventually stopped, and his beautiful daughter took us for a drive around town, they gave us dinner, which as they ran a catering service was really good food, then we sat and talked and watched TV till 11pm and bed.
13/1 90km
I beat Anton up for donuts for breaky, then after saying goodbye we were off. We had lunch at Lake Charles and out along the route 90. At 4.30pm we started looking for campsites, and it was then that it happened. Rolf was up front with Lowie behind him. Rolf slowed for a possible campsite, but Lowie didn’t and did the same as I’d done in Virginia except he didn’t recover, so at 20-25kph Lowie’s bike went over. I was next and saw him go down in slow motion, I was draughting him about a foot behind and had no chance and my bike went over his, somewhere up there I departed from my bike as it crashed to the ground and I sailed over the bikes and jogged to a stop. My bike ended up in front of Lowie’s. Anton was directly behind me so his bike was the next to plough into Lowie’s bike. Bart was far enough behind to miss the prang but lost control and hit the ground also. It looked a mess, bikes all over the busy road, we were lucky that none had been in the vicinity when we crashed. Lowie had grazed his right palm and thigh on the road, and we had buckled wheels all over the place, Anton had both his buckled, Lowie and Bart rears only, I escaped with only a very slight buckle. We were all shaking with adrenaline… except Rolf, who had of course stopped and was bemused by the carnage behind him. We found a willing parson nearby who let us pitch our tents, and use his shower. We cooked and ate a good meal outside and the boys tweaked their spokes to get the worst of the buckles out of their wheel, then watched The Elephant Man video on the parson’s TV, then bed at 9.30pm.
14/1 101km
On the road by 9am after our own breaky inside, we got on the main road at Toomey, and had to hitch hike over the Sabine river bridge as it was too long and dangerous to ride over. Lunch was in Orange at a Wendy’s where Bart fixed a slow leak. Anton and I went shopping and I got another film. Later we came to the Neches river on the 87, it was a really steep high bridge, Rolf and Bart had already hitched over, I rode it, while the same guy that took Rolf and Bart over came back and picked up Lowie and Anton. On the other side we chatted with him for a while. We had lunch near some louts on the jetty, then out the 365 to Fannett I rode ahead and watched all the little turtles plop into the water ahead of me in the deep ditches. we found a campsite in Fannett for $10, we cooked omelettes and played cards til 9pm bed.
15/1 100km
The Dutch boys left at 7.30, Rolf and I had a leisurely breaky then hit the road. With a nice cross tail wind we fairly zipped along the interstate so much so that we were in Houston area before lunch, so at 11am we sat on a small side road and had a few sangas, then rode the 146 south which was a terrible road, we had lunch by a heap of oil wells thumping away on diesel engines, looking like very thirsty donkeys. We found to our dismay that there was a tunnel further down the road, we met a lady and were about to ask if we could ride it when she said in her Texas drawl “Dyawannaride”? And a huge man came up in a pick up, it looked like he was crossed with a gorilla, and accordingly he couldn’t communicate well, we got our ride through the tunnel and eventually found our host, she was a friendly lady in her 40’s, we sat and chatted and had a shower and drank her tap dry of water. Later people started rolling in, mainly locals, but also a Swiss man my age, and a younger French man. I showed my slides and we chatted, though I came close to dropping off to sleep several times. One of the people was the next door neighbor, who was an administrator at the local university, who suggested we should go to a college basketball game, and said she might be able to get some free tickets. We went to bed at 10.30.
16/1
Up 7.15, Eric came around in his big Oldsmobile station wagon with 3 sets of seats coloured red and white, we picked up Jean Mark and we motored down town to watch the Houston marathon, we met a girl and she told us where to go to watch the half way point and finish line. We mingled around at the end for a while then went for a walk around town, we went to the top of a hotel to an empty rotating restaurant, then went to McDonald’s for lunch, then had a look at the port of Houston, back home and I just managed to beat Eric at a game of chess, we had dinner then a friend of Lois our host came round, after they had had their meeting we sat and chatted til 11.30pm.
17/1
Up 10.00 The Dutch boys rang to say that they’d found a car, an International Travel-all. I made a few phone calls for insurance then some more for scout meetings we could attend, the phone rang hot all morning. Posted a letter then back home and relaxed til 3.30pm when Eric came and we rode into the university, we walked around the campus, the library was incredible, 3 storeys of books. We met up with Connie the next door neighbour and the people who had donated their basketball tickets to us, we had a 20inch pizza between 4 of us though Connie didn’t eat much. Later Jean Mark rolled up he bought his own pizza, then 4 of us went to watch the basketball game. It was a good game but I thought the ref stopped the game too much for fouls. I met a lecturer who’s going out to Aussie to lecture at Greg’s college in Ballarat. After the game I was dragged along to a night club called Confetti. It was a predictable den of iniquity, with loud music, girls and boys all flaunting, half or fully drunk, flashing lights and weird ornaments hanging from the ceiling, not my scene, I was glad to get out of there at midnight and bed at 12.30am.
18/1
Up 9.00 I had to put my signature on some insurance papers before we could drive the car and be covered so Rolf and I rode the 30 miles into Houston, we left at 10am and took 1¾hrs . So I put my scrawl on the paper and the Dutch boys came and picked us up. We had lunch of hamburgers, then I drove the truck back home. For $800 it’s not a bad car, it’s a big gurgling V8 that runs well. Later the Dutch boys took the car. Lois made some spaghetti and Jane came over who is going to Aussie in June, so we talked. At 7pm we were picked up and taken to a scout meeting. There was a steady drizzle out there and cold. They only had 7 boys but they were all in uniform and looked fairly competent. We did our usual show, they got a bit bored with the slides but were interested in the bikes. The leader took us back to his place for a cuppa, then took us back home. Bed 10.30pm.
19/1
Up 10.00, the Dutch boys came round and we went to the space centre. It was raining all day as we walked from building to building. The space centre or NASA wasn’t as interesting as the Kennedy one. The mission control centre was being refurbished for the space shuttle program now that the tests are over. We couldn’t contact a contact we’d been given, so we drove home and we talked about what we’d do next week, Anton and Lowie want the car to drive up to Memphis, I want the car to shift house and other stuff, we decided to wait until tomorrow to make a decision as we had another meeting to attend. Lois came home and we made some sangas for ourselves and had some of her hot hot soup. At 7pm we were picked up in a big Cadillac, a modern one and whisked to our meeting down town, we met some of the administrative people and I gave my slide presentation and chatted afterwards a bit, we were promised some accommodation next week and given all sorts of patches and requests and offers. Then we were driven home in a more modest vehicle by a different man. Lois was still up but soon went to bed. I went to bed at 11.30pm, Rolf as usual stayed up, he’s like a little kid who’s had the restrictions on how late he has to go to bed lifted, but he’ll still beat me out of bed in the morning.
20/1
A bludge day
21/1
The Dutch boys came round at midday and we all went down to Sam Houston park where there are some old style houses that they’ve moved into the park, then back home again. The Dutch boys finally got to meet Lois, then they left. At 6.30 people started arriving, some we’d already met, others not. I showed my slides for Jane and her parents, then we all sat around and talked. Lois is a teacher, and the big news in town is a communist Chinese teacher in town to visit schools here. After everyone had gone we talked some more, bed at 12.30am.
22/1
Up 7.00, Bill came at 8.15 and we drove up to Camp Strake, a big Boy Scout camp. The group we were with looked terribly unorganised, as they’d forgotten to bring some tent poles, so they cut down some branches to make some, and they were short on pegs too so they cut down some more branches to make them too. Later they did a pioneering project where they had to get a tin can across a small stream without crossing it, it seems that most of them can’t tie a lash, the troop leader is hopeless, everyone is so young. I had a big dinner of steak and onions and mushrooms and vegies. Later after the boys had gone to bed we sat around and talked, they might be young but they’re all good people. Bed 2.30am
23/1
Up 8.00. It was a crisp cool below freezing morning about 27°F. Breaky, then Paul and I went out to set a point to point compass course, back and had lunch. It was 2.30pm by the time we’d packed up the site and sent the boys on the course, they did okay. I then went around to take down the markers. Then it was back home. Packed all my gear into the van and drove round to the church where a scout group was holding a dinner for us. We were late because we were later getting back from the camp than expected, we had a good time met the two ladies from Wednesday night’s meeting and their troop. I showed my slides and they showed us slides of Philmont, it looks like a great place. Anton and I went to one place, Lowie toanother, and Rolf went to the scout leader’s place. Home and talked for a while, but I was tired and went to bed at 10.30pm.
24/1
Up 6.30. At 7.00 a lady came who had already picked up Rolf, and we went into scout HQ. At 9.00 Bud came in with two boxes of envelopes, we ripped off about 2000 stamps, I kept 60 that I didn’t have. Then he gave us address stickers, envelopes and a flyer and we did 300 of them, and after Bud and is off-sider had taken us out for lunch another 200. At 4.30pm TJ picked us up, dropped me off, Lois and I had a nice dinner then I rushed off to a local meeting. Rolf went to an Explorers group for engineers with Kurt. I had another good meeting and they gave me a John Wayne medallion, home and watched TV till 11pm, bed.
25/1
Up 11.00, boy I needed that sleep in. We’d been invited out to lunch by a lady we’d met, so of course we went. It was a nice place with expensive food, thankfully we didn’t have to pay. Then we rode down to the San Jacinto Battle monument, I had a look around the interesting museum, then we rode around the park and out to the battleship Texas, but didn’t go on board and rode home. Talked with Kurt about school systems then off to the scout meeting where we did our usual show, later a big bloke came in with an old old stamp album and he showed them to me, giving me 73 of them, and some Danish ones for Rolf,he told us that if we send him patches troops that I visit he’ll send more stamps, I left there with a smile on my face. Talked and watched TV til 11.30pm bed.
26/1
Up 10.00, a much needed nothing day, soaked off stamps and wrote some letters and watched TV. I calculated I’m spending $10 a day.
27/1
Up 10.00, did nothing in the morning. After lunch Mrs drove me into the city to pick up my $1000, it cost me $50 to get it exchanged into US dollars and put into travellers cheques. After dinner I went around to see some people who’d lived in Frankston Melbourne, we talked for a while, and she gave me some addresses and cut my hair, a really nice lady with a sleepy husband. Kurt rang me up to say that he was going ten pin bowling with Rolf and Darren, so I rode back home and off we went. We had to wait 1hr before we could get a lane so we didn’t start til 10pm. I won 2 out of the 3 games Darren won the other one, I got the best score of 127. Finished at midnight, bed at 12.30am.
28/1
Up 10.30, did nothing til 3pm. Rolf came round and we picked up my latest batch of slides, they were the best yet. Went and said our final cheerio to Lois, who’s been a great host, and drove back home. Later that night Darren Kurt Rolf and I went to see Man From Snowy River, a great movie, the mountains of home looked just great, I wanted to go back home to see them again, then saw Tootsie also a great movie, but we didn’t get to see the end because Darren had to be home by midnight.
29/1
Anton and Lowie arrived back on the scene at 10am from their trip to Memphis all aglow from the experience. We packed up then Mr started tinkering with the van, he ended up changing the points condenser and arm, cleaning the battery terminals and spark plugs, flushing the radiator and putting in some anti-freeze. When he started it up it sounded terrible, and we couldn’t get it better. We took a break for lunch, then went around to one of Mr’s friends who with a meter found that only 4 cylinders were working and again we couldn’t fix it no matter what we tried. We pulled everything we’d touched apart, the last thing we did was check the points, and that was the problem, they’d been set too far apart, so we closed the gap and she went back to the beautiful gurgle. It was 5pm by then so we decided to spend another night here and cleaned up. So all 8 of us went to Pizza Hut for which we had some coupons and ate til we were full, then back home and chatted for a while. Then we decided to play tennis on the lit courts that we’d spotted earlier, so we got hold of 6 racquets and off we went. I surprised myself with my ability, though my usual game of squash meant I had to adjust my strokes. I played with Anton against Darren and Lowie, Darren was clearly much better and beat us 6-5. I played Anton at singles and won 6-5. We finished before midnight so that Darren could get home on time again.
30/1 339miles
Up 7.30, I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep, breaky then we said our goodbyes and took the van to where Lowie and Rolf were staying and we got away at 9.30 and cruised out of Houston, after a thoroughly good break from being on the road. We cruised the 10 to San Antonio and had a look at The Alamo then walked the river San Antonio with it’s cute outdoor restaurants and Venetian style living, except they had motor boats instead of the more grander gondolas. We took a look at the ruins of Expo 68, they had really let the place go to a shambles. Back to the car and went to the Sunken Gardens which were really nice for as freebie. We had a late lunch here then out along the 90, but got lost trying to find a shopping centre, eventually finding one and stocking up on food and fuel we found our way out of the maze, but then couldn’t find a campsite, we went up the 127, along the way in the dark Anton who was driving hit a deer, it was only when we got to Garner state park to camp that we found the extent of the damage, we were lucky not to have done damage to the radiator as the grill and bottom panel are badly bent. Anton was rounded out. We had a nice dinner then sorted out who owed who what then shower and bed.
31/1 157miles
It had rained a bit during the night, so we rose at 7am to a grey but hauntingly beautiful day. We had all slept in the same tent which was a bit uncomfortable but had sufficed. We de-pitched the tent and headed out of the park, drove out of the hills and had breakfast, then on towards Del Rio, on the way we found a tortoise and stopped at Bracketville to take a look at Fort Clark Springs, one of those closed communities centred around an old fort, we got a free guided tour of the old building and buildings built in the old style, there was one that was waiting to be remodeled, but was going to cost $1mil. Had a fleeting glimpse of a Road-runner as it dashed across road in front of the vehicle, it looked fat compared to it’s cartoon character. In Del Rio we spent $30 on food and $20 on gas, and had a look at a small wine cellar. Out to Amistead Lake where there was rain on the hills in the distance, they were building a power plant, not sure why they didn’t build one in the first place. We walked to the border with Mexico half way along the dam wall with the Rio Grande thundering away down below, we found a spot to have another late lunch whilst nasty looking showers passed nearby but never struck us. We went up to the 406 campsite, it was beautiful even in the howling wind as we pitched tent, thankfully the wind died later to nothing. Lowie and I went for a walk in the desert hills surrounding the lake, we saw some deer, hares and an Armadillo in the darkening sky, the sunset was beautiful, and I got a silhouette of a Mesquite bush against the sunset sky. We played cards til 8.30pm then bed.
1/2 144miles
Up 8.30 for a French toast breaky and in the icy wind that blew up as it got light it took til 11.00 for us to get away. We drove to Comstock State park where the Indians had left paintings, but there wasn’t a tour til 3pm so we left, they even wanted $2ea to look around the building so we left without seeing anything. We went to the Pecos river where I clambered down to the river. Then on to Langtry to see what Judge Roy Bean did, an interesting little spot, a short walk put us in another canyon. At Sanderson I spent $43 on stamps, buying the 1978-81 mint sets, plus 2 sheets of 20c and 18c with commemorative markings, now all I have to do is get them home safely. The 78 cost $4.50, the 79 $5.25, the 80 $6.50 and the 81 $8.25. We pulled in to a roadside stop for dinner just before sunset, Rolf and I walked to a nearby mesa for the sunset, talked until 8pm then bed.
