It has been a while since we have posted on this site and there is a good reason! We have focused our time and energy into our other blog – Kings in Kenya. Yep, that’s right…Kenya, as in the Kenya in Africa. I won’t talk about our Kenyan Calling here, however, this post does have something to do with Kenya.
If you’ve just checked out our Kenyan blog or already follow it, then you know that we are looking at moving to Kenya for a couple of years. One of the requirements for us to move to Kenya is to complete some training in Gosford (NSW). We thought, if we have to go all the way from Tasmania to Gosford over the Christmas holidays, then why not make it a moto-camping trip? So, that’s what we are doing 🙂
So far the itinerary includes a stopover in Geelong, a couple of nights in Ned Kelly Country (Glenrowan), visit friends in Wagga Wagga, catch up with another friend in Sydney and then on to Gosford for training. And turn around and make the journey home.
Of course, we will be finding the most interesting roads to ride and cool places to camp, but more on these later. In the meantime, if you haven’t already checked out our Kenyan blog – do it!
It has been a while since we have posted to our blog. It isn’t because we haven’t had any adventures, it’s just because we haven’t posted! We’ve explored bushwalking tracks, holidayed to Cairns, Perth, Adelaide and rode our bikes up a crazy mountain and also ridden and camped around the state a couple of times.
Our latest adventure was a long weekend escape to the beautiful Mt William National Park for the June long weekend. As soon as the state government lifted the restrictions after the COVID-19 pandemic, we packed up and went!
The next stage in the planning for the trip has happened. The bikes are booked in for a service and a new set of tyres for each bike. At present we have been riding 80/20 tyres, which means 80% road and 20% off-road tyres. This time we are getting more aggressive tyres – 50/50. No prizes for guessing what the ratio is! Our bikes will have some rather cool looking Heidenau K60 Scouts on them. Â They will look like these.
Who is Dr Danny some people will ask. Â Well, he is our amazing bike mechanic at Fastlane Motorcycles. Â If you ride a bike and are looking for fantastic service, then check them out!
On Friday we completed our lap of Australia on our motorbikes. We are both quite amazed and feeling thrilled and blessed that we have completed this amazing fete.
So, how far have we traveled? Our odometers tell us that we have ridden our BMW R1200GS motorbikes just under 19,000km in the last three months.
How far is that? Here are a couple of images to provide some perspective. The first is from our GPS tracker and shows our lap, and the second image shows the distance in comparison to Europe!
As our adventure slowly comes to an end our thoughts inevitably turn toward home. We’ve also spent time reflecting on the things we’ve really treasured about our time together on the road. Here are a few of those thoughts.
To treasure:
• Not having any idea which day is which. A wonderful blurring of time. Not even a watch to keep track.
• Waking up beside my husband in our little tent home with the day slowly brightening.
• A chorus of birds- different voices in different places – to herald dawn’s arrival.
• That sense of adventure and unknown every time we step on the bike and set out for the day.
• Sharing every single meal. The planning, the ‘hunter/gathering’, the making, the eating, the cleaning up 😉
• Being makeup free for nearly three months and feeling great!
• Going with the day’s ebb and flow. Up when it’s light. To bed when it grows dark. A natural rhythm for living.
• The colours of Australia. Bluest blue skies, Rich red earth, Green trees, Aqua seas, Yellow grasslands and brilliant splashes of colour in every possible shade.
• Time with my best friend and soul mate: Uninterrupted, day in day out, sharing everything that comes our way- laughter, tears, joy and fears.
• Snuggled in a warm bed with a good read on the Kindle.
• The amazingly soul restoring experience that is riding through stunning landscapes with favourite tunes playing and hours just to meditate and marvel.
• Fresh air, sunshine, rain, wind, cold, heat- being fully immersed in the real world every day.
• My husbands ‘awesome’ fashion sense – gonna miss those stripy happy pants!
Things to look forward to:
• Hugs and time with friends, family, students and colleagues- some after almost three months, and some I haven’t met at all – lots of new arrivals since we’ve been away.
