The FLIGHT from San Francisco to Hong Kong was fourteen hours, but leaving just after midnight made sleeping pretty easy. We landed in Hong Kong at 6 am local time, and I hopped the MTR express train into the city.

Everything in Hong Kong appeared very sleek and very tranquil. The city boasts a million millionaires out of a population of seven million. I’m guessing that it’s the highest ratio in the world other than in the Gulf countries, but in Hong Kong, most folks earn their fortunes rather than being born into them. Eight months of protests and the end game posed by China have created a dangerous situation in the former British crown colony, and it’s hard to see how it will end well. All was well while I cruised around, which was a great way to start the trip

Umbrella Protesters’ Statement:

I was rather shocked that this statement of defiance hasn’t been removed by the authorities, as I’d seen it photographed several weeks ago.

Early morning skyline:

My breakfast before being plated. Poor guys.

I only spent the day in Hong Kong, and it was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday during the past eight months of increasingly violent weekend protests. Perhaps the cat and mouse game that’s being played out each weekend is entering a new phase.

I left Hong Kong for Perth late afternoon and was really excited to get back to where my last trip ended – there and in Freemantle / Freo. By the time I landed and found my hotel, I wasn’t sure what day it was (I had no idea what time it was). I awoke to light this morning and realized that it was 5 am. Yikes – I think I slept four hours after hurting through space for twenty one in steel tubes.

Although it meant heading south out of Perth only to have to retrace my route northward, I decided to check out Margaret River, which is about 180 miles down the coast from Perth. The drive south was really nice, and getting used to driving on the left (wrong) side of the road again took a bit of focus, especially when entering the countless roundabouts on the drive. Natural instinct guides you right when approaching vehicles get close, so it’s a brain tease to prevent yourself from doing what you do at home in traffic.

Roadside art on an industrial building en route to Margaret River:

I pulled into Margaret River, world famous for its wine and surf, early this afternoon. Having driven from Perth without a map or GPS because it was too late to buy a SIM card at the airport and no stores were open till 11 am today (Sunday), I kind of followed the sun and directional instinct, which worked fine. After arriving, I met Keith downtown at his bookstore and ended up chatting with him for quite a while. Great guy who was extremely knowledgeable about the west coast of Oz, and he sold me an excellent map and gave me the lay of the local land, drawing his own map to get me on my way.

I love the serendipity of travel. Keith was, by coincidence, wearing a Sausalito T shirt, and when I told him that I lived fifteen minutes away, he proceeded to tell me about his one year trip to the States in 1968, when he landed in San Francisco and was invited to a concert and ended up watching Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company tear the roof off of the Fillmore West.  Talk about perfect timing…..

Margaret River is a really charming small town that teems with Perth residents in the summertime and holidays, which is right around the corner, as summer starts here in a matter of weeks.. Today it was quite chill, and after I found a place to stay and had lunch, I decided to hit the beach. Cowabunga, dude:

Aussies’ reverence for the beach is all consuming. If you’re not out on your board catching rides, you and your family are camped out watching the fun. Aussies are inextricably connected to the sea. It infuses them and its love is reflected in everything they do.

Surfer’s Point, on the coast where Margaret River meets the Indian Ocean, is a legendary and religious shrine to Aussies. It breaks left and right over a reef, up to 15′ in giant tubes, year round. Hanging out there this afternoon was an incredibly special treat. The scene was so cool because the folks on the beach watching the surfers were having just as much fun, and were just as serious, as those in the water. It’s an amazing yin and yang energy flow that completely drew me in and was really hard to step away from hours later.

Looking northward:

Are Aussies serious about surfing? You betcha, mate.

Late afternoon:

Long but really fun day. Time to chill and get some sleep. Tomorrow starts the northward-ho trek, 2,700 miles along the west coast to Darwin, a fantastic town on Australia’s northern coast that I’m looking forward to seeing again. Lots to see on the way, and I can’t wait to start poking around.