2/2 141miles
Up 8.30 breakfast and chatted with some elderly people who had stopped last night also. We went to go and there was nothing, we asked the couple if they could jump start us, still nothing. We tried all sorts of things to get it going to no avail, so the couple took Anton and I back to Sanderson, there we found that it will cost $2 per mile to tow us the 33 miles back. We found a mechanic who would fix it for us then the same gracious people took us back to the car and towed us back to the mechanic, which wasn’t easy with power steering and power brakes, we got there at 25mph with no dramas, we’d had catastrophic failure of the battery, so it cost us $83 for a new one, and off we went and got to Big Bend NP, the mountains are magnificent. We watched the sun go down and talked til 8pm, bed. As it got dark we heard the Coyotes howling around the mountains, magnificent sound as it echoes around the hills.
3/2 82miles
Up 8.30, breaky then walked up Dog Canyon and up to the top of a ridge in the Santiago Mts, we had a hard time getting up to the ridge with all the cactus, everyone got scratched or pricked. Then we went to park HQ and got a camping permit for Government Springs campsite which was free and drove down to Boquillas canyon and walked in as far as we could, then to Rio Grande village for a much needed shower, took a quick look at the hot springs and found we should have gone there before we’d had our shower. We met a Kiwi and chatted for a while then up to our campsite, we had to pitch on top of stones, there was no grass. Played cards til 8.30, bed.
4/2 68miles
Up 8.30, went up to the basin where we went for a walk up to the south rim and back, about 10miles. We met some Belgian girls and walked with them for a while, and we also met a couple at the rim who we chatted with. It was a hard walk, but it was good to see that I still have good walking legs. We took out a permit for Terlingua Abaja, another primitive campsite and drove down there. It was dark by the time we got there so we just pitched the tent and went to sleep.
5/2 104miles
Up 8.30, and walked the flowing Terlingua river to the Santa Elena Canyon, which was bigger and better than the Boquillas one, again though the track didn’t go very far in, so I did a bit of rock climbing above the water, and managed not to fall in, though my hands were sore when I got back, it’s been a while since I did any rock climbing. Then I walked the 2miles back alone. We drove out to the 170 and stopped at Terlingua ghost town. There was some sort of event happening there which hadn’t started yet and didn’t look like it would for a while, so we left, and drove to Presidio, the road was a real twister through some scenic country, though not as good as Big bend NP. At Presidio we found out about a bus trip into Mexico to Chihuahua tomorrow then found a campsite close to town, had dinner and bed by 8.00pm
6/2 4miles
Up 7.00, Lord knows why. Got in to town with plenty of time to spare and the bus came at 10.30, and we got into Mexico with no worries, though we did have trouble communicating. The bus went through some really spectacular desert country with large looming mountains. In Chihuahua, a large city in the middle of the desert we found the hotel El Dorado next to the bus station which cost under $10 for the 4 of us, we dumped our stuff and walked off into the city, we wandered around the streets with poverty evident everywhere, from the beggars at the church, to the rubble and broken houses, and the bedraggled unhappy look on many people’s faces. In Cathedral Square everyone gazed at us, especially the others as they are all tall and fair haired, the girls would whistle at us and follow us, and some pretty ones too! All in all quite a charming atmosphere to the city. Back to the hotel for a shower, then we went to the best looking restaurant we could find which was a seafood one and we had a really nice dinner. I had an oyster cocktail and a very salty fish with a tasty sauce, but the soup was so spicy it burnt my lips, strawberry ice-cream for dessert and the best offering of American style lemonade I’ve had so far. We also had a very nice bottle of wine all for under $5. Back to the hotel where we played yatzee and cards til 4am, mainly because there was a bus load of Mexicans having a party next door, many times they knocked on our door and said “Ey Americanos come and have a drink or two or three…with us, we politely refused.
7/2 1mile
Had breaky in the lobby for $1. Then we divvied up the money and we split up. I found a shop selling cassettes and bought Roxy Music’s Avalon for $6 or 900Pesos. Then I changed $10 and went to buy some stamps. Rolf was already well into the queue, so I joined him, I got 2 of all the stamps he had, which weren’t many for 68Pesos and 3 postcards at 16Pesos each and sent them off, later it would come to me that I’d forgotten to address the one to my uncle in Britain, what a nit! A lady who spoke a bit of English helped me buy the stamps, or I think I’d still be at the counter. As I was writing the postcards 2 Mexicans came up and wanted to chat. Then I went for a long walk in the northern suburbs up to a hill, and back to the hotel. I didn’t get gawked at much, though I did attract the attention of some pretty girls again. We checked out and went to the bus station to wait for the bus and had some doughnuts whilst we waited. There were some worries about the bus due to the lingo but we got the right bus in the end. The driver was a speeder and through the mountain passes it was a scary ride, at one stage overtaking another bus on a blind corner! At Ojinga they wouldn’t take us across the border, so we had to walk, at the Mexico border we paid 25c to exit the country and walked into the USA, there Rolf and I extended our visas I for another 6 months, and we then walked to the car, then we drove out to the highway and camped. At 10.30pm I was sick, it was probably the doughnuts or an unwashed apple that Anton had bought and given us one each.
8/2 91miles
Up 10.00. Somewhere along the way we’d had a flat tyre, and had dropped it off in town yesterday, so we drove back into town to pick it up, it cost $5. Tanked up and drove to Fort Davis. I went for a walk up into the hills, the others looked around the fort, then to the state park. Dinner in which Rolf had put hot spicy BBQ sauce in the salad instead of the traditional dressing, troubles with cooking in the dark. Another much needed shower, we had a look at maps of Arizona and New Mexico and planned our route, bed 9pm.
9/2 157miles
Up 7.00 and beat the ranger up, so no fee, through the Davis Mts to highway 10, we had breaky at a rest stop, then north to Guadalopue NP, we crossed into the mountain time zone. We climbed the mountain, a 3000ft climb, there was snow on the north side where the sun rarely gets, in some places quite deep, so we had cold wet feet by the time we’d got to the top where it was blowing a gale out of the west and was icy. We signed the register and talked with a lady ranger who had come up at the same time, then headed back down again, a really worthwhile walk, back to camp, we are having a few problems with the wiring, a live wire is shorting out and burning through the rear wire loom, so we found it and taped it up. We played yatzee where I got the top score of 396 then we had a salad dinner and with an invite we went and chatted with some people from British Columbia who are going the way we have come and vice versa so we swapped notes and stories, and had a cuppa and popcorn, bed at 9.30pm.
10/2 68miles
Into the gaping hole we ventured, kerosene lanterns glittering, illuminating just enough to find our way. We stumble over the boulders and find some forbidding petroglyphs, as if in a warning for those foolhardy enough to venture further. Deploying our rope ladder we dropped the 30ft into total darkness. Here few men had come before. The stench of bat droppings was overpowering as we picked our way through it, descending down, ever down. The cave size never seemed to vary, though our lanterns could only rarely pick out the side of the massive caverns. We had to make a decision at one spot, continue along the bat droppings or head further down, going down we started to encounter the strange formations that other cavers had talked about, as we went further into the mountain the formations became ever more grander, and now the room size seemed to be growing too, our echos sounding more distant. After travelling about ½ mile into the mountain the floor levelled out, and here at the bottom the formations were truly stunning, massive pillars that our poor lanterns couldn’t do justice to, many times we were struck dumb at the intricate beauty that surrounded us, one half expected elves or fairies to step out and declare the works as theirs. At one spot we found ourselves in a room too big to comprehend, we let off a flare, and for a few brief moments we caught a glimpse of the majesty of this place. There were all sorts of dark pits that we were too afraid to venture into, happy in declaring them bottomless. At one spot we turned off our lanterns to sit quietly in the darkness, once the sound of our scuffling boots ceased there was only the steady sound of the dripping water marking out the seconds over the aeons thus forming shallow icy pools that were achingly beautiful. There were many dangers down here, apart from the bottomless pits, the floor would occasionally give way dropping the unfortunate soul until the rope that tethered us together tightened. Our biggest fear was not knowing what strange animals may lurk down here, but it was a lifeless place, with air and water, but no food. With our supply of kerosene limited it was time to turn back, and so it was that we emerged back out of the place we named Carlsbad Caverns. (not quite a true story).
11/2 197miles
We drove through some hills that gave us our first look at skiable snow, it was beautifully scenic, then on to White Sands National Monument where we had a late lunch, then I went for a walk to find the perfect photo, which I didn’t, but I took some photos anyway, walked the nature trail which was okay. Then we managed to lock the keys in the car, but sliding my comb through the quarterlight window was enough to open the window and get an arm in to open the door, how easy! We found that we weren’t allowed to camp because they are firing a missile tomorrow morning. We met up with a French couple and camped in the carpark, later a Swiss couple that we’d met when we’d had trouble with the car between Marathon and Sanderson came, but they moved on. We played yatzee and 7up in the back of our car, after we’d put the seats down and put all our stuff on the ground outside with plastic under and over it. At 10.00 we went to bed, the French couple invited one us to sleep in their combi van, I took up the offer.
12/2 160miles
We waited around until the missile came over the range, we saw nothing and heard only the big bang as it landed. We said goodbye to our French friends and headed north. We travelled through an interesting landscape, that of cooled lava flow, there were great walls of lava rock all cracked. The valley was full of it. At one point we tried to get into a national forest to camp and I nearly got the car bogged, but the others jumped out into the mud to push it out. We made our campsite at 2.30pm and played yatzee and cards, then cooked dinner and went to bed.
13/2 106miles
Up late and drove to a small town where the others had a second breaky, I just sat in the car, we meandered up to Santa Fe, where we went for a walk up Canyon Rd, then rang up our host. An attractive lady turned up in a Mazda RX7 with sunglasses and driving gloves, she took us back to an adobe condominium, a really nice place, so we sat and talked and had our showers. At 6pm some of her friends came round and we had a really nice dinner, she went to bed at 11pm we played cards for a while.
14/2
layed in bed til 9am, then lazed around listening to her records, mostly classical, but some Beatles too. Later we went for a walk down to the Capitol building to meet up with Emily who we’d met last night, but she wasn’t feeling well and soon went home, she was half way through pregnancy. So we bought some stuff for dinner and walked back home. Susan came home at 9.30pm, I showed her my slides, she was impressed. Rolf and Anton played the Santa Fe game, which is a bit like Monopoly, Susan went to bed at 1am we went soon after.
15/2 12miles
Up 10.30, getting lazy again! Shower then Rolf and Lowie got military style haircuts. Anton and I went to see if we could get some work done on the car, tomorrow was the earliest. We all played the Santa FE game til 2.30pm when Lowie and I were declared joint winners, then we walked to the weekly newspaper where Susan was the head of advertizing and had a look around, then back home and played Yatzee and cards til 9pm. Rolf and Anton went to get pizza for dinner. Susan came at 9.30 and we all sat and had pizza and ice cream for dinner. Susan went to bed first, we all sat and played the Santa Fe game again, this time I was the clear winner with $1.75million. 2.30am bed.
16/2 100miles
Up 7.45, the cleaner was coming so we had to be out. At 8.30 we drove around to the auto electrician, dropped the car off then went to a restaurant where the others had a second breaky. At midday we picked up the car to find that the problem is unfixable, the switch in the indicator is shorting out, so we paid $27 for nothing, disgruntled and with still no indicators, brake lights or rear lights we went back home. Up until now the bikes have been up on the roof rack, we decided that there was enough room to get them into the back and still have room for our gear, so that’s what we did in an attempt to better our fuel economy. We then went to where Susan worked to say our goodbyes and we all gave her a kiss, I think she went a bit red in the face. We did the ritual of giving addresses and we headed off. We posted off a cheque for our car insurance and drove through some scenic roads to Taos where we hired some cross country skiis just before the shop closed at 6pm and drove up to the national forest and camped on the ice.
17/2 43miles
I wore just the right amount of clothing to bed and had a comfortable night’s sleep. It was certainly cold out side in the morning, with ¼ to ½ inch of ice on the puddles. So on a bright sunny day we donned skiis and swished up the mountain. The snow was terrible to ski on. There was a layer of ice on top and powder underneath. Some snowmobiles had wrecked the road making huge ruts that had turned to ice, making it unskiable. We went up the long way, struggling as best we could beside the road. We never made it to the top. Coming back down was terrifying, we all fell over a lot. I carried the pack and had an infuriating time every time I fell over getting back up again. I’ve never felt so useless on skis since I first learnt to ski on Mt Stirling in Victoria where on my first day out I skied to the summit and was full of bruises from falling over on my way back down. All in all though it was a fun day except for poor Lowie who isn’t feeling well, he walked down the hard bit. Rolf did best but he’s been skiing since he was 6yo, Anton did okay, but we all admitted we’d had a hard time, I ended up with a blister in my boot and a sunburnt face. We took the skiis back and went to McDonald’s for tea, we were too knackered to be bothered cooking. We took a detour to Arrayo Hondo then back to our main route. We camped by the Rio Grande, at a 650ft gorge with a bridge.
18/2 278miles
Up 9.30 in the ice again. Our intended route was closed so we detoured via the 17 through some spectacular scenery, going through a 10,230ft pass. We stopped at Chema a small town covered in snow, then to the Navajo lake on the San Juan river through canyon style valleys, we had lunch overlooking a valley then through Durango to Mesa Verde NP where we found that we weren’t allowed to camp. So we parked in a small road in a snowbound bus depot and had a big dinner then played cards til 9.30 bed.
19/2 204miles
Overnight silently as death 4ins of snow fell on us, our run of good weather had run out. The area looked beautiful, but the road was treacherous. We were in rather a quandary as to what to do. We had a look at the Mesa Verde road and decided it was too dangerous, though Anton still wanted to go and started slamming doors as is his wont when he doesn’t get his way. We headed for Cortez to find out what the conditions ahead were. So we took a last look at a snowy Mesa Verde and with iced up windows, peering through the gaps we travelled at 40mph on an icy highway to Cortez. We went to the local police who said it was up to us and were generally unhelpful, then went to a garage, the guy there said to lower the tyre pressure to 20psi and we’ll be okay. So we went to a truck stop and had breaky in the warmth, and as the sun came out we headed out. Not ten miles south the roads became dry and the countryside changed to a desert filled with weird shapes as we headed out of the mountains. The wind still blew at 40mph as the tumble weeds chased us down the road. We stopped at the four corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. I spent the most time in Utah, Lowie went the furthest into Utah, and Anton visited 4 states in 15 seconds, he tried three times to beat the record. Rolf just stood by. We got to Canyon De Chelly (pronounced Shay) set up tent and had lunch, then went for a drive. The canyon is a Navajo Indian reservation with Indians still living in and around the canyon. We did the walk to White House ruins and all got cold wet feet we had a look at all the overlooks along the south rim. The wind was still strong but was slowly abating. The natural beauty of the formations, cliffs etc. really captured us. It was after dark when we got back to the camp amongst the trees and fallen leaves, at dinner and played klaverjassen. Anton and I just lost on the last hand to Rolf and Lowie.
20/2 136miles
Anasazi Indian ruins were the order of the day. All up the north side of the canyon we looked out over the 1000 overlooks. It was then a seemingly endless drive to a roadside park on the 40 just east of Petrified Forest NP arriving at 3pm. I just sat in the sun and picked the paint off the picnic table til dinner time after which we played klaverjassen again and Anton and I lost again, just. Then we played yatzee during which Anton beat my previous record score of 396 with a 425. We are camped in a one mile wide valley on the interstate and up until bed time at 9pm there has always been a piece of traffic going by, mostly trucks. The deserts we have crossed have never been empty of cars, no matter which road we took or the weather conditions, always another vehicle. Also in the sky it is forever being criss-crossed with the vapour trails of jets, and there is usually one either visible of one can hear the sound of one somewhere in the vicinity, this is a busy country.
