Tour

Rider

by Andy Norris









Introduction............................................................................................................... 2

Sydney - 25th September to 1st January .......................................................... 3

Snowy Mountains - 1st January to 22nd January ............................................ 11

Tasmania - 23rd January to 5th March ............................................................ 23

The Great Ocean Road - 12th March to 24th March .................................... 36

Up the Guts - 27th March to 15th April........................................................... 43

Kakadu National Park - 16th April to 25th April ............................................ 55

The East Coast - 29th April to 30th June ....................................................... 63

New Zealand - 1st July to 25th July ................................................................. 84

Fiji and Hawaii - 25th July to 11th August........................................................91

California - 12th August to 22nd August .......................................................... 97

Appendix A - Introduction to Cycle Touring in Australia ............................ 101

Appendix B - The Man From Snowy River ....................................................... 105

Introduction

I set off on 23rd August 1995 for a round the world trip that would see me

working in Australia on a working/holiday visa to support my subsequent travels

about Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and California. I had some idea that I

may do some cycling whilst out there, but I had no idea how far this notion would

take me. From early plans to cycle certain legs of my journey around Australia,

I began to piece together a grander agenda to devote my whole time traveling

by bicycle. These plans were hatched while working in Sydney to accumulate

enough money to buy a touring bike, equipment and enough left over to support

my travels. The following chapter outlines my time in Sydney, working and

planning my trip. However, my plans were not concrete and after leaving Sydney

on New Years Day I set off on a journey into unknown territory, taking each day

at a time, finding knew limits of determination, despair and excitement with

each new experience and adventure.



The main body of this book details these adventures. The Appendix covers more

general details of cycling in Australia and will be refered too so that I will not

veer too far from the plot. This book is based on my diary and also on letters

sent home to my family. These letters where extensive as I had so much to tell,

but no-one to share my experiences with, as after leaving Sydney I travelled

alone. However, most of my adventures involved the people I met and they

provide the most significant contribution to this book. No sooner had heartfelt

goodbyes been expressed to good friends I had met for too short a time, than I

would meet someone new. The unpredictable nature of travelling means that

from one day to the next, new adventures unfold which take on a roller coaster

ride of ups and downs. Emotions run wild and excitement is intensified as well as

despair. I have my family to thank for the continuous encouragement and

confidence they gave me, and to all the people I met who made my trip such a

success. I have completed this book so that they might share in the my

adventures and understand the immense intensity of experiences both good and

bad.









2

Sydney - 25th September to 1st January



The Work



I arrived in Australia in September during their worst winter this century. This

was on the back of just experiencing Britain's driest summer since the 17th

century! The first 4 months were spent working and living in Sydney while I

planned my tour. I cycled everywhere in Sydney, to town and to work and

Sundays were used to train for the tour ahead. I lived in a 4 bedroom house with

7 other Pommies: Jon, Craig and Andy from Glasgow, Jon's girlfriend Hazel, Rob

from Leicester and Claire and Lorraine from Bristol.



After ten desperate days looking for work, I found two jobs that complimented

each other nicely, one in a warehouse working weekdays 8-5 and the other in a

bottle shop 6-10 Friday and Saturday. The warehouse job was a great laugh, Jon

and Craig got work there soon after I started and we had a good time working

with Rob and Brett, two Dinkum Aussies who taught us a great deal about Aussie

life (particularly drink, sport and Shiellas). Brett also gave me advice about the

bush as he had done a lot of bush camping. He also warned me about snakes on

the road and how they attack cyclists! Rob from our

house worked in a bike shop which was really helpful as he got discounts on any

equipment I needed and any repairs I needed on my bike. Also, Hazel worked in

a butchers shop and would bring back loads of steaks and pork chops in the

evening.



My second job was as a shop attendant in a drive through bottle shop that had

cold howling gales blowing through when it was 30C outside! The drive through

was quite quiet and boring, but there was often a steady stream of customers

including many regulars who were more regular than I thought possible, such as

buying a 4 litre box of wine every day! I had to get used to understanding what

people wanted. A stubbie is a 425ml bottle of beer, a 'throw down' is a 250ml

bottle and a 'slab' is a crate of 24 stubbies. And that was just the beer, I also

managed to bluff my way through recommending wines even though I had never

drank any of them. So the evenings were enjoyable as I got to know the

customers and I gained expert knowledge of Aussie beer and wine. The cold

used to get to me though. Everyone would come in from the sun in their t-shirt

and shorts and say how cool it was in the drive through. However, sitting in the

constant stream of 'cool' air for hours in the evening was not pleasant.



On one occasion, the wind became so strong outside, that a gale was blowing

through the shop. Posters were being ripped of the wall and all the fixings that

managed to remain fixed were rattling and threatening to fly off at any moment.







3

It was decided to close the shop early, pulling down the metal shutters at each

end. However, the huge metal shutter at the back came off its rails with the

force of the wind and started to flap. To go anywhere near it would have been

suicidal as it swept up and down, and so the whole area was cordened off until

the wind subsided the next day. This was my first introduction to the weather

extremes of Australia, something I would learn a lot about over the coming year.



One mild evening when I was cycling home from the bottle shop I kept seeing

flashes of light every 10 seconds on the horizon. Soon it became apparent that

these were lightning flashes as the storm moved towards me. I turned my

pedals harder, determined to get home before the down pour. After 20 minutes

of impending rain I turned down my home street as the first drops started to

fall and the lightning moved directly overhead. Once inside I watched out of the

window as the road was flooded under 6 inch deep torrent within 10 minutes. It

was the most narrow of escapes. The rain eased after just 30 minutes and the

road was soon as dry as before. The rain in Australia occurs much less

frequently than in England, but when it comes it drops the whole load in one go,

quite extraordinary.



I also filled in for one hour in the hotel bar at the end of the night. This was

the most difficult part as the bar was pretty rough and I was only just catching

on to Aussie humour. One guy nicknamed "Agro" after the cocky puppet off "Hey

Hey Its Saturday" (see Appendix A - TV and Radio) was always in there and

would often fall asleep at the bar. There was also a large variety of beer

measures such as a 'midi' being 10 oz, a 'schooner' being 16 oz or 425ml, and in

Melbourne a 'pot' is 330ml. Smaller measures are used in Australia so that the

beer doesn't have time to warm up and they are also drunk quicker. Australians

start drinking earlier than the British and they 'burn out' sooner. By 10pm,

many customers would be falling about. They never took kindly to being refused

drinks which was often necessary and at weekends we had a bouncer on the door

to sort out any trouble. It was all good fun though, the mix of characters made

each night eventful. And it was a good way for me to wind down after 15 hours

work, with my "staffie" which was my free staff beer at the end on the night.



I knew very little about touring before I went away to Australia. My only

experience had been two short one week tours, one around Wales when I was 16

and one around Ireland when I was 20. The 4 months spent working in Sydney

were perfect for preparation for the mammoth tour ahead of me. In the

evenings I used the Libraries in Sydney to plan my route as there were many

good touring books suggesting routes. The best routes I photocopied to keep

weight down and a mini road atlas was included to fill in the gaps in my route

planning. Also, I gradually acquired all the equipment I would need for my tour,

buying something new every week as I accumulated enough money to last me the

remaining 8 months of my trip. The adventures involved in obtaining my tent and

bike are described below.





4

The tent



The weekly trading paper in Sydney, 'The Trading Post', comes out every

Thursday. One week I followed up an add for a Paddy Palin Glen, 2 man japara

bush tent. The ad took me to Richard in Blaxland in the Blue mountains about

70km West of Sydney. Richard was getting old and had decided to sell his old

trusted bush tent. He had been walkabout with Paddy Palin himself only a few

years ago, shortly before Paddy died. Paddy was an English guy who emigrated

to Australia earlier this century and started his own line in Outdoor equipment

which has now grown to the biggest chain of Outdoor Equipment in Australia. I

told him of my plans and he was very pleased to pass the tent on to me and that

it would see many more starry nights. He showed me how to put it up in his back

garden, "You can use the poles", he said, "but I used to leave the poles at home

and just use a few long, dead branches from the bush"! He also showed me how

to do a rolling hitch on the tent ropes, which allows you to slide the knot up and

down, but holds the rope taught and can be loosened quickly.



After paying $60 for the tent, I used the rest of the day to cycle out into the

Blue mountains. This was my first experience of the dirt roads I would come to

despise (There are more details about Australian roads in Appendix A). At one

point the road became so steep and the dirt so loose that I totally lost traction

and fell off. I felt like a fool. I picked myself up of the ground and as I looked

up I saw a Kangaroo staring over at me. This was the first 'Roo' I had seen and

I was quite shocked, but she just kept on munching and looking over as if to say,

"You can't ride that bike can you!". I got back on my bike and as I looked the

other way I caught site of about 20 Kangaroos and Joeys all playing around

totally oblivious to me. I was totally stunned. After a few photos I made my way

back towards the Great Western Highway and home.





The bike



My first bike was also found in the Traders Post which I bought of a mad guy

called George. He lived in a shell of a house that he had been renovating for

three years, but it looked like he hadn't even started. The bike needed quite a

lot of work before I would pay him the $240 asking price, so I made several

visits to see George while he worked on it. The frame was a Miyata, but the

rest of the bike was questionable, a bit of a hybrid. He fitted quite a few

extras such as lights, rear pannier rack and dropped handle bars. He told me

that he had been quite crazy since a motorcycle accident when he was younger.

He had sold most of his belongings to fund the work on his house, but all he had

left was a cooking stove which he tried to sell to me. The house was so dark and

empty, but George seemed happy with what he was doing.





5

Shortly after acquiring my tent, I went on a Weekend tour of the Blue

Mountains to try out all my second hand equipment. I followed in the paths of

the first pioneers Wentworth, Lawson and Blaxland, up cliffs and through the

sea of blue green Eucalyptus trees, camping out for one night. Looking out from

Echo Point past the cliff stacks called `The 3 Sisters' you can see the blue haze

rising above the Eucalyptus trees that gives the Mountains their name. From

above, the scenery looks like seas of blue/green with grey craggy islands rising

up out of the sea. Towards the top of the mountains I passed the Explorers

Tree which had been marked by Wentworth, Lawson and Blaxland in 1813. I

camped out in Megalong Valley, but soon discovered that there was a distinct

shortage of long, dead branches to support my tent in place of the poles that I

had left at home as Richard had suggested.

With dusk fast approaching I managed to tie my tent up between two trees. I

then found that I had forgotten to bring a lighter to light my gas stove. I

borrowed one off some campers near by and joined them later on for a chat

around their campfire. They told me to keep the lighter which went on to last

for the whole of my 8 months touring (only the flint was needed). During this

trip I discovered that the second hand bike and pannier bags I had bought from

the Thursday trading paper were not up to dirt road cycling. My panniers were

soon falling apart and on the road back to Sydney my front wheel buckled and I

jumped on the train home. This bike was not going to make it round Australia!



So I put the bike up for sale in the Traders Post. Around this time I went on the

Highland Double Hundred charity cycle (see below) and I met a lady who worked

for 'Bicycle New South Wales' who had recently done an article on pannier bags

for a magazine. She recommended I get Wilderness Equipment pannier bags,

which I did the next day from Inner City Cycles. At this shop they also built

touring bikes from Protour frames (Adelaide) and Shimano parts. I had them

measure me up for one which I would pick up just before Christmas.



When I finally picked up my new bike ($950), I was to trade in my old bike for

$100 as I had failed to sell it through the Traders Post. While I was settling up

for my new bike, two Italian guys walked into the shop looking for a cheap

second hand tourer. They thought I was a shop assistant and started asking me

about my old bike. They bargained with me and brought me down from $200 to

$150, not bad as I was only going to get $100 from the shop ! The little Italian

guy was made up, he expressed this in Italian as it was his friend who had

scraped together enough English to bargain with me and who told me of his

friends plans. He was touring for just 3 weeks around the Blue Mountains and

would have had to pay $30 a day to hire a Tourer from the shop. The bike

wouldn't have made a 6 month tour fully laden, but a light weight sealed road

tour around New South Wales was well within it's apabilities and I was very

pleased to let my bike go to such a worthy owner. It had served me well cycling

to and from work (30km per day), Cycle Sydney, Sydney to the 'Gong' and The





6

Highlands Double Hundred. I myself, however, left on the Roles Royce, the

Harley Davidson of touring bikes! I don't know all of the specifics as I am not

well learned in bicycle building, but it had 21 gears, cantilever gears electors on

the end of the dropped handlebars, 32 mm tyres; a dream to ride. It was a lot

more solid and also a lot quieter than my old bike. This machine would take me

all the way to Black Post and beyond.





Urban Adventures



Before starting my account of my bush cycling adventures, I might just mention

a few of the adventures I had while staying in Sydney. Amongst the adventures

was one night in which we went to watch the Australian Doors last ever concert

which was held at the Coogee Bay Hotel. After a good few beers, the singer

really started to look exactly like Jim Morrison. We were close to the front and

I managed to get a load of photos, but they were never developed because,

unknown to me, my camera was not winding on properly. I remember trying

bourbon and coke canned mixers which seemed to be all the rage at the time,

but the effects were crippling. I lost my watch while dancing and being crushed

and later found that I had lost my keys. The next morning I got up on my day

off with a decapitating hangover. I had planned to take my first cycle trip into

the bush along a route suggested by Rob, but I had to address the problem of

my lost keys. I paid $5 for a replacement hostel key, but my bike was padlocked

still. I carried the bike down the hill to a hardware shop were the shop owner

was trusting enough to lend me hiss bolt croppers and as a thanks I bought a

strong U-lock from him. The ride into the bush was certainly worth it and a

perfect cure to an extremely rough hangover.



There were very few other opportunities to escape into the bush as I often

worked over 60 hours per week. However, one Sunday I joined the Hornsby

Cycle Club for a day trip around the Ku-ring Gai Chase National Park as far as

the beautiful Hawkesbury River. There had been bad bush fires a few years

before so the hills were very bare and charred black. It was very eerie, but a

pleasant ride all the same.



Most of the time spent after work was spent in our local pub, 'The Excelsior'.

This was a lively spot with live acts performing and regular pool competitions.

Craig won $50 one night in the pool competition. There was a table upstairs that

could be fixed so we could have free games all day; I needed the practice. One

Sunday afternoon we watched the All Australia Rugby League grand final

between the Sydney Bulldogs and the Manly Sea Eagles. The Bulldogs fans were

literally barking and howling every time they got the ball. They were the

underdogs, but managed to pull out a 17-4 victory.









7

Our house was pretty basic and we slept in our sleeping bags on the floor. We

had found various pieces of furniture for the house on the streets. Australians

will leave unwanted items on the street for anyone to take if they like. Andy

and Rob had been walking home one night and found a TV and a sofa. We had a

house warming party one Friday. Unfortunately it coincided with the one

weekend when I worked 14 hours on both Friday and Saturday. I joined the

party in full swing at 11 on Friday after getting back from the bottle shop. I

crashed out at about 2 pm after drinking half a bottle of Southern Comfort and

then had to get up at 6am to work another 14 hour day.



I returned to the Blue Mountains one weekend with Craig, Rob and Andy. We

hired a car and took it down the fire trails which are dirt roads through the

forest that prevent bush fires spreading. It was now well into spring and many

of the kangaroos had young in their pouches. Jon and Hazel had been into the

Blue Mountains a few weeks earlier on a hired motorbike which must have been

great along the trails.



I suffered my worst hangover ever whilst in Australia. It was Sunday 17th

December of the Tyson v. Mathis fight. We started early down the pub waiting

for the fight to come on. With every bottle of beer bought, we got a free prize

draw. I got lucky and won a polo shirt and 2 caps on three separate visits to the

bar. We made a sweep stake on which round the fight would be won and by

whom. Mathis went down in the third round and I won $10. Later we decided to

keep drinking and bought a bottle of O.P. (overproof) Bundeburg Rum which we

had been recommended. An excellent day was had by all, but the next morning

was extremely rough. I started work at 7am, and somehow managed to stagger

through the day without throwing up; which felt like doing with each breath.

This was a great start to the week leading up to Christmas which would see me

work nearly 80 hours with extra time at the warehouse and the bottle shop.



I had struggled with my health for weeks after the Australian Doors show as I

had bruised arms and ribs from being crushed at the front of the crowd. There

was a lot of lifting involved at the warehouse and I also started to suffer from

colds from being so run down. But I was being conditioned for the cycle touring

next year. All the cycling too and from work was keeping me fit, but I had to

find time to get out on a few big cycles before leaving Sydney so I signed up for

the 3 big charity cycle rides throughout spring.





Cycle Sydney



Cycle Sydney takes place one Sunday in mid-September. It's a 7 o'clock start

with 6000 cyclist cycling the 50km round trip of Sydney's cycle paths. This

year, 1995, was the first time the event had taken place; they hope to have

50000 participants by the year 2000 which would make it the largest





8

participated ride in the world. Some go tandem, some on one wheel, there were

even a few Penny Farthings! The Sydney Harbour Bridge was closed in one

direction for all the cyclists to cross at the start (It's a toll bridge, but cyclist

go free!!). It was still the back end of winter so it rained most of the way. The

directions were not great and I found myself in a group of cyclists who were

mislead. We found our way back to the finish line, but we had missed about 5km

of the route and so we came in just behind the leaders. I crossed the finish line

in the top twenty and looked a bit out of place with my old bike lying amongst all

the expensive racing bikes of the leading cyclists. I felt some guilt, but mostly

smug satisfaction.





Sydney to the 'Gong’



The Sydney to Wollongong charity ride takes place on the first Sunday of

November. It's a 7:30 start with 9500 participants riding the 92km to `The

Gong'. There is an option, which many people take, of joining the race at the 30

km point and cycling the rest of the way. This ride has been long established as

an annual event for all the family. There is also an option of doing the cycle in

fancy dress, but there were only a few of these. Most notable were the seven

cyclists, one behind the other, dressed as Bananas in Pyjamas (Bananas in

Pyjamas are one of the ABC's most successful children programs). It was a

beautiful day, the ride taking us through the Royal National Park and South

along the cliffs and beaches to Wollongong. I did the ride in 3 hours 20 minutes

by keeping in a pack of fast cyclists. I then did the return journey to Sydney in

preparation for the Highlands Double Hundred.





The Highlands Double Hundred



This is a less attended, more demanding charity ride held on the last Sunday of

November. A couple of hundred people completed the full 200km with many

more completing the 150km and 100km routes. The ride follows a circular route

around the Southern Highlands, South West of Sydney. The pinnacle of the ride

is the climb up the Macquarie Pass which took me 1 hour at a good pace. This was

my first experience of Australian `hills'. In Britain, rolling hills provide an

intermittent challenge as each climb is relatively short, but there are a lot of

them. In Australia, the occasionally `hill' will rise up continuously, requiring

more and more effort each time the road switches back, zig-zagging up towards

the heavens.The return journey was extremely hard as I became drained of

energy. I hitched onto the back of two older Aussie cyclists who were happy to

carry me home in their slipstream. They told me about how they were planning to

cycle from the coast to the summit of Mt. Koskiusko, the highest mountain in

Australia, next summer. I commented that I would look out for them as that

was were I was first headed on my tour. 5km from the end, the sag wagon pulled





9

up to see if I wanted a lift, but I refused and struggled on to the end to claim

my survivors badge. I was now ready to tackle the Snowy Mountains.





The last week in Sydney before heading off



Christmas Day was spent on Bondi Beach with my house mates and thousands of

other Brits and backpackers. The English, Welsh and Irish got drunk in the sun

while the Scots paraded up and down the promenade playing bagpipes and

singing. I had a swim, but it was quite difficult to keep my Santa hat on while

the waves were crashing over my head because the surf was up, as they say. In

the evening it got quite chilly so we went to a curry house on the beach front for

a Christmas Curry.



On Boxing Day I watched the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race with

hundreds of other people on the North Heads. The harbour was full of every

description of boat and as the yachts turned south past the heads, every boat in

Sydney streamed out behind them. The Manly ferry followed too and looked like

it was going to tip over as everyone was on one side of the boat.



Over the next few days I had a look around The Rocks which is were the old

Sydney Town started from. Many of the old buildings are still there including

the old observatory which I had a look around. I also visited Taronga Zoo on the

North bank of the harbour. Had my photo taken with a koala and saw the

platypus, dingoes and Tasmanian devils. There are some great views of the city

and harbour from the zoo with giraffes and elephants in the foreground. I had a

good look at the poisonous snakes so that I would know what to look out for. On

the other days I took my bike out on fully laden test runs to check for any

problems before I left.



New Years Eve was monumentus. I worked till 10 o'clock in the bottle shop,

before cycling to Darling Harbour to meet the lads. I soon caught up with the

drinking and then at midnight there were fireworks. I was on a high. I had

finished my time in Sydney and everything was planned. Tomorrow I would get on

my bike and head off for The Snowy Mountains.









10

Snowy Mountains - 1st January to 22nd

January



Overview of route



The 290km ride from Sydney to Canberra took me along the Eastern edge of

the Great Dividing Range where some of New South Wales' finest national parks

lie. Although the route runs between two major centres, the largest city in the

country and the nation's capital, the area in between is still rural; small villages

and quiet roads.



Next I cycled 400km through the sub-alpine landscapes surrounding Australia's

highest peaks. The ride took me through Kosciusko National Park, Alpine

National Park and Snowy River National Park, following the Snowy River into

Victoria. The region is famous for Banjo Patterson's hero The Man From Snowy

River (See Appendix B).



From the Snowies my route continued down to the south coast along dirt roads

and then along the coast via `Wilson's Prom' and Phillip Island. Wilson's

Promontory, or `The Prom' as it is usually called, is the southern most tip of the

Australian mainland. It is a mountainous peninsula with fantastic beaches, cool

fern gullies, spectacular views and abundant wildlife. Philip Island is joined to

the mainland by a bridge 130km south of Melbourne by road. Fairy Penguins, the

smallest penguins in the world, swim here to breed and there is a nightly

spectacle of The Penguin Parade as they walk up onto the beach to their burrows

at dusk. From here I completed my journey along the south coast up to

Melbourne.









South to Canberra



1 Jan



Said goodbye to everyone in the house and caught the 2 o'clock train to

Cambelltown as it would be murder trying to cycle out of the city. Taking the

wrong trains, cycling on a hangover and leaving myself little time to cycle the

35km to Thirlemere Lakes, made this a difficult first day. I finally arrived at

the small free camping area next to the lake. There were two people canoeing on

the lake, but apart from that the place was deserted. Whilst setting up camp I

was struck by the quietness and tranquility, but at the same time I felt







11

apprehension for the coming weeks. I was still aware of all the things that could

go wrong and that I was now on my own, but over the coming weeks I would

settle in to this new way of being; it was so peaceful, just me and the wilderness.



2 Jan



Had a swim the next morning before packing up and heading off. It took 2 hours

to pack, a chore that I would reduce to a 1/2 hour over the next few months.

Passed through many of the towns I had been through on The Highlands Double

Hundred. It started to rain. I reached Morton National Park at 3 o'clock, but

decided that the $17 camping fee was not worth it. Also, it's not much fun

setting up camp in the rain, so to make the most of the cool weather, I pushed

on stopping only at a peach stall in Wingello.



After a further 65km I arrived at Bungonia State Recreation Area where I set

up camp in the late evening with the Wallabys playing around nearby. Later that

night I saw my first Possum. Possums are small Marsupials about the size of a

cat, but with a snout. He was as shocked to see me as I was of him and I told it

to shoo and it ran up a tree. I've heard of bold possums raiding campers' food

supplies, so I kept my tent shut. I would see a lot more of them in the coming

months.



3 Jan



As I left Bungonia State Recreation Area the next morning, two wallabys joined

me, hopping along beside the road. They followed me for about 1km, keeping level

with me and we exchanged glances as I picked up speed. When they seemed

content that I could go no faster they lost interest and bounded over a fence

and off into the bush. This was such a magical experience that I couldn't stop

thinking about it all day. It rained for most of the day and there was a 40km

stretch of dirt road to Tarago which turned to mud and caked my bike. I must

have been carrying 20 pounds extra weight in dirt. I would have to get some

mudguards in Canberra. There were about 4 cars that passed me all day. Saw a

Wombat at the roadside who disappeared down his burrow when he saw me.

Wombats are marsupials which look like Badgers, but all black and fatter.



The wildlife is an almost constant source of interest along with the scenery.

Unlike in a car, you can come upon animals unnoticed before they disappear. The

terrain at this point was similar to the Yorkshire Pennines, Lake District and

Scottish Highlands, but distinctively Australian. There are no dry stone walls

for a start, the fenced fields are much larger and the land is wider, more yellow

and more barren. There were many Parrots and Cockatoos, and very colourful

pink and grey Galahs. As they fly away you can see pink-grey-pink-grey flashing

as they flap their wings.









12

I stopped at Tarago for scones and coffee and top dry off before dragging

myself the rest of the way to Queen Beyan to arrive early afternoon. I had

cycled 110km today with just 10km to go to Canberra, but took the afternoon

off to relax at the camp ground. I spent the evening hosing down my bike and

cleaning my panniers. The panniers had done an excellent job as they were

sprayed black with mud, but the contents were clean and dry.





Canberra



4 Jan



The first 3 days had exhausted me, but today I had just 12km to go. The border

of the Capital Territory is right at the top of a huge climb through a pass

before descending down into this beautifully planned, young city. I checked into

hostel then went out for a ride round the city. At first the steering was

difficult as I instinctively overcompensated for the weight of the panniers that

I was no longer carrying. Through oversteering I ended up wobbling down the

road until I got used to it. The transitions was as difficult as when I first tried

cycling with all my gear attached. I cycled the 24km ride around the beautiful

cycle path ride that circles the Burley Griffin Lake. This lake is the central

piece of a city founded in 1913 and planned by Walter Burley Griffin. He won a

worldwide competition to design the nation's capital. His design was based on

circles with avenues radiating out and joining other circles; lakes, hills,

parliament and other major features are all joined. The design compliments the

landscape perfectly.



The Bicycle Museum at the Canberra Tradesman's Club is absolutely top class.

