To the Red Centre and back

A More-Than-Perfect Fathers’ Day Sunday

2011-09-04T23:15:00.001+10:00

The word “perfect” would have been used to describe something that happened exactly as expected or intended, or when the result of something was considered completely appropriate and correct. If that was the agreed definition, then my day today would best be described as “more-than-perfect”!

It started off with a bright and sunny morning. I have not been out on my bike for one of my Sunday morning rides at all this year – well, with the exception of that one-time ride to the Coolangatta Airport to pick up the hand luggage my sister-in-law accidently left in the aircraft. Ever since the “unfortunate technicalities” that barred me from riding for the first 6 months of this year had ended, I had not manage to make time for it. After the Red Centre ride perhaps unconsciously I was afraid that I would not get much of a satisfaction from short rides anymore but at the same time, I can’t stand the itch of being out in the open road again. So this morning, despite the strong temptation to stay curled up in bed after the late night last night, I could not resist saddling up and hitting the highway as soon as the break of dawn.

Tony my mate called to cancel at the last minute because his family is planning for a Father’s Day special for him so I was left to ride on my own. Lucky Tony, I thought; but I’m sure something will turn up for me one way or another; I hope. I hit the road just as the sun started rising – not as bright as one would expect on a morning in the beginning of spring but the clear blue sky assures me of a calm day ahead. This was one of the rare occasions when I really have no plan on where to head for the day. It took me a while to decide to just head South on the Ipswich Highway to see how the Redbank Plains looks like at this time of the year. The last time I was there was June last year (Blog entry "Cold is not cool"). The temperature is a perfect 18°C and the air still and crisp. There couldn’t be any better morning than this, weather-wise, but somehow the excitement is not quite there – I just couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe it was the occasional sneezing (oh how I hate those pollens in spring!) or the aching back and legs for not being on the bike for a while or simply because the Ipswich-Boonah road seems long and uneventful today. My legs couldn’t take it anymore so I stopped briefly near a junction along the road just to stretch and to text home to see if the family is up yet or not – we did say we were going to have breakfast outside today. At least there’s something to look forward to later.

Just as I was about to get back on the bike and continue further South, perhaps as destined, a pickup truck stopped near the junction and a guy came out to place a steel sign that says “Motorcycle Museum”. Well, to begin with, I’m not quite a museum kind of guy but on the other hand; motorcycle? Now, we’re talking…! I signalled to the guy who’s about 50 meters away as for the direction of the museum and he signalled back which I think means; yeah, this way, come along! I quickly hopped on the bike and trailed him from behind. Five minutes later I arrived in front of a big warehouse-like white and red building with huge sign that says, “Panorama Motorcycles & Memorabilia”. One look of it I knew this was going to turn out to an interesting morning after all…!

Nothing much to look at from the outside, but as soon as you stepped inside… behold… rows and rows of classic Indians, BSAs, Royal Enfield, Harleys and many more from the 1920’s to the 1950’s era. It looks more like pages from a motorcycle history book but this is live… and they are all in pristine condition!

(Hey, I never notice there were cars there until I saw the pictures I took!!! Haha…)

The guy’s name is Brendan; A nice guy with a very impressive knowledge on classic bikes. He owns the place and inherited the entire private collection from his father and grandfather. Nothing is for sale here (I just realized how stupid I sounded just after I asked him that – should have been obvious why it’s called a “museum”!). So happens that I was the only visitor for the day so I got a specially personalized educational tour for almost the whole hour! It's a must-see for bikes enthusiasts – address is 3 Panorama Drive, Roadvale (Tel: 54635910/54631325). Where else can you see a 350cc single cylinder 1928 Indian Prince in a full working condition like this?

I would have wanted to stay longer but I just remembered I promised the family to be back to breakfast and I am now still an hour away from home! A quick goodbye to Brendan and soon I hit the road again but this time, heading back North instead of heading further South to Beaudesert and then Nerang as I used to do. It was definitely a more cheerful ride back home. I couldn’t resist imagining riding the Harley Davidson 1200cc VLC with a side car with my half helmet and goggle… haha! That would have been soooo cool...!

Just when I thought the morning could not get any better, I was up for a big surprise when I got home. I was already starting to be suspicious when I saw Umar whispering with his Mum and just as I was expecting (and wishing, and really, really hoping for!) the kids came downstairs with 2 boxes of presents and a card! Yeah, the perfect morning just got better!

The card was their usual trademark funny card (which I will proudly display on my office desk tomorrow) but the bigger surprise was – a Kindle!!! Yes, I had always wanted one but never got around to buying it. Sure I already have a notebook, an iPad etc. but I had always complaint about not knowing which book to carry during my travels so the kids (with definitely a big help from their Mum) thought of this as a solution! It came complete with a light-fitted leather cover and 3G. They sure know how to excite a man – HI-TECH GADGET!

Now, THIS is a perfect Father’s Day Sunday! After that it just got better and better – a nice scrumptious breakfast at Coffee Club in the city, a stroll along Queens Street Mall, a bargain (50% discount!) on the classic “Easy Rider” movie DVD at JB Hi-fi, a large Easy Way passion fruit milk tea with bubbles AND my loving family… it just couldn’t get any better…!!!

I love you all....!

Flood in Brisbane: 4 weeks after

2011-02-06T22:36:00.000+10:00

It has been 4 weeks since we were last being forced to evacuate our house as the flood water reached our neighbourhood. We have not managed to move back in since. We are now refugees (although living in very acceptable level of comfort, but technically, still a refugee) in the city. The 2-bedroom (but what’s worse was - one bathroom!) little apartment in the city has been our home for the last 3 weeks. It’s actually quite convenient for me since my office is just a stone throw away (literally!) but pity the kids (even worse for the Mom who’s their official chauffer) who have to go a long way to school every day. When we first checked in we had a car-load of stuffs but by now, I can’t remember how many trips back to the house that we have done to bring more stuffs in. By the time we have to move out I bet we need a moving truck!

In the mean time, our house is being rebuilt.

It has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions:

The sadness – of having to leave the house. What we saw in our street that morning reminded me of the scene in “2012” where everyone was rushing to get away and save themselves. We bid farewell to the neighbours not knowing what the fate of us all is. We watched helplessly as one by one of the neighbours’ cars left their home, heading to a safe place.

The anxiety – of waiting for three days not knowing what is happening to our house. We were all glued in front of the TV watching the flood updates around the clock, fearing that the worse could happen to our house but at the same time praying for the best to everyone affected.

