DARWIN to KATHERINE (via KAKADU NATIONAL PARK)
It’s when you start “doing” something that you realise just how hot it is up here. Your sweat even sweats when you’re cycling! For six days, there hasn’t been a moment when we’ve been dry – now that’s gross, huh?
Leaving Darwin, it didn’t take long to work out the [...]

DARWIN
Dazed and bleary eyed, we passed through the terminal and began building our bikes outside.  The air smells familiar – it’s good to be back in Australia. Twice we have locals approach us, and offer a place for us to stay.  It’s the wet season, and it’s pouring so we take up the offer.  Welcome [...]

PENANG to SINGAPORE
It is 10,509 kms from Beijing to Singapore. Add this to the distance we travelled in Sth America and Europe, and you have a total of 25,118 kms – a rather large number and achievement too!
Strangely though, crossing the Causeway into Singapore our feelings were mixed.  We can’t wait to get home, but [...]

PHUKET to PENANG
Leaving Phuket for Malaysia, it was now “Terrorists” not “Tourists” that we had to avoid. Thanks to the good people at the Australian Consulate in Bangkok, we had learned of the recent trouble in Southern Thailand and had hatched a cunning plan to avoid it – take a ferry from Satun (Thailand) to [...]

BANGKOK to PHUKET
Ask Shane, and he will tell you – it is 1,020 kms from Bangkok to Phuket. This was no holiday, or easy ride – it was 12-day, body bruising, real adventure – and one we were pleased to have shared…
From Bangkok, we took the main highway, first west then south. This is not [...]

 
HO CHI MINH to BANGKOK
Cambodia was the setting for our “silly season” – and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be…
The people were incredibly friendly.  Their smiles are so big, you couldn’t help but join in.  The road condition was also much better than we had feared.  The only real hazard, was avoiding [...]

HANOI to HO CHI MINH (aka SAIGON)
 
Nobody told us Vietnam would be this cold! Hanoi, really did feel like the “Paris of the East”, with locals decked out in scarves and beanies, and cupping mugs of coffee in their hands. It was not quite the South East Asia we had expected, so after a few [...]

HONG KONG to HANOI
In many ways, our final leg in China has been the most memorable.
Soon after leaving Macau, we managed to get ourselves involved in an organised charity ride. Riders from clubs in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangdong were taking part in the 200km ride from Guangdong to Deqing. They were so [...]

HANGZHOU to HONG KONG
So this is what cycling hills feels like? It had been that long, we had almost forgotten. But by the time we reached Hong Kong, we were taking them on like mountain goats. It was hard work in the heat – up, down, up, down – after 120 kms, we stop, knowing [...]

HANGZHOU
Hangzhou – clean, green and actually really, really nice!?  Not what we’ve come to expect from Chinese cities, but the perfect setting for catch up with my long time army mates, Tim and Frank.  Chaperoned by our expert local guides, we ate, drank and kareoked our way around town.  The stunning West Lake, with its [...]

BEIJING to HANGZHOU
Hello! Hello! If only we had a dollar for every time we’ve heard that…
China – you definitely know you are somewhere different!  Cars, buses, trucks, scooters, electric bikes, tractors, even wheel barrows, come at you from every direction.  It’s complete chaos, but strangely, it seems to work – as long as you blow [...]

WARSAW to BEIJING
It is 6,404 kms from London to St. Petersberg.  To some, this may seem like a lot – there are shorter and easier ways – but this is the distance we covered, and what an incredible adventure it has been…
We cycled through 14 countries, following a mix of pilgrim trails, trade routes, alpine [...]

BUDAPEST to WARSAW
They say a change is as good as holiday – and they’re not wrong!  Having Julia, Jim, Tim & B join us for the ride from Budapest to Warsaw, was a great reviver and a lot of fun!
There was no slacking though.  In just under two weeks, our bikie gang, crossed three countries [...]

VIVIERS DU LAC  to  BUDAPEST
Hmmm… Swiss chocolate!  Why does it taste so good ?  Even after 50 free samples at the Callier factory in Broc, we were no closer to the answer.  Now slightly ill, we concluded – it just does.  Room for one more Jess?
Free chocolate wasn’t the only highlight in ride through the [...]

TORINO, AMALFI, CINQUE TERRA & MONT BLANC
 
What an incredible week!  Our first stop was Torino, where Fabio, in expert style, hosted us at his parent’s house.  Antoni, Rach & Gabrielle also made the effort to join us from the UK.  It was a brilliant weekend.  As only Mama Cosenza can, we were treated to the [...]

MONTREJEAU to VIVIERS DU LAC
 
Leaving Montrejeau, we continued in the footsteps of our ancient Christian pilgrims.  Slowly, the peaks of the Pyreenes peaks gave way to flat (ish) farmland.  The sun came out, and the riding was blissfull.  We passed by the fairytale city of Carcassone, then crossed the stunning Alpilles down to the coast.
Riding along [...]

LONDON  to  MONTREJEAU
 With our long awaited visas in hand, we bid farewell to our friends and set off again on our bikes – this time in the right direction – towards Australia!  The weather leaving the UK, was not surprisingly, bloody awful!  But despite the cold, rain and blustery winds, we still felt a little [...]

LA PAZ to MACHU PICCHU
It is 8,205 km from Ushuaia to Machu Picchu.  Neither this number, nor our five month journey, will we ever forget.  South America was the dream and we´ve done it!  But we can´t celebrate too much – we still have Europe, Asia and Australia to go.  Afterall, it is a long [...]

ORURO to LA PAZ  (Inc  CHALALAN ECO LODGE)
La Paz – no guide book can prepare you.  Bolivia’s capital is set in a deep valley and sprawls out around you on every side.  How they keep building up the steep slopes is a real mystery.  Overcrowded mini buses choke the streets, hawkers sell everything you could [...]

SAN PEDRO to ORURO (via SALAR DE UYUNI)
So this is it, this is Atacama?  For some reason we expected more from the world’s driest desert??  Its vast nothingness seemed lost on us. Maybe it was the tiring 25km of uphill and constant headwind we’d battled from San Pedro that had left us a little jaded.  [...]