Home in Melbourne after 17 months and 30,000km

Well,  I guess that's it... Melbourne...  Back to the real world...

 -o- Melbourne from the south side of the Yarra River

I arrived into Melbourne on Saturday 30th August, and home to the eastern suburbs on the Sunday 31st, after delaying my arrival with a few days in numerous places along the south coast of mainland Aus.  (I needed to delay my arrival until the tenant would be out of my house.  I gave notice when I got to Darwin, but I guess I should have done it from East Timor or Indonesia.)

It's quite a long time since I've had cold & wet every day, but SA & Vic in winter reminded me what it was like.  (Of course my arrival into winter happens to coincide with the best snowfalls for many years.  Great for the ski resorts and skiers - not quite so ideal for cyclists.)

What lies ahead now is painting the house (before I empty all the furniture out of the self storage unit into it), job hunting, moving in, organising the house the framing of many paintings and other artworks/craftworks I purchased along the route and mailed home.  I shudder to think of how long it'll take to finish organising the thousands of photos I've taken - and wonder if I ever will?

Yesterday I spent much of the day on the phone at my parents house arranging power, gas, phone and other services for the house, and such mundane but real life things like as Ambulance membership, Curriculum Vitae, and beginning to get together the items I need to fix up the house.   My heart sank when I saw that several water leaks in the roof would mean that I couldn't paint as I'd planned.  I've decided though that I'll paint anyway and the water affected places will get patched up after the leaks are fixed and the weather has warmed enough to dry out the plaster sufficiently.

After only one day of no riding. This morning it hit me & I felt I needed to get up early for a ride.   I've delayed it now to write this, as the water once again falls from the sky outside. 

The trip from Adelaide to Melbourne:

When I left Adelaide, I knew I had to take my time or I'd be home too early to get into the house so I decided to head to Kangaroo Island and fill in a week travelling to and sightseeing around the Island.  I headed out to the Adelaide beach side suburb of Glenelg then followed the coast toward Kangaroo Island (K.I.) and home.  The weather - as I eluded to above - has not been ideal cycling weather and as I got closer to Cape Jervis and the K.I. ferry I learnt more about what it was going to cost me to go to K.I.  From what I'd read "free camping" on K.I. would not be so easy so combined with the expensive ferry, I decided to forgo K.I. and go there some other time when the money wouldn't be wasted on a trip in such lousy weather.  It meant that I'd need to fill in time elsewhere but my plans of a grand entrance to Melbourne had slowly been fading anyway.  With a tenant still in the house, a weekend arrival with an open house / welcome home / house warming wasn't going to be possible unless I delayed even longer.  For extending the trip Mum came to the rescue with contacts and accommodation available in both Warrnambool and Apollo Bay, I also arranged some warm & dry accommodation in other places through the touring cyclist hosting website warmshowers.org

 

-o- Strathalbyn A very pretty little town centre.

-o- Bike chasing cows, they followed me, running as a bunch the entire length of their paddock. 

After passing by Cape Jervis I endured more horrid South Australian wind as I crossed from the Fleurieu Peninsula around Lake Alexandrina and down the coast toward Mount Gambier.  One morning in Kingston S.E. (after riding from 1:00AM to 3:00PM the previous day in order to avoid the wind) I awoke to a tent shaking violently, and giving the impression that a cyclone was in full swing outside.  I lay there in bed and conceded that I wouldn't be going anywhere today.  Robe was only 40km down the road but with a head wind this strong 40km was probably all I'd be able to ride in a full day.  After taking some photos & a video clip inside the tent with it violently reacting to the wind I decided to get up and just have a look outside (after which I would crawl back into bed).  When I stuck my head outside, I was shocked to find that the wind had swung right around and was blowing with this incredible intensity from the North West.  With Robe 40km down a bendy road to the SouSouWest and Mt Gambier 160 km down a straight Princes Hwy due South East, the temptation to leave the coast to get a gale force tail wind for a day was just too great.  With the wind immediately behind me as I sailed down the Princes Highway, I made the 108km to Millicent in record time.  Millicent to Mt Gambier wasn't quite so good as the road was well protected by Pine plantations and the rain really set-in for the first time.

