About

21 August 2025

We are in the final stages of this 2 month adventure. We have had a few days on the coast and are now in Brisbane. Next it’s the four day traverse of NSW and a return to normality and the end of winter.

Since the trip to Lady Elliott Island and snorkelling we have ventured further down the coast to quieter environs and fewer people. This is more our style, less of the big towns and more of trees.

The odd bike ride has continued along with the opportunity for paddling a SUP. I tried the ‘stand up’ bit but wind and waves conspired to bring me down. Sitting down allowed me to cover more distance. It’s amazing just how far you can go with the wind on your back. The scary thing is when you turn around for home and discover the return trip will be into the wind. You suddenly realise just how far you have travelled as the waves slop over your board.

The latest challenge we have risen to is understanding where stuff is in every new supermarket. You might assume the layout is the same as the last country store but you would be deluding yourself. And so the hunter gatherer DNA kicks in and in no time you are able to find the eggs and honey. They are never where you thought they would be.

At the risk of repeating an observation I made some time ago I feel compelled to again bring this issue into your consciousness.

In the past many country towns boasted 3 or 4 pubs. There was the Commercial, the Cricketer’s Arms, the Railway and the Royal Oak. Every town had a top pub and a bottom pub. This classification referred to altitude rather than quality. These establishments were very successful, catering to a large manual, agricultural workforce. Times have changed and many of these old pubs are struggling to stay afloat.

The replacement food service and hospitality businesses are now bakeries and coffee shops. No longer is it a midi or a schooner. Now it’s a flat white, a long black or a latte. Our grandparents would roll their eyes.

That old saying of he who has the most toys wins is very evident in our travels. Gone are the days of simple camping setups. Now it’s a satellite dish, more refrigeration, ebikes, SUPs, kayaks, more TVs, and a barbecue and that’s just one campsite. It’s amazing what the early pioneers achieved without Starlink.

Next week we are on our way home and so it is at this time I start thinking of the projects that await me. Of course these projects get rapidly forgotten when the pressures of daily commitments fill the available time.

9 August 2025

We have left the inland towns and the rail trail and are now on the coast. This is sugarcane country along with strawberry farms and all the summer vegetables and fruits we expect to enjoy year round. In one campground the owner was giving away her home grown avocados.

Every Australian knows Bundaberg is the home of Bundy Rum. Given the national significance of Bundy a tour of the distillery was mandatory. It turns out the whole rum process is simply a recycling industry.

The sugar mills produce a byproduct called molasses and they produce a lot of it. The sugar mills have no use for molasses and while some of it goes to stock feed a great deal is used to produce rum.

Molasses is the foundation of the spirit that becomes rum. The byproduct from the distilling process is then used by the sugar cane growers as fertiliser. It’s just one big circular economy. Of course the rum also is subjected to further processing often with coke, not the sniffing type.

We also visited the ginger beer factory which the rum distillery also utilises in the production of alcoholic ginger beer.

On an absolute whim we called the Lady Elliot Island eco resort and discovered they had a vacant room and seats were available for flights to and from the island. We are not good at planning too far ahead.

Lady Elliot Island is pretty much at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It has no internet or mobile phone connection and so a great time for a digital detox and no news of the world!

The water at Lady Elliot is still warm but not quite as warm as the tropical end of the reef. Wet suits were deriguere. It does however boast amazing fish life along with turtles, whales and manta rays.

Lady Elliot has a laid back vibe with people wandering around in wet suits or their swimming gear. Hair is generally sun bleached and there is very little sign of high fashion.

We enjoyed two 50 minute snorkel dives off a boat and one off the beach. The off beach entry was very tricky negotiating an unpredictable rocky bottom and waves. Reef shoes were a necessity.

Whilst the entry was tough it was a doddle compared to getting out. The tide had dropped and we were forced to navigate up the gutters in the reef to get close to the beach. When the water got too shallow it was a case of dragging your body up and on to the rocks and then try to stand. This was all done while the waves were trying to knock you over. If you can imagine a beached whale trying to get back into deeper water you have the idea. Elegant we were not.

