It seems a long time ago, only 4 months in reality , that i set off from the Indian Ocean just south of Perth in Western Australia, to cycle across to the Pacific Ocean , and Sydney.
A couple of days ago I cycled down George Street in Sydney to the harbour area , and then the iconic view of the bridge and Opera house came into view. I had completed 4425 miles, or over 7000 kms, of cycling to reach here.
I met many other touring cyclists along the way and shared experiences with them. I even met some a couple of times, the second meeting being thousands of miles from he first. I stayed with lots of Australians, some were friends I had me before, some were Couchsurfing hosts, and some were people I had met during the trip. Everyone was friendly and generous, ( my Karma must have been good.), Also had assistance from motorised travellers, the Grey Nomads, as they are called, retired people who travel around Australia in motor homes.
One of my highlights was meeting Flic, the girl from the infamous "Bike for Africa" thread, a couple of times ( her family invited me to stay ) the second time we even went for a little bike ride. She really is an amazing person, competed in the Classic Sydney to Hobart yacht race, came 3rd, sailed for Australia, toured Europe, cycled for 3 months solo in Africa: Egypt, Ethiopia,Kenya, Burundi, before being injured by a passing truck.
Now I have completed the journey my body has decided to ache, big time! All the little pains you ignore on the road suddenly demand attention, walking around is very hard work. But I know this will be only temporary.
During the trip, which included many hundreds of miles off road, I had only one puncture- on the trailer, the bike has Schwalbe Marathon XR Evolutions on her . and NO mechanical failures, thanks to SJS Cycles for building my Thorn Raven Catalyst to such high standards.
Full (almost) report and pics can be found at:
www.pedalpatagonia.co.uk
and click on the Australia 2007-2008 link
I will finish off the report soon
Cheers
George