6months travelling, 6months Cairns from 1999-?

We are an Australian couple from Cairns, Queensland, Australia mainly traveling 2 up on a Yamaha Super Tenere XTZ 750, fondly nicknamed Miss Adventure.

Real estate was our career in Cairns and we job shared with Belinda's brother Paul and his wife Jacqueline working for a year and traveling every second year for 10 years. 

We started this blog in 2002 during our 14 month trip in South America riding 2 up on a Yamaha Super Tenere.

2004 a year in Western Europe riding 2 up on a Yamaha Super Tenere. ; 

26 August 2002 - PERU Well, we crossed the Equador border, which is spread out over 8km. We got to the Peruvian end and Belindas passport hadnt been stamped out of Equador. So, back 8km of which 1km was markets and huge traffic jams. We finally got the stamp and 3 hours later we were on our way. We had heard that the beaches in Northern Peru were good, so we stopped off at Punta Sal Beach, north of Mancora. One hotel was advertising every 5km for the past 20km, so we checked it out. It was absolutely stunning , right on the beach front and run by a lovely young couple.

1st September 2002

We are now settled into Lima life. Lima is the capital of Peru and it is a big, polluted, crazy drivers sort of a town. Most people hate it here. We have been here 3 times now and love it. We have found a great place that is like a home away from home in one of the beach suburbs, called Barranco.

The backpackers is called "The Point B&B" and you can check out their website at www.geocities.com/the point_peru/ or call on (51-1) 247 7997.

It is so laid back and 'chilled', we find it hard to move on!!!

5 September 2002

We are now in Pisco, which is 200km south of Lima. We stopped off at a surfing beach 52km south of Lima and enjoyed sleeping to the noise of the surf in our ocean front cottage. It is a Greek style village with a sheltered sandy bay and we had the place to ourselves as it was a week day and off season.

Most of Perus coastline is very dry desert, the houses are very basic and it rains so seldom lots of poor houses dont seem to have a roof!!! There was not a plant to be seen for 100km!

Patrick and Miss Adventure (the Bike) in the Peruvian Andes.

Patrick riding through river in Vilcabamba in Equador.

Five motorcyclists get together for a day ride in Arequipa. Patrick is far left, looking dashing in red on a Yamaha, of course; then Grandpa and Grandson on a Harley; Dad, daughter and Mum on a Honda Africa Twin; John Green on BMW and Super Grandma on another Harley!! Note: even the kids came too!! Top day with a local family, very friendly. You can imagine the looks we got when we drove through the countryside!!

16 Sept 2002- Arequipa

We have just downloaded our camera, so photos finally for those that dont know what our bike looks like!!

Well the Nasca lines were amazing. We went to a few museums to find out what they are and no-one knows for sure- its a mystery- drawings in the Peruvian Desert so large they are only visible by air!! There were also thousands of three thousand year old mummies burried and lots of grave robbing going on. See photo of Pat 'playing' with some skulls we found on the ground!

Belinda and 'Miss Adventure' (the bike) in the Peruvian Andes. Note: the knee protection, bright hey!! Safety first Mum!!

Belinda and Patrick at a lake in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains in Peru. Note the glacier in the background, Pats haircut and no Pat hasn't turned into a shorty!!

Mika, Dalmaris, Belinda and Patrick in the Iron House built by Mr Eiffel (who built The Eiffel Tower) in Iquitos, which is the town on the Amazon River with no roads leading to it. We first met Mika in Cairns, he is our inspiration as he has been travelling by motorbike around the world for 3 years now. We also met up with Mika in Lima (the world is a small place!!)

Patrick with a couple of skulls he found in the Peruvian desert near Nasca. Note the skin and the hair still on the skull!!!! (no its not Belinda!!)

24 September- PUNO

We stayed in a great place- Casa Nostra in Yanque in Colca Canyon and had a great thermal spring all to ourselves and saw many birds souring the thermals.
Currently we are in Puno in Southern Peru on Lake Titicaca at 3855m high- 165km long and 60km wide. We are off to Bolivia today.

We have really enjoyed Peru and are quite sad to be leaving, but looking forward to more adventures.

3rd October 2002- La Paz

7th October 2002- La Paz

After leaving La Paz we headed towards Potosi, which is a town with a huge silver mountain on its doorstep. It is over 4000m high and is very cold. We stayed there for quite a while as we did a tour of the mines, which was amazing to see the harsh conditions they work under. There was asbestos everywhere and the miners generally only last about 10 years before they die from asbestosos. Pat couldn´t get out of there quick enough!! The town was so rich from silver that they used to make coins for Bolivia and Spain, now Bolivian coins are made in Spain!!

Crossing the border to Brazil was both expensive and time consuming as it is the first country in Central and South America that we have visited that you need a visa US$50 each. The views from Iguasu were more spectacular from the Brazil side. Changing the tyres in Foz De Iguasu we met the owner of the Pirelli shop- Roberto Apelbaum, who is a member of a motorclcle club called Route 277. He invited us to the club meeting and we all had a meal together. As they make lots of large annual trips they filled our map with all the great places to see.

We headed south from Villizon on nice smooth roads going down hill rapidly and the temperature rising into the 30´s. (Great change from Bolivias snow, cold and bad,bad roads) We also finally got some high octane fuel after the 78 octane fuel in Bolivia. The road followed the bottom of an enormous valley with multi coloured walls on both sides ranging from green to purple, red and orange. We stayed in a quaint little village called Pummamarca with a cute park in the centre and GREAT and CHEAP restaurants!! Heaven.

Belinda crossing a river on a bike, instead of a boat!!

Pat on another makeshift bridge in a volcanic area in Equador.

Pat and Belinda in the Amazon River, going fishing for Piranha to eat for dinner.

After leaving the beaches in Peru we havent seen a beach for a couple of months!! Mountains and rainforests are nice, but Brazillian beaches... Mumma mia...

Today we did our favourite activity...drive along the Coastal Esplanades checking out the beaches and the houses- we cant help ourselves!! We were like Forest Gump...when we were hungry... we ate, when we were tired... we slept!!

By far the best place we have stayed in- Playa Punta Sal in Northern Peru.

With a guinea pig foot after eating it for lunch!!

Pat probably the most scared he has been in his life crossing a makeshift bridge with no sides, a 20m drop and no run up or road to follow afterwards. This is the closed road to Banos in Equador- we dont recommend it to anyone!!

