Two weeks around theHimalayas, followed by 2/3 weeks riding across Australia alone on a Honda 250cc

[fairyplum]

Tuesday 6th Nov

Beautiful sunny clear blue sky morning as I set off at 7.45am. Cold though, so I have all my layers on...all! There is no wind which is good. The first signpost I see says Penong.....asia????? Very confusing. Soon clouds bubble up but still no wind. Reach the area called Yalata . It is an aboriginal homeland. All gumtrees and bushes and you can imagine the aboriginees there. Supposedly there should be plenty of camels, kangeroos and wombats but they must all be asleep as I see none except dead wombats on the road. Not even the Sleepy Lizard is around. Meet a couple of motorcyclists heading the same way. They are going quicker than me and are trying to reach somewhere much further on than my ambitions run too. Later meet another single biker who thinks my bike is doing very well. He was on a much bigger Honda. So to the Nullarbor plain....the Australians seem to make a big thing of it. Having ridden across a fair proportion of it now I have to say that the Sahara is a great deal more boring. This plain gets 8 inches of rain per year...yes desert...but it is covered with really quite large green bushes and in some cases a few trees. My eyes keep searching for a glimpse of an animal but still none. Eventually all I see today is one Emu...a very poor animal day. The Nullarbor roadhouse was a good tea stop. It was selling Nullarbor tourist knicknacks as well as very expensive fuel. Travelling the incredibly boring Western Sahara is a great deal cheaper as the fuel is subsidised there. I also got to musing about the price of fuel in the Himalayas which did not increase in price however remote it was. There the fuel tanker would have had many a rough road to travel whilst here the road was perfect and not really that remote . Umm..... The "border crossing" came and went. They wanted to know if I had any fruit...isn"t this one country? They then took the reg number of my unregistered bike. Wonder when they will twig that it is unregistered....will they seek me out!! By getting to this part of Western australia today I have gained a rather ridiculous amount of 1 and 3/4 hours time zone change. I made a little use of it , and went 80 kms further than planned and reached Mundrabilla motel. Probably should have done more but that was 560 kms for the day. Enough. Tomorrow I gain another 3/4 hours to finally get back to Perth time. No mobile , no wifi tonight; its mostly truckers, some mobile homers on the move and me!

Wednesday 7th Nov

Another beautiful morning at 6.30am. Couldn't make the time change....woke up early. Lovely colours but sadly it soon starts to cloud over with loads of 'fluffy clouds'. It is really quite cold...again have maximum clothes on. Two emu are the wildlife highlight but today I spot the cyclists. I was told I would see some cyclists. Caught up with one just before a roadhouse and then found another there. Both...separate from each other...were men from Sydney out to prove their middle aged manhood ( midlife crisis) by cycling Sydney to Perth. We had an entertaining chat together. To do the miles today I am keeping going by visiting each roadhouse and having a break. At the next one Cocklebiddy are two motorcyclists on fully loaded BMW's. It is fate , for these are two brits that I have followed on their website ....2ridetheworld. Simon and Lisa. We have friends in common and have a good chat. They are going the opposite way to me so it was goodbye after our chat and I headed off down the longest straight stretch of road in Australia....all 146.7kms or 90 miles. Things were getting quite monotonous I have to confess. I also am amazed that there is no mobile coverage down this road. This is a main trunk road...lonely...big distances...surely it should have coverage? The indians can do it in the Himalayas why can't the australians do it in gently rolling countryside? Decide that I will push on to Norseman at the end. At least I will find a town and cheaper petrol. If normal price here is 145 then 199 is a rip off, but that is what they were charging in the middle. Push on with the bit between my teeth and get here about 5pm. I did like the camaraderie of the Nullarbor road. One couple I kept seeing ended up here as well and were eating in the same place tonight. Another chat. Found myself a cabin. Brilliant...could sleep 6 ! Tele, fridge, kettle, cooker...the lot. Heater too...its cold.

