Cycling Around the World, Sadly had to return for major repairs

[hoopdriver]

That’s certainly true. I do take precautions - indeed my bicycles are chained up with Pragmasis chains, locks, and floor anchors, the toughest on the market. And in a locked shed at that.

 

[John Peel]

That’s certainly true. I do take precautions - indeed my bicycles are chained up with Pragmasis chains, locks, and floor anchors, the toughest on the market. And in a locked shed at that.

That sounds secure alright.

 

[John Peel]

Well that depends, Coming through from San Sebastián, through Tolosa, Burgos, Roa, Coca, then 9 great days rest in Madrid, before going through Tarancona to Valencia. If you know a country I’m sure you can point out some great places to sightsee. When you don’t you can miss out on some real gems. Some parts would have been nice to drive through.

 

[hoopdriver]

That sounds secure alright.

As they used to say in the Old West - trust in the Lord, but keep your powder dry...

 

[MarkF]

The centre of Spain is an odd place. Empty, dull, and rather a backwater. I suggest sticking to the outside.

I love it and suggest seeing it, it's the only "odd" place left in Western Europe and it's certainly not empty, other worldy maybe, I've had some spectacular days riding across Spain.

 

[John Peel]

My cycle from Irun to Madrid, Madrid, then Madrid to Valencia, with no advanced road route plan just that I was heading to Madrid then heading to Valencia. Some amazing landscapes that I really didn't expect to see.
http://www.stephenpeel.co.uk/cycling-spain-to-madrid
http://www.stephenpeel.co.uk/9-days-exploring-madrid
http://www.stephenpeel.co.uk/cycling-madrid-to-valencia

 

[tyreon]

We must all respect John Peel cos he lived in Perth. Perth is one hellova isolated city. Perth is in Australia. Australia is one hellova isolated country. Respect.

Once seen: Henry Cole, motorcyclist. Enters smalltown Aussie. Isolation. Heaven. By next day it was...Hell. Too isolated! He had to escape its borderless boundries. Zero happening...and nothing likely to happen. You had to be Buddha or bull ant to survive there.

 

[tyreon]

Just looked at someofthe pics of Spain by JP. Very good. But wonder can u ever take a bad pic of such pastures? Surely not! Me-ambling...I like the pics of Crap-Town Britain...cos they picture some of it just as is. CT captures GB in B&W in all its dreadfulness.
On a brighter note...theres still some good country aroundabouts...just hanging in there...just. PS: Just dont tell Barretts or Wimpey

 

[John Peel]

Just looked at someofthe pics of Spain by JP. Very good. But wonder can u ever take a bad pic of such pastures? Surely not! Me-ambling...I like the pics of Crap-Town Britain..y

Perth is indeed a very isolated city, maybe the most isolated city in the world, and you feel it too. But it is a beautiful city too. I do take pictures of hardship and all sorts of things we see daily. Maybe this image I captured in Liverpool is more your cup of tea or the one above of the Mersey Ferry.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

When you don’t you can miss out on some real gems

And sometimes you get to find some real unspoilt gems along the way.

We must all respect John Peel cos he lived in Perth. Perth is one hellova isolated city. Perth is in Australia. Australia is one hellova isolated country. Respect.

Once seen: Henry Cole, motorcyclist. Enters smalltown Aussie. Isolation. Heaven. By next day it was...Hell. Too isolated! He had to escape its borderless boundries. Zero happening...and nothing likely to happen. You had to be Buddha or bull ant to survive there.

Yep. Having lived here on the south East coastal area of Australia for 18 months now I agree totally, but it is that complete lack of borders and boundaries that I love so very much.

Plus the major highways that at a blink of an eye suddenly become dirt roads up and over what is often the most dangerous parts of the road.

PS in not exactly where my location states... I have no neighbours to speak of, no visible houses around etc. It's 12km of dirt roads to the closest tarmac. I'm off grid for everything except electricity. Several of my ' neighbours' are totally off grid. We had a 'street' party last weekend to welcome in the new residents and say hello to the cars we meet on the final dirt road (attendance by vehicle compulsory due to distances involved) and as my husband put it, we came from miles around, literally. The smallest plot of land owned around here is 114 hectares roughly 250-275 acres.

 

[John Peel]

I'm off grid for everything except electricity. .

