Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Enjoying the suburbs

The van is gone, the gear is packed, but I remain.  A couple of tasks require my presence in Sydney, so I'm not able to leave just yet.
A Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) garden
My fitness declined in the past year. I was reminded of this last week, when I rode from the city to Hornsby. I set out just before lunch, a couple hours, I'll eat when I get there. The first half was easy, then I started feeling tired. It was hot - the heatwave. The sensible thing would have been to stop, rest, have lunch, but I was focusing on arriving first. I pushed on, into the hills. Soon I hit the wall, and a little later while I was down, the wall fell on me. I was shattered. Even walking was an effort. I was so glad when I could lie down.  I slept well that night. 

Getting about everywhere by bike, its slowly coming back. All that incidental travel adds up. I'm helping it along by taking daily rides, gradually increasing the distances. 

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Sydney last days?

Wow. It's all coming together quicker than I thought.
Funds are coming together; the last EBay auctions finish on Sunday. Hopefully the van sale will be concluded this weekend too.
If all continues to go smoothly, (fingers crossed), I could be off within the week!  A welcome change from thinking it would be next month.
My bike is eager to be out on the road again. It's spent too much time in the van this past year.  
(Edit: Not sure why this picture was x-large in size. Make it smaller.)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

For sale: Toyota Hiace van

2004 Toyota Hiace van, 3L aspirated diesel engine, 5speed manual, 132000 km, tinted windows, alarm, engine immobiliser, 140W solar folding panel, 105 ahm AGM battery, CTEK 250S Dual charger, 600W full sine wave inverter

It'll be a few more days yet before I'm listing the van on the car sales websites, but the van is for sale.

Big changes are afoot. It is not new year resolution stuff. I've been thinking about this for the past few months. Just have been sitting on the idea and thinking a lot. Also, with Christmas and New Year happening, I thought that it was not the best time to be selling. I have used some of the time to start cleaning up. I've just spent part of today going through all the stuff I've accumulated, (How'd I get so much?) sorting it into heaps - going with me, going to sell, going to give away, going to trash. 

So, selling the van - what next?  A return to the bicycle and the tent. Time to hit the road again and keep exploring the country.

Why?

When I bought the van, I'd decided it was time for a change. I'd thought long and hard about it. Bike touring isn't always bliss and pleasure, sometimes its really hard. At the time, weighing up the data, giving everything equal weight, a van seemed the best decision.

Where I failed, was the weightings of those decisions comparing living in the tent and the van. It was hard to weigh some of them without having had lived in a van before. Now I have, and looking back on those decisions, I weigh them differently now.

There are many good points for living in a van. Certainly some people are very happy living in a van. But for me, I don't want to keep doing it.

If home is where the heart is, then my heart isn't in the van. Its outside, under the sky, in the wind, rain, fog and sun. Hearing the birds, and the rustle of wind in the trees.  Feeling the rain drops on my face. Inhaling the sweet honey smell of the eucalyptus, sensing the cool riding into the morning mists. Its outside, active, being in the environment, rather than watching it pass by out the window.

I miss riding my bicycle.