 

 

-o- It felt like a cyclone was in full swing

-o- "The Old Jail"  (H.M. Backpackers prison Mt Gambier )

As always seems to happen when you are on a bike, the day I stayed in Mt Gambier the wind would have been behind me if I had continued on toward Victoria instead of taking the day to look around town.  I left the following day into not only a strong head wind, but also head on rain and hail as I headed to the Victorian Border and toward Portland.

As I mentioned above I filled in a bit of time staying in Warrnambool for two nights then after one more camp near Princetown had four more comfy nights in Apollo Bay.   The trip from Princetown to Apollo Bay was a bit more hilly than I'd expected.  I haven't been there for a long time and I was expecting hills near Cape Otway, but didn't expect to start climbing real hills so many km's before Lavers Hill (I guess that's why they called it Lavers Hill )  I ran into more touring cyclists on this leg, one from Austria who said he was a bit surprised that Australia actually had hills and wasn't all flat.  The other cyclist a Kiwi from Nelson approached as I was watching a koala moving between trees. Good timing meant that the Koala was on the ground changing trees as I rode past - you never tend to see them if they are just sitting up in the canopy eating.  Apollo Bay was a good introduction to normal life again.  Cooking with more than just one billy, cooking a more varied diet, listening to radio, watching some TV, even mowing lawns - then of course cleaning before I left.  The only cleaning my tent would get was the daily sweep out with the bare hand each morning as I prepared to roll it up.

Once I got a little north of Lorne I was in familiar territory, riding roads that I've seen many times in my life.  Now it just seemed like I was riding, Lorne to Torquay, Geelong and up the Geelong Rd to Melbourne.  It certainly didn't feel like the same trip as Paris, Brussels & Prague, or riding through Eastern Turkey to cross the border into Iran or Trekking in Nepal all those months ago.  The highlight of the day was on the Geelong Road when the Cycle computer clicked over to 30,000km.

 

 

-o- The Great Ocean Road view

-o- The 12 Apostles the bike & I 

-o- 30,000km and smiling (The Geelong Rd)

-o- Cute but the toy shop ones are cuddlier (Koala near Apollo Bay)

Once in Melbourne I made my way to Burnley where I camped beside the river.  It somehow seemed fitting that the last night before I got home should be a bush camp somewhere in the middle of an inner suburban area of my home town.  For all the Melbournians reading this, the camp was in Loy's paddock.  That's the bit of bush between the inbound Burnley on-ramp (tunnel approach) and the river.  It's not quite as deserted as it once was, with the cycle path going through at a high level above the river, but there's a lovely bushy bit down the hill to the river flats.  And that bushy bit has some ideal small tent sites in it.  Next time you are on the cycle track check it out.

 

-o-  Melbourne

I wanted early morning shots of the bike and the city but I didn't get the lovely Blue Sky morning that I wanted.  I headed back along the river for the photos anyway before passing through the city and heading east on the Yarra main trail, Koonung Creek & Mullum Mullum Creek bike paths.  I remember a time not too long ago when I thought riding from Ringwood to central Melbourne was a long way, but today it felt like nothing.  I had so much time to do it that I used the time to drop in on various friends that lived close to the bike path.  With the opening of a new section of bike path alongside the new Eastlink Tollway it's now possible to ride from the city to within about 1km of my home (about 40km - via the path) without needing to ride on or even cross a road. (actually there is one - but only one - crossing, Bulleen Rd).  With all the stops along the way I used the whole day to do that short distance and didn't actually get to the house until it was dark.  I couldn't stay in the house that night as although the tenant drove the truck out of the driveway while I was there looking at it, the tenancy wasn't going to be officially over until the next day.

Now the house is empty, I've fixed one leak in the roof, I still have a couple to go before I start slapping on the paint that I bought today.   I passed by the self storage unit today and confirmed to myself that there is no way I'll be getting things out of boxes until the house is ready for all the furniture.  My best friend David and I packed the self storage in the same way that we used to pack audio gear into the back of our "JDE Audio" truck.  There is very little "air" in my storage space.  We were always good at high density packing and that's just what we did in the self store.

I'm now back in the real world, house repairs, gardening, bills, job hunting and eventually I'm hoping to get around to sorting out souvenirs and photos from the trip.