In our three dives and trip in the glass bottom boat we saw turtles, so many of different coral reef fish, manta rays and acres of amazing corals. It can be quite disconcerting to look to the right and see a turtle quietly swimming right beside you, and so close. There were hawksbill, green and loggerhead turtles in abundance.

Apologies, I did not buy the water proof wallet for my phone so no underwater photos.

After all the snorkelling and walks around the island we returned to the mainland and a day of rain. The rain has created an opportunity to take a break and rest.

4 August 2025

Sometimes with the best laid plans things just don’t go according to Hoyle. So it was a week or so ago when my bike separated from the bike rack and was dragged unceremoniously down the road for about 100 metres. A fellow bike rider rode towards our car waving his arms excitedly. I stopped and there laying on the road was my bike with both ends of the handlebars ground down several centimetres. That brought an end to our plans for a ride that day and for some days on.

We drove 80 kms to the nearest bike shop and left it there for the installation of new handlebars and a general check over.

It was about a week before the bike was ready. New handlebars are like having the drivers seat in your car in the wrong position. You can still ride the bike, it just doesn’t feel right. Time will heal that situation.

My second unplanned event was the dropping of my iPad and subsequent destruction of the screen. A new iPad was a better solution than repairing the outdated device.

We got back on the trails and have now completed the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail (BVRT). All up its about 160 km long and one of the longest rail trails in Australia. We have also completed the South Burnett Rail Trail or at least the best bits which was another 44 kms.

We were sure these rides would be an excellent way to enjoy the countryside with the added advantage that it would be a healthy thing to do. These high minded ideals have been undermined somewhat by the wonderful bakeries that we have discovered in these rather remote country towns. There were so many wonderful pastries, pies and excellent coffee all of which were calorie free and had to be sampled.

It’s also been a great surprise to see so many older bike riders out there covering great distances. Many of these riders are loving their e-bikes and dare I say they probably would not be on these trails except for that electric motor and battery.

Over the years we have experienced special challenges unique to long term adventures. We have experience exploring new highways and byways, new landscapes and backroad country towns. We have also enjoyed some great surprises at bakeries, cafes and pubs that whilst they may be well off the well trodden highways they still deliver some amazing culinary delights.

The challenge we have become more aware of on this trip is finding a hairdresser or barber that is going to get it right. These services are quite personal and you generally stay very loyal to the professional you have been seeing for years. Unfortunately there comes a time when you have been on the road for many weeks that you have to chance it with an unknown barber.

If you are follicly challenged this may seem to be a trifle however some of us appreciate a decent haircut every 6 weeks. I have enjoyed one of the best haircuts that was provided in a campground in a remote town in the gulf country. The trim was provided by a boutique, professional barber who hailed from Sydney. He was travelling around Australia. I have also enjoyed excellent services in Charters Towers at half the cost I would pay at home.

And so it was I have recently tried a barber in Kingaroy and it was a success. Cost and quality of the service were outstanding. The other member of this adventure has not enjoyed the same success with the hairdresser she visited in the same town. The difference however between a good haircut and a bad haircut is just two weeks.

The other insight I have gained on this trip is the uniqueness of our camping kit. Others have observed that some of our gear is quite old. We have been camping for many years and if it still works why throw it out. Just to give you an idea of how old some of our gear is, much of it was made in Australia. Our electric heater, our frying pan, toaster, our electric jug and much more all hail from a time when this country made stuff. I agree that’s old.

The rail trail segment of our plans are complete and we are now headed for the Queensland coast and new country or maybe even the Great Barrier Reef to explore.

19 July 2025

We have arrived in warmer latitudes and are enjoying more of the outdoors. Our attention has now moved from space to wheels.