Distances are huge there aren't they. It's good that you have electricity, so all your really missing then is clean water and sewage disposal. Sewage tanks are easy to deal with and I know plenty of places here in the UK still on sewage tanks. My neighbours in Wales were on sewage tanks. We couldn't get mains gas, but we could get electricity. Phone line too was just a basic line so internet was simple and rubbish. So how do you get on with water, are you using some sort of artesian bore? I don't know if I could live that far away from some hustle and bustle.

 

[hoopdriver]

When I was cycling around Australia I stayed for a while at a million acre cattle station in the Kimberley. It was amazing. Youu’d Be having breakfast at the homestead and talking with ringers who were going to be working fifty miles apart - on the same property. I spent some time going around the station with the windmill man, the guy who had to check on all the water holes etc. It was a three day circuit. Another world.

 

[John Peel]

When I was cycling around Australia I stayed for a while at a million acre cattle station in the Kimberley. It was amazing. Youu’d Be having breakfast at the homestead and talking with ringers who were going to be working fifty miles apart - on the same property. I spent some time going around the station with the windmill man, the guy who had to check on all the water holes etc. It was a three day circuit. Another world.

It's hard to grasp the size of Western Australia alone isn't it. 10 years ago a late friend of mine and I flew from Perth to Broome on the North West coast, and it took two and a half hours. I could have flown from Liverpool to Majorca in that time. Also baring in mind that Perth is far from the bottom of WA and Broome is far from the top. When you cycled down the coast you will have likely cycled near Broome. Did you visit? I loved it there, with it's own time (Broome Time) and a Salt Water crocodile on the main swimming beach.

 

[hoopdriver]

It's hard to grasp the size of Western Australia alone isn't it. 10 years ago a late friend of mine and I flew from Perth to Broome on the North West coast, and it took two and a half hours. I could have flown from Liverpool to Majorca in that time. Also baring in mind that Perth is far from the bottom of WA and Broome is far from the top. When you cycled down the coast you will have likely cycled near Broome. Did you visit? I loved it there, with it's own time (Broome Time) and a Salt Water crocodile on the main swimming beach.

I spent ten days in Broome - this was in 1996, it was a much smaller place back then - and loved it. I pedalled south from there across the Great Sandy Desert to Port Hedland and enjoyed so much hospitality from the station folk that it took me another ten days to get there, and I put on several pounds! Great memories from that part of the world.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Distances are huge there aren't they. It's good that you have electricity, so all your really missing then is clean water and sewage disposal. Sewage tanks are easy to deal with and I know plenty of places here in the UK still on sewage tanks. My neighbours in Wales were on sewage tanks. We couldn't get mains gas, but we could get electricity. Phone line too was just a basic line so internet was simple and rubbish. So how do you get on with water, are you using some sort of artesian bore? I don't know if I could live that far away from some hustle and bustle.

I've always lived of grid (in the UK) for gas, water and sewage so am exceptionally used to it. I had a very short spell on mains water whilst at university during term time but other than that.. So it doesn't bother me at all. Hubby when I first knew him was another matter (or at least his tummy was) and it took several years for him to be able to drink absolutely any water supply.

We are on tank (rain) water for both hot water and drinking water. If it doesn't rain.. The gutters have just been done for this month! We have a once a month policy for checking them. Then there is bore water for the toilet and washing machine, plus a cold water tap in the laundry room come bathroom and all the stand pipes outside (so far found 15). The seperate building known as the studio which is now the only other building with water is also on bore water. The bore water is exactly that, but there's a pump to use to refill the tank periodically. Currently we top it up once a week because it's also the only fire fighting option there is.

There's no phone line where we are or mobile signal, we have satellite broadband and a VoIP phone. Really handy when there's no electricity! Plus not having water (except for the toilet) when there's no electricity takes some getting used to. All the private water systems I was ever lived off have been gravity fed so we still had water in a power cut! One place I've lived in in the UK was oil fired central heating, the rest had no CH, so having no CH isn't an issue here. It's the complete lack of insulation that's the problem. -8C through winter is -8C inside as well!

Not being on mains gas is n no big deal, we have bottled gas instead refilled once a quarter. No different to the UK there in the few places I've lived that were bottled gas.

It's the wildlife, the flies and total lack of concept of green grass that takes a little getting used to and even in NSW the distances are huge. I think I saw a map somewhere where the entirity of Europe (Scandinavia included) was arranges into NSW!