Jeff

Adelaide, and feeling very close to home

I've made it down the Stuart Highway - and done a week long detour into Uluru (Ayers Rock) Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and Watarrka (Kings Canyon).  It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be (knowing that the prevailing winds would be Sou-Easters.  I had some really shocking days, really demoralising ones when you struggle like crazy and make very little distance.  On these days you can't hear anything but the wind buffeting in your ears and you really wish it was over.  But then there are other days when it isn't quite so bad.  In fact I had one incredible day after I'd visited Kings Canyon.  I set a new record for my longest day - one that I am sure will last for the rest of my days.  235km in a one day, with a heavy touring bike!!!!!  I was impressed.  But I can't take all the credit though, the wind was blowing my way that day.  As they say "Make hay while the sun shines" -  I just kept riding until it got dark - and then some.  From Kings Creek Station all the way to Erldunda and back to the Stuart Highway.

 

Some mornings got a little cold - both these bottles were frozen.

  

The bike and Uluru

Me and Kata Tjuta

(Lizard) Footprints in the roadside dunes

   

Dust storm near Mt Ebenezer (N.T.)

My bike leaning against a road train (some have one more trailer than this)

Grey Nomads - as we love to call them.  This lot at the S.A/N.T. border roadside stop.  More free stew. Yum!

From Uluru and surrounds it was down into South Australia and what I really imagined the outback to be like.  Northern Territory had been a bit of a surprise for me.  I had imagined that N.T. too would have lots of nothing, but the nothingness is really all claimed by South Australia.

Around Coober Pedy lots of nothing, then a small break and a little bit of scrub around Glendambo before heading back into the nothingness of Pimba & Woomera.

  

Coober Pedy mine tailings

RFDS landing strip - A.K.A. The Stuart Highway

A roadside camp near Glendambo (a region of scrub in the middle of a huge nothing)

I was expecting a lot less of Port Augusta than what I saw.  Port Augusta town centre is actually a very pretty little place, but the day I left there I rode all day and didn't even make it to the place I planned to have lunch.  The road has the southern Flinders Ranges running along the eastern side and they just tunneled the wind straight into my face.  Add this to delays when taking 20 to 30 minutes shelter avoiding the rain every few hours and it wasn't a very fulfilling day.

I left the highway at Port Pirie, to go into the town centre and collect a spare tyre and get yet another patch on the tooth I had previously had patched in Brussels and Bangkok. (Hopefully this patch really will last until Melbourne when I can get it fixed properly).   Heading south from Port Pirie I was on minor roads with a very green and pretty roadside to Port Wakefield before heading down into Adelaide.

  

Lots of nothing near Woomera

Down further south the very picturesque Port Broughton

40km north of Adelaide is a little place called "Two Wells".  They have a very helpful information centre where I picked up info on where the backpacker's budget accommodation was in Adelaide plus info on Kangaroo Island and the roads to Melbourne.  One of the ladies there just couldn't believe that I was going to ride from Two Wells... "...all the way to Adelaide."  (all 40km of it).  Her co-worker tried to tell her that it really wasn't far compared to where I'd been !!!!!!!   It left a smile on my face and it still does when I think of it.

Adelaide, the river Torrens and the Adelaide Festival Centre.

From here I think I'll now head south to kangaroo Island to fill in a bit of time.  If I headed straight to Melbourne now I'd arrive before the tenant vacated my house.

Jeff

--
www.whereonearthisjeff.com

Alice Springs

I'm now in Alice Springs, - about 1500km south of Darwin and 1500km north of Adelaide - half way through my North to South crossing of the Australian continent.   With the distance riden so far being around 26,500km and only about 3000km to go, I'm feeling quite close to home.

After problems finding vacancies in any Darwin accommodation places I found a temporary home with Ross & Sue, Ross being the brother-in-law of my best friend.  That allowed me to stay a few more days in Darwin, exploring and resting. 

  
-o- At the friends, in-laws (Darwin)   David, Sue, Ross & Kaitlyn
-o- At the friends, in-laws, in-laws (Berry Creek)  Jessie

From Darwin, my next stop was Berry Springs and the Territory Wildlife Park where I continued with my free accommodation courtesy of the friends and in-laws chain staying with Judy & Rocky.  (This time the in-law of the in-law of the friend.)  The gossip chain had worked well and Judy presented me with a tube of Vegemite - having just missed out on the last one in the supermarket in Darwin. Rocky, works at the wildlife park and he and Judy they live with daughter Jessie a few km's down the road.   The wildlife park is a great place to wander around as they've very nicely reproduced a whole series of different natural habitats within the confines of the park.  It was here at the wildlife park that I ran into a school group from back in Ringwood, travelling through Central Australia to Darwin. The group from Norwood Secondary College included Callum the son of friends Tim and Marie from back in my Youth Group days.

