If I were to describe an area as, adjacent to the ocean, tall treed, the smell of pine permeating through the air, cool temperatures, twisty roads, quaint little towns, national parks, cold water diving, spritzing rain, and expensive real estate, you might think that I was describing Northern California in the United States, but I am describing Southwest Australia. All this, with the exception of the high prices, makes for nice riding, nice beaches, a relaxed population, the areas is beautiful. The cool thing about the area is the wildlife. There are allot of kangaroos (including in the meat section of the grocery), snakes, and people friendly stingrays in the ocean to name just a few.
One of the unusual things about Australia is that foreign tourists are allowed to work here while on holiday. Apparently the country is hurting for entry level labor, and European kids (most notably Germans) come here to work, so many of them are taking the Australian Government up on their offers of worl. The kids are making about $25AUS ($16.75USD) an hour, not bad since they can live in hostels relatively cheaply. When I first started across the outback it seemed every roadhouse was staffed by a German backpacker. The rule is that they must do 88 days in a remote location if they wish to stay a year of more. Apparently this area qualifies, and there are backpackers everywhere, picking strawberries, making sandwiches at Subway, etc. I have run into a couple of people that started as strawberry pickers from a down-and-out county, and after six years and a sponsorship are full-fledged Australian citizens, so it is a pretty cool program.
Leg Distance: 680 mi (1,096 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 45,49 mi (73,375 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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