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Date: 9th August 2010
Hope Dracula didn't get you
Enjoyed reading your blog so far. However, where's the Aug 8 entry? I hope Dracula didn't get you after all?
From Blog: Budapest to Cluj-Napoca, Romania 490Km
Hope Dracula didn't get you
Enjoyed reading your blog so far. However, where's the Aug 8 entry? I hope Dracula didn't get you after all?
From Blog: Budapest to Cluj-Napoca, Romania 490Km
Date: 6th August 2010
Lufthansa
It's a well known fact that all airline names are acronyms. BA > Bloody Awful TWA > The Worst Airline (bankrupt!) SABENA >Such a Bloody Experience Never Again (bankrupt now!) However, we do all know that the German carrier is the finest: LUFTHANSA > Let Us Fondle The Hostesses And Not Say Anything
From Blog: Day 0 Pocconos
Lufthansa
It's a well known fact that all airline names are acronyms. BA > Bloody Awful TWA > The Worst Airline (bankrupt!) SABENA >Such a Bloody Experience Never Again (bankrupt now!) However, we do all know that the German carrier is the finest: LUFTHANSA > Let Us Fondle The Hostesses And Not Say Anything
From Blog: Day 0 Pocconos
Date: 6th August 2010
Reading you five by five in San Diego
Looking forward to hearing more about the road. Day 0 pictures and text are looking good -- coming through five by five (loud and clear, in radio lingo). Ride fast, ride safe.
From Blog: Day 0 Pocconos
Reading you five by five in San Diego
Looking forward to hearing more about the road. Day 0 pictures and text are looking good -- coming through five by five (loud and clear, in radio lingo). Ride fast, ride safe.
From Blog: Day 0 Pocconos
Date: 1st September 2009
Looking forward to your return
A most excellent travel blog, and much thanks for the detailed descriptions of Australian locales. [Note: Microsoft Word "auto-corrected" some of your blog text while you weren't looking, so you may need to "un-correct" some word spellings once you return.] You made even the iron-mining operations sound intriguing. Bravo for taking us along on your trip!
From Blog: Mon 31st of August 2009 Perth
Looking forward to your return
A most excellent travel blog, and much thanks for the detailed descriptions of Australian locales. [Note: Microsoft Word "auto-corrected" some of your blog text while you weren't looking, so you may need to "un-correct" some word spellings once you return.] You made even the iron-mining operations sound intriguing. Bravo for taking us along on your trip!
From Blog: Mon 31st of August 2009 Perth
Date: 1st September 2009
Well done that man
Always an achievement to complete a long motorbike ride and not A: develop haemorrhoids B; fall off it (usually whilst parking and then be trapped under it like John Wayne and dead horse) C: have mould growing in your clothes and D: not take up rolling your own fags. Mind you, I think you should re-title the blog “Bakery tour of Oz”. Still, who am I to talk? Nonetheless an excellent blog, a great trip I am sure, and mercifully free of Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance in its latter stages. See you soon. BTW Any idea who won the ashes this year?
From Blog: Mon 31st of August 2009 Perth
Well done that man
Always an achievement to complete a long motorbike ride and not A: develop haemorrhoids B; fall off it (usually whilst parking and then be trapped under it like John Wayne and dead horse) C: have mould growing in your clothes and D: not take up rolling your own fags. Mind you, I think you should re-title the blog “Bakery tour of Oz”. Still, who am I to talk? Nonetheless an excellent blog, a great trip I am sure, and mercifully free of Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance in its latter stages. See you soon. BTW Any idea who won the ashes this year?
From Blog: Mon 31st of August 2009 Perth
Date: 31st August 2009
Muffin quest
hey Phil! i'm checking your travelBlog for the first time since you left, and now i wish i'd been tracking more closely. you have the voice down perfectly. i'm especially enjoying your question for the Perfect Muffin. Searching only in or near pubs may limit your choices? i of course have lots of bike questions (eg, most new BMW twins now have an oil fill plug built DIRECTLY INTO the top of the left cylinder?) but they can wait until your return.
