The Final Road

Zooming out on my GPS gives me the reality of what I have actually achieved.

It seems every once in a while I need this reality check. A friend told me the other day as have many others, that I am living the dream travelling the world. 

This statement always felt out of place to me. I have always pondered why until I finally realized that everyone else's dream is now my everyday reality. And I must not lose focus on this fact and appreciate what I have accomplished and what challenges are yet to come.

Well as always plans seem to change at an instant. While in Cairns I found out that the boat Fred was to be shipped on from Darwin to Timor was cancelled. But if I drove hard to Darwin I could make an earlier shipping. So now all I needed to do was figure the best route through flooded and closed backroads and highways. 

Every guys dream on a motorcycle or in a  sports car.

The challenge was the 2500 km I needed to cover. But with a posted speed limit in the Northern Territory of 130kph it helped. 

floods, floods floods.......There were a lot of backroads I wanted to travel but the rainy season put an end to that idea.

Another first for accommodations. As mentioned earlier my camping days are over due to the rainy season. So I came across this place for the night.

Bed, Aircon, fridge, shower and toilet. Don't need muh more

Dropping Fred off at Toll shipping in Darwin to be placed in a container and loaded on a ship. The process was easy with a quick stop off first to Australian customs to get my carnet stamped. Then off to the port to process the bike. I myself will fly and catch up with Fred on the other side in Dili, East Timor.

I can hardly believe that I will be hitting my 22nd country and fourth continent already! 

Crocs and Spiders

Decided to take a trip North of Cairns to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree River.

View from atop Cape Tribulation

Did not see as many as I would like due to the high water levels. But these waters are loaded with them. The darker and dirtier the more dangerous the water is.

Daintree River

Baby Croc 

Mama Croc

You canon tell by the pictures but these fellows are about the size of your hand.

There were about five hanging around the washrooms. Makes you take a piss real fast thinking they may drop down on you.

Josephine Falls (North Queensland)

Just outside of Cairns there are numerous waterfalls with great swimming.

Nothing better than a dip to beat the high humidity and heat of the North.

Another watering hole called the boulders

Look at all the pretty birds. But wait why are the hanging upside down?

Damn big ass bats.....They actually call them flying foxes. Cutest critters you ever did see all furry and fuzzy.

Great to watch them take off each dusk in the thousands. Heading out to suck the blood from their unsuspecting victims. Not really though, they just eat fruit.

When it rains it pours

Seems that there is a good reason for these signs in Queensland and Northern Australia. I really had no intention to be driving the East Coast and Northern territory during the rainy season. But I have decided to try and catch the next boat to East Timor at the end of March. 

Just one of many water crossings I made that day

Now just because the signs say certain sections are open, conditions can change rapidly. This is cyclone/monsoon season and when it rains it rains real hard. 

I ended up riding for 4 hours through monsoon rain and was soaked to the bone. All I cared about was, would I be able to make it through the next flood crossing on the highway. 

As the day went on the crossings continued to get deeper and I did not want to be stuck in the middle of a flood zone. 

Finally had to pull over into a motel (my camping days are now officially over in Australia). Also the back road routes I had planned for in the North are no longer possible due to the flooding rivers and impassible mud roads.

After the rain the scenary is extra green. 

The soaking wet trip was worth it as I arrived in the resort town of Airlie Beach.

Semi tropical land and beautiful beaches along the Great Barrier Reef.  But notice how the beaches are empty?

It seems that there are some nasty little critters in the water. Getting stung by one of these can have some very bad consequences to your day or life. Seems they are at their worst from November to April and we are currently in February so a few months to go.

Due to the Box Jellyfish issue Airlie Beach created a beautiful man made lagoon  for tourist and locals to enjoy.

Well off to do laundry......It seems certain things you just can't get away from.

Fred working on Fred

Here I go again with another new set of tires for Fred. Just like death and taxes are always a guarantee. So is going through a lot of tires when riding around the world. I am now on my fourth set with many more to come!

And as usual it is a pain the ass to locate the tires you want. Even in developed countries it can be a challenge.

Mitas E07's

So this time after numerous calls I finally found what I  was looking for in Brisbane.  Lets see how long these ones last. I hope they at least get me to Singapore.

Fred getting ready for a little modification

Well once again, people I have come in to contact in the past have come through in the future. Back when I was in Adelaide I met a gentlemen named Fred through Jeffrey and Helen. And over a few beers in the pub he mentioned that should I ever be in Brisbane give him a shout. 
And of course I would have a place to stay. 

Talking shop over a few beers in Fred's man cave

Now after sitting in his shop (really it is his little hideaway) and talking over a few beers (well many really). I mentioned that with my new tires (because of the nobbies) I have a lot less room between the front mudguard and the tire. This can cause a problem for when going through mud as the front wheel can lock up with packed mud.

