I bloody made it (19/4/14)

I intended to leave today at about half 8 but by the time I'd faffed around getting my bits together it was half 9 when I said goodbye to Ryan and Lauren and actually got on the road. With a 7 hour journey ahead of me I had a long way to go. My first stop was just down the road to get some fuel but I had to double back on myself slightly to start my journey. The road out was pretty uneventful except overtaking a few road trains and bracing for the wind blast from the trucks coming towards me. I soon reached my first road house and although it wasn't that far outside town I filled up with fuel anyway. I'm glad it wasn't a full tank as this roadhouse, which is called Pardoo roadhouse, had the most expensive fuel so far. $2.05 to be exact. This is compared to about $1.50 back in Perth. That is absolutely extortionate and I'll do my best to avoid stopping there on the way back. After this was an exceptionally uneventful section of flat, straight road to approximately the half way point between Port Hedland and Broome called Sandfire roadhouse. Again I filled up, took a short break, had a pee, and walked around (after my pee not during) to stretch my legs before the even more uneventful section of my journey. There were a few signs on the way pointing to various homestead's and wild camping sites, which I'd been told by Ryan and Lauren were really stunning places to stay on the coast, but as I couldn't get to them, because they were all dirt tracks, I just carried on past. This highway carried on for aaaaaaaages and my glossing over it should not be misconstrued as a short journey but as a need to fast forward to the bits that got my attention. I rode along a section of the highway just before my next fuel stop which was very flat and straight, as expected, but on either side of the road the shrub land opened up into a wide expanse of flat land and grass. This meant one thing, there was nowhere for kangaroos or police to hide and had massive potential for a bit of fun on the bike. I noted where it was, made sure the road was good condition all the way and stored that in my memory for my return journey in a few days. In my head I let out a Dr. Evil laugh. So far on all the roads I've travelled I keep seeing strips of tyre that had potential to be a snake or a lizard. But on every occasion it turns out to be just a tyre piece. On this stretch though, once the shrubs had returned at the side of the road, I saw a similar shaped piece of tyre up ahead, but this time it was shiny. As I approached I realised it was moving and it turned out to be a snake. It recoiled to the other side of the road as I got near and I couldn't see what type it was but it was at least a couple of metres long. That peaked my interest but then I passed a massive lizard a little further on. Awesome. At last I'd seen some proper wildlife now. This final section was the best test for my fuel economy though. I rode at about 110 km/h, which was the speed limit, pretty much the whole way from Sandfire to see how the bike would do and I actually made it to 290 km before my light came on just before the next fuel station. So 130 km/h definitely canes the fuel a lot more. After another fill up I was onto my last section of road and soon passed the sign welcoming me to Broome. This warranted a photo so I turned the bike around, parked up near the sign and took a photo. My crazy idea back in England, way before I knew how barren this part of Australia was, and clearly in a naive frame of mind, to ride a motorbike to Broome from Perth had actually come true. I'd bloody made it happen, and was so pleased I'd chosen to carry on instead of turning back at Exmouth. Yes people have had crazier ideas, and people have ridden much further than this, but for me this was a big one. I think it symbolised a lot. Way more than I'm prepared to put here, but to say the least I think it symbolises how I'd like to live my life from now on. Not on a bike with ass ache! I mean achieving things. Rather than sitting and saying "wouldn't it be great if (insert your own idea here)", I mean actually doing them. However simple. Like flying that kite. Getting fit. Buying a new car, a house. Or starting your own business. Don't just talk about it. Get off your ass. Do it. That's what this at the very minimum for me represents. Unlike the movies, though, there was no rousing orchestral fanfare playing as I gazed into the distance, and realising I was standing there, camera in hand, with passers by staring at me from their cars wondering if I was OK I thought it best to continue into town. This next bit should be in an advert on TV saying 'Welcome to Broome'. So I pulled up at the info centre to find out where my hostel, Kimberley Backpackers, was