Anyone for a mudbath or a mudfight!! Pat and Belinda at the right of the photo!!

Belinda making a fashion statement!!

We decided not to head north to Sao Paulo and Rio De Janiero as they are both huge cities with lots of security problems, plus it rained there the whole time we were in Brasil. We really want to see Rio, but will travel the north of Brasil another time!!

Travelling in the southern part of Brazil is all about beaches, which is fine by us!! We stayed with another freeloaders family- Ricardo and Michelle in Porto Alegre and had a blast!! It was great being part of a family again as they have two children- Lucas 3 years old and Rafael at 11 months old.

We spent one wonderful week in Uruguay and pretty much had the place to ourselves. The reasons for this is that we are here just before the summer season and Uruguay used to be cheaper than Argentina, but now is more expensive, so the´what were rich Argentinians´ are no longer coming to Uruguay. Its amazing how far reaching the economy on one country can impact those countries nearby. We basically followed the coast from one side of the country to the other. At Punta Del Este, Uruguays premier beach resort we had images of crowded beaches like the Gold Coast in Australia.

Belinda playing with the kids in the street in Solar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Note the warm gear as it was FREEZING!! Also, notice the girl in the front asking for money for the photo!!

Unloading the bike after an overnight train ride to the Argentinian border. Look how many people it took!!

Guess who is that crazy woman standing underneath the largest waterfall in the world? Iguazu Falls are on the border of Brasil, Argentina and Paraguay.

Pat and an antique car in the streets of Colonia in Uruguay.

Us with prominent Uruguayan atrist- Carlos Paez Villaro, in his house/gallery in front of his famous painting of Buenos Aires. Pat and Carlos had a great laugh as their 2 loves in life are the same: travel and women!!

The Largest Waterfall In The World and it was very spectacular.

Pat with a thumb up his bum!! Punta Del Este- Uruguays premier resort.

The amazing home of Uruguayan artist- Carlos Paez Villaro in the coastal town of Punta Ballena- so grand he turned it into a time share hotel!!

Now THAT is a BBQ!! We had a huge feed at Mercado del Puerto in Montevideo- they served us guts and all!!

We had a picnic on the beach in Brasil after riding about 100km on the beach!! Wild thing!!

We are fully loaded and ready to roll onto the next town, once we have put our helmets on of course, Mum and Mom!!
Remember, we want to sell the bike in March 2003, if interested and wanting more details, go direct to: www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/Forum18/HTML/000213.html

After one glorious week in BA- Big Apple, we are pushing on!! We really enjoyed staying with Brigette and discovering Buenos Aires. Pat did some maintenance stuff to the bike and Bin watched Evita video 3 times and is now singing `Dont cry for me Argentina` all the time.

BA is the second biggest town in South America with an incredibly good highway system. BA has the widest street in the world which carries 30 lanes of traffic!! The people are really friendly and in reasonably good spirits considering the economic conditions of the country.

We have been overwhelmed by Argentinian generosity and hospitality. What a great country with great people. After leaving Buenos Aires we followed the coast towards Mar del Plata checking out the beaches, of course, the lovely little seaside villages and the houses!!

At Mar del Plata we met Monno and family, thanks to Nevione and Don Crawford, and were treated to two magnificent Argentinian Asados- BBQs- Mumma mia, these BBQs put Aussie BBQs to shame!! We also finally got the shock fixed by Andy Garcia PH (156 820 045) in Mar del Plata and he really knew what he was doing!!

On our way to Ushuaia we diverted off highway 3 for a bit of a gravel run to El Calefate to see the famous Perito Moreno Glacier (well, famous in these parts anyway!!). It was amazing, one of the most spectacular sites we have seen, rivaling Iguassu Falls!! The Glacier moves 2 metres per day and ¨calves off¨ every 10 minutes into a large glacial lake. It sounds like a huge roaring animal and is mesmerising- Pat watched it for 4 whole hours and saw some amazingly large slabs fall off into the lake creating enormous waves!!

When we wrote last we were just about to board the Ferry in Puerto Natales, Chile. Wow, what a trip, it was definately the way to go as there are no roads in Southern Chile and the only other option was the notorious Route 40- a rough gravel road in Argentina running along the top of the Andes. Pat and Luis enjoyed the break from driving and Belinda enjoyed the break on her bum! We sat back like a couple of oldies on a cruise ship and read, ate, slept, OK- we did party a bit too and Belinda even excelled at Bingo, though always yelling "Bingo" too late!!!

Pat and Monno Argentinian kissing in Mar de Plata!!

Oscar doing a great Argentinan BBQ in Viedma.

Luis and Pat sharing a cerveza at a beach in Argentina.

The bike is looking fantastic- like new in fact. We spent 10 days in Mendoza getting the best mechanic in town to give her a service, change brake pads and check everything. We also got the best painter in town to give her a new paint job, we put on a new rear tyre and she is now ready to go for the next lucky travellers that buy her. Thanks to Sergio, a local businessman who happens to have a Super Tenere also and is now a great friend.

GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR A GREAT ADVENTURE IN CHILE OR ARGENTINA AND BEYOND!!

Yamaha Super Tenere XTZ 750 for sale in or around Santiago-Iquique, Chile, or Northern Argentina South America NOW.

see great photos of bike,starting with:
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/peck/000328.php

From Salta we travelled over the 4,700m pass (Paso de Jama) to San Pedro de Atacama. We travelled through the largest and dryest desert in the world- it was amazing.

Wow, what a trip. We rate our trip 11 out of 10 and the main difference between this and other trips was the motorcycle. It allowed us total freedom to go wherever we wanted and stop wherever we wanted and get off the wellworn ¨gringotrail¨.

Hi Us again!! We have got another Yamaha Super Tenerre and are preparing our next trip. We will go to Thailand and Malaysia from Feb 2004- April 2004. We will then fly to London, pick up the bike from a ship and cicumnavigate the Meditteranean Sea. Bank to London or maybe Germany, leave the bike there and fly to Canada Nov- Dec, then home via New Zealand and back to work Feb 2005.
Thats the plan at this stage. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, its back to work to pay for this trip!!!

Click to see a larger image.

Click to see a larger image

We have finally broken free, left work, rented the house, got the bike ready and hit the road. We fly out from Brisbane 15 Feb 2004, so we have heaps of time. Our first night we spent with Col and Rowena Neate in Port Hinchinbrook in their stunning ocean front apartment; second and third nights with Leiva and Murray Frame in Townsville in their magnificent show home with views from every room overlooking Magnetic Island!! What a great start to a great trip!!

