E Sharp

Interim – Experiments in Physics – Part 1

September 16, 2024September 16, 2024E Sharp

I understood the basic concepts, but it was never my favourite subject in junior high and high school. It was too abstract and it involved too much math. I never looked forward to Physics.

I remember the high school experiments in class: rolling hot wheels cars down ramps and measuring things with different masses and moving the fulcrum on a lever to change the amount of force required to lift the lever.

Newton’s Laws of Motion made sense to me – e.g. if a book is sitting on a table, the book and table interact with forces of equal magnitude in the opposite direction. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Makes sense.

And I’ve always lived my life by Newton’s first law: an object in motion tends to stay in motion. I’ve never been one to want to sit still or dwell on the past. I’m always moving forward. The moment you get sedentary and comfortable is the moment you start to die. Always, always keep moving. You really cannot deny the laws of physics.

So the trip to America this year ended up being all about physics. I didn’t know this at the start of the trip – but I launched right into the theme unwittingly on the flight over.

Interim – Rugged

July 4, 2024July 4, 2024E Sharp

June 2024

The alarm goes off at 5.08am. It’s pitch black. It hasn’t been light at this time in a long while. The sun won’t rise until 7.23am.

I uncurl an arm from beneath the depths of the doona and reach up into the cold air to flick on the bedside lamp. Once the light is on, I can see my breath in the air.

Interim – Post-hiberation

April 18, 2024E Sharp

Emerging – April 2024

Last April, at this time, I was wrapping up Unscripted and moving into that ambiguous space between travel and work. Not yet employed, but finished with that spell of riding. But work came quickly and it was less than four weeks off the road before I was signing a one-year contract.

This same week of April, last year. At the caravan park in Narrandera on my way to Cocoparra National Park. Waiting on the phone call about a job interview (the job I thankfully didn’t get). And then later that evening, as I cruise SEEK, I see the job I have now advertised…..

Interim – Every post office has a story

January 31, 2024January 31, 2024E Sharp

The girl has dark hair that curls into her face and eyes. She wears a heavy layer of makeup that will make her cringe later in life when she looks back at photos of this time. She is about 15-years-old and wears tight black jeans. She comes to the counter and plops herself limply on the stool behind, gravity threatening to claim an arm or leg and drag her to the floor. She has been crying and looks at me expectantly but does not say a word.

Interim – Introduction and Adventure 1

September 16, 2023September 16, 2023E Sharp

It’s the in-between time – the time between rides. It’s a year or less of work and trying to put away as much money into investments as possible. It’s time to rebuild the touring fund. It’s time to top up the emergency fund. It’s time to assess how to make the big leap into the unknown at the end of the job contract and leave all the comforts of office work behind.

Unscripted – Conclusion – ‘The Roar’

August 21, 2023January 26, 2025E Sharp

The most important thing to come out of this six-month tour was the return of ‘the roar’.

Unscripted – Week 24 – Old Mill Track to Bairnsdale

August 19, 2023E Sharp

1-3 April 2023

Kms: 172

Total Part 2 Kms: 3992

Total Trip Kms: 6440

Old Mill Track to Waygara – Gunaikurnai Country – 76 kms

The tent is wet. That’s normal. In six months of riding, I think I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve packed up a dry tent. But at least that means there’s moisture around, and that has made sourcing water less of a logistical issue this summer and autumn than it would be in a normal year.

Unscripted – Week 23 – Newtons Crossing to Old Mill Track

August 15, 2023E Sharp

25-31 March 2023

Kms: 198

Total Part 2 kms: 3020

Total Trip kms: 6268

25 March 2023 – Newtons Crossing to Faulkner Creek – Bidawal Country – 21 kms

The sky does not look promising. Well, it does not look to promise any sunshine. It may promise some rain. But I’m not sure, I don’t know the weather patterns here. It’s not foggy; it’s not sunny; it’s cloudy but not terribly dark. So what to do? I’ve got plenty of food. We could hang here for the day and see if the weather improves tomorrow. We just need to get to Bombala before really heavy rain is forecast a few days from now.

But I don’t feel like hanging out here. I’m ready to move on. Plus, it’s a Sunday, and maybe there won’t be so much truck traffic on the dangerous Imlay Road if we try to make a little progress along it today.

Unscripted – Week 22 – Errinundra Rd Quarry to Newtons Crossing

August 11, 2023August 11, 2023E Sharp

18-24 March 2023

Weekly kms: 313

Total Part 2 kms: 2822

Total trip kms: 6070

18 March 2023 – Errinundra Rd Quarry to Queensborough – Gunaikurnai and Bidawal Country – 35 kms

The light is blinding and refracts off the misty fog that is slowly dissipating as we head east. We’re high on a ridge on a road that is also a wide firebreak. That just means the trees are a bit further away. There are pockets of big trees with little understory, and areas that have been logged fairly recently. There’s long downs and ups and a helipad part way along.

The morning is quiet after last night’s rowdy wildlife – like everyone but a few small birds are hungover and waiting for the haze to go. As I ride, I think about the height of these ranges that catch the clouds and drop the rain and cool the air creating these unique ecosystems. I think about minimum fire intervals and our lack of understanding of how fire impacts the great majority of species in the forest – the fungi, the insects, the soil microbes.

I roll through a cathedral of shining gums and mountain grey gums on my way to see the plum pines.

Unscripted – 2nd Half Week 21 – Orbost to Errinundra Rd Quarry

August 3, 2023August 2, 2023E Sharp

15-17 March 2023

130 kms

Total Part 2 kms: 2509 kms

Total trip kms: 5757 kms

15 March 2023 – Orbost to Yalmy River – Gunaikurnai Country – 51 kms

Once again, we’re riding off at first light. At least all the early starts should make it easier to go back to a job at some point. Of course, it’s easier to pry yourself out of bed for a day of riding than it is for a day at the office. I do miss those early start jobs I had when I was younger, because they also had early finishes. White-collar jobs start early and end late regardless of your official hours… too much to do and too many responsibilities these days with all those lean, mean company and government corporate structures.

But that is for another day. Today’s task is to get ourselves back up into the hills. At 6.45 am, the petrol station and café next door are busy. Fuel for the vehicle, fuel for the soul (I’m assuming most of those café orders are coffee, not food).