Yes we are. What a skip of countries we did! Just kidding. We are in Denmark, Western Australia.
We have slowed our cycling pace a little...took some down time to get over a couple colds in Pemberton & Shannon, waited out some rain, did some paperwork/business for back-home stuff that took a long time (we are always working, see! Life is tough :))...Walked in the canopy of Tingles, Marri's, Karri's & Oaks.
It's getting colder and colder as we head south.... closer to the Antarctic you know!
Denmark is beautiful... a quaint little town, close to the ocean, only 5,000 people here. We might stay, move here.
We joined warmshowers.com, a website for cyclists all over the world. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! People take you in, let you shower ... with WARM water! This is our first host-stay and the couple, John & Julie (another J&J we met!) are fantastic. They have given us MORE than a warm shower... laundry access...internet... a bed (with real pillows and covers! We slept like rocks last night). What a gift.
We are thinking of selling our 'tandie' (bike), trailer and camping gear and bus-ing or driving back north. Call us fair weather bikers! Ah, not really because we HAVE pedalled soaking wet and done TONS of hills.
We have just over 1 month left in Oz and we think it would be fun to see more of it - faster. So! ...Wayne is chatting with John right now about a car John says he will sell us... you just never know what we will have by tomorrow.
Maybe the scammer will come through on Gumtree (like Kijiji in Canada) and HONESTLY buy our stuff! Kidding. We have interest in our gear ...so hopefully it sells so we can put fuel in a vehicle. We will see! We sense a change of pace and adventure in the air...
We are only about 50km from our 'end' destination, Albany. They are calling for showers tomorrow, but we might just give 'er and finish up, find a good church for Sunday.
That's all for now blog-reader (thanks for checkin in! That means we must be a bit interesting?) !
We are still happy little larks, or "brave little veggiemites!" as one lady called us, and enjoying each day God gives us. Wow, He has made some beautiful places in this world! See more shots below...
-W&K
Thursday 26 April 2012
Tree Top Walk - Walpole...Valley of the Giants
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| Waaaay up... 41 meters |
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| haven't figured out how to rotate pics on here, but we are sporting the Canadian colors eh?! |
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| Kami in "grandma' tingle tree |
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| Add caption |
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| tilt head to left to view |
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| Kami captured a "normal" shot! SMILING even! |
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| waaay down there..don't drop sunglasses |
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| Walking in the canopy of Tingles, Marri's, Karri's, Oaks... |
The South Sea ...
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| Windy Harbor |
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| On "mountain" near Windy Harbor |
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| Shannon Dam |
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| Us having lunch on the jetty at Walpole |
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| Trying to stay warm at Windy Harbor! |
Monday 16 April 2012
Saturday 14 April 2012
Pedalling on!
We are back on our tandie and pushing lots of hills these days. The past 4 days have been filled covering ground and fixing tires - arg! With new tires and a handy guy (Wayne of course), we are set again. We hope!
Yesterday's 85+km of hills is putting us "at rest" this fine Sunday... lovely for our bods and minds. But the hills through the forests were amazing.
We had our 8 month wedding anniversary on Saturday :), celebrated by a breakfast out in Nannup (a treat!).
We arrived in Pemberton close to dark last night and made the decision to pay, (for the FIRST time!) for a tent site at the campground here. FORTY (stinkin) dollars for a tent spot! ... high season, it's still Easter here I guess. Hence why we bush camp (sorry ranger John!) or we'd be broke fast. Yet... the warm showers were fantastic.
That's all for now because, well, we are resting ...
We hope you are all doing great, anticipating or in the midst of spring!
W&K
Yesterday's 85+km of hills is putting us "at rest" this fine Sunday... lovely for our bods and minds. But the hills through the forests were amazing.
We had our 8 month wedding anniversary on Saturday :), celebrated by a breakfast out in Nannup (a treat!).
We arrived in Pemberton close to dark last night and made the decision to pay, (for the FIRST time!) for a tent site at the campground here. FORTY (stinkin) dollars for a tent spot! ... high season, it's still Easter here I guess. Hence why we bush camp (sorry ranger John!) or we'd be broke fast. Yet... the warm showers were fantastic.
That's all for now because, well, we are resting ...
We hope you are all doing great, anticipating or in the midst of spring!
W&K
Saturday 7 April 2012
We traded panniers for backpacks
Yesterday we completed the "Cape to Cape" trek, a 135km coastal hike from Cape Naturaliste (near Dunsborough) to Cape Leeuwin (Augusta, Western Australia).
It was a magnificent trek. We hike sand trails/dunes and beach, forest and cliffs overlooking the grand Indian ocean. WOW!
It wasn't "West Coast Trail" (B.C.), but it wasn't a gravy train hike either. We found new muscles, ripped up our quads a bit more (in case all the cycling wasn't enough) and pounded our feet well. "No one ever died from UNCOMFORTABLE!" eh Scotty?! :)
Let's back up a bit in our timeline ...
We cycled into Margaret River and spent a few days there with our new friends: John & Julie Prins.
We are now COMPLETELY convinced that Australians go OVER the top in welcoming strangers. The day we met John & Julie they took us out crayfish (lobster) snorkelling/fishing/diving (John dives for them with snorkel and catches them...way down deep) and found ourselves in their guest room for a couple nights. We loved it. Thank you guys!! We hope to see you on our way back up.
From Margaret River we cycled to Augusta (first stopping at Hamlin Bay to see the huge rays...see pictures below), where we were again met by unmatched Australian hospitality.