The pride – of seeing Premier Bligh stood up to address the nation. Her words were full of courage and strength and truly inspirational. "As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who we are… We are Queenslanders. We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border…. We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again." She is a true leader.

More sadness – when we came back 3 days after to see the house all covered in mud and the damage the water has done to some of our precious belongings. Even more sadness when we saw what happened to other people in the worse affected areas. Pure devastation.The rest of the pictures in my Facebook Album: Brisbane flood - the aftermath

The hurt – by the lack of sensitivities from some of the people back home. “The flood” could just be one of the news features for them but for us living in it – it has caused a major disruption and disappointment and loss in our lives. The lack of interest in asking how we were doing is one thing but joking about it is another thing altogether. But then again, I’m sure it is nothing to you until it really happens to you and your family.

The thankfulness – of having friends who were so kind to lend a hand in this time of need. To Ariff and Wina who provided us (and two other families and two bachelors) shelter for 4 days and three nights and putting up with our crying and screaming children. And to all the friends from the office who came and help clean up our house the day after the water receded.

The relief – at how quick we managed to get back on our feet. Thanks to Russel our super-efficient and kind landlord who really took care of everything. He had the “tradies” all lined up ready to rebuild our house even before we finished the cleaning up!

But sadly followed by,

The annoyance - with Suncorp Insurance for making it so difficult in settling this whole thing. Despite our landlord having made all the arrangements Suncorp managed to slow everything down to a standstill with all their stupid bureaucracies and complete absence of compassion on people’s needs in situations like this. Suncorp – you have lost my business!

The loath – when seeing some clueless politicians from back home trying to capitalize the situation for their own popularity drive. Sick.

The suffocation – of staying in this little apartment. We just want to go home…

The eagerness – to move back home as soon as we can and pick up where we left. I’m not so eager thinking of the cleaning up and rearranging of the house content again though… here comes my back pain again….

All in all, it has been quite an experience. I wouldn’t say that it is all bad as it did in a way bring out the best in us in one way or another. We all had fun staying together like one big family during the flood. The race against time to finish perishable foodstuffs brought out the best in our culinary skills and not to mention; a few inches to our waistlines. We were anxious and feeling helpless but it never kills our spirits and especially our sense of humour. On the streets; the devastation left behind by the flood brought out the best in people. I have never seen such a massive response to call for volunteers. As Premier Bligh said; they knocked us down, but we got ourselves up again…!

Only few days ago Queensland had to face another calamity; Cyclone Yasi. Another heartbreaking experience for us all again. At the same time, we can't stop worrying about our friends and their families in Egypt who are facing one of the biggest civil unrest in their history.

This is just a series of tests to all humankind… This morning, as we watched on TV a documentary entitled "Flood Brisbane 2011", all the feelings came back. Indeed, this is something that will be remembered well by all Queenslanders...

I wonder if anyone would ask; what's the significance of this picture?

Flood in Brisbane: Day 2

2011-01-13T16:09:00.001+10:00

My wife woke me up in a panic this morning. Apparently she and my daughter fell asleep exhaustedly by early morning and missed their watch. Luckily my son was awake early and saw that the water have started rising from across the other side of the main street. From what our landlord told us the day before, based on previous occurrence, this could mean that we have less than 2 hours before the water will reach our home. All the neighbours have all sorts of vehicles including pickup trucks, utes and trailers and were busy packing everything they could to evacuate. Shaun, my across the street neighbour also came back to gather everything he could. It was a tough but quick decision – we are going to Plan C – lift as much as we can upstairs and evacuate! I told the family that we will do as much as we could within our limited time and physical abilities but when either two of these happens (1) water reaches boundary of our house, or (2) the power got cut off; we will move out regardless of how ready we are.

It was the quickest few hours of our lives. In between packing the necessities to carry with us, shifting all the stuffs upstairs, lifting all the furniture as high up as we could, we still had to secure the house and consider all safety aspects. We barricaded what we could, blocked the toilet, switch off all electrical points and did everything we could think of in order to reduce the damage to the house – the very least we could do should the worst happens. My mobile couldn’t stop ringing with calls from friends in Brisbane asking how we are doing but of course no one could offer much as we were all in the same boat (thank God not literally!). At the same time the water kept rising fast from across the main street some 200 meters away. By the time we finished packing most of the stuff, both happens at the same time – the water reached our front yard and the power got cut-off! Obviously I didn’t think through my previous plan i.e. Plan B which is to brace the flood - imagine first we had to barricade ourselves upstairs with no power – which means no TV nor radio. Thanks to internet we may survive a while longer but imagine when the notebook batteries ran out and then finally mobile phones. Imagine being stranded in the darkness of the night without any means of communication!

We are now packed. We took as much as we can carry in our car. Comfort has to be our last priority at this point. The irony of just arriving the night before and now we have to pack and be on the move again…

This is the pic from our balcony as the water approaching near.

And these were how we have prepared the house – hope this will do. What we cannot bring upstairs we just raised as high as we could. Whether they survive or not, I leave it to God. We’ve done as much as we could.

One pic for Umar to remember. He kept pointing out to numerous kind of debris we saw floating in the flood water. A baby milk bottle became a grim reminder of losses that could be faced by other families. The murky and filthy water also warned us of the massive cleaning up waiting for us after this is all over.

One by one of the neighbours’ cars started leaving the neighbourhood in the direction of the flow of water. We bid farewell and wished good luck to one another. We never really know each other well but at this time we really felt for one another and felt so close to them – there’s nothing like natural calamity that could really bring people together. Just like when we heard on TV last night that one of the sandbagging centres announced that they have had enough volunteers for the job. I’m touched at the level of kindness of people here. This is such a wonderful country…

These were the last few pics before we left. The police patrol car was also there to make sure we all evacuate. I also noticed that the power was cut-off just now soon after they arrived at the scene. It must be their call somehow. They were just doing their job I supposed.

We took this one last pic to compare when we come back later… hopefully soon…

A quick stop at the neighbourhood McD before we find our way out across the city. It was sad to see all the cars fully laden with personal belongings and people were all in sombre mood probably all thinking about the uncertain outcome of all this.