The museum is a small part of the club which also has a bar and does food, but

there are close to a hundred bicycles of varying age and style on display. A few

hours were spent here. One replica bike had been built by Inner City Cycles who

built my bike! They also have the largest collection of Beer bottles in the world

and an observatory, but it was too overcast to go when I was there. Finally I

cycled up the spiral road to the summit of Mt. Ainslie for a fantastic view of the

city. The view looked directly along Anzac Parade to the parliament Building on

Capital Hill, with the lake and the Snowy Mountains in the distance. This was it,

tomorrow the Snowies.



5 Jan



Slept for 18 hours! Unbelievable. The cycling had really taken it out of me, but

I was to find the first few couple of weeks difficult as my body became

accustomed to constant exercise. Eventually my body would adapt and I would

breeze along effortlessly, but at this time I did not believe this and found the

thought of crossing the Snowy Mountains quite daunting.





13

Before leaving Canberra, I visited the Parliament House, completed in 1988,

which is grass covered. The free tour lasts a few hours and is excellent. You

enter at the bottom, see all the rooms including the Senate and the House of

Representatives, and emerge on top of the building on the grass. The building is

like a grass hill! Really. I had a look at the view from the top before walking

down the grass back to the main entrance. The Capital Exhibition Centre is also

worth a visit as there is a lot of information on the planning and building of the

city; from rolling sheep pastures to a great National Capital in one person's

lifetime. Had lunch next to the 100ft Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet in the

lake.



At 3 o'clock I cycled to the campsite on the Cottee River at the foot of the

Snowies. Had a swim in the river then cooked tea. There were many families

staying there for their summer holidays, just 25km from their homes in

Canberra! But the area is so beautiful that they have no need to travel far for

their holidays.Tomorrow the big climbs would begin as I start to climb up into

the Snowy Mountains.





The Snowies



6 Jan



Started to climb none stop, crossing the Brindabellas on gravel roads. Two cars

passed me all morning; I was really in the styx now. Set up camp at 12:30 next to

a small river in the Brindabella valley. It rained all afternoon whilst I read. A

local passed by on his motorbike and stopped to ask where I was heading. He was

surprised when I said I was climbing up the gravel track to Long Plain and even

more surprised that I had got the route out of a tour book. He said that the

road had been closed for 2 years and was now in very bad condition. The road

had been closed because it wasn't used enough for it to be graded each year and

had been washed away in some areas. Maybe the road was no longer suitable for

cars, but surely I could get my bike through. Besides, it would be a 2-day trip to

retrace my tyre marks and circumnavigate the mountain. The road couldn't be

that bad!



7 Jan



The next day proved to be the hardest days cycling in my life! The climb was

relentless with hundreds of switchbacks, each corner revealing a seemingly more

impossible gradient. I became exhausted and it was hard to keep traction on

some of the steep climbs. With wheels spinning and skidding off loose stones,

progress was very slow. The road was extremely corrugated and there were ruts

of about 1 foot deep were water had run across and washed away some of the





14

road. I lifted my bike over these. Pushed my bike up the worst hills, for 2km at

one point. I saw nobody else all day. The 24km climb took about 5 hours.I had a

few rests on the ways up, hiding in the shade from the sun. But the horse flies

would soon become a nuisance and I would have to battle on. On some of the

easier slopes I could just about out peddle the flies and leave them behind. On

the trickier slopes there was no escaping them. When I finally reached the top,

I couldn't see the valley below, the road had stated to level and soon I started

to descend, the bumps and rocks jolting me so much that I had to slow to about

10km/hr to avoid being thrown off my bike. The descent lasted about 20

minutes and was as hairy as the climb as my bike skidded and jolted off loose

stones, but I managed to stay upright. Eventually the road levelled out and I

crossed a great Long Plain in the cold mist, my journeys end still an hours cycle

away. It was a chilling end to a gruelling day.



At Yarrangobilly campsite, a family invited me over for dinner and a few beers.

This was an extremely nice gesture and they were keen for me to tell them

about my tour as their 15-year-old son used to be in to cycling, but had now

taken up smoking. After dinner, they went off down the river to try to catch a

fish, whilst I had a swim. They soon came back with a trout, the first catch of

the day. They said that I had brought them good luck.



It was also the first clear night since leaving the bright lights of Sydney and

after night fall I had my first look at the Southern Cross. Over the next few

months, I would watch the Southern Cross rise into the Western sky.



8 Jan



Today was just a short ride to 3 mile dam stopping off at Yarrangobilly Thermal

Pools and passing through the Kiandra gold fields on the way. The area is

deserted now, but in the 1860's the place was a thriving gold town and

supposedly home to the world's second ski club in the days when they really did

just use planks of wood on their feet. Quite a lazy day, but the swim in the

thermal pools was just what I needed after yesterday. Again, a family camping

nearby invited me over for a drink, this time port! They were out from

Melbourne for their vacation, but I could tell that the father was the only one

interested in camping and roughing it and that he had dragged the rest of the

family along. I had already eaten, but when I was offered to help them finish

off their chicken rissotto, I couldn't refuse as I could have eaten a horse after

the previous day’s energy sapping climb. We chatted for a while before I

headed off to sleep and recover further.





Ali Assagaier and family



9 Jan





15

This was the best days cycling so far! Climbed to Cabramurra, the highest town

in Australia, for 10 o'clock. The general store here is as general as they get. It

is also the gas station, cafe, clothes shop and post office. After climbing a little

further, there was a spirit soaring 5km descent down to Tumut Pond Reservoir.

From the top, the reservoir looked like being vertically below. On the other side

there was a climb of equal gradient and distance, but I had stocked up with

plenty of food to eat yesterday to give me sufficient energy. I then experienced

Australia's longest descent. 38km from the top to Khancoban at the bottom

without moving off the big chain wheel!



Arrived at Khancoban for lunch, had fish and chips for lunch and stocked up on

supplies. Next was a beautiful ascent, climbing 800m up to Scammels Lookout

from which all of the highest mountains, apart from Kosciusko, could be seen.

This climb would have finished me off normally, but the lunch had refuelled me

sufficiently. Also, it had rained on and off all day; the rain cooling me on the

climbs and the sun warming me intermittently. The harder it rained, the faster I

climbed. I had bought a French loaf in Khancoban which I had strapped to the

top of one of my front panniers. It was in a keep fresh bag which had little holes

in it. But as it got wet, the ends drooped down over the panniers. I then

descended into the sunny early evening to Geehi camping area on the Swampy

Plains River. This was an idyllic camping area right in the heart of the Snowy

Mountains.



In the evening, as I was drying out my loaf, I was invited to join Ali andMarion

Assagaier for a beer. Ali was from Libya originally, but had spent five years in

England playing for ARSENAL (including 10 minutes of an FA Cup final in the

70's). He then became a chef and cooked for the Queen. He came to Sydney for

the opening of the Opera House to cater for the Royals. While he was there he

found a job in a top Sydney restaurant and had stayed there since. Marion was

from America originally and was now a school teacher in Sydney where they

bring up their two lads, Reemi and Joel. They had lived there for 20 years and

had camped at the same spot in Geehie very year since. Ali was very modest

about his past and was more interested in my adventures, and did I have a lot to

tell them! What a trip! What a day! 110km of the biggest climbs and descents I

had ever experienced.



10 Jan



The birds were quiet the next morning and allowed me to lie in. Had breakfast

with Ali and family. Ali cooked pancakes, but despite all his cooking wisdom, he

still managed to get the hot pan stuck to the plastic table cover! After

breakfast we all played cricket and then we all had a go at rafting down the

river on an inflatable mattress. After lunch I said goodbye to everyone. Ali gave









16

me their address and asked me to give them a call when I got back to Sydney. I

promised to visit them on my return.



In the afternoon I cycled 30km over Dead Horse Gap to Leather Barrow Creek.

Dead Horse Gap was so named because most horses die before they reach the

top. They should have taken a bike instead of a horse. I've also seen signs for

Broken Back Trail and Broken Cart Trail; I don't wish to break any spokes on my

cartwheels! This was the only stretch of the Alpine Way that wasn't sealed and

it was hard going with untold switchbacks and illusive summits. At the camp, I

had a swim in the creek.





Mt. Kosciusko and The Snowy River



11 Jan



Cycled the rest of the way to Thredo village. This is the main ski resort in

Australia at the foot of Mt. Kosciusko or Kozzy as the Aussie’s say. But now it

was summer so I checked into the hostel then headed for the summit, the roof

of Australia.



The easy way up is to take the chairlift. It was a great feeling to be lifted

effortlessly. It is then just a further 6km walk on a raised steel boardwalk to

the top, so my feet never actually touched the ground. I had fantastic views

east, but the main range to the West was swamped in clouds. Had lunch then

headed back to the hostel having achieved one of my goals in Australia. I

cleaned my gear then sat out on the veranda talking to some British Army lads

who were hiking in the Snowies at the Forces expense.



12 Jan



Gentle ride to Jindabyne, but I was plagued with punctures. The first was

genuine, but the rest were a result of the patches not sticking well in the heat.

At Jindabyne I turned South to follow the Snowy River into Victoria. The road

south was unsealed, however, and the going was slow. Finally made it to the

camping area by 6 o'clock. Had a swim in the Snowy River. The river was warmer

now that I had descended from the Snowies.



13 Jan



Followed the river into Victoria. The road was very steep and winding. I saw a

car parked a little to far over the edge of the road at a 45 degree angle! A 4-

wheel drive vehicle was helping them out. Also met 5 cyclists heading the other

way, cycling from Melbourne to Sydney. They had heaps of gear and one was

even towing a trailer! They made me look quite professional. They warned me of





17

the steep climb to come. It was very hard going on the unsealed surface and the

10km climb to the Black Mountain's Hamilton Gap was energy sapping. Stopped

at the top for banana sundae, coke, tea and biscuits at Eagle Loft Gallery. This

was the first refreshment stop I had seen since Jindabyne (the most out of the

way gallery in the world I reckon).





The Sykes' Farm



At Karoonda Park Road House I stopped to ask directions to a camping area by a

creek that was supposed to be nearby. Glen, a lad my age, said that I should just

set up camp in their field and come up to the house for tea. Paul and Judy Sykes

run a farm and holiday flats as well as the road house. They have about 10

families staying in the apartments and they always have a few backpackers

working, cleaning the apartments and helping out around the farm.



Around the table for dinner were Paul, Judy and Glen, Belle and Naomi from

Holland, Yvette and Prunella from Sweden, Mark from Canada and me. Judy

cooked an excellent roast. Later we went for a swim in their swimming pool

under the stars. I had seen very little civilisation all day, but had been fortunate

enough to stumble upon a little oasis. I was asked if I wanted to stay for a while

and work. This would have been ideal 4 months ago, but now I had a ferry to

Tasmania booked which I had one week to catch. I would stay tomorrow morning

and then continue south and on to Melbourne.



14 Jan



Not only were the Sykes family generous enough to let me camp and feed me,

the next morning they treated me to one of my best adventures so far. Paul

Sykes, as well as running a farm, roadhouse and holiday flats, is also president of

the local fire brigade. There is a nationwide volunteer fire brigade consisting of

volunteer fire fighters from all the farms around each isolated group of farms.

Paul, being the president of his area, Gelantipy, has to look after the fire engine

which includes taking it out for a weekly spin to check that all is in order. Today

was Sunday and test-drive day so he took me Glen and Mark, the Canadian, for a

spin. We rode on the back with the wind in our hair while Paul tested the siren!

The dirt road felt smooth as the engine ploughed through the corrugations that

had given me so much trouble the day before. We drove about 10km then on the

return journey I rode in the cab. This was the way to travel!



Back at the farm, I met Wendy, the baby Wombat. They had rescued her from a

roadkills pouch and now looked after her themselves. Wendy was quite lazy in

the day, being nocturnal, and they held her like a baby while they fed her

carrots. Apparently at night she runs about a lot. If you put her on the floor and

walk away she will follow you wherever you go. She looked cute, but pet





18

Wombats can be a nuisance when they grow big and are told to stay outside.

Wombats are strong enough to find their way into any house whether it be

through the door or the wall!



Despite having such a good time, I eventually had to leave. So after lunch I said

thanks and goodbye and pushed on along the road that we had stormed along

earlier in the fire engine. It was a hot day and after joining the tarmac once

again, I saw two snakes in just two hours. I almost didn't see one of them in

time and had to swerve to avoid running over it. They were sleeping on the hot

tarmac and I remembered the advice Brett had given me and stayed well clear.

Continued, mostly downhill, through Buchen and Bruthen to a beautiful, shady

campsite at Fairy Dell. The lady who ran the site told me about the ferry

crossing to Tasmania I was to take from Melbourne. She said that she once

waited 4 hours for her daughter to arrive in Melbourne when the ferry was late.

There were 18m waves reported that day! But she said that when she crossed,

the sea was as still a millpond. I've got my fingers crossed!





Wilson's Prom



15 Jan



With the Snowies behind, I continued south to the coast and Wilson

Promontory, the southern most tip of the Australian mainland which was three

day cycle away. After leaving the mountains, the weather got hotter, but a

strong breeze was blowing in my face. On the way in to Bairnsdale, two Dutch

cyclist overtook me. We stopped for dinner at a cafe for a chat. They were

travelling much faster than me, despite having far more gear. In the same town

I met another cyclist from Kent, England, who had cycled around Brazil, before

coming to Australia. He had much more gear than me, and was heading in the

opposite direction with a tail wind. From the other touring cyclists I had met so

far, I had discovered that I was of medium fitness, with average ambitions, but

highly professional in that I had kept my load to a minimum and that I take time

to discover the country instead of just bombing down the highway.



16 Jan



Got up early in high spirits and cycled down the South Gippsland Highway. By

lunch I had reached the coast at Port Albert, one of Australia's earliest ports.

It was great to be back by the sea and I sat by the harbour eating my lunch. On

the way through Welshpool there was a police roadblock and they asked me if I

had seen a man with black hair, a beard and wearing green clothes. I hadn't, but

it made me think what an excellent disguise it would be - a cycle tourist. As I

continued on to Foster, the mountains of Wilson's Promontory seemed to be









19

rising up out of the sea. With today's mileage at 146km, I stopped at a farm

where Neil the farmer allowed me to pitch my tent for the night.



17 Jan



In the morning, Neil's wife invited me in for a cooked breakfast. Well fed, I

cycled the last 50km to Tidal River campground on Wilson's Promontory National

Park; first hills this week. Wilson's Prom is a mountainous peninsula connected to

the mainland by a narrow neck. On the way I came upon a Wombat crossing the

road, so I rang my bell and shouted, "Hallo". Tidal River is the only place in

Australia where they have high density living with families cramming up to 8

people into each pitch. I left my bike at the Ranger's office, then hiked 6km

Oberon Bay. Here there was a far quieter, far more beautiful, basic camping

area. After setting up camp I went for a swim in the surf then sat on the beach

as the sun went down. Oberon Bay was my beach, well apart from two other

campers from Kent. This may surprise you as much as it surprised me; there was

a kangaroo on the beach! I stayed up to watch Venus and then the Southern

Cross rise over the Bass Straight.



18 Jan



The next morning I returned to Tidal River, dropped my camping gear off and

picked up my bike. I then cycled to the start of the Mt. Oberon climb which I

hiked up with all the other tourists. It was just a 3km climb, but it kept getting

steeper. The last bit was up rock where steps had been cut into the side. The

peak was about 700m above sea level which meant I had magnificent views of

the peninsula and the neck leading back to the mainland.



An hour later I was back on my bike, crossing the neck. Later in the evening I

knocked on farm doors again, looking for somewhere to pitch my tent. I met

Joan who said that I could put my tent up. Her husband took me for a drive

round his farm in his 4-wheel drive. They had moved from Melbourne

into the country 10 years ago. They now ran a very 'green' farm. They were into

conservation and wildlife and they had an area of bush land that they preserved

(hard to find in farming country). They had a bunkhouse in the bush where their

kids and local scout groups would often stay. This is where they decided to put

me up. So after a shower and a bite to eat, I had a cozy bed to sleep off my

aches and pains.





The Fairy Penguins



19 Jan









20

Joined Joan and family for breakfast. Joan was a great help. She got her map

book out and I showed them where I live. She suggested a detour from

Inverloch to Wonthaggi via Cape Patterson on the coastal road. I stopped here

for lunch by the sea. After Lunch, I crossed the bridge to the small Philip

Island, home of the Fairy Penguins. Arrived at Amaroo Backpackers and

Campsite at 6 o'clock. In the evening I had a drink with Gordon, Graham and

Nikki from Edinburgh and we planned our visit to Philip Island Penguin Reserve

tomorrow.



20 Jan



Graham had an old beat up Holden which he was dragging across Australia. We

went for a drive to pick up tickets for tonight to watch the Penguin Parade. It

started to rain, so Graham had to pull up and replace a fuse for the windscreen

wipers which he usually has to remove to stop the wipers! It had been beautiful

weather all week, but today it poured down. We returned at dusk to watch the

Fairy Penguins emerge from the sea and cautiously cross the beach to their sand

dune burrows. Hundreds of people come to watch the Penguin Parade; it is

Australia's 2nd largest tourist attraction. They are the smallest penguins in the

world and definitely thecutest. Walking back to the Visitor Centre there are

high boardwalks from which you can sea the penguins close up. Fast film is

needed, as flashes are not allowed. It was a magical evening until the clouds

burst. Back in Graham's Holden, his windscreen wipers had given up all together!





Ferry to Tassie



21 Jan



The last stretch into Melbourne was against the wind so I caught the train for

the last 30km. Finally arrived in the city at 6 o'clock in bustling streets. This

was something of a culture shock. Checked in at the Coffee Palace Backpackers

in St. Kilda.



22 Jan



Did some shopping in the morning. Bought a new radio as my old one had broke at

Thredbo and I had been going insane ever since! A radio is essential when

camping out at night. The National Museum is a great place to visit and it's free.

The main exhibit was the racehorse Phar Lap, stuffed and preserved. This horse

was a National hero, much like Red Rum in England, winning 27 out of 34 starts.

The horse died in America in 1932 under suspicious circumstances destroying

Australia/America relations. On autopsy, they discovered his heart to be huge.

It is now the biggest compliment in Australia to say someone 'has the heart of

Phar Lap'.





21

At 4:30 I boarded The Spirit of Tasmania and at 6pm, with 3 blasts on the horn,

we set sail for Tasmania. From the bow of the ferry I enjoyed one of the best

views of Melbourne. At 7 o'clock I enjoyed the eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet

dinner. It seems crazy to encourage people to eat so much on the roughest ferry

crossing in the world! I was careful not to over do it, but I ate enough for four

families. Back on deck I watched the glow of the skyscrapers disappear into

Port Philip Bay. At 9 o'clock we passed through the 1km gap called 'The Rip' into

the choppy Bass Straight. But fortunately tonight the sea was quite calm and I

retired to basement of the ship, where the hostel style accommodation was, for

a good nights sleep. Tomorrow I would wake up in Tasmania.









22

Tasmania - 23rd January to 5th March



Overview



The 540km cycle from Devonport to Hobart via the West provides Tasmania's

most arduous and rewarding cycling through mountainous, forested country. The

are few towns in this isolated region, which includes the Tasmanian Wilderness

Heritage Area and some of the most spectacular scenery on offer. I cycled via

Cradle Mountain to Strahan, a fishing and tourist village that was established

during the pioneering days when it served as a port serving the mining and

logging industries. The route then took me through Lake St. Clair and on to

Hobart.



During my one month stop in Hobart, I completed a few short tours around

Hobart including a 300km tour of Bruny Island, the D'Entrecasteaux Channel

and the Huon Valley. Bruny Island is one of Tasmania's best kept secrets with

startling scenery, white beaches and a population of just 400. I also cycled

220km from the Freycinet Peninsula to Port Arthur and back to Hobart (100km).

I then returned to Devonport via the Midland Highway (285km) which passes

through countryside very similar to England as a lot of English trees and flora

have been introduced.





Cradle Mountain



23 Jan



Had a huge breakfast as I would require a lot of energy to get me over Cradle

Mountain to the West Coast. Back on deck, we were fast approaching Devonport.

As we sailed up the River Mersey there was a blast on the fog horn to announce

our arrival. The cycle to Hobart via The West Coast was described in the Tour

Book as a spectacular, but mountainous ride with long distances between

services and the likelihood of several wet days. A ride suited to fit, well-

equipped cyclists. And boy, was I about to find out.



Back on my bike, I left Devonport as quick as I had arrived. The sun was warm as

I meandered along the Mersey. The first stop of interest was Sheffield; a

unique town, having 30 murals painted on shop fronts and walls. Already, I could

see how different Tassie looked from the mainland as all the colours were much

deeper; greener and less yellow. I saw my first Echidna which is an ant-eating

marsupial, a little like a hedgehog. Later I saw another crossing the road in

front of me, so I rang my bell and told it to get out of the road! Set up camp







23

next to Lake Gairdner, 2km off the main road; beautiful spot. But as I cooked

dinner, I watched the mist crawl down the hillsides. It didn't bode well for

tomorrows ride up to Cradle Mountain.



24 Jan



Woke up to thunder and lightning. I stayed in bed waiting for the rain to stop,

but it never did, so at 9 o'clock gave up and packed in the rain. This was the

first time I had had to do this. Reached Cradle Mountain visitor centre very

cold, wet and tired. Had lunch and thawed out in the visitor centre, then cycled

up to Dove Lake for the famous view of Cradle Mountain reflected in the lake.

However, when I got there all I saw was a blanket of mist. I headed back to the

visitor centre dispirited and cold once again. Back at the visitor centre I thawed

out once again whilst I watched a video on carnivorous marsupials in Tasmania,

some of which I was to meet at first hand later in my stay in Tasmania. I finally

found the courage to continue, battling through wind and rain. However, I could

admire the beauty of the rain forest on either side of the road, thick with mist.



On crossing one valley, the rain forest ceased and I could see lightning against

the purple and black horizon. I look back on this stretch of my tour with a smile.

I think I enjoyed it at the time. I can remember laughing to myself; I was miles

from anywhere, but I could set up camp anywhere. But I kept on going because I

was actually loving every minute, at the same time as being on the verge of panic.

Then the rain suddenly turned to hail. It was the middle of summer. I was

scared, but in awe. As long as the lightning remained on the horizon; it was so

beautiful. The plain in the valley seemed to last forever, like I was suspended in

time. I wanted to get out, but just a while longer would be nice. I started to

climb, and for the first time in the day I found strength. I started to warm as

the hail continued to sting my face. I gritted my teeth, grinned then shouted,

"Yeah". I was having the best time of my life, but I would only realise it later.

This is the essence of cycle touring. I kept going as far as I could before finally

setting up camp in the rain. My ground sheet was still wet from the morning and

the ground was quite uneven. I managed to cook some dinner before trying to

get some sleep.



25 Jan



Got up early, still cold and wet with no chance of drying my tent. As I dropped

from the mountains the rain eased and it got a little warmer. At Tullah I

stopped for lunch and met a Lady who had seen me at Dove Lake yesterday. She

said that they had gone back again this morning, but hadn't seen much more of

the mountain, just half of it. Apparently it can only be seen 35 days a year! So I

was right not to stick around for it to clear. I pushed on hoping to reach

Strahan a day early to dry my gear. The West Coast Pioneers Museum at Zeehan

is well worth a look as it tells of the early pioneering days of the West coast





24

wilderness. As I arrived at Strahan Youth Hostel my milometer read 134km. I

showered (the best shower so far), then bought stacks of food including ice-

cream as the hostel had a freezer. I was to spend the next two nights at the

hostel, building my strength and drying my gear, before the final stretch to my

Auntie's in Hobart.





Australia Day and Piners Festival at Strahan



26 Jan



It was Australia Day and the start of Strahan's Piner's Festival. The festival

celebrated the bravery and skills of the early pioneers who explored the West

coasts rain forests and set up the first logging villages such as Strahan. The

boats used to travel up the Gordon River and bring back rafts of Huon Pine from

the forests. 20% of Tasmania is now World Heritage Area which covers many of

Tasmania's National Parks and rain forests so much of the pine cannot be

touched anymore. But much of Tasmania's wealth was built on the actions of the

early Piners. I went on a walk to Hogarth Falls which took me through thick rain

forests of trees such as Myrtle, Leatherwood, Blackwood and huge Fern Trees.

I had passed through such rain forests in the mist and the rain cycling from

Devonport.



In the evening I went to the first night of the Piner's Festival. First they held

the annual Piners Punt Marathon and Triathlon. The teams had to punt from the

Tavern, across the harbour before chopping and cross cut sawing logs as quick as

they could. They then had to run, back around the harbour to the Tavern.

Everyone then moved to the Regatta Point Tavern to listen to poets, storytellers

and folk musicians. Many of the story tellers were children of the first pioneers

of the area and had had first and experience of what it was like surviving in

those early days. The West Coast had seemed impenetrable before the Piners

and Prospectors travelled on foot to explore the area. Too dense for a pack

horse, men travelled with a pack on their back living off the bush. Some people

in the Tavern that night were folk legends of the West country and had

travelled from miles around to be there. One man had travelled from Brisbane.

Some of the yarns, however, were as tall as the Huon Pine trees - 'the Gods

honest truth, not an ounce of lie' – they would say with arm outspread. It was

fascinating. I spoke to some of the locals, but understood little of their broad

accent.





Lake St. Clair



27 Jan









25

Still raining; I was warned that Tasmania would be like this. Had pancakes and

ice-cream for breakfast. Well fuelled, I set off on one of my most impressive

days cycling yet. It was up hill most of the way as I climbed back up, inland and

over the mountains once more towards Lake St. Clair. Queenstown was a strange

sight. A mining town for last 100 years, the surrounding hills are now bare as a

result of sulphur from the smelters. The town is now famous for it's

'moonscape' and the locals are keen to stop conservationists revegetating the

area as tourists come to see the bare hills. Climbing up through the steep, bare

hills, the rain began to ease. Also, the wind seemed to be pushing me up the hill

at times. As I reached the top, the clouds began to part. My luck had changed.

At a viewpoint at the top a lady tourist asked me if I had cycled all the way up

the hill. On replying, "Yes", she exclaimed, "Are you crazy!". I guess I am, but

how can you explain the constant enjoyment of cycle touring.