Since our last entry we have travelled down the Queensland coast to Brisbane, stopping in and seeing all Pats BOUGI Boys mates (motorcycle club- stands for Bad, Old, Ugly, Guilty, Insane) all along the east coast of Qld. Highlights included: Ninbin- a hip, little town from the 60's where even the kids greeted us with "pease man, wanna buy some pot?!!" We thought it was a hoot! Byron Bay was also fantastic and the surf was pumping. We had a great time with Mum and Nev at Tweed Heads and walked Chris's dog 4 times a day!!

We are in paradise (we know we have said that many times, but this really is the ultimate!!) Great beaches, great snorkelling, great food, friendly people and dont forget Cheap as Chips!!! When we last wrote we were on our way to The Perhentian Islands in Malaysia- they were fastastic- great snorkelling right out the front of our gorgeous bungalow right on the beachfront. The food was fantastic- fresh seafood and mango shakes to die for. We stayed for a week, beachcombing and discovering something new and exciting every day.

Bin and Pat watching the sunset with a cocktail!! Way to go!

Magical Phi Phi Island great beaches, snorkelling, restaurants- paradise to us.

When we dont have a motorbike, this is how we cruise- on the back of a bus!

Miss AdventureII (Super Tenere- the motorbike) Bin, Beth Penhalagon, Beths daughter-Mandy, Pat on our first day.C

We left the gorgeous islands of Thailand for the dirty Myanmar border town called Kawthoung and nearly did an about face! The land borders are just starting to open to tourists and we only saw one other tourist in the 10 days that we toured the southern arm of Myanmar. The people were as friendly as the Thais, but there subtle differences were: the mud coating on their faces to protect them from the sun; most of the men wore sarongs (like a long skirt) and the women would carry heavy loads on their head and do most of the physical labour, ie construction.

Pat and Dr Gary Wilson putting Miss Adventure to bed in her crate for the trip from Brisbane to London Feb 2004

For our last few days in Thailand we visited the Bridge over the River Kwai (built by prisoners of War under the Japanese occupation), shopped, went elephant riding and bamboo rafting. While we were in Bangkok they had a water festival and Belinda bought a water pistol and had a great time squirting everyone in sight!! Next stop- Germany to visit Britta and Alexander Duelks whom we met in South America riding BMW's.

Sorry, this has taken so long, too many things to see and too little time! Palma, Mallorcas capital city, has an old city area surrounded by fotified walls with turrets on all corners. Inside is a medievil city with narrow cobblestone streets, stone buildings and modern shop facades; tapas bars and small restaurants flow their tables right onto the streets. Outside the walls and on the waterfront is the sheltered harbour mooring the most expensive boats in the world- those being owned by the Arabian oil rich Sheiks.

Pats highlight to date was Alhambra, an extravagant, Moorish castle overlooking Granada, which would rival any dwelling Queen Elizabeth would have, but was started well before Christ by the Muzlims from Morocco. We have never seen such granduer and it is yet to be fully restored. For anyone travelling Europe, this is a must which rates up there with Ankor Watt in Cambodia.

Belindas highlight was a beachfront hotel in La Marina, south coast of Spain, with beachviews from the bath. She kept singing a song about being in heaven!!!

Half an hour from the border we find a glorious 10km beach with an older Spanish style hotel with 10 million dollar views right on the beach and next to Club Med Resort. Our room with ensuite and verandah and breakfast was €35, but jumps to €80 in July- 3 weeks away!! Two nights and we were on our way top get some true Maroccan culture. It was a culture shock on this side of the Mediterranean. Things are not so clean, roads not so good, buildings old and in bad repair and capitalism is in its raw state.

The most southern point of Spain is a surf, tourist town called Tarifa. The African Rif Mountains and shoreline can be seen from most parts of town with the view from the castle being the best. This town boasts the best winds and waves in Europe. It is full of surfers, windsurfers and kitesurfers. The old town is wonderful to wonder through and the atmosphere is alive with all the young, active tourists. Beaches stretch for 100km all the way to the old city of Cadiz. We stopped and watched the kitesurfers and windurfers and there were hundreds of them all multicoloured!!

Smelly leather taneries of Fes

The kids on the road hoping we will throw them some sweets!! Some of them get very close to the bike at 100km per hour!!

Beautiful bluewash buildings in a lovely village called Chefchauen.

Moroccan palace guards.

Moroccan camels on the beach.

Meeting up again with Annette and John Green from UK.

Belinda on a rally Vespa in Lisbon.

Belinda in a Knights of Tomar castle staircase.

Our new European mobile number is +34 618 183 038, you can sms or call, but remember there is a big time difference!! We are getting lots of emails from people asking us where to go in different countries, so now we will put more details in our site, so people can look it up for themselves. We really loved Portugal, such a small country packed with so many treasures, we would reccommend it to anyone. Similar in cost to Spain, we spent max €35/day on accommodation in bed and breakfast type private homes, €25/day on food. Fuel in Spain is €.90/litre, in Portugal €1.05.

Heading east along Spains northern coast we began to encounter the August hordes of marauding European tourists and every point of interest was incredibly crowded, so we kept a steady pase to the Picos De Europa- a small mountain range west of the Pyrenees mountain range. The roads were narrow and windey in the Picos and were surprisingly void of crowds. We love pointing out to each other all the roman built roads, bridges and buildings.

Belinda collecting water in full battle uniform!!

(Romeo and) Juliettes balcony in Verona, Italy.

Pat with Miss Adventure on the beautiful coast.

Italy is visually and culturally spectacular and the people are very gregarious, friendly and good fun. They drive like maniacs- they love riding right up behind you, overtake whenever and stick their noses out into the traffic so you either have to stop and let them out or hit them!!! Crazy, but they all do it and it seems to work!! It is definately the most expensive country that we have found in Meditteranean Europe.....mamamia!!! I cant believe we actually stayed for 6 weeks....mind you we are very slim now!!

Belinda and the canals of Venice.

Amazing village in Cinque Terre, Italy.

Sandra, Brian, Belinda and Patick with our machines in B&B in Cinque Terre.

Patrick was born in Edmonton, Canada and moved to Australia from Canada in 1987 in search of a warmer climate. He rediscovered motorcycling in Australia as he sold his last m/c in Canada after traveling 350km at -30°C in heavy snow.

