The Last Post

And so it come to this. The final entry in a year and a halfs worth of rambling. First things i first i must say thank you.

Thank you to the hundreds of people who have helped me out in some way. Those who fixed the bike, those who fed me, those who put me up. I ditched the lonely planet long ago when i realised that these expereinces were the ones that i will most cherish from the trip. The deapth of kindness shown from the very begining of the trip to the end has been incredible and the trip would certainly not have been possible without it. There is no way i can ever repay my grattitude other than to offfer thanks and similar help to those in need.

Thank you for the letters etc i have received over the course of the trip. Traveling solo has it pros and cons but lonelyness on the road can be one the latter. The words of encouragement and even just news from home ( good and bad) was a huge help.

Thank you to those reading this. I have tried to keep it interesting ( and without too many sware words). I has been nice to receive your comments.

Endings and Begingings
The last few days of the trip were in fact quite uneventful. The bike held up to his pasting on the Oodnadatta track very well. The puncture count still stands at less than 20 for the whole trip. I mannaged to get a new trailer tire in Clare in the nick of time as i had worn the old one down to the tube. Whoops! I Met my Mum and Grandpa in Clare, north of Adelaide and we spent the night there which was great. I was joined the following day by my brother and we cycled to the last 98km from the Barrossa valley to Stirling together.

After 4 days of sleeping in a bed ( the longest in several months) i am slowly getting used to the idea. When i could get to the bed that is. I arrived home to a year and halfs worth of mail and other junk piled on the spare bed at mums' place. Not waking up and feeling like i have been hit in the legs with a cricket bat is also super.

And from here? The bike will not go rusty as it will become my shopping trolly back in Alice Springs. The next trip is brewing: A traverse of the James Range, round the world by rotary hoe, africa, south america, Lada adventures ( i can ask to get it repaired in Russian now) But i think it may be time to spend a little bit of time in the one place



Cheers


Emrys