Well that’s the trip to Indonesia done bar packing the bike up tomorrow and sitting around the hotel. As with New Zealand and Australia the time here has gone too quick. I have to try and make the most of every moment, even the bad ones, as before I know it I’ll be back in the UK. So as usual the highlights are in the video below.
I was riding along one day and a monkey jumped out of a tree and looked at me quite inquisitively, a bit different to squirrels you see when riding back home. Certain sections of the island did have a lot of mosquitoes which had a good feed on me. After the last 2 weeks I think the mosquito population of Bali is going to have an obesity epidemic.
The people here were really friendly and happy, the food was good and the riding was interesting. As I said in my last blog the riding was always going to be reduced for this portion as I had some other things to finish off for back at home. I haven’t got as far as I would have hoped but progress is being made. I will just have to try and maintain a little each day approach. I have been doing that with stretching and can now quite easily touch my toes. I have really long legs and am really inflexible. Those toes always seemed so far away, but they are now within touching distance (pun intended). I just have to keep working on my left hip.
Australia was great and I really enjoyed it. The first few days were a bit tough due to rain and a strongly southerly wind which I had to cycle straight into. After that it was into the heat, hills, fly's and long, long roads. Nothing that couldn't be handled though. I feel like it was too short a trip there, especially after so long in New Zealand so I may have to return one day to get a few more thousand kilometers in. The summary is in the video below so take a look ...
As I mentioned in my last post I met some great, friendly and very hospitable people through the warmshowers website which made my trip more interesting so I would just like to say thanks again. Also, once in Melbourne I stayed with Rob from school who has just moved out there and met up with Steve from Philips/NXP. It was good to catch up and see some familiar faces. So thanks very much for everything.
Flying out from the airport was a bit of a hassle mainly due to how my bike was packed (which met all the airline guidelines on their website) and being 4 kg's overweight. They wanted $100 for that but they let me take it as hand carry, which was good but a bit of a hassle to repack.
So I am now in Indonesia and will be here until the 1st March. First time in Asia for a few years. Cycling requires a whole different approach for various reasons ... but more on that next time!
I’m now halfway through my time in Australia and just outside Melbourne. I am going to cycle past Melbourne and out and back down the great ocean road to catch my flight on the 18th. It is a bit of a shame that I won’t cross the whole country and make it to Perth, but that just gives a reason to come back.
One of the questions I get asked a lot about my trip is ‘what has been the best bit?’. For Australia it has been meeting a wide variety of kind, interesting and generous people through the warmshowers home stay for touring cyclist’s website. In New Zealand I only used it once but over here I have used it several times mainly due to the price of accommodation ... one campsite wanted $35 !! The hostel was only $23. So all of this has meant that what is shown in this blog posts video has been kept to a minimum. I would just like to say thank you againto all of the people who have put me up over the last week and to any future hosts who put me up over the coming week. It really is much appreciated.
Well that’s New Zealand well and truly cycled. I pretty much went everywhere apart from Taranaki, Northland and Milford Sound and covered 5400 km in 259 hours of cycling. Some of the highlights from the last few weeks and some strange quirky things in New Zealand are in the latest video compilation so take a look to save me typing about them.
So I am now in Australia and it is not what I expected in terms of weather. It has just been pouring with a very strong South Easterly wind which since I’m heading down the coast from Sydney is not welcomed. I don’t mind the hills, in fact I like them, but the wind is tough. Oh well, just have to get on with it.
My original plan was to cycle from Sydney to Perth, but that has changed to Sydney to Melbourne for various reasons. Mainly as Mike, the guy I spent the last few weeks cycling with in NZ, is in Malaysia from early March and we have decided to cycle up to Hanoi together. So it is just 18 days in Oz with the aim of getting to Melbourne but hopefully also up the great ocean road. If I just go to Melbourne it will be about 1000 km and another 600 km to do the great ocean road, so it should be achievable.
On the 18th of February I fly from Melbourne to Bali where I’ll have a couple of weeks to mainly finish off some things I need to get done and a bit of cycling around. The island isn't that big but is meant to be quite hilly. I’ll probably stay in one or two places instead of moving from point to point each day. In early March its then of to Singapore and about 350 km up to KL in Malaysia. It will then be up to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. If I can get the required visas for central Asia I’ll cycle all the way back to Europe otherwise I’ll head through China then double back on myself through the Pakistan and Indian Himalaya regions towards Nepal. This way I’ll be there in the cycling period of July, August and September and miss out Tibet where individual travel is not permitted. If I do this I’ll then have to fly back to Europe missing out central Asia.
The football scores are really depressing at the moment and the run Villa had over Xmas must be the worst run of results I have ever known any team have. I am starting to fear for relegation which would be a total disaster. Anyway, other than the football, I hope all is well back in the UK.
