First off, I want to apologise for the lack of substance in this post. After Port Augusta I felt as if I had completed everything I wanted to and was solely focused on getting the distance done to Sydney. However, I still had a great time and here are the few things I got up to!

After enjoying a day relaxing we set off again with a new enthusiasm in reaching our final destinations.

Bradley and Vanessa were going to a small town called Leeton (to work at a fruit farm) and I was off to Sydney. 1000km & 1600km respectively.

(please ignore the time scale, I think Google estimates are rather ambitious for cyclists!)

We set off early each morning watching the sunrise in front of us as we rode, mornings were cold and frosty suprisingly.

Sometimes the road was so uninteresting that a tree full of shoes was a good excuse to stop and rest!

Recent flooding of fields, I thought oz was supposed to be hot and dry!

We did however pass through some lovely picturesque towns to picnic in for lunch.

The first sign showing Sydney!

However it really wasn’t too long until we reached a town called ‘HAY’ and we bid goodbye to each other as our routes separated.

I had so much fun cycling for 6 weeks with both Bradley and Vanessa and would like to thank them for making the journey across so enjoyable. I know it would never had been as good cycling solo across the desert.

The final group photo….

(2 days later they completed their journey!)

Travelling alone again was peculiar and I found it hard to keep myself entertained. Having no-one to talk to regularly was strange.
I then turned to staring at my speedometer and taking photos of the numbers…. Yes I was that bored!!

12,121 miles

12,345 miles… Going 6,7 mph…. Sorry

12,500 miles….  This means I have surpassed the 20,000km marker!!!

Fancy some road kill?

Exciting stuff!!

Things however did improve when I got to the Blue Mountains just before reaching Sydney.

It was then all downhill to Sydney, at last!

I was so happy to reach here afterwards 7 weeks of almost non-stop riding. It has been a fantastic country to cycle in and so easy to tour. Completely hassle free camping and impossible to get lost, friendly people and tonnes of wildlife, perfection.

So then I had 1 week spare. Fortunately I was able to arrange to stay at the families of Sarah and Scott who I met in Turkey and cycled with in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

First off was Scott’s Aunty and Uncle (Lyn and Uong) in Sydney and then Sarah’s parents (Debbie and Steve) further south in shall town called Moruya.

Uong and I

(unfortunately I did not get a photo with Lyn)

(Debbie and Steve)

I was spoilt rotten by them all and fed until I was bursting!

In Moruya I was also treated to some sightseeing in the local vicinity, in which one area there were tame roo’s!

Back in Sydney I went to see the famous landmarks….

The opera house and..

The harbor bridge.

They really were impressive in the flesh and I am pleased to have made it this far. Personally these landmarks signify the ‘other side of the world ‘.

So that’s it…Australia finished!

Next stop is the big old USA. I fly into Los Angeles and will take a couple of days to adjust to the time difference.

Then I’ll turn the pedals once again and head east bound to New York city, a distance even greater than of what I did here in Australia.

This will also be the first time I am behind Greenwich mean time and catching up instead of cycling away.

This is the home straight. The final country…. 10 weeks and it’s all over… Game on!

Australia ….. One massive country, almost the size of Europe. I had only done a little research but I knew there was only 2 ways I wanted to tackle it. Either from Darwin in the northern territory and down Stuart highway through the middle of the country to Melbourne or from Perth in the West across Eyre highway along the Nullabor desert and then onto Sydney in the East.

I chose the West to East option as this is how most of my trip has been done and cycling the Nullabor brings bragging rights too!

On arrival I met up with 3 other cyclists to travel with.

Vanessa (21, Germany), Bradley (29, UK) and Finn (22, AUS)

I had made contact with Bradley a few months earlier via the warmshowers forums. He had been on a cycle tour in Africa at the time and wanted to cycle across Australia too. He arrived before me and worked on a fruit farm where he met Vanessa. She had completed a 500km cycle tour of her own in Australia in September 2015 and decided to join.
Finn met Bradley in Perth on the street as he noticed his touring bicycle, after a quick chat Finn decided to put his life on hold and join in too.

