Return to Perth
Back sooner than expected
Unfortunately the bike store in Kalgoorlie didn’t have a suitable rim or wheel in stock. The guy called around to see what he could get from the dealers but none of the ones on the west coast had anything so unless I found a store with something I was looking at a three day minimum before I got a rim and as the weekend was coming it could be more like five days.
So I spent the morning with the Yellow Pages and my phone calling every store in Perth and beyond to see if I could get something. Eventually I found a place that had exactly what I needed. So I needed to go all the way back to Perth. I could have started hitching then but I was completely wrecked and by the time I’d have got to Perth it would be too late to get a place to stay, thats if I got a lift straight off. I went to the backpackers instead and proceeded to go into a coma. As luck would have it, the hostel had a notice on the board about a lift to Perth the next morning. I swear it feels like there is some sort of higher power dragging me back to the city.
When I arrived in Perth, I got in touch with a few people I knew were still around. At coffee the next afternoon with Alex she was convinced I was repressing my frustrations. I was remarkably calm about the whole thing, happy even. It’s all part of the adventure I suppose and in the last few weeks my outlook on the whole trip has undergone a subtle but very positive change. More on that later.
I picked up my new rim and rebuilt the wheel. The new rim is a Velocity Dyad, and seems pretty beefy, hopefully I’ll have no more issues there. The guys at the Cyclemania store where I got the rim were brilliant, the main mechanic there has done quite a bit of touring himself so knew exactly where I was coming from and threw in new nipples and a spoke tool with the rim as well as a few bucks off the top. By Saturday morning I was good to go again. I was having a great time back in Perth and a few friends were renting a campervan to drive across the Nullarbor to Melbourne. Their plan was to leave on Tuesday morning so I decided to hitch a ride back to my bike with them. It gives me a chance to have more fun and catch up with a few other people back in town. Good times!!