We have enjoyed bike paths in the Brisbane suburbs terminating at the beach or at a very nice pub for lunch. On the busier sections of the bike paths there were lots of little kids riding bikes. These kids had the amazing ability to turn their heads through 180°, to continue to ride forward in a straight line, while observing where they had come from rather than where they were going. Scary!

Following on from my experience in the Snowy Mountains I tried a local downhill MTB trail. It was only 2.5 kms, single bike width with some tight turns. I’m not sure I have the flexibility anymore for trails that are clearly designed for the thrill seeker.

The Samford Show was a highlight with wood chopping and a motorbike show. A typical small country town show with baked goods on display along with vintage tractors and vintage cars. This was the place to watch world champion axemen go through a log in mere seconds and where you could gain a deep understanding of the differences between the 1950 and 1953 Land Rover. There was a fully restored Grey Fergie and prize winning sourdough loaves.

We have now reached the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail our destination for the early stages of this adventure. The best thing about rail trails is that they are based on old rail way routes and as such they are never steeper than what a steam engine could manage.

We have completed several sections including from Yarraman to Blackbutt, Blackbutt to Linville and Toogoolawah to Esk. We have ridden about 60 kms with 100 kms to go.

It’s inspiring to see how many are out there riding or hiking along these trails. The towns are full of riders as are the bakeries, pubs, motels and camp grounds.

The weather has been perfect with the exception of one rainy day. The good weather is probably why there are so many riders out and about.

The only interruptions to the tempo of the rides are the creek crossings and cattle. The creek crossings, where there was once a bridge are steep and the cattle make up the spectator crowds beside the trail.

More tales of the trails to come…..

6 July 2025

We are on the road yet again. The motivation this time is to escape a cold winter and to find a more compatible climate in the north. We are equipped with e-bikes but our focus remains on warmer days.

This is the first long adventure in the new car. This means a new challenge with getting the best out of the space available. It’s a game of Tetris as you rehearse how best to use the space in the back of the vehicle ensuring everything fits in a fashion that it’s readily accessible when needed. This process took a series of three cycles of packing and unpacking.

Success, the space available accommodates our stuff and the new toys. The chairs are in along with all the bike bits including batteries and the ramp to load the bikes on the rack. Space is such an undervalued commodity.

Space continues to grab our attention as we visit the Parkes radio telescope. This instruments looks deep into a different type of space, well beyond our earthly limitations. The Parkes dish looks at pulsars hundreds of thousands of light years away, that’s a lot of space.

After Parkes we visited the Siding Spring Observatory outside of Coonabarabran. More space stuff and this time there is a scale model of the solar system with models of the planets spread along the highways. It’s quite a surprise to drive half an hour to a whole hour before seeing the next planet. They sure are far apart in all that space.

We did discover that Siding Springs Observatory has something in common with the Louvre in Paris. What could that be you ask? It turns out they are both closed on Tuesdays. So don’t try to visit either destination on a Tuesday, you are wasting your time.

The Warrumbungle National Park incorporates the remnants of volcanos that were active for about 3 million years and became inactive about 13 million years ago, that’s a long time ago. Within the park Tara cave is a place that was occupied by indigenous people for about 4,000 years. They were using this cave prior to the building of the pyramids and were last seen in the area in about 1830. Rocks used as grinding stones are evidence of their occupation of the area.

On a completely different note and having spent many hours on the highways I have come to an understating about other drivers. I have realised that the relationships between the various users of the highway is best illustrated as the game of rock, scissors, paper.

Let me see if I get this right. Car drivers beat cyclists, motorcyclists beat car drivers, truck drivers beat caravans and everyone beats the guy driving at 10 kph under the speed limit. Motor cyclists beat cars, caravans and cyclists because they present no obstruction to their journey but trucks beat motor cyclists because you can’t see around them. No one is happy with everyone.

There was however a break down in this known state of normality. Over the UHF radio we enjoyed hearing a truck driver abuse another truck driver for down right dangerous driving. We had observed a semi trailer weaving between cars at high speed and were impressed when a truck driver called out this appalling driving on the public airwaves. Talk about a glitch in the matrix! I do make it a habit to call up the truck drivers when it is clear for them to pass. It’s all about trying to manage perceptions and natural biases about caravans but I think I have a lot of work to do.