For the rest of the day I enjoyed tailwinds and occasional sunshine, but the rain

clouds were always there, loitering with intent. For once, I could finally see the

landscape now that the mist had cleared. So far my trip across Tassie had been

like walking through a beautiful, ornate hall, but getting halfway across before

someone finally switches the lights on. The views were excellent as I began to

pass through the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. I reached the

camping area at Collingwood Bridge at 5 o'clock, 2 hours earlier than expected.

The Collingwood River eventually runs into the Franklin River which has some of

the best white water rafting in Australia. Rafters are dropped off and picked up

at remote locations by helicopter! Not for me.



28 Jan



Cycled the last 45km up hill to Lake St. Clair. This is at the southern end of the

famous overland hiking trail that starts at Cradle Mountain. The weather,

however, was much better when I reached the other end by cycling round on

bike. Mt. Olympus was in full view besides Australia's deepest lake.



After dark I joined Ingrid, the Ranger, and the other campers for a spotlight

walk. She picked out all the nocturnal animals with her spotlight and told us a

little about each one. We saw a family of Bennetts Wallabys on the beach and a

lone Paddemelon (Paddy mallen), a shy, nocturnal wallaby. As we walked through

the camping area she spotted a brushtail possum leaving a tent, my tent! I left

him to it as there was nothing I could do; my tent had no sewn in ground sheet,

and I didn't want to miss the rest of the walk. I would deal with him later.



As we continued we saw some bats and Ingrid put names to all the bird calls.

Next we saw a group of Ringtail Possums. These are hard to find as they live

high in the trees. Ingrid picked them out with her torch light, just momentarily,

as a watching owl could use the torch light to swoop and catch the little possum.

We also spotted an Eastern Quoll, a small, carnivorous, cat like marsupial.





26

After the tour I returned to my tent and disturbed the Possum who ran off as I

approached. Inside the tent was a scene of total destruction. There was cereal

everywhere. A hole had been chewed in my carry mat, and then spat out. And he

had also left me some droppings. It was all soon cleared up, however, and I

switched off my torch and got into my sleeping bag. Just 10 minutes later, I

heard a rustle and switched my torch on to see the possums nose poking under

the tent, snuffling at the remains of the spilled cereal. I hit him on the nose,

but he kept coming back. I poked my head out and got a close up picture of the

culprit. After a few hours of nervously listening to him snuffling about outside,

I drifted to sleep. Fortunately, the possum wasn't bold enough to scamper under

into my tent whilst I was in there. But, I have heard of campers waking up with a

possum licking their face. I had learned my lesson. From now on I would keep all

food securely locked away.



29 Jan



Joined for breakfast by a wallaby. At 10 o'clock I went on another Ranger

Guided Walk and learned more about the glacier carved landscape, the

rainforests and the flora. Tasmania has the largest cool temperate rain forest

in the world which is why it was nominated as a World Heritage Area in 1982.

There were trees called Banksias which told how long it was since the last bush

fire swept through. The seeds only burst free from the cones when burnt. So

new trees would germinate only after a bush fire. By counting branches back to

the stump for each years growth, we estimated that it was about 18 years since

the last bush fire came through. The guided walks were very interesting. Lake

St. Clair with its glacier carved landscape had been far more enjoyable than the

obscured Cradle Mountain which I may never see.



I finally left West Tasmania in the afternoon, cycling to the top of Derwent

Valley to camp next to Dee Lagoon. Tomorrow I would follow the Derwent River

which eventually enters the sea at Hobart's harbour.





Mt. Field National Park



30 Jan



Cycled cross country to the campground at Mt. Field National Park for 3 o'clock.

Walked the short walk to Russel Falls which were fabulous. They were 45m high

and surrounded by rain forest. There were huge swamp gums which are the

tallest hardwood trees in the world. One I saw was 79m tall.



Despite hiding all my food away at night, I was disturbed by the wildlife once

again. There were some wallabys hopping round the campsite late at night. This





27

wasn't a problem on it's own, but some neighbouring campers were up taking

photos of them. There were flashes going off every minute and laughs as I

heard a snuffle at my tent door. Later I took a trip to the loo, and on my return

I heard a scamper in my tent. I couldn't see how the Paddemelon could have

squeezed in. I crept up and opened the tent door suddenly to catch the animal

red pawed. There in my torch light was a spotted Eastern Quoll, scampering

around trying to find a way out. I watched in amazement until the little critter

scurried under the tent flap and out. This time no food had been found,

thankfully. The animals didn't bother me so much after that. Sometimes I heard

a wallaby sneeze or stick his nose under snuffling, but it was alright. I kept my

camera handy in case any animals got in. I would have loved a photo of an animal

visiting me in my tent. But there were no more for the night and I drifted to

sleep.



31 Jan



The next day I attempted to cycle to the start of the mountain walk, but it

started to rain and the dirt road was very steep. I wouldn't see much today, so

I packed instead and cycled the rest of the way to my Auntie's in Hobart.





Jo and Ted



For the next month I stayed at Jo and Ted's and visited my cousins in and

around Hobart. It was nice to have a cozy bed for a while with no wildlife to

disturb me. Jo had emigrated in the early seventies and my parents had planned

to follow in 1980, but never got round to it. We went to Ted's families house for

a barbecue, the first proper Aussie barbie I had been to. From the back garden

there were excellent views of the harbour and after dark the harbour bridge lit

up. I met my cousins, Katherine and Helen, for meals and we went to the beach.

Helen had lots of photos to show me of her trip back to England in 1979, back

when I was 6, my sister had pig-tails and my Dad had a moustache. My other

cousin in Hobart was Steven, who I saw a lot of, with Monique and baby Jack (1

year old). Jo has two other children, Anne who I would meet in June in Surfers

Paradise and Peter who lives in Washington DC.



Jo and Ted took me to Ulverston for a few days, a 3 hour trip back to the North

coast which would have taken me 4 days on my bike. The highlight of the trip

was the Lactos cheese factory where we sampled all the cheeses before

purchasing the specialty of the month, Tasmanian Neufchatel cheese with

apricot, sultana and ginger! This was deliciously soft cheese with the fruit and

ginger mixed in.



In Hobart, the best place to shop is Salamanca Market where there is some

great food and there are some excellent buskers. The place is full of Ferals





28

(greenies) who travel down to Hobart in the summer to protest at logging sites.

The Tasmanian Museum is great with aboriginal, marsupial, maritime and

Antarctic exhibits. By far the most interesting is the animal exhibition which is

huge and includes a stuffed Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine). There was a video of

one of the last Tassie Tigers which became extinct in the 1960's. They were

carnivorous marsupials which most resembled a dog, but were in fact closely

related to the kangaroo.





Steve, Monique and baby Jack



Steve was now 34, arriving in Tasmania when he was just 9, and being the

youngest of the family he always considered himself wholly Tasmanian. When I

arrived he became interested in his roots and keen to show me his life in

Tasmania. After working as a teacher, artist, clothes designer and general

entrepreneur (he would love that description) he returned to university to study

literature. Monique was a nurse and Jack the Snap-happenin'-Chap was just the

coolest baby in the world.



They took me to Bream Creek on Marion Bay where they had planned to build a

house on a plot of land they had bought. It was such a beautiful spot with a few

scattered houses on a hill overlooking the bay. Down the road from their house

in Taroona, there was an old shot tower that we visited. It was the tallest shot

tower in the southern hemisphere and we received a sticker for making the

climb to the top. At a meal at Steven's, I met Eldin and Anna who were two ex-

students of Steven's. They now live in Steven and Monique's old, rickety house,

nicknamed 'The Ark'. The six of us were to go on a weekend trip to Coles Bay on

the Freycinet Peninsula the next weekend





Bruny Island



12 Feb



The ferry to Bruny Island leaves from Kettering 30km south of Hobart.

Between North and South Bruny there is a 3km neck less than 200m wide. This

is another place where fairy penguins breed and there were road signs that said

'Slow, penguins crossing' with a picture of a line of penguins crossing the road. I

cycled to the very south of the island to a camping area on Cloudy Bay.



13 Feb



Woke to clear skies. Cool though, perfect cycling weather. The South part of

Bruny Island rises 570m out of the sea to its peak, Mt Mangana. Today, I cycled

the 10 km road over the mountain to Adventure Bay on the other side of the





29

island. But was I in for an adventure. As I started to climb, there were a few

fallen trees from the storm the week before, but I could easily get round these

and I ignored the road closed signs. The highest point on the dirt road is still 3

km walk to the summit. I hid my bike in the bush, took a load of food and water

and headed off on the trail to the summit. I had to duck and climb round a few

fallen trees, but I made it through for a fabulous, clear view of the bay from

where I had climbed. The descent down the other side of the island became

more and more tricky. Round each corner was another fallen tree. Some lay right

across the road and I had to lift my bike over. However, I was still making

progress. I was just 2km from Adventure Bay, and I could see the sea through

the trees below, when I turned one final corner to see dozens of trees, some

lying on top of each other totally blocking the way. This side of the mountain

must have been more exposed to the storm. I tried in vain to lift my bike and

pannier bags, separately, over the huge, interwoven trees. I gave up as I did not

yet know how many more obstacles there would be around the next corner. I was

beat so I started to retrace my steps. I arrived in Adventure Bay 2 hours later.



Adventure Bay was visited by Tasman, Cook, Bligh and Furneux. The Bligh

Museum has some excellent exhibits. There was a globe made in 1815 and

documents, letters and maps dating back 200 years. The rest of the days cycling

was plain sailing with the sun and the wind on my back. Back on North Bruny, I

bush camped overlooking the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. As I cooked tea I

watched a man in a little motored tin tub cross the channel to the mainland. Was

he going home from work, or did he live on the island and was off to visit

somebody?



14 Feb



I was woken at 6 o'clock in the morning by a Tassie Devil in a nearby tree. Young

Tassie devils can climb trees and often prey on unsuspecting birds. The devil was

growling like a wildcat while it's preys quawked it's last. I got up with my camera

and went to investigate. As I approached the tree I saw a black shadow scamper

down the tree and disappear into the dark. My heart was still pounding and I

never got back to sleep so I made the early ferry back to Kettering.



Back on the mainland I followed the D'Entrecasteaux Channel south, around the

peninsula and back up the Huon River. At Huonville I had a late lunch, Emu pie. I

consider Tasmania's pies to be better than the rest of Australia. Especially

Tasmania's specialty, curried scallop pie. From Huonville I took the 13km detour

inland to Judbury to camp in a park on the Huon River.



15 Feb



Visited Frank and Betty Clarke's house. They are apple carvers, a local craft

were apples are carved into attractive faces. The apples are then put in an oven





30

to dry for one week, emerging as old withered apple heads. They are the stuck

an a base and sold to tourists. I bought two for my parents that were made

from Golden Delicious on a Huon Pine base. For Frank and Betty this was all just

a hobby and Frank took great enjoyment in showing people round his miniature

village. The area is famous it's apples as well as Huon Pine. I continued along the

other side of the Huon River stopping at an apple museum. The last stretch to

Hobart was over the foot hills of Mt. Wellington which I still hadn't climbed. I

was waiting for a clear day to sprint to the top without my gear.





Freycinet Peninsula



16 Feb



We all drove down to Coles Bay with my bike on the roof. I would cycle the

return journey. We stayed at a holiday home 5km North of Coles Bay. On arrival

we went straight down the beach for some body surfing in wet suit and flippers

before dinner.



17 Feb



Today we hiked over the saddle between the red granite peaks called 'The

Hazards' to Wine Glass Bay. On the beach we lazed in the sun on the white sand

and swam in the crystal-clear blue waters of this wine glass shaped bay. Jack

had a healthy phobia of sand which meant there was no fear of him straying off

his blanket or eating sand. Later we had a walk round the bay with Jack on his

dad’s back in his backpack. On the way back we saw a wallaby on the beach. This

time I got a photo. I really enjoyed the day as it had more of a 'summer holiday'

feel than when I had visited beaches on my bike.



18 Feb



As everyone else piled into the car to head home, I got on my bike and headed

down the coast. I enjoyed views back across to the peninsula and The Hazards

as I cycled the coastal rode to Mayfield Bay Coastal Reserve. Camped on a basic

campsite on the beach, having a swim before dinner.



19 Feb



The next day I completed the final 140km to White Beach near Port Arthur on

the Tasman Peninsula. 30km of the right was spent tackling the steep, unsealed

Wielangta Forest Drive.



20 Feb









31

Just 12km to the excellent Youth Hostel situated just above the entrance to

Port Arthur with views over the historic site to the bay. I checked in then

walked down to the site and joined a few tours. The first tour was the Harbour

Cruise which took us round the Isle of the Dead - over a thousand convicts

buried on a tiny island. We also passed Point Puer, site of the juvenile convict

prison. The next tour was a tour of the remaining buildings and ruins. Two bush

fires had swept through in 1895 and 1897 destroying most of the 240 buildings.

The church remains, but it is roofless. They used to pack a thousand convicts in

there to repent. The lunatic Asylum had been converted into a museum. There

was a cinema were they were showing the 1928 silent film 'For the Term of His

Natural Life' shot on location and based on convict life in Port Arthur. It was

two hours long, but I had the time so I watched it all.



Port Arthur is an great place to visit. A project of stabilisation, conservation

development and interpretation embarked on in 1979 which allows today's visitor

to fully discover and understand the convict transport system. The guides are

excellent and extremely informative. It was a beautiful day when I visited and

the place was full of colour with the clean restored stone work and deep green

English Oak Trees which had been planted when the settlement was founded.

Quite a nice place, despite its horrible convict past.



Pancake Tuesday so I had savoury pancakes then pancakes and ice-cream for

dinner. At 9:30 I joined a tour guide once more for the ghost tour. This turned

out to be the highlight as all the buildings were lit up at night. Some of us

carried lanterns as Mike told us ghost stories about each building. The day time

tour guides had painted a picture of Port Arthur as a success saying that very

few convicts re-offended and were actually quite well off. Mike, our ghost tour

guide told us a very different story. We didn't see any ghosts, but we started

to believe his tales. He locked us all in the punishment cell in total darkness for

a total of 40 seconds. The tales of murder, mistreatment and suffering were

believable, the ghost stories, however, were not.



21 Feb



No time to fast for lent. Had pancakes for breakfast to fuel me for the ride

ahead. On the return journey to Eagle Hawk Neck I had more time to look at all

the geological features. Tasman Arch was huge and waves came crashing through

into the cove every ten seconds. The Devils Kitchen was a huge cliff drop to a

big rock shelf just above sea level. There was also a blowhole, one of many in

Tasmania that spurt water up into the sky as the waves come in. And finally

Eagle Hawk Neck itself. This narrow neck was spanned by a chain of dogs in the

convict days. If prisoners were fortunate to make it through the 20 miles of

dense bush, the still had to get past Eagle Hawk Neck. I got past and made it

back to Hobart for dinner.









32

Mt. Wellington



22 Feb



I had been for a hike around the foothills of Mt. Wellington with Steven and

Jack a few weeks ago. Cloudy weather had kept us to the foothills that day.

Since then I had been waiting for a clear morning to cycle up. This morning I

woke up to a beautiful day. I ran down to the back garden and looked out to see

Mt. Wellington in the clear, blue morning sky. So I jumped on my bike and

pushed off on the 20km ride from Jo's front door to the summit 1270m above.

It was an excellent climb; it all seemed too easy without the weight of my

panniers. The first morning mists rolled in from the sea and gathered around the

mountain so I pushed harder and passed the clouds half way up. I reached the

summit at 10 o'clock just in time. I could see as far as Port Arthur, but as I

watched the clouds slowly closed in. I got some photos of Hobart below, I might

even pick out my Auntie's house on one. 20 minutes after I reached the top, all

views were obscured. The descent was quite bumpy, but I arrived back at Jo's in

25 minutes, just in time for lunch. Jo and Ted heard me leave earlier and

thought I had just popped into town. It had been my single most enjoyable climb!



23 Feb



Cycled a 60km round trip to Tinderbox Marine Reserve where I went snorkelling.

There was a snorkel trail which was marked by signs on the seabed which gave

information on plants, animals and fish around the reef in the reserve. Later in

my trip I would go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.



24 Feb



Still the sun kept shining. Steven and Monique took me to Richmond where we

had a seafood platter in the garden of a restaurant. Richmond is a great place to

visit as there is the famous Richmond Gaol (they use the old English spelling) and

Richmond Bridge, the oldest surviving bridge in Australia.





Getting ready for the outback



For the last week I prepared for the remainder of my trip and had a good rest.

I did some shopping and bought an Akubra bush hat. This is one of the most

prized possessions of every Australian man and it is only fashionable if it is well

worn and beaten. Mine will spend most of the time on the back of my bike so by

the time I get to go on a bush walk it will already be broken in. It was also at

this time that Steven bought me a leaving present, a pair of Blundstone Boots.

Every Aussie has a pair and they're actually made in Hobart. I now looked just

like Steven, an honouree Tasmanian!





33

During the week Jon and Hazel, who I had lived in Sydney with, visited Hobart

and we went out for a few drinks, and we were all invited to Steve and Moniques

for dinner which was a great laugh. Monique had tried to make the meal as

Tasmanian as possible and ended with port and cheese! Basically, Tasmanians will

eat anything and especially if its in a pie. Oh, and also in this time, I managed to

get to the cinema with Jo and Ted to watch the Australian blockbuster 'Babe'!

The film was filmed in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, but they

made it look a lot greener than I

remember it.



3rd March



Today I left the comfort of Auntie Jo's and was sad to leave. But by 5 o'clock I

was camping next to Lake Dulverton near Oatlands and my cares drifted away.

Devonport was a further two days cycling away passing through The Midlands,

which has some of the most productive sheep pasture in the world and several

historic villages.



4 March



As I left the apple country behind, suddenly it all went horribly pear shaped. I

was happily cycling along in the sun on a dirt road that was not all that bad when

my front pannier rack broke. A bolt holding one side to the fork had sheered. I

could only ride with one pannier on the front to avoid the rack going into the

spokes. The other, I strapped to the top of my rear rack. With the extra weight

on the back of my bike I proceeded with caution hoping to find a town with a

hardware store pretty soon. Steering was very difficult with an unbalanced

front wheel. Continued on dirt road setting up camp at a great camping spot on

the River Liffey at Bracknell (no hardware store, just a general store for milk).

Had a swim, cooked tea then had a chat to some other campers.



The next morning I approached the more populated North Coast and the

promise of a hardware store. As I reached the end of the dirt road I gave a

whoop of joy as listened to the reassuring purr of rubber on tarmac. My back

wheel had withstood the extra burden, we were almost there. At Deloraine I

found three hardware stores, but I tried all of them before I found the right

nut, buying half a dozen. Arrived early at the ferry and I was the first into the

hostel sleeping area and into the shower. There was also a swimming pool beside

my room which I stayed in for an hour. Other backpackers joined me after a

while including Connor who I had met in the hostel at Port Arthur two weeks

earlier. On the I also met Jim, a one-man-band who I had seen busking at

Salamanca Market. He was from New York and had been busking and travelling

since 1967! Since then he had visited Australia every other year. He had an old

weathered face now and his thighs were bigger than any cyclists from





34

constantly playing the bass drum and cymbals he carried on his back. Had the

eat-as-much-as-you-can buffet again, eating twice as much as Connor, before

heading to bed to wake up tomorrow back in Melbourne.









35

The Great Ocean Road - 12th March to

24th March



Overview



Remained in Melbourne for 5 days to watch the Australian Grand Prix then

headed off to Adelaide. The first 520km stretch to South Australia follows The

Great Ocean Road which hugs the cliffs for most of the journey. There is some

spectacular scenery such as the limestone cliff stacks called The Twelve

Apostles. There are many hostels in the fishing ports along the way and plenty

chances to camp. Best travelled in the opposite direction as I encountered

headwinds all the way. That goes for the rest of the tour as well!



The second 520km stretch follows the South Australia coast to Adelaide. The

route leaves the fishing ports of the south, but stays with the coast along the

flatlands of the Coorong. The last spin into Adelaide is through the very

beautiful Adelaide Hills.





Albert and Jean



In Melbourne at stayed with Albert and Jean. Albert, the brother of my Uncle

Bill, had also moved out to Australia in the 70's to take advantage of the boom

in industry. He had built up his own production works and was now turning out

80% of Australia's birthday card display racks as well as other displays. Think

of how many shops sell cards. That's a lot of card racks. I had accidentally left

my bike helmet on the ferry. Albert said that he had recently produced a rack

to display bike helmets and had received a box full of helmets to help him design

the rack. He let me pick one I liked, what extraordinary luck.



While I stayed we had many barbecues, cooking Jean's homemade beef burgers

and chatted into the evenings. I met a fellow scouser Albert new who had also

emigrated to Melbourne. He had made a name for himself as 'Tony The Scouse

Tiler'. He even had it printed on his van along with liver birds and Liverpool F.C

stickers. The day before the race there was a Hey Hey Its Saturday Grand Prix

special on TV with Trevor Marmalade interviewing Martin Brundle in the Jordan

garage. I couldn't wait.





The Australian Grand Prix









36

The racetrack at Albert Park is excellent. The year I went was the first time

the Grand Prix had been held there. Albert Park Lake is in the middle and there

was yachting and water skiing events going on all weekend and aerobatics display

teams flying over. I had a four-day pass so I went in to watch the practice and

qualifying sessions. There was plenty to see and do in between.



On race day I got there early with my fold out chair that Albert had leant me

and food to last the day. At 7:30 the gates opened and everyone ran to claim

their spot trackside, I got right up against the fence on corner 10. Trevor

Marmalade was in the celebrity saloon car race, which he lost despite cutting

the corner at turn 10 and taking 4 places. Martin Brundle crashed badly at the

start of the Grand Prix, flipping his car over several times, and the race was

restarted. Villeneuve had taken pole in his first Grand Prix; but Hill took the

victory from him with 6 laps to go. After the race I walked round the track to

the start finish straight, which took me an hour! Hill took 1 minute 31 seconds.





The Great Ocean Road Part 1 - The Surf Coast





12 March



Two days later I left for the Great Ocean Road. I said goodbye to Albert and

Jean. Albert told me that there is some excellent fishing along the coast and

that I should have a go. I decided I would. The train to Geelong saved me a lot

of city cycling. On leaving Geelong, I turned left at a sign post saying 'To The

Great Ocean Road' which started at Torquay. The road is split into two sections.

The first stretch is called 'The Surf Coast', the second being 'The Shipwreck

Coast'. After Torquay, I cycled on past Bells Beach, Australia's most famous

surf beach, and on to Anglesea. Here there was a great camping site next to the

beach. I went for a swim then went to have a chat with a bloke beach fishing in

the surf. It turned out that Ernie was originally from Accrington, near where I

come from, and he gave me a lot of tips on beach fishing. Later he invited me

over for a beer and a chat and he showed me what gear I would need to get

started. You need an extremely long strong rod though, and I started to think it

might be a struggle to cycle with all the extra gear. I would have to see.



13 March



The wind started to whip the seas up a bit, but also gave me a head wind. The

road hugged the rugged cliffs giving superb views along the coast, rather like

the Sydney to Wollongong ride. Today's ride ended at a campsite on the Aire

River in the Otways. The Otway ranges are the only serious climb along the

Great Ocean Road. The camping area was a quiet spot 300m down a gravel road.









37

The Great Ocean Road Part 2 - The Shipwreck Coast



14 March



Tried to take the other, more gradual climb back up the hill to the main road.

But it soon got tricky as the road turned to sand and I narrowly avoided a snake

as I had my head down trying to keep traction. A half-hour later I was back on

my way, climbing over The Otways which separate the surf coast from the

shipwreck coast. This rugged coastal stretch has claimed many lives. There are

many curious geological formations along the cliffs. The first is The Twelve

Apostles which are 12 cliff stacks close to the cliffs, although only 10 are still

standing. Loch Ard Gorge is named after a ship that hit the cliffs here last

century. There were plenty of cliff stacks, blowholes, arches and islands to see

here. The colours of the sand stone cliffs were beautiful set against the clear-

blue sea. The sun was out, but a strong wind whipped up the sea to ensure that

there were plenty of waves crashing against the cliffs. It really was quite rough

and the blowholes were quite spectacular.



That night I stayed at Campbell Youth Hostel. I went for a drink with three

Germans, Wolfgang and Heinz who were travelling by car and Bjorn who was

travelling by motorbike with Ortlieb bags to keep everything really dry. My

canvas Wilderness Equipment pannier bags were pretty water proof, but Ortlieb

are a German make that can be submerged in water and still keep the contents

dry.



15 March



Further down the coast there were more sights. The Bay of Martyrs was a bay

full of dozens of cliff stacks quite a way off the coast. Bjorn caught up with me

here and said hi before burning off. London Bridge was an arrow peninsula with

two arches, or at least there had been two. In 1992, London Bridge fell down

leaving a startled couple stranded for two hours before they were airlifted off.

Stopped a cheese world near Warrnambool to buy some fruit and brandy cheese.



The last stretch to Port Fairy was exhausting. A huge gale started and there

were times when I was stopped by the wind or blown off the road. It was quite

scary and it took me 3 hours to cycle the last 30km. It was great to reach the

hostel. I met some good friend and settled in for the duration of the

storm.





Rosemary and Harold



16 March







38

In Port Fairy I found a fishing shop that had a 12-foot telescopic beach rod.

Later in the afternoon I cycled the 50km Fitzroy River. This took me 4 hours as

the gale whipped up again, but it was worth it as at the camping are I met two of

the nicest Australian people on my trip. As I cycled off the road to the river by

the bridge I saw that there was a campervan also parked up for the night, so I

felt safe camping with someone else around.



As I was cooking tea, Harold came over to have a chat. When he found out that

I was English, he invited me over for a cup of tea and to watch 'The Bill' which

was on TV that evening. We chatted all night as Harold and Rosemary had toured

England extensively with their theatre company. They were now travelling

around South Australia and Victoria in their huge coaster bus. They gave me

their address and asked me to pop in on my return to Sydney, an offer I would

take them up on.



17 March



At breakfast I had perfected the art of cooking pancakes on my gas stove.

