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 “road train” is king of the highway and you had better give them plenty of room. Towing four trailers, these trucks roar past, and if you get too close – suck you in towards them! It definitely keeps you on your toes.

By chance, while looking for a place to put up our tent, we bumped into territory legend, Terry Baldwin. He has lived around here for over 50 years and is about as “fair dinkum” as you’ll ever get. We spent a memorable night, sitting around the table in his “bush camp” style home, listening to tales of crocodiles, buffalo, cattle and adventure. Terry, you are what makes our country great – good luck with the Buffalo Industry Hall of Fame!

Kakadu National Park is wild and stunning. For three days, we cycled through its wetlands – over rivers filled with crocs, past sacred aboriginal sites, all the while, listening to the constant call of birds, swatting flies by day and mozzies by night. If there is ever a reason to take climate change seriously – then the risk of losing a place like this must surely be it.

After Kakadu, we passed through the historic gold mining town of Pine Creek. There is still gold to be found here, as we discovered, finding a half buried $2 coin on the roadside out of town!

Now in Katherine, we are having a rest day before we continue south along the Stuart Highway to Tennant Creek.

Stay tuned and enjoy the ride!

Jules & Jess

Want to learn more? Then check out the link below;

http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/kakadu/

On the road to Kakadu !

Most roads close up here in the Wet Season

Now that's a big croc !!

Road Trains. When they pass you - get out of their way !

Heading into the "wetlands"

View from Beatrice Hill. See the rain falling in the distance.

With Territory legend, Terry Baldwin

You can't swim in the water here !

Tammy "in her office" ! The Bark Hutt Inn, Arnhem Highway.

Welcome to Kakadu !!

Stunning wetlands

Nice but deadly rivers

Nouralangie Rock. A sacred aboriginal site and art gallery.

Immitating the rock art

This is Australia and we love it !

A "classic" billabong

Jess enjoying "a very small" bit of shade

Termites the "carpet cleaners" of the bush

An historic outback windmill in Pine Creek

Sunrise at our campsite on the Copperfield Dam

Cattle Country. Katherine, NT

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 to Darwin!

Darwin is an interesting mix and grows on you easily.  It is a modern capital, but with a distinctive frontier feel about it.  Twice it has been flattened – first by the Japanese in WWII, then by Cyclone Tracey in 1974.  Combine that with suffocating heat, waterways filled with crocs, and the constant reminder of isolation and you can start to appreciate how resilient and independent the locals are.  They also tell it like it is.  As we found out, fumbling around trying to insert our credit card in the machine at the supermarket. “This is Darwin, luv – swipe it”.

After a brief tour of the major sites, we headed to the ABC radio station to share our story.  A word of advice, you will never win trying to introduce your partner “boxing style”!  Jokes aside, it was a great experience and we thank Leon Compton for having us on his show.  You can listen to the reply on our Media page if you are interested.

Next we met crocodile guru, Tom Nichols, of Darwin’s Crocodile Management Program.  His team keep troublesome crocs out of Darwin’s waterways and teach locals how to be “Croc Safe”.  They trapped and removed over 250 crocodiles last year!  We patted a recently caught “saltie” and secretly hoped this would be as close as we ever come to one again.

We rounded out our stay, having dinner with Greg & Kathy, whom we met while fixing a puncture in Mitchell Street.  A retired couple they have cycled to Darwin from Sydney, and are now making preparations for the journey on to Western Australia!  It was a great dinner, and nice to realise we aren’t the only crazy people up here on bikes!

From Darwin, we head across to Kakadu National Park, then down the Stuart Highway to Katherine.

Stay tuned and enjoy the ride!

Jules & Jess

Want to learn more?  Then check out the link below;

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/becrocwise/index.html

4 AM putting the bikes together outside Darwin airport

Welcome to Darwin!

Thanks for letting us stay in your shop Phil !

Darwin - an interesting mix of capital and frontier town

Surf's Up! Darwin waterfront precinct

"The Wet Season" Storm clouds brewing over Darwin Harbour

"Sweetheart" The heavy weight king of the billabong!

Up close, with 5.1m and 780kg of crocodile!

Invasion fears, after the bombing of Darwin during WWII

A WWII gun embattlement on Darwin's shorefront

Jess "live" on ABC Radio Darwin

With Tom Nichols and a "croc trap"

Jess patting a "Saltie" !

Sunsets here are amazing!

Magnum's for dessert !! Dinner with Greg & Kathy before leaving.

