On ya Bike!

When I landed in Darwin in February 1999, I was on my way to discover the beauty of Australia and for me there is no better way to see a country than by bicycle.

I got to Australia the “hard way”, over land on the bicycle via Eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. After crossing China and South East Asia, I arrived in Indonesia. That was an amazing 18-month, 30,000-km trip.

Australia was always the continent I wanted to see and finally I could start the second part of my travels. My plan of action was to go down the Stuart Highway from Darwin to Alice Springs and then down to South Australia and Victoria while taking in as many National Parks as possible. Most people thought I was absolutely crazy to go cycling in the height of the wet season but I was rather lucky, as there was not much rain at all.

The question most people will ask me is “Why?” To tell you the truth, I do not exactly know why. Perhaps it is just the way we grow up in Holland. You learn to cycle when you are about four and then it is just the way to go. I went to school, university and work by bike. The weekly shopping was easier done by bike than by car owing to lack of parking space. My Mum and Dad, who are both in their late sixties, also cycle just about everywhere.

The Dutch government actively encourages bicycle use by giving monetary incentives to people who go to work by bike. But all that still does not explain why I chose to cycle round the world.

It was just something I had to try and I left Holland with the option to turn around and go back home the minute I did not like it any more. That never happened. There have been numerous lows but the highs always made up for it all.

Australia by bike has been great. I have enjoyed the hospitality of many different people. I remember one occasion when I decided to cut across the Ernest Giles Road to get to Kings Canyon. It must have been the longest 90 kilometers I have ever done. There was lots of loose sand on which cycling was almost impossible and I spent most of the time pushing the bike (that’s probably why Australians call it a push-bike).

I was close to giving up when a 4WD came along. In it was an older couple, quite concerned and if they could, they would have given me a ride. My spirits were lifted by this meeting and I was even more determined to get off the dirt. I managed to get to the bitumen around 4.30 pm and decided that I should press on. The next 63 kilometers to Kings Creek Station were so easy! It is amazing how good it feels to be on a “real” road after horrendous dirt.

By 7 pm I arrived at the campsite where the owners were expecting me. They told me that those people in the 4WD were really worried about me. I found a place next to the couple and they could not have been happier. I felt as if I was their own daughter coming home. They spoiled me rotten with all sorts of nice food and a well-deserved glass of wine.I have met hospitality everywhere around the world but it never felt as warm and real as in Australia. I have made lots of friends along the way and I am still in email contact with most of them.

I cannot really recall any bad times. The rain, the wind and those days when your legs feel like jelly are quickly forgotten when you are standing on a cliff, looking over the ocean, or arriving at a campground where total strangers give you a cold beer and decide that tuna and noodles is not a real meal and insist on sharing their BBQ with you. These sort of encounters make it all worth while and that is why I always climb back on that bike. It is not the cycling alone; it is the whole experience.

By now, I have turned my Australian partner, Ronn Slusser, into a long-distance cycle fanatic and he joins me on my travels. Although we do not constantly tour the country, every now and then we get the itch and gear up for a new adventure.In

 September 2000, we cycled the Tanami Road and the Gibb River Road to Darwin. Last year, we cycled from Alice Springs to the Eyre Peninsula via the Oodnadatta Track and Flinders Ranges. These are all dirt roads that some people are not keen to tackle, even by 4WD.

The adventure is the rough roads, the tough landscape and the feeling of really being “out there”. The main difficulty is water. There are times when we are carrying 22 liters of water between us and 14 days’ supply of food. It is unbelievable how good rolled oats with a few sultanas and powdered milk can taste for breakfast. Food and water is really important and takes most of the space in our bags. For clothing, we have only a few tee-shirts, change of underwear and one set of warm things. We sleep in a tent and we each carry a sleeping bag and mat. In all, we are carrying a load of about 30 kilos each.

It seems a hard way to see the country but it is worth the effort. The landscape is fantastic and you are so much closer to nature than when travelling by car. We love doing it and the next trip is already planned for November this year. The only question is: can we wait that long?
 

Dorinda Blok