It took us quite a while to find the way out south. We couldn’t drive southward as Oxley Rd and Ipswich Motorway were both closed. Coronation Drive and Milton Road, the two major roads linking us to the city were also under water. Lucky for us, with the help of my SatNav and my co-pilot equipped with her notebook, checking Google Maps online, we found our way but not without many many “recalculating…” scream from the SatNav. It wasn’t the normal scenery along the way but more of water rising, roads blocked, people scrambling for safety etc. It’s weird also to see on some other unaffected parts of the city, people were going about their normal life. We even came across a lady going jogging! I’m sure she could burn her energy in a better way, like helping others fighting the flood…

We finally arrived at our friends’ Ariff and Wina, a very generous young couple with two kids whom were so kind as to help shelter our family, two other families and 2 “bachelors” for the time being. It’s a nice and spacious house but having 18 people living under the same roof for an extended (and uncertain) period of time could be quite a challenge – thank god we are all good friends… for now at least… hehe… But seriously, we couldn’t thank them enough for their willingness to house us. They fed us well too! They kept apologizing that their house might not be comfortable for us since they just moved in two weeks ago and some of their furniture are yet to arrive. Hey, this is a luxury compared to the Flood Relief Centre!

We all spent the night glued to the TV continuously watching the news channel while the kids turned restless. The worst part so far is probably not the hard physical work saving the house but the emotional stress of not knowing, and feeling helpless. It was really a Support Group. You really have to be in the exact situation to understand or to properly empathize… Nevertheless, as said by Premier Bligh, "We are Queenslanders, We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border..." (it touched me when she choked half way through her speech…). We’ll make it through. We also kill time just like what other Malaysians would do – we cook and eat, and then cook again and eat again. I will not be surprised if we all gain a few pounds if this flood takes a while to subside…

We rested for the night feeling safe but prayed hard for a better tomorrow…

Flood in Brisbane: Day 1

2011-01-13T00:07:00.001+10:00

My family and I had been on holiday back in Malaysia last week. It had been raining quite a bit in Brisbane even before we left for KL just before Christmas. It’s rather common at this time of the year around this part of Australia – it’s just the same in Malaysia too. I never thought it would be really bad until one day a friend sent a news link entitled, “Floods "of biblical proportions" hit Australia's Northeast”. I told our friends and relatives not to worry as we are outside of the flood area. Boy was I too optimistic (more of ignorant actually)!

We arrived back in Brisbane on Monday night greeted by yet some more rain. All the news were about the rain and some flooded area in some remote parts of Queensland. The first real “warning” came when I was woken up by a call from my doctor’s office early Tuesday morning. I was supposed to have an appointment with him that morning but his office told me that he was stranded as the area where he lives in Toowoomba was flooding. Toowoomba is just 1½ hours away from where we live and now the flood does sounds real!

My wife went out to get some groceries. She came back with horror stories on how she had to queue up for hours at the supermarket checkout and all bread and milk were running out fast (in Malaysia it would have been rice and sardines gone first!). She had to wait at the neighbourhood bakery for them to bake more bread as people were waiting. When she went to fill up the car, most of the cars she bumped into at the petrol station were already filled up to the brim with their belongings as people were rushing out from the area.

After that everything happened so fast – I was informed that my office was being closed down as some people need to rush home to prepare their house for the oncoming flood. Some of the roads were being closed off as the water level kept rising. I have to admit that even at that point, I still feel of it like a distant event – just like when you live in KL and heard about the flood in Kelantan and Terengganu. Sometime around noon our next door neighbour, who realized that we just arrived home the night before came to tell us about the flood and how our area is going to be hit pretty bad. They are all preparing their house for the flood, and for the worst eventuality of having to evacuate. Then it really struck us – THIS IS FOR REAL!!!

I also learnt that our neighbour across the street have already evacuated and as I stepped outside, the street seems quiet but I can see all other occupants of the houses on our street were busy working on something in their house. Lucky for those with enough manpower in their household as this could be very physically demanding. My team consists of me with a back problem, my wife, my 14 year old daughter, 11 year old son and the youngest one, 6 whom I think would not be contributing much. Anyway, we have to do a lot and we have to do it quick. We quickly change the TV channel to the continuous local news that talks about nothing but the weather and particularly the progress of the flood. It was really bad. At that point 10 died and about 50 missing and it was expected that more than 50 suburbs could be underwater in the next 48 hours. The worst ever flood in Queensland history was in 1974 which was in meteorological measure, a 100-year event. And now, this one is described as being worse than that.

With the limited resources that we had we quickly went into Stage 1 of our effort – moving as many things as we can to the upper floor of the house. To be honest I don’t really know what is required for me to do. I have never had any experience of facing a flood or any kind of natural disaster in my life. It was good to get some tips from the neighbour, some info from the internet and a wife who grew up in Pekan, Pahang, where flood is more or less an annual event. But one thing I learnt fairly quickly was; what do we plan for? Do we move everything upstairs? Do we stock up food and necessities and man the fort? Or do we secure the house then run away and pray that it will survive the torment? Do we plan for the worst or just do as much as we can?

My wife said, do as much as we can – so we start grabbing what we can and put them all upstairs. Kudos to my kids who worked so hard walking up and down the stairs carrying as much as they could. I can carry a lot but dare not make too many trips climbing up for fear of my back and knees giving way; the kids on the other hand can walk up and down as many times as they wanted to but couldn’t carry much. Every now and then we stopped for a break to watch the news – depressing news mostly about how people’s lives got affected by the unforgiving nature – lives lost, homes destroyed and many other damages to infrastructures. One comforting thing is how the government is very involved and dedicated in helping the population. Even the Premier herself came on TV every so often to personally provide updates on their efforts – I was almost certain that she wasn’t reading from a prepared text but rather spoke from her intimate knowledge of the situation and truly showed her passion for what she does.

By early evening my other neighbour who is also my landlord came and suggested for us to prepare for the worst. I remember once seeing a picture on a wall in my office of the 1974 flood – I saw my street, with only the roof of my house showing. But that was the old house on the same spot where our house is standing now and that was a single-storey house then. So, we still have hope. We can move everything upstairs as we had planned earlier and hopefully will dramatically reduce the impact. My kind landlord also offered to help shelter my beloved bike at his brother’s place that sits on a much higher ground in Toowong. I didn’t think twice and 10 minutes later I was on my bike trailing him from behind to his brother’s place. It was indeed a nice big house with a private compound. I hope my bike will be safe there. We also met a young couple there whose house was already underwater. It was a short conversation as I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving my family behind.