Patrick and Belinda met in Cairns, Australia, a tropical town next to the Great Barrier Reef while working together in the Real Estate Industry and were married in 2000 and travelled locally with their 1990 Super Tenere they called their freedom machine "Miss Adventure" 

Happy Travellers.

A body buried in Pompeii!!

Greek Acropolis ruins are very numerous in Sicily.

Last time we updated you as to our movements we were in Corsica, France. We had a great time there and rode the bike all over checking out the gorgeous beaches, mountain villages and spectacular coastal roads.

We spent Jan- mid Feb travelling the north island of New Zealand. We hired a motorhome privately through www.trademe.co.nz The commercial companies were charging $330 per day to hire a 6 berth motorhome, over 6 weeks= $13,000!! which is rediculously expensive, so we looked into buying and then reselling and found the website above. Pat came up with the fantastic idea of emailing all the motorhomes for sale in the website and asking them if they would privately rent their motorhome to us over summer if they were not using it.

Kate and Johnathan Peck- our famous and tall kids in New Zealand!!

Beachfront camping at its best in New Zealand.

The motorhome and The Pecks in New Zealand.

Well things are underway for our next trip around the world to catch up with everyone! Tickets are booked and bags are starting to get packed. Pats son Johnathan is coming to Cairns for the month of December and then we take off to Thailand with 18 year old Kate in tow (she is very excited!!). We will spend 6 weeks in Thailand and Laos, then fly to Rome, then Barcelona, then Majorca, then Madrid, then Seville, Spain to pick up our motorbike that has been in storage for a year.

Sabadee from Lovely Laos, historically named "the land of a million elephants". Well, we are on the road again and having a blast. We picked up Kate (Pats 19 year old daughter) and travelled with her for a month. She was an absolute pleasure to travel with: she is very happy and well adjusted, willing to try everything and anything and very enthusiastic about it all. We arrived in Bangkok just after Xmas and proceeded in kitting Kate out for travel with a large hat (to hide her blonde hair that is so rare here), water bottle holders, money belts; all the travel essentials.

Kate and Belinda up a palm tree in Kho Tao, Thailand.

Cocktail Hour in Kho Tao, Thailand.

Motorbike riding in Kho Tao in front of beachfront bungalow.

Kate and Belinda making fools out of themselves at beachfront karaoke!!

Kate spending Laos kip like a gangster, she is holding equivalent to US$300!!

Kate surrounded by hillside village women testing her negotiating skills and her patience!!

Travel by boat Laos style- very cramped, cold and small hard seat- wonderful scenery though!!

Rome is a magical city and we walked all over it!! We spent 7 days there and had aching feet after it, but it was truly spectacular. The history in that city is amazing. Everyone has to see Rome at least once in their life!! We stayed in a pension near the main bus station, bought a week long pass for public transport and everyday hopped on a bus going in a different direction, then walked and explored the ruins and statues everywhere. If it rained we went to a museum (and there are many) or we went touring on a bus.

Saha from Morocco, North Africa!! We are now back in our comfy hotel in Seville, Spain with Pedro around the corner itching to hear all our stories. Morocco, was amazing, such a country of contrasts in everyway and like no other with medieval cities, Roman ruins, Berber Kasbahs, Islamic monuments and massive palaces. Firstly, it was very cheap (very important to us as you all no doubt know!!). We stayed in 3 and 4 star kasbahs (amazing ancient castles) for average €40 (A$60), same price as a 1 star hotel in Spain, so why not!!

Yasas from Greece!! We finally left Seville, Spain for the last time in a long time and slowly travelled inland in Spain towards Barcelona. We stayed in some wonderful walled cities and enjoyed many long, lazy menu del dias (3 course lunch plus a bottle of Spanish red wine for A$11!!) In Barcelona we met up with John Cameron, a friend from Cairns, who bought a motorbike in England and wanted to come touring with us for a while. We then caught a ferry across to Rome, drove overland via Pompeii and the magical Almalfi Coast towards Bari, Italy.

Pat and John Cameron in their Michelin Man suits in Greece.

Beautiful country roads in Greece. Note: our GPS in the foreground!!

"Monasteries in The Air" in Mainland Greece, amazing!!

Pat and Pedro with their bikes in Seville, Spain. (The beginning of our trip to Morocco.)

Pat on Miss Adventure2 with a Kasbah in the background in Morocco.

Pat at Moroccan ski hire that we negotiated for on the spot!!

Dubrovnik outside walls, simply stunning!!

Dubrovnik from the air from the wall tour around the city.

Gorgeous Croatian sunset from our yacht!!

Beautiful Moroccan ladies eyes.

Moroccan towns totally built of mud.

Amazing road along gorge in Southern Morocco.

Gruss Gott from Vienna, Austria!!!

Dzien dobry from Poland!

Since we 'talked' to you last we have travelled many miles and met many wonderful people, mainly Horizons Unlimited community members that have done some amazing motorcycle trips around the world- what a great family the HU members are!

We found this very helpful for travels in Eastern Europe, so thought we would share it with other travellers. Relevant for July 2006

Country : Fuel / Exchange rate July06 / Emergency no / Alcohol

Germany : €1.32 / €1=€1 / +49 22 22 22 / 0.5

Poland : €1.07 / €1=PLN4 / +48 6183 19892 / 0.2

Ukraine : €0.70 / €1=UAK6.3 / 987 / 0.0

Pat and Mike Carter on his R1200GS at Auschwitz's infamous TUNNEL OF DEATH

Oli & Csilla H/U Members from Oradia, Pat and Bin, and Krisztina & Szabi H/U Members from Targu Mures

Old style farming methods still the norm.

Mostar Bridge in Bosnia- amazing 16th century bridge and medieval town.

Bullet ridden house in Sarajevo, Bosnia where the tunnel museum was.

Pat in front of 12th Century Transylvanian Castle called Corinesti Castle in Hunedoara.

Sovata salt lake on an August Weekend.

Belinda and John Cameron with the bikes in the lobby of the Hotel in Albania for 7 Euros per night!!

Bunkers on the beach in Albania, they were everywhere!!

Satu Mare, Romania motorcycle gathering 500 motorcyclists watching stunt show.

HU members gathering: Bin and Pat with Super tenere, Jo and rEkiny from Poland with Tenere and Oliver from Romania with Aprilia 1000.

We met and travelled with a journalist Mike Carter from London writing stories once a week for the Observer Guardian newspaper and this is what he wrote, thought you might like it!!