We will be on the road for several weeks so hopefully there will be more opportunities to write about what is happening out there.

Just a reminder if you touch or click on any of the pictures in these articles a full screen version will be displayed.

9 June 2025

We enjoyed a week in Victoria filled with trail runs and mountain bike rides followed by a short break at home before heading to Brisbane for the Broadbeach Blues Festival. We are now down on the south coast enjoying rain, wind and the cold, perfect camping weather. It is winter after all.

The rides in Victorian included a landscaped mountain bike trail named the Indigo Epic Trail. It was steep and narrow and about 30kms long. We followed this with a Rail Trail return ride back to Beechworth. The good thing about rail trails is that they are built on old railway foundations, built for steam trains. This means the incline is never too steep. The inclines might be long but never ‘get off your bike and walk’ steep.

We also rode gravel trails. This seems to be the new challenge for trail riding. The gravel trails are typically gravel roads, forestry roads and fire trails. They are wide and can be ‘get off and walk’ steep. Great fun when you are on the down side of the hill. You do have to watch out for rocks and ruts that might interrupt your enjoyment.

All of these rides were rewarded with a stop at the Beechworth brewery. Pizza and beer tastes so good after a day in the saddle.

Our next trip is covered in the following instalment of my travel logs.

9 June 2025

For our trip north to Brisbane we decided to avoid the paths well travelled and to follow the obscure and less direct byways. Unfortunately this strategy lead us to some strange places where what seemed to exist wasn’t there. Maybe we were in Camelot or the Matrix was glitching.

It started with our GPS directing us around a bypass to avoid road works that didn’t exist. We continued on to a campground where the office was unattended but a strange and disconnected voice seemed to be speaking to us via an unseen speaker. I walked around the camp ground hoping to find someone in charge but with no luck. There was however several vacant sites so I was sure we were ok. I returned to the office whereupon a vehicle approached.

It was another camper who had been called by the owner to tell us there were no sites available. I suggested there were sites and I had seen them. I was however told somewhat aggressively that, and to quote ‘are you deaf, can’t you hear me, there are no sites available’. I protested, to no avail. I was clearly seeing things that didn’t exist. And so we drove on. On reflection for all our years of travelling and camping this was one of the most bizarre experiences.

We drove through the western fringe of Sydney and what is now never ending estates of new houses. What were once small vegetable farms producing food for Sydney are now housing developments or small businesses growing turf for these new estates. We don’t grow food now, we grow grass, bizarre!

We drove up the Putty Road, a destination for motor bike riders from far and wide and yet we hardly saw a motor bike. We did however stop at the only tavern/cafe on the road for a coffee. The proprietor explained that the absence of motor bike riders was due to the fact that it was Mother’s Day and she had told the riders that had arrived to leave in a rather forthright and colourful manner. She told them they should go home and buy their mum some flowers on the way. And so it would seem they all left. This was a business that catered very much for the motor bike fraternity! The breakfast was excellent as was the coffee. I love the characters you find in these places.

We continued on and were stopped at a railway crossing. The boom gate was down and clearly a train was approaching. This is the country for massive coal trains. We stopped and we waited and we waited. Cars and trucks joined us in a growing queue. There was no train! Back up the tracks I could see a train that had come so far and then reversed into a siding. Eventually the boom gate lifted and we were on our way.

We were determined to discover new country however the rain, fog and the threat of flooded crossings encouraged us to head out of the back woods and on to the main highway. This strategy proved quicker and less hazardous.

We arrived in Brisbane and then proceeded to the Broadbeach Blues Festival.

This is an amazing event and I would encourage anyone with an interest in music to make their way to the Gold Coast in May.

The festival was all free and there was a never ending choice of different blues musicians, some soloists and some in bands. A wonderful four days of music starting at 10am and finishing late into the night.

