May 25 Cairns Qld - Proserpine Qld 618 km
Total 16057 km
Average 501 km/day
Set off in the rain today. First rain for 3 weeks or more. There was a big Ulysses meeting in Townsville today, bikes everywhere. Saw more cops today than have seen in the last 5 weeks. Henk was keen to meet up with some of his old Ulysses buddies, but there wasn't really time.

May 26 Proserpine Qld - Gympie Qld 946 km
Total 17003 km
Average 515 km/day
Big ride today. No more wildlife or wilddead on the roads but do have to be careful with huge menacing trucks on the road. Remember the Cape York roadtrain, well same again, just no dust, faster and no more considerate of motorbikes on their road.
Found a place to camp at Gympie. Now 140 km N of Brisbane.

May 27 Gympie Qld - Ballina NSW 370 km
Total 17373 km
Average 510 km/day
Easy day today. Near the end of circumnavigation. Loads of construction going on around Brisbane. Rode the 8 lane highway into Surfers Paradise. You should have seen the heads turn as Henk and Mike cruised the Main!! It wasn't Henks boyish good looks, or Mikes designer label cloths, but the beat up, tapped up, bent up Transalps caked in thick red outback dust cruising amongst the BMW M3s and Porsche 911s.
Had breakfast , caught up on email, and did a bit of shopping before heading out to Byron Bay. This has to be one of the prettiest places on earth. Went out to the lighthouse and saw a pod of Humpback whales just off shore.
Camped at Ballina and grazed at the RSL. Best RSL so far in Oz.

May 28 Ballina NSW - Sydney NSW 750 km
Total 18123 km
Average 518 km/day
Last day of circumnav. Coffs Harbour very nearly saw Mike knocked off by an elderly man in a car. Then as Mike had his head down watching the trip meter roll over 18000 km a log on the road loomed. Mike veered left and Henk right, both missing the log by a whisker. Finished the day at Mikes daughter and son in laws in Sydney town.
Ye ha they did it and right on schedule too. Congratulations fellas. The plan was a week to Perth, a week to Darwin, a week to Cairns, a week on Cape York, a week to Sydney and a week of contingency. They have done it in 5 weeks to the day and now have a week to chill and decide what to do with the bikes. Yes, I know, they spent most of the time on the bikes and didn't see half of what there is to see in Oz, but that wasn't the object of the trip. It was a challenge to see if we could get round the main island in 5 weeks, and a warm up for the next adventure. Watch this space. South America's calling.