However, I use mess tins so my pancakes were square. Cycle to Portland where I

set up camp then went to the pub. Today was the Tyson vs. Bruno fight which

was embarrassing. All the Aussies were cheering for Tyson as Bruno went down

in the 3rd round. This only gave me time for one beer. I then went fishing on the

pier. I lost my two lead sinkers so I went up to the shop for more. The shop

owner told me that the water was 20 – 25 feet deep so I would have to cast out

twice that distance to avoid loosing my weights on the rocks. Tried again and

caught a fish, but another fisherman told me that it was a toadfish and

poisonous. Had tinned tuna and veggies for tea.



18 March



On the road I met Gerard and Lynne cycling the other way. They were travelling

the opposite way with a tailwind. They were carrying everything they had, as

cycling was their life. Gerard was also towing a trailer, which carried Their dog,

Sadie. They had completed 15000km in 18 months and were going to cycle North

and South America next. They said that I was the most organised cyclist they

had seen. I said that it was my first big tour and maybe in 18 months I would

have as much gear as them. They had a lot of tips for me and told me to get

thorn proof tyres for The Flinders Ranges and Aires Rock as there Three

Cornered Jacks on the roads. Gerard also showed me his bike stand that he had

invented. The bike was supported by a long piece of wood, whilst the brakes

were kept tight by a wedge in the brake lever. Sadie lay quietly in the trailer,

used to all the attention.



At the end of the days ride I pulled into a picnic area camping spot just minutes

before Harold and Rosemary. This was such a coincidence as at both camping





39

areas there had been no one else but us. I was just deciding whether to camp in

the secluded area when they rolled up in their coaster bus. In the evening we

chatted some more about England and Australia and they gave me a lot of tips on

where to go. It was so nice to have bumped into them again and I looked forward

to seeing them in Sydney.





South Australian Coast



19 March



On the road the next day, a dozen wild Emus ran across the road in-front of me.

They disappeared into the forest before I had chance to get my camera out.

After Nelson I crossed the border into South Australia putting my watch back

half an hour. From here the road curved North to Adelaide. I hadn't seen ant

kangaroos or wallabys for weeks, but now I was in South Australia there were

untold Rabbits. I reached the camping ground at Southend after cycling 140km.

The campground was by the sea and in the night my tent got blown over and I

had to go out in the rain to peg it out again.



20 March



Went fishing in the morning, still no luck. Cycled to Robe where there was an

excellent campsite on a cliff overlooking the sea. Some pitches were right on

the edge of the cliff. Recently, I had dreamt about a luscious green camping

area on top of a cliff overlooking the sea and here it was. But after last night's

adventures with my tent getting blown over, I decided to find a more sheltered

pitch. Tried fishing on Long Beach, again with no luck.



21 March



Had a rest day from cycling and had a look round the town (pop. 730) before

going for a swim in the sea. There was a diving platform about 400m out to sea

which I had a go on. In the evening I went fishing off West Beach. There waves

were huge and there were rocks scattered in the surf. The weather worsened,

but I kept fishing until, on my last cockle, I caught a fish. It was a 6-inch long

whiting, far too small to keep, so I put it back.



22 March



Today I started along the Coorong. This is a National Park of Saltwater Lagoons

separated from the sea by a 150km long, narrow peninsula of sand dunes. The

lagoons were dry when I arrived and they had turned pink. They are a haven for

many birds and pelicans. I followed a 10km sand track to a camping area where I









40

ran out of camping gas. This was the first time I had been caught out without a

spare gas cylinder and I went to sleep hungry.



23 March



Meningrie was the first town since Kingston 150km before. There was a

hardware shop that had shut an hour before I arrived, but they reopened to sell

me a gas cylinder. Had a big lunch then continued to Wellington. On the way I

was passed by a Ute 3 times. They were fishermen looking for a good spot to

fish. The third time they passed me, they passed a beer out the window to me.

Later, I was stopped at some roadworks. The motorist alongside me rolled down

his window and started to tell me about an old friend of his who had cycled

round Australia in the 30's. He had attached a sail to his bike which he used

whenever he had a tailwind. However, I had already heard this Aussie yarn from

many other people.



At Wellington there was a punt across the River Murray. The punt operates 24

hours a day and can take 6 cars (and a bike). There are many small ferries in

Australia where a bridge is unnecessary. The road is quiet enough for a punt to

cope without the expense of building a bridge. I had crossed the Murray River's

headwaters in the heights of the Snowy Mountains. Now the river had reached

the sea. It was now early evening and I started to pedal faster. Since starting

out from Melbourne, I had found that early evenings brought renewed energy.

As the day starts to cool and after a quick snack, I find I have more energy

than ever. I continued to the vineyards of Langhorne Creek to camp. I had

cycled 280km in two days with just 70km remaining over the Adelaide Hills to

the city.





The Adelaide Hills



24 March



Today was an excellent finale to the 4400km cycle from Sydney. Very soon I

left the flat plains behind and started to climb the Adelaide Hills. These were

the first big hills since Tasmania and a welcome sight. The flat coastal route had

become a bit of a drag after completing the Great Ocean Road. As I headed

towards Adelaide, I passed over 100 cyclists heading the other way on their

Sunday run. Each on waved as they passed and it was almost as if they had come

out on their bikes especially to welcome me. It was my lap of honour. I reached

the summit of Mt. Lofty for excellent views of the city before a spirit soaring

descent down the winding cliff top roads to Adelaide.



In Adelaide I stayed at Sunny's Backpackers, a lively, popular place right next

to the bust terminal. I bought my bus pass then settled down to enjoy a few





41

days in Adelaide before travelling 'Up The Guts' to The Flinders Ranges, The

MacDonnell Ranges, Aires Rock, Katherine Gorge and Darwin.









42

Up the Guts - 27th March to 15th April



Overview



I would be using my flexible bus pass to travel 'Up the Guts' (The Princess

Highway) whilst getting off along the way to do several short outback tours.

This was a trade off as there were many good places to cycle, but a lot of

distance in-between. I was a little apprehensive about cycling in the outback, but

it was a rewarding experience. I have never been somewhere as isolated and

beautiful. The separate tours were The Flinders Ranges featuring the awesome

Wilpena Pound, Coober Pedy - the outlandish Opal mining town and Aires Rock.

The 4 day tour into the West MacDonnell Ranges featured many water holes in

an otherwise barren and desolate surroundings. Many miles north, Matranka and

Katherine Gorge where surrounded by rainforest which made a refreshing

change.





Adelaide



I spent 3 days in Adelaide. The hostel was extremely friendly. On night I got to

the semi-final of a pool competition which I was quite surprised at. Every

morning, Gordon the Aussie who ran the hostel, would make pancakes for

everyone (over 100 pancakes a day). I had plenty of shopping to do. I got a new

rear tyre as it had worn right down. 4400km isn't great for a tyre, they should

last 8000km. Also got some Mr. Tuffy tyre liners to protect me from punctures

in the Flinders Ranges. My coach pass I bought was to take me from Adelaide to

Darwin and on to Cairns with unlimited stop-offs. My stops were to be Port

Augusta (for The Flinders Ranges), Coober Pedy, Ayres Rock, Alice Springs (for

The MacDonnell Ranges), Matranka, Katherine and Darwin (for Kakadu National

Park). Finally, none stop to Cairns on the East Coast.



I had some luck fishing, Catching 4 whiting off the pier at Glennelg, but they

were all too small and had to be thrown back.



The Museum of South Australia is free and full of great stuff. There was an

exhibition on Mawson. He explored the Antarctic a year after Scott. One of his

companions fell through the ice and died, taking tents and provisions down too.

Mawson and another survivor trekked 500km back to the main base with minimal

provisions and a few huskies. With 160km to go, Mawson's companion died of

poisoning from eating husky liver. Mawson arrived at the main base just half a

day after the ship had left for Australia and was stranded for a winter until the









43

next ship came. He's now an Australian hero and his face is pictured on the $100

note.



With Easter Approaching, all the shops were filled with Easter Eggs and Easter

Bilbys. The Bilby is an endangered marsupial that has long floppy ears like a

rabbit. Since it's near extinction, the Bilby has replaced the bunny at Easter to

increase awareness. With Easter fast approaching, I boarded the Greyhound bus

to Darwin and my first stop, Port Augusta, for The Flinders Ranges.





The Flinders Ranges - Wilpena Pound



27 March



It was quite a novelty taking the coach. As I boarded the coach, I could see my

bike and pannier bags dismantled in the hold. The seat was lowered and the

handlebars turned in. Most people were travelling the 36 hours to Perth. I would

be getting off long before that in Port Augusta after just 4 hours. I had a sleep

and woke just 40km from my stop. The sea was to my left and The Flinders

Ranges rose to my right. Shortly after I was back on my bike. I back-tracked

7km down the Princess Highway to the highway 47 turn off. The 40km to Quorn

were quite a struggle, climbing over the Pichi Richi Pass along the side of the old

railway line. This was beautiful country along the old route of the Ghan. The

most famous rail line in Australia now takes a different route just east of Port

Augusta.



After Quorn the terrain flattened out and a breeze pushed me on. Stopped to

see the waterhole which is overlooked by Kanyaka Rock. Waterholes are

attractions because there's not much water about. Kanyaka is aboriginal for

'piece of rock'. I left the cattle to their waterhole and went in search of

somewhere to camp. Further down the highway I found a camping area next to

Wilson Stationmasters House - now a ruin. Much of the buildings around are

ruins from the first failed settlements. Kanyaka homestead is famous for its

inhabitants who persevered through droughts and floods, year in, year out. They

lost everything battling to survive in this harsh wilderness.



28 March



Today was a little cooler, but still in the high 30's. I had a hard day cycling

through Hawker and on to Wilpena Pound. Despite being a highway, there were

very few cars passing me. The Flinders Ranges are on of the most ancient

landscapes on earth. The mountains have been eroded so much, that huge plains

and valleys have formed so that the sharp craggy mountains are now separated

by wide plains. The area has been described as skeleton bones buried on the

surface of the flat earth. I could see Wilpena Pound about 40km before I





44

reached the camp. This was my final destination. I showered, cooked then had a

good nights sleep before tomorrow's trek into the Pound.



29 March



Today I completed one of the best walks I have ever done. I put on my

Blundstones, donned my Akubra and set off up the side of the mountains

collectively called Wilpena Pound. Wilpena is an aboriginal word meaning 'bent

fingers' which aptly describes the Pound and its resemblance to cupped hands.

The mountains form a ring which is like a huge amphitheatre with its high point

at St. Mary's Peak. I followed the circular route, climbing gradually up the steep

ascent to St. Marys Peak. The last bit of the climb followed red arrows painted

on rocks, climbing up almost sheer cliffs, along the ridge of Taderra Saddle and

up to St. Mary's Peak. There is no need to take an expensive scenic flight over

the Pound, everything can be seen from St. Mary's Peak. The Heysen and ABC

ranges stretched away to the North. The Pound was huge with the flat plains

clearly visible beyond. It was hard to believe I was on the same planet. Aires

Rock would have to be exceptional to equal Wilpena Pound. The rest of the route

took me down into the flat basin of the Pound. The silence was noticeable.

Occasionally birdcalls could be heard echoing around the Pound, or the whistle of

the wind in the trees through which the peaks around the pound could be seen.

It was spell binding. I saw a few other walkers on my way round the 16km walk.

There were also Emus and kangaroos sharing the trail. The Pound was a little

oasis for the animals and the plant life. There were many tough ferns and plants.

The walk back to the camp through the pass took me past the old stone

homestead that was built by the pastoralist Hill and his family at the turn of the

century. They had once raised sheep and horses in the Pound. What a place to

live.



30 March



Left Wilpena early, to start my return trip to Port Augusta. Just south of the

pound I followed a marked trail to Arkaroo Rock which had Aboriginal paintings

of animal and bird tracks. Also stopped at Arkaba Wool Shed. One hundred

years ago there would have been as many as 40 shearers working here. As

Wilpena Pound faded from view behind me, I stopped. I looked backwards, then

forwards, the backwards again. There was not a soul in sight and there was

deadly silence. This was isolation and it was great. The sun beat down, and I

started to sweat. But as soon as I started cycling again, I cooled down. The

outback cycling is bearable as long as you are moving and creating a breeze. I

had read that it was advisable to stop for 2 or 3 hours at lunch, but as long as

you have plenty of sunblock, it is just as nice to keep moving.



Next I visited Yourambulla Caves, another sight of cave paintings. It was a short

climb, but I gained views of the plains miles around and the mountains in the





45

distance. I was joined by an Australian and his two kids. They sat up there for

ages enjoying the view and the rock paintings while the Dad practiced his

didgeridoo. We had a chat; he and his wife lived nearby. They were both

students who submitted their work by mail. They were staying there for quite a

while longer, so I left them and continued on to Wilsons Stationmaster's House

to camp again.



31 March



Today I had a proper look around Kanyaka Homestead. A few buildings remained,

but most was knee high foundations of this small settlement. At Quorn, I visited

the old train station which is now a museum. They usually run one of the old

trains over the Pichi Richi Pass on a Sunday. But on arrival I discovered it was

every other Sunday and today I had to settle for a look round the museum and

then cycle the route again. Wilpena Pound had been the highlight of the trip. But

the Pichi Richi Pass was the best bit of cycling.



Back at Port Augusta I caught the last day of The Beyond Festival. In the

afternoon I got a picnic together and went to watch the 'Brass on the Grass' in

the park. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with the brass band playing and morris

dancing.



In the evening I went to a celebration of Jesus which was part of the festival. I

thought it would be nice to have a sing and meet some people and pass some time

till my 11:30 coach. It was good for a while until the preacher asked for people

to come forward who had felt the Lords presence. He would then make them

faint and some of his 'saints' were persuading people to go forward. It was all a

little over the top for me so I made my apologies and left. They were the new

United Church, but they weren't having me. An hour later I was on the coach to

Coober Pedy.





Coober Pedy - Crocodile Harry



1 April



Coober Pedy really did look like the end of the world. I arrived at 5:30 in the

morning and as the sun rose I checked into Tom's Backpackers. I had slept all

the way on the coach. At night there are only coaches and trucks on the road as

cars can get badly damaged with all the kangaroos on the roads. The coach

stayed in the middle of the road and would brake occasionally. I would wake up

and catch a glimpse of a roo hopping off the road.



The town was a tip. Holes had been blasted all over the place. Every Ute we

passed had machines on the back and a red and white sign which said





46

"EXPLOSIVES". They were heading off to blast another hole in the ground to

sift for Opals.



My hostel was built like most buildings in Coober Pedy, underground.

Temperatures reach 50*C, but the underground homes stay cool. I cycled out to

the Breakaways 30km from town. Took the Princes Highway then turned off and

followed a 10km dust track. The Breakaways were the setting for many films

including Mad Max III. Continued along the dust track taking the back way to

Coober Pedy. This turned out to be a mistake. The dust became 3 inches deep

and cycling became impossible. I calculated that I would be home after dark if I

walked all the way. I pushed my bike through the dust, but it soon got better

and I could cycle slowly, pushing my way back to Coober Pedy. It was worth going

that way, however, as I was cycling along the longest fence in the world,

Australia's dog fence. This 3000km long fence was put up to keep the dingoes in

the West Side of Australia. The East is now safe for sheep.



Coober Pedy means 'white man's hole in the ground', which is where everyone

lives. I went to visit Crocodile Harry's underground house. Originally from

Malta, he came to from Australia in 1951. For 20 years he hunted crocodiles in

the Northern Territory. There were many photos of him with huge piles of

crocodiles and holding one in each hand. He then moved to Coober Pedy to mine

opals when crocodile hunting became illegal. The mine he worked is now his home.

It is a maze of tunnels and rooms. The walls have been painted white, but most

of it has been painted over with messages from backpackers who have passed

through over the past 20 years. There is also an endless array of photos,

newspaper clippings and odd bits of junk. A coach tour had just passed through

and as I was the only person still looking around, Harry and his friend Mike told

me to sit down and help myself to port. We talked for hours, but I didn't get

any tales of hunting crocs or digging opals. Harry, now 75, was a pissed up old

fart who would only talk about girls. There was a signature and date on the

ceiling from every girl he had persuaded to stay over. He had studied art before

he moved to Australia and there were many of his nude sculptures around his

hole in the ground. His house had been used for many films and documentaries.



As he spoke, he could hardly string a sentence together. Harry and Mike had

just fixed the stereo and all afternoon they sang along to Austrian folk music as

Mike had also emigrated from Austria. At sunset they asked me to join them in

town for dinner, they were to pissed to cook. We threw my

bike in the back of Mike's jeep and drove a straight route to town 6km away. I

had had difficulty finding Harry's on my bike, as there are no roads as such.

There are just dirt tracks in all directions connecting all the houses in straight

lines. If you wanted to get somewhere, you drove there in a straight line and

after a few such trips, the bushes would get knocked out of the way and you had

a track. We flew along the track bouncing all over the place. We had to stop and

reverse when my cap flew off in the wind. Mike then ran over a plastic road sign





47

and blew his radiator, but he would worry about that tomorrow. We sped on

towards the dim lights of the small outback town.



We ate at a Greek restaurant, as this was the only place that Harry hadn't been

banned from. The waitress told Harry where to sit to keep him out of trouble.

He wasn't allowed to face the other tables, as there were some young girls in.

He had a bag of $2 coins from each person who had visited his house that day.

This was the bar tab. He was great to listen to, when he spoke clearly, but it was

a shame to see him as his is today. The demise of a once great man. Later we

went to a bar, but they wouldn't let Harry in. Spent the rest of the night

playing pool with Mike and the locals, but I was wondering what had happened to

Crocodile Harry. How would he get home, where would he sleep? Mike said that

it happens to him every night. At 2 o'clock I left Mike in the bar and got my

bike out of his jeep. I started to pedal, but fell off, pissed. I made it home

eventually, cycling from side to side along the straight road, and then falling

straight into bed.



2 April



At 5:15 in the morning, the hostel owner woke me up. I had just 30 minutes to

pack and catch the coach to Aires Rock. She said that Crocodile Harry had been

round last night looking for a taxi home, but it was too late and he had stayed in

the backpackers. I had got very drunk and had slept through my alarm. I made

the coach and reached Yulara at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. This was the tourist

village near Aires Rock. I stayed in the hostel with swimming pool and palm

trees. It was a real oasis in the desert.



In the evening I went to the amphitheatre to watch 'Nakanya dreaming', an

aboriginal song, music and dance presentation. It was very well done. At the end

there was an audience participation dance where they taught moves for a few of

the animal dances. I took part in 'The Hunt For The Big Red Kangaroo' dance. I

had to hop around like and listen out for the hunter and do all the kangaroo

moves I had been taught. As each of us were killed we had to lie on our backs

and shake. This they made sure of by tickling us with their spears. It was

amusing, but also great to share in some of their culture.





Aires Rock



3 April



It was just 20km to Aires Rock so I saw no need to take the coach tour and set

off on my bike. It was very hot, but I got up some speed on the smooth road and

was cooled by the breeze. At 9 o'clock I joined a ranger-guided walk which

described traditions of the Mala people. The Mala people ask that you don't





48

climb the Rock, as that was the path of their ancestors, a sacred place. Their

name for Aires Rock is Uluru and they prefer people to walk around the base and

to learn about their culture and the true purpose of Uluru as a ceremonial place.

Their last ceremony was held last year when Uluru was closed to visitors for

half a day. The walk was very informative and at the end I decided to carry on

and complete the circuit of Uluru. Paul, from Boston, was also going round so we

had a chat on the way. The flies are persistent and a constant cause for concern

by the tourists. But after a while you can ignore them. My Akubra hat was a real

investment that paid off when walking in such strong sunlight. I had plenty of

water, frozen before I left the hostel, now cool and refreshing. I was surprised

at how many trees there were. When it does rain the water collects at the base

and the walk is very colourful - green trees, red rock and blue sky.



The afternoon was spent at the cultural centre learning more about the Mala

people. There was a tour of the paintings describing their meanings and also a

description of the tools and weapons. By the end of the tour I was the only

person left, with Arthur, my aboriginal tour guide who I was to meet again the

next day. On the return, I stopped at the sunset viewing area, 5km from the

rock. That's how far away you need to be to fit the whole rock in your camera.

As sunset neared, 3 coaches of Japanese tourists arrived. They were on the

sunset champagne tour. They had a bar set up in minutes and soon the

champagne was flowing. The sunset was soon over. It wasn't spectacular, as it

had clouded over. I would try again tomorrow. Back at the hostel there was a

singer and pianist as I sat by the bar with other backpackers. I had already met

Thomas from Austria in the centre of Wilpena Pound. One of many repeated

meetings I would enjoy whilst travelling the tourist loop up to Darwin and back

down the East Coast.



4 April



Today I was to visit the areas other well known feature, The Olgas. These are a

group of rocks similar to Uluru, but slightly smaller and there are many of them

grouped together. They are 50km away, and the prospect of cycling the 100km

return journey wasn't appealing so I hitched. It took just 2 minutes and the lift

none stop to the Olgas.



Whereas Uluru is one big rock; the Olgas are made of tiny rocks all crushed

together. The huge composite rocks were separated by valleys. The land in

between was hilly, mostly small rocks that had eroded and collected in thev

alleys and green. The aborigines call The Olgas 'Kata Tjuta'. Walking through

the Valley of Winds was spectacular. Two huge rocks towered several metres,

vertically up, forming a valley. The wind rushes up the valley making it very cool

on this sweltering day. I got a lift back as far as Uluru, before getting my final

lift back to Yulara. It was Arthur who had led the tour at the cultural centre.

He wasn't going to pick me up until he recognised me. He lives in the aboriginal





49

settlement on the other side of Yulara being one of the Anangu tribe. As we

arrived back at the village there were a lot of aboriginals getting on the

Greyhound coach. Arthur said that they were all off to Adelaide for an

Aboriginal carnival and Aussie Rules Footy tournament. Many communities would

gather for this tournament. It was Arthur who had suggested I hitch to The

Olgas and it was he who dropped me off home. For dinner I cooked a large meal

as usual; a huge plate full of tuna pasta. Next to the kitchen is the open-air bar

area which we can eat in. Is at down to eat my usual feed-a-family meal to stock

up on energy. The girl behind the bar came over and said that the bar manager

would give me a free beer if I finished it all. I looked over at the manager and

gave him a thumbs up. This was an easy bet. If only he knew how far I'd cycled,

he would know how easy a challenge it was. I finished my meal and went to the

bar. He congratulated me and asked me if I wanted a VB or a XXXX (cheap

beer), so I said I preferred a Coopers and downed it on the spot. He said he

couldn't eat that much in three days, so I let him in to my secret.



After dinner I cycled back to the sunset viewpoint. On the way I Arthur passed

me, pipped his horn and waved. This night's sunset was far more spectacular

than last night. I got some good photos then got a lift back of a friend. Back at

Yulara I went up to the lookout above the hostel. A full moon was rising; Venus

was following the Sun down. Orion, The Southern Cross and The Seven Sisters

were all in view and the red sun of the sunken sun outlined The Olgas in the

distance. Back at the bar I met some more backpackers I had met in Coober

Pedy.



5 April



Back up on the lookout at dawn, the full moon was still out as I watched the

sunrise turn the distant Olgas red. The Olgas are in the opposite direction from

Uluru and so there is an equally spectacular moment at dawn. I had enjoyed the

base walk round Uluru so much the other day that I decided to do it again. Then

at 2 o'clock I caught the coach for to Alice Springs. I arrived at 7:30 and had a

nightmare as I hadn't book a hostel. I finally found a hostel that let me put my

tent up in the back garden. This was better than a bed as it was much cooler in

the tent. There were several other tents and we were next to the pool. I had

been fortunate once again, a roll of luck that had no end.





Alice and The West MacDonnell Ranges



6 April



As in all other major cities (although Alice was just 20000, the same as my home

town) the museum is always a good source of information. I spend hours looking

round and watching all the videos on aboriginal history, as this is the only time I





50

have to relax. In the afternoon I had a swim in the pool. Later, I went to the old

telegraph station with two German girls, Stephanie and Beatrix. It was an hours

walk along the dry River Todd. Here's they have the world's only dry river

Regatta. They build boats out of anything, mostly beer can, but they have holes

in the bottom for their legs so that they can run the race. It was cancelled last

year because there the river was full, a very rare occasion. Alice is a town where

'the river runs dry or 10 feet high'. Back at town we climbed Anzac Hill to watch

the sunset. There were many tourists up there to watching the sun disappear

behind the West MacDonnell ranges where I was to cycle the day after next.



7 April



Lazed by the pool and shopped for food for the trip west. It was Easter Sunday.

No Easter Eggs, not even an Easter Bilby.



8 April



Took the Larapinta Highway west. The first stop was Flynn's Grave. Flynnw as a

missionary and founder of the flying doctor service. Next I followed a cycle

path to Simpson's Gap, the first of many gaps in the ranges. On either side of

the highway ran two long mountain ranges. The only break in the mountains was

where the mountain had been carved out over 300 million years by rivers. The

rivers are huge in the floods, but mostly, as now, the riverbeds were dry. In the

gorges formed by the rivers, there is often a waterhole up to 10m deep. The

waterhole at Simpson's Gap was sacred to the aborigines and so swimming was

not allowed. I continued with a tail wind, leaving Standley Chasm for the return

journey as it was cloudy. There were a few 4wd vehicles passing me on the road.

After Glen Helen the road becomes unsuitable for all vehicles other than all

terrain so I was quite jealous of the lucky people in 4wd's. On pulled over to

take a photo of me as I passed. I passed an aboriginal couple who had broken

down. They asked for a hand pushing as they tried to start the car. They then

asked me to cycle back down the road to their relatives' place. I had to turn

them down on that request as it was getting late. Their relatives lived quite a

way away and off the road in the bush. I didn't want to get lost in the bush at

dusk, so I apologised and continued on to Ellery Creek Big Hole.



I arrived just as the coach tours were leaving and it was quiet with a few

campers. There was a rope swing which I had a go on and had a swim in the ice

cold water. It was green around the shaded water hole. I swam across to the far

side, the only way to see the other side of the gorge. Very few people do this

and the people on the coach tours won't have had time, but on the far side is

the most beautiful dry creek you will ever see. There were so many large plants

and trees that had grown since the last flood and the river be was made of huge

boulders. It was more colourful and untouched than anything I had ever seen.