There were times where the blues festival looked more like a ZZ Top revival with so many grey beards. I also discovered the tough, macho fans were the guys riding disability electric scooters with a skull and cross bones on the front of their vehicle.

We returned home and along the way visited places where glaciers were 200 mya and where volcanoes existed 20 mya. Again none of these attractions are there any more, a bit like the non existent camp site.

After a couple of weeks at home we drove down to the south coast for the King’s Birthday long weekend. It is winter and so the weather is wet, windy and cold. Why did we leave a warm and dry, perfectly adequate home!

In two weeks it’s time for another adventure and this time we will be again heading north and warmer climes will be our focus.

19 March 2025

Having completed the ‘big’ ride today was a rest day. Our day of rest was in fact a 13 km walk to the top of Mount Kosciusko, Australia’s highest peak. Fortunately the ski lift was open and we enjoyed a chair lift ride to the top of the ridge line above the village of Thredbo.

The high country is renowned for changeable weather including freezing temperatures, wind and rain. On this day however the weather could only be described as perfect. Clear blue skies, a slight breeze and comfortable temperatures made for a very pleasant rest day.

We enjoyed lunch on the peak and were back down the chair lift and into the village by early afternoon.

Thredbo has become a mecca for downhill mountain bike riders which meant the village offered amenities like a bike cleaning stand. We were very happy to wash down our bikes, lubricate the running gear and be primed, ready for the next day’s ride.

The next day we were on the Thredbo Valley Trail by 8:00am, ready for the challenge of the 40km ride to Jindabyne. This trail is purpose built for mountain bikes and as such was wide enough for one bike and in places for a second rider heading in the opposite direction. There were lots of large granite boulders close enough for a rider to question whether their pedals would scrape through the gap. My pedals are now complete with many gashes and scrapes.

Many of the downhill bends were built up for fast descents and the creek crossings were covered by steel bridges. In many instances it was with profound joy that the bridge came with railings and in some cases steel mesh so one didn’t fall off the bridge and into the creek below.

We did manage a coffee at the Crackenback resort before crossing back over the river and continuing on our way. Not long after the coffee our guide offered the insight that at this stage there was only one way out of this ride and that was to finish it. There was no escape back to any road.

Now the body is starting to tire. The shoulders are feeling a bit stiff and the legs are sending messages to the brain suggesting some flat open country would be a good idea. The rest of the body was insisting there be no bleeding or broken bones. The eyes are focussed on the track ahead and the next twist or turn. The hands have a firm grip bordering on cramping on the brake levers. Now would be a good time to stand on the pedals to lift the centre of gravity and to use the body to absorb the shocks of the rough track. Unfortunately the legs are unwilling to be part of this strategy. Did I mention I am riding an e-bike which makes those steep climbs manageable but there is the added challenge of range anxiety and the question of whether the battery will last.

We rode on, watching for large rocks with drop offs out of sight. The trail was covered in rocks, tree roots, loose gravel and deeply rutted sections. Our group only scored one fall that fortunately did not result in a serious injury. Needless to say we had come equipped with first aid kits and even a personal locator beacon just in case.

Finally through the trees I could see the track flatten out on to flat grassy fields. This ride must be coming to an end. I was so wrong.

The ride continued past the trout hatchery and on a short section of sealed road. We crossed the highway and continued on a gravel bike path around the shoreline of Lake Jindabyne. In the distance we could see the town of Jindabyne. Our destination must be close, wrong. This trail went on for maybe another 10kms until we reached the pub and the end of our ride.

The guide book suggested this ride could take up to 9 hours, we completed the 40kms in 6. Now it was time for a well earned beer and some lunch before we were driven back to Thredbo. The battery on the e-bike had plenty of power left and could have gone on for another 40kms. I was not however prepared to ride back.

A great week with some ‘heart in the throat’ moments. We saw some amazing country. While on the bikes we enjoyed the wilderness largely to ourselves. On reflection it would be nice to be a little younger with greater flexibility, with no sense of personal risk and maybe a dual suspension mountain bike.