The lighthouse in Augusta is on the most south west tip of Australia, where the Indian and Southern (antarctic) oceans collide. Pretty amazing place.
On our first day in Augusta we met the lighthouse keeper, Paul, who "happened" to be a fellow cyclist (of course), our common bond. Paul gave us a free, privately guided lighthouse tour and then ...offered us to stay the night in the closest house next to the lighthouse. Aw SHUX! We said...SURE! :) The locals are even wow'd and jealous. It was amazing (see pictures below).
The next day in Augusta, we met Amber, a WWOOFer (willing workers on organic farms) host. We worked for Amber 1 day before she borrowed us a couple backpacks, drove & dropped us off at the trailhead of the Cape to Cape Trek... the hike Wayne has been dreaming about. Without backpacks or a place to store our bike and gear, we could never have explored the coast of SW Australia like we just did. THANK YOU AMBER !!
It was an exhilerating week. We hiked in runners (Kami) and Chaco sandals (Wayne) :). On day 2 & 3 we met a storm from the south which washed away a good chunk of beach which gave us a bit of a challenge. 7 meter swells, a full moon & high tide led to... us getting soaked to the waist by a huge wave within the first 10 minutes of hiking one morning. At least it was warm!
We met a fantastic couple from eastern Australia, Alex & Karen, on the trek. We were travelling in the same direction, all of us intending to complete the full hike, and we ended up hiking together the last few days. We loved getting to know this great couple, sharing laughs, groans :) and km's together. It was refreshing to have comraudery (sp?!) as well as meet interesting people with interesting lives & stories. They have hiked all over the world, even bringing Karen's 80yr old mom hiking the first 4-5 days of Everest! How neat is THAT?! Alex & Karen, thanks for the fun and for the life-saving chocolate when we ran out!! :) We will never forget our adventure together.
...and so our journey goes...
We are back in Augusta for awhile. We need to tweak a few things on our faithful tandem before making our way to Nannup...Albany...and beyond (or heading back).
We keep reminding each other, 'Hey, we are living the dream!' Yeah! We are IN it! And are so very thankful, totally blessed, fully in awe of all God has showered us with and the beauty He has made for us to enjoy & explore. ALL the thanks is His!
-W&K
It was a magnificent trek. We hike sand trails/dunes and beach, forest and cliffs overlooking the grand Indian ocean. WOW!
It wasn't "West Coast Trail" (B.C.), but it wasn't a gravy train hike either. We found new muscles, ripped up our quads a bit more (in case all the cycling wasn't enough) and pounded our feet well. "No one ever died from UNCOMFORTABLE!" eh Scotty?! :)
Let's back up a bit in our timeline ...
We cycled into Margaret River and spent a few days there with our new friends: John & Julie Prins.
We are now COMPLETELY convinced that Australians go OVER the top in welcoming strangers. The day we met John & Julie they took us out crayfish (lobster) snorkelling/fishing/diving (John dives for them with snorkel and catches them...way down deep) and found ourselves in their guest room for a couple nights. We loved it. Thank you guys!! We hope to see you on our way back up.
From Margaret River we cycled to Augusta (first stopping at Hamlin Bay to see the huge rays...see pictures below), where we were again met by unmatched Australian hospitality.
The lighthouse in Augusta is on the most south west tip of Australia, where the Indian and Southern (antarctic) oceans collide. Pretty amazing place.
On our first day in Augusta we met the lighthouse keeper, Paul, who "happened" to be a fellow cyclist (of course), our common bond. Paul gave us a free, privately guided lighthouse tour and then ...offered us to stay the night in the closest house next to the lighthouse. Aw SHUX! We said...SURE! :) The locals are even wow'd and jealous. It was amazing (see pictures below).
The next day in Augusta, we met Amber, a WWOOFer (willing workers on organic farms) host. We worked for Amber 1 day before she borrowed us a couple backpacks, drove & dropped us off at the trailhead of the Cape to Cape Trek... the hike Wayne has been dreaming about. Without backpacks or a place to store our bike and gear, we could never have explored the coast of SW Australia like we just did. THANK YOU AMBER !!
It was an exhilerating week. We hiked in runners (Kami) and Chaco sandals (Wayne) :). On day 2 & 3 we met a storm from the south which washed away a good chunk of beach which gave us a bit of a challenge. 7 meter swells, a full moon & high tide led to... us getting soaked to the waist by a huge wave within the first 10 minutes of hiking one morning. At least it was warm!
We met a fantastic couple from eastern Australia, Alex & Karen, on the trek. We were travelling in the same direction, all of us intending to complete the full hike, and we ended up hiking together the last few days. We loved getting to know this great couple, sharing laughs, groans :) and km's together. It was refreshing to have comraudery (sp?!) as well as meet interesting people with interesting lives & stories. They have hiked all over the world, even bringing Karen's 80yr old mom hiking the first 4-5 days of Everest! How neat is THAT?! Alex & Karen, thanks for the fun and for the life-saving chocolate when we ran out!! :) We will never forget our adventure together.
...and so our journey goes...
We are back in Augusta for awhile. We need to tweak a few things on our faithful tandem before making our way to Nannup...Albany...and beyond (or heading back).
We keep reminding each other, 'Hey, we are living the dream!' Yeah! We are IN it! And are so very thankful, totally blessed, fully in awe of all God has showered us with and the beauty He has made for us to enjoy & explore. ALL the thanks is His!
-W&K
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