From Blog: Sat 29th of August 2009 Pinjarra to Bussleton via the Kauri Forest ~ 250km
Muffin quest
hey Phil! i'm checking your travelBlog for the first time since you left, and now i wish i'd been tracking more closely. you have the voice down perfectly. i'm especially enjoying your question for the Perfect Muffin. Searching only in or near pubs may limit your choices? i of course have lots of bike questions (eg, most new BMW twins now have an oil fill plug built DIRECTLY INTO the top of the left cylinder?) but they can wait until your return.
From Blog: Sat 29th of August 2009 Pinjarra to Bussleton via the Kauri Forest ~ 250km
Date: 30th August 2009
Naughty Boy!
Professor Bourne, you've been a very naughty boy haven't you? Look at me when I speak to you. (Or am I picturing a 15 year old taking a short-cut across the corner of the Hope Valley Reservoir scrubland on our cross-country run, and being rumbled by Bawden or Senior or whichever teacher? Or perhaps not using his chisel away from the edge, on the end-grain, in woodwork?). [Google maps shows the short-cut corner of what I now recognise as Awoonga Rd and Lower N.E. Road very clearly!! - but can't link it unfortunately.] Certainly, as you claim, you were no doubt busy doing something grotesque with the tools during woodwork, because these are Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) as opposed to Kauri (Agathis robusta). It's all coming back now isn't it? But much more important, I fear that my warning that you had to be careful to find a good place to see the Karri, has gone unheeded. The photo is clearly of a stretch of miniscule Jarrah trees (Eucalyptus marginata) with maybe one baby Karri tree at the end of the road. Hence: "not so impressed"! Also the road is a significant divided road. Believe me, the towering, smooth-white-trunked 300 ft Karri are still a majestic sight - "cathedral like" seems to be the most common reaction in a grove of them. But, in my experience, and as warned, they are only to be found in a few, more side-roady locations. Think I mentioned a particular reserve/drive just south of Pemberton which is spectacular. And then there's the giant climbable ones, like Gloucester Tree. Oh well, next time. Seriously, I should have taken more time with directions to that Reserve - sorry - but looking on-line now I still can't see it's name. I'd know it if down there, which is all that happened when we took the offspring down.
From Blog: Sat 29th of August 2009 Pinjarra to Bussleton via the Kauri Forest ~ 250km
Naughty Boy!
Professor Bourne, you've been a very naughty boy haven't you? Look at me when I speak to you. (Or am I picturing a 15 year old taking a short-cut across the corner of the Hope Valley Reservoir scrubland on our cross-country run, and being rumbled by Bawden or Senior or whichever teacher? Or perhaps not using his chisel away from the edge, on the end-grain, in woodwork?). [Google maps shows the short-cut corner of what I now recognise as Awoonga Rd and Lower N.E. Road very clearly!! - but can't link it unfortunately.] Certainly, as you claim, you were no doubt busy doing something grotesque with the tools during woodwork, because these are Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor) as opposed to Kauri (Agathis robusta). It's all coming back now isn't it? But much more important, I fear that my warning that you had to be careful to find a good place to see the Karri, has gone unheeded. The photo is clearly of a stretch of miniscule Jarrah trees (Eucalyptus marginata) with maybe one baby Karri tree at the end of the road. Hence: "not so impressed"! Also the road is a significant divided road. Believe me, the towering, smooth-white-trunked 300 ft Karri are still a majestic sight - "cathedral like" seems to be the most common reaction in a grove of them. But, in my experience, and as warned, they are only to be found in a few, more side-roady locations. Think I mentioned a particular reserve/drive just south of Pemberton which is spectacular. And then there's the giant climbable ones, like Gloucester Tree. Oh well, next time. Seriously, I should have taken more time with directions to that Reserve - sorry - but looking on-line now I still can't see it's name. I'd know it if down there, which is all that happened when we took the offspring down.