"Travels through a midlife crisis

Mike Carter's motorcycle odyssey gets tangled up in red tape at the Ukrainian border, and he is forced to face up to his anti-social tendencies

Sunday August 20, 2006
The Observer

"Buna Ziua" from Romania!

Since we last wrote we have travelled through many Eastern European countries and met some wonderful new friends. The world is full of great people!

After a tearful departure from Jo and rEkiny we drove off with Mike Carter, a London journalist writing weekly reports for the Guardian-Observer newspaper. He is writing about coping with a mid life crisis and has been given a brand new BMW motorbike and all the latest gear and told to go travelling for 6 months and write about what happens to him and how he copes!! Lucky bloke hey!

Our New Greece number till 13 November 2006 is +30 697 416 3848.

We are now in Rhodes Island, Greece working our way towards Crete and then Athens to find a place to store the bike for 16 months.

Our Turkey number is no longer working. The Government have bought in a new law that all mobile phones have to be registered in Turkey and to do that you have to have the receipt of purchase, which of course, we havent kept in our back pocket for the last 4 years since we bought the phone!! So you need to send sms only to our Aussie number +61 419 309 309 till we get to Greece.

Grant Davis, Alanna Skillington, Susan Markwell, Pat, Liz Bashford, Belinda and John Skillington having 'Sex on the Beach' in Turkey.

Pat, John and Allana (Brisbane HU members we travelled with for awhile) near Sarcophagus tomb in Turkey.

Pat and 'Miss Adventure 2' at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, Turkey. This is
the site where during WW1 thousands of Australian and New
Zealand young soldiers were killed.

Belinda, Susan Markwell and Grant Davis (friends from Cairns we
accidentally bumped into and travelled with for awhile) in mudbath
in Turkey.

Clever Mikes articles crack us up!!
Sunday October 1, 2006 The Observer

We are now in Crete Island, Greece and have found a great dry, safe, secure garage to park our bike for FREE!! We were riding around Iraklio (the capital of Crete) looking for a hotel with a garage like we had in Seville, Spain last time we left the bike for a year. No hotels here have garages, we did a big internet plea for help, then decided to go for a ride. At a stop light we met a guy on a Varadero (big bike like ours!) and we got talking at the next few stop lights, as you do, and he asked if we would like to go to see a Museum.

Lots of people ask us about the bike and what we have done to modify her, so we thought we would put finger to keyboard! This will probably be boring for non-bikers!

Amazing fortified walls and moat in Rhodes, Island, Greece, complete with cannon balls!

Spiros Amitzoglou (Horizons member for Crete) with Miss AdventureII packed away for 16 months!

The boat we chartered in Turkey for A$139 each for 3 nights, 2 days, all inclusive!!!!

Kas sunken city in Turkey, amazing clear water!

Our friend Orestis The Greek God! (Horizons member in Athens)

Patrick on Frederics Paris Dakar Replica Super Tenere.

Patrick and Belinda and Miss Adventure II taken 2006.

Beautiful Beach in South Coast of Turkey near Kas.

Grant Davis and Susan Markwell with magic lips on our boat in Turkey!!

Howdy Doody from Edmonton, Canada, home of The Peck Family!

Well long time, no hear folks!! We have had our heads down and bums up working for the last year, enough of that boring stuff, its time for our next installment of adventure!!

For those that are not aware, we have hit the road again.

In November we spent 3 glorious weeks in New Zealand with 21 year old daughter Kate. We hired a 3 berth motorhome and slowly toured the South Island. We had fantastic weather and cooked up some great meals overlooking a river or a beach- free camping. (photos coming)

Get on your bike and head to Chile! We have just had the most relaxing and visually varied month of travel ever! The secret has been having an enduro motorbike as independent travel to get out of the cities (and stay out) and get to lovely out of the way places on any type of road.

Photos at long last, thanks to Orestis in Athens! How can we ever thank you enough for all of your help?

Our farewell party "dress as a Muslim" and everybody did!! John, Hoppy, Lynne and Pat, great bellydancing thanks to Olivia.

Pat and Kate with our motorhome in New Zealand freecamping by a river! Heaven.

"Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but by how many monents you have that take your breathe away"

Whos that Muzlim woman in front of the Pyramids!?

The classic pose in front of the Sphynx.

Horse and Cart in front of Luxor Temple.

Life is tough on the road, exhausting for navigators too you know!

Slumming it on Christmas Day! We had this lakeside Lodge all to ourselves.

Flat tyre 2- not bad after 4 years travelling and over 110,000km!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Pat, Nevionne, Don and Belinda in their Mexican villa, paradise!

Mexican sunsets, the best in the world!

Pats Mum, Colleens 81st birthday party, mexican style. Nev, Don, Kathy (Pats sister), Colleen, Pat, Bin

The last month we have spent 2 weeks in Mexico and 2 weeks in Egypt.

Bins Mums lifelong friends Don and Nevionne Crawford have a time share apartment in Puerto Vallarta and invited us to stay with them. While we were there Pats Mum, Colleen and sister, Kathy flew down from Edmonton, Canada so we had a great reunion. Colleen had her 81st birthday Mexican style and we walked all over Puerto Vallarta and watched all the free dancers and entertainment in the centre square every evening. These "oldies" kept us going all day and we fell into bed absolutely exhausted each evening!

Marhaba from Jordan in the Middle East!
Welcome to the next update of Our Magic Carpet Ride. We both celebrated our birthdays in the last month and it was really clear to us both that there was nothing better that we would rather do on our special day than what we were doing. Travelling has taught us to be humble and not materialistic and to realise how very fortunate we are to be in the position we are in where we can simply ride and admire this wonderful world that we live in, like a couple of birds really!

Hello again from the long lost travellers! When we wrote last we were in Jordan heading off towards the Oasis town of Azraq in the desert to check out the "Desert Castles" built between 2~7th Century AD. Amazing!

We then crossed back into Syria and then into Lebanon. We were a bit nervous about Lebanon as the Aust Gov website rated it the second highest grade in no go zones, only go there if you have to, so we went!

HU bikers meeting in Cappadocia- Mike, Belinda, Pat, Stephan, Waiter, Regina and John

Wide load, there is a motorcycle under all that gear and no camping gear!

Belinda borrowing a policemans gun in Egypt.

Venetian bridge in Cyprus Pat and Bin, Zoe and Antonis.

Bin in the gorgeous village of Kakopetria Troddos Mountains.

