Wednesday, 17th November, 2004
November 14 - 17 – On our buns in Bunbury
We arrived at the Myalup holiday cottages just in time for preparations for the big Saturday BBQ. Barb was dishing out supplies while Colin and other members of the Audax club were having a meeting behind closed doors. Secret men’s business.
Audax is a world wide cycling club which has races over long distances, to be done within a set time limit. Sort of like a race against the clock for each rider. If you complete a set number of these trials within a year you have the right to compete in the PBP, the 1200km long Paris – Brest – Paris challenge. In 1995 Colin and Barb did the ride within their allotted time, 80 hours. They had only 4 hours sleep over that time, from start until the finish banners! Both Ann and I will need far more training to be in that league, but it does present an interesting cycling goal...
The evening hours were filled with fine food, wine and conversation with so many new friends. Once again, more reason to have a return visit to Perth. After a relaxed breakfast next morning we said our final goodbyes and set off for Bunbury. The town had a nice feel about it as we rode in which was just as well. Ann’s suspension seat post was making ominous sounds, so we pulled over and asked a local cyclist to point us to the best shop. 
Glenys gave us the directions and the next day Eric, at Fitzroy Cycles, sent us off with a new seat post and some new gloves for Ann. Smiles all round!
We were so comfortable in the caravan park we decided to stay two more nights! Now we are travelling alone for the first time since Darwin, over 4,000km ago, and it is time to slow down and spend more time exploring the countryside. We had a chat to Ron at the ABC and Sam at the local newspaper, but today we’re sitting in the cabin reading and being protected from rain and wind that can literally blow you over. Well, we’re back on Argo tomorrow so hopefully conditions will work more in our favour.
November 12 -13 – Leaving Perth
Perth is the perfect size for a city: big enough to have everything, but not too big to be impersonal and bursting at the seams with bustle. But it is much too big to get to know in just a week. We have to come back soon, just to walk down the main street, visit the art gallery, have bolognaise with Colin and Barbara and get a lesson from Mary on how to make an authentic curry.
After packing and going to the post office there was no time or energy for bike maintenance so we gave in and went to the bike shop. Rick adjusted the derailleur, installed our new tyres, which gave Ross time to sort out the gearing. We had to cancel our 11am meeting with the Mandurah stroke group because we knew we wouldn’t make it in time – our first no show, we felt very bad about it. But just as well we did cancel, because it was 3pm by the time we rolled wearily out of Perth. It was touch and go whether we would make Mandurah at all. We made it to Brian and Daphne’s unit just before dark, just surviving the peak hour traffic.
We slept in the next morning, and I even got to use Daphne’s hairdryer. Hairdryers are such a luxury on this trip that each use gets a mention. I think this was the first one since Queensland. Daphne made us sandwiches and Brian rode with us out of town. It was midday by this time. After a couple of hours pushing hard into the wind we reluctantly declined a lift from a passing truckie. We stopped to blow our streaming noses, then suddenly heard a tremendous bang, like a rifle shot. It was our rear tyre – our first flat of the trip, after nearly 12,000km and more than seven months on the road. The tube had exploded and had a hole in it as long as my foot. Amazingly we still remembered how to change it. We’d have to push hard to reach Myalup in time for dinner with Colin’s cycle club.
November 11 - Catching a taxi
We’d planned to get up early to work on Argo’s gear problems this morning, but we just couldn’t find the energy. We had both caught colds in Perth, being more used to 40 degree heat than Perth’s milder 20 degree temperatures.
We hailed Michelle’s taxi at a very civilised 9am. On the way to Royal Perth Hospital we stopped in at the camera repair shop. I had been talking to head office for several months about our camera complaints, and our extreme disappointment at the botched repair job in Brisbane. Fortunately the Perth team were not only incredibly helpful but also skilled. For the first time since May our camera now works properly – and they did it on the same day, I did not have to wait two months this time. Thank you so much.
We visited the physio team at Royal Perth hospital and got some great leads. We passed the leads about running research on to Simon. Ross also now has some stroke recovery gradings he can measure himself against, and check for change.