21/2 84miles
In an ancient landscape setting, curious stone shapes lay strewn. Some blasted apart by gun shooters of the past, some carefully segmented by the gentle but persistent forces of nature. Through this colourful array of prehistoric forest there lies a road, careful to take the inquisitive tourist as close as it can to the best scenes. Sometimes a foot track meanders through special exhibits, and so the dutiful tourist stumbles and gawks their way along the path, littered with numbered plaques, each number telling a little about what one is looking at. Sometimes if you’re lucky you will see the tourist family line up, their little camera makes a cheerful click and everyone laughs. In this land of dry forbidding desert, with petrified forests of long long ago and other interesting tit-bits you may wander along, intrigued by nature’s story through the kaleidoscope of hills and stone and the odd wary animal that may cross your path. The plant life though sparse and tentative, yet vivid and varied invites you to feel it, to share with it and ultimately be at peace with it. The main point of interest here though must remain the chunks of rock that still look so much like chopped up firewood ready for the hearth.
22/2 96miles
We rolled into Flagstaff at 2.30pm, we found a camera shop so I could buy a winder for my camera, the original one lies somewhere in Canyon De Chelly. We found out where the Boy Scout HQ was and the executive found us a scout troop to visit tonight. So we did our shopping and went to an all you can eat pizza place for dinner, unfortunately I’d spent $5 on a late lunch at Dairy Queen so I couldn’t eat all that much. At 6.30pm we rolled up to the scout meeting. There were a lot of kids there, and parents too. I only gave a quick resume of Aussie scouting and Rolf of Danish scouting, as they had other stuff to do, later I showed my bike, the kids were great. Then we all split up, I took the car and went to a really nice place where I talked with the lady who thought I was tops. Later the husband came and we talked til 11pm. I found a Garfield comic and amused myself til midnight.
23/2 156miles
Up at 6.30, the lady made me a pancake breaky, we swapped addresses gave a hug and a handshake to the suitable recipient and at 7.25 I left. I met up with the others all clean haired and in a jovial mood at the school. After a vist to scout HQ to buy a council badge we went to Sunset crater which is a really scenic place, and though we couldn’t climb the main crater we were able to climb an adjacent one and gaze at the lava and cinder filled valley and across to other cinder cones. From there we went to Wupatki National Monument for a look at Anaszi Indian ruins and finally we got to IT. The Grand Canyon. WOW! It was a real treat to stand on the rim and look all that way across to the other rim and all that way down to the Colorado river below. Words fail me when I try to describe the grandeur of that scene. We drove along the south rim stopping at all the lookouts each giving a different aspect to the canyon. We stopped at the village where we found that we can’t hire back packs, but we took out a permit to camp at the bottom anyway and went to see a local scout master at the airport. He didn’t want to find us a place to stay, but he lent us 2 backpacks. We had dinner whilst waiting for him to return with them, and then went into the forest to pitch tent. Lowie headed off to bed early, the rest of us played cards til 10pm and bed.
24/2 13miles
Up early, packed up and walked out from Bright Angle track to Kailab trail and into the canyon we went, down for 7 miles of trail specky views all the way down to the gushing Colorado river, and found our campsite, there we had lunch at 3pm, pitched tent and hung up our sleeping bags to air, and walked up to Ribbon falls. It turned out to be further than we expected, we met 2 girls half way, and then Lowie and I jogged on leaving Anton and Rolf behind, we got there just on sunset, so had to turn around and head straight back. On the way out we’d had to cross Bright Angle creek, I got across dry, but on the way back in the gloom I fell in almost getting my camera wet, then I was alone. There was a nearly full moon and the walls of the canyon looked beautiful with bats fluttering around. Then thunder and lightning, I began to run, 2 miles at least I ran in the semi-darkness. I got to the tent just as the pre-storm wind came through. Someone had thankfully put the sleeping bags in the tent, but the tent was in danger of taking off, so I battened everything down properly then crawled into the tent exhausted. After the rain had passed the sodden cats rolled in all three of them. We ate some granola as the moon came back out, then walked up to the lodge, the others had some coffee, I was just grateful for the warmth , we met the 2 girls again and chatted with them til 9pm when the place closed up, I was beginning to stiffen up from my untrained for run and so it was a waddle back to the tent and sleep.
25/2 33miles
I didn’t sleep well last night, every way I lay was a sore spot, I was nevertheless the first up at 8.30, and we hit the track at 9.45, we caught up with the 2 girls at the beginning of the steep bit, they had left at 8.00. I took Sandy’s pack for a while and then Cathy’s, the other three were behind us a mile or so. Getting near the top it began to rain, so we hid in a shelter and the girls gave me some of their food, they had over-packed much more than was needed. The others caught up then walked on, I walked with Sandy and learnt that they are in their early 30’s and Sandy had a form of Polio and her back is fused together and has a pin in it, gutsy lady, respect. Finally we made it through the clod and snow to the top, the last few hundred metres of which are truly awful. One of the easy ways to get to the bottom is to ride a mule, for some reason, this first stretch of track is where they choose to defecate, so when it’s wet, it’s truly awful stuff to walk through. We went to a coffee shop where we met a father and son who had also done the walk, the son being only 10yo. I took the rucksacks back then had my 50c shower and then to the campground. We’d had enough to eat at the coffee shop so we didn’t bother with dinner. I think that there are two extremes of people, some are making a mad determined rush for the caverns of nothing. Some are on a carefully planned set of stepping stones designed to lead them towards eternal peace and love. Most of us though are somewhere in between, where life becomes a muddled mess of meaningless monoliths, just trying to make some sort of sense out of all of it.
26/2 176miles
And the winds blow
Sleeping in the snow
Diving in the rain
Laughing away the blues
Standing on the cornice of the world
Walking in the strides of tomorrow
Greeting friends that be
And making superficial contact
Feeling dreams that might come true
Feeling sad and lonely and blue
And the winds blow
Gazing at the eternal fire
Setting moon a silvery sheen
Rising sun a rosy glow
Warmth spread across the lands
It’s there to greet me
Still the winds blow
Roving in the darkness
Striving for the wonders of the world
Maybe I’ll meet you there
And of course there could be love
I thank you God
For how could it be without you
You are the wind that blows
I’m standing here crunching an apple
A sentinel by the rocky shores
Gently sweeping the sands
One by one
They ebb and flow
And the winds blow
I must leave this place
For I’ll be there tomorrow
A new land in the sun
And in the end I’m going home
and still the winds will blow
27/2 295miles
A wintry wind blew down the valley, snow and rain soon followed as we peered through a foggy windscreen, shivering in the cold. The scenery outside so beautiful as great waterfalls came to life. Spilling out of crevices long dry. The rocks took on a silvery sheen as the water rushed by. Such was Zion NP. A watery wonderland, everywhere we looked great cascades came like watery avalanches, down across the rocks or flying through the air in icy cold sheets of plummeting water. One falls was called Weeping Rock Falls, it was no longer weeping but bawling its eyes out. All sorts of debris came down with the cascades. When the rain finally stopped the water was reduced to a dribble, a wet and tingly silence fell over the canyons, but the watery glaze glowed and the branches of trees heavy with water drops glistened in the afternoon’s silence. Fog on the cliff tops kept a lid on the scene as if trying to seal in the beauty so it couldn’t escape. Soon the rain started falling again and the valley came back to life again. That’s how I’ll remember Zion, a place of wintry waterfalls and a green oasis after the dry deserts we have passed through to get here. We drove on to Las Vegas where we met up with some nice people and talked and watched TV til midnight.
28/2 80miles
We gave our absence to our hosts and headed up to the Hoover dam which wasn’t nearly as big or as deep as I had expected. It cost $1 to see the entrails, but we had already seen the workings of the Glen Canyon dam on the 26th which was free, so didn’t go down. Then back to Las Vegas where I decided at the strip could aptly be described as a big flashing advertizement sign. We ventured into a few of the casinos which all looked the same as the ones in Atlantic City. In one casino Lowie got propositioned by a drunken middle-aged woman, who had wedding rings on. Rolf and I left them to it at 8pm and went to find our hosts, and watched the final 3hr episode of MASH. Richard was handicapped and hard to understand but we got on okay and his mother was a nice lady.
1/3 114miles
Up 9.30, shower and chatted and had breaky with the hosts. Then went and picked up Anton and Lowie at their motel, they siad they’d had a good night at the casino, Anton had broken even and Lowie was down $25. We headed up to the Valley of Fire which was a place of red stones with lots of holes in the stone. We did a bit of walking and climbing and went back to Lake Mead to Overton beach to camp in a rocky crowded campsite.
2/3 209miles
The rain drops drizzle down the outside of the windscreen, and clouds are in the mountains, great puddles of water splashed all over the valley floor. It doesn’t seem right, it’s not the right place, we’re all drowning in the desert. In Death Valley we’re all drowned. The patter of rain on the roof in never ending, and it’s turned the valley grey, extinguished all the colours, put out all the lights. So here we sit in a sodden state waiting for a respite, waiting for it to let up, waiting for the sunshine to come through. I wish I could sing a song about a watery paradise, but no it seems we’ve found a watery depressant.
The forecast is for more rain and that doesn’t help me now
And now it’s just you and me and the rain
And somehow that helps to ease the pain
Sometimes though it’s not enough
Now I know that we all must have our downs
But that doesn’t help me now
I’m sure you understand what’s going on
But that doesn’t help me now
Because right now I need some reassurance
And I don’t think the wonders of your world can help
I can look at them and know
I can look at them and rejoice
But that doesn’t help me now
Because right now it’s dark
because right now I’m lonely
And right now it’s raining outside
What am I supposed to think now
All the great mountains are under a cloud
All the sand has turned to mud
And I’m feeling like a load of crud
So how does that help me now
Tomorrow the sun may come out
But the forecast is for more rain
And that’s bad news for my spirits
3/3 265miles
During the night the rain eased and in the morning it was merely cloudy, only had an apple for breaky, stopped a few times on our way out of Death Valley seeing Creosote and Hedgehog Cactus, then we drove up and up and up, out of a soggy Death Valley and into the snowline, where it was still snowing. We passed a jackknifed 3 trailer truck, what a mess. At the top of the pass the snow bank was towering above us. Near Hawthorne Lowie was driving and had a blowout, totally obliterating the tyre, our wheel nut wrench wouldn’t work, so we flagged someone down who had a better one, changed tyres and went on our way. By now it was getting late, so we camped at Lake Walker at a roadside park, had dinner and played cards, except for Lowie who went to bed. I beat Anton at idiot 66 all but 2 times.
4/3 264miles
I was forced out of bed at 6.30 with the tent coming down around my ears, we were on the road by 7.00 and we drove over to Reno where we filled up the tank, had a pack of chips and some milk, then through the snow filled Sierras to Sacramento Valley and thence to Sacramento where we got to our arranged spot 2hrs early. Went to Burger King for a thickshake, the others went for a walk, I stayed with the car and lazed in the sun. We met up with George chatted for a while then went west to his apartment in an old house, messy but warm. Chatted for a while then went to look at the Capitol and the river, had a pizza dinner and topped off at a salad bar, George had to go act in a play, at one stage he came back home still wearing his mascara, we sat and watched TV til 11.30pm.
5/3 199miles
George shouted us out to one of his favourite breaky spots, where we filled ourselves up with omelettes, we bought a spare tyre for $21 and said or goodbyes to George, he gave us each T shirt from his work. It was then a long boring drive along flat freeways, beside lush green pastures and blossoming fruit trees to Yosemite NP. We found a place in the forest to camp, had dinner and reminisced about our trip now that we are in the final stages. Bed at 9.30pm
6/3
For us Yosemite was a place of brilliant vibrant sunshine, towering cliffs and thundering waterfalls. The sunshine spread the word of Springtime through the air, even to the dew drops glistening in the early morning rays. Unfortunately being a Sunday meant lots of people, and with Her Royal Highness also present there were even more people than usual. There were many Park Rangers and CIA agents etc. to keep us away from HRH but we managed to catch a glimpse of her across Marion Lake. We saw all the falls that we were allowed to, from Bridal Veil to Yosemite and the Merced river. Sadly the clouds came down and covered Half Dome and on the way out we had to drive through some fog. In Fresno we filled up the tank for the last time and ate out at a steak place where everything was expensive so Rolf and I only had the salad bar. Drove up to Pine Flat lake and found a campsite and went straight to bed
7/3
Last night as we pulled in to the campsite there was a terrible clunking coming from a front wheel, we speculated about cracked discs, stuffed wheel bearings etc. This morning I went to pull the wheel off and found all the the nuts were loose, so we were lucky not to have gone much further. We drove up to Kings Canyon, down to Lake Kavanah down the 245 then back up to Sequoia, most of the time I never went over 30mph. The parks were beautiful, the tall trees majestic in their serenity, deep in the snow, slowly shedding their winter snow in icy showers upon us. We saw the big ones, Oregon, California and General Sherman. The valley that the 245 went through looked greener than green, with delicate flowers and rushing streams, quiet farms and no traffic. It was real treat to have lunch down there in shorts and T shirt weather and walk amongst Spring’s flowers.
8/3
We drove the final leg into LA arriving at 1pm, found our respective hosts and split up. I stayed with Rolf with his contact. Anton and Lowie went to Thousand Oaks in the car. The people as usual are nice, the lady Danish and beautiful, the husband handsome but with a stutter, both gentle people, their sons are just a little bit spoilt though they all have a good relationship, and the kids are talented at sports.
9-11/3
From the Wednesday to the Friday all Rolf and I did was watch TV and play Intelevision video games, write letters and generally relax during the day, at night there would be a nice dinner and a bit of a chat then back to TV until midnight.
12/3
Today being a Saturday the schedule changed. We went to watch Dylan’s basketball team thrash their opponents He really is very good with an 80% shot success and not a ball hog. After lunch we went for a walk in the hills above the housing area, and saw some California Poppies. In the eve we reverted back to TV.
13/3
I got up too late to go to church, not that I wanted to anyway, when the others got back we had a late breaky then drove up to Sorbang about 150miles north, but on the way the rain came down so we didn’t see much. It’s supposedly the Danish capital of USA, we had some Danish pastries and walked around a bit in the light drizzle, then drove back home. Dylan wasn’t too happy about being couped up in the car for so long. In the eve it was back to TV.
14/3
Wrote and read and watched TV and played video games all day. At 7.30pm Bob came round, we drove around a bit during the drive I saw my first dead person, he was laying in the gutter all covered in blood and everyone was just standing around staring at him. Bob refused to stop, saying you just don’t do that in LA. It had to happen in LA. We went to the ‘world famous’ Tommies hamburgers, I shouted, they were good but cost me nearly $10 for the two of us. I met his parents, more nice people, then watched TV til 11pm bed.
15/3
Rode around today and picked up 28 postcards and had a look at getting a rucksack at $138 not cheap but okay. Started writing the postcards.
16/3
Wrote postcards out in the sun most of the day. Posted some off and bought a wax stick to try and waterproof some seams in my tent. Bob came home at 5pm and we went to play raquetball, but first he had to play a tournament, and after that he didn’t have time, he had to do some final tape for his broadcasting school, I watched him work, and make a mistake, editing the wrong section, it took reems of tape in the cubicle to patch it up, he finally finished at 9pm and we went to a nice little restaurant for dinner and home at 11pm.
17/3
finished off all the postcards and sent a package back home to Aussieland. At 3pm Bob came home, we wanted to play raquetball again, but we were late, he rang up the courts and his mate wasn’t there so no raquetball. We went and bought my rucksack a North Face one with internal frame and a waist strap for more comfort, I’m still hoping to link up with Martha to do the divide walk, so I hope it’s okay. I showed them my slides and as usual they were all impressed, I wasn’t too pleased with the ones from the car trip, though some were okay. Sat up talking with Mrs til 2.45am and they gave me some addresses up the coast to visit.
