牧羊少年奇幻之旅

12/17

I almost killed myself today.

      It was a nice windy day. There were clouds float in the air. I got up early in the morning and went to library to return books. I borrowed an extra book. It is about 200 pages and I hope I can finish it before I leave Exmouth. Then I went to post office and sent postal cards to some of my friends. Everything was nice so far.

And then I decided cycling to Turquoise Bay.

      Turquoise Bay is one of my favorite beaches in Exmouth. It is also the first beach I had been to since I came to Australia. I brought my towel, 1.5-liter mater, the new library book I brought this morning, my camera, my sketchbook and the pencils, sun cream, MP3 and my wallet.

      My plan was simple: listen to the music when I cycle, take photos wherever and whenever I want, draw some pictures when I see beautiful landscape, read the book when I sunbathe and swim at Turquoise Bay. There is a proverb in Chinese that is “計畫趕不上變化”. It means no matter how good your plan is, you can never do as what your plan to, because there are always force you to change the plan. I totally understand this proverb after survive from the outback.

      I started cycling at 10:30. I felt so relaxing and comfortable when I rode toward Bungedi beach. I rode in a very fast speed and I felt I could arrive Turquoise Bay at 1 o’clock. I listened to the music and sang loudly. I waved my hand to every car passed me. I told myself: what a wonderful day!! It was so nice to ride a bike in the outback of Australia. No wonders why there are some people want to travel around Australia by bicycle. I saw bushes, emus, kangaroos and endless road. I reckon it only took me 30 minutes to reach Bungedi beach which is 15 km far from town. I thought it is a piece of cake for me so I didn’t stop and turn left and kept going.

      Let me explain the location of Turquoise Bay first. It is about 70 kilometers from Exmouth to Turquoise Bay, it is not far when you drive a car, but it is damn fucking far when you ride on bicycle. If you want to go to Turquoise Bay, you have to ride the bike toward north for 15k to Bungedi beach then turn west for 10k to the lighthouse and turn south for the rest of the route. It looks like an up side down U turns on the map. After you reach Turquoise Bay, it takes another 70 km to return, so the total route is 140 km.

      When I turned west to the lighthouse, the wind direction changed. Hmmm… or should I say, the wind direction didn’t change, I changed my direction. The wind came from south so I had favorable wind before and that’s why I felt so easy in the beginning. But I was still in a good mood so I just kept cycling despite the head wind. When I arrived the lighthouse, I was already a little tired. I met Mike and Sharon near the lighthouse and told them I would still go to Turquoise Bay. They wished me luck and told me where I can find water to fulfill my mater. 

      After I took a rest in the lighthouse for 10 minutes, I went on my road. I turned south so the strong wind blow against me. I changed the gear trying to make me feel easily when I step on the pedals. I had to stand up and used my body weight to step on it. After half hour, my ass and my hands become very hurt because I already ride the bike for more than 2 hours. I felt I couldn’t stand anymore but I kept telling myself that I have to conquer the goddamn wind. It is only a small difficulty in my whole life. Compare with the other shit things that will happen in the future, this pain is nothing. I can always find out some thought to cheer up myself. I kept cycling when I told myself a lot of bullshit like “you can make it!” or ”you are the best”…etc. But the truth is I told Nat that I want to cycle to Turquoise Bay so I had to do it. Otherwise, I think she will tease me until the day we separate.

      Finally, I couldn’t stand anymore and found a place to take a rest. I checked the map and found out there were still 10 km for me to reach the national park access. After that, I had to ride another 25km to reach Turquoise Bay. It’s already 1:30 pm. I thought I can’t reach Turquoise Bay today; the wind was too strong to conquer and I was too tried to ride. If there was an illus on my face to show how much energy I have, it must tell half. Should I keep cycling or should I return now? After a quick think, I decided to keep going but I made my plan a little different. I thought if I could reach Lakeside; that would be enough for me. Lakeside is near the visitor center and is 11 km south from the national park access. I thought I still get enough energy to go there.

      On the road, everything you see is the same. Blue sky, green bushes, live and dead kangaroos, sand dunes, short mounts and endless road. You would feel you are still in the same place where you were 10 minutes before. Every time I saw something shape like National Park access, I always frustrated when I approached it. Because it was always something else. I dragged myself and kept talking to myself. Eventually, when I reached the access, it’s almost 2:30. The lady in the access told me if I want to go to visitor center, there are still 11 km to go. That would take me another one hour. I used to think it is cool to travel around Australia by bike but now I can’t understand why there are people want to do that. It’s crazy!!

      There is a store in the visitor center. I kept thinking what am I going to buy when I arrive there. I wanted to buy some cold drinks and some snacks because I didn’t have lunch. I imaged the moment when the cold sugar water flow into my throat. That will be the best thing I’ve ever taste in my life.

      My face must be very painful so a woman stopped her car and ask me whether I am all right. I told her I am all right but actually I am not. The strong wind almost blows me away!! But she was the only person who stopped and tried to help me. What a nice person she is.

When I arrived at visitor center, it was an hour later.

      I ran into the store when I arrived there and grabbed some chocolate bars and a box of chocolate milk. I swear to god that was the best chocolate milk I’ve ever drunk in my whole life. Although there are some beached near visitor center, I didn’t want to swim anymore. I was exhausted. I just wanted to lie down on the long bench and took a rest because the sun would set three and half-hours later. If it took me 5 hours to come here, I probably would also take me the same time to go back. I didn’t want to ride a bicycle in the outback at night. That will be terrible!!

      Fortunately, the wind gave me a big hand when I returned. I had a favorable wind now. I kept cycling as fast as I could. I stepped the pedals hardly for 30 times to make the bicycle slid as fast as it can and let my leg rest on the bar of the bike. I thought that can save my energy. I kept doing this before something happened.

My thigh cramped. Both of my thighs cramped!

      Until now, I had already cycled for 6 hours! My thighs couldn’t stand anymore and collapsed. I had to slow down and massaged my thighs! I sat on the fringe of the road and eased my muscles. I wondered why I am here, sitting in the middle of the road. Sometimes it is easy to say you want to do something; but when you start too do it, you will find out things are not always like what you think in the beginning. You have to have well prepared plan and accomplish it step by step. I got my lesson on this trip.

      By the help of the wind, it only took me two hours to reach the lighthouse. I knew I was almost home but still I have to face the wind when I turned south. I kept smiling because that makes me feel there’s still hope. If you began to think something bad, you would be defeated by your fear. The worst emery in the world is your own fear.

      I could hardly sit steady on the chair and my hands couldn’t grab the handle when I passed the lighthouse. I felt like someone had beaten my hands and my ass for more than six hours. The only thing I could do was using my fingers to control the handle and moving my ass every 5 minutes.

      I do believe in god now! I kept praying that someone could pick me up and drive me home. I kept thinking and thinking until a familiar white car emerged on the horizon. It stopped and made an U turn and stopped again. Two people opened the door and walked toward me.

It’s Mike and Damian!!!!!!  Thank you god!!

       They were worried about me because I already had leaved for more than 8 hours; from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm. They thought there must be something happened to me so they formed a rescue team. I was so happy to see them. Mike asked me whether I need a lift. Of course YES!!! He gave me cold lime cordial with water. They saved my life. In the car back to Exmouth villa, I opened the map and counted how many kilometers I had ridden today. I rode more than 100 km today.  That was crazy~~

      If there’s anything I want to tell you guys; that will be I won’t ride a bicycle again in my life.