14 March 2025

We agreed we would ride the Cascade / Pilot Wilderness mountain bike trail. Surely just a bit of training and some extra time on the bike and we would be good for a 60 km ride through the Snowy Mountains National Park.

March would be the best time of the year. The weather would still be warm and predictable and there would be no snow in the high country, perfect. The plan was to drive down to the mountains on a Monday, ride the Pilot Wilderness on Tuesday, on our rest day walk Mt Kosciusko and then ride the Thredbo Valley Trail on Thursday.

Day One, we left our accommodation at about 7:30am and rode up to the Cascade carpark. There we met our fourth companion on this ride through the Pilot Wilderness. Our first objective was Bobs Ridge. This turned out to be a long climb with several creek crossings in country above the tree line. The scenery was amazing.

While catching our breath a hiker we had just passed was about to walk past us. This was not a good look being overtaken by a hiker. We quickly remounted and were back on our way.

From Bobs Ridge we headed generally downhill with lots of short sharp climbs on a track a four wheel drive car could negotiate. We dropped down into forested country and more creek crossings. You were never sure whether the creek bottom was deep mud, filled with large rocks or was just deep water. We all had wet feet after the first creek.

A stop at the Tin Mine Hut for lunch where we were closely watched by a mob of brumbies. Conditions up here at this time of year are pretty good and the brumbies all looked to be in good condition.

From Tin Mine Hut the amount of horse poo on the track seemed to increase exponentially. Wild horses have the habit of defecating in piles as a means of marking their territory and they seemed to prefer the track we were riding. It was pretty much an unavoidable feature of the ride in the afternoon.

While the general profile of the ride was downhill there were still many steep climbs especially over the erosion mounds across the track. One of these mounds caught one of our riders by surprise and gravity took over. It’s hard to go forward when your front wheel is off the ground and your rear wheel is spinning.

The final 5 kms of this adventure was a steep decline to the Snowy River valley. In places the gradient was -30%. That means for every 100m horizontal distance we dropped 30m. Yep, that’s steep. The track surface was also very loose gravel and rocks with some sharp turns. All good for your heart rate.

We reached the Pinch River and the end of our ride at 4:30pm and were met by our driver and a trailer to take us back to Thredbo. Our transport also came with cold beer which was very much enjoyed purely for the purpose of rehydration.

A hot shower and a couple of beers at the pub brought the day to an end.

Travel Log One Hundred and Fifteen will cover the next two days of our adventure…….

20 November 2024

After our trip to South Africa we took a break from travel for a little while. There are always lots of jobs around the house that are waiting for you after any absence.

We have however enjoyed a recent weekend camping trip to Honeysuckle Creek, a campground in the Brindabellas, just out of Canberra.

Honeysuckle Creek has a very special place in history. On 16 July 1969 Neil Armstrong planted his feet on the moon and the whole world got to view that event via a signal received by the Honeysuckle Creek space antenna.

It turns out that grainy TV picture of Neil stepping down the ladder uttering those famous words was received at the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station. The signal was then relayed out of the hills surrounding Canberra and on to Houston.

The antenna that was in place in 1969 is now located at the Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station where they continue to track Voyager 1 and 2. The site of the tracking station is now an excellent camp ground. A great place for roasting marshmallows and cooking breakfast over an open fire.

There was a small contingent of boy scouts who were also camping at Honeysuckle Creek. We watched them cook their evening meal on the provided gas barbecues. I wonder when Baden Powell came up with the scouting motto ‘Be Prepared’ that he meant make sure you bring along a spare gas bottle. We stayed with the pioneer spirit and cooked over a fire. The marshmallows were excellent as were the eggs for breakfast.

We spent some time bush walking and scrambling over massive granite rock formations known as Lego Land along with some mountain bike riding.

Plans are in hand for more bike rides on rail trails that aren’t too far away and perfect for a three day get away.