From Blog: Sat 29th of August 2009 Pinjarra to Bussleton via the Kauri Forest ~ 250km
Date: 29th August 2009
Ok I will worry about other things.. best Phil
From Blog: Wed 25th of August 2009 Newman to Meekatharra ~ 450km
Ok I will worry about other things.. best Phil
From Blog: Wed 25th of August 2009 Newman to Meekatharra ~ 450km
Date: 28th August 2009
When Will The Ore Run Out?
I think I can help here. I believe it was in 3rd year Geol, or even later, before I knew the answer to this very interesting question - which, like everyone who ever asks it, I worried about a lot. (There are even many Geo's who don't know the answer). The answer is actually very interesting, but apparently far, far too complicated to ever be mentioned in public! Answer lies in a simple geological, or mathematical or statistical, or actually even cosmological fact, which is pretty obvious when you think about it (but apparently a bit subtle!). All the elements distributed around the Earth, or Earth's crust, or cosmos, are concentrated to varying degrees in various different places (otherwise there wouldn't be any orebodies, right? It would all be uniform!). Well those concentrations, those concentrating processes, follow nice natural curves (logarithmic if I remember, maybe exponential - doesn't matter). So, eg, if Whaleback is 68%, the amount of Fe ore around at 67% is maybe 5 times as much! And at 66%, 5 times again! And so on. So the average granite or basalt (most of the crust) has 5% or something. ie, IT WILL NEVER RUN OUT!!!!!!! RELAX!!! Well, maybe in a million years it will be cheaper to re-extract the Fe from our garbage than to dig a deeper hole or whatever. But that is the final point: as long as you have enough energy (ie right price), you can never run out of Fe, Cu whatever! Only energy is tricky! But I'm totally relaxed about that also - energy supply is also very price sensitive, and fusion power, orbital solar beamed down by microwaves, or somesuch, will see us right! Everybody; chill out, there are much, much greater worries out there. Cheers.
From Blog: Wed 25th of August 2009 Newman to Meekatharra ~ 450km
When Will The Ore Run Out?
I think I can help here. I believe it was in 3rd year Geol, or even later, before I knew the answer to this very interesting question - which, like everyone who ever asks it, I worried about a lot. (There are even many Geo's who don't know the answer). The answer is actually very interesting, but apparently far, far too complicated to ever be mentioned in public! Answer lies in a simple geological, or mathematical or statistical, or actually even cosmological fact, which is pretty obvious when you think about it (but apparently a bit subtle!). All the elements distributed around the Earth, or Earth's crust, or cosmos, are concentrated to varying degrees in various different places (otherwise there wouldn't be any orebodies, right? It would all be uniform!). Well those concentrations, those concentrating processes, follow nice natural curves (logarithmic if I remember, maybe exponential - doesn't matter). So, eg, if Whaleback is 68%, the amount of Fe ore around at 67% is maybe 5 times as much! And at 66%, 5 times again! And so on. So the average granite or basalt (most of the crust) has 5% or something. ie, IT WILL NEVER RUN OUT!!!!!!! RELAX!!! Well, maybe in a million years it will be cheaper to re-extract the Fe from our garbage than to dig a deeper hole or whatever. But that is the final point: as long as you have enough energy (ie right price), you can never run out of Fe, Cu whatever! Only energy is tricky! But I'm totally relaxed about that also - energy supply is also very price sensitive, and fusion power, orbital solar beamed down by microwaves, or somesuch, will see us right! Everybody; chill out, there are much, much greater worries out there. Cheers.