Back home, the effort continues. Now we started bringing almost everything upstairs (before that we thought of clearing about 3 feet from the floor only!). With the crew that I have, the piano, treadmill, washing machine, fridge etc. had to remain where they are. At the very least, we elevated the sofa onto chairs, cabinet onto tables and whatever else we could manage to lift up.

You could probably tell from the pic that the sofa is much more expensive than the dining chair… hehe…

By the time we’re done, the upper floor looks like “kapal karam” (shipwreck). This is the pic when we were only half way through.

This is the kitchen half way through Plan A i.e. to only “elevate” the stuffs. Later pic will show everything’s gone.

The plan evolved into Plan B which is taking into account water flooding the entire lower level hence we will totally evacuate the lower level and to defend ourselves on the upper level. We also started filling up every container we can with water.

Even the bathtub became a water reservoir! As far as food is concern we were well stocked as my wife bought quite a lot this morning and we were almost never out of ikan masin (dried fish), sardines and Maggi mee anyway!

By midnight we were very exhausted. My kids however were still going on strong wanting to help. I guess sitting around doing nothing will make them even more nervous. The TV, even though informative, sometimes not very helpful in reducing the worries. Listening to the Premier’s address repeated again and again, “… as we all prepare for the worst disaster in history…” just sends shivers down my spine. More news on death and loss and damage throughout the night.

At 2:00 am I went out with my wife to survey the area. Water was coming in from the river side towards our area but still some 1 km away at least. See below how the road signs were already submerged on the top pic

After that my wife and daughter took the first turn of watch while I tried to catch some sleep.

The Reflection

2010-12-19T23:33:00.002+10:00

When I got back, many people asked me - what did you get out of the trip? It was actually a question that I asked myself too; many times during the journey. To be honest; when I first came up with the idea, it was probably just to enjoy riding my bike, to see the much-talked-about Ayers Rock and to experience motorbike adventure the way I have read in many travel books like I mentioned in my posting "My sources of inspiration". So, without sounding too philosophical about the whole thing or pushing the whole adventure to such a grandeur level that some might think it wouldn't deserve, it was actually and truly (1) a soul-searching expedition and (2) a prove that I am still capable of achieving something extraordinary if I were to put my mind into it - something I want to be able to tell my kids (and grand kids) many years to come. What I got was my renewed and inspired self and a better understanding and appreciations of my life's priorities and direction.

I must also confess that there were times before the journey that I doubted whether I could (and would) actually go ahead and do it but by the time I told quite a few people about it and especially when I started blogging about it, it seemed like there's no turning back. It seemed to me like I am now expected to do it and I also see myself representing those who thought about doing something like that themselves. I do like to think that I was doing it for others too. There were also some times during the trip that I told myself what a crazy idea this was, but as much as not doing it in the first place; turning back halfway was unthinkable, and definitely not an option - so I moved on and kept telling myself to make the best of out of it, no matter what.

Perhaps another question also that always been playing in my mind during the journey, especially towards the end was, will this be the end; or more frighteningly (especially for my wife); the beginning of it all? To be truly honest, it probably at some point, stuck itself at "That is it. I'm done. I've proven myself. I'm never doing this again!" but gradually crept to, "Hey! I did it... Gee, if I can do this, maybe I can also....". I guess this is the syndrome that hits, for example, mountain climbers. Always in search of higher and tougher mountains to climb. In my case; what would it be?

Longer distance?
Tougher terrains?
    More extravagant things to see?
      Convince my wife to come along??? (This would be toughest one!)
        R1200GS-Adv??? Hehe...

For now, let me just reflect on some of the specific experience(s) along this journey:

Highest points:

Hitting the road at the crack of dawn on Day 1 and realizing that all this was really happening
Seeing The Red Centre for the first time as we approached Uluru. A moment of triumph.
Arriving home at the end of the trip and being greeted by the family

Lowest points:

The speeding ticket
Riding in the storm between Gendambo and Pimba (wet, cold and very windy) - the hot chocolate at the end of it was probably one of the best moment too...
Riding in the rain between Gunnedah and Tamworth (wet, twisty road, no SatNav and it was getting dark fast)

Best routes:

Blackall to Barcaldine - morning sunshine, red tarmac, emus and low flying eagles
Peterborough to Broken Hill - beautiful prairies... I like those little purple flowers along the road
New England Highway - scenic, gentle twist, shady, many interesting stops - and was getting much closer to home

Toughest routes:

(It's quite difficult to chose these as it also depends on the timing. Almost all routes seem bearable and even interesting early in the morning during sunrise and when the weather was kind. Being tired and having to ride in extreme hot or cold or even rain would certainly give a totally different perspective. What I chose here were based on their specific situations, and not necessarily conditions)

Winton to Kynuna (Matilda Highway) - straight, hot, with nothing to see on either side. Struggled to stay awake! And oh, watch out for the county police!
Most parts of Stuart Highway between NT & SA - straight and exposed. You wouldn't want to be caught here in the wind or the rain or cold - there's virtually nowhere to hide for shelter!
Any route when it was getting dark - you definitely wouldn't want to be stranded at night in the Outback

10 valuable lessons I learnt from the experience:

A little bit of "craziness" in life is good - do something way out of the ordinary - it rejuvenates your believes and sharpens your senses
Take time to really deeply reflect upon your life and assess your journey so far - it pays for the long run ahead
This is a bit of a cliche but still true - if you really put your mind (and soul) into it; you can achieve almost anything
The treasure that you have been chasing is sometimes right under your nose - treasure what you have and make the best out of it
Insect repellent works with flies as well
Speed kills - or at least will make you broke
I'm too old (and spoilt) to be camping
Australia is such a HUGE country (and empty for the most part of it)
"Shoo-roo" does work
Outback bugs are BIG (and thanks to my windshield and full-face helmet, otherwise it would have been nasty... yuck!)

Who could have been my sponsors?

I know I decided not to have any sponsors (except for one) so that I won't be governed by them in terms of what I do, where I go or what I use but I did notice that I use the following items quite a lot, so if they want, they could be my sponsor for my next adventure (and my proposed tag line for them)!

BMW - reliable performance (if you can afford the price)
Shark - safety in style... works better for good looking people...!
RM Williams - boots for riding horse or motorbike! They make nice shirts too!
BlackBerry - it's camera is actually quite good!
No-Doz Plus - for those long boring stretches of roads... and when even coffee could not help
Red Bull - tastes like **** but it works!
Arcoxia - without it, you would probably not be able to get out of bed in the morning!
Garmin - takes you to where you want to go (just don't get it wet!)

