It's almost time....

Well, we've had our leaving party so now we really do have to go. The house is sorted (almost) and stuff has been sold or given away ( including the car, my Hornet, a monkey bike, bicycle etc - all very sad but it had to be done) and the adventure begins on September 28th.

London to LA, stop in LA for a few days, hire a car, drive through Arizona and see some stuff, arrive in San Fran, fly to Hawaii, spend a week there with two sons ( who will hopefully have remembered to fly there via Vancouver) and Nadine's brother and his girlfriend before said sons return to London and everybody else heads to Sydney.

Once in Sydney, we (Belle, Nadine and Gordon) start the saga of retrieving our stuff, which is currently at sea somewhere between the UK and the bottom of the world ( but hopefully not the bottom of the sea). There is a bit of a fiasco brewing there as the shipping company has mucked us about a bit and our stuff will probably arrive later than it should as a result. Ironically, we have very little stuff but as its riding gear, we sort of need it from the start. So, fingers crossed.

Then we have about two weeks to collect the Postie bikes and get down to the Snowy Mountains for a weekend ride. Jacqui ( who will be riding with us) has sourced and prepped them and is currently looking after them.


We've decided to ride Postie bikes because apart from being cool, they're tough, small, easy to service and manoeuvre, as well as cheap to run. And having lived off small bikes on several trips, we know they'll do just fine. It also means that we'll be forced to keep gear to a minimum, just taking essentials rather than 'just incase' stuff.

Jacqui sourced them from the Australian Postal Service who retire them a 30k kms or so when they are still in good nick. They are basic carburettor bikes  so easy to work on and we have a track record with these little fellas now, so we should be fine. And we have a year to explore the whole of Oz and will then go to NZ ( maybe/probably) Cant think that far ahead as yet though.

Whilst Australia is huge, and has some extreme climates, and the populated bits are mostly around the coast, the place does have an infrastructure - roads, telecommunications etc- that works, even in the middle. So although we need to be - and will be - prepared and self sufficient, we will also be within realistic reach of civilisation. That is very unlike some of our other trips where we have been in the wilderness, very much on our own, and without any real help options. The key is responsibility. It's down to us to look after ourselves, just as its down to us to make sure we have what we need, know how to use it, and do so, should the need arise. It's not a theme park, and although nobody can plan for every eventuality, we should be in a position to look after each other in most situations.