Well this one was a long run, and I can confirm now, without hesitation, that southern Western Australia is similar to western Western Australia which is similar to northern Western Australia, as there is not allot going on. In summary, Western Australia is more or less empty, the remnant of Australia that nobody really wanted (except for the farms and mines). The roads are long and straight, the lands are barren, and the gasoline is insanely expensive $6+ USD, the only noticeable difference between the north and south are the dramatic temperature differences and the kangaroos down south are much larger. The actual ride across the State was long, cold, wet at times, and littered with dead kangaroos. Why so many dead kangaroos? Well the trucks hit them at night. Most trucks are equipped with a metal plate on front to project the cab from sustaining damage. N\To e honest, I am not sure what the name of the plate is, but I refer to it as the Kangaroo Exploder, as the name seems somewhat appropriate A few stretches of the roads are so littered with dead kangaroos that I would pass time on the bike by using them as a slalom course, seems gross, but better than running over them again...and again...and again.
There are some interesting sites along the route, the coolest being the playground for humpback whales. There is a location, near Albany, where whales comes to just play, hangout, socialize, sunbath, and birth and raise calves. They have been coning there since recorded time, The playground is visible from the local cliffs and some people just spend hours there watching them. The pod will number over 60 individuals in the height of the season, but was just down to just four at the end of the season when I was there. They were active playing and blowing water 20 feet into the air until I decided to take my camera out, at which point they played dead until I put it back away. This cycle repeated itself a number of times until I gave up and took the less than inspiring picture below (this playing dead act was reserved for just myself and my camera, this became a apparent when I was leaving and I heard a woman yell in amazement, "did you catch that shot?,", and he responded, "you bet I did honey.").
The other somewhat cool thing about southern WA is that it's the location of the Skylab crash back in the 1980s. There is a museum of the crash that I was first impressed by until I realized many of the pieces were complete fakes and bad ones at that. I am not sure what I expected from a museum that was co-located with a gas station, but live and learn.
The run run accross the southern part of the country did include two decent sized cities, Adelaide and Melbourne, the later of which is a real city with trains, trams, and numerous high rise buildings Melbourne is the first large city I have come across since Kuala Lumpur, and a nice break from the outback. The City is known for festivals, nightlife and street art. Melbourne is also the home of the Australian MotoGP. which by coincidence will be held this upcoming weekend. I secured track side camping and tickets, so it should be good fun.
Leg Distance: 2,070 mi (3,338 km)
There are some interesting sites along the route, the coolest being the playground for humpback whales. There is a location, near Albany, where whales comes to just play, hangout, socialize, sunbath, and birth and raise calves. They have been coning there since recorded time, The playground is visible from the local cliffs and some people just spend hours there watching them. The pod will number over 60 individuals in the height of the season, but was just down to just four at the end of the season when I was there. They were active playing and blowing water 20 feet into the air until I decided to take my camera out, at which point they played dead until I put it back away. This cycle repeated itself a number of times until I gave up and took the less than inspiring picture below (this playing dead act was reserved for just myself and my camera, this became a apparent when I was leaving and I heard a woman yell in amazement, "did you catch that shot?,", and he responded, "you bet I did honey.").
The other somewhat cool thing about southern WA is that it's the location of the Skylab crash back in the 1980s. There is a museum of the crash that I was first impressed by until I realized many of the pieces were complete fakes and bad ones at that. I am not sure what I expected from a museum that was co-located with a gas station, but live and learn.
The run run accross the southern part of the country did include two decent sized cities, Adelaide and Melbourne, the later of which is a real city with trains, trams, and numerous high rise buildings Melbourne is the first large city I have come across since Kuala Lumpur, and a nice break from the outback. The City is known for festivals, nightlife and street art. Melbourne is also the home of the Australian MotoGP. which by coincidence will be held this upcoming weekend. I secured track side camping and tickets, so it should be good fun.
Leg Distance: 2,070 mi (3,338 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 47,561 mi (76,713 km)
Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China (for 20 seconds), India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste. Australia
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