Then off to ABC Radio for an interview. We ran a little late as Yassah Arafat had just died and ran into our air time. But Kate didn’t mind waiting for us. Kate is a 21 year old stroke survivor. She has worked very hard and made an excellent recovery, although she tells us that she finds it hard to be patient with the slower aspects. She is planning a return to university, wants to move out of home, and trek in Nepal with the National Stroke Foundation in 2006.
We spent so long talking to Kate we didn’t realise we’d kept a room full of stroke survivors waiting 30 minutes for us at the Shenton Park rehab centre. Sorry!!!! They are a great group of people, optimistic for the future and well supported by their partners.
By the time we got back to Colin and Barb’s, it was too late to do any work on Argo or pack our bags. In fact we didn’t even have time to change our clothes before Mary picked us up for dinner. And what a dinner! Mary used to be a nurse in Malaya, and knows how to make a proper curry. In fact she made three.
When we got back later that night, Barb was in the kitchen cooking for their bike club's social gathering that weekend - so I took a photo, since the flash on our camera works now. Our first night shot since May. Barb was still cooking at midnight when we went to bed.
November 10 – Getting inside Ross’s head
Dr Michelle Byrnes, our taxi driver for the next two days, picked us up early because we had a lot to pack in. First stop was a functional MRI at Charles Gardiner hospital, where Michelle’s neurological research is based. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is like a 3 dimensional x ray of the brain. Put very simply, Michelle’s research is looking to see if new areas of the brain get “recruited” to take over functions from damaged areas. Ross hopped into the MRI while I joined the team manning the bank of computers in the observation room. Ross did a series of language and movement activities while the computers mapped the areas of brain activity. This involved thinking of words, but not speaking, and opening and closing his left and right hand. It was like having his mind read.
Michelle said she got some good data, can’t wait to get the results – we’ll publish them on the site when they arrive. We’d like to repeat the test when we get back to Sydney to see what changes happen on the road ahead. Ross has continued to recover at an amazing rate in the last few months on our journey and can do so much more than before we left. Small things, like being able to drink a glass of water with his right hand, which only happened a week ago.
As well as being a neurologist, researcher, mum and taxi driver, Michelle is also on the board of the WA Stroke Foundation – our next port of call for morning tea. Tom, the stroke co-ordinator, used to race on America’s Cup yachts before his stroke. He couldn’t take us sailing today because he is recovering from some broken ribs in a recent sailing accident. So we sat and talked and enjoyed Tom’s wife Raewyn’s delicious oatmeal slice instead. YUM! We even got to take a doggy bag, which we later enjoyed with Barb and Colin.
More tests for Ross in the afternoon. Deb was looking at whether movements in both sides of the body at once would influence and improve recovery. This involved doing tasks on one side then the other, finishing with both sides doing it at once. It was interesting checking the data at the end of the tests. Seems I have a good sense of rhythm on both sides. Time to learn the piano!
There was just time left to visit the stroke ward at Charles Gardiner Hospital before we had to head home. We met Michael, a young prison warden who had his stroke 39 days ago (he’s counting). Michael’s looking forward to rehab and getting on with his life – good on you Michael.
We got back to Colin and Barb’s just in time for a quick test ride on Argo before Erin, the leading speech pathologist at Fremantle Hospital, picked us up for dinner. Argo was diagnosed with slight gear problems, but no time to deal with that now – it’s time to relax and eat Erin and Dicky’s famous BBQ salmon. What a huge day. Ross and I had so much to talk about afterwards we didn’t get to sleep until after 2.30AM.
Tuesday, 16th November, 2004
November 9 – Going for a run
Sleep in day today! Boy, we could get used to this! We worked on the up and coming logistics over breakfast before being picked up by Hellen, who works for a nursing association. Over the lunch break, we gave the staff a presentation of our journey so far and what we hope to achieve. Hellen then dropped us back to Colin and Barb’s for our afternoon meeting.
Simon and his father John arrived at 4 o’clock. Perth weather this afternoon was windy and chilly but Simon and I had decided to go for a run on Cottesloe beach. Over a year ago I had seen Simon on the 7:30 Report, during Stroke Week. He had suffered a massive stroke from a head injury he sustained while playing Aussie Rules. You can read more about Simon at simonmeyer.org. After many months of rehab he has returned to the West side to spend some time with John. We have similar deficits; right side effected, some vision loss, and epilepsy.