Fred making the riser kit

So I mentioned to Fred that there is a riser kit you can buy that will raise the guard by 10mm to help clear the mud. But what you need to know is Fred was an engineer in the Vietnam war and also worked on various mining operations. 

So he has the skill to create whatever he needs from scratch. To this day he still works on old engines and has every tool imaginable.

 So to buy something when you can easily make it, is sacrelgious.

Fred working on Fred

So a few hours later the following day and I have a brand new set of front mudguard risers.

 Both Fred and I thank you.

Local owls that have been on the property for years

Another little hobby of his is to sit back and watch the local bird population come in each evening for a feed. 

Courtesy of Fred of course.

All the birds get a together and share in the feast.

And again I will mention that this is what my trip is about. Meeting people like Fred and his wife Lynn. Great people with great life stories and always ready to lend a hand. 

From Bright to Byron Bay

One thing that has become apparent while in Australia. They are in love for Urinal troughs. They pretty much can be found in every establishment. Now I am all pro for these things especially at sporting events where you need to move volume. But I am learning that they are not the greatest idea for a country where you wear flip flops 90% of the time.

A few other things I have noticed:

They actually still have video stores (that was so yesterday guys).

Their internet infrastructure sucks big time

When you arrive in Australia you automatically forfeit your first name. From then on you will be for ever know as Mate. How's it going mate! G-Day Mate! No worries Mate!

Well I finally broke down and put on a set of Australian made barkbusters for Fred. I was tired of snapping break and clutch levers when the bike was dropped. The stock handguards just did not give the protection needed.    

After leaving Yea I headed to the town of Bright in the Snowy Mountains. Yup the are called that because they actually get snow here and have ski hills.

It was a great ride since it is the first time I had a chance to swim in some fresh water lakes. It reminded me of back home also with the mountains lined with Pine trees.

A must do when near Sydney is to ride the Sea cliff highway which takes you into the National Park just outside of Sydney. Amazing ride and a great semi tropical National Park right at Sydney's door step. 

Could live in this area in a heart beat!

Yup another lighthouse. This one found at Byron Bay.

Now i am just short of the Gold Coast in Byron Bay. From hear just great surf beaches and towns along with awesome views. I want to head further North, but am being challenged with the bloody Cyclone season in the North.

Bush fires and Yabbies

The greatest thing about travelling the way I do is my ability to change my mind and let the wind take me where it may. 

This is exactly what happened on my way back towards Melbourne. I left my good friends Jeffrey and Helens place again near Adelaide with all intentions of following the coast. But as I was driving it was bothering me that I would be retracing my route. 

And I really hate repeating my routes. 

Plus, if you were unaware Southern Australia and Victoria have been in a heat wave with 40 plus  weather for 5 days. Resulting in numerous bush fires which happen to be directly in the new path I want to follow back. 

But as always I figured nothing ventured nothing gain. 

So off I headed towards the fires to take me towards Melbourne. About halfway though the smoke started to thicken and I was directed to a detour taking me further north around the fires. 

Hugo, Mia, Natasha and Peter

Now as with everything things have a funny way of always working out in my travels. As I reviewing the map I realized I was now in a direct line with a town called Yea. This was exciting because I met a great family while camping back in December. And they told me that if I was ever passing through Yea their door was always open.  

So I decided to take a chance and call them up and see if they were home. My intention was to meet Peter in town for a beer after I set camp at the local Caravan park. But he would not hear any of that nonsense and insisted I come stay with them. And just like Jeffery and Helen in Adelaide their hospitality new no bounds.

I had such a good time over the following few days and was even introduced to the local art of Yabbing!

Baiting the traps with raw meat.

Little did I know that they basically have a version of what we in Canada call Crayfish and in Louisiana what they call Crawdads

Throwing out a trap with my helper Hugo

So off we went with the family to catch some Yabbeys. 

Peter display our first catch

There seems to be two ways to catch the critters. One is to set traps with meat to attract the critters.

And the other more fun and challenging way is to take a piece of string with meat on the end. Then throw the line in and wait until a Yabbey grabs the meat. Then you slowly haul the line in and try and scoop up the Yabbey with a net before he lets go and takes off back into the dam.

Our abbey catch. They are definitely bigger than our crayfish back home.

A nice pre dinner snack.

I also got a chance to head out with Peter and his brother-in-law to check the fence line on a ranch.

Herds of Roo's on the farm (I think that is what you call them).

Great view over looking the ranch land.

So, if you ever have a chance to travel as I do and are willing to step out of your comfort zone and except the offers of others. You will have an amazing time meeting people like I have in the past month.

I hope one day I will be able to return the favour to fellow travellers.