18/3
I loaded up my bike for the first time in ages, boy what a biggy! I threw out a lot of stuff including my binoculars that had been banged around too much and were unusable. I left at 10.30am and rode through the city and made a wrong turn and did an extra 4miles in the rain. It was a good fun ride to Santa Monica getting there at 5pm and met my Servas hosts as to be expected, nice young people, they had some friends come over and we sat and talked and ate and had a generally nice evening, later watched TV til 11pm bed.
19/3
I went for a ride along the beach on a nice sunny day with all the glistening bodies of men and women I had nothing in common with. Then lazed around. Dinner was leftovers, then I was left alone, I did some taping of their records. When they came back I went with Dave to learn how to play bridge, I taught them how to play 500. At 11pm we came home.
20/3 30miles
I saw Dave as he rushed off to work, I never saw Lily as she kept on sleeping, I made my own breaky and took off. I rode 1hr to Malibu then 1½hrs to Agoura which I was happy with, I picked up 4 big oranges for 50c and ate 2 along the way. At Agoura everyone was in so I got lunch, Said goodbye to Rolf and rode to where Anton and Lowie were staying and got my $206 owing me for my share of the car, I’d hoped to cadge a spot on the loungeroom floor, but I was in for a surprise. Anton and Lowie were really nasty to me, it turns out that they thought I was a lazy sod and didn’t do the right things at hosts places. Lowie refused to talk to me, but I talked with Anton and he came around to be more conciliatory. Their host heard all this and told me to leave, they had obviously already bad mouthed me to them and he wasn’t interested in hearing my side of the story, so at 6pm just going on dark I was out on the street dumbfounded, as they hadn’t uttered a word of any of this during the trip. Thankfully just down the road there was a field and I camped under a sign, went for a walk to buy some food and was in bed by 7.30pm.
21/3
Up 7.30 It at rained a lot last night and I hadn’t pitched the tent well so I was a bit wet. Breaky in bed and on the road at 8.30. Just after the big decline to the coastal flat I got stopped by a lady cop, who told me to get off the freeway, and insisted on following me. At just the wrong moment I got a nail through my rear tyre, and she insisted that I take all my gear off and put my bike over the fence to a frontage road to fix it, I wasn’t happy with that cop. I then had to wind my way through back streets guessing at which way to go and making many wrong turns. I finally found the coastal road, then I had another guessing game to play as I tried to figure out the right route through the towns. I eventually found Carpentaria state beach and paid my 50c camp fee. I posted off some of my stuff to my contact in Seattle to give me some more room, wrote some letters and bought some food. I went for a walk down to the beach. Standing on an angry beach after dark, out in the sea the oil rigs were blinking quietly, the wind was really roaring in my ear, nearly enough to drown out my thoughts. So I stood, a lonely figure by the crashing waves, until eventually I’d had enough and I turned quietly away. I thought it was going to be a windy night, but the wind died. All day the wind had blasted me, at one stage I’d had to walk my bike over a bridge as it was too windy to ride it. Bed at 7.30pm.
22/3
Up 7.00 and on the road by 7.30. Again I had trouble finding my way through Santa Barbara, not all that far out I was forced onto the freeway, and there it began to drizzle, soon turning to rain. I pulled into Gaviota State Beach soaking wet, riding through a river on the road to get in, but the campground was closed. The toilets were still open so I hid in there until the rain let up, then walked along the railway line in to town, which was nothing, no shops, so walked back, I was just about to wade through the river in the road when someone pulled up and asked if I wanted a lift over. That’s the first good thing to happen for a while. The wind and the rain are getting to me. On a pier as the sun dipped below the horizon leaving grey stormy clouds, the surf beat at the pier legs til I thought it would surely fall apart, but now a gentle breeze cooled my face to send a shiver down my spine. No more rain eventuated. So with what meagre rashions I had I ate, did some planning and went to bed in the toilet block as the campground was awash.
23/3 67miles
Up 6.00 to a clear sunny day, a bit of a head wind and it seemed I went uphill all the way, especially that first one out of the campground on highway 1. I made Lompoc in 1½hrs , then through some more nice hills with nothing too hard and a pleasant long valley floor from Orcutt to Guadaloupe and eventually to Pismo State Beach arriving at 2pm, did some shopping and back to the tent. On pitching my tent I realized that I’d left my good rope in the toilet block, I’d used it as a clothes line to dry some clothes, taken the clothes off and left the rope behind, the next person into the block will find a nice length of rope. I got rained on a bit more today, but it was never worth stopping to put the raincoat on. It was a good day, the best yet and my spirits picked up, some of the hills were hard and I can’t get my 1st or granny gear so had to get up most of them in 2nd, though one really steep one I used a bungy cord to keep it in 1st to get up. At 5pm 2 Americans rolled in and we talked, one of them played chess so we had 2 good games, I won both.
24/3
It rained most of the night. I woke up at 5am to no rain, and was contemplating my arisement when there was a rip, a little paw reached in grabbed my half loaf of bread and took off with it, it was a Raccoon, I was getting closer to my arisement when I heard the patter of more feet approaching the tent, it was now after my sandwich meat, I moved it out of reach and the inquisitive face of a Raccoon appeared in the rip in my tent, I gave it a serious whack on the nose, and that was the last I heard of it. I finally arose at 8.00 when the next batch of rain stopped. I had just packed up when the next shower came through, and that was how it was all day, taking shelter from passing showers, I did well and avoided getting really soaked. I reached San Lois Obispo and checked out the route 1’s condition, it was closed due to landslides so I went to the highway patrol and they gave me a map of the freeway 101 and where I could ride on it and the route to take where I couldn’t. Just outside Obispo there was a 2-3mile stretch of 1st gear hill, when I got to the top I was stuffed, bathed in sweat. I reached Atascadero just before a shower hit, but I’d got a flat tyre, so I fixed that and rode to a shopping centre, there I got another flat. Did my shopping and took 2 goes to fix the flat it was an old patch that had sprung a leak. So at 2.30pm I decided I’d had enough of today and tried to ring up the Boy Scout HQ, but it was not in town and a long distance call. Across the road was a bike shop so I pushed my luck and introduced myself, they were a couple of oldies and at first were reluctant, but after chatting with them all afternoon they took me out to dinner and then to their home where we watched TV and talked til 10pm bed.
25/3
Up 7.30, they didn’t get up til 8.30, breaky then at 9.30 we went down to the bike shop, I was going to head off, but we decided I should fix the gear lever so that it stays in 1st gear without a bungy cord hooked over it, then I fixed the rear mudguard by replacing a bracket, then we decided that I’d stay another night, so I went the whole hog and cleaned the chain, derailers and cogs, then I helped Ed, I took a small BMX bike out of it’s box and built it for him with some help along the way, had lunch then built a 10speed with more help, and then it was time to go home, we ate at home then I taught Ed how to play idiot 66 , I beat him but only on total points. TV for a while then bed.
26/3 75miles
Up 8.30 breaky and said goodbye to Mrs, went down to the shop to say goodbye to Ed and I was on my way. Again the road was languidly hilly and I made good time, I saw quite a few other bikers all heading south. I met one cyclist in King City where I bought my supplies, he was from Monterey and told me of a good campsite, so I made it there just on nightfall, cooked a chicken and mushroom dinner with raw beans and hit the sack.
27/3 75miles
Up late at 8.00 and on the road by 9.00 with a light drizzle, it was uphill, and as I got higher it turned to rain as I headed for Carmel Valley. After a hard bit over the top it was downhill, but the rain was hard enough to hurt when it hit my face. By midday the rain had stopped and to my surprise the sun was still there to greet me. I had lunch in Carmel Valley Village, I tried ringing up a Servas host in Monterey but they weren’t interested in having me at such short notice so I rode on twards Sunset Beach. I met some people from San Diego, a youth group cycling for their holidays, also headed south. Finally just on dark I rolled in to Sunset Beach paid my 50c, set up tent and rode the 6miles back to town and ended up eating at Taco Bells then buying some milk for tomorrow’s breaky., back at 8pm and bed.
28/3
Up at 9.30, beach day! I took all my expensive belongings down to the beach and lazed in the sun until the sun went away at 3.30pm, paid another 50c had two pieces of bread with sugar, boiled some carrots and beans, the water became a soup with some garlic powder and tomato sauce, then I fried the carrots and beans with onions added more garlic powder and tomato sauce. It tasted delicious. Had an orange for dessert, not long after I rolled into bed and went to sleep, it wasn’t even dark yet.
29/3 20miles
Up late and leisurely and packed, cooked too much porridge for breaky, had a shower then rode towards Santa Cruz. Not having a map proved a frustrating experience again, so I found a highway patrolman and got a copy of a map that got me into Santa Cruz. I loafed around on a cliff face in the sun and the wind for a while having lunch, then found a shopping centre and rang up Suzie then chatted with the photomat girl for a while. Had a second lunch of chips, grapes and an orange. I rode out to the uni to meet Suzie at 6pm, getting there at 4pm I sat on the appointed corner and relaxed in the sun for 2hrs just outside the uni. Eventually Suzie turned up with Lisa and we went back to their house in the woods, another girl named Debbie arrived and finally Dawn, another girl. Lisa cooked burritos for dinner, then we watched an episode of The Thornbirds and had a good laugh. Bed at 11.30 or so on the lounge-room floor.
30/3
Up at 8.30, Lisa and Suzie went off to school, Dawn cooked me some scrambled eggs for breaky, then Debbie went off to school. I split some wood for their fire, then took some fibreglass sheeting off a roof frame with a pair of cutters, had to balance myself on a beam 15ft above the ground, it was a bit worrying, but I got it done. Dawn is an emergency teacher as I learnt as we chatted. We drove into town where we met her brother. I bought a new rear tyre and brake blocks and got my rear wheel straightened all for $18, then we went to her community school to get some stuff, then we got 10lbs of oranges for $1, some apples and a piece of delicious cake, went for a walk at a beachside Luna park type place, then had to run for the cheese garage getting all sorts of cheeses that were past their sell by date for $1.29lb, some were really good. Back home. Dawn, Suzie and I had some salad for dinner, late Lisa came and I showed them my slides on a white sheet as a screen. Much later Debbie came in with a friend who stayed the night, bed at 11.30pm.
31/3
Another beautiful sunny day. Dawn went off for a few days after we fixed a broken accelerator cable, Suzie and Lisa went off to school, and late Debbie went, eventually the last of the household presented herself in a bathrobe, later we got to talking and I found out that she’s a singer that’s stuck in a rut and wants to do something different, then she took off and I was alone. I read my book outside on the porch for a while then went for an 8mile ride. Debbie came back, but we don’t get along. Lisa and Suzie came back and made a fruit salad that was beautifully demolished after a replenished salad from last night. After dinner I finished my book by the iron stove fire.
The cruel tendency to self remorse in times of hardship or lethargy is lethal to me. Ugly spots and blemishes often remain behind, often recurring during future bouts of pain, thus festering and causing ugly wounds that scar and mar my personality, and of course if one doesn’t get these thing attended to they spread, covering the whole soul in an unsightly and unbecoming puss and ooze, much like a malignant lung cancer of a smoker, eventually choking the whole body to death. The obvious but not necessarily easy answer is that ever elusive balm of love, that all embracing sunshine and star in the midnight sky, that rose, that petal of life. All I’ve found so far is thorns, as all my relationships have ended in pain and I end up back where I started. So for me now my antidote for my disease is a set of stanzas in which I gradually upgrade myself, not necessarily in the eyes of the world, or even my friends but of myself. Unfortunately it isn’t a course that I can take alone. It does I’m sure require input from friends, relations and when I’m up to it God. The first step is to stop and take a look around, sort out a few values that are important, a few morals that are worth keeping, then as life throws things at me I evaluate them, sort them until I have a fundamental evaluation of who I am and what the hell I’m on about. Then I’m sorting out my interests to see what I really want out of life and what life is demanding out of me. I ain’t there yet, because I’m happy going nowhere in no particular direction, but that of course puts me right back at the start.
Depression
The shattered dreams and ideologies of tomorrow
Lie scattered on the road before me
They’re cutting up my mind and my soul
I have no concrete desire from life of its rivers
The lagoons and billabongs of my heart’s desire
Seem intolerably just out of reach
So as I come rushing towards the ocean of perplexity
I go under and drown in my heart’s sorrow
The tears though are lost in the nonentity of life
Like a man invisible I drift alone
Inexorably down towards a whirlpool of doom
Is there no way to escape my self remorse
Am I destined to only dream about tomorrow
And reflect in bitter sadness as it turns into another yesterday
Unfulfilled in a life of so much promise and beauty
With a soul so searching and incomplete
Am I really destined to drift forever
Clinging tightly to the bracken on the banks
Only to have my hands ripped apart
And the current drag me down, down, down
Into the depths of eternal gloom
I’m floundering in the sewer
Drowning in the toilet
Prostrate in my coffin
No wreath of roses
just the oozing muck of life
1/4
Reading the book of Revelations on a religious Friday morning, and I’m feeling scared for my soul. All those tormented people, both those that remained faithful and those that didn’t. So here I am scared that I’m not worthy of your forgiveness. I’m disgustingly human, a mortal, destined to die at least once, would you have me suffer the final death Lord, or shall I meet my friends in heaven, reunited in love through you. Lord I’m scared because I’m not able to love you truly, my mistakes and folly of my way, what am I to do? I want to be like your prophets, so full of love, I know you can hear my prayers. Do they make any difference? Will you send me some help, send me a bit of your love, send me your Holy Spirit, so that I can live in love and truth until the end of my life. I’d rather be with you, though how little I understand of you, how little. Am I doomed to be ignorant of you throughout eternity, or will you let me be with you in your eternal light?
In the eve some people came around and one was called Dana, he called himself a Christian and said he wanted to be a minister. We got talking, he knew a lot and had obviously done a lot of studies, but he disagreed with the bible a lot, seemed in general quite negative and often not to care too much for the Christian lifestyle, but it was mainly me talking and asking questions, he seemed reluctant to talk much about his philosophy or beliefs.
2/4 50miles
Up 7.30 and said goodbye to all and hit the road at 8.30, it was a cold race down the road to Felton through magnificent forest of Redwoods, and then a long climb up to Boulder Creek, up to the skyline drive and along it to Page Mill Rd and down to Palo Alto, my watch had stopped but I knew it was around midday, so I bought some lunch at a supermarket and started eating it there. I got the usual comments and queer looks from passers by, one girl of around 30yo stopped and had a good chat with me, I had bought some ice-cream, she strawberries, so we finished off lunch together, and continued chatting for 2 or three hours. Then I went to ring up my host Alan from the LAW and got directions to his place which was just around the corner, we sat and talked for a while, then he got me a ticket to see the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, which he had a free ticket for already, it now cost him $17.50. It was a great performance, though sometimes I could feel myself slipping off to sleep, the guy next to me did fall asleep, home at 11.00, then I showed my slides to Alan and Mick during which we all nearly fell asleep, Alan went off to sleep, I chatted some more with Mick until 1am when he went off to sleep, I read a book until 2am getting sleepier and sleepier until I was so sleepy I went to sleep.
3/4
Up 8.30, Alan cooked breaky, all kosher (no grains except for the preprepared matzo). At 11am we jumped on his tandem bicycle and went for a ride up in the hills, nothing like Page Mill Rd, but a good workout nonetheless, rode through the university, a beautiful spread out place. Home and lazed in the afternoon reading some of Solzhenitsyn’s
Gulag Archipelago, which was almost unbelievable stuff about what the poor Russian people were being arrested and shot or sent to the work camps for, talk about man’s inhumanity! Dinner, then Alan had to go fly, so I sat and ate raisin bread and ice-cream. Alan came back saying it had been too windy to fly. Chatted some more then showed another batch of my slides, then talked with Mick til 1am again.
