Australia, 20th country: Perth to Albany

Dear friends,

on August 2nd, at 5:30 am, I landed in Perth. with bike and all my stuff.
I flew with Air Asia and had 30 kg for my bike, including box and 40 kg for my luggage.

No problems at all at the customs. only two questions:
1. Do you have animal products ? Yes, only a Jacaru Kangaroo leather head
2. Do you have drugs or medecine ? yes, some antibiotics....

Ok, thank you , enjoy your trip !

no opening of the bike box, no showing the tent, if it is clean.....

nothing else !!!

Outside the airport: only 5 degrees. so cold ! Brrrrrrrrr...

I planned to assemble the bike at the airport, but I was very tired. I decided to take a taxi to my host.

For four days I have stayed at Patrick´s home, together with his family. He is a friend of SK from the hostel "TreeInLodge" in Singapore. Very friendly and great hospitality ! I felt not so well.
After six weeks in Germany with big stress and organizing the trip to Australia I had to pay the tribute to my health; an upcoming cold stopped me, so I stayed four more days in Perth.
by the way: my brother´s wedding was awesome, it was great to see my family, my friends in Eppingen, Mannheim, Bensheim..... but I was so well-planned.

On August 10th, finally, I took my bike, starting the challenge to cycle around Australia. Patrick joined me until Mandurah. It made much more fun to cycle not alone, because the track was very good, but quite boring.

Honestly, until today my trip is not very exciting.
In 2010, I already visited many sights in Western Australia and now I do not visit them again. The distances are long and there is only forest, street, forest, beach, street, beach...... very very few possibilities to stop for a coffee or drink. in the morning it is quite chilly, often headwinds, and some days only up and down, down and up.
So, the highlights are the few people, I meet :-)

My trip together with Astrid was absolutley awesome and a big enrichment for my life, but unfortunately she never wanted to come to Australia and now she is working as a dive instructor on Tioman Island/Malaysia. I do not feel lonely, because in Germany I have been living for my own for a long time, but honestly, sometimes I miss her. Twenty months of travelling together are leaving marks and while cycling between six and eight hours a day, yes, there is much time for a flood of thoughts..... .

Well, wild camping is quite difficult here. at most of the places it is prohibited, and many times it is all private property. Honestly, after a long and exhausting day of cycling, I go camping in a caravan park, take a room in a guesthouse or have a homestay at a member from "warmshowers.org".
this community is only for cyclists and I already met so many nice and friendly people there.
Great !!!

My stops after Perth where in:

Mandurah, Bunbary , Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River, Augusta with Cape Leeuwin, Nannup, Manjimup, Walpole, Denmark, Albany.
in total 840 km.

At the end of this post, I show you some pics from 2010; hope you will enjoy them as well.