So, farm life… blimey, whats with the flippin’ cockerel at 4am… I can see why the Airbnb didn’t invest in blackout blinds, lets face it the cottage would need sound proofing too!! so basically from 4am, light dozing only until just getting up at 6am and a leisurely preparation to head into town for 8am meet up at the visitor centre with Dirty Detours bike tours. Don’t get me wrong, the cottage is lovely and I am enjoying the outdoor life and early mornings and early to bed, and plenty of rest . I did the cycling last year, as I mentioned before and the winery/bike ride which was great fun… well that’s how I remember it after 4 wineries and many a tasting (apparently 5 tastings is the equivalent to 1 glass, and i do always find it hard to use the spittoon especially when the wine is so lovely!
This time we are going off road, through the national park of Boranup, where we cover off about a 16km off road mountain bike trail with a few bumps, jumps. rocks, trees and other obstacles to work around!! yikes… lets face it, this is something I have never done before in my life! And I do love a challenge otherwise I wouldn’t have picked this to do, I am well and truly out of my comfort zone. Rob from Dirty Detours picks me up and we drive into the forest in order to get started!!
This was unexpectedly, pretty awesome, great fun, hard work, and Adrenalin pumping. Apparently its easy to know where I am and what I am doing based on the noises I make… jumping, rocks, tree roots all have a different noise to them … !! lol! at least they weren’t screams more, yelps. And not a fall, or tumble thankfully and I was pretty chuffed with how I did, like I said, I don’t bike so this was pretty tough work. My hands ache from holding onto the bars with a death grip!! I had some funny moments cycling in sand, working out the gears (incorrectly some times… thumbs easy, fingers hard… hmmm… well I got it right most of the time but nothing like trying uphill on a sand hill in 10th gear!).
With a fabulous ride under the belt, the best thing to do is re-hydrate! where best to do that… haha to tour the wineries, and a great fun way to do that was with Jake (DBM Drivers). He was awesome, really helpful, friendly and accommodating. Its his new business, just started in May this year after 6 years travelling the world… it was great hearing about his time in Honduras although sounds a bit scary!! and he has convinced me to get to Cuba before America changes it too much! I am happy to be helping a new young entrepreneur on his road to success, good luck Jake!! We went to Xanadu, Stella Bella nice boutique wineries and then finished on Voyager one of the big ones!!! It was a truly lovely afternoon, I tried lots of wine, bought lots of wine (well not too much!) to send to Sydney for when I get there, a few pressies and the like and a nice bottle of Rose for when I get back tonight!! Take the edge off the 36C heat…
Thankfully from tomorrow I am back to travelling on my own again for a few days and can truly just enjoy the rest of the my time here in WA. I also get to go back to Manuel Towers in Shoalwater Bay, and see Ali and Manuel again and catch up on their adventures in Europe as well. Looking forward to some fun Kite surfing and catching up with the guys at West Oz Kite as well before I head to Sydney to meet with my crew mates and get race ready!!
Spin My Own Dreams 