4/4
Up 7.30 and on the road at 8.30, Alan cycled with me for a long while, then with a good handshake whilst still cycling he peeled off, he was a great host, definitely one of my favourites. I made good time all the way through San Francisco for a bight to eat and dawdled about, then across the Golden Gate bridge to Mill Valley. I met Peter at his school at 2.45pm and he led the way to his place on his skate board, a neat house amongst the trees, he went out again and left me with a book til Jodi came in, she filled the house well and made dinner, then went out. Felicia then came in with kids about 15, a bit unruly but okay, I finished off my book and hung around til 10.30, but no one was around so I went to bed.
5/4
Up 8.30, I made some pancakes for breaky and made a few sangas for lunch then cycled into SF, across the bridge again and down by the marina, up to Lombard St which was so steep I had to stand up in 1st gear to get up then down the twisty bit. Visited Coit tower on my way back through the city, met an English girl who had just visited Australia, she said it was only an okay experience. Back across the bridge to Golden gate park. I had my sangas for lunch on the walk by the beach, through the park and to Boy Scout HQ, but they weren’t any help. Went through the Fishermans market and back to Mill Valley. Jodi’s daughter (her real one I think) was there, she’s my age and looks after police horses. Jodi rushed in and back out, and we all ate what we could for dinner, then watched TV for a while, then I showed my slides with a primitive machine on a holey blanket, bed 11pm.
6/4
Up 9.30 and for most of the day I lazed on the balcony in the sun, somehow avoiding getting burnt, I did go for a ride and got myself a frypan for $12.50 at an outdoors shop, I also got some apple cinnamon blueberry granola for breaky and some goats milk that tasted just like cows milk, then back to the balcony. Only the kids were home so we watched TV til 11pm then bed.
7/4 65miles
Up at 8.30, breaky and on the road by 9.00. I tried to go via the Muir Woods, but found only a dirt road going to it, so gave it a miss and rode up the big hill out of SF. The day seemed to be full of big hills, twisting inland, then zooming back down to the coast at a creek crossing, I chatted with another cyclist nearing the top of one of the hills and for a while I thought I was going to get an invite to lunch, but he got cold and off he went, meanwhile I was in a lather of sweat. Bought some lunch at Port Reyes station and stopped by the river to eat it, then back into the still hilly ride. Quite a strong wind blew up, but it was warm enough to ride without my shirt. As is my luck, just before the campsite was a horrendous set of hills, but I eventually got there with the wind whistling around my ears to find that it was closed, not to me it wasn’t, I found a nice spot out of the way and pitched tent, did some writing of letters and went to bed as the sun went down.
8/4 65miles
Up at the crack o’ dawn had breaky and depitched as the sun came up. There was patchy mist on a dewy morning, quite cold and quite hilly. Got to Jenner to find that the road was closed ahead with a detour, dubiously I set off and got to the closure after a hard climb to find that the detour went up Miller Grade, now full of foreboding I set off, and sure enough, there it was, a stretch of vertical road, it was so steep that there was a truck stuck half way up it. The only way I could get up was to zigzag across the 12ft wide road, not an easy thing to do. When I got to the truck I had to get off and push it past which was even more difficult, then back to zigzagging. I had many stops both from exhaustion and for every car that went by, when I finally got to the top I found the road in terrible condition so had to ride slowly so as not to damage the wheels, then it was the dangerous vertical road back down. I made it to Fort Ross well behind where I expected to be, but from there I got a bit of a tail wind and the hills weren’t as challenging, though I was still often in 1st gear going up them. I had lunch just out of Stewart’s Point. I couldn’t find the state park I wanted so camped in some trees at the end of a beach access road and went for a walk along the beach just before Manchester. I cooked dinner and a ranger came by and told me where the park was, so after dinner I uprooted and rode the 3miles to the campsite, no showers again, not even water, finished dinner with a can of peaches and an orange, and bed on sunset.
9/4 45miles
Up early and was ready to go when the ranger came and had a chat, I noticed that he had a gun, not sure what for. I’d planned a shorter day today, but I had a windy day to contend with. I went through Mendocino, a quaint town with lots of old buildings, I bought lunch there and ate it just up the road. On to Fort Bragg to a state park just north of it. I pitched camp then rode back to the town to get some batteries a pen and some food. I rang up a girl in Eureka but she had quit since the book came out, so I wasted $1.35. I had better luck in Fortuna, I have to ring tomorrow to confirm. Back to the park, and went for a walk along the beach. I met a couple from SF who I’d seen on the road on bikes, they asked if I’d seen an item of clothing they’d lost, I hadn’t, we chatted for a while, they were staying at another state park, so off they went, I walked back had dinner, shower and bed.
10/4 55miles
Up later and a ranger came along to chat I nearly got away with not paying my 50c, but he found some change. It should have been an easy day, but I had a fair head wind to contend with, the first stretch wasn’t too bad and I was soon running up long hills and zipping down the other side, as I gradually seemed to climb, I had 3 long hills to get to the 101, I stopped in one picturesque valley for a snack on top of the jelly beans that I ate all day to keep my energy up. When I got to the 101 there was a ferocious wind, so much so that I couldn’t coast down hill, but had to pedal. I made it to Benlow lake at 2.30pm. I thought I’d made a mistake at first, but I eventually found a phone box and the golf club which had a small grocery shop, so I bought some food and rang up my Fortuna contact, it was okay to stay there, but it had cost me $3.50 in phone calls. Back to camp and sat in the warm sun out of the wind. As the sun went below the trees I cooked a gigantic dinner of spaghetti sauce and macaroni, I scoffed down a big plateful then went to bed.
11/4 65miles
There was no ranger this morning so I was off at 7.30 with no one to pay my 50c to. I rode through the Avenue of Giants, where big groves of the giant Redwoods abounded. I took it easy on the cold still road that wound along the Eel river. Got some stuff for lunch, then once I was out of the forest, stopped in a sunny spot for lunch and dozed off for an hour. When I got to the 101 the wind was there to meet me again and it made the short ride to Fortuna a slow hard one. I got lost on a small side road, and asked a farm girl if she knew where my host was, she knew where they were and gave me directions, so I got there at 3pm. I sat and talked with Corrine, and then we went to pick up Robert at the bus stop They went to move some cattle, so I found a book the same as one I hadn’t finished in New Orleans and sat down to read. Rhonda came in but had too much to do to sit down and talk with me. Later the grandparents came and we all had dinner after which I showed my slides, everyone went to bed and I read some more.
12/4
They had all gone when I got up at 8.30, so I made my breaky and sat down with my book for the day. I hadn’t finished it when they came home. We had dinner then a Boy Scout leader came around as planned and he took me to his scout meeting. There were only 6 boys and only 2 in uniform, the boys messed around with the leader, but were quiet for me as I gave my usual address, the leader then took me to an old boys place, he had been in scouting for a long time and had just resigned. He was a quiet gentle man and the 3 of us chatted. He made some phone-calls and found me a place to stay tomorrow night, an old couple who were having an Eagle Scout ceremony. Later it was back home, they were all going to bed, so I sat and read some more of the book until 11.30pm.
13/4 20miles
Up 7.00 and had breaky with the people then they all went off. I watched TV and a movie, then had lunch and was washing up when Corrine came home for lunch, she had finished before I was ready to leave, but I left soon after at 1pm. I rode the 20miles to Eureka arriving at 2.30pm, the wind was okay today, and there was only one medium hill, got a pack of chips and crunched my way through them, then went round to George’s but he had gone around to the church to set up for tonight, so I sat and talked with Billie who was recovering from a mild stroke. We had dinner in front of the TV, then off to the ceremony which was enjoyable. There was an old Indian lady who used Indian sign language to the tune of the Lord’s Prayer as the benediction, she was beautiful and slow, the movements full of expression, wonderful. Afterwards there was a supper and I talked with a few people, we were the last ones out at 10pm, back home and talked for a while, watched TV for a while then bed.
14/4
Up 10am and went in to the local Boy Scout HQ. I got invited to Lions luncheon, then back home and the rest of the day was spent, talking, watching TV and eating.
15/4
Up 10am. Lois who had been the pianist at the Eagle Scout ceremony invited me to have lunch with her, so George took me down there, but we got our wires crossed and I couldn’t find her, they told me I might find her at the Eureka Inn, so I got a lift up there, no, so I walked back and waited around til 2pm before ringing up George to tell him to come and fetch me, and went to McDonald’s, then I went to make the call to George at the same time as Lois went to make a call, so we ended up having lunch, there were 3 other guys there also, unemployed down and outs that were happy with their situation, so they told me what they were all about and I listened, when at last it was time to go Lois took me for a drive to see the marina and cultural centre, then home. Lois had invited me to go to a dinner and see some slides on Alaska, so George drove me round there and I met some young people in the church. The slides were great and I talked with Bill, who gave me his address if I ever got there, Lois took me home at 10pm, bed.
16/4
Up 10.00, a young lady, the niece of some people wanted to talk with me on the phone. She came around and we went for a drive in her Toyota Corolla Coupe, we drove out to a park in Eureka and went for a walk through the Redwoods, then had a lunch at her mother’s little restaurant, I had a burger. Then went for a quick drive up into the hills and back to the newspapers for a 2pm appointment with a reporter, who interviewed me and took my photograph. Back home and watched some TV til Lois came round and another oldy, we picked up Lois’ mother and went to a smorgasbord dinner, after which Lois and I went out to Aroata to listen to a string quartet play, they were excellent, I am liable to fall in love with string quartets if they’re all this good! After the performance, Bill from Alaska Lois and I went to a small party where I talked with a few people til 11.30, then Lois showed me the lights of Aroata, mainly a redecorated department store with an old style bar upstairs., dropped in briefly at the Eureka Inn to listen to a pianist then back home at 12.30am.
17/4
Up 8.30 and went to church, but Billie wasn’t feeling well so left early. Later Lois rang up and apparently chastised them for taking me with them. We relaxed and watched TV all day, and in the eve George showed me his stamps and then offered them to me, Billie wasn’t too pleased. It’s a big collection that includes mint blocks of 4 from back in the 50s and 60s.I wasn’t going to pass on such an offer, so I got them. I calculated that I’m spending a bit under $10 a day on average for the trip so far.
18/4
Up 8.30 Lois had rung up and invited me out to a concert tonight, how could I say no? I sent the stamps back off home for $11 plus I inured them for $100 for $1.65. Then I rode to a bike shop where the guy advised that I had a stretched chain so changed it and got a chain link remover, then found I had 2 worn cogs, so changed them, the total came to $16, so I’m over budget today. In the avo watched TV. At 8pm Lois arrived and we went to the local high school to listen to a vocal group from New York fill the air with their voices for 2hrs, then in the pouring rain we went to a doctor’s house, filled with oldies, Lois brought person after person to meet me, so I was never alone as I drank non-alcoholic grape juice and ate strawberry cream pie. The house was a bit eccentric and definitely a rich man’s house, but the hosts and the guests were all great to talk with, at 12.30am it was time to go home and I said goodbye to Lois and thanked her for making Eureka a most memorable break for me.
19/4 25miles
Up 8.30, packed had breaky then George filled up my panniers with peanut butter, eggs, rice, oranges etc. etc. and at 10.00 I bade them farewell, and headed north. I rode for a few hours and came across a Swedish cyclist walking his bike up a steep hill, we talked and rode on together out to Patrick’s Point for lunch then back to Trinidad for some supplies along a lumpy scenic road, back had dinner and went for a walk along the beach then bed.
20/4 25miles
Up 7.00 and had an easy ride to Orick where we bought stuff for lunch and dinner then a short ride to Prairie Creek Redwoods where we camped by the side of the field where the Elks were. It was a bit daunting. We ate lunch, talked for a while then went for a walk in the woods for a few miles and saw a Salamander, only a small one, a few birds and lots of big trees, then walked back along the track. As we walked he talked about his travels in Nepal. When we got back I had a rest in my tent, and then it rained. I wasn’t hungry so just had a few sangas and listened to my cassettes, sleep at 7.30 or so.
21/4 34miles
Up at 7.00 to find that the Raccoons had struck again. On the end of the picnic table is a wooden box for you to put food into, but we found out it isn’t Raccoon proof, they can wedge the door open enough to get a paw inside, they got 1/2 a loaf of my bread and ¾ of my meat. They also got into Arnie’s packs by undoing the zips and ate his yeast and sesame seeds, we weren’t impressed. Putting that aside, with the threat of rain we decamped and rode to Klamath, bought some supplies and rode on to Crescent City. We came to a large hill, Arnie got off and walked. I rode on intending to meet him at the campsite, but I missed it and found myself in Crescent City, so as I had intended I looked up the Boy Scouts via the council offices, they directed me to a bakery, where the son rang up his father, who rang up someone else who turned to be Kitty the lady who had done the Lord’s Prayer in Indian sign language at George’s Eagle court of honour. She took me to the local probation officer, I do look scruffy like a crim. He rang up someone and sent me around to a Mormon church. I went for a walk down to the ocean, then returned to meet the curator and we sat and chatted. At 6.30 the scouts came and I helped them with their lashings (knots), then they went and I had nowhere to go, so I set up my tent in the church yard and went to Burger King for a hamburger and salad bar, then back and to bed.
22/4 110miles
Up 6.00, breaky and hit the road, I had a wonderful tail wind, but it wasn’t long before the rain caught up with me by the Oregon border, then I did short legs from then on. I had lunch in Gold Beach and coming in to Port Orford I had terrible cross-headwind gusts from Hamburg Mountain, then an easy run into Bandon, since the border I’d had a mixture of showers and heavy rain, with some nice tail winds. I must have looked a bedraggled spectacle when I rolled up to the youth hostel in Bandon. I met with 2 Aussies, 1 German, 1 Canadian and 2 young American girls who were the volunteers. After dinner I showed some of them my slides, some of them went to the pub, at 11.00 they came back and we sat chatting for ½hr or so then bed.
23/4
Up 7.30, shower, still raining, but Stephen, Peter and I went for a walk along the beach, on the way back we met up with Teri the supervisor at the hostel. Peter and I had lunch at the Dairy Queen, then bought some provisions and went and relaxed at the hostel. Later some of us went and listened to a professional Indian storyteller do their thing, beautifully done. When we got back there was an older Swiss girl, with 2 Danish girls and a NZ girl travelling together, we had a pleasant evening nattering, finding out about each other. Bed 11.00.
24/4
Up 8.00, walked around under clearing skies, then Peter, Stephen and I sat on the verandah and read the newspapers. The supervisor came round and gave us the key to get in (the hostel is unmanned during the day). We had lunch at a local cafe, and just as we were about to go for a bike ride, the rain came back, so we sat in the hostel. For dinner Peter and I heated up some pizza that had come in after everyone had eaten last night. A couple came in and registered and promptly disappeared, a jeweller wanting to sell some of his wares for a night’s accommodation drifted in and out and ended up sleeping in his car, Teri and Karen came around for a while then they went so there was only Stephen, Peter and I for most of the evening, bed 10.00.
25/4 100miles
Up 6.30, shower, packed and off by 7.15. I dodged the rain all day riding quite slowly amid the sand dunes, the last stretch was around Seal Caves. There was a really beautiful point with a lighthouse and neat house. I tried a contact I had in Cervailes, but got no answer. I missed lunch and found a campsite that luckily had a phone, had some dinner and rang up my contact again, in 1min I got a yes and directions, it cost me $1.50. I hit the sack at 9.00.
