Adventure

The adventure begins. We had a lie in and a leisurely breakfast, finished the packing and took a Taxi to Heathrow at 11am. We had a delicious lunch at Heston’s The Perfectionist Cafe, a glass of champagne to celebrate and off to board the plane. We flew Air New Zealand Economy to Auckland via LA. The first leg of the flight was 14 hours to LA and seemed to pass by quickly. A movie and food but mostly trying to sleep. I bought some Bose noise cancelling headphones at Heathrow duty free which made an amazing difference to comfort levels on a long haul flight. ...

Our bags are packed, we’ve planned the route, watched the YouTube videos of how the camper works and we’re ready for 28 hours in the air. The adventure starts tomorrow!

During our family beach holiday to Mexico we took the opportunity to visit Chichén Itzá, something I’ve always wanted to see - we weren’t disappointed. As part of the trip we also had the opportunity to swim in Cenote Hubiku which was great fun. Chichén Itzá Cenote Hubiku

After arriving back in Sydney it was time for a nights sleep and to get back out there. Morning flight up to Cairns to do the Great Barrier Reef and the Rain Forest. Caught a shuttle bus into Cairns from the airport and got out on the Plannage. Walked straight into a nice looking seafood restaurant and enjoyed a delicious red claw lobster salad while I figured out where I wanted to go. ...

Final score: 9 days, 3268 km’s, 2 x Speeding fines, 1 x Dropped bike, 1 x Deep sand incident, some really really really amazing riding and some pretty boring freeway Day 6 Wake up about 5ish on account of the heat and light in the tent and get up for a swim. Seaweed seems to have overtaken the beach overnight and so don’t really fancy it in the end and settle for a shower. Pack up the bike and walk into town to get a large hangover relieving breakfast. Take the back roads south heading for Brisbane. Take a tourist drive which sounds nice and turns out the be the one I went on before which was a waste of time. Doh! Get back on the freeway and head towards Byron Bay. Pretty boring freeway riding but just want to get back to Byron for the night. ...

Fraser Island is just north of Brisbane. Completely made from sand which has drifted along the mainland shores. Picked up by a double decker bus, which seemed like a bad sign since I’d imagined a small 4WD mini-bus. Get the ferry and leave the bus behind and ride on the deck. Nice view and some breakfast for the 30 min journey over to the island. Arrive at the island and board a massive 4WD truck/bus for about 30 people. Better than I was expecting. Tour guide is a real character and has some great stories to tell. ...

So. After 3.5 days, 1700 km’s, 1 x $350 speeding fine, 1 x dropped bike, stuck in sand, some really really amazing riding and some pretty boring freeway (hence the fine), I’m finally at the most northern point of my trip. Hervey Bay right next to Fraser Island. Day 1 Set out from Sydney pretty late in the day on Monday and headed over the harbour bridge and up the Pacific Highway. Take in a nice ride through a national park just north of the city on the old pacific highway. Decide to get some distance done and get back to the free way. Heading for Seal Rocks, recommended by Craig’s friend Suze. ...

After a night out with everyone in Sydney overlooking the opera house and early start (5am) to fly to Melbourne. Hired a BMW 650GS Dakar from a place near the centre. It feels like a toy compared to my 1200GS, but fun to throw about. Headed out of the city on some pretty unspectacular freeway in the direction of the Great Ocean Road. After riding for an hour or so turned off onto the start of the coast road and the fun began. ...

So the plan. A month in Australia on a motorbike. The dates were originally based around a wedding…which got cancelled and the participants left the country. How rude. Craig, the second rider in the trip, unfortunately didn’t get around to taking his motorbike license. Even though we’ve been talking about it for around 18 MONTHS. So lone rider it is. Unless of course he miraculously passes a test in the next week. Odds not in his favour. ...