I just spent some time browsing through all my blog postings way back from May - nearly 40 of them. I still call it a "dream" that time. To be truly honest, despite my show of determination to do it, secretly I, as mentioned above, still had doubts about the whole thing. What kept me going was the support I get from friends (that's all of you - although one remains until the last day that the idea was ludicrous!) and family and what has started as my own personal dream has become something that inspires others and I really can't back down on that.

All in all, it was a great experience. "To the Red Centre and Back" has been a truly enriching and rejuvenating journey; both intellectually and spiritually. I can honestly say that I came back a different person - one who appreciates more of the things in his life especially those close to him. I also felt wiser and more prepared to face the complexities and hardship of life. But as any good feeling goes; it doesn't last forever so I supposed there will be a time in the future where I will have to answer to the calling again - to be out there on the open road, in search of myself again. Where will I go to next...??? I mean, where will WE all go to next?

I would really love to hear them from you all, so do send me suggestions and ideas... and I will get my wife to allow me to go...

[Final note: I can't thank you enough for the support that I get from you all especially from my beloved wife who had to put up with me spending our money for the preparations for the trip and for the sleepless nights she had to go through worrying about me while I was on the road all alone. Thanks for all the comments on the blog and Facebook that keep my spirit high knowing that my friends and family do care about me. Thanks to Mak and Abah for not scolding me when I had my first motorbike accident 25 years ago (and thanks to Abah for "bailing" me out from the police station, hehe...) - otherwise I would have been scared to ever ride again... I just wish they're still here to share this moment but I know they have been there with me every moment of the way...]

Thank you all...

Day 10: Tamworth to Home (581.4 km. Grand Total 7,018.5 km!!!)

2010-12-12T18:27:00.004+10:00

[I just realized that it has been more than 5 weeks since I completed the expedition, now that I finally got around to writing this post about the last day of the journey. I supposed normal life routine is always quick in finding its way back in and procrastination itself creeps in quite fast too. Nevertheless the memories from the travel are still fresh in my mind and until today I still get to talk about it whenever someone asks about it. I find that I have one of the best dinner party stories to tell and one that will last a long long time… Anyway, on with the story…]

I started the day with mixed feelings – happy to finally be getting home today but at the same time sad that this epic journey of mine is about to come to an end. I was up early and the weather seemed to be exceptionally well. I have a feeling today will be a very smooth and exciting ride - a great finale. The ground was still wet from the heavy rain last night but the sun was shining brightly. The crisp morning air and the gentle breeze made it such a perfect moment to reflect on how exhilarating the last 10 days have been. I only have less than 600 km to cover today and my aim is to reach home only after the kids are back from school so I can really afford to take it easy today. I put on my last change of clean clothes (the one I saved for the last day - can’t arrive home stinky, can I?) and enjoyed an instant cup of café latte with tea biscuits (for breakfast?). I have been capturing “moments” during the journey and this is definitely one of it!

[Note: I looked at this pic later and thought that I actually look good (as in, slimmer) but my wife later pointed out that she thinks I looked sick! But the 5 kg I lost was finally noticeable…]

First stop was Armidale. I purposely chose this route in order to make the scenic New England Highway which is famous for its twisty highland route much loved by bikers as the last leg of the journey.

This is the pic along the road as I was about to enter Armidale – I bet I can find many Malaysians with pic at this exact same spot – for some unknown reason…

I made a quick stop at the Tourist Info centre in Armidale just to have a look around and then take a quick ride around town. This is probably one of the nicest little towns I have come across so far. It could be all those tall green trees from the temperate coniferous forest all over the place and the mild mountain weather. It’s one of those towns I can imagine as my retirement place. First I thought of having a coffee and breakfast somewhere in town but the decided against it as I was sure there would be plenty more to see along the route anyway.

I was right. This is one of the most amazing roads – gently twisty (not like Mt. Nebo and Mt. Glorious in Brisbane!) and very scenic. Every now and then you will come across nice little towns with friendly faces and plenty of things to explore if you want to. I’ll be sure to bring my family here one day, maybe in a motorhome.

Here’s a video I shot from the mounted camera. Warning: Not for those who are prone to motion sickness… hehe…

Talking about video, I actually captured close to 20 short clips of the different routes I have taken throughout the journey. It was quite interesting to see how the scenery and surroundings change along the way and the extremities of some of it. I later showed the video clips to my wife which were on average about 15 to 30 seconds long. She wasn’t impressed until I told her to imagine looking at the same scenery like a looping clip for 2, 3 or even 4 hours at times – now THAT’s endurance!

I didn’t take as many pictures as usual but here are at least a few that captures the route:

Rest areas here are definitely more shady and relaxing

Closer to home

Lucky I wasn’t wearing my speedo that day!!! Haha!

Some stretch really looks like my hometown Alor Setar! This one really reminds me of Jalan Langgar!

The weather does get a bit warmer and then much warmer in the afternoon especially on the last stretch between Warwick to Brisbane but it doesn’t bother me at all. Nothing seems to be able to bother me today! Yup, I’m heading home and nothing can be in my way. I was literally holding back my speed as I didn’t want to reach home too early before the kids come home from school so there’s also more opportunity to reflect upon the whole journey. There was a lot so as far as writing goes, I will write all that in a separate posting by itself.

It certainly cannot be any more dramatic than riding slowly as I approached my house and finally stopped in the driveway. The house seemed awfully quite. I opened the front door and out came the whole family yelling, “Surprise!!!!!” What a great welcoming home event it was.

Here’s my pic, at the end of a triumphant journey, with what matters the most to me… my family, my number one fan and supporters!

…and here’s the little welcoming home poster they made me…

Day 9: Wilcannia to Tamworth (836 km. Total now 6,437 km)

2010-11-23T16:12:00.000+10:00

I woke up today with an acid reflux. I guess half a plate of chips for yesterday's brunch and two mouthfuls of instant maggi mee for dinner would not make up for a proper set of daily meal. I did not eat much along the journey. I was just not hungry. Perhaps my body actually went into energy-conservation mode. I couldn’t quite tell whether I also lose weight or not but I do notice that my jeans is a bit loose at the waist… heheh…

The sun is not as bright today and the temperature is just as cold. Multi-layered clothing for me again… During the quick fill-up at the pump station in Wilcannia I saw that they have a little shop open with a big sign that says “COFFEE AND BREKKIE”. I’m much wiser now from past experiences during the trip so I asked first; what kind of coffee do you have? “Instant”, replied the shop assistant pointing to a large stainless steel heating pot with coffee jar and other stuffs next to the counter. I politely declined and hit the road. Am I spoilt? I mean, instant coffee used to be good…

Anyway, it was a nice ride apart from the cold. I kinda missed my SatNav. I don’t really need the specific instruction for directions. Road signs are more than sufficient along these long stretches of country roads anyway, but perhaps I just missed knowing how far I am to the next destination and how much longer it will take me to get there. I also got the creepy feeling that I might actually missed the female voice from the SatNav – my only talking companion for most parts of the day!

