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The country has changed really rapidly. A couple of days ago we were in the lush green, cool dairy country of the Atherton Tablelands but as we headed West, through the rain shadow,  it seemed to take just a few miles before the country changed completely. I imagine it’s the standard “inch a mile” decline.…

Anna had another heavy day of climbing but she just seems to get fitter and happier every day. We are camped in a gravel pit at the junction of Highway 61 and the Savannah Way which we will turn onto tomorrow. It will eventually take us through to Normanton which is the furthest North we’ll…

A big day for a few reasons. First of all we “turned left” and are now headed more or less to the West towards Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Second, this required a big ride with a massive climb for The Athlete. As usual, she has taken it in her stride. A shower, a…

Today Anna did 172 Ks. Big effort and there’s more to come over the next few days. I caught up with her for a brief pit stop on the way but by then she had just about crushed it with only 45 ks to go. She really seems to be very bike-fit. When she gets…

Some of you have asked questions: “How does the “machine” work? How is the route planned, how do you find a gravel pit, hundreds of kilometres away, and then find each other there.“ Firstly, Anna does most of the work on this. She plans the route because it matters a lot to her but less…

Today we are camped in Townsville in a really big caravan park, part of “The Big 4” franchise group. It seems OK so far. I meet nice people in caravan parks, always friendly and ready to have a chat. There was Sean yesterday who is driving an older Dodge Ram. They have a Cummins 6…

Day 21 We covered about 130ks today and Anna seemed to do it very easily. We planned to camp in a gravel pit near the highway but judged it way too loud and dusty. So we moved down a dirt road and stopped on the side of that while Anna made some calls. Spike and…

Today we took it easy in Sarina. We went to a place called the Sugar Shed which is next to the big sugar mill here. There was a guided tour through a mini version of the mill to explain the whole sugar growing and refining process. Like all these things it was a bit cheesy…

I’m not entirely sure why my humans have decided to live in this caravan but like most things in life, I don’t get much choice. I just go for the ride and try to make the best of things. This little bit of madness on their part has changed my routine enormously, but not altogether…

An unremarkable day – which is good because we are really settling into things now. Packing up, driving to the next location, chatting with the caravan park people whilst checking in, negotiating the caravan into its appointed slot shopping, filling with diesel and adblue. The most remarkable thing however was that we crossed the Tropic…

Today was a shorter ride for The Athlete, who continues to go well with no physical or (new) mental complications 😉 We both took the same route for, I think, the first time and I passed her on the way. It was a good test because her flashing red lights and fluoro yellow jersey are…

I had a fight with Google Maps today and I’m not sure who won. I followed the map, after checking first too, but finished up on a “shortcut” which took me through a road which started out bitumen, turned into a good, graded dirt road, then a worse one and then a single lane roughie,…

Today we moved to a place called Howard. A small town and railway station a bit North of Maryborough and roughly opposite Fraser Island. The dual lane highway, which has carried Spike and me all the way from home, finally ran out and turned into a good single lane road marking some kind of way…

Actually, while Anna did not ride today, and therefore we must call it a rest day, we were pretty busy for most of the day. Cleaned the caravan, cleaned the truck, washed the sheets and lots of clothes, trip to Bunnings for a few bits and pieces – I suddenly woke up remembering that I…

One thing about caravan parks; everyone seems very nice. I guess there are exceptions but so far I haven’t found them. Today I chatted with an old bloke about his electric bike. It was one of those that the kids ride, with fat tyres, that looks like a motor bike. He loves it. He has…

We achieved two milestones today: we passed the Eastern-most part of the continent around Byron Bay and then crossed the border into Queensland – leaving NSW in our wake. Walking around Byron this morning Spike and I could see hints of what the town used to be. The beach remains fantastic of course but the…

There was some confusion with our very expensive caravan park in Byron Bay, which btw appears to have lost the charm it had back in the 70s and 80s – but I guess that true for a lot of us ;-). We thought the park was “pet friendly” but an officious back-packer informed me late…

Speaking of big rivers, we are now camped for the night on the shores of the Clarence River. It’s a huge, big, beautiful river. I’d love to steam up it in the African Queen. We are at Mclean which seems to be an especially nice town and is just upstream from the Clarence mouth at…

We are camped in Coffs Harbour near the Pacific Motorway which will lull us to sleep.  Whilst cruising here from Kempsey and reflecting on what a great road the Pac H/way is these days – smooth, dual carriageway all the way – my mind wandered back and forth and the “Kempsey Bus Crash” popped into…

Rest Day today. Spike and I explored a bit of Kempsey by foot and paw. We did some shopping at a big Aldi and also at Bunnings. Some maintenance work on the bike. Some improvements to the organisation of the caravan. Diesel tanks filled. We bought two thermometers; one for inside and one for out.…

We seem to have finally escaped the gravity of Sydney and are back in the country but this time it has palm trees and is warmer than the Southern Highlands (most places are).  I can tell I’m not in the city because when Spike and I go for an early morning walk, people coming the…

Day 4 A restful night, if a bit cold. We finished up with the wife, dog and driver all in the same bed, which improved the temp a bit and was nice. I suppose we could’ve turned on the diesel heater but…. Anna left early. She had some dramas on the way which she overcame…

The tractor component of our mobile home is a 2022 model Ford F250 Ute. It is American built, imported as Left Hand Drive and then converted to RHD. These big yank “trucks” as they call them, are stupidly big for a commuter. There is no parallel with the sort of utes we are used to…

Our night next to the river was peaceful – except for me snoring apparently (but I can hardly believe that). In the morning Spikey and I had a long walk through this rather beautiful park which chases a series of lakes and billabongs along the Georges River. Matthew Flinders and his young mate George Bass…

Anna got away as planned at about 9.00am. Spike and I left about an hour later. We headed to a battery replacement joint in beautiful Bankstown, run by a chap named Moe, who might have been Syrian. The Century Battery shop was in a typical suburban shopping centre but with especially tight turns, making negotiation…

We are ready to go, and probably would have left by now but for the fact that we are waiting on new brakes to be added to the bike and for the truck, an additional spare tyre and two new batteries. All of this “will be ready Monday”. So we wait. It’s a bit like…

A couple of days ago Anna came up with the “mad” idea of riding a bike around Australia. I immediately agreed and offered to drive the support vehicle. This notion has fired us up and for now, we are both extremely enthusiastic whilst recognising that there are a thousand reasons why it might not happen.…