Mountains, mountains, mountains: and I haven't even left the bedroom

Green and Co over in Leederville has been the coffee joint of preference in Perth over the last year. Time to squeeze in a last flat white before I hit that immense coffee desert further east. It’s a long, long, way to that coffee capital of Australia, Melbourne that terminates this little adventure.

Leaving town there’s a mountain of last minute list items to check off. True confession, I’m a bit of a list maker.

There’s additional cool weather clothing to be purchased, why am I leaving in mid winter again?

Minor tasks for the bike, replacing brake pads, tightening cables, umm, it’s not a long list there. Actually, after the preparations for my Munda Biddi minor adventure over the summer, and the rebuilding of the components as detailed here, it’s rather like Australia’s highest mountain, ie, you mean that’s all there is?

More like a termite mound.

The challenge is condensing the last year’s acquisitions, while I’ve been stationary, into the panniers and The BoB. The excess precious stuff, travel diaries, rocks, yeah the rocks I’ve collected along the way, head directly to secure storage. The rest, the work stuff and spare clothes, unneeded while riding, are sent to a dark place more local.

The major mountain turns out to be that huge assorted pile left on the floor after the filtering process is completed. I’m going to end up accompanying all that mass cross country and there’s still all the food and water to accommodate.

Some reclassification is required for the definition of “essential”.

This hill, even before I’ve started my journey, seems the hardest of them all to climb.