Thursday 8th Nov

Try and sit outside in the morning with my cup of tea but the flies are already about. They have been around all the trip. Not masses but really annoying, constantly around your face. Stopping in the outback they will have you on your way in about 10 mins. Just time to do a pee and they are beginning to send you mad.. Norseman was a horse. The founder of this town was a Shetlander who called himself a norseman and then called his horse Norseman. The horse pawed the ground in this place and got a gold ingot in his shoe. So Norseman the horse discovered gold. They are still mining gold here....9,000 lbs a year at £900 per ounce?...... thats not masses really. Relaxed now, have destination in sight. Decide to take a dirt road shortcut....if I see the turn off. I do and head off. Its tarmac for quite a while, then good graded dirt but no signposts. I am looking for a town called Cascade half way along....in the end a rare vehicle appears , slows down and is helpful....and yes I am on the right track. Saw a big snake cross the road...no idea what it was and also saw 2 black swans on a bit of water. Made it back to the main road correctly. Bit of a relief....saved 50kms . Ravensthorpe was the nights stop. Stayed in the local hotel/motel/pub and found wifi at the Community services centre......till 5pm. Food whilst travelling has always had to be bought before 7.30pm...they stop serving around then. Makes for an early night hence the early mornings!

Friday 9th Nov

Paper thin walls of motel so woken by others getting up at 5am. Sun is up and shining. Snooze, but in the end find myself leaving at 8am. It was warmer and eventually I stripped off a layer...and then another...much warmer than yesterday. Try going through a National Park. Its dirt road but graded. Boring, boring...saw nothing but more and more bushes. Yes nice flowers but 65kms of them? One kangeroo and 3 lizards as well! Not worth the detour for me. Finally Albany...strange place but at least have digital technology and sit and play wifi in a cafe. 54kms and I reach Denmark where I meet Emma and Mike again. I am going to babysit their children while they are at a wedding here. Mike admires his bike....its nearly done 7000 kms since we bought it and now is dirty. Have next two weeks to make it look better and service it....Mike does his test during that time.....no hanging around here.!!

Sunday 11th Nov

Ten years to the day that I finished my Round the World trip in 2002. Today I reach Yallingup with the bike...it has reached its new home. About 6800kms in 19 days on the road. Three days staying still. Average of 225 miles over 19 days or 265 miles over 16 days.

[Elle]

thank you for the update Nina
Crossing parts of the desert seems a bit isolated and boring
An impressive amount of mileage on a small bike in a single shot
Be good to catch up in 2013

[Shotgun]

Went on a 2 week tour ...just two of us, me and a stranger!!!.....in the Himalayan foothills in northern India. Fantastic scenery, lots of photos and did write a diary. We used 500cc Royal Enfields. Went up to 4500m and did some of the rally himalaya route. Can expand....
Following that with a trip in Australia. Bought a little non registered bike in Melbourne, rode to Sydney on one permit, got another permit in Sydney and headed to Inverell and then west to Broken Hill via Lightning Ridge, Darling River etc. Will end up otherside of Nullibor desert at Yallingup where my daughter lives. Have to complete by 10th Nov as permit runs out. 250 VTR going well. One old female rider doing okay so far! Can write more and have plenty photos.....

Hello Fairy. I guess you paid someone to do this tourist trip.

Can I ask you, how much will you pay me to give you a tour of Rajastan (I know it very well) or round Kerela (I know it very well). ?

I did it all as an 'Adventure ' biker but have no probs about doing a deal with you to take you around these regions. Give me your bank details.

Thats what the tourist companies say; why not
me?

[LargeWayRound]

Hello Fairy. I guess you paid someone to do this tourist trip.

Can I ask you, how much will you pay me to give you a tour of Rajastan (I know it very well) or round Kerela (I know it very well). ?

I did it all as an 'Adventure ' biker but have no probs about doing a deal with you to take you around these regions. Give me your bank details.

Thats what the tourist companies say; why not
me?

Excellent bit of "Banter" Thanks for that .. ! !

[Shotgun]

Hello Fairy. I guess you paid someone to do this tourist trip.

Can I ask you, how much will you pay me to give you a tour of Rajastan (I know it very well) or round Kerela (I know it very well). ?

I did it all as an 'Adventure ' biker but have no probs about doing a deal with you to take you around these regions. Give me your bank details.

Thats what the tourist companies say; why not
me?

Excellent bit of "Banter" Thanks for that .. ! !

Thanks for that great post! Helpful.

[LargeWayRound]

More helpful than your trolling antics

[LargeWayRound]

Hello Fairy. I guess you paid someone to do this tourist trip.

Can I ask you, how much will you pay me to give you a tour of Rajastan (I know it very well) or round Kerela (I know it very well). ?

I did it all as an 'Adventure ' biker but have no probs about doing a deal with you to take you around these regions. Give me your bank details.

Thats what the tourist companies say; why not
me?

Excellent bit of "Banter" Thanks for that .. ! !

Thanks for that great post! Helpful.

More helpful than your trolling antics !