So it was set, over a coffee we discussed a brief route towards the desert and then met up the next morning to ride.

For our first 2 nights we were taken in by couchsurfing hosts, the perfect way to ease ourselves into the trip.

We also travelled through an area which had recently been devastated by forest fires.

On our third day Finn was having trouble with has right heel. It turns out he tore his achilles tendon. Cycling with 1 leg we limped to a lakeside campsite.

Unfortunately this was the end of the road for Finn, unable to continue cycling he arranged to be picked up the next morning.

So then 4 became 3 and we cycled onwards.

It was at this stage the weather turned sour. We had 8 days of almost non-stop rain. Unheard of in this area, locals were telling us then had never seen as much since the 1970’s!
Brilliant…….
Here a the limited few images we took on our way to the beachside city of Esperance.

Wet camping…. So much fun

Make-shift shelter using tarp for lunchtime.

We also met a Polish cyclist called Bart heading in the same direction. We cycled together for 2 days.

However it wasn’t all glum, we were always in high spirits during mealtimes which kept us all sane. To add, I also hit the 10,000mile mark of my trip. Very happy with this achievement!

The spot where I ticked over to 5 digit touring.

It took us 11 days to cycle the 950km to Esperance, a really good start.

It was here we had our first rest day, we cleaned our bikes and stocked up on food for our approach to the Nullabor.

So then it was time to start moving towards the desert. For me personally the Nullabor is up there in the most iconic cycle touring roads, albeit a lot easier, along with the Stuart highway (AUS), Pamir highway (Tajikistan), Karakoram highway (Pakistan) and the Pan-American highway (Mexico – Argentina).

Let’s just say I was very excited.

The road is from the small town of Norseman to Ceduna. 1200km with only a few roadhouses to obtain water.
So we loaded our bikes with 2 weeks worth of food. Weighing a healthy 75kg, this is the heaviest the bike had ever been!

After the first roadhouse at 190km inside the desert we approached the famous ’90 mile straight’. This took us 1 whole day and the morning after to conquer.

The road disappearing into the horizon.

It wasn’t as boring as you may think, out here the wildlife flourishes!

Run away!!!….

Like these Emu’s ….

Wild Dingo! Was very hard to spot

The only Kangaroo that stood still long enough to take a photo.

Finishing the straight road!

We then arrived at the Bunda cliffs and the great Australian bight. Spectacular views.

Dolphins (sorry, poor image, x50 zoom)

As we carried on sometimes it felt the straight roads would never end.

We eventually made in to the next state, South Australia.

As we approached Ceduna, feeling quite proud of our journey we met two Swedish skiers, clearly lost, on their way in the opposite direction 😉

Absolutely crazy!

We then honed in on the finish line of Ceduna and celebrated at the sign.

By this point we had travelled 2300km from Perth. It had taken 15 days to get from Esperance to Ceduna.

I must say that although there were tough days slogging away at the never ending horizons it was an incredible experience. Everything I hoped it would be, we met lovely people at every roadhouse and were treated to spectacular stars at night as we wild camped. I’m over the moon we made it through without any hiccups.

However there was no time to rest, we carried on another 450km to the city of Port Augusta.

During this time we past through some quaint towns with interesting names and landmarks.

We are now resting at a couchsurfing house in Port Augusta. It’s quite crowded here! Our host Stuart has 8 guests on this night…. Legend!

Bradley, Vanessa and I will now carry on together for roughly another 10 days before I then head to Sydney and they both turn off to work at the farm where they originally met. I hope to be there in early May to give me some time off to relax.

I’m really happy we’ve managed to cycle nearly 2800km with 1 rest day.

Time to crack on!

