Organising and tackling such a trip wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many people, so Pete and I would like to take the opportunity to say a massive thanks to the following people….

Jason, Ike, and Ben for putting us up in Canberra.

Steve for giving us the keys to his place and a roof over our heads in Melbourne. “Mi casa es su aswell de la casa”

Aj & Sj for a well needed couple of days rest in Perth. Your hospitality was our ‘port in the storm’

Gareth and Youngy (and Steph) for flying to Perth and helping us celebrate with a few drinks.

Tony, Jenny, Tim and Simon for family comforts and the best nights sleep of the trip.

Vince, Karen, and Giggles (I mean Phoebe) Staying with you guys proved that the journey is what its all about, but your roast reminded me why home is the final destination.

To Mr (cranky) O’Brien’s year 9 Geography Class, thanks for following the adventure, I hope it you got something out of it, and it was more then just another Geography lesson for you. Your messages on my blog came when I was at a low point, and your encouragement pushed me to keep going. I hope at least one of you is inspired to get out there and see the world. It’s bigger then you could possibly imagine, and more then anyone (myself included) could ever could try and explain to you.

Wes and Kathleen, I can’t really thank you for a roof over my head, but I will thank you for the best night of the trip! You’re a true friend in every sense of the word Wes, thanks just doesn’t cut it, but it’s a start.

To Steph, I’m sorry I couldn’t bring Ruffles back as ‘undamaged goods’, not just for the case of beer that I missed out on. (Well mostly for that!), but thanks for letting me drag him off on a crazy adventure, I know that ‘distance is virtue’ for you two, as it only makes your hearts grow fonder.

Aan mijn schitterend rood hoofd Marije, werd ik verteld u mooi, slim, en grappig was, maar die woorden doen u niet enkel rechtvaardigheid. Dank u voor een verbazende nacht die ik nooit zal vergeten. Ik hoop de wereld u brandkast op uw reizen houdt, en u vindt wat u zoekt.

To our respective employers, letting us take two months off and still return to jobs shows a faith in us as employees that we will strive to live up to.

Thanks to Pom for being our ‘Trip Mechanic’, his help with the bikes was fantastic.

To my parents there are so many things we need to thank you for, just letting us do something that crazy shows such a trust in us that I won’t forget anytime soon. Mum your messages kept me going in the hard times, and when your computer skills fudged up and you repeated a message of support I couldn’t bring myself to delete the duplicate, it meant that much to me. Dad your advice (while not always taken) is always appreciated, and usually right. Seeing you guys in Broome went a long way to alleviating our homesickness.

If we can turn out to be half the people you two are I know we will be ok. (Don’t worry, were still working on it)

Thanks to everyone who messaged us on our blog, I can’t emphasise how much these helped us push on and how much it kept me posting when it was 10pm, I’d been riding all day, my laptop screen was a blur of bugs at some shitty camp site and all I wanted to do was sleep. Thanks for everyone who pulled over when we had problems, thanks to the Kununurra Hospital for patching Pete up.

To Pete, you went out with a bang, but it was good while it lasted. The scariest thing I have ever seen was you trying to slow that crazed steel horse down and your fall. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d gotten you real hurt or worse… Thankyou for being a tough little son of a bitch and not doing too much damage. If we were not brothers, we would be best friends. I couldn’t have done on my own.

To paraphrase a favourite song of mine, ‘home is where the heart is, but my heart had to roam’, thanks everyone for reading.