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.

Riding to Sydney from Dunedoo I take a fresh view of NSW. My home state really is a beautiful place for motorcycling, and I love the road through the Blue Mountains towards the last capital city on this journey.

I meet up with Pete, who has driven up to Sydney to stay with his girlfriend. It’s good to see him again and after a few hugs and stories we decide to have a few drinks tonight to celebrate the end of the journey.

I had organised to stay with my best friend Wes, and his girlfriend Kathleen, and these two, Ruffles and his girlfriend Steph, and a few of her friends (including a gorgeous red head) all hit the city eager to have a big Tuesday night.

We weren’t disappointed, everyone had a great night, and as the sun came up it felt like the sun was setting on this crazy adventure. A big thanks goes out to the previously mentioned guys here for a night to remember.

As you might imagine it took a while to fully wake the next morning, but after a slow start, I packed the bike for the last time and said my Sydney goodbyes. As soon as I started big heavy rain drops started to patter my helmet, but despite the rain it couldn’t shake my mood. I was content with the world, I was going home.

Today’s ride was probably the shortest of them all, less than 200 kilometres, but there was still one more stop on this ride. Just out of Sydney I made the turn off for Coalcliff, just short of Wollongong, here I got to ride the newly completed Sea Cliff Bridge, its touted as the Great Ocean Road of NSW, and it was easy to see why, as soon as I got to the first corner I was hit with déjà vu, and the start of the journey now seems to have met up here at the end.

Past Wollongong I reach Berry and my family’s home. It feels good to see everyone again, and a home cooked meal really brings home the truth, I’m home. 15 minutes later I get to Nowra and my place. Flash frozen in a scene from the day I left, my place hasn’t changed with the exception of a climbing vine which has tripled in size (and I’m sure it’s trying to strangle me in my sleep)

But I’m home; my reaction is a parabola of conflicting emotions. It’s feels good to sleep in my own bed, but strange to not have to think about getting up the next day and riding somewhere.

I think travelling goes a long way to changing people, I know when I came back from six months overseas I was a different person, and I think this time it’s the same, only perhaps the changes will be a little more subtle. 

Thanks for reading.

I camped the night at Tamworth, Australia’s country music capital. In the morning I was pleasantly surprised to discover a motorcycle museum here, and I spent an hour or so checking out the restored bikes.

I headed from Tamworth to a small town called Dunedoo. If you’ve been reading from the start you might recall we did a test run to Dunedoo last year for my Uncle’s 40^th birthday party, that same Uncle has been plotting our journey around Australia with his year 9 Geography class, and I wanted to drop by and pay them a visit.

They say that Eskimo’s have dozens of words for ‘snow’ as it is such a common element in their lives. I’m starting to feel that way about road conditions, (although most of my descriptions involve some sort of swearing.) My GPS decided to take me via a dirt road which, while good hard packed stuff for the first couple of kilometers, quickly turned to loose gravel. This road continued as dirt for 40 or 50 kilometers, and I took it easy, keen to stay upright especially as the journey comes to its end, and the conditions were slippery. It seems there are still surprises out there, even at the end.

I arrive in Dunedoo, and the next day head to the local school and have a chat with the year 9 geography class, as well as show them my photos from around the country and give them a look at the bike.

A big thanks goes out to the class for all their messages of support, I hope they enjoyed following the adventure as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

And of course I must thank Vincent, Karen, and little Phoebe Rose for putting me up for a couple nights and all their fantastic hospitality.

I stayed last night at Ballina a town on the NSW/QLD border. So I guess I’m in NSW, there wasn’t any obvious sign to designate the last state border crossing of the trip, but the number plates tell the story, I’m in NSW, I’m on my way home.

I have family in Ballina, and so I stayed with my Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenny, and Cousins Tim and Simon. Sleeping in their spare room I had one of the best nights sleep since leaving home, and I woke refreshed, and ready to keep going, despite the lure of comfort and home cooked meals. Many thanks to Tony and Jenny for their hospitality.

Heading southwesterly, I came across something that has been missing from the middle part of this trip… corners!

Just before Armadale for a nice stretch of about 50 kilometers I was treated to a display of varying speed corners. The road varied here with some sections well tarred and in good condition, while others were thin strips of rough bitumen twisting around tight blind corners. Many of these sections did not have corner speed indicators, and it was quite daunting at times to zip round a gentle bend only to find it coiling into a tight hairpin without warning. But for the most part it was a welcome change to the weeks of long straight lines. Maybe this is why we didn’t see too many bikes in the West, I must have seen and nodded to at least 30 bikers today, they seem to be everywhere where a nice curvy road can be found. I know for me at least I’d almost forgotten this positive aspect of riding, its good to know this journey can still surprise me, even as it nears a close.

As I winded through the hills the temperature began to drop, and for the first time in a long time I was actually cold, I considered pulling over for a jumper, but decided instead to enjoy the change from the heat (although I happily switched on my heated grips)

At once stage during the run, I had to slow for some cattle crossing the road, they made quite an effort to take every lane, and to quickly fill any holes that my beeping and herding were making. I’m over wildlife on tar, ‘no cows, this is a people road’

I woke early and headed out to the late Steve Irwin’s ‘Australia Zoo’ the place is quite full on with cheetah’s wondering around out of their cages (ok, he was on a leech, but still).

And I think it’s the only zoo in the country where you can hand feed elephants.

But the main show was the croc feedings, I don’t know if we secretly want to see the handlers get eaten or what, but there is something amazing about watching these animals feed.

Does this guy remind you of anyone Ruffles?

After this I headed towards Glasshouse Mountain, a cool windy road led up to these amazing views.

From here I took a ride through Brisbane, and down to Surfers Paradise. I tried to find some meter maids, but alas there were none to be found. Still it was a good feeling to get back to the Pacific Ocean again, its starting to feel close to home, only a thousand k’s or so as the crow flies, but I might make a detour of sorts on the way home.