Turkish tank fallen off narrow maountain road 1974.

Goodbye to Orestis (HU member Athens) in Ephesus, Turkey.

On the road to Bagdad!

Tabouli dinner in the Middle East, fantastic!

Pat, Belinda, Zoe, Antonis (HU members Cyprus), Krisztina, Elvira, Cosmin and Szabi (HU members Romania) in Cyprus.

Policeman Pat.

Famagusta Ghost Town, prime real estate left to rot.

We finally left Cyprus, the ferry to the mainland being 12 hours late leaving at 12 midnight with every seat full and no sleeping cabins available. With very rough seas the toilet reservoirs overflowed which caused even more people to throw up everywhere. Great fun. Cost was 108 euros for ferry plus 29 euros harbour tax.
Upon arriving at 8am we encountered a 2.5 hour queue to get through customs and immigration and a 8 hour ride to Cappadochia ahead of us. Luckily the scenery and roads were fantastic, which helped keep us awake to make our destination.

Next stop is Trabzon, Turkey on the Black Sea coast to order our Iranian visa at $50US each, as there is a Consulate there, which can process the application in 2 weeks. They issue a completion number and we can pick up the visa from any Iranian Consulate in the world. There is a unique and picturesque Byzantine monastery carved into the side of a sheer cliff and hidden away in solitary location.
Unexpectedly, we bump into Baha the HU member for Istanbul on his TDM 900 who offers his services as a tour guide and companion for the next week.

Back in real estate mode?! Not so soon!

Riding around in Romania.

Partying in Romania with Csilla and Oli.

Orestis (HU Athens member) and Pat with their machines!

Us and Orestis sharing a snapps marinated watermelon, try it you will love it!

Serpentine road in Greece.

When we left Oradea Romania, Oli contacted his friend Vali in Timisoara Romania to look after us! Romanian hospitality at its best, thanks heaps Oli! Vali was great, he met us, took us to a great, central hotel and showed us around beautiful Timisoara. We loved it there and stayed 4 days as there were bands playing in the central square most nights, great walks in the area, stunning mountain rides and Vali was there to keep us entertained!

Salam from the Middle East!
Last time we wrote we were in Greece. We spent a wonderful week riding around the Greek Island of Lesvos Island, a lesbian pilgrimage island, with wonderful scenic rides.

Introducing you to "The Peck Flag", that we hoist everyday in our hotel rooms to let everyone know we have arrived!

Meeting up with the locals in Iran.

HU member David Mildwater in Abu Dhabi kindly storing our bike for a year.

This is a cheats way of saying Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all our fans and airconditioners!
We are now back in Cairns, Australia and back at work :)
Our son, Johnathan, nearly 21, has just bought a 2007 KLE500 (its like a small Super Tenere, which is our bike of choice for those that dont know about motorbikes!) He is now driving 3,500km solo trip from the top of Australia to the bottom. He spent 6 weeks with us in Cairns choosing this bike and then getting the bike and his riding skills up to the challenge.

Its time for the Peck camp to hit the road again after 10 months of working hard in Cairns, Australia and saving madly for the next trip!

Africa has been calling Pat for sometime now, so hang onto your seats and off we go!

We are finally in Dubai, where we left off last time! We will pick up Miss Adventure II and head south down through Oman, Yemen, into Ethiopia and south to South Africa. In May we will fly up to Amsterdam to meet Bins Dad to celebrate his 70th birthday in style doing a canal boat cruise to Budapest for 14 days, then...who knows!? Maybe, do another cruise around Europe by boat or bike!

Pat picked up dengue fever while sailing on our friends yacht in the Phillipines last week and is now recuperating and building his strength back up for the next leg of our adventure.

We thank our Dubai hosts Katharine and Shawn McWeeny who invited us to stay in their high rise unit overlooking the famous reclaimed Palm Island and magnificent beaches below them. They escorted us to the nicest and biggest Mosque we have seen yet as well as to incredibly huge shopping centres, but alas we could only look as our panniers were full to exploding. Our other hosts were Dave and Lynne Mollenhauer who graciously stored our precious Miss Adventure II til we returned from Australia and a big thank you to HU member Dave Midwater who also stored our bike for awhile.

Salem from Ethiopia! When we travel we dont do too much research, so when we arrive in a new country we have no expectations and are always amazed with what we see. When we thought of Ethiopia we thought of poverty and starvation. This is certainly true, but the Ethiopians are a very proud, well dressed race (those that can afford to be), extremely friendly and the country is a very safe travel destination. A lot of the village kids were so poor they had tatters of clothes or no clothes at all, whereas the business people in Addis were very fashion conscious!

Sorry this has taken so long, we have been busy dodging storms in Central Africa! When we last posted we were on our way back to Zanzibar to pick up Miss Adventure II from the ship from Oman. We went directly to the shipping agent in Zanzibar and he didnt know anything about our motorbike coming from Oman and it wasnt on the ship that had just arrived!! The agent, Leo Colaca was still not answering his phone or email! After 4 DAYS of pushing we finally found out it was still in Oman and would not get there for ANOTHER 30 DAYS!! We were forced to relax in Zanzibar!

We have made it to South Africa, home of the friendliest people in the world!

Peck's going troppo on Zanzibar spice tour!

Loading up Miss Adventure II on ship from Oman to Zanzibar!

Wonderful Ethiopians, such poverty, yet so warm and happy!

Quick update! We are now in Romania with our wonderful friends Csilla and Oli and little Dominik (2 years old) Schul. We have bought 50% share in their Super Tenere and Pat is now putting on a Scottoiler and converting her to Miss Adventure III. We now have a Super Tenere in 3 continents in the world- we are getting close to Pats goal!!

We left our beloved Miss Adventure II tucked up nicely for South Africas winter with our great friends Dries and Erica Van Schalkwyk in Potchefstroom, near Joberg, South Africa.

Pat on an ATV in Groote Island, Australia

Pat and Murray on hired bikes in the Philipines.

Pat on Miss Adventure II in Oman

Introducing Miss Adventure III that usually resides in Romania! note the flooded Danube River in Hungary in the background.

Brand new Super tenere XT1200Z we took for a test ride in Vienna.

Hanka and Erica riding Miss Adventure III at their place close to Vienna.

This is a list of our luggage- we need ALL of this, we dont leave any out or bring any extra, as there simply will not be any room.
Some of this you will not have, so you will need to buy it from a good outdoor, camping shop. Good stuff is expensive, but will last you a VERY long time and you can use it for lots of other outdoor pursuits.