On a gloriously sunny day Phil and I caught a ferry over to the town of Picton on the south Island. Unfortunately I left my camera in my bicycle panniers and couldn’t take any images of the journey across. The scenery was quite stunning and really got us excited about what lay ahead.

Our first town of the south Island.

We had arrived early evening so found a free campsite nearby to rest, not a bad view to wake up too!

The next day the sun shone again and blessed us with views I rated better than most of what I’d seen on the north island. Day 1, exceptional.

Mid-morning lookout.

We meandered along the coast line towards the city of Nelson an then onwards to the Abel Tasman/Golden bay area.

There was one big hill to ride over to our destination town of Takaka. The downhill providing a great slalom chase between Phil and I.

On our approach we saw local people had adopted efficient ways of cutting the grass!

Our warmshowers quaint cottage for 2 nights.

On our day off we visited a local attraction called Pupu Springs. The water at only 11 degrees was crystal clear, it looked so shallow but is actually 60 metres deep.

We also went to Tata beach a few miles away from the springs to relax.

On our way there we bought a bag of grapes and pears from an honesty store. $2 each, bargain!

Taking a plunge in the freezing water 💦

After departing back over the hill to continue south we stopped to have lunch in a picnic area, this one included armchairs, lovely.

Reaching the 9000 mile mark.

We then entered the region of the Buller Gorge that took us directly to the coast. This reminded me much of the time I was in Serbia and cycling the Danube Gorge.

The road then opened up and we were on the Great coast road.

The wind was wild and the surf rough, it made for a very dramatic scene.

We camped in the town of Punakaiki where there is an attraction called the Pancake rocks.

From here we carried on to the town of Greymouth. We had been advised that apart from the Glaciers or Franz Josef and Fox glacier the cycling would be quite mundane until the village of Haast, a few days ride ahead. However with plenty of time in hand we continued onwards. It wasn’t really that bad!

Franz Josef glacier – I was quite shocked at how far back it had melted. I was expecting to see more.

At Fox glacier we also went for a walk to the nearby Lake, noted for having spectacular views of the mountain reflected on its surface.

Like this!! (information board image)

This was our view however.

Up close it was much more impressive.

Note the size of the helicopter.

Carrying on towards Haast.

Unfortunately then the heavens opened and we got rained on solidly for 2 days. This included our ride out of Haast over the mountain pass, said to be beautiful. All we could see was dark grey cloud and we only concentrated on staying warm.

Over the mountain the rain stopped and we cycled past 2 lakes, Wanaka & Hawae. This was a great days riding.

Our last hill was the Crown range pass, the highest sealed road in New Zealand, surprisingly a mere 1000 metres. No problem!

It was then a mad downhill dash to the city of Queenstown. Our final destination.

We stayed in a campsite just outside of the city called 12 mile delta. A beautiful spot next to Lake Wakatipu, for only £5 a night.

Sunset over the mountains.

It is also here where I said goodbye to Phil. He has been great company since we crossed paths on the way to Lake Taupo on the north island. His big tour has now finished, before New Zealand he had cycled from the Canadian border along the west coast of the USA to the Mexican border and then from Cairns in North East Australia to Tasmania island off the south, down the east coast.

My route through this beautiful country.

I wish to note that I feel I’ve barely touched the surface of what New Zealand has to offer. The problem is time firstly and then cost. Unfortunately New Zealand is a very expensive country and a lot of the best experiences come at a collosal premium. If I were to return in the future I would hire a campervan and bring my walking boots. Cycling here is fantastic but in my opinion you need a good 3 months to do this country justice.

A few snaps lakeside in Queenstown.

My relaxing journey has now officially ended. Due to financial constraints I have to race across my final 2 countries.

Australia, Perth to Sydney, 2500 miles. Time frame: 8 weeks.

USA, Los Angeles to New York, 3000 miles. time frame: 10 weeks.

I really look forward to this challenge.
The starting gun sounds on the 18th March.

On your marks…… Get set……..!!!!!

(My beard has gone!)