There were no Black Footed Rock Wallabys that I had hoped to see, but I saw





51

many birds about and a dingo drinking at the waters edge. At the campsite, the

ground was too hard to secure the

tent with tent pegs, so I tied the tent ropes round rocks. That night a storm

passed over, but my tent was solid.



9 April



Visited Serpentine Gorge which had almost completely dried up. At Ochre Pits, I

saw cliffs with exposed lines of ochre, which the aboriginals use to make face

paints. At the end of the road was Glen Helen Gorge. There were no supplies

here, just a restaurant, so I would have to make my food last on the return

journey. At the waterhole I saw small fish playing in bubbles rising from the

bottom of the waterhole. I then returned to Ormiston Gorge, which I had

passed on the way, to camp for the night. I had a walk up to Ghost Gum Lookout.

The ghost gum tree at the top of the cliff has roots reaching down through the

rock all the way to the waterhole. Here I saw my first rock wallaby, but only in

the distance. The campsite was excellent. I had to peg out my tent with rocks

again, but there were solar powered showers and free gas stoves. As the sun

set, the clouds were clearing. The return journey would be hotter, but more

beautiful.



10 April



Ormiston Gorge is a popular destination as there is a pound, similar to Wilpena. I

was up at 6am to follow the walk around the pound. The pound itself wasn't as

spectacular as Wilpena, but the Gorge that cut through the pound was

magnificent. Huge trees, that had been ripped up by floods, lay next to tiny

saplings striving to grow in the dry river bed. On either side of the sandy creek

bed, the huge red walls of the gorge towered above. The walk finished on top of

the cliffs above the gorge, where a lone ghost gum grew despite having to

extend its roots 70m down through the rock to the river bed below!



After the walk I made stock of my remaining provisions and decided that I could

only manage porridge for lunch, before heading off for the remaining 2 day ride

back to Alice. I camped at Ellery Creek Big Hole again as this was the only camp

ground midway along the Larapinta Highway. There were many people stopping at

the water hole for 2 minutes or so, before leaving on their quick-stop tour.

Others, myself included, stayed for an hour or two, taking a dip, climbing up to a

cave in the cliffs, and lying on the small beach. I even tried the rope swing this

time. It was great, the sun was warm, the wind storm I had seen here 2 days ago

had long passed. A few other people were camping overnight and I followed their

example, choosing to sleep on the picnic tables away from ants, rather than

struggling to get tent pegs into the hard ground.









52

Later that night I was kept awake by dingos howling in the hills. A few came

down into the campsite. These wild dogs are harmless if left alone, but still, it

freaked me out. One approached my picnic table and I froze as he trotted past.

Dingoes are believed to have descended from Asia. They are unable to bark like

dogs, but howl incessantly, as I discovered.



11 April



The last stretch back to Alice was a much more enjoyable than when I first left

Alice 3 days ago as the sun was now shining bright. So I stopped at Standly

Chasm. This is one of the main West MacDonnell tourist destinations. Because

the chasm is so narrow (9 feet wide), there is a rush hour at lunch when all the

tourists arrive to see the sun passing over, briefly illuminating the walls of this

otherwise dark gorge. I spent an hour climbing around the gorge before cycling

the rest of the way back to Alice. Here I had a huge feed to make up for the

last few days, then returned to Anzac Hill to watch the sunset again. I met a

guy who runs outback tours and we got onto the subject of fishing. He gave me

lots of tips for fishing for Barramudi when I get further north. These are

Australia's most prized gamefish which are found in the north towards Darwin.

They are large perch which grow to over 1m, changing sex from male to female

at 6 years old! After sunset I took a stroll around town where there was a late

night market. One stall was called "Mick's Whips". He gave me a demonstration,

cracking two whips at such a rate and as load as fire crackers. He said that it is

to be a demonstration sport at the 2000 Olympics.



Later that evening the coach took me north, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn,

towards the wet north where the wet season had just ended. After midnight the

coach stopped at Barrow Creek for 40 minutes, just enough time to pop into the

pub for a beer. All I saw of Barrow Creek was the inside of the pub - but then

again, there probably isn't much else in Barrow Creek.





Mataranka Thermal Pools and KatherineGorge



12 April



Rolled into Mataranka Homestead at 10:30. As I got off the coach the heat and

humidity hit me. I had not felt wet heat like this since my stopover in Bangkok,

and before long the sweat was pouring off me. So I spent the afternoon at the

thermal pool and springs. These were a constant 34C, but set amongst huge

palm trees creating a cool climate below the thick canopy. A real oasis! The deep

green colour of the rain forest was distinctly noticeable after the dry Red

Centre.



13 April





53

Spent the morning in the springs. There were quite a few people who I

recognised from previous stops since Adelaide. There is such a small community

of travellers on the same route that chance meetings become very frequent. In

particular, Thomas from Austria who I had met in Wilpena and Aires Rock, was

here also.



The next coach stop was Katherine. During the 30km cycle to Nitmiluk National

Park (Katherine Gorge), there was a short downpour for half an hour. It is so hot

and humid here, but downpours like this are always short and I was dry again

pretty soon. Cycling in the heat wasn't so bad as at 20 km/hr I was creating my

own air conditioning.



At the campground I set up camp then went fishing for Barra. This was my first

attempt. I had bought a lure as recommended by my friend on Anzac Hill; with

live bait you are more likely to catch a turtle or a croc. He had explained that

the end of the wet season is the best time to fish as the high water levels of

the wet season allow the fish to migrate up river. The receding water levels

become less cloudy and the Barra start to respond to glittering lures pulled

through the water. On biting, they are famed for jumping out of the water,

hanging in the air while they flick their tail, before crashing back down to start

their fight .... I had no bites at all. I gave up and went for a swim. Meanwhile

another downpour started and the swim was fabulous as a mist started to rise

from the river and I could see fruit bats in the surrounding trees. It was all

very tropical and peaceful.



14 April



Today I joined the Katherine Gorge boat tour. Of the 13 gorges, we visited the

first 3. We had a couple of stops at waterfalls, hidden away in the walls of the

gorge, where we had a half an hour to swim in the deep plunge pools below the

falls. It was extremely refreshing to swim right underneath the waterfall with

the water crashing down of my head.



15 April



Rejoined the coach at Katherine for the last stretch to Darwin, the end of the

Princess Highway completing my journey 'up the guts'.









54

Kakadu National Park - 16th April to

25th April



Overview



Kakadu was the most dangerous place on my trip. The wet season had just ended

and many roads were still flooded. All bridges had croc warning signs and there

was no way I was going to wade across and fords. But this was also one of the

most spectacular stages as I passed through Crocodile Dundee country,

experiencing it all close up as I glided through the bush on my bike. The

humidity and the mosquitos dissappeared quickly as the Wet Season changed to

Dry Season in the space of one week.





Kakadu and Litchfield



15 April



As I travelled north on the coach I watched as the outback became more dense

and greener, the rivers were getting higher, and the termite mounds were

getting higher. 3m seemed to be the average height of the termite mounds, but

I had read that they can reach 10 feet high.



Arrived in Darwin at 5pm and checked into Fawtly Towers Backpackers, a

friendly hostel most notable for its swimming pool. I planned to start a 2 week

cycle around Kakadu National Park tomorrow, returning to Darwin for a rest and

to relax by the pool when I return. But now I had to shop for provisions for the

trip; no perishables, just dehydrated foods and dried beans etc. I could leave

some gear at the hostel to make room for all the extra food and water I would

have to carry. There is a shop halfway through the tour at Jaribu, but I didn't

know how well stocked it would be. At the tourist office I received more bad

news. The wet season had been late and subsequently many roads were still

sealed off due to floods which had not yet receded. The main disappointment

was the closure of the Jim Jim and Twin Falls track, although this is rarely open

anyway. More surprising was the Ubirr Road. This is a sealed road, but has two

fords which were still 1m deep. A 4-wheel drive with a snorkel (for the engine,

not the passengers!) was required to cross. Still there are plenty more sights

along the way.



16 April









55

The first stop on my Kakadu tour was Howard Springs. After a swim, I realised

that I had been swimming with half a dozen Barramundi all over 1m long. They

were trapped above the weir now that the floods had receded. At night it was

too hot to sleep and the mozzies kept me up all night. There was a difficult

choice between hiding in my sleeping bag and waking up in a pool of sweat, or

sleeping on top of my sleeping bag to keep cool, only to be bitten all over by the

mozzies.



17 April



Joined the Arnhem Highway which took me into Kakadu. Passed by a herd of

water buffalo and I saw the highest termite mound so far - 6m tall! At the

campsite at Annaburroo Billabong, there were canoes and rubber rings to take

on the billabong. This was extremely relaxing, floating on the billabong while the

sun set. Unfortunately, my proximity to the water meant that I was in for my

worst night ever. It was damn hot and the mozzies were more vicious than ever.

I was woken in the night by a clatter outside the tent. The horses from the

other side of the billabong had wandered round and one of them was trying to

get his nose in my pannier bag which I had left on my bike. He had torn a hole in

my bag of cereal. First possums, then ants, then birds, and now horses!! They all

have a taste for rolled oats!I wheeled my bike into the porch of the site owners

house then went back to bed. Later I heard other campers shouting at the

horses to piss off.



18 April



In the morning I found over 50 mozzies in my tent. The persistent buzz and the

itch of bites woke me up early. I would have to get some mozzy spray. So I

cycled the 140 km to Jabiru non-stop. It was a good ride, quite cool in the

morning and I had arrived by late afternoon. The shop at Jabiru was well

stocked after all, so I headed straight for the mozzy spray. The campsite at

Jabiru was first class with a pool, waterslide and a bar. A good place to rest a

while.



19 April



Spent the morning around the pool. I had figured a way to get along the Ubirr

Road. This is a 30 km road that branches off the kakadu tourist loop and ends at

Oberi Rock. In the dry season it attracts 1000 people a day, but as low as a 20

at the end of the wet season. To get there I cycled to the junction, hid my bike

in the bush, then put my thumb out. I expected a few cars (or Land Rovers) an

hour, but after just 2 minutes I was picked up by Jamie who owns the hostel at

Ubirr. No-one was staying in the hostel at the moment, so he had popped into

town for the day. The first ford was 1m deep and quite short, but the second

was 1.2m deep and about 400m long. Jamie said he had crossed here a week ago





56

when it was deeper. The front end of his jeep started to wash away with the

current and he had too pen the doors to let water in to stop it from floating.

Today it was no problem though.



Oberi Rock is where they filmed Crocodile Dundee swinging his bush telephone

around his head and from the top of the rock there were breath taking views of

the wetlands and the distant escarpment. It is also the sight of some of the

best exhibits of Aborigional rock art. Some are thousands of years old. One

faded picture depicted a Thylacine (Tassie Tiger) which has been extinct on the

mainland for 2000 years, so the painting must have been older. The thylacines

disappeared when the dingos appeared from Asia. It was dog eat dog and the

dingo won. There were many paintings of Barramundi and Kangaroos. Very

interesting were the paintings of ancestral beings and the stories behind the

paintings were explained nearby. It was a magical place and I would have like to

have stayed longer, but I had left all my gear back at Jabiru, so it was time to

hitch a ride home. It got late while I waited for a lift and I eventually got

picked up by one of the tour operators which made me feel a bit cheeky. But he

seemed pleased to pick up a pomme and the Swiss family who he had taken out

were interested to talk to me. As we drove back the sun set over the wetlands.

While fording the river we watched a vehicle in front as its tail lights dipped

below the water. Back at the junction I picked my bike up and cycled home in

the dark.



20 April



Camped next to me last night were two American cyclists, Eric and Denise, who

had cycled from Darwin. They had mountain bikes complete with shock

absorbers which was as well, as their bikes were very heavily loaded. Sat around

the pool all morning before setting off on the 70km ride to Cooinda, loads of

time - so I thought. I had two punctures on the way to Nourlangie, despite

having thorn proof tyre liners. The art rock at Nourlangie rock was excellent,

although some had been repainted in 1964 (in line with Aborigine tradition).

There was a view over to the escarpment and the site of the lightning dreaming

which is a tale of ancestral beings based around the shapes and features on the

escarpment. No-one goes there as disaster can result.



By now it was getting quite late and I stopped at Mirrai Lookout to watch the

sunset. A family were there also, struggling up the 1km climb, making it to the

top just in time to see the sun disappear and Nourlangie Rock turn red. Cycling in

the dark was a nightmare. There was no other traffic, but the moon was hidden

behind the trees which towered on either side. It was barely light enough to

pick out the white line down the center of the road. So I kept to the line as best

I could and pedalled fast to arrive at Cooinda 1 hour after dark. At Cooinda they

had a cook-your-own bbq and an eat-all-you-can salad bar. I bought a fillet of

Barra and chucked it on the barby. The family I had met at sunset invited me





57

over to join them for a beer. The Barra tasted great and I finished off the

salad bar!



21 April



Joined the 6:45am Yellow Waters cruise. This is one of the highlights of

Kakadu. We only spotted one salt-water croc as the river is still high and the

river banks are still under water. There was plenty of waterfowl - egrets,

herons, magpie geese, lotus birds, darters, jabiru and white breasted sea eagles.

Paperbark trees had roots above the water level so that they could still breath.

Cabbage tree palms and pandanus also rose above the water. Mats of water lilies

and grasses on the water would eventually fall in the dry season. The scenic walk

was still underwater and we could see the lookout platforms inches above water

level. We passed over the parking area. It was an enchanting place early in the

morning. As we passed some fishermen in a tin-tub boat, one of them hooked a

Barra, but when he pulled it in it was too small (55cm is the minimum length

allowed to keep a Barra). After the tour, I went fishing off the jetty, but still

no bites. The humidity and heat had dropped suddenly this week as the change

from wet to dry season is very quick. The flash storms have stopped almost

overnight and there was not a cloud in the sky. So the trip is now becoming

enjoyable after the hellish start5 days ago.



22 April



Today I was to cycle to Waterfall Creek at the end of a dead end track. I set

off early and stopped at Jim Jim creek to fish off the bridge. I had three

strikes, but failed to land any of them. I saw two of them as they dashed out,

took the lure, jumped out of the water flipping their tails. They all managed to

shake my lure off. Further on I passed a monument which commemorated the

opening of the last stretch of sealed highway to be laid for the Kakadu tourist

loop. The date on the monument was 15th April 1996, just one week earlier. Eric

and Denise had been cycling the opposite way to me and reckon that they were

the first cyclist cross this last stretch of sealed road. Soon, however, I was to

turn off the main highway to complete the 37km of gravel road leading to

Waterfall Creek. This road was far more enjoyable than the highway as it took

me over rolling hills with views of the surrounding land. Near the end of the

track there were parts of the road that had been washed away in the floods. At

Gunlom (Waterfall Creek) there was a plunge pool where you could swim right

under the waterfall. It was a big falls and the spray and wind blowing off the

foot of the waterfall made the water very choppy, driving me back away from

the falls, and everywhere I looked I could see a rainbow.



The campsite at Gunlom had solar powered showers. After tea, Carl and Karen

from Perth (West Australia) invited me over. We talked about our travels and

Carl told me a lot about deep sea diving as he does quite a bit. They made





58

popcorn and cocoa and were very chatty. Carl offered me a lift to pine creek the

next day. This was just what I needed. Having seen all of Kakadu, I would now

be faced with a 3 day cycle to Litchfield National Park. A lift to Pine Creek

would take me half way so I accepted.



23 April



Walked up a track to the top of the falls where there were a few pools and falls

before the big drop. I had a swim in the morning sun and enjoyed the views. Back

at the campground Carl and Karen were just getting up. We squeezed my bike

into their Cruiser Bus then hit the road, or rather track. The going was slow as

Carls bus kept dragging on the ground as we forded rivers and went over dips

and bumps. Back on the highway we stopped we stopped at Mary River for a spot

of fishing as Carl had his rod also. We went down on the river bank despite the

crocodile warning signs. Carl reckoned we would see one coming soon enough to

run away. Carl kept catching his lure in the trees while I kept getting bites.

Finally I got a strike. I could see my lure as I reeled it in. Suddenly a fish

darted past, missing the lure. Two seconds later it lunged again and he was

hooked. I pulled it in only to find that I had caught the smallest Barra ever! He

was very young, but already his fins were hard and quite sharp. At 4 or 5 years

old he will turn into a female like all Barramundi. At 8 years he (or she) will be at

least 1m long. I was so pleased with the catch. Put him back then we tried to

catch his mum. No luck there though.



At Pine Creek Carl and Karen dropped me off before heading south to

Mataranka. On the roadside again, I stuck out my thumb. A few road trains

passed. These trucks tow 3 carriages and require a huge distance to accelerate

and brake. So if one passes you when you are on a bike, you get off the road

quick. The 1st carriage will swing a little as all trucks do, the 2nd carriage will

swing out further, the 3rd carriage is so unstable that it is likely to sweep you

off the road. I hitched for an hour before getting a lift off Bruce - the first

Australian Bruce that I had met. He was a great laugh. He every other week at a

mine in the bush. He was on his way Darwin to catch a plane to Macquarie River

where there was a mine out in the back-of-bourke. There is a lot of mining in the

Northern Territory and it is well paid. Bruce was a member of the parachute

club at Batchelor which is where I wanted dropping off. He explained that all

the road trains were taking cattle north to Darwin where they could graze on

better grass before being exported. There were also a lot of Utes loaded up

with furniture. These were people moving to Darwin for the dry season. Next

summer they would make the return journey to Melbourne or Adelaide, following

the sun year in, year out.



Todays lift had saved me from 300km of monotonous riding with not much to

see. At Batchelor I got back on my bike and cycled the 50km to the camping

area near Florence Falls for sunset. There had been a many forest fires that





59

had been purposely set by the forest management to regenerate the vegetation.

The campsite was surrounded by the black stubble of the burned spear grass.

All the trees and bushes were charred black against the red sunset sky, and

smoke rose in a haze.



The only other campers were Tim and Jon who had left their wives at home to

get away for a lads camping weekend. They were quite drunk already and hadn't

seen me arrive. Now, in the dark, they were mystified by a blue glow through the

trees (my camping stove). They thought it was something extra-terrestrial and

as they walked over to investigate I said, "hello" - to which they replied, "Aw,

thank God. It's just another camper". They invited me over for a few beers.

They had a fire going and it was hilarious to watch them trying to cook their

steaks on the fire. They couldn't get anything together. They had grown up

together and called each other by their school nicknames. Now in their 40's

they were reminiscing about the 1970's and I suspected that their

incompetence was probably due more than just beer. They were taking

themselves back to the hazy dayz of their youth out of sight of their prying

wives. Meanwhile, the steaks were burning.



24 April



Todays cycling took my by the many water falls and rock pools that Litchfield

National Park is famous for. Buley Rockholes, a long series of small falls and rock

pool, was far better than any of the big falls I had visited; absolute heaven. It

really was so picturesque that it didn't seem real. Next was Tolmer Falls, then

Wangi Falls for lunch. After the wet season the tracks to the falls re-open, but

is often a few weeks before swimming is allowed as the Rangers have to do croc

checks. Any crocs that have swam up into the plunge pools during the wet season

have to be removed. Then when the water level drops there is a croc net that

prevents crocs swimming up. The Ranger told me that some years they have

found salt water crocs (Salties) at Wangi falls, these are far more dangerous

than fresh water crocs (Freshies). Today was the first day the plunge pool had

been open for swimming. The Ranger was not too happy with the high water level

due to the late wet season, but there had been pressure from tour operators to

open the pools.



After a whole morning of plunge pools, I got my head down and cycled the 80km

dirt road to Berry Springs. As I hit the gravel road I passed a grader going the

other way. Graders are huge plough like machines the spread new gravel on the

roads after the wet season which washes roads away. This makes for a perfect

road for cars, but cycling is tough if you follow a recently graded road before it

has chance to be compacted by cars. At some points, gravel and sand traps

brought me to a stand still. There were still a few fords and floodways to cross;

10cm at the most. A week earlier this road had been closed as it was under

water. The gravel and dust was so loose that every time a car or truck passed





60

me I got coated in red dust and found that I was blinded for half a minute. Still,

this road was a short cut to Darwin by over 50km so I was making time. Reached

Berry Springs at 6:30 and headed for the campsite. Here they had a pool with a

huge waterslide which was an amazing ride in the dark. After a swim I watched

the stars, just 50km to go to Darwin. When I had left Darwin it was still the wet

season and the town was asleep. Tomorrow I would return to Darwin in the dry

season, Darwin was about to wake up.





Darwin



25 April Anzak Day



A national holiday around Australia to commemorate the landing at Gollipoli in

1915 by Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (A.N.Z.A.C.). I had a morning

swim in Berry Springs before heading in to Darwin. Stopped off at Darwin Croc

Farm. Here they have 1000 crocs; some bigger than 4 metres. They had the skull

of Old Charlie - a 7m croc who alluded capture for 30 years before being killed

by poachers in 1973. He was about 80-90 years old. Snowy MacArthur was a

4.2m albino croc. The largest croc was Goliath at over 5m long. He just sat at

the bottom of his 6 foot deep pool. They can stay under water for 3 hours,

slowing their heartbeat to 2 or 3 beats a second. Watched the feeding (chooks)

then had crocodile and chips for lunch. Arrived back at Faulty Towers mid-

afternoon and had a swim and relaxed for a while. But by the evening the

celebrations were starting and there was the first Mindil Beach Sunset Market

of the year. This weekly market is famous as most of the stalls sell food which

everyone then takes onto the beach to watch the sunset. The start of the dry

season also means that it is safe to swim in the sea again, almost. In the wet

season, deadly jellyfish make swimming impossible, the warmer weather makes

them move away from the coast making swimming possible, but still hazardous.



26 April



Had a lazy day around the pool, sorted my gear out and cleaned my bike. At night

I went out with some others from the hostel to an allnight club, 'Rattle and

Hum', which was full of backpackers from all over the world.



27 April



Another lazy morning before going down Doctors Gully to see the daily fish

feeding. This is a major attraction as thousands of fish swim to the shore at

high tide to be fed by hand. Milkfish, mullet, catfish, bream, rays, cod, diamond

fish, parrot fish and Batfish can be seen close enough to touch as they compete

with each other for food. At East Point Reserve I sat on the beach and watched









61

two Aborigines spear fishing in the mangroves. I was very impressed with Darwin

as it is as tropical as Australia gets, very exotic.









62

The East Coast - 29th April to 30th

June



Overview



Some quality resting was done in Cairns where I went diving off the Great

Barrier Reef. I then climb up into the Atherton Tablelands for a short detour

before heading down the East Coast towards Sydney. It soon became apparant

that I was not going to make it all the way. Severe headwinds and the

monotonous scenary of cattle and cane made this a wholly dispiriting stage which

I cut short after spending a few weeks reflecting and resting in Bowen with

Paul, and at Mackay with Jeremy and Fiona.



28-29 April



Boarded the coach for Cairns on the East Coast, 38 hours away. During the

journey we watched 7 videos, one of which was about a bomb on a bus (Speed!)

and another which featured a coach crash. Reached Cairns at 1am and checked

into a hostel.





The Great Barrier Reef



30 April



Rolled out of bed at 9 to ask about dive courses. Normally you have to wait 3

days or a week to get on a course. They had one starting that morning for which

they were 1 person short. 20 minutes later I was in the classroom. The course

involves 2 days of classroom and pool training and then 3 days on a boat on the

reef for 9 dives. The morning was spent watching videos and listening to Murray,

our instructor. After lunch we were in the pool which was 1.5m deep with a 4.3m

deep pit in the middle. Breathing underwater for the first time was great. We

were teamed up into buddy pairs. My buddy was Simon, a kiwi who now lives in

Newcastle, NSW. We learned many skills in the pool, particularly how to control

buoyancy. Once you can maintain your depth, you can then use breathing to move

up and down. Breathe in to float up, breathe out to sink down. It was just like

levitating!



In the evening I discovered a novel new way for nightclubs to attract punters.

They give out free meal tickets at all the backpackers hostels. So after having

dinner at 'The End of the World' nightclub, I stayed on with some friends.







63

During the night they held a bucking bronco competition. One of the girls from

the hostel won the girls final, winning a coach tour. The club was open till 5am,

but I left at 1am after having a very busy first day in Cairns.



1 May



Spent the morning in the pool practising floating under water which is very hard.

You have to cross your arms and legs levitate at the same level, bobbing up and

down slightly as you breathe. Also, we tried running along the bottom of the

pool, up the wall and somersaulting backwards! In the afternoon we were back in

the classroom learning about Nitrogen Narcosis and Decompression Sickness(the

Benz). Afterwards we had an exam were everyone cheated and everyone passed

(thats what your buddy is for!). We also had to pass a medical. They will not let

you dive if you admit to having asthma, but if you have mild asthma like me, then

lie.



2 May



Got picked up at 6am and by 7 we were cruising out 30km to the Great Barrier

Reef. Jamie, our skipper, took us to Milln Reef for our first dive. Sean, the dive

master, gave us a briefing and before we knew it we were 12m under the sea.

The dive was 25 minutes in which time we had to demonstrate all the skills we

had learned in the pool, before having a quick look round the reef and then

surfacing. When surfacing you have to breathe out constantly because as you

rise the pressure of the air in your lungs rises and would expand to bursting if

you held your breath. Once back on board, we stripped down our kit then went

straight to lunch. Every dive is followed by a huge meal to ensure expended

energy is replaced. There was then a 3 hour break until the next dive. On board

were the 14 people from the classroom, 5 instructors, and 8 experienced divers

who had skipped the classes. Looking overboard, the water was so clear that the

bottom could be seen 12m below and many fish congregated around the boat

where all the food scraps were thrown.



The second dive was longer and we saw more. On the bottom is sand with

mountains of coral rising up forming valleys to swim along. Visibility is about 20m

so it is really colourful. Many fish swim close and are quite inquisitive. After

another huge meal, we sat up on the top deck and watched the pink sunset over

the Coral Sea and after dark we watched the stars. It was a warm night so a

few of us slept on the deck. I woke up in the middle of the night to find myself

in very unfamiliar surroundings, floating out at sea. I was quite shocked until I

realised where I was and went back to sleep.



