A Day At The Races

(English Version)

Today I went to the races, as I said.
Horse Races.
It was my first time. Even if there's a quite big Racetrack in my hometown
(I reckon that the one here in Adelaide is bigger) but I've never been there.
There have been 10 races, it was really crowded,
I did not think to find so many people, and all dressed in different ways:
a lot of men wearing jacket and tie, many different colors, some crazy colors! like this bright green

girls and women wearing strange dresses, and incredible hats!

I bet something, a few dollars. And of course I lost them.
But many people gambling hundreds of bucks!
I have seen maybe for the first time the 100$ note: people betting 100$ easily like they were 10!

And then, so many drunk people (both boys and girls):
it's everywhere like this, I know, You know,
but the fact is that it was aftenoon, under the sun!

Race number 8 was Adelaide Cup: 400 grands to the winner!!!
It was the one with most support, all people crazy, shouting and screaming for their favourite horse.

There was a concert at the end of the races, and the security had to separate to guys punching one another...

Then, I went to see the sunset at Windy Point, on the Adelaide Hills (I was there also yesterday night, and I can witness why they called liked this...):
I missed it for a few minutes, shit!
But I could in any case admire the wonderful landscape from there:
You can see the Airport, the City, and the Ocean! Amazing!
Really a very very nice spot!


--- Per la versione italiana utilizzare google translator... ---


(Dialect Version)

Na giornata ae corse.

Oncò so ndà ae corse, come che gavevo dito.
Ae corse de cavai.
Ze sta a me prima volta. Anca se ghe xe on ipodromo bastansa grando a Padova
(ma credo che questo qua a Adelaide sia pi grando), ma no ghe so mai sta.
Ghe xe sta diexe corse, ghe jera on pasto de xente, no pensavo,
e tuti vestii in maniera difarente:
tanti omani in giaca e cravata, tanti coeori diversi, e qualche coeore da fora de testa! come sto verde fluo

Tose e femane co de chei vestiti...robe da mati...
(te vedessi quanti ovi de Pasqua Cobra!!!)
e tute co de chei strani capèi in testa, pareva el Carnevae de Venessia!

Go scomesso calcossa, ma no tanto. E go perso. Gna a dirlo...
Ma tanta de chea xente che brusava sentenare de dollari...
Penso che go visto paea prima volta el biglieto da sento dollari: e a xente che i scometeva come che i fosse diexe!

Tanta de chea xente imbriaga! tosi e tose:
eo so che xe cusì dapartuto, sempre, e te o se anca ti,
ma iera pomerigio zio tren, soto el soe!

Ea gara numaro oto jera Adelaide Cup: quatrosentomia dollari al primo!!!
Ze sta ea gara co pi casin: tuti che criava come mati, ogni uno pal so cavaeo...

Aea fine ghe iera on concerto, e i butafòra ga dovuo separare do tosati che iera drio pugnarse...

Dopo so ndà vedare el tramonto al "Punto Ventoso", soi colli de Adelaide (ghe so sta anca ieri sera, e te o digo mi parchè i o ga ciamà Punto Ventoso...):
a so rivà massa tardi, eo go perso pa pochi minuti, xio chel bon...
ma go visto istesso el panorama:
se vede l'aeroporto, el centro, e l'oceano! Proprio bèo!
Ze davèro on bel posto!


P.S.
Ooooh! jera da on tòco che voevo scrivare on post in diaeto!!!
(come se traduxe post?...boh...no importa...)
Massa bèo! Pa l'italiano ormai go assà perdare, parchè tanto se poe usare i tradutori online, più o meno...
Ma pal diaèto no ghe xe santi che tegna...bisogna scrivare "a man"!
Eo so...ghe ze tante paroe che magari uno scrivaria in maniera diversa,
ma basta fare diexe chiometri fora da Padova e xà cambia calcossa...
qualcuno dixe "dovuo", qualcuno "dovesto",
qualcuno "posuo", altri "posudo", altri "podesto"...
mi go scrito come che de soito parlo in paese, o come che vegneva dai...
Note: go messo qualche dopia, che in diaèto pare na bestemia, o so...
ma ze parchè, tipo, ea "s", se scrivo na "s" soea pare quasi se gabia da lexarla come in "rosa", ma noialtri in diaèto a lexemo come in "stufo", quindi bèa forte...eora ghe ne go messe do...(visto?...come in "messe"...)
Dollari o go assà scrito co do "l", no cambia pi de tanto in diaèto...

