Between February 2002 and March 2003 I circumnavigated 12,504 miles around the Australian continent on my bicycle, or push bike as they say there. After that I went to New Zealand for three months and met up with a friend and ended up pushing the total mileage to 14,115.7 miles (22717.02 km). I spent 269 days on my bike, 272 days not on my bike, and getting 67 flat tires over those 17 months.
I started and ended my 13 month lap around Australia at Luna Park in St. Kilda/Melbourne.. The distance around Australia (including Tasmania) ended up being about 20,281km (12,600 miles).
One fun thing I did during my trip was to visit six "confluences", which is where a whole-numbered latitude/longitude mark intersects for The Degree Confluence Project.
Craig
Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof! Woof! Woof! Bark! Bark! Woof!
Had a rough nights sleep because a nearby dog kept barking all night long. I got up early at least. Ordered a big fat hamburger for breakfast. Yes, I had to eat meat...don't like to...but non-meat food is hard to come buy down here. The burgers were about the same size as the ones at Miners in Yakima, WA. Talked to the woman who worked there...she had been to Graceland, cried when she saw it. Also talked to a guy from Brisbane. They were trying to get going before the caravaners got out on the road. Seems they don't like people coming up from down south too much during the winter.
Kangaroos were bouncing around in the field across the highway...I'm told they are referred to as a "mob".
Had a tailwind for a good chunk of the day and rode pretty hard. Passed several constuction vehicles thoughout the day, everyone giving a friendly wave. Several cars passing also waved.
Radio reception came back in and I picked up the Spice Girls' "wannabe". Was actually kind of fun to sing along as I biked at a lot faster pace than normal. Reminded me of the time with Peter when we started singing that somewhere at a restaurant and the girl at the counter looked at us like "that song is sooo three years ago".
Got into Sarina and decided to end the day here. I could have gone on to Mackay, but decided there was no reason to since I'd be taking the day off there. The guy at the visitors center made me tea. I looked at maps there and am getting kind of excited to bike across the top under the Gulf. On the way back from the store I heard a noise and didn't think much of it...turns out it was one of my grocery sacks falling off. I went back later and got it sans apple (see below). Met a couple at the caravan park and he offered me a beer....he liked my joke about the grasshopper named Steve.