The one above is a typical rest area in this part of NSW. Compare it to this one that I took earlier in the Outback!

When I stopped at the above rest area I was close to shivering from the cold. I have learnt to make a habit of stretching after I had a terrible cramp in my leg a few days before due to the cold and sitting still for hours. An elderly guy, who was also taking a break, arrived in a nice motorhome with his wife. We struck a conversation (we all just love to chat with our fellow travellers on the road!) and shared our travel stories. He was pleasantly surprised to find a Malaysian on a bike by himself exploring Australia. He was from Perth and every year, he and his wife explored Australia in their motorhome. We discovered that we share the same creepy feeling about Coober Pedy! After the nice conversation we wish each other well and he said, “I’m gonna go make myself a cuppa – take care, mate!” and off he went to his wife in the motorhome to enjoy his nice “cuppa” in the warmth of his motorhome – and I was left there, literally shivering by now… I really need to get one of those, I said to myself…

This is Cobar – it won my vote for best town sign!

I took this pic just after Cobar. Look at the torture that I put my tyres through! I most definitely need a new set of tyres when I get home!

I stopped for a nice lunch in Nyngan and also managed to solve the riddle my wife and I had during the planning of this trip – how do we pronounce this town’s name. As it turns out, it’s pronounced “Nean-gurn” rather than “Nyee-ngan” as I thought! (I must have been thinking of “Kacang Nganyin”).

Here’s the nice little café. It has a sign upfront promoting its famous Angus Burger as “How a burger should be – before McDonald’s stuffed them up!”

After that, I found this little town - and here’s my vote for the best town name!

Judging by the way the weather has been behaving today so far (I stressed here; SO FAR) I was expecting a smooth ride all the way to Armidale. It was still a nice breezy afternoon all the way passed Gilgandra and to Coonabarabran when it starts raining again! I really didn’t say anything this time. Bad or worse or anything I just have to ride through. My aim was just to cover as much distance as I could so that the ride for the last day tomorrow will be as short as it can be. The last stretch from Gunnedah to Tamworth was really one of the worst. It was getting dark very rapidly and visibility is poor in the late afternoon rain. I couldn’t stop otherwise it would be too dark to continue later on. I was almost literally using the light from the car in front of me as a guide. I think he must have known so he maintained his speed that was comfortable enough for me to follow (whoever you are; thanks, mate!). I also saw a roo by the roadside for the first time – then I remembered hearing a little clunk just a few miles before that – I took a peek on the front mudguard and true enough; my shoo-roo is gone!

It rained and it rained and it rained all the way into Tamworth where I decided that I could not push any further. I just can’t take it anymore. I was tired, I was drenched and I was hungry. If this had not been the penultimate day, I’m very sure I would have taken an extra day just to recover! I checked in to the first decent motel I saw on the way out of town – it turned out to be the second most expensive stay (after Uluru of course) but a very nice and cosy cottage-like suite…

…with some very nice facilities…

I went to bed that night with mixed feelings - happy that I will finally get to see my family again tomorrow but sad that this will be the end of this very exciting journey...

Day 8: Pimba to Wilcannia (836 km. Total now 5,601 km)

2010-11-21T23:08:00.000+10:00

[The comfort of home seems to have negative impact on my writing ability. Here’s the recount of Day 8, after the long break…]

Well, at least today started with the sun shining brightly. Hope it stays like this for as long as it can. I was all packed and ready to go and as soon as the sun is up, I was already on my bike. My buddy from Coober Pedy was probably still fast asleep but obviously he does not have a distance to cover as much as I have. I went for a fill up and to bid farewell to my nice hosts for last night. “Spuds” (the name of the roadhouse) does look very welcoming during the day.

As I was about to enter Stuart Highway heading to Port Augusta, the temperature was already showing 7°C and the wind was rather moderate but on the bike, it was freezing! I had an extra layer on and even put on my windbreaker underneath my jacket (this weather is for an “all-season” jacket; not this “airflow” one!). I even put a pair of thin cotton gloves on the inside of my leather ones, pulled my fleece neck warmer all the way up to cover my ears. By the time I’m done, I reminded myself of The Marshmallow Man! But hey, I’d rather look uncool than catching a cold! I prayed for good weather and safe path home… and turned both my grip and seat heaters on to “high”.

Apart from the wind and the cold, it was a very nice early morning ride. It reminded me of one of my Sunday morning rides back home. Although the sun was shining, I can still see dark clouds far in the horizon… the way I was heading…

There was no drama all the way to Port Augusta. During one of the fill-up and quick espresso stop in Port Augusta itself, I saw a big group of bikers. The guy at the pump station said there was some charity ride or something. Then I realized, THIS IS Sunday! Wow! How I lost track of time… I also noticed that all other bikers had their winter gears on, unlike me. Being this far South, I should have known and expected colder weather. Another flaw in my plan.

I didn’t think much when I saw the first drop of rain on my visor. Then the second, the third and then they really come… This is another complete misery, I said to myself; cold, wind, rain. Hmmm… what else could go wrong! You know what they say when on a journey? My Dad used to say, “Hang jangan dok tegork (tegur)!” [Translation: Just don’t say; or it will happen!]. As I was crossing from A87 to A32, up in the highlands along the twisty road from Port Augusta to Wilmington, and as the rain gets heavier, my SatNav broke down! It kept shutting itself off all the time. Now, with poor visibility in the rain and in between having to wipe my visor with my hand every so often, I just don’t really know where I was heading. Water must have got into it when I forgot to take it inside with me yesterday when I took shelter in the roadhouse in Pimba. The road shoulder was so narrow that I could not have stopped safely even if I wanted to. The risk of getting swiped off the road by cars or trucks are bigger than the risk of getting lost so I pushed on. Notice there’s no pics in this stretch at all – taking pics was the last thing on my mind obviously!