LEGENDA (istrusiòn)
E dopo, pa capirse, ea "x" se lexe come in "rosa", e no posso scrivere z perchè noialtri a Padova no dixemo "zente" come che i fa on fia pi a nord, tipo a treviso credo, dixemo "xente", come che a fosse na "s" debole, ma no posso scrivare "sente" co a "s" parchè pare tuta n'altra paroea...
Quindi a "x" se lexe come na "s" debole...
e ea "j" se lexe come na "i", parchè noialtri a Padova no dixemo "gèra", come che i fa da altre parti in Veneto, ma dixemo "iera", come na "i", però ghe sta mejo a "j"...
Insoma, dai che se capimo sì...

E desso vojo i comenti "a tono" !!!

March 13th

Adelaide. Sunday. Like 9 months ago, when I left Italy...
In this period there are so many events here!
Adelaide is the city of Art, Music, Festivals: the famous WOMAD is now on, right this weekend; I wanted to go, but it's really too expensive... so today I went first to a conference for the Z-Day (Zeitgeist Day), then to the Fringe Festival. I watched a couple of performances: a "circus" one, called "Free Fall", very nice; and a "music" one: Georgia Germain, a very young good singer and musician.
Tomorrow it's Adelaide Day, public holiday here in Australia. I will go to see the Adelaide Cup, a famous horse race.

WWOOF...!!!

...No! I am not grumbling! What did You understand?!?
this is my new experience: I am WWOOFing!
I would have never known about that, if I first did not see a girl reading the WWOOF book at Coober Pedy... on our way north... She briefly explained to me what it is, but I did not care too much about that, because I was focused on the Go-Outback plan...
Then, I had to "Go-Back" and when in Woomera Clarisse spoke to me about this, and gave me some suggestions, other than some addresses...
And now, instead of being in Perth, I find myself in a wonderful organic farm, on the banks of the Murray River, WWOOFing. This consists in working for half day, mainly from 8 to 13, in the farm, and receiving, in exchange, accommodation and meals for free.
It's a very interesting experience, it is exactly what I was looking for: everybody spoke to me about experiences in farms, as workers, but I collected so many different comments... many had good time, and good money, but many others found the job not so easy, and they did not save anything because all the money they earned had to be used to pay accommodation and meals, that, in case of working, are not included. I was afraid of searching for a "job" like that, even if I really wanted to try such an "experience", because my VISA (eVisitor) does not permit to me to work here in Australia...even if many people from Asia, or from Spain and Switzerland (they cannot have the Working Holiday Visa) do it...as a black job...
So, this is perfect: as per law, I am allowed to work in exchange for accommodation, without gaining any money, so I am in the law, I am saving money (I mean, not spending) and I am experiencing farm life, in a lighter way.
I have been for 4 days in the Wirrabara Forest, picking green beans and zucchini, cutting plums, and trees... and now I am staying for one week on the Murray River, trimming and training cucumbers, fishing yabbies, weeding.
But both these places are managed by so kind people, that makes You feel like in a family, because You do everything altogether, including eating meals.
And moreover where I am now there's a so happy atmosphere, like a party feeling, because we are 4 woofers: Luigi from Latina, he is so nicely happy, Mairead from Ireland and Honami from Japan.

I would, and I will, tell You more about this experience,
but now the dinner is ready!

GO - ... ???

I was coming back from Uluru, thinking to change the "motto"...

I could write: "Go-Back"... but it was already a defeat, I did not want to advertise it...

Everybody already knew I had to Go Back...

So I left: "Go-OutBack", and till now it has been ok, because even here, not so far from Adelaide, and close to the Murray River, it is a desert land... So I did not change into "Go-South" or again into "Go-DownUnder"...

My idea was to change into "Go-West", and go to Perth...

but it was a very long way... 3000km... and I had nothing special to do or see there, nothing programmed...

and I was tired, and I am... I already rode so many km...