• Having more choice in my wardrobe – my one and only black fleece Macpac jacket is getting tired.
• Padding across a carpet floor for nighttime bathroom visits (as opposed to opening a damp tent, putting on cold thongs and venturing out into the dark night!)
• Ugg boots!!!! Especially now the weather has wintered.
• My electric toothbrush – yep, first world problems!
• Tasmanian water fresh from the tap – the best in all Australia.
• Not having to live out of toiletry bags in separate amentities blocks.
• A decent haircut! Looking pretty wild right now – and that’s just Steve …
• Making music. My freshly serviced saxophone… Eventually… It’s going to hurt for a while though.
• Getting our beautiful Kimberly coast canvas framed and up on the wall!
• Trawling through thousands of photos and reliving the most awesome memories.
• Getting properly fit again. As opposed to just strong enough to handle a 240kg+ bike
• Classic fm. We really missed our daily dose of classic music.
It is hard to believe that 2 weeks ago we were in Cairns, especially as we sit in a camp kitchen in the Garden of Eden Caravan Park in chilly Eden on the NSW coast. Whilst we were in Cairns for five rather tropical (i.e. wet) days we were fortunate enough to have a window of five dry hours on Saturday. So we took advantage of this and rode to Port Douglas. After leaving Cairns and its many many roundabouts we enjoyed riding the coastal road that was comprised of great corners and beautiful scenery. The video below is a 2-minute snippet of the 75-minute ride up to Port Douglas. The GoPro is attached to Heidi’s helmet, so you’ll get a “Heidi’s Eye View” of our journey. The first video is smaller in size and lower quality than the second video.
Today was always going to be somewhat tedious. The selected route skirted through the outer suburbs of Sydney and wound its way down the coast via the Pacific highway for a good 300-400km. And while it was certainly a long day in the saddle, there were definite saving graces. Like the weather which had cleared after dumping 50mm on Newcastle overnight.
Like a good nights sleep in a cosy bed fitted with warm flannelette sheets. Like the stunning vistas that opened up as the road hugged the coast. There was warm sun on our backs and a cool rain washed freshness in the air. The steep driveway of our unit was negotiated with ease and the roads were clear of morning traffic making the first hour or two really enjoyable.
With songs of praise and worship streaming through my iPod my heart was happy. Yesterday’s near miss was all but forgotten. We only took two stops. A short fuel and museli bar break and a stop at maccers for (strong & hot!) coffee and a ziplock bag of left over Cantonese chicken couscous. It took 6 hours to reach our destination with much of it painful stop and start city riding or slow roadwork navigations. Thankfully we arrived in sunlight (just) at the beautiful Swan Lake Tourist Village in Cudmirrah. Tent is up. We have local roos and the cutest of joeys for company and the camp kitchen has deliciously warm patio heaters.
It’s Friday so we’re sat on the couch with our end of day cuppa and some well deserved chocolate.There’s wine chilling in the fridge and a whole day to relax tomorrow. Aaaah, life is awesome with my beautiful man. God has blessed us so richly. Feeling content 🙂
~HK
After seven days straight of rain we have finally seen some clear skies once again. The rains cleared when we arrived in Rockhampton, but this was not soon enough. Â As we rode towards “Rocky” we were caught in serval downpours that required us to pull over and take shelter. Â Thankfully our wet weather gear kept us dry; however, the rain and humidity reduced visibility as our glasses and helmet visors continually fogged up. The craziest thing was the Queensland drivers. Â They sped, tailgated overtook and drove without lights in poor visibility. Â QLD drivers would have to be the worst in the country and that is saying something after our South Australian driver experiences! Below are a few images of our rainy trip to Rockhampton.
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Waiting for the rains to end
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Picnic table islands
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Smiling (not Singing) in the Rain
Here’s a short video of the rains falling as we took refuge about 30km outside of Rockhampton
Our bikes will have some rather cool looking Heidenau K60 Scouts on them. Â They will look like these.