  
-o- Birds of Prey display - The Territory Wildlife Park.  Berry Springs N.T.
-o- Termite mound  vs  bike

It was a few days later in Katherine that I got talking to some people whilst sitting in the shade of a tree beside the main road.  It turned out that the father and son - from Melbourne - were heading to London in a car and we sat under the tree whilst they quizzed me about how I got from Dili to Darwin and then about the inter-island ferries through Indonesia and to Singapore.   I was able to re-assure them that once they'd used Perkin's shipping to get to Dili, they'd be able to cross the Indonesian Archipelago through Flores, Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Java and Sumatra - as I had done - using roll-on, roll-off ferries.  No problems for a car...  I couldn't help them with info about a roll-on/off ferry to Singapore though, the one leg they are really desperate to find.    After we'd (I'd) been talking for a while I began to think that the father looked vaguely familiar.  Nobody I knew or had met personally before but a just little familiar.   After mentioning Timor and Balibo once, it was when he mentioned Balibo a second time and said "We will go to Balibo" that I thought... "maybe he's from the media..."   I asked his name to see if that sounded familiar, he responded with a cautious but polite "Jon".   I pushed a bit further saying "Jon......" and waiting for him to fill in his surname.   I nearly died when he the response was "Faine".    For all those that are not from Melbourne, or for Melbournian's that dont listen to the ABC 774 (shame..).   Jon is a presenter on the main ABC AM station in Melbourne.  I think he looked vaguely familiar because of thumbnail sized photos I'd seen on printed radio program schedules.   I only recognised the voice afterwards, but couldn't mistake it then.  (In my defence it's not a voice I'd heard since I started the trip 15 months ago and it certainly wasn't "in-context".)  It seemed incredible to meet him as I did, as he is my favorite talk show presenter, and here I was sitting on the nature strip next to the Stuart Highway in Katherine, explaining Indonesian Ferries and talking about my last 15 months, which will - in some small part - be like what he is just starting.  You can read about his trip, see his photos and read his version of the encounter at www.melbournetolondon.com 

  

-o- Me, showing Jon Faine my route - photo Jack Faine
-o-  Jon & Jack Faine  on their way to London by car quizing me in Katherine.

I didn't stay in Katherine as I had planned, because the Katherine Gorge tours were booked out, instead I filled up my food pannier with fresh stocks from the Supermarket and headed on down the highway.  Instead of taking a day's break in Katherine, I stayed for an extra day in Mataranka, visiting the various springs.

The road from Darwin to Mataranka had been tree lined and not at all like the "nothing" that you imagine for Central Australia.  The wind too, although head-on (Sou-Easter) didn't - like in many countries before - get strong until 2 hours after sunrise.  So by getting up at 5:30AM I could eat, pack and get on the road and have about 3 hours of wind free riding, before struggling for the rest of the day to complete however many km's I felt I wanted to complete.  Once South of Mataranka things changed.  The wind would blow through the night and be still blowing when I wanted to start riding.  There was no longer any point in getting up really early, as the wind was there regardless.  With overnight temperatures starting to drop - as I headed inland - it was better to wait until the sun had risen before setting off for the day.

My last good windless morning was my early start from Mataranka.  I reached my intended destination of Larrimah for lunch and continued on wondering if - with a long day - whether I might be able to make it to Daly Waters.  This became my first long day in Australia, reaching Daly Waters that evening and setting a new record for the longest "riding time"   9 hrs.  At about 167km it was about equal to my longest day in km also.

It was in Elliot a couple of days after Mataranka that I met up with 5 riders from Germany that had been coming along the highway behind me. They'd pulled into Mataranka late the evening before I left.  I had left pre-dawn the next morning so never saw them to speak to until they arrived at Elliot a couple of days later - just as I was about to head out of town to find a camp.  Instead of heading out of town, I camped in the camping ground with them and rode the next 2 days with their group, slipstreaming them when I could and wearing myself out taking the lead in turn.  In Germany they came from the small village of Borchen, which they said was about 100km east of Dortmund.  I rattled off the names Soest, Erwitte, Lippstadt and got a very positive response as they realised that I had come through Germany and passed through their neighbourhood about 20km west of their village.  After a couple of days of riding at the faster speeds of the group I decided to leave them to ride on at their pace whilst I would continue at my own.  Yes, it's harder pushing through the wind yourself than behind somebody else, but when their speed is just a couple of kilometres per hour too fast it very quickly wears you out.   I would cover the same distance myself going slower into the wind and and taking a hour or two longer, being less tired than riding fast.   As we were to arrive into the town of Tennant Creek on the weekend, and I needed to be there in normal business hours to go to the Post Office, they would continue to Ayers Rock a few days ahead of me. 