Anyway, I also noticed that the SatNav started going crazy when I had my heaters on high. It even showed an error message that says “Power Lost”. Maybe because the heaters were using so much of the power from the battery that the electrical system had to cut the power off to the auxiliaries. I could experimentally try to switch off my heaters and see what happen. I had to choose – getting frozen or getting lost. I chose heaters!

I made it to Orroroo safely and suddenly the sun was shining again, birds chirping and the scenery was absolutely stunning. And suddenly I’m in the mood of taking pictures again; so here goes some of the finest selections for the rest of this day…

The Giant Red Gum (eucalyptus camaldulensis) tree in Orroroo with 0.89m circumference is more than 500 years old!

Leaving South Australia...

...and into New South Wales

Simply stunning!

And, this one especially for the guys who have once in their live watched “Mad Max”. Check this out; me with Mad Max’s “Pursuit Special” at the famous Silverton Hotel in Silverton!

Despite the few stopovers, I still tried to push hard to get at least to Cobar so that the last day’s ride will be as short as it can be. I did well but as the sun was about to set, I just made it to Wilcannia. This little highway town was never even in the plan. With population of less than 600, I didn’t expect much from it but at least a nice bed to sleep in. I rode into the first one I saw, checked in and as I was about ready to park my bike I realized that there’s no other vehicle parked around the motel. I asked the lady at the reception and she confirmed that I am their only guest that night! By then it was too late to go anywhere else. And she also told me there are no shops or restaurants in town that would still be opened. All I had that day was half a plate of chips before noon.

The deserted parking...

Quick unpack, quick shower, quick Maggi Mee dinner and ready for tomorrow…

Day 7: Coober Pedy to Pimba (368 km! Total now 4,766 km)

2010-11-06T09:03:00.000+10:00

This has really got to be the worst day so far!

Anyway, it started well. I woke up in my dungeon and found out that I’m still alive. Some of the neighbours were already gone – they must have been on a tour package with an early departure. I quickly get ready (no, not because I’m still afraid of the place – it does look much better in daylight) to hit the road before the weather turns bad again.

But first thing I must do before that; you just have to buy opal when you’re here at Coober Pedy. With the limited time I have, I can’t afford to shop around so I just went to the nearest opal place; the one in the motel.

The place looks authentic, the price seems reasonable (not that I’m an opal expert!), with a wide range of choice and the guy there was very helpful so I ended up; as I promised myself, got my wife the best opal I could afford – a teardrop shaped solid pink opal found in Coober Pedy itself. Now, this would be a good 15^th year wedding anniversary present, I hope. I also got my daughter a necklace.

This is the view of the town during day time – now it doesn’t look so scary anymore, does it.

This is a picture I have been aiming to take since the day before but never quite had a good opportunity or suitable place to stop. But finally I got it!

The journey was all fine except for slightly cold temperature (just around 11°C but the wind chill factor being on an exposed vehicle makes it much colder!), a bit of wind and a slight drizzle every now and then. I was hoping to get through this stretch nicely but boy; was I wrong! As soon as I passed Glendambo, it really pours and the crosswind (as I checked later) was up to 30 km/h with up to 60km/h gusts! It seems like every time I said it was the worst; then a much worse one will come! But this has got to be the lowest point so far – close to 2 hours of riding at a side inclined angle in the heavy rain with very poor visibility with nowhere to stop! I had both my grips and seat heaters on max but still my hands are numb. I pray that my tyres will keep their grip well on the road and oncoming traffic will see me and keep well on their side of the lane. I can’t help being reminded of Ezran’s words on how ludicrous he thinks this idea was – and at this precise moment, I had to agree; this is indeed ludicrous!

[By the way, obviously I do not have any pictures for this, unlike any other events during the trip. How could I? I couldn't even stop. And even if I were to stop; my hands would be too frozen to open up the bag to get my camera. I didn't even record the view of the road with the camera mounted on my windshield as I couldn't switch it on. Both my hands were tight on the handlebar - hanging for my life! So, just bear with my stories only here...]

After what seems like forever I finally approached a roadhouse in a small town called Pimba. I’m glad I could even stop the bike properly and not fall on my side as my legs could not feel anything at all by then. I entered the roadhouse dripping wet but was warmly welcomed by the owner and a few other customers (all either in caravans or trucks) taking shelter there. I had the best hot chocolate in the world while watching the rain still going on strong out there…

I have done less than 400 km today and way behind my daily target. It was a very uncomfortable two hours of wait; trying to decide to just abandon everything and put up there for the night (luckily they have rooms at the roadhouse) or wait until the weather gets better then rush for the next destination. At the same time you can’t help building certain camaraderie with others taking shelter there but the only sad thing is that, they all come and go but I just sat there waiting and hoping…

A very nice German couple on their holiday commented on my nice bike and the husband told me he has a similar R1150RT back home and it has always been his dream to ride around Australia like what I’m doing now on one of his holidays. I smiled as I said, “But not in this weather, I’m sure…”. He chuckled and replied, “Ya! That’s why we have the motorhome!”. They left shortly after, wishing me good luck for the rest of my journey.

I’m thankful for my great home base support who checked the weather here and in my further destinations, availability of accommodation, travel distances, time left etc. and came to conclusion that I need to put up there for the night, which I gladly agreed. There was also another guy on a Vulcan who’s on his way back to Coober Pedy. When he heard of my decision, he decided to stay as well.

I quickly checked myself into one of the room and got busy drying all my clothing using the little portable heater in the room. It didn’t turn out that bad after all but I was really hoping that tomorrow will be very much better than this!

Day 6: Uluru (Yulara) to Coober Pedy (786 km. Total now 4,398 km)

2010-11-05T00:04:00.002+10:00

From this point onwards; it's all just about getting home... Well, not to say that I'm no longer seeking for adventure but it felt that I have been to where I want to be and have achieved what I am here to achieve so I was just aiming for a smooth and enjoyable ride home... I hope...

There's something funny, well, more like embarrassing to me about this pic. This is Mt. Connor and this pic was taken at the Mt. Connor Lookout along the Lasseter Highway between Erldunda and Yulara on my return journey. On my way to Uluru the day before, I had probably missed the sign that tells me that this is Mt. Connor and I had mistakenly thought this is the Red Centre (Ayers Rock). How excited I was that I have reached my destination, punched my hand in the air triumphantly and only a moment later began to notice that the shape of the mountain is not quite the same as Ayers Rock I had remembered all along. I quickly came to realization when I saw that according to my SatNav, I am still a long way away from Ayers Rock! It's a good thing no one was around at that time... Haha!