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 with only one more continent to go, the end is also getting closer.  No more strange food, struggling to be understood or things that work – somehow differently to how you expect? This new world might even take a little getting use too!  But that’s why home, is called home, and why it will be such a great 8,000 km dash to the finish line.

Leaving Penang, we first had to contend with Chinese New Year celebrations. The roads were jammed, and for the first time, finding a cheap hotel was proving difficult!  But this was a small price to pay, and the Chinese revellers soon amazed us with their goodwill and gifts of carefully wrapped mandarins!

Our next stop was KL.  An impressive city, but one we would not recommend cycling around. I’m not even sure I would feel safe driving a Hummer through its maze of expressways and flyovers!

Keep it quiet – but in Melaka we celebrated a birthday.  Yep, Jules, turned 34.  Maybe this is why he is starting to struggle up those hills in the midday sun?

We arrived in Singapore, to a heroes welcome from the kids at the Australian International School.  The Pre-school, Year Two and Year Five classes, challenged us with their questions and impressed us with their handmade “good luck” cards.  We thank them all for a wonderful day!!

From here, we fly to Darwin and begin our ride across the Outback to Cairns, then down the east coast to Melbourne.  There is plenty to look forward too.

Enjoy the ride!

Jules & Jess

On the road again. Singapore here we come!

Chinese New Year. Now they are big incense!

The iconic symbols and expressways of KL

Chores need to be done, even on a rest day

Roadside bike repairs on way out of KL

Melaka - colourful and charming

And peaceful bliss in comparison with the Malaysia's capital !

Loi, doing an expert job of keeping us on the move

Community Kareoke! It was so bad, you loved it!

We now appreciate these signs you see in tourist places

Someone's Birthday ?

Clocking up 25,000 kms - a big number!

In Singapore, the end of the road in Asia

Chatting with the AIS Pre-Schoolers !

Question time with the Year 5's

Receiving our handmade "good luck" cards

Thanks Rene, and everyone at AIS for a wonderful day !!

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 Langkawi, then another onto mainland Malaysia. It may sound simple, even pleasurable, but we were taking no chances and began our preparations immediately.

Krabi, with its picture perfect beaches, blue water and majestic cliffs would be perfect. For nine intensive days, we swam, read books, threw frisbees, visited islands, watched sunsets and dined our way to readiness. Finally, for that critical “eye of the tiger” we would need to survive, our choice of accommodation had been perfect – right next door to the local kick boxing stadium! “Muay Thai, Muay Thai – Tonight, Tonight”. We were fired up and ready – it was now or never.

Leaving Krabi, we carefully pedaled though the rubber plantations, passed brilliantly decorated Mosques and quiet fishing villages to reach Satun – the end of the road, for us in Thailand. It was hot and sweaty, but apart from that uneventful – could it really be this easy??

For little more than a few dollars, a modern “stealth” ferry whisked us and our bikes onto Langkawi. The only moment of “fear” we experienced, was almost losing our bikes overboard as we unloaded them onto the jetty.

We had done it – we had avoided the terrorists! Of course, this was no piece of cake, but nothing two fearless adventure cyclists couldn’t manage (smile). If you’re travelling overland from Thailand to Malaysia – we would definitely recommend it.

From there, we caught another ferry to the mainland (Kuala Kedah), then a quick pedal down to Penang, where we have met Jess’s parents for a week off to recuperate!

Australia is close now – we have only 1,000 kms to go before Singapore. While Darwin is still a long way from our finish in Melbourne, the idea, has a certain good feeling about it. We can’t wait!

Jules & Jess

The road through Phangnga National Park to Krabi

Krabi - the perfect place to get that "eye of the tiger" and prepare for the Terrorists

It would be our toughest challenge yet

Could we do it?

Intensive training begins - sunset watching

Keeping up our strength at a roadside lunch stall

Learning new skills - boat handling

Observation training

To the untrained it may look easy...

The beautiful Maya Bay, Phi Phi Islands (from "The Beach" movie!)

Colourful local long boats

The final preparation - a mean looking haircut !

Saying goodbye to King and Country in Satun (gotta love the Nikon!)

Our modern "stealth" ferry to Langkawi

We had done it! Now a week off in Penang with Jess's parents to recuperate!

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 the most enjoyable riding, especially when it’s raining and your being chased by dogs, but it was necessary and got us out of the capital and down the coast quickly.

Ban Krud was stunning and provided our first real “tropical” riding experience. We literally pedaled along the beach and through the palm trees – and yes, you do have to watch out for falling coconuts!!