Just as I have a passion for cycling, Simon has one for running. We rolled up our trousers, said ‘Go’, and raced down the sand while John and Ann madly worked on the cameras while shouting encouragement. We all had a good laugh, checked the images, before John gave us some technique advice. Simon won 3-1, but don’t worry mate, we’ll have a rematch further down the track!
The evening was spent at a South African restaurant with Dermot, a previous work colleague of Ann’s, and his wife Jenny. This couple, like Ann, were originally from South Africa. The meal was enjoyed by all and for Ann it was a special experience revisiting names and tastes from her teenage days. Not quite the same as eating out of billy beside the road!
November 6-8 – catching up on city living
Saturday was our last day with mum, and her only day in Perth, so we let her decide our destination. We didn’t even make her carry our water. So off we went to Kings Park, because mum’s appetite for banksias and kangaroo paws grew steadily in the weeks approaching Perth. Although both were spectacular, the real star of Kings Park is the magnificent view over the Swan River. Thank goodness for digital cameras or mum would be broke from developing too much film. Mum flew home on Saturday night, taking BOB (our trailer) with her, an esky and a hurricane lamp. She assures us she had no trouble with customs or terrorist checkpoints.
Our visit to Kings Park was guided by Mary, a long standing friend of Ross’s family. She has known Ross’s parents longer than they have known Ross. Ross stayed with Mary and her brother Mark in 1978 before his last Nullabor crossing, and mum stayed with them this time around too.
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, so we set off on a leisurely tandem ride with Barbara and Colin - 50km around Perth and Freemantle. Every few kilometres we’d stop for Colin or Barbara to share some local history or a family anecdote about a special place. What better way to see a city?
Monday arrived all too fast, and it was time to get back to work. We hit the shopping mall with a long list of things to get – like new glasses frames for Ross and a less threadbare pare of shorts for Ann. Boy, are we out of practice. We only got halfway through the list (Ross has his glasses but you can still see through my shorts) before needing to be rescued by Colin. Colin took us to his local bike shop, where we are much more experienced shoppers.
A bit of time in Colin’s workshop sprucing up Argo, a photoshoot for the local paper, then over to Kathy and John’s for dinner. Kathy and John are also tandem cyclists, and they’ve cycled across Australia and several other countries too. But they do it on unsealed roads – wow. No wonder they have to carry bladders full of wine with them.
Sunday, 7th November, 2004
November 5 – pedalling into Perth, the bicycle friendly city
We were incredibly lucky to be escorted into Perth by not only local cyclists, but local TANDEM riders. Colin, who has been following our web diary, is familiar with our cityitis and planned the route in advance: bike friendly, and tandem friendly (i.e. no bollards we can’t navigate). He tells us that he loves Perth and showing it off – and he and Barbara really did. Most of the journey in was either through winery country or bike paths along the Swan River. We even stopped for a homemade mulberry pie along the way. I don’t think we’ve had a better introduction to a city. We’re so comfortable here we will have to stay longer.
November 3-4 – riding the banksia road
Back on the road, and again we were treated to beautiful views, alternating between coastal and pastoral. And of course thousands more banksias to photograph, mum was overjoyed.
As we gradually moved inland the rural landscape took on an almost postcard like quality. The sheep and cows looked happy and well fed (like us), unlike their northern cousins they get to eat grass instead of dust. The properties are well kept and you can feel the pride the owners take in them. The same can be said of Dandaragan, a small town in the middle of these farms that has been kept with more care than most towns many times its size. Use the public loo next time you pass through and you’ll see what we mean – it’s better than you’d find in most 4 star hotels.
As we get closer to Perth, the number of cars on the road is gradually increasing - but the road is still lined with banksias, and kangaroo paws today as well. We will arrive in Perth tomorrow morning, 5 November. We are a little nervous about meeting city traffic again but we are riding in with a local tandem couple along some backroads, so fingers crossed.
November 2 – the Cup runneth over
On the way to Cervantes we stopped at the Jurien Bay Hotel to put a bet on the Melbourne Cup. We had no idea who was in the field so we bought two mystery bets. It really is the race that stops the nation – we took a break from cycling and listened to the race on mum’s radio at the side of the road. There was eerily no traffic. We won $4. Mum backed the two favourites, and won $33. And we got to do this while looking at banksias in the fresh coastal breeze.