 
-o- Saying goodbye to the riders from Borchen, Germany - Attack Creek, N.T.

It was during my couple of days in Tennant Creek that I wanted to upload a few photos to the web & check emails.  With the only Internet Cafe in town being closed on weekends I decided to drop into the nearby Motel to see if they had - or knew of - any intenet access.  As I approached the Motel I was stunned to see Chris Newman walking across the forecourt towards me.  We both echoed "What are you doing here" and then went on to explain that I was riding home from Europe and he was helping his son in the Eldorado Motel during the Tennant Creek busy season.   Chris is a guy that I knew of from his work in the early 80's, when he'd worked very closely with communications group of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria -(My first employer).  Since then we've got to know each other through the YHA bushwalking club in Melbourne.  It was great to spend a few hours with him talking and doing odd jobs around the Motel before sitting down to do my Internet work on the motel's internet browser PC.

From Mataranka, south, the country was far more open than it had been further north.  It enabled views way into the distance where previously all you could see were tree's.  It also allowed the wind to howl across at you and be far more annoying than before.   Vast  horizons far more like the Central Australia that I was expecting.  With the openness came longer straight stretches of road, 30km or 40km in length with no bends.  With the land being flat the road disappears toward a vanishing point but before it gets there dissolves into a sea of nothing, a mirage that makes it appear the road in the distance is covered with water.  Being able to see the road straight ahead for such a long distance is quite deceptive, as the roads perspective approaches the vanishing point it plays tricks on your eyes and you'd swear the road was cresting and you were on an upward incline. (Pushing against a head wind, your legs add to the upward incline perception). 

    
-o-  I stupidly left a battery on charge in the caravan park in Tennant Creek when I left.  After hitch hiking back to get it, these guys from Thursday Island drove me more than 80km back to where 'd left my bike then returned to Tennant Creek. (I think they were amazed when I emerged from a clump of bushes, in the dark, somewhere along the stuart highway with my bike.)
-o-  The Devils Marbles
-o- On the road again - near Aileron N.T.

Towards Alice Springs the trees get a little larger again, you actually do get a few (little) hills and the country feels a bit more like it did closer to Darwin.  I had a couple of good days on the approach to "The Alice".  Days with the wind partially behind me.  It enabled me to cover better distances more easily again.  From a camp near Barrow Creek I made it to Ti Tree for lunch instead of camping, and did what I'd planned as the next days ride in the afternoon.  This left me about 120km north of Alice and ready to head to town the next day.

In Alice Springs I wanted to find some warm gloves (very much needed for pre-dawn riding in Central Australia), a replacement Cycle Computer (I'd lost mine in Tennant Creek), and to locate Robert & Marijke (parents of my mate David) who I knew would be camped in one of the caravan parks in Alice Springs.  I managed to get a cycle computer like the one I'd lost, a set of gloves that I'll get to try out once I start riding tomorrow and to trip around in a 4WD vehicle to areas around Alice Springs that I'd never have got to if Rob & Rake hadn't been here.  Travelling out to Gem Tree yesterday (140km N/E) and to Hermannsburg and Palm Valley the previous day.

 
-o- Alice Springs
-o- Christine, Me, Rob, Marijke, Rudi at Hermannsburg - Touring around Alice in 4WD's

 
-o- Stranded with two flat spare tyres, these guys were happy that Rob had a compressor.
-o- Tyres Changed and they're off.

From here I'll head south, then off on a long 300km side track to Uluru (Ayers Rock), before continuing south toward Adelaide.

Jeff

Australia - Hey I'm home - well almost, Darwin

Yes, almost home, just a few thousand kilometres of Stuart Highway through Central Australia to go.