But now it's time to change again, it's time to stop, it's time to put an end,

it's time to "Go-BackHome"

So I will not go to Perth... I will go again to Adelaide, and that's it.

For now, it's enough to me.

Now, there's only to decide where to go, I mean, which way:
I have in any case an intermediate stop: where to do it and stay for a couple of days?

Kuala Lumpur? Bali? Singapore? Bangkok?
I do not know yet, where it could be more interesting...
I accept suggestions... 

Cannotto di Sterzo - Steering Axis

Questa mattina mi son svegliato con questa sorpresina alla moto...
mi sapete dire quanto è grave?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myBof7gvMnE

This morning I woke up and I found this surprise...
is it dangerous???

Tyres

Another decision to take: change the tyres or not?
My road tyres already have 12000km, I changed them in Seoul...
The knobby tyres are new, only 700km offroad...
I could change the tyres, and keep the knobby with me,
but it's not pleasant to carry spare tyres...
Then, if I want to change them again, it will be a hard afternoon:
it's hot, it will take time,
my right thumb still hurts, I think I dislocated it when changing the tyres last week...
then, I am afraid for those screws: if I continue putting them on and off,
maybe the 3 remained will suffer, and it will really be a big problem if another one will yield...
Most of the street now will be on tarmac, and being very hot, maybe the knobby tyres will not even last to Perth...
otherwise, with knobby tyres I could take some side road without much pain...

It's stupid, I konw, it's just only a decision to take, but it is not easy to me.
I will think of it a little bit more, then I will take it.

I've met here in the camping a couple of bikers:
they are going back to England, from Sydney!
They are at the beginning, full of enthusiasm.
Like me, when starting!
They started one week ago, they will go to Darwin, then Singapore, then Thailand, India, Pakistan, Central Asia and on.
They are English, they came here in Australia 10 years ago, and now they are going back home. Great!

NOTE: they had a great idea for carrying tools. A PVC pipe, a normal one, 15$ per meter, on the left side, opposite to the exhaust, behind the pannier.
Great idea: cheap, strong, waterproof, easy to fix, You find also the closures! I will copy them in the future!

Goodbye

It's strange how sometimes things change so quickly in life.
Yes, in life. Because this is my life now, my present life, in this moment.

We were very tired yesterday evening, when arriving at the Outback Pioneers Lodge after nine hours riding on dirt roads.
Jan wanted a beer. He wanted it immediately. He needed it.
I needed to pull off my bike suit, my boots, and wear comfortable flip-flops.
Then I reached him and I ordered two Outback Burgers (with eggs, bacon, tomato, pineapple!, and hamburger of course): they were higher than wide, not easy to bite.
Jan ordered other two beers: another one for him, and one for me.
I don't remember how many years (yes, years!) it was that I did not drink a pint of beer, a whole pint of beer; maybe I never did it before...
But it was a particular day. A day to remember.
We were happy. Tired but happy.

Who follows our SPOT tracking already knows that...we came back.

Yesterday morning the sky was not encouraging: black clouds all around.
It did not seem the right day to start.
We woke up early, but then we slowed down: we wanted to be sure, we wanted to have all the possible information before taking our last decision.
We went to the roadhouse, we went to the police station, we went again to the meteorological station. Collecting information: on the road, on the weather.
The only policeman of the station was sick at home. Another employee there told us that he came just the day before from Warburton: no problems on the road.
"Great!" we thought. But he did not know anything "official". He tried to call, but they are one hour and a half less there, in Warburton, so nobody answering yet.
We took our bikes, and went again to the meteorological Station. The guys called here and there, kind as usual. For the shire of Laverton the street is open, but the shire does not include Warburton...
The Police in Warburton did not answer: the Police station was flooded, maybe there's nobody there.
The Roadhouse in Warburton said: the street is officially closed.
So we had no choice: we had to go back.

We went back to the "room" and finished packing.
But I wanted a more "official" information, I did not want to surrender...
So I called the local shire, the shire of Ngaanyatjarraku.
They said that they were inspecting the road; it was monday morning, they were just going out. During the weekend no news, no new bulletins. That's why we wanted fresh news, and we were still illuded.
"From Warakurna to Warburton no big damages, but west of Warburton parts of the street have been literally washed away by the rivers full.
Anyway: the road is officially closed." And maybe it will take weeks before its reopening.
No way.
We had to come back.