and get some info on what to do in town. As I walked towards the wooden ramp heading to the entrance, a big aboriginal woman, who could have clearly knocked me out, mission walked across my path from the park on my right towards some bushes outside the info centre on my left. By mission walked I mean she clearly had somewhere to be, walking with distinct purpose. I thought nothing of it and continued to the door of the building. It was closed. It was about 5pm now and I'd probably just missed them. I walked back to my bike knowing I'd have to Google map them and on the way glanced to my right to see the aboriginal woman squatting behind a tree, ass out, and at the very least, from the sound of it, having a piss. She was however there for a very long time and god only knows what she left in the wood chips. Picture it now "Welcome to Broome, it will feel like home!". I found my hostel on Google maps and rode to it tickled by my first sight I'd already seen. I checked in and whilst standing at reception saw a guy, who had been in my room at Exmouth, sitting at one of the benches. He saw me and grinned. He'd kept himself to himself whilst there so I hadn't really spoken to him much. After checking in I went over and introduced myself. His name was Neil and he was from Wales. We got chatting for a while but I left him shortly after to get my bits into my room. I said I'd probably see him at the hostel later on. In my room I said hello to the blokes that were in there and chatted with them for a while. After that I took a shower and found out once back in the room that it was about to become happy hour at the bar. Yes this hostel has a bar, and it was about to sell beer for $4 each. That is very cheap for beer at a bar in Australia just so you know. I went to the bar and found Neil there so I bought the first round and sat down to have a proper chat with him about what he'd done since leaving Exmouth and where he'd been travelling so far, and told him about where I'd been too. We chatted for about an hour before my stomach reminded me I hadn't had any dinner yet. Neil had already eaten so didn't fancy going out but recommended a Thai place he'd been to the night before. That sounded like a plan so I decided to walk into town to try and find it. It was dark now but still incredibly warm so I took an easy stroll to the part of town called China Town as this was the main bit. I soon found the Thai restaurant which wasn't busy so sat down and had a red curry for dinner. After dinner I thought I'd take a walk around to see what night life there was. I'd heard from some conversations at the hostel that Xzibit was performing at a bar nearby but had no idea which one it was. It was a ticket event so knew I wouldn't get in. I'm pretty sure I found which one it was during my walk though. There was a massive queue outside one place and hardly anyone anywhere else. Whilst walking past the queue one bloke looks at me and says pointing "Are you rocking the grissle?". I was confused but smiled and carried on. As I looked back his mate was facing me and he'd stood on his tip toes to get a better look over the queue and pointed at me and said in a louder voice "Grissle". This made me laugh. I genuinely had no clue what they were talking about. Then at the back of the queue, whilst I was still laughing, an aboriginal woman, who was sitting on a bench not in the queue, said "Stop laughing and walk straight" with a very strong aboriginal accent and a stern look on her face. This made me laugh again and then she started chuckling to herself. 'OK' I thought 'one of us is definitely drunk and I'm pretty sure it isn't me'. Despite only having a couple of beers I actually questioned whether it was me. Broome was looking to be a very interesting and unique place. I continued my walk but most other places were dead or closed so went back to the hostel. The bar was now pretty packed and with the pool just next to it there was a fair bit of activity. This hostel represented everything I love to see in a hostel. It had a massive open plan communal area, a bar, a chillout lounge, a big kitchen and a good atmosphere, plus a pool as a bonus. It's a great place. I saw Neil and we continued our conversation over a few more beers but after a couple more hours I was feeling pretty knackered and so arranged to meet Neil at breakfast, said goodnight, and went to my room. Some of the others I hadn't met earlier were now in there and so I spoke to them for a while. The majority of them were leaving the next day so I didn't really try to remember their names. I said goodnight to them all and was soon falling asleep grateful for the air con and fan that were in the extremely stuffy room. I'd had a very entertaining start to my time in Broome.