True to WA form, we were assured of another AMAZING SITE during our visit to the Pinnacles near Cervantes. The Pinnacles are an interesting rock formation, or formations, that reminded us of the seas of anthills we saw in the Northern Territory. 
Except they are made of limestone. Limestone was deposited in cracks in the base rock. When the base rock eroded away all that was left was the limestone. So now all we see are slender limestone pillars arranged outlandishly in the sand, like an alien colony in a lunar landscape. Which is just as well, or they would have left to watch the Melbourne Cup.
Friday, 5th November, 2004
October 31 – November 1 – Windy daze
Not only is the countryside beautiful, it is incredibly windy. Lindsay, a farmer we met on the road, said that we haven’t experienced real wind yet – apparently the winds here from December to February “put holes in houses.” The area is also famous for its horizontal trees. We know how those trees feel. So we’ve been taking it easy and riding short days, then holing up in holiday cabins at the numerous seaside villages on the road to Perth.
We’ve decided to enjoy our last few days with mum (she leaves us in Perth – then we’ll have to carry our own luggage again – aargh!) Besides, it’s too cold to camp. Yes, you heard right – somehow we’re back in winter temperatures again. It must be that cool southerly.
The strata caravan park at Dongara was a real highlight. It was more like staying in someone’s home than in a cabin, there were eggcups with homemade warmers, hand painted pegs and linen edged with crocheted lace. And it cost less than our usual roadhouse donga accommodation which would fit into the private bathroom twice over.
Some beautiful coastal riding followed, with breathtaking sea views as we crested each sand dune. A bit of wind is a very low price to pay for this (and besides, it keeps the flies out of our faces). Another special treat was the prolific roadside banksias. Although it is late in the season, flowering cones are still abundant. We get the added benefit of seeing the seed cones at the same time, just as spectacular as the flower heads themselves. I think I can feel another favourite photos page coming up.
The WA coast is so spectacular it seems a day does not go by without us experiencing a new, amazingly beautiful area. Perhaps it is the most dramatic part of Australia, or perhaps the east coast is so much more familiar to us that we have taken too much of it for granted. We will definitely open our eyes more when we return.
October 28 to 30 – Shipwrecked in Geraldton
A quick morning ride found us at the Geraldton Visitor Centre, studying the local map. First stop was the Regional Hospital to meet Sarah, the physio on the stroke team. We were going to have a chat to the therapists tomorrow but there were more important questions, where was the best fish ‘n chips, bakery and fruit and vege shop in town? Priorities are important!
Sarah had organized some accom for us in the nurses quarters, so I checked it out while Ann had a CT scan to make sure the headaches weren’t serious. All clear result, so it was off to dinner. “Chis ‘n Fips” claim to be the best north of Perth. We scored it with the best chips we’ve had but not best fish (although it does make the podium, against some stiff competition). Great meal.
More great meals on Friday. The veggie shop and bakery took care of breakfast then the therapists and stroke team put on a great lunch (homemade date slice – yum – thanks Pat!) and we shared our experiences. Lots of interesting questions. Then we became tourists, visiting the art gallery, museum and HMAS Sydney memorial.
It seems that the Geraldton area is THE place to get shipwrecked. The coastline is rugged, with more cliffs, jagged reefs, wild currents and unpredictable winds than a Victorian romance novel. It was fascinating learning about wrecks like the Batavia, after which this area of coast has been named. The wreck’s survivors went through an almost Lord of the Flies style epic, and there was lost treasure too, plus the discovery and ensuing battle between competing museums have kept the story’s pace going even today.
Riding out of Geraldton I ran some possible shipwreck inspired novel outlines past Ross which I thought maybe I could pitch to Mills and Boon (to fund recent budget blow outs). But when the object of the beautiful marine biologist’s unrequited love gets his leg bitten off by a shark we just knew it wouldn’t sell. But if we have to write from experience it means that the romance will either be set in an office (ho hum) or on a bicycle (small market) so perhaps I should just get back to this journal update and forget about it.
Which brings us to Greenough, just south of Geraldton. Greenough was discovered by – you guessed it – a shipwreck survivor who was washed up there. He saw how good the soil was and came back and settled in the area. Which is perfectly understandable, the coastal route from Geraldton to Perth is very, very beautiful and it is excellent farming country.