From Blog: Wed 25th of August 2009 Newman to Meekatharra ~ 450km
Date: 28th August 2009
Mmm, a nice latte
Too much thinking is not safe for the middle aged man and I would counsel against it. As soon as the meaning of life floats into view it should rapidly be replaced with an analysis of Glenn McGraths line and length or, for example, under what exact circumstances you could get a date with Jennifer Aniston or be called up to open the batting for your country in its hour of need. Furthermore your note about an Austin Cambridge reminded me of my first day at Uni, I was driving there in my Dad’s Cortina MkI when said Cambridge pulled up a bit sharpish at a Zebra crossing and I, being distracted by Tony Blackburn on the wireless, smacked straight into the back of him. The Austin Cambridge had a huge metal chassis. The Cortina a flimsy monocoque. No contest. Finally, and sticking to the subject of avoiding all things philosophical, I too had a Harley which had all the engineering sophistication of a Byelorussian tractor and the exhaust used to fall off with terrible regularity. On a trip to Spain we made it exactly 5 miles off the ferry before the oil tank exploded and we were stranded for 4 days. On the bright side I did later sell it to a London Cab driver for more than I paid for it, which somehow made up many years of being forced to listen to their philosophy of life whislt being forced to pay through the teeth for it
From Blog: Thu 27th of August 2009 Meekatharra to Carnamah via Cue, Mt. Magnet, Mullewa and Mingenew ~ 700km
Mmm, a nice latte
Too much thinking is not safe for the middle aged man and I would counsel against it. As soon as the meaning of life floats into view it should rapidly be replaced with an analysis of Glenn McGraths line and length or, for example, under what exact circumstances you could get a date with Jennifer Aniston or be called up to open the batting for your country in its hour of need. Furthermore your note about an Austin Cambridge reminded me of my first day at Uni, I was driving there in my Dad’s Cortina MkI when said Cambridge pulled up a bit sharpish at a Zebra crossing and I, being distracted by Tony Blackburn on the wireless, smacked straight into the back of him. The Austin Cambridge had a huge metal chassis. The Cortina a flimsy monocoque. No contest. Finally, and sticking to the subject of avoiding all things philosophical, I too had a Harley which had all the engineering sophistication of a Byelorussian tractor and the exhaust used to fall off with terrible regularity. On a trip to Spain we made it exactly 5 miles off the ferry before the oil tank exploded and we were stranded for 4 days. On the bright side I did later sell it to a London Cab driver for more than I paid for it, which somehow made up many years of being forced to listen to their philosophy of life whislt being forced to pay through the teeth for it
From Blog: Thu 27th of August 2009 Meekatharra to Carnamah via Cue, Mt. Magnet, Mullewa and Mingenew ~ 700km
Date: 26th August 2009
bikes
I had a BMW trail bike for more than 15 years - first an R850GS (the yellow one that looked like a bumble bee) and later the R1100GS which was the first of the oil cooled boxer twins and the daddy of the one you are riding. To my mind it was the finest bike ever made. Huge yes, but perfectly balanced even in London traffic and supremely easy on the aged posterior. It had plenty of poke when you needed it and would cruise all day on a good road at 80 mph plus with no strain at all. I drove all over Europe on it and I can quite see why Ewan Macgregor (and his huge support team of course) went round the world on one. What I particularly loved about it was its suspension set up. When you jammed the (ABS!!) brakes on, the front didn’t dive, the whole bike just sort of squatted down and became more stable. Plus of course being made from quality materials meant it never needed cleaning either! The only thing I thought was poor was its performance on loose surfaces like gravel, but that was simply a consequence of its weight, wrestling one of these as the back wriggles around is a heart stopping experience. Anyhow, your blog made me feel good, I have been banging on for ten years now that you need to bin that monster crotch rocket and get a Beemer. It’s nice to feel that ones vociferous and biased opinions are right. BTW an excellent blog. Keep it up and don’t forget to ask every Aussie you meet if they know who won the Ashes series this year? They might not have read the paper.