Super Tenere XT1200Z personal ride review June 23 2010 Vienna, Austria by Patrick Peck

My view of the bike is derived from my years of riding the XTZ 750 since 1990 continually to today over 250,000kms with seven personally owned Super Tenere's. With a 15 year gap between models I have plenty of time to make up my wish list and the new Super Tenere has most of them.

When we wrote last we were just leaving the arms of Csilla and Oli (H/U members in Romania) and taking off for 5 months on a tour of Europe on our half share Super Tenere, fondly named Miss Adventure III. It is now 8,000km later and we have had many wonderful experiences and made many friends for life.

So here we are having fun in South Africa! Very busy, story coming, first photos!

Peck Family travelling together!

The Pecks travel with the Ratays!

Wow, how do we sum up the last 3.5 months in a readable form!? When we last wrote we were leaving Switzerland and following the Alps along the Austrian, Italian, Slovenian border...AWESOME Alpine riding..the best in the world! We also followed the Croatian coast road to Dubrovnik to avoid a huge storm!!! Slowly we cruised back to Romania to deliver our 50% share of Miss Adventure III (the super tenere) to Csilla and Oli. They were anxious parents, not for our return, but for the arrival of their second boy, Erik, who was born a few weeks after we left Romania!

Super Tenere XTZ750 COMPLETELY set up for touring for sale in South Africa

When we last wrote we were leaving South Africa and finally heading for home, Cairns, Australia. We eventually sold Miss Adventure II (our Yamaha XTZ750) and ALL our gear to Chad and www.wilddog.za.net members. If you are riding in South Africa you HAVE to join this group of passionate bikers! We love em..they are awesome! We hopped on the plane home with hand luggage only after 18 months of riding in Africa and Europe with big smiles on our faces.

A big apology to all our diehard motorcycle travelling friends, but we have jumped ship! We are now travelling in Alaska, Canada and USA in a 30 foot Winnebago luxury motorhome and its awesome!
Currently, we are near Anchorage, Alaska. Our rough plan is to drive around Alaska for a few more weeks and then head towards Jasper, then Vancouver 19 Aug when we pick up our neighbour Caleb to travel with for awhile, then south into USA for about 5 months. We will fly back to Australia from Vancouver 4 March 2012.

We have just celebrated 6 months travelling around Canada, Alaska and USA in our wonderful 30 foot RV! Next destination: Baja, Mexico for 2 months and then back into USA early Feb and Vancouver early March...to fly home to Cairns, Australia for a few months.

Belinda, (HU members) John and Jerry Burden and Pat...new joint owners of "Miss Adventure VI" in Canada, USA and Mexico!

Our route through Alaska, Canada and USA from June-Dec 2011.

We are now in Baja, Mexico heading south to La Paz, Mexico over the next 2 months. It would be great to catch up with any other travellers in the area.

Wow, what an awesome 6 months its been!

We arrived in Edmonton, Canada early June 2011 to see our new purchase, a 30 foot Winnebago motorhome (fondly named "Miss Adventure VI") that we had just purchased sight unseen from www.craigslist.com. Pat was born in Canada, so knew that cold wet rainy weather is always in the forecast. As we have developed into fairweather riders an RV was a great alternative to a motorcycle.

We entered USA near Vancouver mid September 2011 with the aim of going down the Rockies to Mexico and then coming back up the West coast in Feb 2012 as far as the weather will allow us. Our RV partners John and Jerry will then have a holiday in her, drive her back to Edmonton and we will fly back to Cairns via Vancouver early March 2012.

We have just found paradise in the Baja, Mexico and we must describe this place to you!

About a 1/3rd of the way down Baja we were driving along the coastal mountain roads when we looked down to see this big horseshoe bay with small islands and yachts anchored just offshore. We couldn't resist it...100metre wide beach stretching for 2 km. Getting closer we noticed a tropical restaurant at one end and a couple of RVs parked next to palm sun shelters just above the high tide mark and facing a waveless shore line.

We are writing to let you know we have fallen for a yahoo look alike email to upgrade. We clicked on it, put our email address and password in and wham..they had everything they needed to delete our contacts, inbox and folders with all our details! Somehow they also got into our hotmail account as well.

They also wrote to all our contacts saying we are in Manila and in trouble and need money. This is a scam. We are in Mexico, not in trouble and do not need any money...

We are getting ready to get back on 2 wheels on "Miss Adventure III" in Europe...leaving Cairns in just over 2 weeks!

Its been a while since we wrote last! We had an absolutely amazing time in our motorhome in the Baja, Mexico and would thoroughly recommend it! We didn't feel unsafe for one minute..in fact we haven't felt so relaxed and welcomed in a country as much as the Baja! It is right up there as one of our favourite destinations and by motorhome has to be THE best way to experience it!

Pat and "Miss Adventure 3" in front of an awesome Swiss House...just cant get enough of them...so unique!

The beginning of our trip...Belinda, Patrick, Oli, Dominik, Erik and Csilla, with Miss Adventure3 on the trailer.

Gday from our beloved Switzerland! We have just found out about the "Schengen Agreement" which means non Europeans can stay in Western European countries for ONLY 90 days in any 180 day period.., so a slight change in plans is required!

With only days left on our Schengen visa we must leave our beloved Switzerland to enter Croatia (which is scheduled to join the Schengen programme July 2013). We had heard many great reports on the Stelvio Pass in the Italian Alps and as it was on route the accent was a must. The switchbacks were so tight that you had to carefully plan your approach to each 160 deg turn and it was to our amazement that we passed a few medium sized motorhomes creeping up and down the slopes! We still dont know how they did it.

A relatively short flight from Greece to Oman took us to our Muscat based friends from our home town Cairns, Chris and Dale Bartlett. Now did they have an action packed agenda for the next 2 weeks! From porsche drives through the country to a 4 day desert and mountain 4WD camping trip.

We are now back in sunny Australia and will attempt to summarise our 3 months motorcycling around Sri Lanka! Having searched the season weather for Sri Lanka, we were mentally prepared for the wet November that is expected each year, but the following two months of predicted sunny weather would make it worth while (or so we thought!!)

Motorcycle Travel Hints

- Only ride at night or in the rain if it is unavoidable, due to poor visibility for you and other traffic.
Poor road conditions are magnified exponentially.
Beautiful surroundings are not visible. Remember that travel is not all about just getting there.

