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Fifty metres vs. twelve feet. 125 tonnes vs. 400 kilos. 110 kilometres per hour vs. a mere eight.
As much as we'd like to think that our behemoth is the king of the road, it's the road trains that rule. We're just glad that they're willing to share (some of the time).
A road train can be a harrowing experience even in a car. Most people ask us how we get along with the trains, but we've always taken the approach that when it comes to a vehicle of that size, weight and velocity, it's our responsibility to make sure that we're off the road when they fly by. After all, we'd rather trundle over a little gravel than worry about that third container of coal playing crack-the-whip as the road train shifts lanes to avoid us. As they say in Australian politics, make friends with the big guys!
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these are the people in our neighbourhood...
Justin
It's Justin, the GWN News guy! We never did see the final broadcast, but you can be sure it was a hard-hitting, no-nonsense, journalistic masterpiece worthy of the Pulitzer, if that's what prize you get for TV reporting. If not, give the man a Logie!
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Robbie (& Rupert)
Robbie wanted a trailer for his bike, and rather than paying an arm and a leg, he made this one out of an old pram! His next project: a paracycle! Picture a Penninger, but with a JET TURBINE ENGINE AND A PARACHUTE! It's awesome! I've seen the sketches!
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Eddie, Lily, Tony & Edna
Caught on film by the South Ocean Highway Paparazzi! Thank goodness these four Perth-based travellers stopped us for a cuppa, or we never would have made it as far as we did that evening. We learned from them that the most valuable outback currency is the Tim Tam.
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Veijo
Cycling around Australia seems to be a race to the Finnish! Ha! Veijo's making much better time than we are. We met him just 30km out of Albany just before we set up camp, and he'd already done 150km that morning, planning to still make it to Albany before quitting for the day. Last year, he went to the South Pole on skis! Check out his website at www.seikkailua.com!
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wally's amazin' facts!
Anzac Day is a big deal here in Albany because it was the last port of call for the soldiers of World War I before they set off to Gallipoli. Each year at the dawn service, a ship lays a memorial wreath in the entrance to the harbour. Then everyone heads over to the Drill Hall for coffee and rum! A fine tradition.
This Week's Amazin' Fact: These days, everybody's talking about the Rabbit Proof Fence. Probably the only idea by the conquering British that kinda worked as intended, no matter how ridiculous it seems on first glance. The bloody Poms brought over rabbits, probably because they didn't find wombats sporting enough, and, having no natural enemies, they ravaged everything in sight. So, somebody in the West said, "I say, why don't we build a fence from the top of Australia to the bottom to keep the rabbits out? Jolly good then!" So they did, and blimey, it worked! Too bad the Aborigines didn't think of building a Pommy Proof Fence!
Boy oh boy! Probably gonna get emails about that one! Yaw hee haw! Just to get your mind really working weird... what's the best use of a drinking straw in Esperance? Have a Coke and think about it!
Don't forget to look for Wally this week!
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Distance this week: 472km | Distance since Day 1: 9560km |
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What is Bikeabout? Click here to find out!

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Day 220: Over to you, Bob
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32.5km
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21°
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4.0h
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2.0L
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Up & Down
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Manypeaks
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 camera shy
Kevin should have been a talk show host, he's so relaxed in front of the television cameras. Stick a camera in front of his face and he'll start telling stories left and right. I think the cameraman may have secretly turned the camera off at this point, but he keeps on going.
Me, I'm the opposite. Put me in front of the camera, and suddenly I'll find that my tongue has swelled up to twice it's size. Ask me a question and I'll find the quickest two-word sentence that I think might satisfy you. And chances are it'll come out sounding like "ghurg lurg." Here's an example:
News Guy: "So how far do you go a day?"
Kevin: "On average, I'd like to say that we go around 60-70km a day, but here in the populated areas, we tend to slow down and smell the exhaust a little bit; you know, stop at the bakery, hang out in the frozen food section of Wooley's... it's nice to take a bit of a break."
News Guy: "And Aimee, how many punctures have you had?"
Aimee: "...Ghurg lurg."
Yup. I've always said I've got a perfect voice for newspaper.

"If I may, I have a public service message to Western Australia: Please don't ever tell the person in the back of a tandem that they're not pedalling. It's not funny. You're not the first. They've heard it before."
- Kevin on GWN Television.
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Day 225: Guess Where I Am? Nowhere!
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118.9km
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26°
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12h
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10L
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Easy Riding
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Next to the cows
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 the bar is raised
Holy Frickin' Frack! We're gone into overdrive and today we cycled further than we ever have before! We're trying so hard to make it to Esperance that we've given up sleep so that we can keep on shaving off the kilometres. Mother Nature decided to stop torturing us today by replacing a lot of the uphills with flats. It's about friggin' time, too. Not that it being flatter should diminish the importance of beating our previous best-ever mileage from Day 32.
Even Dean should be impressed with today.
Aimee: "I wouldn't pet him, he's foaming at the mouth."
Kevin: "Aw, he's just hot, aren't ya boy?"
Aimee: "Kevin, it's not exactly hot out."
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