Thanks, Graham.  For sure, The Actual Situation is difficult-to-off-the-scale in so many ways in so many places.  Our family has all been healthy, fortunately, but Marcia and I are feeling weighed down by illnesses and catastrophes that have befallen friends, and we're not even able to comfort and support them beyond what we can offer electronically.  And who knows when we'll see our family in Gold Coast again, other than by Skype?

So, your big journey could well prove to a source of rejuvenation amidst everything, and I hope it does. But do monitor yourself and your mates, and don't hesitate to pull the plug and return home, if that's the wise thing to do. [My general approach to these things is "Press on regardless" -- but that's just a mantra, not a commandment ;)  ]

Cheers,  John

Thanks John. That’s good advice. Fortunately the Canberra to Perth route is long, but it is not especially remote, so the option to bail out and return home quickly by road or air will be available. 

Google maps tells me the 4000 km ride will only take a week or so. That’s if I can best the current record.

Y'know, I was thinking today, Graham, that you're likely to have  contend with only two of the dreaded 4Hs -- headwinds and heat, and with luck, the latter won't be too bad.  (The other two, hills & humidity, shouldn't be too much bother.)  About Google's disinformation I'd say, "No rush, take time to smell the roses," but that route may not be kind to roses.  (In that vein, the Western Canajan writer, W. O. Mitchell, wrote about Alberta.  Amongst other talents, he had a knack for good titles. Who has seen the wind? is probably the most famous, but I also like Roses are difficult here.)

Cheers,  John

John there’s one other non H challenge. The F pestilence.

 I’m expecting myriads of them on The Nullarbor. Today I spent $9.95 at an outdoor shop on a pre-emptive, non-chemical defence item.

Good move, Graham.  I have several of these, and on tour, at least one is always in my handlebar bag.  That said, I avoid travelling in the bush in Eastern Canada for the first two-three weeks in June: whether paddling, hiking, or cycling, I yield to the hegemony of the blackfly.  Here's why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...  There are other options, notably the smudge pot, the technology developed by Indigenous peoples and adopted by railway workers back in the day. Hard to manage on a bike, tho'.
Cheers,  J.

Brilliant! NFB strikes again. Neither Kirsten or I had seen this short before. We were laughing (and unconsciously scratching) away as we watched. This one is right up there with “The Sweater”

Thanks, Lyle, glad you both enjoyed it. 

The NFB site has some delightful rabbit-holes.  Do you know the film, "The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar"?  Drunkenness and despair in the back country of Eastern Ontario.  Terrific score, and a fine performance by the young Margot Kidder.  On a lighter note, there's more of Wade Hemsworth and the McGarrigle sisters here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Whoa, careful John.... that movie recommendation might strike too close to home. My ancestors immigrated to Glengarry county in the 1790’s from Skye. Fiddlers, drunkenness, despair ..... sounds like Scotland during the sheep clearances. 

Nonetheless, we’ll tee it up for a rainy movie night. At the risk of diverting this forum thread into movie reviews and recommendations, it sounds like you might want to check out “Margaret’s Museum’, a 1995 film that the NFB had a hand in. Set in 1940’s Cape Breton with, get this ... drunkenness and despair( in a coal mining environment rather than logging), but also with fiddles AND bagpipes. A great movie with a knock out performance by a young Helena Bonham Carter (she won a Genie, Canada’s Oscar’s for those from elsewhere) for her performance.

We just checked out the Log Drivers song link too. New to me (and great) but Kirsten had seen it before, and liked it. She grew up in the Saguenay, so no surprise!

Hope you’re out on your bike now or will be soon. Fresh snow the last two days here but spring is on the way 🚴‍♂️

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Thanks, Lyle.  I'd heard of "Margaret's Museum" but haven't seen it.  Will check it out.  I was conscious that this thread on spring cycling plans could spin off into an endless tangled tangent about Weird Goings-On in rural Canada...  My excuse is that, during my two-wheeled potterings in Eastern Ont & West QC, these things flit in and out of my consciousness.  Perhaps it's the landscape, and the knowledge of just how hard it is & was to make a living in such setting.

Glengarry, eh?  When we came to Ontario in the mid-'50s, I finished primary school in a one-room schoolhouse SE of Peterborough.  The library bookcase had a copy of Ralph Connor's Glengarry School Days. I read it and thought, "Ooooh, Jeez, better be careful going there."

Just a few rides up into the Gatineau so far this spring.  The roads are clear of snow about 3 weeks earlier than usual, and we've had no rain for three-plus weeks.  The woods are dangerously dry.  No real plans for touring this summer, because of COVID.  I'm hoping to do a 7-10-day mini-tour around West QC -- Papineau-Labelle and La Vérendrye --in August if conditions allow. My sorta-planned trip to Cape Breton last summer will be put off again, I reckon, until 2022. 

And you and Kirsten?