From Blog: Tue 25th of August 2009 Man and Machine
bikes
I had a BMW trail bike for more than 15 years - first an R850GS (the yellow one that looked like a bumble bee) and later the R1100GS which was the first of the oil cooled boxer twins and the daddy of the one you are riding. To my mind it was the finest bike ever made. Huge yes, but perfectly balanced even in London traffic and supremely easy on the aged posterior. It had plenty of poke when you needed it and would cruise all day on a good road at 80 mph plus with no strain at all. I drove all over Europe on it and I can quite see why Ewan Macgregor (and his huge support team of course) went round the world on one. What I particularly loved about it was its suspension set up. When you jammed the (ABS!!) brakes on, the front didn’t dive, the whole bike just sort of squatted down and became more stable. Plus of course being made from quality materials meant it never needed cleaning either! The only thing I thought was poor was its performance on loose surfaces like gravel, but that was simply a consequence of its weight, wrestling one of these as the back wriggles around is a heart stopping experience. Anyhow, your blog made me feel good, I have been banging on for ten years now that you need to bin that monster crotch rocket and get a Beemer. It’s nice to feel that ones vociferous and biased opinions are right. BTW an excellent blog. Keep it up and don’t forget to ask every Aussie you meet if they know who won the Ashes series this year? They might not have read the paper.
From Blog: Tue 25th of August 2009 Man and Machine
Date: 25th August 2009
Better than 'O' level geography class
Phil, it's great to read your fantastic blog. I chose "Australia" for school geography projects twice, and this is even better. This sign caught my eye - R.F.D.S. are my initials. Penny and I just got back from climbing Mt. Adams in the White Mountains with Johanna. She's been doing trail maintenance - trench warfare, more like. According to the interweb, we have "DOMS" - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness... How's your rear end? I just signed up three of us - Johanna, Alastair, and me - for a weekend 'motorcycle rider education training' in late September. I may even have a license by the time I next see you! Never too old, eh. Cheers, Rob.
From Blog: Sat 22 of Aug 2009 Carnarvon to Karratha 650km
Better than 'O' level geography class
Phil, it's great to read your fantastic blog. I chose "Australia" for school geography projects twice, and this is even better. This sign caught my eye - R.F.D.S. are my initials. Penny and I just got back from climbing Mt. Adams in the White Mountains with Johanna. She's been doing trail maintenance - trench warfare, more like. According to the interweb, we have "DOMS" - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness... How's your rear end? I just signed up three of us - Johanna, Alastair, and me - for a weekend 'motorcycle rider education training' in late September. I may even have a license by the time I next see you! Never too old, eh. Cheers, Rob.
From Blog: Sat 22 of Aug 2009 Carnarvon to Karratha 650km
Date: 24th August 2009
Aussie pubs
its true that I said that about pubs and hosepipes, but i said it about NZ pubs. My experience of Aussie boozers was all in Melbourne where excellent Tassie beer and immensely loud live rock bands combined to make me wake up most mornings fairly sure someone had given me a tongue transplant and a tinnitus implant in the night
From Blog: Karratha to Port Hedland via Roebourne 200km
Aussie pubs
its true that I said that about pubs and hosepipes, but i said it about NZ pubs. My experience of Aussie boozers was all in Melbourne where excellent Tassie beer and immensely loud live rock bands combined to make me wake up most mornings fairly sure someone had given me a tongue transplant and a tinnitus implant in the night
From Blog: Karratha to Port Hedland via Roebourne 200km
Date: 23rd August 2009
The Bike
Hi Tony.. its a BMW R1200 GS - very heavy fully loaded for me, but a great bike. Makes you feel safer in the wilderness and oh yes there is plenty of that. Watch the cricket in the evening till I fall a sleep and wake up to teh disaster.
From Blog: August 20 Dongarra to Denham
The Bike
Hi Tony.. its a BMW R1200 GS - very heavy fully loaded for me, but a great bike. Makes you feel safer in the wilderness and oh yes there is plenty of that. Watch the cricket in the evening till I fall a sleep and wake up to teh disaster.