From Maumere on the island of Flores Indonesia, it was a ride to Larantuka at the far east end of the island. Then the last of my Indonesian island hopping ferries to Kupang - at the west (Indonesian) end of the island of Timor, a ride to the last border crossing and my final country before home. Timor Leste and Dili. From Dili a plane trip to Darwin my current location.


Just East of Maumere there is a stretch of beach with a few lots of cabins - lovely
Weighing the bags - they are always packed the same

I had been told by a couple of motor cycle tourers "there are some serious hills near Larantuka", but what constitutes a serious hill to someone on a BMW need not be on a bicycle. There were hills, not steep but with lots of bends. (which probably gives a motorcyclist the feeling of "serious hills") A windy road usually means the road wont be so steep. It's going straight up a hill that's a problem on a bicycle. Of course this was a pleasant surprise, although many locals had told me the road was nowhere near as hilly as the stuff I'd just done. Maumere wasn't as large as I had expected, so instead of staying an extra day there I rode just 30km up the road to some beach side cabins and spent my 2nd Maumere day there at the cabins. In fact, the cabin place was so nice that I spent 2 nights there. As I had budgeted 2 days to ride from Maumere to Larantuka (but now found it was less km than expected and could be ridden in 1 day) I decided to stay 2 nights at the cabins. I'd then still have time to spend a day exploring Larantuka before the twice a week ferry would whisk me away to Timor.

In Larantuka I made a couple of good contacts, one a guy that had worked on the Stuart Highway in Central Australia when it was being widened, and now running a cafe in Larantuka. He was able to give me information about the road that as yet didn't have.


The approach to Larantuka
The ferry from Larantuka to Kupang

The other contact was Francis, a Director of a local NGO in Kupang, who just happened to be in the same hotel in Larantuka. The NGO "Increase" has a training centre in Kupang complete with accommodation. I was offered free accommodation in Kupang on the condition that I talk to the staff in English! (Now that cant be too hard can it). As is the case everywhere I travelled, people learning English are short of other English speakers to practice conversation with. In fact it was a little harder than I thought, as I had become very accustomed to using selected Bahasa words and I tended to keep using them instead of using straight English.


My host in Kupang and his family. Francis is from a local NGO and invited me to stay at their training centre in Kupang
Sculptures outside the city offices in Atambua Indonesia near the East Timor border

I stayed a few days in Kupang then headed east toward Atambua. I found a very nice description of the Kupang to Dili bike ride on the web by a guy named macamat. When I looked a bit further I realised that Matthew McDonald, the author, was in fact from Melbourne, and was still on the road heading to Melbourne from Adelaide - just a bit ahead of me. The roads across West & East Timor were generally pretty good, they had a few very nasty steep bits but not long ones, they had there share of rough rocky bits too but no more than the other islands. In short, easier than Flores. The worst section of road would be the section from the "border town" of Atambua in Indonesian Timor to the actual border - a distance of some 30 to 40 km. On some of the really steep bits, there are corrugations in the bitumen road, and because you are using brakes quite heavily the back wheel locks up as it bounces over each corrugation. I used by brakes more, and harder, in Indonesia than any other country. (The other hilly countries generally had wider and smoother roads and you could puff out the chest and arms to catch a bit of wind and cruise down the hills with minimal braking.)

The border crossing from Indonesia to Timor Leste was a pretty easy crossing, you just have to wait a bit on the Indonesian side for them to open the Immigration office in the morning. On my morning they decided to open about 9:30am. Across the border in Timor Leste the road flattens right out for quite a distance, then gives you some really nasty short steep bits for about 10km then again flattens out for the coastal trip to Dili. As you fall then re-climb these nasty steep bits you find yourself wondering "what was in the heads of the road builders when the laid out this bit of road".


Volleyball at Atambua - almost anything goes - you can also kick or head the ball, as long as it goes over the net
The road from Atambua to the border post, very steep in places and rough

Riding into Dili the same night that I crossed the border I found myself using US Dollars for something other than FOREX. In Cambodia USD was common, but they also had their own currency. In East Timor the currency "is" US Dollars. (they do have their own coins though 5,10, 25 & 50 cents). Like in Cambodia, often things will cost "One Dollar" when really they shouldn't, they're just one dollar because it is easy for the seller.