3 May









64

Up at sunrise as the first dive was at 7:20; 4 dives today. This was an 18m dive,

the deepest we are allowed to go as a beginner. We did a few more tests

demonstrating some of the more difficult skills we had learned. We then went

for a swim seeing a small reef shark and a sea turtle. The turtle moved so

gracefully, moving quickly with seemingly little effort. Today’s dive site was

called 'The Three Sisters' which were 3 bommies which are reef islands that

rise out of the sea bed and almost touching the surface. I felt something

tickling my leg and when I turned round I saw a small black, white and Grey

striped fish nibbling at my leg. Simon also had one following him.



The second dive of the day was our final dive before certification. Some of the

plants on the Reef were opening and closing filtering the sea for food. Shuta,

our Japenese instructor, was blowing air rings. They rose much slower than

smoke rings and were more perfectly formed. Me and Simon tried, but we just

sent a shower of bubbles cascading to the surface. Back on deck we were

certified. The remaining 5 dives would be completed on our own in our buddy

pairs.



Our first dive on our own was great. We had to navigate our way around Flynn

Reef, taking a bearing on a compass and estimating how far we had travelled,

before changing direction. We got lost and so we surfaced to see where the

boat was. Back down on the sea bed we realised that we had forgotten to take a

bearing and we were still lost. Finally we followed some other divers back to the

boat.



The fourth dive of the day was the night dive. Sean gave us the briefing 1/2 and

hour before. He started winding us up with a tale about Big Bertha, the shark

who measured 1m between the eyes! But the only sharks on the Reef are reef

sharks which are between 1-2m long and are quite timid. All the same, it was a

little un-nerving. It was so quiet and eerie as we followed Shuta. Each diver had

his own torch, but we still kept bumping into each other. We saw a turtle in a

cave and as the rest of the group carried on, the turtle swam out of its cave and

passed right by me and Simon. We caught up with the group just as Shuta

signalled for us to cover our torches as he shone his torch (not directly) into

another cave. There we saw the largest turtle ever. It must have been over

almost 2m long and maybe weighing over a tonne. Back on board, the other

groups didn't believe about our turtle. It had been quite an experience diving in

the dark, but once is enough.



4 May



Todays 3 dives were great as we gained confidence and greater control over our

movements. Gliding towards a reef, height could be gained to clear the reef by

just breathing in and floating up. On one dive we hired a camera to take down. It

was great fun as there is a lot to photograph apart from ourselves and the reef.





65

As soon as we were back on board we headed back to the mainland. I may made

many good friends during the trip, some who I would meet again further down

the East Coast. Everyone met up that night and we ended up in the Woolshed, a

typical backpackers nightclub where everyone dances on the tables and then fall

off.



5 May



Did some packing and also some shopping. It was weird walking along the

sidewalk, staggering left and right and expecting to float upwards with every

breath. At one point, however, I came over really strange all of a sudden and had

to sit down for 10 minutes to get my breath back. So a top tip for diving is never

go out on a drinking session the day after a 3 day diving trip!





The Atherton Tablelands



6 May



The Atherton Tablelands are 500m above the coast around Cairns. The historic

Karunda scenic railway saves a 400m climb by bike, winding slowly up the

mountain side through 15 tunnels, taking 1 1/2 hours to climb. There were

fabulous views back towards Cairns and the Coral Sea. It Karunda it felt

invigorating to be back on my bike after enjoying a weeks rest. Cycled to Davies

Creek National Park where I had a swim in the creek and camped the night.



7 May



Stopped by a roadside fruit stall where then had loads of tropical fruit I had

never seen before. I gave the bizaar custard apples a try. The had a tough, ugly

skin, but inside the fruit is very fleshy and sweet. Its like eating apple pie and

custard, but with large black pips to spit out. Along the route was Mt. Hypipanee

N.P. its ancient extinct volcano surrounded by rain forest. The Tumoulin Road to

Ravenshoe was signposted as Queenslands highest road to highest town. Further

on I camped at Little Millstream Falls.



8 May



Visited Big Millstream Falls, Australia's widest, but un-impressive. Down on the

coast I had enjoyed a week of fabulous weather, but up on the Tablelands the

clouds were gathering and it was becoming cool and misty. This was quite

pleasant though after the heat of Kakadu and the hazy gloom made the

surrounding countryside a deeper shade of green. At Papina Falls I went platypus

spotting. The plunge pool was noted for its platypus couple, but there was no

sight of them in the rain. But after half an hour, the rain eased. Just as I was





66

about to leave, I saw a stick floating away from the falls as if it had just

dropped over the falls. Then it disappeared. Half a minute later it reappeared at

the foot of the falls, again floating away. After several appearances I was sure

it was a platypus. I ran back to my bike to grab my binoculars, and went back to

the pool to get a closer look. This time I got a real close look at the duck billed

monotreme. He would surface every 30 seconds, lie there for a while, then flip

over and disappear. This was a magical moment as the platypus was the animal

that I had most wanted to see in the wild after seeing one at Sydney Zoo.

Finally the clouds broke and, as it started to rain heavily, the platypus dived one

more time and wasn't seen again.



The roads today were narrow, winding roads passing through dairy country; very

British like. This was the first such road I had been on in Australia. Usually

Australian country roads are wide and unsealed. The road took me through

rolling hills making for a pleasant cycle in the rain. Just like being back in

England. Today's cycle was like a breath of fresh air. Soon I started the 60km

descent to Innisfail on the coast along the Palmerston Highway and through

Palmerston N.P. Both are named after Christie Palmerston who was the first

person to explore this area when it was all tropical rainforest. Today, most of

the forests have gone and Palmerston N.P. is one of the few small pockets of the

tropical rain forests left in Australia. For that reason it is now on the World

Heritage list (along with the cold temperate rain forests of S.W. Tasmania) -

safe from further logging.



Well it is rain forest, and it was still raining when I reached the camping area in

Palmerston N.P. There were reports of severe floods in South Queensland, I

hoped they would not come further north. It chucked it down all night so I slept

in the convenient picnic shelter.



9 May



Cycled the rest of the way to Innisfail before turning south along the coast.

There was a torrential downpour as I approached Mission Beach, so I opted to

stay in the hostel there to dry out. Not really beach weather.





Cattle and Cane



10 May



Better weather today. I stopped off at a few fruit stalls along the way, trying

fruit like paw paw and other melon like fruit. Most of these exotic fruits

originate from South America, but grow well in the Australian climate. Further

on I passed through a checkpoint were I was searched for fruit and veg to stop

the spread of flies and pests. I camped at Ingham where there was a Italian





67

festival. In the 1930's a lot of Italians moved here to work in the Sugar Cane

industry and most of Ingham's population is Italian. Since Innisfail, all I have

seen it fields and fields of sugar cane interrupted by theoccasionally farm

house. The farm houses are very posh with beautifully kept laws and palm tree

lined driveways so growing cane must be very profitable. The cane is very tall so

nothing else can be seen except for the road and the sky.



11 May



Today the rain ended and there were clear sky, but a headwind hampered me all

day as I approached Townsville, the first city since Cairns. The hostel gave a

free minibus tour around town and up to Cattle Hill for sunset. The bus driver

was also an excellent tour guide. On Castle Hill we were right above the city

center with the suburbs stretching away into the mountains. All my efforts for

getting to Townsville to watch the F.A. Cup final were squandered as I stayed up

to watch Liverpool get beat 1-0 by Manchester Utd.



12 May



Faced the same headwind as yesterday which became a real menace. Stopped

late afternoon at a roadhouse where the owner let me use his shower and camp

for free.





Bowen



13 May



Continued south battling against the headwind with only cattle and cane to look

at. I stopped for lunch and fell asleep exhausted. It was all so quiet and I

needed an adventure to cheer me up. I could not keep going like this with such

boring scenery. Little did I know how events were about to change.



Late afternoon I stopped at a roadhouse 50km from Bowen. I got talking to Paul,

originally from St. Helens near Liverpool. He had travelled a lot before moving to

Australia. We got talking about the cup final 2 days ago. He offered me a lift to

Bowen where I could stay the night at his house, but first he had to drive the

other way and would return in an hour to pick me up. I was made up. Happy to

escape the headwind and a night with the mozzies.



While I waited I sat outside with a drink talking to some people from Brisbane.

They had left a party 2 weeks ago. In their drunken stupor they decided it

would be far more fun to drive up the coast for a few days rather than go home.

2 weeks later they are finally on their way home. Next thing a old beat up car

skidded to a halt nearly passing the roadhouse. Two pissed up old Aussies (at





68

least 70) stumbled out of the car, bought some beers, then sat down to join us.

They were plastered. One of them told me that there was a lion park down the

road where they let pomme cyclists camp for free. Fortunately I didn't have to

take their crap for long as Paul returned and I made my escape.



Bowen is a quiet town of 8000 with many excellent beaches, fortunately the

tourist developers seem to have passed it by. Paul drove me round town and

stated that Bowen was his ideal town as there was not one single set of traffic

lights. As we drove round from beach to beach the sun set. We popped into the

yacht club for a quick beer before picking Paul's girl, Gloria, up from work. At

night Paul popped out for a while to band practice; he plays the tuba! When he

got back we stayed up chatting. He left St. Helens at 17 and has been travelling

ever since. It was a similar story for Gloria from the Wirral. They met in a pub

in Bondi. Since then they've lived all over Australia, moving every few years. Paul

was not going to work tomorrow so he invited me stay another night so that we

could go fishing

the next day.



14 May



Spent the day on the beach, sunbathing, snorkelling and then fishing off the

pier. Everyone on the pier were fishing for the big Trevally. I caught 3 small

fish, one was a baby golden trevally. At 6 Gloria we picked Gloria up from work

the in the evening we tried some of Paul's homebrew and chatted.



15 May



Bowen was another hard-to-leave town, thanks to the kindness of Paul and

Gloria. Along the coast I still had the headwinds deal with. At Airlie Beach I

stopped at a campsite, and went fishing in the evening





Jeremy and Fiona



16 May



Cycled the rest of the way to Mackay where I was to stay with friends of my

parents. Today's ride would have taken 2 days, but the wind finally eased up and

I completed 155km, my longest cycle with full panniers so far. Jeremy and Fiona

were to doctors in their early 30's. They had worked at the same hospital as my

mum in England, and were now on a years placement in Australia. At night we

joined about 20 other British medics, plus 1 token Aussie, for a meal to

celebrate some birthdays. Before we went out Jeremy warned me not to get

talked into going to the Saloon Bar at the end of the meal. He said it was a

terrible place and not worth it. At midnight me and Fiona went home, I was





69

shattered from a hectic day. Jeremy ignored his own good advice and went to

the Saloon Bar as he had had a few more drinks than we had. I heard him come

in at about 3am despite the fact that he had patients to see the next day.



17 May



Fiona and Jeremy left for work at 8:30; Jeremy did not look well. I went fishing

on the harbour wall determined to catch some fish for lunch. I finally caught a

rock cod, but this was after loosing a lot of tackle and embarrassing myself in

front of all the Aussie fishermen.



It was Friday and in the evening we headed off for a weekend on Newry Island

with a dozen other medics. We drove to the harbour where we were picked up

by Willie who ferried us across to the island. Willie is a mad Swiss guy who has

been in Australia for 30 years. He now owns the 1km wide

Newry Island where he runs a small hotel which consists of a bar/restaurant and

chalets. Also on the trip the British medics and dentists, Sarah, Emma, Vena,

Ben and Simon; and Brian and Patti from Halifax, Canada, with their two children

Daniel and Alex. It was now dark and we watched the stars as we approached

the island. The bar and chalets are the only buildings on the island. Willie

catches all his own mud crabs and fish, grows his own veggies and bakes the

bread. All the meals during our stay were fabulous 3 course meals of the finest

sea food. The menu depended on what Willie had managed to catch that day; the

mud crabs were excellent and the variety of fish was huge and the supply

endless. The weekend away had been organised by Ben and Emma who were a

great laugh. Emma talked to me about the stars and I had a chat with Ben about

fishing.



18 May



After a full fried breakfast, Willie gave us some bait for us to go fishing. We

had the use of a tin tub boat, but that was only big enough for 3 people. So I

stayed on the beach casting out to an area where Willie said we could catch

some big Flathead. When the others returned I had caught 2 Flathead, 9" and

12". They hadn't caught anything. Still it was Ben who had set me up on the

beach and showed me how to catch them. Everyone else enjoyed ribbing Ben

over not catching anything. The island is beautiful with white sands and palm

trees. Every now and then a coconut will drop out of a tree so the day was spent

relaxing, munching coconut and playing a spot of cricket on the beach. Tonights

meal included a treat. Willie had caught a Javelin, his favourite fish. It was 3

foot long and tasted delicious.



19 May









70

Went fishing in the tin tub, but only caught a few small fish. We then continued

round to Rabbit Island where Ben had dropped the girls off earlier. There were

islands all around and it was beautiful just cruising around them in the tin tub.

We were not far from the Whitsunday Islands which are more famous for

sailing. We took it easy going back to Newry as we had six people in a boat

designed for two. Back at Newry we had to pack for the return to Mackay.

Later, we all met up at the Hogs Breath Cafe for a meal. I was invited to stay a

while longer which was a welcome invitation as the persistent south easterly

trade winds has scuppered any plans I had of cycling all the way back to Sydney

without exhausting myself.



20-22 May



Had a few lazy days. One evening Jeremy organised a barbecue at the hospital.

It was the the first match of three 'State of Origin' rugby matches between

Queensland and NSW. After we had eaten the match started. The Aussies

prefer to turn the volume down on the TV and switch on TripleJ to listen to

commentary by two comedians Roy and HG (who recently got a regular spot on

the UK TV, 1998). They rule, the funniest commentary I've ever listened to.

Unfortunately I was north of the border and so I had to support the loosing

team, Queensland. But it was a great barbie.



Another evening I cooked the two Flathead that I had caught on Newry beach

and had kept frozen. I went to the library especially to find a recipe for

Flathead and I found one called 'fish bonne femme' which involved cooking the

fish in a Chablis white wine sauce. I bought all the ingredients then went home

to start cooking. When Jeremy and Fiona arrived home for work the meal was

ready and it tasted pretty damn good, even though I say so myself. We then

enjoyed the rest of the evening with a glass of port.



23 May



I left most of my gear at Jeremy and Fiona's and set off for a 2 day return to

Eungella National Park; an area of rainforrest 80km inland from Mackay. The

ride was pretty ordinary until the last 10km. The valley had been narrowing until

it came to an end and looked like there was no way further, other than vertically

up. But there was a road hidden in the rainforrest which switch backed up near

impossible gradients before finally levelling off on the plateau above. Here

there was still dense rainforrest on either side of the road, more dense than

the Tassie rainforrests and with load of hanging vines. Impenetrable to light.



I camped at Broken River Bridge which is another known habitat of platypus.

Jeremy said he had been 4 times, but had never spotted a platypus. As soon as I

had set camp I went down to the river and saw two. There were many people

there and the platypus would only stay about if people stayed still and quiet. So





71

it was very hard to get close enough to get a picture, but I managed to get a

decent pic for my album. I was told that they spend time underwater catching

food in their cheeks, and time above water eating their catch before diving

again.



24 May



Woke up to mist and rain. I had to pack in the wet, but it was worth it to cycle

back through the misty rainforest, mystical and cool. The descent was difficult

as it was wet, the bends were sharp and sudden, and I could only see 10m in

front of me. But once back down in the valley, I dropped below the mist and the

weather cleared. Back at Mackay we went to the hospital social club and then on

to Toong Tong Thai for a meal. At the end of the night I said farewell to

everyone as tomorrow I was continue south along the east coast.





Noosa



25 May



Today I was to continue my journey south, but I had decided against cycling all

the way as the coast would be as boring as before, and the S.E trade winds

would hamper me all the way. So I opted to cut out 800km by taking the coach

as far as Noosa. At Noosa the mountains would start again, and that would mean

better cycling terrain. No more cattle and cane. So at 7pm I boarded the coach

for Noosa; sun, sea, sand and surf.



26 May



Arrived at Cooroy at 8am. From there it was an hours cycle from the highway to

Noosa, through rolling hills. Already, I found the tradewinds less noticeable in

the hills as I sped towards the beach. Noosa is the collective name for a group

of towns. I passed through Noosaville, Noosa Waters and Noosa Junction before

I finally arrived at Koala Backpackers in Noosa Heads. Spent the day with my

new room mates lazing around on the lawn and playing frisbee. Later I went for a

walk round Noosa National Park where you are supposed to be able to spot

koalas. I didn't. In all my time in Australia, I never saw a koala outside a zoo.



27 May



At 7am I joined a few other backpackers, borrowing a surfboard from the

hostel who also gave us a lift out to Tee Tree Beach in the National Park. It

would take me half an hour to swim out to the surf and another half an hour to

pick a wave while other surfers surfed past me and even over me. When I finally

caught a wave my arms were so cold that I couldn't lift myself up enough to





72

stand up. It was a good way to recover from the hangover from the night before

though. It was still good fun to be out there and maybe with a few weeks

practice I may have cracked it.





Glass House Mountains



28 May



Set off on the 2 day cycle to Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. I did not

know where I was going to camp in between, but things turned out fine as usual.

The route took me along the Sunshine Coast, eventually turning inland. At the

top of a climb, I could see some fabulous peaked mountains rising above the

forests in the distance. They seemed to rise out of a flat plain, each mountain

with it's own distinct, but triangular, shape. Further on I saw a scenic detour

signposted for the Glass House Mountains. I guessed that these were the ones I

had seen in the distance from the coast. When I arrived at the Glass House

Mountain lookout, I decided that it would be an ideal place to camp, despite the

no camping signs. Later, a VW station wagon pulled up. Jessinta and Jane, two

girls from Brisbane, had also decided to camp up there for the night. After a

fabulous sunset, we lit a fire and chatted. The moon was near full so we could

see the surrounding mountains and the stars were out. A perfect place to camp.



29 May



The next morning we gave our excuses to the ranger. The sunrise was as

spectacular as the sunset and back on my bike I enjoyed a thrilling descent, in

the early morning sun, back down the mountain. Approaching Brisbane it all

started to get hectic again. It's always strange cycling into a large city after

days, or better, weeks away from it all. Headed for the 'Somewhere to Stay'

hostel where I caught up with a few friends from the hostel in Noosa. We spent

the rest of the day down on the artificial beach in Southbank near the river.

Here, they have made used of the old expo site by building an ice-rink, an

artificial rainforest, the beach and much more. The beach sloped down into a

swimming pool where we played frisbee. Later in the evening I met Stuart and

Vibi from near Brisbane who had been on the Great Barrier Reef dive trip. We

caught the ferry down the river which was fabulous as both the banks were lit

up and at one point there was a natural cliff that was lit up so that rock climbers

could climb at night. We then drove up to Cut-tha mountain for views over the

sparkling, brightly lit city.





Surfers Paradise



30 May





73

Went shopping to prepare for the rest of my trip back to Sydney. After

searching for 4 hours I finally found the book I had been looking for. 'The

Pacific Bicycle Route' meanders down the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, and taking

inland detours up through the mountains between Brisbane and Sydney. After

some pretty awful cycling country in Queensland, I was about to return to the

coastal and mountain cycling that made the first part of my journey so

rewarding. The route is described fully in the book, and I planned to join the

route after visiting my cousin, Anne, in Surfers Paradise.



31 May



Left Brisbane by train as the road to Surfers Paradise can be quite unforgiving.

From Helensvale it was an hours cycle to Surfers where I was to stay with Anne

who lodged with her friend Joyce McRobbie. In the evening we went round town

which was busy and brightly lit. We stopped at the Sushi Train where sushi

meals are carried round the bar on a model train and you pick off what meals you

like as it passes by.



1 June



Had a good look round this curious city. It is the main center of one long

continuous stretch of city stretching 30km from Southport and Surfers to

Coolangatta to the south. The total population is 400,000, but with many more

tourists. It is the most publicised holiday resort in Australia and its packed with

Japenese tourists. The stretch of city is backed by the mountainous Hinterland

Ranges.



2 June



Today Anne took me up into the mountains to Springbrook. We drove up along a

winding rollercoaster road through the rainforrest. At Purling Brook Falls we

followed the 4km loop walk. This starting from the top, winding down to the foot

of the 109m falls, then back up to the top. Despite the huge drop, the water fall

was very tame and fell like rain creating a perfect rainbow at the foot. Some of

the best views were back towards the coast and the stretch of white highrise

lining the beach.



3 June



Lazy day, spot of fishing. Joyce lives on Chevron Island which is one of many

islands in the estuary, all connected by bridges. So there are plenty of places to

fish. Tomorrow I plan to take a 2 day trip to Mt. Warning.









74

Mt. Warning



4 June



This trip was also a brief venture across the border into NSW (New South

Wales). The border runs along the northern rim of a huge ring of mountains that

are the edges of a huge eroded crater. And in the center is Mt. Warning, a

shadow of the mountain it used to be being the center of a once great volcano.

So after a tiring climb, I finally reached the check point at the top of a pass (no

banana plants allowed across). Passing the border the hills of NSW stretched

out before me and there in the distance was Mt. Warning.



At the foot of Mt. Warning I found a great 'new age' campsite run by greenies.

Everything was recycled. There were lots of kangaroos about the campsite and a

talking parrot. I had a good meal then had an early night as tomorrow morning I

would climb Mt. Warning.



5 June



Up on top of Mt. Warning I couldn't see much in the early morning mist. The

mountain peak is the first bit of Australia to see the sun rising in the Eastern

sky every morning, so a lot of people choose to ascend before dawn. I had

planned to climb up before dawn, but it was raining. There was a clear view over

towards Cape Byron, Australia's most eastern tip, where I would arrive in a

weeks time. It was just as well I didn't climb in the dark as the ever increasing

gradients ended in a rocky, treacherous climb to the pinnacle.



In the rainforrest I have discovered that climbing vines follow the same laws of

Physics as other spiralling phenomena. The Coriollis Effect is responsible for

things like cyclones and water spiralling down plugholes. And like these other

phenomena, spiralling vines obey the reverse coriollis effect, spiralling in the

opposite direction depending in which hemisphere the vine grows. So vines in the

Northern Hemisphere spiral clockwise while the vines in the Southern

Hemisphere spiral anti-clockwise. How interesting.



After reflecting on this over lunch, I cycled back to Surfers Paradise, this time

along the coast passing through Coolangatta, from where I could already see

Surfers Paradise seemingly rising out of the see along the Gold Coast.



6 June



Tried fishing again, but it was pretty hopeless as I didn't have a clue how to

catch the local bream (pronounced brim in Australia). No fish for dinner so Anne

cooked Nachos. She layered them with cheese, chilli and guacamole which made

for an extremely enjoyable, but messy meal.





75

7 June



Today we went to Seaworld which is the main theme park. It was the hottest

day in weeks. There were some huge rides, but the best part was the dolphin,

whale and seal shows featuring Elle Macfurseal!





The Pacific Coast BicycleRoute



8 June



Said goodbye to Anne and Joyce and made my way up into the hills following a

fabulous climb up into the Tambourine Mountains. This was an enormous climb,

but I finally made it to the campsite at Thunderbird Park. Here it is possible to

fossick for Thunderbird Eggs! These are volcanic rocks which were spewed out

of the volcano thousands of years ago. When cracked open they reveal a

beautiful display of crystals. The myth is that the Thunderbird would drop the

eggs in lightning storms.



9 June



Today I joined up with the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route. The route avoids all the

traffic following the quietest scenic roads all the way to Sydney. I found a free

camping spot in Flannigans Reserve on the Logan River in the foothills of Mt.

Barney. Here I met five families camping out together for the long weekend.

They invited me over to join them for a roast. They were very organised. They

had a large pit fire with 5 camp ovens covered in hot ashes. Next to the fire was

a 'donkey' which was a water tank that was being constantly heated. They were

all big city business people out in the bush for a break from it all. Chris was the

manager of the Bank of Brisbane and today was his birthday so everyone was

quite pissed already and he was acting the fool; to the embarrassment of their

teenage kids.



After the roast it was time for a yarn and a song round the campfire. The

highlight of this was Chris' recital of A.B. 'Banjo' Patterson's, "The Man From

Snowy River". To hear the poem read with such feeling and passion by a true

Aussie was truly inspiring. How he managed in his tipsy state I don't know, but

the recital was full of emotion and he totally emulated the Aussie pioneering

spirit captured in the poem. Also by Banjo and recited/sung by Chris were Clancy

of the Overflow and Waltzing Matilda. This was one of the most treasured

evenings I spent in Australia, and one I will never forget.



10 June









76

Today I crossed back over the Border Ranges into NSW. Just like last week,

the checkpoint for the border was at the top of a mountain pass. This time it

was the top of the Lions Road. This is a very special road as it was funded and

built by the Kyogle Lions Community Club. Once there were two separate roads

on either side of the mountain pass that could have been joined, but the roads

authority said that costs outweighed the advantages. The community took it

upon themselves to build the road, however they built it straight. The old road

winds it's way up the mountain before the Lions road takes over on the steepest

part. The road takes route one, directly up the steepest possible slope. The

checkpoint was in site and I gritted my teeth. I said a hello as I passed a

motorist stranded with an overheated engine. But my engine was more capable as

I pushed to the top fuelled by adrenalin. At the checkpoint the official waved

me over. He showed me to an orange tree that grew near by and said that I

could eat my fill while I rested after the climb. So I lay back and enjoyed the

view while I ate oranges. When fully refreshed I descended into NSW to camp

on Grady's Creek. This was a quiet, secluded spot with a swimming hole. The

water was freezing, but it is winter after all.



11 June



Continued on the Lions Road in the rain. This was one of the best roads I have

ever travelled, so the rain didn't bother me. There were many fords and bridges

to cross. Nearly all the bridges were wooden plank bridges. These have the

planks lengthways and many have gaps between the planks making the bridges

very dangerous for cyclists, especially after rounding a corner while speeding

downhill. As I approached Nimbin I noticed a hole in my tyre about 1/2 and inch

wide. The only thing stopping the inner tube from poking through and bursting

was the Mr. Tuffy tyre liner I had bought in Adelaide, what a life saver. I

pushed on attempting to reach a bike shop before the tyre blew, keeping my

speed down when going down hill.