Chumpon, 550 kms south of Bangkok, was our half way mark, and it’s fair to say, no one was looking forward to our planned day off more than Shane. Right on the beach, it was the perfect place to rest our sore muscles and aching backsides.

From there, we crossed over the jungle covered mountains that divide Thailand, and got our first glimpses of Burma and the beautiful Andaman Coast. It is rewarding riding, but hard work in this heat…

After a long day, and running short of time, we had to seek refuge with the monks in the temple at Khao Fa Chi. Staying with them was a great experience, that is of course, you don’t mind getting up early – the day here starts at 4.15am!

Khao Lak is the real gem along this stretch.  Relaxing on the beach, it is hard to be believe, this stunningly blue and tranquil water, could have delivered such a devastating tsunami.  Funny too, that we didn’t mind having to take a first floor apartment, because all the beachside bungalows were booked…

The final day into Phuket was a real tough one – even for us, which doesn’t happen so often these days – but Shane could smell the finish line, and no mountains were going to stop him getting there now.

I think the victory photo on the beach tells the story pretty well… Congratulations, mate – you made it!  Awesomeness!!!

We certainly had earned our dinner with Luke and Carly (Jess’s brother and partner) who just happened to be out holidaying in Phuket too.

Jules & Jess

The start line - Shane's apartment in Bangkok

A happy man, after 95kms, and the end of day 1

Jess & Shane after having survived another dog chase

A hilly detour through Sam Roi Yot National Park

Lunch time

The joys (and horrors) of petrol station toilet stops

Real "tropical" riding, Ban Krud

How sweet! Our own table set in the garden by the hotel staff

Waking up in the morning in, Chumpon

Up and over the mountains that divide Thailand

That's Burma over the river !!

Our room in the temple, Khao Fa Chi

Early start from the temple (we've been awake for 2hrs already!)

Khao Lak, a real gem

Tsunami territory

Jess sweating it out on the hills into Phuket

Congrats mate, you made it! 1,020 kms Bangkok to Phuket

The celebration dinner with Luke & Carly (Jess's brother and partner)

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 the numerous speeding government officials in their luxury 4WDs!  Cambodia is poor, so you have to be prepared for that, but it was a great country to cycle through and really does offer a lot more than Angkor Wat!!

Speaking of which, Angkor Wat (Siem Reap) is where we spent our Xmas.  It was a relaxing (and lazy) break.  A hotel with a pool, lots of yummy food, and when we finally got sick of that – a ride around the amazing Angkor temples.  We usually get “templed out” pretty quick, but we must say, these are worth the effort!

We then pedaled to Bangkok, to spend New Year’s Eve with our good friends, Shane and Joop.  Bangkok has never disappointed, and didn’t this time, which largely has to do with Shane being such a perfect host.  We counted down to 2010 in style at an Italian restaurant, watching fireworks from the roof, wearing silly hats and blowing annoying trumpets.  It was the perfect end, to an incredible year!

Shane has now decided to join us for the ride down the coast to Phuket.  It is going to be hot, and involve crossing the mountains that run down the spine of Thailand.  It is about 1,000 kms, and will take us just under two weeks to complete.  But what makes it most impressive – Shane can’t even remember the last time he rode a bike!!  It’s sure to be a great adventure – stay tuned.

Jules & Jess

Classic Cambodia!

Two cyclistas in Phnom Penh

Jess "on the road" in Cambodia

A typical Cambodian house

We are not alone! Another cyclist leaving their mark

Where we spent Xmas... by the pool

I scream, you scream, we all scream ice-cream

Dinner out on the town, Siem Reap

The daddy - Angkor Wat

The many faces of Angkor Thom

Bumper to bumper elephants riding between the temples

Ta Phrom... choked by the trees

Pedaling to NYE in Bangkok

Shane & Joop

Silly hats & annoying trumpets

Happy New Year 2010 !!

 
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 days wandering the narrow and hectic streets, we decided to head south (and rather quickly too!).

We took the coast road to Saigon. It was busy, at times scary, but overall effortless riding – mostly flat, with a decent shoulder, and a good tailwind too! Just be prepared to answer “hello!”, “hello!” and wave at everyone of Vietnam’s 85m inhabitants along the way… there is no escape!

The scenery here, especially coming from China, is very rural. You cycle passed farmers working water buffalo in flooded rice paddies, and fisherman going out to sea, in colourful hand-made boats – it is almost like you have stepped back in-time! Then the school bell rings, and literally hundreds of kids would join you on their bikes. The race was then well and truly on…

With not much in-between, we looked forward to our breaks in the “touristy” towns. We took rest days in Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Mui Ne. Each had its own appeal, but Nha Trang was by far and away our favourite – the perfect beach, with finally, some hot and sunny weather. Do we really have to leave??

