(April 24, 2019 – written by Dave)
First a word about the title of this blog…
Back in 1999 when Nancy and I moved to Australia, we went out for dinner in a nice restaurant in Sydney. Finding few good beers at the time in Australia, we decided to order a bottle of wine. The waiter gave us the wine list and much to our surprise, a good number of bottles were listed as being from WA (as in Washington, USA). This seemed odd to us as at the time Washington was not really all that well known for wine and we couldn’t really believe that any would have been available in Sydney, Australia.
The waiter returned and we naturally inquired about why so many Washington wines were on the list. The poor, confused waiter wasn’t sure if we were complete dolts, or if we were taking the mickey out of him. After several rounds of “huh” the penny dropped and we all had a good chuckle. You see, here in Australia, WA isn’t short for Washington; rather it’s short for Western Australia. Once everyone was done laughing, we ordered a Western Australia WA bottle and reminded ourselves to act slightly more sophisticated for the rest of the meal. The wine was nice and we made a mental note that one day we must visit this “other” WA and check out the wineries.
WA Grapes
Ready to be picked
Well, fast forward 20 years and after all that time in Australia we still hadn’t made it to WA. So, we decided no time like the present and we’ve come over to the other WA to hang out here for awhile before we get too settled anywhere (still trying to figure all that out). We have trying local wines and riding the nice back roads of the south-western most tip of Australia. Weather’s been great. Wines have been great. And the riding is not too bad either. Though riding our sub-20lb titanium road bikes took a bit of getting used to after spending almost 2 years on our 140lb steel loaded Comotions! One bike says adventure, one says speed, no prizes for guessing which is which.
In our idle time, we’ve been working out where to go on our next big bike trip (more on that later) and cleaning up the files related to the Americas ride. We made a photo book but as it is a physical book, we can’t share it with our internet readers. Instead, we hacked the photos into a short video which can be found Americas LWOP video. Apologies for the daggy music on the video as you only have so many royalty-free choices online these days. You can always mute your computer before watching it…
Indian Ocean – WA coast
Sun setting on the WA coast
Meanwhile, we’re back to working out our next adventure, poring over trip maps and deciding which of these lovely WA reds we are taking back to Sydney on our return trip. Chink-chink and Cheers!
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Great story, I am sure the waiter will retell often. Nice to have another LWOP post.
Being that it was a Sydney city restaurant, I suspect a few other USA tourists may have had the same problem. Either way, he was kind enough to only laugh “with” us. Just goes to show you that as a traveler, you never stop learning…
It was great to see some of your pictures again! Nicely Done! WA wine country looks like fun! Enjoy
WA wines are too far from the east coast of Australia for a “short” trip. Having said that, there is always the Hunter Valley near Sydney, if any of our good friends from the USA were to come visit, if only.
Nice job! Glad you have had some time in WA to try some of their wine & see different sites on a different ocean! I’m always amazed at the hills & switch-backs that you travel on alone (just the 2 of you). Not lonely just alone. I can feel the quietness from the picture. Thanks!
Thanks Jan – quiet if you aren’t riding next to us and our pounding hearts!
So good hearing from you again! Love that you are in WA, sipping good wines and biking! Good luck figuring out the next stage.
Thanks Pat – WA weather is also probably better this time of year!
Great to read you are planning your next adventure – although cycling through Western Australia sounds like an adventure already. Patricia and I just finished a Habitat for Humanity Global Village build in El Alto, a sprawling municipality adjacent to La Paz, Bolivia. Sadly, the local wine is lacking, so we’ve defaulted to dinking Chilean vintages. We eagerly await the next chapter in Dave and Nancy’s Excellent Adventure.
Thanks Paul – a Habitat project sounds a whole lot more worthwhile than seeking out the best WA wines. Perhaps our next quest should have be slightly more redemptive.
Bravo!
Thanks David – who knew it was possible!
Yo Dave, email me. Is the yahoo email still your best email?
Hi Dave and Nancy, great video! I’m about to set off on my own bike packing adventure fro Guatemala to Ushuaia and your blog and maps have been super helpful! I hope to meet you someday …somewhere!?!
Thanks Leonie – good luck on your journey.
Look for a private email from Nancy – she has some questions about the bars on your bike.