I was drenched and splattered with mud by the time I reached the end of the

dirt road and cycled into Nimbin. This small town has been infamous since the

1973 Aquarius Festival. Dubbed as the Australian Woodstock, the festival

attracted hippies from all over Australia, except unlike Woodstock, many people

didn't leave. Since then more people have moved to the area around Nimbin,

Byron Bay and Mullumbimby seeking an alternative lifestyle. Nimbin's population

is now 1300, but there are thousands more in the surrounding hills. Australians

have taken to calling them ferals instead of hippies, as they live like wildmen.



As I rolled into town to stay the night, I noticed that most the residents had

bare feet and painted faces. All the shops were painted with rainbow colours

and murals. Most of the shops were hippie therapy and jostick type shops; no

bike shop. At the hostel I dried off then went for a walk round town. The

museum is a junk shop full of meaningless exhibits which loose a lot in





77

interpretation. There were also photos and articles on Aquarius '73 and

Aquarius revisited '93. All in all the town was very colourful, even in the rain.



12 June



Replaced a broken spoke and repair my rear pannier rack. The rack is now lashed

together with string at the 4 points that hold it together as all the welded

joints have perished. Good job I paid attention at scouts. 5km out of Nimbin I

started to freewheel down a hill, forgetting momentarily about my tyre. Bang, it

blew and I fell off sailing over the handlebars. Fortunately I managed to hitch a

lift within a minute when a Ute pulled over. Greg tied my bike on the back of his

truck and drove me to Lismore, a large town where he was staying with his

friends. Back in his hometown of Dubbo he is a sheep shearer. He is the leader

of a team of 4 shearers. They move between properties every two weeks,

camping out under the stars, telling yarns round the campfire. Lismore had a

good bike shop where I bought a new tyre and inner tube before cycling to

Byron Bay.



Stayed at the Arts Factory hostel which I had seen on T.V. in England. Here you

can sleep in cubes (rooms), busses, teepees or camp. I chose to camp. Byron is

another hippie town and most of the 'characters' in the hostel were in the

campground. If you have the time and are staying at the hostel for a few weeks,

the hostel has facilities for you to make your own digeredoo which they will then

teach you how to play. I just chilled out.



13 June



Walked out to Cape Byron where, from the cliffs, I saw some dolphins playing in

the waves. Went fishing on the beach, but seagulls pinched my pilchards while I

wasn't looking!



14 June



Cycled down the coast to Ballina. Stopped at a bike shop to buy a new innertube,

but the owner was more than helpful and offered to true my wheels for free. He

also advised me to take the highway to Grafton. I took his advise as it was

raining anyway and the hilly route wouldn't be as scenic in the rain. It had rained

persistently now for three days and forecasts said it would continue for another

week. The old man at the Post Office said it would last for 60 days! Usually they

have droughts this time of year. Camped in a waterlogged rest area, but slept

well.



15 June









78

Continued to Grafton crossing the Clarence River on the pontoon ferry to take

the minor road on the other side. On the road to Coffs Harbour I tried a few

farms asking for somewhere to camp. Terry and Mags Flannagan were very

welcoming. They found a dry patch of grass then invited me in for tea as they

had roasted 2 chooks. They were so friendly. Their youngest son, Danny (6),

kept calling me 'Rider'! After tea Terry brought out his guitar and we both had

a play. He told me a lot about the area. We chatted till late then I returned to

my tent.



16 June



Woke to sunshine! Terry invited me in for breakfast then the whole family saw

me off. Cycled to Coffs Harbour for lunch and checked into a hostel to dry all

my gear out. However, it was soon raining again. I found out that Enland had

beaten Scotland 2-0 in the first round of the European Cup. I will miss most of

the matches as I camp out most nights and the games are shown in the early

hours of the morning.



17 June



The Pacific Bicycle Route took me up into the Bellingen hills and along unsealed

roads through the Bowra Mountains, before returning to the coast. This is

banana country and there were many banana plantations along the route. The sun

made another appearance as I set up camp at Grassy Head so I had a walk on

the beach before cooking dinner. After dark I watched the Southern Cross. It

was nice to have a clear night to see the stars again.



18 June



Today the batteries ran out on my speedo after they had clocked 8600km.

Enjoyed clear skies all day. Their were many sights along the coast today

including Trial Bay Gaol and Smokey Bay lighthouse, the highest in Australia.

Here there were fantastic views along the coast. Returned to Smokey Bay rest

area to camp. Had a swim in the ocean. There were huge breakers and a

treacherous backwash that nearly caught me out. Better not swim off deserted

beaches in future. At night I was lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves.



19 June



Up before the sun and away at sunrise. This is such a nice time to cycle. It was

freezing, but as the morning mists rose from the Macleay River, the sun began

to warm towards a beautiful 23oC. Past Kempsey I was passed by a Roads

Traffic Authority car which pulled in some way up the road. I pulled over to put

my helmet on (normally strapped to my rear panniers) before cycling passed the

bemused RTA men. They passed me again and pulled in, this time jumping out to





79

give me a bright orange waistecoat to were. I obliged, but it soon became too

hot so I hung it over my back panniers were it was just as visable. Past

Wauchope (War-hope) I stopped at Rainbow Ridge hostel. The visitors book

showed that not many people had stayed here and I was the only person that

night, so after dinner the owner invited me into her house to watch TV in front

of the log fire. It gets pretty cold at night now as it is mid-winter, but I am only

4 or 5 days from Sydney.



20 June



The climb up onto the Comboyne Plateau was the first long hard climb since

Tassie. These are the type of climbs which persist for over an hour at ever

increasing gradients. At Comboyne I got chatting to an old chap who said that he

used to cycle a lot when he was younger on an old Malvern Star. Malverns were

the first mass produced bikes in Australia and are now the biggest producers.

He warned me that the descent down the hill would be a bit shakey. Before the

descent I took the short walk up to the top of Mt. Gibralter for views across

the plateau and across to the ocean. Next I joined the gravel road for the bone

shaking 12km descent. Close to Wingham I asked a farmer for somewhere to

camp so he put me up in his caravan which had a TV. Barry, the farmer, had

moved from Sydney 5 years ago and now he owned his own farm with an

excellent view. After dinner I joined Barry and his wife for tea and biscuits.



21 June



Cycled to Gloucester, camping up the hill at Barrington. Phoned ahead to check

that I could stay with my Great Barrier Reef dive partner, Simon, in Newcastle.





Simon Brown at Newcastle



22 June



Another early start. The mist took hours to rise and it was freezing. I cycled

the 140km in one day so that I could get to Simon's in time to watch England's

quarter final against Spain. Simon had just got out of hospital after a series of

misadventures. Two weeks ago he had damaged his leg playing rugby and had

been advised not to play again. Then last weekend he got beaten up outside a

nightclub while still on crutches. He was recovering well, but could not eat solids

as his face was all swolen up. We did manage to get some Kentucky Fried Chicken

down him though. All facial expressions were painful so we tried not to make him

laugh. He was made up to see me though. We stayed in to watch Australia beat

Wales in Rugby Union on TV. Later I stayed up till 3am to watch England beat

Spain on penalties in Euro'96.









80

23 June



Simon's friend Andrew, who had also been diving in Cairns with us, drove us up to

the top of Sugarloaf Mountain for a good view over Newcastle and the Ocean.

Driving along the dual carriage way Simon pointed out that this was the only

road he knew of in the world that had artificial turf in the central reservation.

We had dinner at Andrew and Sharon's house, Simon was already looking a lot

better.





The Last Stage along the Hawksbury River



24 June



Simon gave me a lift out of the city to see me on my way. He brought his camera

and we got some photos of him then me on my bike. Then I was off again. Passed

through Wollombi, a quaint village with a cute name. The local shopkeeper was an

ex-pat and we had a chat about the football. Had lunch then joined the Great

North Road. This dirt road used to be the only road heading north from Sydney.

I camped half way on Mogo Creek. At night it was freezing and I wore all my

clothes in my sleeping bag.



25 June



Passed through St.Albans following the Macdonald River to Wiseman's Ferry

where I crossed the magnificent Hawksbury River on the pontoon ferry. The

dirt road then followed the winding Hawksbury River with its many half moon

bends. Some sections of the road had overhanging sandstone shelves above the

road. At Sackville I arrived just in time to catch another ferry across the river.

The Pacific Bicycle Route ended at Windsor where I camped right on the edge

of the Hawksbury River. Cooked dinner while the sun set then got wrapped up

for a cold night. Tomorrow, however, I would reach Sydney.





Sydney with Harold and Rosemary



26 June



I woke up to a beautiful day. I wouldn't return to Sydney immediately, but I was

to stay at Harold and Rosemary's in Hornsby, a nice suburb 40km north of

Sydney. The approach to Hornsby was still full of fantastic, scenic, winding

roads despite its proximity to the city. From Hornsby Heights I descended

towards the big city and arrived at Harold and Rosemary's for lunch.









81

After lunch we chatted all afternoon. They have a beautiful house and there

were many of Rosemary's beautiful, abstract paintings around the house. They

are both involved in amateur dramatics and Harold showed me his Ned Kelly

costume which he had welded himself (he used to be a boiler maker) for a part

he played. Harold was once in a play called "Spoke Story" in which he had to ride

a unicycle while singing "Daisy Daisy ...". He had built his own unicycle and

learned to ride it especially for the play. He was 50 at the time. He showed me a

photo of himself dressed as a clown while riding the unicycle. I was fascinated.

(7 years later I would finally learn to ride a unicycle myself after being inspired

by Harold!)



At night Harold put scraps of food out on the sun deck and a possum came from

a tree to eat from his hand. Later on the mother and her young came also.

Harold gave me some slow exposure photos he had taken of the possums and

some of brightly coloured birds that come to feed on his sun deck.



27 June



Fortunately I missed Englands semi-final defeat against Germany as Harold and

Rosemary couldn't get reception. Cycled into Sydney to sort out my flight

tickets. Shopped for presents then went to see Jill at the Bronte Inn bottle

shop that I had worked in 6 months ago. I also visited Abacus Imports where I

had worked in the warehouse. Brett was very interested in my travels as he was

the one who had given me all the advice on bush camping and trekking. I picked

up a bag of warm clothes that they had stored for me as I will need them in New

Zealand where it will be colder. Mike and Terry, the managers, were in a meeting

with some Asian clients, but invited me up anyway, proud to show off their star

pomme employee. Back at home, Rosemary had cooked a beautiful Thai meal that

we ate with chopsticks.



28 June



Dropped my bike of to be repaired as the steering headset had worked loose and

replacement involved recutting the frame. Harold took me down along the creek

at the bottom of their house. He and some other residents had been attacking

the invading privit which is a nuisance in the native bush. It's quite unique to

have such a large area of bush behind their house, so they want to protect it. In

the afternoon we drove to Patonga where they have a holiday home. We had fish

and chips before climbing up to a lookout for fantastic views along the

Hawkesbury River at sunset. They also showed me some Aboriginal rock carvings

that not many people know about.



29 June









82

Picked up my repaired bike then went into the city. I saved my last $4 to go up

the central tower once more as last time my photos had not turned out. But the

price had gone up to $7. I was distraught and tried hard to figure out a way to

get $3. I had no guitar to busk, I could try the poker machines. Just then I

remembered I had $4 left on my phone card. So I found a phone box and sold

my card to a lady for $3. With my $7 I ran back to the tower. At the top I got

better views than the first time as the weather was fabulous. I had first

ascended the tower on my first day in Sydney, but now I could pick out all the

places I had been, where I had lived - I could almost make out no.166 Bridge

Road, where I had worked, I could even see the Excelsior, our local pub in Glebe.



In the evening I visited Ali, Marion, Joel and Kareem who I had met in the

Snowy Mountains. We played soccer in the back garden with the dog, Max. Ali

got a barbeque going as he used to be a cook as well as a player for Arsenal. He

also cracked open a few bottles of his homebrew. It was a fantastic night and

when it got late they suggested that I stay over. Ali is a great friend and said

that I should come over again, possibly for the Olympics in 2000.



30 June



It was Sunday morning and while saying goodbye outside the Assagaier house I

saw something curious. In Australia, Sunday papers are not delivered through

the door, but a kid walks down the middle of the road pulling a trolley of papers

and blowing a whistle. Soon, the quiet street becomes a hive of activity as all the

neighbours come out to buy a paper, greeting their neighbours and chatting

together while they stand in their dressing gowns. So while saying goodbye to

Marion, Ali, Joel and Kareem, I said goodbye to the whole street.



Back at Harold and Rosemary's I packed, then after lunch they drove me out to

the airport to see me off. It was very comforting to have friendly faces to say

goodbye to at the airport as left this BIG, beautiful, friendly island.









83

New Zealand - 1st July to 25th July



Overview



The most striking difference from Australia is that New Zealand is a lot

greener, the foliage is a lot thicker and more varied, more tropical on the whole.

I stayed in the far North for the whole of my stay, spending 3 weeks working on

a tee-tree oil farm on the Coromandel Peninsula which is very hilly with large

outcrops of the huge Kauri Pine which tower above the surrounding Pandanas and

Palm Trees.









Auckland



1 July



The airline took my bike with the pedals removed and the handlebars turned

inwards, so it didn't take long to reassemble after landing. It was the early

hours of July 1st when I reached Simon's parents house. Simon had asked them

if I could stay when I reached Auckland. They were asleep, but Jo, Simon's

sister, had just got in from work at the hospital. She was still wide awake and

suggested we have a drive round town now rather than leaving it till tomorrow.

So we drove round town and up Mt. Eden, an extinct volcano, for views over the

city.



Got up late the next morning. Went for a drive with Jo to the Waitakere

Ranges. The bush here is a lot thicker and more varied. It is also a lot greener,

but that is because it rains a lot. Today the rain held off, but it had been raining

off and on here for 2 weeks. At Piha beech I discovered New Zealand’s black

and blue sand which is due to all the volcanic debris. Back in town we went up

One Tree Hill. On top was the one tree which was lit up and fenced off as there

have been several attempts by vandals to chop it down. Back at the house I met

Miles and Deborah. We watched TV which was mostly English stuff, not much

kiwi TV.



2 July



Visited the museum where there was a Moari dancing and singing performance.

The Moaris arrived 900 years ago. New Zealand has no native mammals (except

bats) as it separated from other land masses before evolution of land mammals.

Subsequently most birds are flightless due to the lack of predators. One bird,







84

the Moa, was the only wingless bird an was 3 meters tall. Moari who were

desperate for food in the colder climate killed the Moa to extinction just

before European settlement. In the evening I went for a drink with Jo and her

friend Jackie.





The Coromandel



3 July



Today I started what little cycle touring I would do in New Zealand. A 3 day

ride to the Coromandel Peninsula where I was to stay with a friend's Uncle and

work on his farm. It was a sunny day, but it was freezing and I wore 2 jumpers.

Stopped at a backpackers in Thames as it was far too cold to camp out.



4 July



Cycled up the Coromandel Peninsula along the Firth of Thames for 30 km, before

climbing up a huge hill for a view north over Coromandel Bay and islands. The

descent was long and fast and I froze on the way down. I soon reached the

backpackers at Coromandel where I sat in front of the fire and watched TV. It

was the coldest NZ winter in 30 years. The South Island is thick with snow and

even the Coromandel Ranges this far north received a sprinkling of snow.





Nic's Tee Tree Oil Farm



5 July



Climbed over the Coromandel Ranges via the 309 road. Midway across there was

a 45 minute trek up to Castle Rock. From the top of the crag I could see both

sides of the peninsula; Coromandel to the west and Mercury Bay, my destination,

to the east. And in both directions were endless deep green forests. I also

followed the Kauri Grove walk. The Kauri Pine is the king of the forest and the

walk led to one of the few unlogged stands of the native pine on the peninsula.

This once widespread pine was overlogged by European settlers.



At Whittianga I arrived at Moewai Farm where I met Nic Murray-Leslie, Uncle

of young Nic Murray-Leslie who I went to University with in Sheffield, England.

Uncle Nic used to be a pilot with Air NZ, but he has his farm with cows, sheep,

pigs, horses, hens and peacocks, but his main line is making Tee Tree Oil. He

built his own house on a hill overlooking Mercury Bay where Captain Cook landed

in 1769 to observe the transit of Mercury. At tea time we were joined by 5 pilot

friends of Nic's from Whitianga airfield. It was a pleasant evening although

most of the conversation was flying talk. I was invited to join the lads on a flight





85

some time. Nic had left England at 20 to become a pilot. He bought the farm

when he had retired 11 years earlier. He still has a very English accent, rather

like Roger Moore. It was great to listen to them all telling stories of their flying

experiences, although Nic had the best tales to tell.



6 July



Nic showed me round his farm. 15 pigs, a dozen peacocks, 45 cows, 15 calfs, 3

horses, ducks, guinea fowl, 400 acres in all, but mostly tee tree. The tee-tree is

a mix of kanuka and manuka, not the Australian maleluca tee tree. The pigs were

bred from wild pigs caught in a basket trap. These pigs are descendants of the

pigs released by Captain Cook in 1769! There are some magnificent trees here

including one of the rare kauri pine. There is one tree in particular that Nic hugs

every morning as he passes it. He is a real life Tom Bombadil, friend and master

of all trees and animals. When we drove into town everyone knew Nic and waved

as we passed.



7 July



Woke up to sunrise over Mercury Bay, a beautiful day ahead. Today we had a

trek around the farm. We took a shotgun in case we had trouble from any wild

boars. We saw one with it's family, but he didn't bother us. At one point we

walked into thick bush and came upon a huge tree which Nic had never seen

before. It took us 2 hours to walk to the far corner of his farm and back. Nic's

pigs have become a problem as they tear up the grass so tomorrow we take them

to the market. In preparation we picked up a truck from Robert who used to

work for Nic. We loaded the pigs onto the truck ready to leave for the market

early tomorrow. Nic's Flemish wife is away visiting family in Belgium. So this

evening Steve from the airfield came round with his girlfriend Claudia for dinner

(or rather to cook dinner). Nic finds cooking difficult, so when his hasn't got

friends round to cook, he heats up one of the months worth of prepared meals

his wife left in the freezer.



8 July



We were up at 5am so that we could drive the 2 hours to Paeroa for the

livestock market. I had mistakenly let Nic know that I used to work on a pig

farm so he asked me to unload the pigs while he and another man stood by the

race to make sure that none escaped, but one did and disappeared into the mist!

Soon we had a dozed farmer running around after the pig. The pig made for a

bridge and then into a farm. We finally drove him back to the sales yard after a

long chase. It must have been an hilarious sight to watch. Soon we were driving

home in the morning sunshine laughing about the morning’s events. In the

afternoon we collected firewood and Nic taught me how to drive the tractor.

Back at the house a friend had dropped off some mussels which Nic cooked for





86

dinner. Nic had only expected to get $200 for the pigs, but he received a call to

say he had got $600 which he was made up with.



9 July



Today I started work earning my board and lodgings plus a little extra. So at

8am we started pruning the tee tree. The branches were loaded into 4 large

baskets about 2mx2m. These were taken on the back of the tractor to the

farm where Nic had a huge vat that had been specially built. He had learned the

technique in Australia. The baskets, loaded as densely as possible with tee tree,

were lifted into the vat using a pulley. The vat is sealed and covered in

reflective blankets to reflect the heat. The timer is then set to steam the

leaves overnight. By 1pm we were finished. Nic believes in getting work done

before lunch leaving the afternoon free to enjoy life. Although working in the

hills pruning tee tree is very therapeutic in itself with the views over the bay as

a backdrop, the sound of a bubbling stream nearby and the smell of tee tree all

around. I did tonights cooking - Shepherds Pie.



10 July



Nic unloaded the vat in the morning emptying the charred remains in a pile. The

steam had removed about 1 litre of oil from the tee tree, the product of a days

work. I was given odd jobs around the farm including tidying up Nic's vegetable

garden ready for the spring. At night he asked me to cook a load of shepherds

pies for the freezer for us to eat over the next few weeks. The weather has

turned bad today and we both had colds. Nic gave me some tee tree oil to gargle

in salt water to cure my cold. This is one of the many ailments that tee tree oil

is claimed to heal.



11 July



Today it rained so we did odd jobs inside out of the rain. Nic prefers to leave

tee tree gathering for warmer days. At night steak and chips. I was enjoying

comfortable living with a roof over my head. Nic was great and I was seeing a

side to New Zealand that I would never see just passing through.



12 July



Out collecting tee tree again. Steve and Claudia and another pilot Dan came

round for dinner. They invited me to a party the next day over on Great Barrier

Island. The island is 18km north of the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. The

pilots at the airfield fly for Coromandel Airlines who run flights for locals and

tourists (mostly locals) too and from the island. The party was to be held for

Mike Allsop, their chief pilot, who had just landed a job working for Air New

Zealand. We would fly over to the party tomorrow.





87

13 July



Collected firewood all day. At 5pm I joined Dan, Hue, Steve and Bobby at the

airfield and we took the 20 minute flight to the island at sunset in a 6 seater

plane. Once on the island we had a 1 hour drive to the party. It was worth it,

there was a live band and about 100 locals and pilots. You could tell the locals

and the pilots apart. Most of the locals wore leathers and were pretty rough

looking. The Great Barrier Island is a haven for 'Back to the Earth' people.

Everyone was dancing and there were 7 kegs of beer to get through. The beer

ran out at 12:30 and me and Steve made a break as the others started on the

rum. It was a great night and I met lots of kiwi locals, although they did smell a

bit. The island is as out-of-the-way as you can get in New Zealand. One of the

locals, Nic, put us up for the night; 10 bodies in one room.



14 July



Went for breakfast at a cafe where everyone was talking about the car that

had turned over when leaving the party. On the flight back to Whitianga, Hugh

pointed out some whales in the sea below, but I couldn't see them. Back at Nic's

we watched TV infront of the log fire while it poured down outside. Just as well

we had collected the firewood yesterday.



15 July



Today we had to work in the rain as it didn't look like easing for a few days. Nic

leant me some gumboots and a Drizabone raincoat. We collected a tonne of tee

tree to produce just 1 litre of oil, but at $5 for a 10ml bottle, its not bad for a

days work. The oil comes from the thousands of tiny sacks on the back of each

leaf. The leaves are steamed and the collected oil floats on top of the

condensed water. The two type of oil are blended, 10% Manuka to 90% Kanuka.

Nic has had Prof. Merz of Holland to do all the research into the oil. They have

found that it can cure or help a lot of ailments.



16 July



Nic also has a guy called Terry who works on the farm, and today Terry tool a

trip to Rotorua to see clients with tee tree oil orders. I joined him for the ride.

We would stay the night in Rotorua which was a long drive away in the centre of

the North Island. Once at Rotorua Terry went off to see his clients and I went

off sightseeing.



The main attraction was the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and Moari

Arts and Crafts Institute. I arrived in time for the lunchtime performance of a

Moari song and dance show. It was similar to how I had imagined Hawaiian





88

dancing to be like. They had many modern influences including the guitar. Their

Poi dancing involved twirling Pois on strings. The highlight, however, was the

Hakka made famous by the New Zealand Allblacks. Next I joined a guided tour.

We were shown grass skirt making, basket weaving and carving at the arts

institute. We were then shown round the thermal park with its geysers, hot

pools and mud pools. The place stank of sulphur. At the Moari village I had corn

on the cob which had been cooked in a hot pool by the villagers. I also learned

that Te Whakarewarewa is short for Te Wharewarewatangaoteopetauaawakiao!

This was the first place that the Queen and Prince Philip visited on their trip to

New Zealand.



17 July



On the way home the next day, Terry had to stop of at many towns along the

way. So I spent about an hour looking round each town; Mount Maunganui,

Tauranga, Waihi and Whangamata. At Waihi I saw the largest mine in New

Zealand where they mine gold. Back at Nics we had fish and chips from Nic's

favourite chippy. Nic had had a tough couple of days while we had been away.

The storms had hit hard in Whitianga and much of his newly laid gravel road had

washed away. I had been lucky in Rotorua. I had done all my New Zealand

sightseeing in two days.



18 July



After collecting tee tree we had a walk around Nic's land. Nic wanted to check

on his calfs as well as assessing any flood damage and also find a new stand of

tee tree to harvest as much of it is inaccessible to tractor in the wet. Nic had

had trouble fording the river on his tractor the other day as the water came up

over the large back wheels.



19 July



Gathered tee tree on a steep hill in the rain. We worked fast though and we

were finished by 11am. After lunch Nic went to Auckland for the weekend for a

friends birthday, leaving me to look after the house and the animals. Before

dinner I went down to feed the pigs, hens and peacocks. Back at the house I fed

Qualif the dog, Mi Mi the cat and the birds before finally feeding myself.



20 July



Got back on my bike for the first time in 2 weeks. This was just for a day trip

though. I took the ferry across Whitianga harbour, then cycled Hahei. From

here I followed a 3km trail to Cathedral Cove which is full of caves, cliff stacks

and islands and is supposed to resemble a cathedral. Back at the house, I fed

the animals then watched TV.





89

21 July



Today I had arranged to go walking with the Whitianga Trampers, but it rained

all day so the walk was called off. Fortunately the Olympics had started so

there was plenty to watch on TV and Nic returned in the evening.



22-23 July



My last 2 days working on the farm were great as the sun returned as wet oiled

pleasantly in the hills. It was so fresh and cool, but still we could work in short

sleeves. The area we harvested was hard to get to on the tractor as we forded

two streams and drove up 1 in 3 slopes. Tomorrow Nic had some deliveries to

make in Auckland so I would go with him and stay with Miles, Deborah and Jo

before flying out to Fiji.



24 July



Nic dropped me off at the Brownses. He was sad to see me go, but his wife,

Monique, was to return from Belgium the next week. Miles and Deborah were

very interested in what I had been up to on the farm and later we watched the

Olympics on TV. Danyon Loader, the kiwi swimmer, picked up another gold medal.