Overall, Vietnam would be great cycling, except for one thing – the warped view many locals seem to have of westerners. We have not been cheated, or felt so distant from the community we are cycling through as we have in Vietnam. It’s a real shame, with both sides to blame, and both sides that suffer.

While bike troubles plagued our final leg into Saigon – I suppose, you do get that after 21,000kms – luckily it didn’t stop us riding, and we remain on track to be in Siem Reap (Cambodia) for Xmas, and Bangkok for New Year’s Eve.

 
And as this will be our last update before then, we’d like to say a big… Merry Xmas and the Happiest of New Year’s to you all!

Jules & Jess

The cold and hectic streets of Hanoi

Karst landscapes around Ninh Binh

Rice paddies and buffalo

Colourful fishing boats

Trucks, buses, school kids (and cows) on Highway 1

Vinh Moc war time tunnels

Our mute 4ft guide was actually born in the tunnels (we think?)

20,000kms ... half way around the equator !

Picturesque fishing villages

Mostly flat riding

View down from the Hai Van pass (north of Da Nang)

Lantern lit Hoi An restaurants

Here comes the rain again...

Pho Bo, the only thing to eat outside tourist towns

Nha Trang, the perfect beach

As voted by the beach expert !

Saigon here we come

Temple thingy en-route

Room with a view, and only $14 per night

Finally the scenery changes... (are we in Australia?)

Sunset at Mui Ne beach

Roadside drink stop - the perfect way to beat the heat now!

Saigon streets, after Vietnam beats Singapore 4-1 in football

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 taken by our much larger journey, that we were promptly invited as guests of honour to their halfway lunch! We had never eaten so much during the middle of a day, and it proved having something in common can often be as effective as language!

We hit the hills again soon after, which ended up being the death nail for my worn chainring (the cog bit at the front of the bike). Luckily we had sent spares to Hong Kong, and after some, at times, nerve racking roadside mechanics, were back on the road taking on the hills again.

Stopping just short of Guilin, we took a day off to explore the beautiful Li River, and try our luck at finding a hotel my Dad had helped build some 30 years ago. China seems to be changing by the second, so despite our best impersonation efforts, it was not suprising that we failed on the hotel. The raft along the stunning Li River, more than made up for it though – and showed the views here are just as magical as they always have been.

Heading south for Vietnam, we were fortunate enough to meet Liang and his family. We stayed in their hotel, joined them for dinner and breakfast – the latter, involving animal insides and beer – and even had Liang ride with us on his motorbike to Luizhou (100km away!). It was a true local experience, that we both enjoyed very much. Just not so sure we would ever trade our bacon & eggs though!!

Just north of Nanning, we finally met some other independent cycle tourists – Steve an American, and oddly enough, Lung a local Chinese. We have missed these roadside encounters that were so common in South America and Europe. We talked both their ears off – even Lung who couldn’t understand English – and hoped they enjoyed the meeting as much as we did.

Passing through the “Friendship Gate” to Vietnam, we were both feeling rather sad. Somehow, the absolute “craziness” of China was now feeling familiar to us. Looking back, China not only seems like one of the easiest countries we have cycled in, but also one of the most rewarding. We will miss it.

From here, after a few days R&R in Hanoi, we will head south, beach hopping our way down the coast of Vietnam. The roads are flat, and for once, it seems the hardest challenge will be finding somewhere to buy sunscreen! Yeah I know – famous last words hey!!

All the best and safe travels!

Jules & Jess

Joining the 200km charity riders!

Guests of honour at the halfway lunch

Snakes alive! Delicacies in roadside restaurant.

Not a bad looking vege garden! Rural Guangxi province.

On the road to Guilin

The Li River, near Yangshou

Jess enjoying being a tourist on our raft!

The views here as magical as they've always been

Dinner with Liang and his family

A watermelon stop on our ride together the next day

Jess racing some school kids, near Nanning

Lung, a local chinese cycle tourist !

The race is on - peak hour in the side road, Nanning!

China's "craziness" now seems familar - roadworks near Vietnam border.

China one of the easiest and most rewarding places we have cycled

We will misss it!

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 tomorrow, we are back to do it all again.

Hard riding has its rewards though. The resort town of Wuyishan, the Song Xi River, and the rural villages in between, proved that “picture perfect” China can still be found amongst the factories!

