Well, our plan for today was just to relax and rest our weary bodies. Maybe do some washing, shop for supplies, and have a little walk around town. It all started pretty much how we thought it would, with laying in bed, reading, and chilling out in the sunshine (surprise number one, it was meant to rain today). Jack, the resident Staffie, was having a rest day too, it seemed, as he sat with us in the sun, relaxing.
Someone (thank you Julie Bessant) told me you can boil eggs in a kettle. It's true!
Reading my book, just relaxing outside our room.
Around lunch time, we decided to have a walk around town, and check out some of the towns history. They have an awesome little sculpture story of some of the most interesting bits at the parking bay/rest stop across the main road from the IGA. Can you believe that Hyden was only connected to the electricity grid in 1989? And not connected to the mains water until 2000!
Remember these things? Before mobile phones, we used pay phones.
Bicycles were the go from town to town.
This was just before 1989.....
Taxi to Kondinin, anyone?
Russ and his bus, part of the Hyden Tourism Commission project.
We bought a pie from the bakery, which was very yummy, and had a nice chat with some grey nomads from Queensland, who had passed us on the way here yesterday, and camped out at Wave Rock last night. They will probably pass us again on their way home across the Nullarbor. It was nice to share some of our knowledge of the back roads around here and Kalgoorlie.
Part of the Lions Park sculptures. Australia has some vicious beasts.
The Lions Park Sculptures.
The Hyden Hotel/Motel........pretty good place to stay.
Will took the bikes out to oil their chains and give them a little clean, while I did the washing. Then, funnily enough, it was beer o'clock. As we were heading to the main bar, a whole heap of motorbikes arrived and parked up at the rooms near us. Interesting, we wondered what they were up to.
In the front bar, we were served by Finular (sounds like Canola, with an Irish accent), who travelled around Australia for a year, and ran out of money. She found work at the pub, and has been here for three years. She has met a nice fella', and is happy here. After a couple of primers, and a chat with Louise (Jack the staffy's owner), head housemaid, we went into the Bistro for dinner, grabbed our steaks so Will could BBQ them, and picked a table.
Will took the meat to the indoor BBQ, and I went to our table, just as the biker group were trying to pinch it. We decided to just add it onto the end of their very long one, and join them, as we were sort of comrades, two wheeled demons and all.
Cooking a good steak for us on the indoor BBQ.
We sat near Matt and Hugh, and chatted about their tour, and ours. We noticed one of their group looked very familiar, thinking we had seen him on TV tonight and all. It turns out, he is Commissioner of Police in WA, Karl O'Callaghan, and the bike riders were a part of The Annual Wall to Wall ride, raising money for Bright Blue (http://www.brightblue.org.au/adventures/wall_to_wall/theedge15/theedge2015intro.html) the Commissioners Charity for sick kids. The ride is also to commemorate and remember fallen Police Officers. This is the sixth year, and all the riders have each raised a minimum of $5000 for the right to ride from Perth to Canberra, over 9 days, riding some of Australia's most scenic roads. A great cause, with some everyday people who think the same, and enjoy adventure and people. Check it out.
Joining in and meeting some more great people at dinner.
So we had a few more drinks, chatting to Matt, a windsurfer turned camera man, (he is the camera man and support crew), and Hugh, who has a family, and is riding his wife's bike, which he kitted out for the trip (she is stoked to have her bike pimped), and is from the UK originally, and told us about his family trip to Botswana. Sounds amazing, and something to do in the future.
Basically, we had an awesome night, and enjoyed talking to the guys involved in this amazing trip, and hopefully we'll get up early enough to snap a few photos of the group before they take off tomorrow. Love this bit about these adventures.
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