From Blog: August 20 Dongarra to Denham
Date: 21st August 2009
Yo
Nice blog mate, what next? A Twitter feed. Just kidding. To matters of substance. First off more bike stuff please, I mean WTF is a BMS 1200? Second Pirsigs book was a load of twaddle when it was written and age has not added lustre to its twin themes of navel gazing garnished with a dose of self reverent BS. The how to reset your won spark plug gap inserts are good though. Third re the letter to the Adelaide paper, I assume this got published as you were slagging off my Alma Mater, to which I can only say 1970’s Sheffield was, to me, a paradise of excellent beer and women with questionable morals and low standards. I wont bother updating you with the cricket scores as I assume every red blooded male you meet is delighted at the way Peter Siddle worked over the England top order yesterday (me, not so much). Anyhow I hope the rain stays away and the BMW (for I assume it is the worlds greatest bike which you are riding) continues to cosset your elderly rear. Right, back to my couch and the cricket. Hasta La vista
From Blog: August 20 Dongarra to Denham
Yo
Nice blog mate, what next? A Twitter feed. Just kidding. To matters of substance. First off more bike stuff please, I mean WTF is a BMS 1200? Second Pirsigs book was a load of twaddle when it was written and age has not added lustre to its twin themes of navel gazing garnished with a dose of self reverent BS. The how to reset your won spark plug gap inserts are good though. Third re the letter to the Adelaide paper, I assume this got published as you were slagging off my Alma Mater, to which I can only say 1970’s Sheffield was, to me, a paradise of excellent beer and women with questionable morals and low standards. I wont bother updating you with the cricket scores as I assume every red blooded male you meet is delighted at the way Peter Siddle worked over the England top order yesterday (me, not so much). Anyhow I hope the rain stays away and the BMW (for I assume it is the worlds greatest bike which you are riding) continues to cosset your elderly rear. Right, back to my couch and the cricket. Hasta La vista
From Blog: August 20 Dongarra to Denham
Date: 17th August 2009
Successful launch
Had a great lunch yesterday afternoon at the British pub "Shakespeare's" in San Diego while taking our intrepid motorcyclist Phil Bourne to the airport to launch his excellent adventure. A few goodbye tears from family and friends. While his wife appeared less than pleased about the whole thing, as one local Ukrainian grandmother put it, "She'll be fine as soon as she goes shopping." Ride safe, the credit card companies need you alive. (So do we.)
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
Successful launch
Had a great lunch yesterday afternoon at the British pub "Shakespeare's" in San Diego while taking our intrepid motorcyclist Phil Bourne to the airport to launch his excellent adventure. A few goodbye tears from family and friends. While his wife appeared less than pleased about the whole thing, as one local Ukrainian grandmother put it, "She'll be fine as soon as she goes shopping." Ride safe, the credit card companies need you alive. (So do we.)
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
Date: 16th August 2009
Cricket
Thanks mate. Hopefully I will get to see more cricket that usual - standing I suspect.
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
Cricket
Thanks mate. Hopefully I will get to see more cricket that usual - standing I suspect.
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
Date: 15th August 2009
Yo
As you set off, I shall be in the stands at the Oval, hopefully, but not likely-lily, watching England mullah the Aussies in the 5th Test. I have no reason to suspect this will be kinder on my elderly rear than your zillion mile bike ride as the seats at the Oval are notoriously hard. Anyhow, what kind of bike you doing it on? Have a nice time.
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
Yo
As you set off, I shall be in the stands at the Oval, hopefully, but not likely-lily, watching England mullah the Aussies in the 5th Test. I have no reason to suspect this will be kinder on my elderly rear than your zillion mile bike ride as the seats at the Oval are notoriously hard. Anyhow, what kind of bike you doing it on? Have a nice time.
From Blog: Getting Ready to Go
OFL
Philip Bourne
Cute - glad you have added some humor to the event.. Shirl gets married today.. I'll post some pics on facebook.
From Blog: Day 0 Pocconos