The weather started to become a little bit better, and the guys at the Station said that the forecast gave thunderstorms as usual in the afternoon, but less chance going east.
So we started.
It was late, 11.30 am. But in any case we had a stop to do in Docker River, to fill our tanks, and they reopen at 2pm after lunch break, so we were not in a hurry.
The street till Docker River was good as a few days before. We arrived just after the reopening.
Luckily the camel was far, in the end of the street. They told us that that camel lives in the village since it was a baby.
Then started the long way back, in the Northern Territory. Some parts of the street were better, at the beginning. We went faster than when going.
But the second and the last part were more sandy. It was very difficult.
Jan was much faster than me: I don't know if it was that he had practiced and learnt, or if it was because he felt in a hurry to reach Perth in time for his flight.
I think it was because of that black big cloud full of rain approaching on our right.
We missed it really for a few. It started to rain a little, then it stopped. We have been lucky. If it started to rain on that street, we would have been stuck there for the night, for sure.
In any case, he was faster than me.

I was very sad, because I don't like to go back. Never.
But we had no choice. No sensible choice I mean. No legal one.
In one point, trying to change path, the sand "dune" was too high, and I fell down.
Yes, I did it. For the first time in this long trip.
But it was not a problem, I was going maybe at 30kph, and there was the sand, as I am saying.
No problems for me, no problems for the bike. And I was not scared, not in panic, as it happened to me other times. It was really a harmless fall.

We went on slowly, when stopping I was always asking the distance travelled to Jan (my speedometer is not working anymore...)
When we reached the tarmac road, by the Olgas, just on the sunset, we were very happy. We did it in one day. 300km offroad.
Other 45 km to the Resort, in the dark, but on paved road.
We decided to stay in the "Lodge", too late and too tired to put the tent on the campground.

What happened then I already told You, at the beginning of this post.

While drinking the beer Jan told me his crazy idea:
"How many km to Port Augusta?" he asked to me.
"About 1200" I answered.
"I have to say to You something You will not like" he said to me, "I will go there tomorrow".
"How can You do it? It's 14 hours travelling!" I said.
"I will wake up at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning and I will do it".

And he did it.

This morning he started at 6, and I still don't know where he has arrived.
So we divided.
We had good time together. He is a very good fellow.
23 days, from Sydney to Uluru.

He wants to reach Perth as soon as possible,
he will put the bike on the train to Perth, from Port Augusta.
His best friend lives in Perth, he rightly wants to spend some time with him before going back to Czech,
and in our plan we would have arrived in Perth just a couple of days before his flight,
without considering any inconvenience.

So now my life has changed, I am alone again.
I have to replan everything: timing, direction, mind.

It's so sad to say goodbye.
I had to do it so many times on my trip, and it's always difficult the same.
With Jan it was good company, we have the same age, we understood each other quite well.

Never in my life like in this trip I appreciated the fact of not being alone.
I often need to be alone. I always said that I could easily stay alone, I can usually stay alone without any suffering.
And it was like this, in the first part of this trip, till Kazakhstan.
Then in Korea and Japan I started to suffer a little bit of loneliness, and from there on I really appreciated when being hosted, not only for meeting new people, but for feeling somehow like in a family...

A friend of mine said to me that really a few people are "free spirits", able to live alone without any "bond".
I thought I could be. But it's not like this.
Maybe because of habit.
There are many kinds of bonds: family, friends, job, commitments.
And it's like a sort of "training": all our lives subject to some kind of bond, that now we can't do it without.

Then, one of the (many) great things of not being alone is that You laugh.
I am not one who is able to laugh reading a book, or an email, or while chatting...
So when travelling alone it's rare to laugh.
But when in two, it happens, and it's so good!

While writing these rows, on the campkitchen table,
there are many little mice running, over here, under there.
And big blackbeetles. Bigger than the mice.
So I am not alone :-)
I am going to sleep now,
tomorrow I have to change again the tyres...a lot of tarmac is waiting for me now...