26/4 70miles
Up 6.30 had breaky in Walport and headed inland up the Alsea river. It was a nice ride, not too hard. Bought stuff for lunch in Alsea and sat on the bridge by North Fork to eat and rested. Up the hill to the top at 1230ft then down to Cervailes, found the uni where Helen works, she gave me directions to her place and rode up there, encountering a mean hill on the way. Her son Eric was home, we got chatting, he’s a real bird man and gave me an old book of his on Western American birds. He had to go see his girlfriend, so I sat and listened to records until Helen came home. We had a light dinner then sat and talked, later I showed my slides.
27/4
Up 9.30, Helen had gone to work, but Eric was just getting up. I waffled around til 12.30 and decided to stay another night (Helen had given me permission to last night). So in beautiful sunshine I rode to Albany, a beautiful town with fine houses with all the trees in blossom. I met a student and sat chatting with them in the sunshine. Then back home up that mean hill flat out with no gear on. Eric went off soon after. Had a shower and something to eat then listened to music.
28/4 40miles
Up late got some addresses off of John’s list, and hit the road at 12.00. Went up the 99W through Monmouth to the 22 then east to Salem by 4.30 and found my host’s house, there was no one home, so went for a walk to the shopping centre and got a drink and some apples, walked back. At 6.00 they showed up on bikes, then there was bedlam for a while as people got themselves off to baseball. I grated some cheese for the enchilada dinner later, then we rode down to watch the softball that their daughter played, their team lost after a good game. The rain came just as the game was finishing so it was a dash home in the rain. Dinner, the Scott and I had a game of chess I was out of my league and got thrashed. Talked for a while then bed.
29/4
Up 8.00, breakfast, then I went with Jean to the bike shop where she works and helped her and the owners of the shop fix bikes all day, it was kind of fun except that the owners were a young couple that have been married for seven years and there was constant fighting between them, which was quite uncomfortable to witness. 5.00 we rode home, dinner was spaghetti, then I showed my slides and talked til late. Bed 11.00
30/4 57miles
Up 8.00 and said my goodbyes at 10.00, rode up the 219 to the 214 which I nearly went by, along it to Woodburn, then on the 99E to Canby where I had lunch just off the road. Whilst I was eating a guy came up in a Subaru and started chatting, he soon started asking personal questions, and in the end kind of just blurted out “Do you want to come and have sex with me” I declined, and thankfully he drove off, I was dumbfounded, do I look or act like a homosexual? In fact I’m quite the opposite, I’m extremely homophobic after several bad encounters with them, now there’s one more. Upset and depressed now I rode on to Portland where thankfully I had another host lined up. I had trouble finding his place but it was Mountain View St, so I found the nearby hill, and there it was. We had an early yummy dinner of fried chicken, then we got into his 1969 Mercedes 280 S and went out along the Columbia river on the old highway with beautiful old stone bridges and waterfalls galore. I showed my slides and he showed me his of his bicentennial trip across the US. Bed midnight.
1/5 50miles
Up 8.00, breaky and tried to find another place to stay, with no luck. John wasn’t in, and the people out in Gresham had no phone, the Youth Hostel on the way would cost $8.22 a night. So at 12.00 I hit the road, he cycled with me into Portland and showed me some of his favourite spots. The city reminds me of Melbourne as the Willameth river runs through the city with similar looking bridges and parks. He rode with me to route 30 then I rode off into the smog. I had lunch at 2.00 at St Hellens, then on to Rainer where I crossed the Columbia river on the huge bridge, bought stuff for dinner in Long View and headed out the 411. It wasn’t until I was at the top of a huge hill that I decided I was definitely on the wrong road. I couldn’t find a camping spot, so zipped back down the hill to the 411 and rode until I found a camp spot on a unused track. Cooked my usual camp dinner and bed.
2/5 45miles
Up late and had a nice day’s ride through quiet small towns on small back roads through green fields to Naparine where I rang up my hosts and got through on the second try. Lorna came out to meet me in her beat up farm ute. She’s in her 30’s with a nice face and pleasant manner, dressed in odd socks, holey track suit and grotty top, loaded up the bike on the ute and went to her beat up farmhouse that has real warmth in its rustic beauty, with a menagerie of animals. After lunch I did a few small jobs then went down with Tom and Lorna to their little shack, which is a miniature copy of the main farmhouse, and we tore out a wall. Great fun! Back and met the parents, Dot, a big loud lady, and Don a big quiet man, who are very active in the community, mainly through the blustery Dot. They seem to be a wonderfully met couple. After dinner there was a farm meeting about what they want to plant in and around the greenhouse, but it went around and around in circles. Bed midnight.
3/5
Before sunrise the Coyotes were very vocal. Up 7.00, no one but Dot was up. Hung around til all were up then had a nice breaky, helped Tom and Lorna fix a fence that had fallen down. Dot found a dead calf, so we dropped it across a field and Lorna went and buried it. Then we dug around in the garden and transplanted some stuff from the greenhouse to the garden. At 4.30 all congregated around the shower. Then we went into Centralia to swap cars and thence to Olympia to a folk dance, met people all night there until 10.00 as I struggled to learn how to dance, I’ve always had two left feet no matter what the dance. We transferred to a pizza place til 11.00 then home. It was 1am when I got to bed.
4/5
A warm day today. I worked in the greenhouse with just my shorts on putting in planks to form a pathway, then outside replanting spring onions and digging up weeds, namely crab grass. In the evening there was only John and Jean and I, we had re-heats for dinner, soon all the others started turning up including David, who I’d only talked to on the phone. They all drifted off to bed except Dot, Jean and I, Lorna stayed for a while. We got talking and I found Jean’s version of Christianity to be a bit too liberal, but we had a good old natter, nutting out our beliefs. Bed 12.30.
5/5
I started work out in the garden again, but was soon called to help with the animals. First job was to worm the sheep, so I held them, then we loaded them onto the ute and let them out in the sheep field. Then we went to fetch a calf from a dairy about 10miles away near Mt St Helens, I was disappointed to find the mountain under cloud. John and I held the calf in the back for the trip back. We tied up the calf then tried to catch the cow that had lost the calf to the coyotes, but it was very elusive, jumping fences, eventually we got a length of rope around her neck. Lorna damaged her hand trying to get the rope around a post but I managed to get her tied up between two posts and then the calf was led to her, and wonderfully she let the calf suckle. I helped Lorna load up the ute with rubbish and she took off. Dot and I fiddled with the light system of the black VW Beetle, but it needs professional help and we gave up. Then it rained. I went up to my room and read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in the avo. When I’d finished it I went down, but all were gone except John and Jean. I cooked pancakes (crepes) for dinner. We had a game of Trionimos which Jean won, bed 11.00 and read the second book of the trilogy until 1am.
6/5 40miles
Had breaky, finished a few jobs in the greenhouse, and at 10.00 gave a big goodbye hug to Dot and rode off into the mid morning. I had a nice tail wind as I headed north. I was on the old 99 highway which is a terrible road with uneven slabs of concrete. This guy comes up behind me and shouts at me through the window then stops. He tells me to meet him up the road a bit at his place and drives off. About 15min later I see him so I stopped and we chatted for a while. Later we drove into town and I spotted a pair of Dachstein walking boots for $135, marked down from $160, really good boots (I’m still hoping to go walking across America with Martha). We bought some fish and salad, cooked the fish and ate. Then he drove me round to Phyllis’ place, after getting lost and having to ring up for directions. We sat and chatted with 2 guys and another girl, had fresh cooked bread for supper and got to bed at who knows what time.
7/5
Up 9.00 I made some of my pancakes for the populace, then rested until 11.00, when Phyllis took me out to Capital Forest. On our first walk it rained, and on getting out of the forest Phyllis got the Bug bogged, and I broke my back getting it out, we drove down to Mina Mounds, walked around then had lunch with Simon her dog. Went back via a house where she used to live, which was filled with hippies. Sat and chatted until Heidi came home, cooked dinner then chatted some more. We went up to a rock and roll boozer hippy party, I very quickly became disgusted with it all and walked back home and listened to some quieter music until 1.00 bed.
8/5
Up 10.00, Heidi and I rode out to the community gardens to do some planting, she got a flat tyre on the way, so we walked the last bit. Then it rained, so we planted in the rain, it was cold dirty work, but we got a lot done, and it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be, except that my hands got so cold that I struggled to get the tyre back on Heidi’s bike after fixing it. We rode to the Co-op and bought a heap of food and put in a box and tried to ride home with it on her pack rack, but she tipped it, so I rode her awful bike (compared to mine at least) back home. Not long after we got back Blake turned up and we sat and chatted, he went off and I sat by myself for a while then Ian came and we talked til 12.00 bed.
Civilization drowning
The stories of the old
The stories of the new
The screeching of the poor
The lost dignity of the ancients
Desecrated by civilization
An on going cancelization
Sociological structuring
Stripping the forests bare
Like a naked lady in a storm
Drowning, drowning, drowning
Downy feathers, soft caressing
Sun filled dew drop
Stop the undressing
Transparent heads in the afternoon glow
Dim witted leaders all in a row
Iron clad hearts just milking away
Selling stories of peace and well being
Whilst the poor just waste away
9/5
Up late and just hung around the house most of the day. I rode out to the college with David to see if I could find a helmet, the prices were good, but I couldn’t find one that fitted me comfortably enough to use all day, so rode back bare headed, and got rained on. Read a book that had a slow start but got better as I finished it at 7.00pm. Hung around til dark, when people started coming back home, showed my slides to most of the house’s inhabitants, I think they enjoyed them. Bed 11.00.
10/5
Up 8.30. They needed some supplies so David told me where they shopped and went and bought some milk, bread and fruit for them and rode back. Jennifer and David rode with me to the uni at 12.30. One of Heidi’s friends was doing an escape act, but he wasn’t where he was supposed to be, so I sat in the sun and watched a rock and roll band. Heidi came along and I rode back with her. Phyllis was back from registration at the uni. Soon the sick one, Judy came over and we all sat around in the sun, I read some. In the eve I listened to music and chatted, at one stage I went for a walk with Phyllis and the dogs after dark. Bed 11.00.
11/5 67miles
Up 7.30, breaky, packed and on the road 8.30. There was a bit more hill climbing than I’d bargained for, and was surprised to find that all the way from Tacoma to Seattle was developed, at least along the 99. Seattle reminded me of a more hilly Melbourne, lots of wooden houses though, not so many bricks. I found my host’s house no worries, and lazed in the sun til 6.30 when Mrs arrived. I was made to feel welcome and spent a pleasant evening chatting, meeting her nephew who is in town looking for a job. Bed 11.00
12/5
When I got up, all had gone. I rode up the 23rd St hill to REI the big outdoor store, got a pair of sunglasses, and rode down to the city centre, and out along the bay. I finished off my roll of film. Back home and read National Geographics til Mrs came home. She took me out to dinner to a great little Chinese restaurant with her daughter, and afterwards we had a look at the lock that separates the fresh from the salt water. Back home and watched TV, then bed.
13/5
Up 7.30. Mrs took my exposed films in to a friend of hers for processing. I rang up Phyllis to tell her that I wasn’t coming down today, then went back to REI and bought some water repellent for my boots, a nylon fly for my leaking tent, a space blanket, and a new pole. Home and applied the waterproofing to my boots, ate and did my washing. At 5.00 I went for a walk for an hour or so to get to a lake and a view of Mt Rainer, snow-capped and all misty in the distance, stopped at a pastry shop on the way back, and just got back in time to say goodbye and thanks to Mrs and I was alone. I nibbled a bit and watched TV, then bed.
14/5
Up 10.00, breaky, packed my backpack and hit the road, walked up around the corner to the 250, where I waited 5mins for a ride into town, a short walk got me to a ramp where I waited 2mins for a ride to Tacoma with a mountain of a man. In Tacoma the first car that went by picked me up, a little ute, he was going to the army base, but took me to Olympia, and I hadn’t even got across the road when a guy picked me up and took me to Centralia in his Jaguar, he had a little pup that I played with in the back seat. I had to walk a bit to find a phone, but found one near a McDonald’s, and rang up. 5Mins, 2 hamburgers and a shake later, Don arrived with David and we went back to their wonderful farm, that afternoon there was nothing to do so I got stuck into the Chronicles of Narnia again (5/5).
15/5
Today was a potter around sort of day not achieving all that much, I read most of the time and chatted some.
16/6
Didn’t achieve much again today. Helped Don fix up the “Duck” room and read a lot more. I had some arsonistic fun which turned out to be hard work cleaning up the dead branches and rubbish in the back yard.
17/5
Today we got stuck into it. We went right through the flock of sheep, clipped their toenails and squirted a worming fluid down their throats. Lorna shore 3 sheep I struggled with 1. We then tackled the wood pile with a chainsaw and splitters. Had a nap in the late arvo, then at 5.30 we drove up to Olympia for the folk dancing. There were a few people that I’d met the last time, such as the plump, nice, fair-faced, pimple-faced, fair-haired girl from Alaska that were good to see again, and of course Phyllis. Met and chatted with some new people too, as we danced. I had fun til 9.20 when Judy told me that Heidi couldn’t come walking this weekend as planned, I asked Phillis if this was true and she said yes, and then told me that she was going to Oklahoma so couldn’t go either. I went sulky and didn’t dance again, my evening was ruined. At 10.00 we left. I gave Phyllis a hug, but in my heart I was broken and said nothing all the way back home, I read with red eyes. I still believe that all women are evil, they have no heart. I had found myself being attracted to Phyllis more than any other girl I’d met on the trip, her quiet beauty and manners are just what I’m looking for, I just need to find someone who thinks I’m good enough, I’m yet to find one.
18/5
I finished off the wood pile taking out my frustration on the wood, and played pyromania with the huge rubbish pile in the field. Later I finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia, all great books.
19/5
Today when I wanted to be off and running around in the fixed Bug I was given a long list of chores to do. I cleaned out the compound where the dogs ate. Fixed up the chicken yard so that they could access water easily, and built a ramp over the chicken run so that the strawberry patch was easier to access. By then it was 1.00, so I grabbed an apple and took off. I first went south to see if I could get a view of Mt St Helens, but it was shrouded in cloud again. So I drove up the I5 to Olympia. Jenny was the only one in and she was asleep, so I went to the uni only to find that the bike shop was only open from 11.00 to 11.45, it now being 2.30 I’d missed it by a long shot. So drove back through and got some hamburgers and a shake at McDonald’s and drove up the 510 towards Mt Rainer. It was a beautiful clear day, so I got up close to the national park, about 2miles before it a dirt road went up the mountain, so I took it and found a perfect spot where I could see St Helen’s, Adam’s and Rainer, I had to wait for a while for the clouds to clear from Rainer. I was stunned to find that the area around the national park had been clear-felled recently, so the mountain looked like head of a monk, awful. I got back at 7.30, not long after it was dinner then lazed until bed time.
20/5
Up 7.00 and got a ride to Seattle with Dorothy and friend. Tony was home when I got there so we sat and chatted. He had got my films from the processor and wouldn’t let me pay for them, jolly nice of them. I wrote letters until Paula and Devra came home then we went out to the same Chinese restaurant as last time for some different yummy food, then back home and I showed my slides, I got some really nice shots of coming up the west coast with only 2 bloopers, one out of focus and one over-exposed.