It ended abruptly though, with the ride into Shenzhen. The 100 kms into this shopping megacity on the border with Hong Kong, was quite possibly the worst day we’ve had on the bikes yet. Endless roadworks, choking fumes and driving so bad, you wouldn’t have thought possible. The only positive, is that we are still here to tell the story.

Now, what expedition would be complete without a medical emergency? It sounds worse than it was, but a burst cyst on my head, meant our first stop in Hong Kong was the hospital. Here’s a luck, our doctor was trained in Sydney!

In town, we caught up with my old work friends – Andrew and Brian, and their families. It was great seeing them both, and learning a little about what “Hongkers” is really like! To be honest, while it feels like you are constantly in a shopping mall, it was a lot more liveable than we had expected. This is no secret though, at times it seems there are more westerners here than Chinese!!

With our Vietnam and Thai visas in hand, we were ready to go. Not wanting to relive the Shenzhen experience, we opted for the ferry to Macau, as way to get back into mainland China. Macau is a blinking neon mecca for the Chinese who can’t gamble at home. While we left the Grand Lisboa with nothing more than highrolling memories, at one point we were actually up $8 HK dollars (about Aussie $1!).

Now back in China, we are heading for the karst mountains around Guilin, after which we will head south for Vietnam. It is amazing how fast this adventure is going. While we still have around 15,000 kms to go, it somehow feels like we are getting close to the end… wishful thinking, or maybe just homesick?

Thanks for all the comments and support.

Safe travels!

Jules & Jess

Up, down, up, down

Pimp my ride, anyone, please?!

It's not just bus drivers you have to watch out for!

Time for a cool drink. A typical village stop during the day.

Time to stop for the night. A typical "dot on the map" town.

I could always be a bike mechanic when I get home?

Picture perfect Wuyishan

Song Xi River

Rural China at its best

Rice right up to the village edge!

Can you believe it, two panda's right by the highway!!

Imagine 100kms of this! The road to Shenzhen.

Patched up and raring to go! Hong Kong.

Two beautiful views

We stayed right in the heart of Kowloon

Hong Kong's famous skyline by night

Much more liveable than we had expected.

A highroller you are not!

The bluest sky in China yet. Inside The Venetian, Macau.

The Tour de China continues...

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 arched bridges and pagoda topped hills, was the highlight, and easily made up for the woeful singing!

In need of a little rural timeout, we took a side trip to Mount Daming.  The bus ride out, and surviving it, was the first achievement.  Climbing the 7,000 steps to the top, through rugged misty peaks, and even right under a mountain via an old tungsten mine, was the next.  Tim, you sure this leaky, crumbling tunnel is safe mate?? 

Shanghai was the next excursion.  China’s flagship city is truly amazing, fast paced and ultra-modern.  It’s the China of the future, right here and now.  Being annual holidays though, we were not alone, 1.3bn Chinese had come out to enjoy it too!  After braving the metro, fighting our way down neon lit shopping streets, we finally took refuge in a, colonial-era styled, jazz & blues club.  Vodka Martini please waiter.  Will that be shaken or stirred, sir?

It was a week for celebrating too.  Beijing was first, with a monumental parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of China’s unique form of communism.  This was a just a warm up though, to the grand finale in Hangzhou – Tim’s 40th birthday!  The perfect end to a brilliant week, and one that reminds us the hardest thing about cycling the world, is the friends and family you leave behind…

Tim & Mimi, you folks were just great.  Thanks for sharing your China with us.

Frank, thanks mate for flying out and enjoying it with us too.

We are now back on the road, and pedaling for Hong Kong.  Why does this bike feel so heavy today?

 Jules & Jess

The boys are back in town. Frank, Tim & Me.

Kareoke - this one goes out to Hangzhou

Frank, straight off the plane and taking over the stage.

Tim & Mimi. Our expert local guides.

West Lake. Much better than our singing.

Not so squeezy! Bus trip to Mount Daming.

Mount Damings misty peaks.

Frank, Tim, Jess & Mimi. The intrepid hikers.

Chinese fast food on the summit.

Jess braving the holiday crowds to Shanghai.

Shanghai - China's flagship city of the future.

Slick and ultra-modern.

Blinking neon lights

Shanghai market. So good, so cheap, just buy.

Tim's 40th. Perfect end to the week.

Korean BBQ. Yum Yum.

Chinese girlie bar? Not quite, girls singing kareoke with light beer!?

Saying goodbye. Tim joins us for the ride out.