Once across the border to Timor Leste, just about all vehicles on the road become new 4WD's with an emblem of some sort on the front doors. If it's not big "UN" letters it's one of the countless international aid agencies, foreign government supported organisations or NGO's. In Dili there's a few more other vehicles, taxi's and the like, but in the countryside, it's either a big new 4WD, or a small bus.

Eating in Dili you can do one of two things. There are a heap of restaurants around town catering for the huge numbers of foreigners. By home standards the food is still reasonably priced or cheap, but by local standards, or in comparison to the Indonesian side of the border, they are rip off places (so I avoided them). You don't find places catering to locals at local prices in town, to find them you need to head a few km out on the main road toward Atambua (near the Australian Embassy). Here there are many lining both sides of the road. Being on a bike makes it very easy to get to and eat at these places and pay what was very close to the cheap Indonesian prices. (and cheaper than the comparatively expense Indonesian prices on Flores). Of course it means that you continue to eat the same type of meals based on noodles and rice. If you were to eat in town at the places catering to the foreigners, you'd generally be eating, Indian, Italian, Japanese, or similar.


Timor Leste - the approach to Dili from the Indonesian Border.
The Government Palace, Dili


A refugee camp by the Dili waterfront being packed up - the residents gone back to home villages
One of the many remnants of wrecked buildings around the city of Dili

Dili, for me was largely a cleaning stop. I saw the local sights, the big Jesus, the waterfront, the Xanana Gusmao reading room etc, but my main concern was to get all my camping gear, bike and bags clean enough to pass an AQIS (Quarantine) inspection at Darwin airport. I had hoped to get a boat of some description to Australia, but with only one freight company that wont take passengers on their ships, it wasn't going to be easy. There was a flight out with spare seats a few days after I arrived, then 3 weeks of totally booked out flights, so the decision to fly and when to fly became easy - It would be the 26th June.


Dismantling the bike and packing - for the last time

With the bags and contents cleaned, the bike cleaned, dismantled and packed into a bike box - from the local Dili bike shop. I headed to the airport with my 40kg of luggage and 13kg baggage allowance, wondering just how much I'd be stung for excess baggage. The answer would turn out to be zero. I'm not sure just how. They weighed the bike and checked-in bag separately, the bike box (with a few extra items inside) weighed 23kg, the checked-in bag I'm not sure, but would have been around 10 to 12kg. Then there was my "way-too-big for the testing frame" hand luggage making up the difference. All I can say is a big thankyou. The $380USD air fare turned out to be $148USD using the cheapest of the discount fares offered on that particular day on the Air North On-Line Booking Website . (I never saw that price offered on other days). So I wasn't so upset about having to fly.

Even the arrival into Aus went well with the Quarantine inspector being very happy with my diligent & thorough cleaning of everything I had. He looked in one of the bags, looked into the opened bike box, checked a wooden Indonesian carving I was carrying and allowed me through.


Darwin Airport Arrivals, The Larrakia people welcome you to Darwin.
Down by the sea in town

It wasn't until getting out of the airport in Darwin that things started to go wrong. Only 1km out of the airport I had a flat rear tyre, then, when I got to town, I found that Darwin in peak tourist season (now) is impossible for finding accommodation. It's even worse if they put on AFL and V8 Supercars which they are doing over this weekend and next. If you didn't book months in advance you don't have a bed. After doing the full length of Mitchell St (lined with backpacker accommodation) and finding no vacancy anywhere I hopped back on the bike and headed back out of town, down the Stuart Highway to a caravan park. At the caravan park - same story. "Room for a one man tent?" "NO!" With this, it seemed like I would be pitching by the side of the road somewhere, but with all the gear crammed into only two instead of four pannier bags and nothing in its normal place, I knew pitching camp in the dark would be very hard. "where was the...packed..." "...was that in the checked-in bag or the hand luggage...", and buried how far under other items. I stopped in a Petrol Station to use their well lit forecourt to empty out the bags and re-arrange everything back to it's "allocated" position. Then back onto the road. I gave one more caravan park a try and, yes, for $27 I could use a tiny patch of their grass for the few hours before check out time the next morning.

The next day I managed to get a one-night-only vacancy in a dorm bed in a hotel in central Darwin. Exactly when I'll hit the road again I'm not sure, I'd like to hang around for a few more days, we'll see.

From here it's a long road south and hopefully the wind will be kind (unlikely this time of the year with the prevailing winds from the south east - but the worst should have passed)

Wish me luck...

Jeff.