21/5
Up 9.00 and with just my day pack this time I set off at 10.00 and tried to hitch-hike down to Olympia. This time I had no luck and it took me until 12.00 to get out of Seattle to Tacoma, then I had to walk and jog through Ft Lewis, and got a ride a few exits south, but then I couldn’t get a ride and ended up walking all of the way to the outskirts of Olympia where I begged a ride from some people at a hamburger stand who got me near Fergivilla at 5.00. Jenny was there and she gave me her promised list of contacts, I borrowed her bike and rode to the uni, this time the bike shop was open but I found that the helmet that they had got for me, an MSR was too big, they had also got in a smaller one but it was too small, so no helmet. I got some sponge grips for my handlebars and a flag pole so I can fly my flag and a spare brake cable. I then found that I only had $2 and they wouldn’t accept travellers cheques, so everything went back except the 26c brake cable and off I went, not happy. Went to the library and photostated some pages of info from a book for under $1 and rode back. Ian drove me up to the 101 at 7.00. I waited maybe 5mins when some college students took me to Tacoma. One was from Brazil, the other from Chile, so we had a pleasant chat. I got a short ride to the other side of Tacoma, then a real weirdo, he dropped me off at the top of Hamlin St. It was now 8.30 and Mrs was kind enough to cook some dinner especially for me. We talked for a while then bed.
22/5
Up 10.00, Paula cooked some blueberry muffins or cup-cakes as they call them here for Tony and I, then I sat in the sun for a while. We went for a drive in the van around Nth Seattle then up to Camino Island to a Girl-Scout camp to pick up Devra and back home. We made some home made strawberry ice-cream and BBQed some chickens, ate then watched TV. I rang up Jorene in Edmonds, but she wasn’t in, I spoke to her father, who sounded odd, so I’m a bit dubious about going there. Watched more TV til 9.30, then called reverse charges to home and spoke to mum for a while, bed not long after.
23/5
Up 10.00. Did my washing, then rode out to the uni library to have a look at stamp catalogues, I found that some of the stamps that I got from Eureka have good value according to the Scott’s catalogue. Sent off my letters after buying the latest US stamps. Found a bike store, bought a flag pole and some riding gloves and back home. Later Paula and Tony came home and we had BBQ steak for dinner, then Paula did some sewing of my tent, fixing the Raccoon rend and sewing my Aussie flag to the pole. Then sat and chatted til late.
24/5 20miles
Up 9.30, packed and hit the road at 11.00 and mozied my way slowly up Aurora or 99 to Edmonds, and got there at 1.30. Jorene was waiting for me. She had to do a few errands, then she took me down to a small park down by the Sound where we went for a walk, she showed me Salmonberries which are out at the moment and very nice. Back home for roast beef rolls which one dips into the meat juice and are called roast beef dip, salad and pan fried squid. I showed them my slides and Jorene showed some of hers, then we went down to the quay for the sunset which was stunning. Back home and Mrs showed some slides of their trip to Communist China, the parents then went to bed, Jorene and I spent the rest of the evening chatting, I read some of my poems to her.
25/5
Jorene cooked bacon and eggs then pancakes for breaky. I loaded up, she took a picky of me on my bike. I rode up the 99 to the ferry which cost me $1.40 to get to Widbey Island. I found some salmonberries on my way down to Bush Point. There was no one home so I lazed in the sun. Greg came home at 4.00 but he brought home some drunken mates, so I sat out on the verandah away from them and watched the sun go down and the ships going through the channel. He fed me cold fish and hot turkey for dinner. Mrs came home, and we sat and chatted, then I found the Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn and I read til 12.00.
26/5
Up 9.00, Julia cooked a soufflie with a custard like consistency that was really nice. Julia took off and I read books all day with on the verandah with the sun on my belly, til she came home at 4.30, we dithered around having dinner of salad at some time until 7.30 when we went around to a friend of hers that had a slide projector and a million kids, there were some other people there too, and they all went oohh and ahh at my slides. Back home and read some more.
27/5
Up 9.00 again. Julia took a picky of me on my bike then took off, I had a shower then took off, I rode the island taking a picky at Deception Point, had a late lunch in Anacartes and rode to the ferry, catching the 5.30 one to Friday Harbour on the San Juan Islands. I saw some bald Eagles on the passage. I found a little park which the guy in the bike shop had told me was okay to camp at. I pitched my tent and did some shopping and was doing some writing when this officious cop walked up and told me I couldn’t camp here. It was almost dark and I hadn’t had dinner, but my pleading fell on deaf ears, and I was forced to decamp. I rode about 2miles from the town and found an awkward place to do a very sloppy pitch of the tent, cooked my dinner and ate in the dark. It was still quite hot when I went to bed.
28/5
Cycled back into Friday Harbour and sat around waiting for the ferry which was an hour late. In the rapidly heating morning I sat and chatted with some people waiting for the ferry also. The ferry eventually came. I pleasant ride in to Sydney where I heckled with a nice looking Canadian official and eventually procuring a visa until July, and took off for Victoria in the heat. I bought some stuff for lunch and rode down to the beach, found a shady tree to eat under and flaked out for a few hours. I went to find the start of the Trans-Canada Hwy and started the long ride east. Got to Gold Stream and found a nice spot to camp, pitched the tent then rode to the local store for some food, ate and listened to the radio.
29/5
Up around 9.00 and cycled into Nanaimo. There was a mile long hill to climb, which on a rather hot day was uncomfortable. Got to the ferry by 4.30. On the crossing I hid from the sun on the deck. Spent a few hours relaxing down by Whyte Cliffs park in the shade, then went and found a campsite near a park and ride camp just off the highway, and went and got food, ate and bed with the wind blowing.
30/5
It remained a windy night. Cycled into Vancouver along Marine Dr picking some more salmonberries along the way. Went to the Boy Scout Office and with a bit of ringing around found the Rovers. One of them came down and picked me up, I had a shower and then we sat around and talked all arvo. After dinner I went with Ken to play baseball, I acquitted myself well, though I was only only playing against 14-15yo . My bed is in the basement which is also the TV room, so I watched some TV
31/5
Up 10.30, breaky, then Shelley took me sightseeing. There are some nice parks and gardens here, though it was too misty for good photography. Home, dinner then Ken and I went to the Scout meeting, not many of them, but they were good. Home and TV til late.
1/6
Shelley, Mrs and I went down town, then went for a walk around Lynn Ck park and had a picnic lunch. Home and helped with the chores. Dinner then some people came around, Kem from N. Ireland, and Elizabeth from the Rover crew who had previously cycled the Trans-Canada Hwy, and we showed slides.
2/6
Up early and attended lectures on first aid and safety procedures around helicopters all day. In the eve I wrote letters and talked with Mr and Mrs til late. TV until even later and bed.
3/6
Rode into town and bought $12 of Canadian stamps and posted them off with my letters on the way home. Went via the market place down by the estuary and bought a small Canadian flag to go under my Aussie one on my pole. There was no one home when I got back so lazed outside, when Mrs came back I lazed inside. After dinner Ken and I went to check on an activity that the Rovers are running for the Scouts this weekend.
4/6
Up 7.00, packed, breaky and off we went to the yacht basin via the Scout hall. We boarded the Temptress I and chugged out of the harbour with 7 Scouts and their 2 leaders, the parent of one of the Scouts owns the boat. We landed on Gunbier Is at West Bay and set up camp. Then the boys got stuck into their anchor badge, first they had to spend 3mins in the icy water, one kid who couldn’t swim had a go with Keith to support him, but failed, 2 refused to go in, and one took 15min to find the nerve to go in. Keith made a beef stroganoff well, and we sat around the campfire and yarned til 10.00.
5/6
Up 8.00, the morning zipped by and it was soon time to pack up, we mucked around in the little dinghy for a while, then we chugged out of the bay and back to the Vancouver basin. Drove home in time for dinner, there was a visitor who had just come back from France, so we sat around talking. I did some route planning on how to get to Chilliwak then bed
6/6 75km
Up 7.00, breaky, packed and was off by 8.30 I had no problems getting to Chilliwak even though I left my notes from last night behind. Found McNaught St and took a guess at the number, and was right. Sat and talked with Dane’s grandmother for 5mins, then we both dropped off to sleep til Dane who I’d met at the Rover moot in Toronto came in at 3.30. I hopped on the back of his motorbike (my first time as a pillion passenger and I needed instruction). We went up into the local hills via a lake to a lookout. I had to walk back down the steep track. We ate out at a nice new restaurant. I had escargos which tasted like mushrooms with the consistency of tough scallops, very nice. Then a big burger with fresh vegies and a sauce, also very nice, and icecream, I was full by the end. Around to a different grandmother’s place to meet a heap of relatives including a brother, they all gradually disappeared to leave the two of us watching TV. Then back on the motorbike to the original grandmother and met his other brother, talked for a while then bed at 12.00.
7/6 130km
Up 7.00 and left at 8.00. All but Dane and his still sleeping grandmother had gone. I rode to Hope with a nasty tail wind and stocked up on food and left there at 11.00 to do a 60km hill climb to get to Allison pass at 1353m at about 7.30. I stopped frequently at the mountain streams to drink the water, and salmonberry patches had 3 apples and 2 oranges, but I was still suffering from heat exhaustion and weak by the time I got to the top. At about 10km down the hill I found a closed campsite, went inside ate a big meal and by twilight I was asleep. Definitely the hardest day yet.
8/6 135km
Up early and had a mostly down hill run with a few hills to Keremeos with many stops at shops for milk, 1½L in all plus salad vegies. Just up on the 3A I found a nice spot at 4.30 so camped at 4.30 to escape the 30°C heat and flaked for a while, then dinner and bed.
9/6 162km
Rode up to Yellow lake, then down into Penticton for a 9.00 breaky of donuts milk and fruit. Along the shore of Lake Okanagan with a few up and over hills like at Summerland thus in to Kelauna for a light lunch of fresh fruit and vegies. By now it was getting quite hot again so slowed down. Got to Vernon at 5.00. I had a contact here, but had no surname, address or phone number, only Harold, I knew the maiden name of the person who’d given me the contact as her relative, so I looked it up in the directory, rang up that number and was right. He came out to pick me up. They are quiet people, we sat on their porch and had a BBQ dinner, then went for a stroll.
10/6
up 8.00, breaky, harold came back from work then he took me up to one of his microwave stations near Falkland, I watched he and his partner work for a while then went outside, found a spot out of the cold wind and dropped off to sleep. Went back just in time as they finished their work and back to Vernon. Mrs took me to an outdoor shop to look at some Gortex coats, but even on sale, seconds were too expensive. I chatted with the owner and he said he’d talk with some of his kayaking friends about doing some this weekend. Back home and went for a swim in their heated pool, had hamburgers for dinner. At 8.00 some of their friends came round and I showed my slides, which they said they enjoyed.
11/6
After breaky Mrs had to go to work but she dropped Harold and I off at the local mountain park and we went for a walk. Harold turned out to be a real chatterbox once you got to know him. It was a nice walk but my knees were sore by the time we got back. After lunch I read a bit then fell asleep. Dinner was a shrimp salad, after which we went for another stroll, then TV for a while and bed.
12/6
A big breaky then Harold and I went for a paddle on Lake Kalamalka around to Cousins Bay which is where we walked to yesterday. There were a few showers around so we went back. Had another lazy afternoon. We had a big juicy lovely steak for dinner then went down to the lake to feed the ducks and geese, then watched TV til late.
13/6 86km
had a cereal breaky, packed and said so long and hit the road again. It was an easy ride up to highway 1 during which I had my lunch that Joan had made for me. I found a campsite near Malakura at Yard Ck, and relaxed by the river in the arvo. Had my usual dinner of rice, a can of soup with fresh vegies, this time tomatoes and mushrooms. Some people stopped to have a yarn and gave me some strawberries, just after I’d finished them another biker stopped for a chat. Bed on dark.
14/6 51km
Up late and watched some Chipmunks play around my tent, very cute, I was late leaving the camp. I must have left my campsite very late because it was 3.00 when I got to Revelstoke I saw 2 girl bikers heading the other way, but I was hooning downhill and didn’t see them in time to stop for a chat. Met a couple of bikers in Revelstoke that I did chat to, they are going the same way so we may meet again. I made contact with my contact and sat chatting with Mrs, her daughter Rene and her friend Craig an Aussie exchange student. Her son was downstairs and never enters the story since all he did was watch TV and emerge at dinner time. After dinner we went to Cub Scouts, all but minus the son. We took them down to the swimming pool. I tried to improve my diving skills off the diving boards, to no avail. At 8.00 we got them out of the pool and marched them back to the hall, then Mr and Mrs and I sat around talking til 1.00am. I have a downstairs fold out bed on which I have my sleeping bag, just as I was dropping off to sleep the cat came to see who I was, cleaned himself and wandered off.
14/6 148km
Mr woke me up at 7.30, had some toast for breaky and hit the road at 8.30. It was rainingg as I got up, but was clear by the time I left. So with my long pants on and a light jumper I climbed up the 55km to Rogers Pass at 1332m. As I got near the final steep ascent it rained again, enough to put my rain stuff on. As I got near the top I met a young biker on his first day out, he said his legs were sore, so were mine. I left him behind at a campsite near the top and had an exhilarating speed down to the River Beaver. From there it rained a fair amount all the way to Golden. I met a pair of riders who had ridden across Canada, we chatted in the pouring rain. After I got to the base at Columbia River it was a long 40km to Golden where the rain finally let up. I spent $7 on food and found a campsite near a foetid lake. There was no water nearby so I cycled back to the Columbia River, I had to wade in ankle deep to get to usable water, cooked some weiners which I had with a pickle, then as I have been doing some time now, strung up my food in a tree well away from my tent. My food is kept all in one pannier which also gets strung up, this way there is no food or smell of it near my tent…bears. Pulled off my still soggy shoes and clothes (my rainwear isn’t very waterproof, hence the look at a Gortex jacket the other day) and hit the sack.
16/6 163km
Up 8.30, breaky, packed and hit the road into town, nothing much was open, so bought nothing, I noticed that I’d lost one of my Ocky straps…pooh. Straight away it was an uphill grind, and as soon as I’d passed the last garage my chain began to squeak, so squeaked all the way up to Field where the final ascent began to Kicking Horse Pass my highest at 1647m. I had been warned that it was a killer, but it was a nice cool day, and although I sweated, my 1st gear was good enough. The mountains were mostly in a shroud, but that made the journey down to Banff no less awesome, but not quite as awesome as I’d expected. I had not stopped for lunch again, but had nibbled all day. At one spot I was relaxing and having a drink and a nibble at a stream when what was big enough to look like a Wolf but was probably a Coyote came loping down the other bank ignoring me completely. I ground on to 10km short of Kananaskis to camp, ate some of yesterdays food and a freeze-dry pack that the good people of Eureka had given me. There was still plenty of daylight left but I was exhausted and went to bed.
17/6 90km
Up late and rode without eating the 90km into Calgary and found the Scout HQ. There I found that my application that I’d put in at the Rover Moot in Toronto had not gone through, so the job that I’d asked for as a photographer at the world jamboree was gone, disappointment. With a bit of phoning I got someone to come pick me up, whilst waiting I went to a Dairy Queen and spent $5 on hamburgers and a shake. When the guy arrived we drove around town doing this and that, along the way I spent $7.30 on food for the weekend, and $3 on a Buffalo burger which was okay. At the camp there was no work to do so I pitched my tent then went back to the common area and met some of the other workers. We sat around chatting and eventually got a game of cards called chase the ace going. It was 1.00am when I got back to my tent.
18/6
Struggled out of bed at at 8.00, breaky at the mess then gathered together to get our allotted jobs. I was in a crew of 10 erecting marquees all day, we did 7 doubles and a triple by 5.30 with 2 short tea breaks and a lunch break. At 6.30 moseyed over to the huge arabesque for dinner a BBQ for 150 people, I ate my fill, and then some, helped pack away, then started to play cards, but there was a hell of a wind blowing and Sam the head of maintenance came and told us that our marquees were blowing over in the wind, so we raced around in the dark fixing them up til 12.30am when I crawled into bed.
