Morning Came the 24th Day

 Wow! 1/3 of our trip has gone. Every day is special so the discipline of writing something every day is important to jogging the memory when we get home .....or when I get old!

So some notes to me, and anyone still following this. 

Public Transport: no problems! Buses are the most comfortable and reliable. Probably because the drivers see and interact with passengers. In Tas and WA drivers, particularly in remoter areas, are really caring.  Long haul in WA have movies ( with headphones ) , music, charge points, can stream  entertainment. I just read or look out the window.

Two  train journeys  so far. Goulburn to Melbourne morphed into a bus because of a freight derailment on the Southern Line.  Melbourne to Adelaide.  Toss up whether Economy or First Class is preferable. The latter has slightly more adjustable seats and roomier but one pays for all meals in the ticket whether needed or not. Everything is served to your seat so little opportunity to wander.  We chose the former and were well  pleased, liking the outward facing seats in the buffet car.  Downside, due to a signal malfunction we sat at St. Albans for over an hour, so late into Adelaide. No public transport from Adelaide Parklands Station at Keswick. We have quite a few trains in Qld 

LUGGAGE: We each have approx. 20kg   wheeled suitcase + a small backpack. Works well as we dump our luggage immediately on arrival.  Packed layers for Tas, incl down jacket, which we used but likely won't again till close to home.  What didn't I use..beanie and gloves! Glad I included my real walking shoes.  My fave Keen's sneakers may just last the distance. New thongs are a likely purchase. 

ACCOMMODATION:  We prebooked as far as Darwin, mostly using Luke's genius status with Booking.com. Chose places close to bus stops , within walking distance, and it has worked well. All have been flexible around luggage drop-offs/store. Prebooking was a good strategy as in some instances availability is limited for reasons not apparent, e g.  The Targa in Tassie. In WA , further north gets tighter due to the season. 

FOOD:  The hardest aspect to manage.  We only need two meals a day and usually one is evening dinner.  These are inevitably large portions at equally large prices.  The highest we saw was $57 for a steak at Derwent Bridge Tas.  So we walk a few extra kms to search out light and tasty- it usually pays off.

Some suggest  staying where there are cooking facilities but in practical terms we are no where long enough to make this worthwhile with no waste.  Best finds so far have been Indian in Melb.,Fish Frenzy in Burnie,  great pizza at the Motel dining in Queenstown,  fish at the pier, Malaysian in  back street and  of course  Bury Me Standing bagels in Hobart; mango curry in Launceston and laneway tasters back in  Melb. Then of corse the Balcony dinner at the Palace,Kalgoorlie followed the next night by incredible Thai at that city's Lemon Grass.  Esperance- nuh. Perth,difficult.  All the restaurants are on the opposite side to most accommodation and we struck "masks off" day. Everywhere was crowded and VERY noisy. A quiet Vietnamese place saved the day ; the last night we endured but not enjoyed! Sad to see so many places have folded, both shops and eateries.

PEOPLE: one of the joys of this adventure is the people we meet. With Luke that's not hard! 

The lady who interrupted her run to help when we caught the wrong tram to the ferry

The Dutch Couple in their coffee shop in Burnie

Phil, our driver, on the personalized tour to Hastings Caves who literally went the extra miles to get us up Mt Wellington.

Of course, the Miller clan who gathered to make us welcome in Launceston.

The young Indian shuttle bus driver who gave us a free ride from Perth airport because we didn't prepurchase tickets.

The guy on the Fremantle cruise who shared his mountain bike exploits and other adventures.

The couple in Kalgoorlie who were caravanning cross country to Alice. He shared his life experiences- bus driving in WA, mining- all kinds of roles and now retired on 5 acres at Moora.

The Indigenous. I guess there will be more observations as travel to more remote areas. The problems and issues we read about in the press  are visible in Perth- street sleepers and groups of young kids. One approached me and asked if I'd be her grandmother! No adults in sight. There must be an answer to this inequality given the wealth the is obvious in the city.

The bus driver on the Geraldton bus who knows and calls everyone by name, including us!

In summary, yes, it's as much fun as we expected. The only annoyance is Luke turning the map around and never being wrong! Small price to pay for his curiosity, enthusiasm, and agreeing to this suggestion, well no, this definite plan. 

BTW.. Saturday was listed on the itinerary as "laundry day". We had picked a hotel not too far from a laundrette. Not needed. Our hotel had a beautiful guest laundry.. sometimes we just get lucky, more often than not, having got in and out of Perth twice!