So this is the beginning,so bare with me, as I learn this blog thing as I go. I am posting the intro to our trip for our initial blog, some of you have already read it, but every story needs a beginning, and this is ours.
Peter and I are the ultimate dreamers, especially whem it comes to exploring the world on our bikes, and this is part one of our fantasy trip. Stayed tuned.

So the bikes are happily bobbing there way to Australia via Singapore, or so we hope, and we plan to meet up with them in Freemantle on the 13th of Feb. and start the T.T. tour of Australia.

The idea behind this tour was born on a beautiful sunny day in Adelaide in 2004, when Peter and I happened into a souvenir shop on Rundle Mall to buy a T-shirt for Marcel, my brother in-law. Peter found this fabulous calendar of Australian Pubs, photographed by Steve Parish, and commented that it would be really neat to visit all these pubs. Sooo back in rainy cold and wet Vancouver we revisited the idea as an itinery for a motorcycle trip around Oz. This explaining the T.T. designation (Tavern to Tavern, or Tank to Tank)

A brilliantly romantic notion, yes. The reality not so romantic. There is a lot more involved in getting your motorbikes to Australia than just putting them on a boat and meeting up with them later. There is the dreaded Carnet de Passage, this document allows you to ship your bikes to Australia without paying import duties and taxes, it is in essence a bond for your bikes that insures that you will not sell your property whilst in Australia. This document is obtained through the CAA and it is not cheap. It requires a guarantee of 5000 per bike, depending upon its resale value, which is returned upon the bikes arrival back in Canada, and this must be provided by a Chartered Bank, very important as we found out, as VanCity is not recognized as a Chartered Bank.

All that aside, the planning of this adventure has been exciting and educational. We start our great ride in Perth W.A. where the first pub we visit is in Wagin, and its called Moran’s Hotel, from there we head due East across the Nullabour Plain to Port Augusta,S.A., and the Fourways Pub.
From Port Augusta the trip takes on a little nostalgia as we head north to Leigh Creek, where I grew up, and from there via Ayers Rock we head for the Daly Waters Pub in Daly Waters.N.T.
We are going to take a small deviation from here as Peter has always wanted to visit the infamous Birdsville Pub which takes us back down to the S.A. border and through some amazing desert country, this will possibly be the most isolated part of the trip, where we will have to carry extra petrol and the like with us.
From Birdsville we will head North again, through Mt. Isa and then onto Ravenswood and the beautiful Railway Hotel in Queensland, then south to Warwick,Q. and the Criterion Hotel. We go inland a little after that to Uralla,NSW, and the Thunderbolt Inn. We go east and north after that to the Star Hotel in Macksville, NSW, and then all the way south the Sale in Victoria and the Star Hotel.
This is the non riding part of the trip as from here we load our bikes onto a ferry, go bobbing across the Bass Strait to Tasmania the Prince Albert Inn in Launceston. We are going to add Hobart to this leg as my uncle lives here and by then free room and board will be a welcome thing, back across the Tasman to Portland,V and Mac’s Hotel.
We are nearing the end of our odyssey as we head straight north to the Silverton Hotel in Silverton NSW,and from there, west and south to the Blumberg Hotel in Birdwood SA which is on the edge of the Barossa Valley and a short 74ks to my Mums house.

This is going to be accomplished by riding 3 days at approx 500k per day and 1 day down to get clean, but Peter and I are not the best a following strict itineries, so this is roughly what we plan to get up to. I am hoping to up date the BLOG every 4th day so that you can all follow along.

I believe that you can view the calendar that I purchased for Peter and the inspiration for this trip at www.steveparish.com.au.
So wish us luck and we’ll be in touch.

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Distances we aspire to travel
Wagin to Port Augusta 2376.45kms
Port Augusta to Daly Waters 2135.74kms
Daly Waters to Birdsville 1690.57kms
Birdsville to Ravenswood 1453.99kms
Ravenswood to Warwick 1518.79kms
Warwick to Uralla 329.47kms
Uralla to Macksville 311.51kms
Macksville to Sale 1279.62kms
Sale to Launceston 760.89kms
Launceston to Portland 905.05kms
Portland to Silverton 841.70kms
Silverton to Birdwood 545.01kms
Home to Mum in Kapunda 74.23kms