19/6
Up just in time to grab some breaky at the mess and get into a group. All we did all morning was fix up tents that were falling apart. After lunch on a still windy day there were 4 of us that were made permanent staff to do maintenance throughout the jamboree. I depitched my tent and moved into an ATCO with Doug, Mike and Rodger that was all fitted out. In the evening there was still more damage being done, so I got together with Sam and drove around in his tractor fixing up tents as we could til 9.30 whilst the wind roared up the valley, there was snow falling, but we got very little rain. We all went around to Sam’s place for a drink and he fixed me up with some baked beans on toast, I usually hate the food, but I was so hungry I was grateful. At 11.00 we walked back to our ATCO in a burst of icy gale force wind.
20/6
The wind roared throughout the night, in the morning there was only a slight improvement, so after breaky our little ATCO team plus a Rover named Glen ventured out to fix up what we could, we went around each tent patching them up starting at Gateway, we did 17 out of the 35 marquees done by quitting time. I went in with Doug to get my dinner, then had a shower at the forest campground across the highway and did some washing there too. Later on there was 4 of us so I taught them the 500 card game, I teamed with Mike until 10.30, bed.
21/6
Finally the winds let up overnight to reveal a beautiful morning. Today we had Jay help us, we finished off Gateway and did areas 9,10 and 11, then 7,8 and 9. We had a few showers through the day to contend with. At 5.00 we moseyed over to the army camp which has steadily been growing for our food which was great stuff, feeling full and satisfied we went back to our ATCO to play 5 handed 500, the others took a break to go for a shower except Mike, so I taught him idiot 66, I won. When the others came back we finished off the 500 game which Jay won.
22/6
We had a lot of rain last night. Today the winds were a steady but tolerable blow. We had a German named Uzwil join our team today. Also some Explorers from Miami came in and we lost Doug and Mike to them. We finished off the last of the sites. With all the tents now fixed we put up a fence around the quartermasters store where there is now a few million dollars worth of equipment, and finished in time for dinner. Last night we ate out the back of an army truck today we had dinner inside a marquee, and the food got even better.
23/6
Today was odd jobs. We moved a few tents, filled sandbags and deployed them and rubbish collection, there’s always rubbish. In the eve I read my current book Alistair MacClean’s Athabasca. As we were going to bed there was a loud thunder storm, one could feel the pressure build. The mountains looked magnificent and seemed like they wanted to dance in their splendour, great place to be.
24/6
We finished off the sandbagging, then put in a fence at the back of the office, most of the time was spent hammering the fence posts into the rocky ground. I spent the eve reading til Mike, Jay and a Floridian came round and we played cards, then Mike and I sat and chatted. The winds came up bad again and we had to put down 4 marquees.
5/8 For nearly two months I have been working at the World Jaboree site, first as above to set it up, then help maintain it, and finally to help tear it all down, our small team have all become great friends. before I’d finished the tear down though I made a mistake. I had forgotten about the fact that I was in a foreign country and was on a visa. I remembered the day after it had expired on the 29th of July. I went into Calgary but I was deported. I still hadn’t riden the Banff-Jasper Hwy which was high on my list of things to do, so I bought my flight out of Edmonton on the 16th of September. I was allowed to leave a lot of stuff at the jamboree site, so I was able to leave my front paniers behind, and so it was this afternoon that I got a lift into Banff, hopped onto the bike for the first time in months and headed west towards to the Radium turnoff, taking 2hrs. and proceeded to start the slog up the hill. I had only just got started when a guy pulled up and asked me if I wanted a lift. Being no fool I accepted. He took me to Radium where his mother gave me a sanga and a glass of milk. It was then 40 miles south to Canal Flats there the sun went down, but I got another 37km south before dark.
6/8
Up bright and early and got a fair ride in before the heat of the day started. I couldn’t find a shop so I starved and sweated, stopped at streams to drink water and eat berries, eventually finding a small cafe and ate 2 hamburgers a slash, then some milk and a Fresca which filled me up. Stopped not far down the road for another slash, then a long hot 37km stretch to the border by 4pm and limped into Eureka, bought dinner and rode on again til after dark to get 10miles west of Whitefish.
7/8
I was up a bit later this morning, and rode to Waterton and Glacier Park which was a gradual uphill. The park entry fee was 50c but about 5km in bikes are prohibited between 11am and 4pm all the way to the top so I stood with my thumb out for about 1/2hr before an older couple picked me up and took me to the top. The downhill stretch wasn’t as long as the uphill was so I was soon pedaling again. At a small place called Babb I got a cold drink and rode on to the border with trepidation, would they let me back in to Canada? Indeed they gave me hassles, they made me take everything out of my panniers and were still debating as to whether to let me in or not when a beautiful woman walked in. I think I’d still be there if not for her, my passport was stamped and I hastily repacked and headed north to Cardston where I found with horror that I’d left my wallet on the seat outside the shop at Babb, it had $100 Canadian and a heapof addresses in it. It was too late by now so I rode on spitting at myself for being so careless. I stopped 10 miles south of Mcleod to camp.
8/8
It was raining when I rolled into Mcleod and cashed a cheque to get some money, thankfully I kept them separately from my wallet. I checked out getting a bus but it was too expensive to rode on. The rain went away and a good tail wind sprang up and I was okay, even the loss of the money was put behind me. It ended up being a long hot haul into Calgary to complete 700km of cycling and 2ookm of lifts. I rolled up at Ted’s at 6pm and chatted with him and his scrawny but pleasant wife who fed me a salad before I went to bed
9/8
Overnight the toilet had leaked all over the place, i’d heard it but had thought it was raining outside. he drove me back to the jamboree site at 9.30 and I spent the rest of the day resting in seclusion.
10/8
All I did today was read and pack my gear and rest
11/8
At about 9.30 I hit the road. Ted gave me $100 for services rendered, and I shook his and Sam’s hand and I was gone. I soon met a couple on a tandem taking my route, but they were travelling too slow so I left them behind. I had lunch in Banff and got rained on in the arvo. It cleared as I got to the Youth Hostel at lake Loise. I went and bought my stuff for dinner in town then back to cook it and sat chatting with 2 girls from England til 11pm and bed
12/8 120km
I linked up with a Swdish cyclist and we left at 9am and rode up to the hostel just before the Columbia icefields at Hilda Creek just over the 2035m Sunwapta pass, the highest pass yet. Once we stopped at a lookout and an Italian woman asked us into her camper for a cuppa tea which was nice. Lunch was late as we rolled into a service comlex. The day was quite a slog with perpetual head winds whistling down the mostly uphill ride, but it was cool and really quite enjoyable. It was 6pm when we got to the hostel. There was food available to buy, so I had plenty to eat, sat around til 8pm and I hit the sack, I was pretty bushed.
13/8
today I climbed up a no name peak on the approach to Mt Athabasca, on the way up I took some shots of Rocky Mountain Goats and the Seskatchewan Glacier way below me. On the whole an enjoyable day. I thoroughly enjoyed surfing down the scree slopes, at one point stopping not far short of a cliff. I’d hoped to catch a glimpse of a Grizzly bear, but saw no sign, got back to the hostel and ate myself out of food, then bought some of the pizza that the lady had made. I’m a bottomless pit these days. At first I thought I was going to be the only one around since the two girls doing the ice climbing course had gone to bed early as they had to get up at 3am. but a guy who had cycled from Durango Colorado and 2 girls from Detroit arrived and we chatted til late. My birthday preasent to myself came as I was crossing a small river I looked upstream and saw a female Moose on the bank munching away at the vegetation.
14/8
It had rained a lot overnight and was still looking stormy when I took off at about 9.30. I promptly got showered on, but that was all I copped. I bought a very expensive lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, a muffin, a packet of chips and some uht milk for $5 and had a pleasant day’s ride, mostly downhill. I saw the Columbia icefields and Sunwapta falls all full of anger and cold hard power. It was while I was quietly battling a nice hard head wind that I realized that yesterday I had turned 27, boy what a surprise! I had lunch at a scenic overlook and found some good bushes of wild berries. I struggled up the hill to Whistler Youth Hostel at 3pm, dumped my stuff and rode into Jasper which was an expensive place but nice. Bought some dinner stuff and lazed in the park with heaps of other bikers til 5.30pm and went back to the hostel, met up with the Swedish guy I’d cycled with on the 12th, I had my dinner of canned stew with capsicum tomato and egg and sat around chatting.
15/8
On a cold morning with clouds all about I rode out to Jasper, picked up some food and froze my fingers until the clouds started to thin an hour or so later and it started to warm up, soon I was in shorts and T shirt as I left the park. I had lunch on the side of the road with all the drivers staring at me as they whistled on by. In Hinton I bought more supplies and after a light and happy early afternoon I found the late afternoon hard going and came to a stop at Lake Obed, swatting mosquitos and had dinner of fresh vegies and grapes then went to bed not long before dark. I had crested yet another pass and came hooning flat out around a bend when not far in front of me in the middle of the road was a Black Bear, we both spotted each other at the same time, thankfully it was a sub adult and got as much of a fright as I did and scampered off the road as I I zoomed by despite jamming on my breaks. By the time I’s stopped it was well gone. Thankfully there was no adult otherwise the outcome might have been different.
16/8
A light drizzle let me sleep in but not too late. Again it was a finger freezing morning and looked stormy til I got to Edson, got some food and came back out into sunshine. It was a long slog to Gainford where again I swatted at mosquitos as I had dinner of 4 hamburgers can of beans and leftover fresh vegies followed by cake and an apple. Over to the phone and for $1.15 rang up Doug and got a place to stay for a night or two, bed early again.
17/8
It was a rather boring ride into the city of Edmonton. I found a park to eat a lte lnch in. A few people came over to talk to me which was nice. Went over to Doug’s at the appointed time, he’s a proffessor of media, I had dinner with them and chatted with them for a while.
18/8
I rode into the city and found I can’t my stuff from Don Dick til Monday and also found I’ll have no probs getting into England. I locked the bike up and walked around the underground city then went to watch War Games, an interesting take on anti war, I liked it. Back for anther evening of yatter
19/8
I sat out in the sun and read for most of the day Doug took me into uni to meet a cycling guy and he brought an Aussie who can ski uphill like me and also plays squash so we arranged to play a game, more yatter in the eve.
20/8
I went for a ride with Doug then packed my gear and headed up to Jim’s place. He lives in a basement, is unemployed and has no money and I kind of wished I hadn’t taken him up on the offer, but here I am. Later a mate of his came who is a stamp collector, we went to his place where he let me pick out heaps of stamps I don’t have, then we watched movies all night.
21/8
Up 3am went down to a park and played pool I beat him 2-1 then went to a Rover meet of the 22nd Challengers a slide show and talked with 2 guys going to the next Rover Moot. Watched TV til late again.
22-24/8
The days spent sleeping in, reading books and the evenongs watching TV until the end of the late movie.
25/8
most of today was no different, in the late afternoon I did my shopping for the weekend and got a bag full of food. I then packed my backpack for a pack carry for its first time. 6pm I went to wait for Franz, he picked me up and we drove to Rocky Mountain House and met another car load at a pizza place where I had a lasagna then on to a campground just outside the park boundary, 4 of us had a cup of Franz’s home made wine and then hit the sack at midnight.
26/8
Up to a cold morning had some breakky with Hans then off to Seskatchwan Crossing where we met the last car load. Franz is a big Austrian easy going and jovial. Hans is a small German, sort of quiet. Bo is a Aussie with interesting mannerisms, a genial fellow, Daniel is a black bearded wrinkled “I’ve done a hell of a lot with my life” sort of face. Sue is a thin recently separated teacher with a great inner strength. Jackie small and going on her first hike, Colleen also on her first hike and the youngest at 20yo, a nursing student with a pleasant face and ginger hair. Judy the coordinator for the walk, a fairly tall Irish girl of my age whom I was to become quite friendly with. The walk was to ascend 2000ft to Sunset pass and descend 1500ft to Pinto lake. The walk to the pass was unexeptional so we spent the time chatting with each other. At the pass Daniel wanted to take the harder route, Bo and Jackie who were slowest and often left behind also took that route. Judy Hans and I went on the harder route in case jackie needed assistance, the others went the easy route. Ours was a top of the cliff traverse then a scree descent, fabulous! We all met up at the lake, found our campsite and pitched tent
27/8
Despite my better judgement we split up again in the morning, Hans, David, Franz and Sue tackled a 30km walk down the river. I helped Judy who is shaping up to be a capable and respondible young lady, and I found myself also liking to be around Colleen who was feeling a bit intimidated by the relatively easy walk back. Despite it being a slow walk back it was really nice spending time with these two attractive ladies. We got to the cars with plenty of time to spare, I had Franz’s car to drive and drove alone back to the crossing then to the end of the river where the others were to emerge. David and Hans soon appeared, however they had left a slow but resiliant Sue and Franz behind. Bo, Jackie and Colleen headed off after a clinking of wine mugs. Sue and Franz still hadn’t arrived so Judy and I walked at breakneck speed back up the trail. We walked for 1hr 20min before after much discussion decided we’d better head back since it was now 7.15pm. We got back to find that we’d missed them, so all ended up okay. That walk with Judy is one of the most memorable parts of the trip so far, another girl I could easily fall for. She’s promised to visit me when she comes to Australia, and she’ll join the list of some of the best people that I’ve known. We went back to the same pizza place where I had a nice vegetarian. Then the long drive back home arriving at 2.30am. So ended a memorable weekend that could have ended in disaster.
27-29/8
Book reading during the day and TV watching at night
Escaping the dungeon
In moments of utter quietitude
When peace is almost upon me
It creeps in with silent blundering fingers
The despair and loneliness
When thoughts have turned inwards
The benign unsettling dreams
Seem to spring to life
All that sadness
The longing for loved ones so far away
They come to haunting fruition
Then all my life’s nuances seem trivial
I want to go home
To love
To be loved
Ah yes to be loved
The eternal search that always ends in despair
The long days and nights blur into one lonely stretch
reaching to infinity and then beyond
My loneliness becomes a suffocating fog
Slowly drowning all my senses
An absolute longing for some comforting gesture
But no one seems to be in reach
Then I slowly realize it’s up to me to relive this suffering
Dragging my feet with an aching in my soul
I struggle over the lip of the dungeon
Into some sort of fresh daylight
I’ll stumble a while wishing
Gradually the peace returns
Life begins again
30/8
In the evening I met up with Bo from last weekend and we drove up to Malign Canyon Hostel
31/8
Drove up to Bery Lake Trail, there are 25 of us. I teamed up with David, also from last weekend and although we were the last one to leave we were the first to arrive at the lake. We went on up to the shelter, but none of the others made it, so we made friends with some of the other seemingly millions of people camped at the campground.
1/9
Walked up to Tobbogan Falls thence up to the glacier beyond. We had a fall of snow and checked out a cave with a spring within. The rest of the horde came up to visit us as a day walk and we went on to the Robson Glacier. There was one young German girl that I’d like to know better but now I never will.
2/9
We beat all but a few back to the cars, and a few of us went for a pizza and back home by 9pm
3-15/9
I said goodbye to the Christians and rode down to Nisku to stay with some friends of the Christians, the lady was Chinese in her mid 30’s and easy to make friends with, their children Bobby 10, Sherri 7 and Kathy 3 took longer to get used to me but we had our fun moments during my time there. Mr was a vet for the govt and I was never sure how he saw me, but he was always cordial. One day I was taken up to a farm where they were fixing up 4 pony trails, they gave me a donation for all my help. On another day we went to a lake and went for a canoe watching all the canadian Geese getting ready for migration south. Also went to Elk Island NP where were Buffalo. The night of my flight Mr took me to the airport where we chatted for a while.
This trip continues with the Western Europe bicycle trip blog