This was big news in New Zealand. It was raining hard outside, but tomorrow I

would be in Fiji, a return to sun, sea and cycling.









90

Fiji and Hawaii - 25th July to 11th

August



Overview



After 6 months cycling and 3 weeks harvesting tee-tree I was ready for a rest.

4 days were spent on a Fijiian Island about 2 hours boat ride from the mainland.

This was an oasis with just 4 small villages on the whole of the island separated

by hill trails over the mountainous island. Time can be spent with the local

villagers talking about each others cultures. Hawaii was a lot pacier with heaps

of activities and places to visit. Very American, but distinctly different. The

scenary is magnificent here also with huge mountain passes to cycle over.





Fiji



25 July



I stayed on the larger of the two main islands of Fiji. Here, half the population

are Fijian and half are Indian. There used to be racism troubles in the past, but

they all get on now, mostly. I soon learned Fijian for 'hello' as people kept saying

'bula' as I passed. The weather was a lot hotter here. It is winter though, so

the evenings were quite cool. It can be hot and humid in the summer, but right

now it was a very pleasant climate. The hostel was a friendly place and they

passed round kava at night. This is the traditional fijian drink which had to be

drank in a certain way. A coconuts hell of the drink would be passed to you by

the host. He would say bula (welcome), then the guest would reply 'bula', before

downing the drink in one go while everyone clapped 3 claps. So this was my

welcoming into Fiji with

more to look forward to.



26 July



I went into town to get a map to plan a short cycle trip for my 5 day stay in Fiji.

But the tourist office was more of a commercial venture and they talked me into

going on an island trip. I would visit Waya island for 3 nights. There is a hostel

on the island in a small village of traditional bures (huts) and there is also a

school where children from all the surrounding islands come to board. It's far

removed from the modern, busy, touristy Nadi.









91

In Fijian/Indian language, a 'd' is pronounced as 'nd' so Nadi is pronounced

'Nandi'. The lady who who runs the island trip is called Adi which is pronounced

'Andi'. So it is quite embarrassing for me as I have a Fijian girls name, Andy. So

I plan to call myself Andrew for the next week. Nadi was too touristy. There

were many touts who would approach you trying to get you to go to their

brothers shop or to have breakfast at their cousins cafe. I did get talked into

buying a 'sulu' which I was told I would need to wear round my waist when I

visited the island. I had to brush off many more touts on the way back to the

hostel.



27 July



The boat left from Lautoka at 10 taking us and provisions for the village. The 40

mile crossing took 2 hours. It was very rough as the wind had whipped up and the

boat was quite small. When we reached the island we had to jump off the boat

into the crashing breakers. The village of 200 people did look very basic, some

straw huts, some concrete and some were corrugated metal. There were 5 other

backpackers; Cave and Amanda (Bournemouth), Jessica (Iowa), Jon (Birmingham)

and Meechi (Japan). They were late for afternoon tea at a teachers house and

they asked me to come along. The school was just 5 minutes walk away. The

children had all gone home for the long weekend, but some teachers were still

there. Jon had been on the island for 10 days so he knew a lot of the locals. Pulu

passed out tea and cakes as we sat on the lawn in the sun. She told us about the

school. There are 240 pupils and 9 teachers. Each week the women from each of

the islands take turns to come and cook the meals.



In the evening we went to a fundraising night for Waya Islands rugby team.

They need money so that they can go to the mainland to play other teams. Next

week they play Lautoka. They held raffle rounds to raffle out prizes. We won 2

cakes. In the middle of the room was the tanoa, the kava bowl. Everyone was sat

round on the floor and the only lighting was a dim gas lamp. There was a lot of

calling and shouting in Fijian as the 20 raffle cards were sold for each round.

Meanwhile, the coconut shell was being passed around by the master of

ceremonies who would clap 3 times as the bowl was drained.



The next event of the evening was video night. There was so much going on as it

was Friday night. There is no electricity on the island, but they manage to show

a video every Friday night as they can run a TV and video off a battery. The

video was a reggae concert as this would require no translation. All the children

stayed up to watch it twice as they were fascinated. Walking back along the

beach to the hostel, the was a full moon lighting up the bay.



28 July









92

The 'high street' in Yalobi (pronounced Yalombi) is a grass path down the middle

of 2 rows of thatched palm leaf bures. At the end is the church and as today

was Sunday we joined the locals for their mass. The mass was said in Fijian, but

Pulu got up in the middle to introduce us and then the children sang in English,

'Jesus is the winnerman'. After lunch I went snorkelling on the reef just off

the beach. I also joined Jon later, who was visiting Soseni's house to give him

advise on tapping a spring. Jon was an engineer and the locals wanted to tap the

spring so that they could provide water to an area where they planned to build

holiday homes. Soceni's wife, Milla, brought us tea and cake. Soceni had heard

that I had lost my fishing rod (I left it in the taxi when I had arrived at

Lautoka) so he offered to lend me his rod. After dinner we met 4 other

backpackers who had arrived today and in the evening we drank kava.



29 July



Went fishing off the reef. I didn't catch anything, but I lost my lure and had to

go snorkelling to find it. Later I returned the rod to Soceni and he showed me

the start of the trail that crossed the island to the other village. The walk took

40 minutes up and over the island to Natawa. The chief of the island is living in

Lautoka at the moment, but he visits occasionally. He went to Oxford University

when he was younger and now runs a business on the mainland. At the moment his

brother looks after the island.



30 July



Today I returned to the mainland. The bus from Lautoka to Nadi had no

windows, but it was still sweltering despite the wind buffeting in through the

windows. Jon had also returned to the island so we went out for a drink. I had

made the most of my 5 days in Fiji, seeing the Fijians living the way they have

done for centuries. Tomorrow I was to fly to Hawaii.





Hawaii - The North Shore



31 July



31st July 1996 happened twice for me! The first time I spent the day in the

hostel in Nadi; it rained all day. Then I flew to Hawaii crossing the date line

landing 22 hours before I left. So the second 31st July was spent on the beach

in the sun, snorkelling and playing volleyball. I was picked up at the airport late

at night and taken to the opposite side of the island on the North Shore of

surfing fame. As we drove along the highway, the sun rose over the pineapple

fields. Claire and Lorraine who I had lived with in Glebe were also on the flight

and came with me to the hostel. The rest of the day was spent around the beach

finishing off my longest ever day, 46 hours.





93

1-6 August



The hostel was across the road from the beach. Just 5 minutes walk along the

coast was Waimea Bay, a famous surf beach. Here there is a 20ft rock that

people jump off. Also close by were the surf beaches, Sunset Beach and the

Bonzai Pipeline. We did the obvious thing and went along to sunset beach to

watch the sunset one evening. I was back in the Northern Hemisphere and so it

was summer. There are no waves in the summer so it is good for snorkelling

which I did a lot of over the week. In the winter the waves can reach 30ft, and

international surf competitions are held here. Not for novices.



Every evening there would be a friendly game of volleyball. One game was more

competitive when we played for beer. We won and had free drinks all night.

Barbecues were organised some nights and a supermarket down the road had all

we needed to drink. It was nice to stay a while in one hostel and get to know a

few of the people who were also staying for a while. Hue from Montreal had

hired a car, so one day we drove to Sacred Falls. It was a hot day and an hours

walk through dense jungle. At the end of the walk there was a cool plunge pool

below the falls and while we swam it started to rain. It was so hot though that

this made the walk even more pleasant.



Dave from Utah was a keen snorkeller and said that turtles could be seen off

the shore. So we went turtle hunting. We swam all the way round to Waimea Bay

and here we saw a load of people swimming a race. When they reached the beach

they ran to their bikes so I guessed it must have been a triathlon, but it wasn't

the famous Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon. We didn't find any turtles. There was a

great hike up to a ruin on the mountain overlooking Waimea Bay which used to be

an old Hawaiian temple.



Kept up to date with the Olympics on TV. One day there was a Bay Watch

special on TV. Everyone gathered to watch it as it was shot on location on the

North Shore, just down the road. It was filmed in winter when the waves were

30ft high, but the hostel guys knew a few of the locals and famous surfers who

had made appearances in the program.



7 August



Well, after a weeks relaxing I was ready to get back on my bike. Cycled down

the Windward Coast to Kaneohe. It was nice to be back on my bike, my first full

days cycling in 1 1/2 months! Crossed the island via the Pali Highway. This was a

very steep climb with two tunnels at the top, tunnelling through the Koolau

Ranges. Stopped at Nuuanu Pali Lookout at the top. It was very windy and kids

were throwing 1c coins and bottle tops over the edge and watching the wind

blowing them back over their heads.





94

The descent into Honolulu was scenic, but very wet as it started to rain. At

Waikiki I found a hostel to stay in. It was still afternoon so I borrowed a boogie

board and went surfing off Ala Moana Beach. The waves on this coast are 1-3ft

at this time of year where as the North Shore is flat. There were some very

good surfers out on the waves. I got trashed and cut my foot on some rocks, so

I gave up and went back for dinner.





Waikiki



8 August



Today I cycled up to Diamond Head which is a large crated which overlooks

Waikiki. Then I continued round the coast to Hanamma Bay which is a top spot

for snorkelling with the fishes round the reef. Most tourists hire moped to get

around the island, but I overtook a few mopeds on my bike. The native Hawaiians

call non-Hawaiians Howlies, and they shout it from car windows as they pass.

They are not as friendly as the Fijians.



I finished my day with a cycle up and around Round Top Drive with fabulous

views over Waikiki to the coast and Diamond Head where I had been that

morning. Went boogie boarding at sunset; the city and Diamond Head looked so

beautiful from out on the ocean.



9 August



Moved to a better hostel one block from Waikiki Beach. There was a better

crowd of people. At night I was asked to go with Nancy, Allison, Charlie and

Jessica to have some drinks with an American guy, Kane. They had met him on

the beach where he had invited them to come to his apartment for a party. They

were a little unsure so they asked me along. Sure enough, the party was just him

and us, but we had a good laugh and drank all of his vodka.



10 August



Visited the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbour. 1100 people died when the

battleship was sunk in 1941 and the memorial is built over the shipwreck a few

feet below.



11 August



We all took the bus right around the island, stopping off at beaches on the way.

We stopped at Haleiwa where I had stayed last week. Here we discovered Mr.

Matsomoto's shaved ice. His shaved ice is legendary and we queued out of the





95

door with about 30 other people, but it was well worth it. Back at the hostel

they organised a barbecue on the beach. I stayed up to 3am before cycling to

the airport for my 7:10am flight. I had not had chance to do much cycling in Fiji

or Hawaii, but I had a great time. But as a result I had started to run out of

money so I would have to be careful and camp a lot in California. But that was

fine as in California I was to return to cycle touring for the last 10 days of my

trip.









96

California - 12th August to 22nd August



Overview



LA is fantastic for cycling. Head along the beach cycle track along with the

thousands of roller bladers, joggers and other cyclists, its a posers paradise. I

finished off my world tour by heading of South to San Diago along the cool

coastline (95F), before turning inland to return to LA via the spectacular

mountains inland with the temperature hitting 110F. The mountains are the

best I have ever seen, the roads wind around the mountains clinging to the edge

with a sea of forest in the valley below. Expect to reach 7000 ft + in altitude

before soaring down into LA along Sunset Boulevard.





LA



12 August



Stayed at a hostel on Hermosa Beach about 20km from LA city center. I arrived

late afternoon so there was time before sunset for a cycle along the beach. The

bike paths are full of joggers, rollerbladers and walkers. Everyone has to pose,

especially the rollerbladers. Plenty of pretty ladies out jogging. I had only one

night here, however, as tomorrow I was to cycle to San Diego via the coast and

then back via the mountains inland.





The California Coast



13 August



Spent all morning trying to find somewhere in the huge city that sold camping

gas. Finally set off at lunch. Much of the route followed the coast and there

were cycle paths along the beaches. Passed Huntington Beach where surfing was

introduced into the USA. Arrived at San Clemente State Park at 6pm where I

camped in the crowded campground on the cliffs above the beach.



14 August



Today's route took me through Camp Pendleton, a military area with F14's and

helicopters flying overhead. The cycling was easy with a tailwind and I arrived

early at San Elijo State Beach. Spent a few hours on the beach, the

temperature was hot for this time of the year with the coastal temperature





97

being 95F. Leaving LA behind, I could see the brown smog on the horizon to the

north



15 August



A long hard days cycling as I had to pass through San Diego tuning inland

towards the mountains where I would camp. Got lost in the city, but finally

battled my way across to Paradise Valley Road. There then followed a 3000ft

climb to Cuyama Rancho State Park in Cleveland National Forest. In between the

coast and the forest, the scenery was scrubland, very pale and yellow. As I

moved inland the temperature lifted to 110F. In the middle of nowhere I

passed a bush fire station. The firemen were out washing their engines and

called me over offering to cool me down with their hose and filling my water

bottles. The last 10 miles of climbing were the hardest of the whole tour as I

was convinced I would have to give up and sleep in the bush. I was nearly passing

out, but finally made it to the campground at 7pm after cycling 83 miles, mostly

uphill.





The California Mountains



16 August



Spent the day recovering and reading in the cool shade of the huge pine trees -

just tranquil. After dinner I went for a walk along one of the trails. I had been

told by some other campers that they had heard a mountain lion growl when they

had been out walking. Campers are warned to be careful as there are mountain

lions about, although you are very unlikely to see one. They have many names;

cougar, panther, puma. They recommend that if you meet one, you should make

yourself as tall as possible, wave a stick and shout. Never run away. On my walk I

saw some deer and thought I heard a panther growl in the bushes. I was so sure

that I picked up a large stick and carried on walking scanning the bush for the

cat. But panthers are never seen, only heard.



17 August



Another big day cycling 93 miles over mountains and through valleys helped by a

tailwind. After lunch I slept in the shade as it was far too hot to cycle, the

temperature pushing 120F. But for the rest of the day the heat didn't bother

me too much as I created my own air conditioning. Camped at Mt. San Jacinto

State Park campground in the beautiful forest village of Idyllwild. At night the

park ranger put on an open air slide show on the area and history. There was a

campfire and after the show there were campfire songs.



18 August





98

Descended from 6000ft down to 2000ft in the San Jacinto Valley. On the way

down there were great views, but a thick brown smog band obscured the hills on

the other side of the valley. Climbed by up the other side of the valley to Oak

Glen for lunch, then on to San Bernardino National Forest which are big ski

mountains in the winter. Camped at Barrow Flats at 7000ft.



19 August



Climbed to over 8000ft, then descended to Big Bear Lake which sits at 6875ft.

Fantastic scenery, more beautiful and vast than alpine. Continues along the 'Rim

of the World' scenic drive high above the smog covered San Bernardino Valley.

This had got to be one of the most fantastic area to cycle in the world and I

would highly recommend it as a 3 or 4 day cycle trip out from LA. Tomorrow I

would cycle almost all the way to LA to camp in the mountains overlooking the

city.



20 August



Cycled along the Angeles Crest Highway which was very demanding, but also very

rewarding. The road appear to follow the ridge of the mountains with huge drops

down into the forest covered valleys below. Close to LA I found a clearing in the

bush to camp next to the highway, leaving a short cycle tomorrow. Over the

forest I could just make out the LA sprawl and downtown LA through the smog.





LA Sites



21 August



Cycled the rest of the way into LA then fought my way across the city to Sunset

Boulevard which led to Hollywood Boulevard. Here I found the hollywood walk of

fame - 2000 stars names etched in the sidewalk. At the end was Mann's Chinese

Theatre where many of the greatest stars have left their handprints and

signatures in cement. There was Clint Eastwood, Marx Brothers, Maurice

Chevalier, Bing Crosby and about 100 more. Back on my bike I made my way along

the coast passing through Venice Beach where all the fitness fanatics work out.

The beach path then led me back to Hermosa Beach.



22 August



Today saw the end of my trip as I cycled to the airport. I had reached the NZ,

Fiji and Hawaii airports by bike so I though I would do the same for LA. But the

only road leading to the airport was a 2 lane freeway, no bikes allowed. There

was no other way so I stubbornly carried on cycling as fast as I could with the





99

traffic whistling passed me. This was quite a buzz and I was also looking forward

to going home after 365 days away.









100

Appendix A - Introduction to Cycle

Touring in Australia



The Roads



The further away from the cities and the further inland you go, the more dirt

and gravel roads you encounter. Gravel roads are called graded roads as they are

levelled or graded by adding more gravel using big plough-like trucks called

Graders. They are graded occasionally, however, in the Northern Territory, all

roads are graded after the wet season as most roads have been washed away.

Going is tough on graded roads as in time they become more and more

corrugated. The corrugations run across the road and are worst on the inside of

bends. If a grader has been through recently then the road can be smoother,

but the dirt will be loose and deep and even harder to plough through. Up to

date maps will be an invaluable guide to which roads are sealed, although graded

roads are becoming sealed all the time. The Highway from Adelaide to Darwin is

now sealed all the way. The Australians call this route 'up the guts'! In the

towns, cars can get fined for parking at the side of the road, facing against the

traffic.





The Accommodation



I used camping and hostels which I found to be the best combination. Hostels

are spread too far apart in some of the more beautiful outback areas. Camping

was an excellent way to bridge the gap between hostels and to really experience

Australia's great outdoors. Some other cyclists I met were camping for the

whole trip, but it is worth staying in hostels occasionally if only to keep your

sanity. The hostels were great places to meet other travellers and there were

many people who I kept bumping into at hostels later on in the trip. They were

also great for drying out kit and having a warm shower. Hostels cost $10 to $15.

Camping can be free in some areas, particularly the Snowy Mountains National

Park, but a lot of camping grounds charge $10 per tent even if you are only one

person.





Food



Eat lots! I had little variety in the food I ate as the tried and tested menus

provided minimal weight and maximum energy. There was room for some change,

however, and I would stop at any fruit stalls or local speciallity shops to try the







101

local delicacies. One delicacy that every town boasted as the best was pies.

The variety of fillings was amazing including wallaby, deer and curried scallop.

Fruitloaf and cheese was my standard lunch, but I was often carry a 800g fruit

cake for extra energy boosts. A bag of nuts or a packet of biscuits would also

help me get through the day. In the evenings I would cook a mix of stew and

pasta, mixing what ever vege, packet soup, pasta and dried mash potato I could

find in the shops along the way. The mash and past gave most of the energy and

anything else was added for taste. To keep food cool and fresh, I stored some

things in a Tupperware box in a cool-bag. A flask of frozen water was included

to keep things really cold.





The Fauna



To see Australia's fauna you really have to camp out. It is a shame, however,

that so many animals depend on campers for their source of food. They will hang

around campsites looking for scraps or a friendly hand. Do not feed the animals!

Kangaroos and wallabys are articularly vulnerable to a gum disease which results

from eating processed food. Also, after the holiday season, their source of food

disappears and many starve. So just admire the cute critters. Also, keep your

tent locked up. Put a padlock on the zip as it has been known for Possums to open

zips and steel food. I had no sewn in ground sheet in my tent and so I was

occasionally visited at night by a hungry possum or a spotted quoll (small

marsupial cat). A sewn in ground sheet would also have kept out the ants!

Locusts are not seen, but heard. They are ear piercingly load in the Snowy

Mountains in the summer. Tasmanian Devils can be seen at night. The easiest

place to find one is at the roadside eating a ridicule (Aussie name for an animal

that has been hit by a car). Road kills are an unfortunate result of cars

travelling too fast at night, but there are so many you may see more kangaroos

dead at the roadside than alive. Only 10% of Tassie Devils reach maturity as

most of them are killed while feeding on the road. In the west and centre of the

country, dingoes will pass through campsites at night. They are harmless unless

you annoy them, so give them a sausage if they want one. Shake your shoes every

morning as there may be a poisonous Funnel Web spider or a Red Back. Many of

Australia's snakes are poisonous also. They often sleep on the baking tarmac in

the day and can be a hazard. I had to swerve a few times to avoid running over

one. If disturbed they can whip up and bite your angle as you pass. Fortunately,

no snakes visited me in my tent. Oh, and I never saw a wild koala the whole time

I was there.



The birds are even more beautiful and varied. Galahs are pink and grey which

creates a beautiful flurry of colour as they fly. There is an endless chorus of

bird song while cycling through dense bush and the occasionally bird will dart out

of the shadows and race off ahead of a cyclist along the line of the road. One

bird, however, can be a real menace. Australia has crows also that will attack





102

cyclists. On day I saw a strange shadow bobbing up and down above my shadow,

and I looked up to see a crow attacking my helmet. These birds are very bold

and difficult to ward off.





The Flora



All the trees are designed to cope with bush fires which pass through all areas

about every 20 to 50 years. The Banksia even drops cones that won't release

their seeds until they are burnt. That way, after a bush fire has passed through,

the seeds are sewn and a new generation of Banksias grow. Each branch fork on

a Banksia can be counted back to the trunk to see approximately how many years

it has been since the last bush fire passed through. By far the most common

tree is the Eucalyptus which covers almost all of Australia.





The Stars



Australia and the Southern Hemisphere have the 3 brightest stars in the sky.

None of these can be seen from England. The stars are especially bright above

Australia because of the hole in the Ozone layer! The most famous constellation

is the Southern Cross and it is this that is featured in the Australian flag. The

tail of the Southern Cross always points towards the North Star.





TV and Radio



If you get chance to watch TV, watch 'Hey Hey Its Saturday' on Saturday

evenings. It's a bit like Noel's House Party, but lasts for two hours and has been

running for 25 years. It's a national institution and has an excellent formula. As

well as the presenters they have a puppet called `Agro' who chips in with

comical quips, a voice from above who also chips in when he feels like it, and an

artist who keeps drawing artistic gags that he draws on impulse and puts in-

front of his camera. So there is a joke a second as the presenter tries to keep

everything flowing. Great fun.



The main channel is the ABC. There are also 3 commercial channels 7, 9 and

TEN. Channel 32 operated for a while as a public access channel, but it was

recently taken off the air because it became indecent!



A radio is essential if you are travelling solo. The ABC radio station seems to

play a lot of Irish and Country music. The main national station and the most

popular station is JJJ or TripleJ. A little like radio one, but much better, this

station has no adverts. There is no censorship of good music over risky topics.

You need to be near a populated area to receive this or any other radio station.





103

In NSW and Victoria you can get TripleM, also a popular station, but a little

more cheesy with gaffawing DJs. Other regional stations are TripleT in Tassie,

and Triple D in Darwin; you get the idea. Others are less obvious. The South

Coast to Adelaide is covered by 3AW.





Cost of Living



It may be of some use, or just serve as interest and amusement, to compare

prices on some of the popular commodities of our time. In 1995 you could get

A$2 for every £1 sterling.



Bread - $1.50 to $2.30 - very expensive I think (~40p UK)



Milk - $1.20 a litre (~80p UK)



Bananas - $1.50 to a kilo, $1 at markets - I ate a lot of bananas



Butternut Pumpkin - 80c a kilo



Holden Commadore or a Fiat Falcon - about £23000 - most popular saloon cars

at the time (~£10000 UK)



Fish and Chips - $3.50 (~£2.50 UK)



Hostels - $8 to $15 (~£10 UK)



Mars Bar - $1 (~35p UK)



Football Game (Aussie Rules) - ~$7 (~£15 UK)



Steak - $7 a kilo



Blundstone Boots - just $45 - compare to Dr. Martens prices in Blighty (~£60

UK)









104

Appendix B - The Man From Snowy River

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around

That the colt from old Regret had got away,

And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound,

So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.

All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far

Had mustered at the homestead overnight,

For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,

And the stock-horse snuffs the battle with delight.



There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup,

The old man with his hair as white as snow;

But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up -

He would go wherever horse and man could go.

And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand,

No better horsemen ever held the reins;

For never horse could throw him while the saddle-girths would stand -

He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.



And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast;

He was something like a racehorse undersized,

With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least -

And such as are by mountain horsmen prized.

He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die -

There was courage in the quick impatient tread;

And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,

And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.



But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay,

And the old man said, "That horse will never do

For a long and tiring gallop - lad, you'd better stop away,

Those hills are far too rough for such as you."

So he waited, sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend -

"I think we ought to let him come," he said;

"I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the end,

For both his horse and he are mountain bred.



"He hails from Snowy River, up by Kosciusko's side,

Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough;

Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride,

The man that holds his own is good enough.

And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,







105

Where the river runs those giant hills between;

I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam,

But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen."



So he went; they found the horses by the big mimosa clump,

They raced away towards the mountain's brow,

And the old man gave his orders, "Boys, go at them from the jump,

No use to try for fancy riding now.

And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right.

Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills,

For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight,

If once they gain the shelter of those hills."



So Clancy rode to wheel them - he was racing on the wing

Where the best and boldest riders take their place,

And he raced his stock-horse past them, and he made the ranges ring

With the stockwhip, as he met them face to face.

Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash,

But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view,

And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash,

And off into the mountain scrub they flew.



Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and black

Resounded to the thunder of their tread,

And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered back

From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead.

And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way,

Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide;

And the old man muttered fiercely, "We may bid the mob good day,

No man can hold them down the other side."



When they reached the mountain's summit, even Clancy took a pull -

It well might make the boldest hold their breath;

The wild hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full

Of wombat holes, and any slip was death.

But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,

And he swung his stockwhip round and gave cheer,

And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,

While the others stood and watched in very fear.



He sent the flint-stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,

He cleared the fallen timber in his stride,

And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat -

It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.

Through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,





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Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;

And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound

At the bottom of that terrible descent.



He was right among the horses as they climber the farther hill,

And the watchers on the mountain, standing mute,

Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely; he was right among them still,

As he raced across the clearing in pursuit.

Then they lost him for a moment, where two mountain gullies met

In the ranges - but a final glimpse reveals

On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet,

With the man from Snowy River at their heels.



And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam;

He followed like a bloodhound on their track,

Till they halted, cowed and beaten; then he turned their heads for home,

And alone and unassisted brought them back.

But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,

He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur;

But his pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot,

For never yet was mountain horse a cur.



And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise

Their torn and rugged battlements on high,

Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze

At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,

And where around the Overflow the reed-beds sweep and sway

To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,

The Man from Snowy River is a household word today,

And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.



Copyright (c) 26 April 1890, Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson









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