-Constantly check your turn signal switch.
It’s something simple, but it can KILL you if you don't.

-Relax your shoulders continually as tension will exhaust you on long rides.
Your reflexes are much quicker in emergency manouvers if you are relaxed.

Howdy folks! You haven't heard from us for awhile, but you are about to regularly! hehe
We have just spent an awesome 3 months at home in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Catching up with family, friends, health issues, health tests, get fitter, financial stuff etc and planning the next trip!!!

Happy Davis-Peck Clan! Nephew:Daniel (12), Brother:Paul, Sister in law: Jacqueline, Belinda, Neice: Hannah (7) and Patrick!

Over the last few years we have been travelling in Canada US and Mexico in an RV/ Motorhome. We loved every minute of it, but miss the freedom and comradery that motorcycle travelling gives us!

Introducing "Zora"... our Susuki Vstrom 650 currently travelling from Rio to Amazon River in Brazil with very helpful Rio HU members George and Denise Bunker.

After 23 hours flight time from Sydney, Australia we arrive in Rio de Janeiro into the welcoming arms of George and Denise Bunker, HU communitee members for Rio, living on the opposite end of the bridge from Copacabana beach and away from the hustle and bustle. They invited us to stay with them and their dogs while we explored Rio and graciously offered to drive us to Tubate, 4 hours south where the Vstrom has been stored in George's lounge room for the past 6 months!

Moving along up the coast of Brazil we stay in Pousadas near the beach and meet up with and are hosted by "WOW man" Dido, the president of a local M/C group around Teixeira de Frietas. We treat he and his wife to local pizza before leaving the next morning. Rui at Ilheus is our next host with his 18 year old son as our translator! Belinda tries a Grande Caipirinha and finds it hard to lift her head off the pillow the next morning!!

Exiting Brazil at Santa Elena, the border office is easy to miss. Its a building on the right with a sign saying "Stop Police Check". There is no TIP paperwork needed for motorcycles entering or exiting Brazil. Entry stamps INTO Venezuela are in a portable office on the left and the TIP (temporary import permit) is in the building on the right. After presenting all motorcycle paperwork we were told in Spanish that we needed a permit issued in the next town 20km north IN Venezuela.

Isla de Margarita was our next destination off the Caribbean coast very close to Trinidad and Tobago, by a 4 hour ferry ride from Cumana for US$5 for us and the bike. When we pulled up to the dock 15 minutes late, we missed the ferry by 1 minute and had to wait 5 hours for the next ferry!

Colombia has been on our radar for the last 15 years and we were about to make it a reality! We had heard many good reports of Colombia and were not to be disappointed!
We crossed into Colombia in the mountains and the heavens opened as we drove on a road in great condition and with hardly any traffic to Pamplona. Pamplona was around 3000m high, so we were very wet and cold when we arrived, but enjoyed the awesome mountain riding.

January 1 saw us off on an early start from Medellin to Hacienda Napoles, the ranch of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, thought to be in the top 10 richest people in the world at his death. Over the years this enormous ranch had been converted to a family attraction, with water slides, tourist trains and a zoo containing one very lethargic tiger from Africa! The remains of his ruined home were plastered with photos of the carnage that Pablo bought down on Medellin. Anyone who got in his way was executed, usually with a bomb, killing many innocent people.

The first pleasant surprise crossing the border to Ecuador was the price drop for fuel from US$1.30/litre in Colombia to .40cents/litre. We drove straight to Quito airport (Ecaudor Capital), bought a ticket to Galapagos Islands (Santa Cruz Island) for the next morning and found a nearby cheap Hotel that had secure parking where we could store the bike and our riding gear for 2 weeks charging us $20 , which we thought was a bargain! There are 3 main islands with airports, Santa Cruz was the most logical place for us as most cruise ships leave from there and it was in the middle.

Leaving the Ecuador border we pass through Sallalan, but instead of turning South we head North West to the coast where we remember were beautiful beaches. Just north of Mancura, to Punta Del Sal we stayed at our favourite Hotel "Caballito de Mar", with fond memories from our 2001 South American trip.

Finally, our last trip report from our last trip (only 3 months later)!

Well staying in one place lasted 6 months!! Those that know us well are not surprised that we are hitting the road again in a weeks time! We have had a wonderful time renting our 2 spare rooms in our inner city apartment in Cairns through airbnb.com.au/rooms/6546886, meeting 55 wonderful people from many different countries.
Airbnb and us is a perfect match and we now have 55 new friends around the world!

Hello troops, Well here we are 5 months later preparing to return home from our Caribbean trip! This trip was all about Caribbean Islands and finding the best way to visit them. We started off with 2 X 10 day "Princess" cruises of the Eastern and Western Caribbean. The trip the week before Christmas was half the price of the Christmas trip, with no kids, compared to the Christmas trip with lots of kids running around pressing every button in the elevator! Valuable lesson for you all!

Dec 1 2017, the Cairns temp is getting up to 32c and the humidity is up to 80% and rising to 100% during the rainy season starting early Feb, going by past seasons. I (Patrick ) decided to ride solo to Brisbane on my recently imported XTZ 750 with only 8,105 kms on the clock and to see if the bike will rise to the challenge. I will pick Belinda up at the Brisbane airport to save her from the long tedious kms that the Queensland outback has to offer.

While Belinda and I were at home in Cairns for the winter, Brett and Yvonne our hosts in Adelaide who generously stored our XTZ750  shipped their bikes to Vladivostok Russia. Over four months they rode their Dr650 and a XT250 through Mongolia to Bulgaria where they stored their bikes til their return.

Belinda was born in Adeliade so we had plenty of rellies to visit and i had my very own travel guide to show me all the secret gems around the area.

Our intention was to ride Perth to Cairns but little did we know that Covid 19 was appearing on the horizon. December is always too hot to head north so we headed south to Albany and Esperance to find some fantastic gems. We arrived back in Perth area early Feb to catch another Cruise to Singapore and Japan to try a bit of skiing before returning to Perth to continue the bike trip north in April. Covid would become too hot around the world to continue travelling so we were sent home to Cairns, where we spent 14 days in isolation at home.

Borders between Perth and Cairns are now Covid open, but for how long.

Lets give it a go, but it's getting hot and humid in Cairns so let's fly to Perth, pick up the bike and let's explore the area some more before heading north towards Broome in April when it starts to cool down enough for comfortable riding.