The journey to Erldunda felt shorter this time and I stopped again for another fill up, preparing for the long stretch after that. I did my routine check around the bike to find if anything is amiss and all the panniers, top box and the tied-on items are properly secured. Then I noticed something odd about my front brake caliper. It looks like something; like a cover, was missing. I took this pic and send it to my service guy in Brisbane. I hope nothing was wrong.

As I finished my drink and was about to go fill up, two guys on GS (BMW R1200GS - all terrain bike) rode into the service station. They saw me and waved so I thought I'd go over and say hi to them. They are two Hungarians who are here for a holiday. They rented the bikes (no wonder they look brand new!) and off for a ride from Melbourne to Darwin with a stop over in Uluru. Now, THAT's the kind of holiday for me! I also took the opportunity to compare their brake calipers with mine and fortunately, they look just the same! So, nothing to worry about. Here's the pic of me with one of them. The other guy doesn't seem to speak English well, so he had to be the photographer!

This is the sign as I left Northern Territory and enters South Australia. Hey, I've covered three states already so far!

Remember I said I was hoping for a smooth and enjoyable ride? This is where the first of the series of tests begins. Test one: Wind! With the flat terrain and virtually nothing on either side of the road to block the wind on this stretch, you are so exposed. The combined weight between the bike, me and the things I carry could have easily been close to 400 kg but we were swept easily by the wind and it was a tough job trying to maintain the bike on course. There's no point stopping either as rest areas along this stretch are all just an empty space with nowhere to hide! I remember stopping at one rest area and came across this couple in their motorhome enjoying their hot beverages inside the warmth and comfort of their motorhome. I don't suppose knocking on their door asking for a cup of hot coffee would be a good idea so I just ride on for the next two hours in the strong wind and the fast dropping temperature (this reminds me more like Scotland in autumn!)... Talking about test; imagine riding on 5th gear (on a six-gear bike) at 80 km/h for 2 hours straight, inclined to about 10 degrees! Both tyres were terribly worn out on the right edges!

It started getting dark as I approached Coober Pedy. I had listed this as one of the places to visit and spend at least a night there because I heard so much of it on (1) the opal centre of Australia and (2) the underground living of the people there - apparently the only way to get away from the scorching heat of the area is to build everything underground - how fascinating, I thought.

This was my first view as I entered the town. It was about dusk but darker due to the rain clouds. It was something about the town that gave me an uneasy feeling. If you're old enough to have watched Twilight Zone; you know what I mean. The whole town has that Twilight Zone feeling about it. As if something is not quite right or something terribly wrong is about to happen but I'm the only one who doesn't know about it... It's an unexplainable eerie and creepy feeling...

I checked in myself at an underground motel and chose the cheapest room they have - single dorm with communal bathroom and toilet. It's just one night; I thought.

This is the view going down to my room. Now, imagine, having seen the Twilight Zone town, by now it's getting dark and then were told to go down here 6.5 meter underground to a dungeon-like place to spend the night. I would have really hesitated if not for the many other younger international tourists I saw, just going about happily in their own little groups.I quickly unload my stuffs then went out looking for something to eat. It wasn't that scary after all once you get used to it, really, I was convincing myself...

This is the room. No window, no power outlet and no night light! I thought it would be pitch dark once I turned out the light but there were nice little crevices in the wall that allows the corridor light to shine in. I also noticed there's a gap between the laminated-wood wall and the ceiling which means you can hear every word from your neighbours! On the far end of the corridor there are three very chatty elderly Aussie ladies and a man who keep chatting throughout the night. Next to me were 2 young European ladies with a guy and they were giggling away too and in between them were two young Japanese ladies who were "whispering" and must be complaining about the other two groups. It was tough trying to get to sleep in such a merry neighbourhood but I think I must have finally dozed off at some point... and this time, it would be them complaining! Haha... zzzzzzzzzzzzz....!!!!

I dreamt that night that I dug out the biggest and rarest opal in the whole area and became the envy of all!

Day 6: Heading home...

2010-10-29T08:58:00.003+10:00

I managed to wake up early this morning despite not sleeping well last night. It was raining but nothing was going to stop me from witnessing sunrise at Uluru today. Arrived there just in time for the first break of light and it was beautiful. There were buses and buses of tourists there as well but I don't seem to notice them. Occasionally you would hear comments from them like, "Huh? Is this all?", "...and we're here for an hour for THIS?" and "It looks just the same to me...". Well, I pity them. They were not here because they wanted to be here - it so happens to be in their tour itinerary. I bet most of them would rather be in bed or enjoying the early morning buffet at the resort. For me, you have to be here for a reason to be able to appreciate it. But still, I can't understand why they are not able to appreciate something this majestic. Glory be to God who created all this and all the rest of us on this earth...

I took a series of shots with the camera on my tripod and it was fascinating watching the colour changes by the minute and then how the sky in the background gets brighter and brighter slowly revealing many other beautiful parts of the surrounding. I can't help making full use of the time pondering over the whole journey that took me there. It was not a particularly good year for me. First it was something about work, then my Dad passed away. This trip was in a way to run from it all and at the same time to help me look at things from a different perspective. Sometimes you have to be out to be able to look in and properly see what you have never seen before. It was also meant to pause from the normal rat race routine and put myself in a totally different situation and reflect on everything.

Last night I was busy rearranging my itinerary with the help of my dedicated "home base support". I was planning to join a 3-hour walking tour around the base of Uluru today at 8:00 am. But I also don't want to stay here another night (it costs me $235 for a room last night! Any cheaper options, you'd say... now, that's a story for later...) but I don't think I can reach Coober Pedy by tonight. My wife finally managed to get me a cabin in Erldunda Roadhouse. But that also means, I would have to rush back quickly to hotel now, check out, leave my stuffs at the concierge, no time for breakfast, no time for anything else and quickly return back here for the tour. And after 3 hours wandering around in the desert, I would have to ride to Erldunda at noon!

But hang on... why did I keep doing that? Rush, rush, rush trying to achieve what I want to achieve? So what if I missed the tour. So what if I didn't get to walk around the base of the rock. I just realized; it was probably not about the rock after all... I did the journey. I get to ride my bike for as much as I ever wanted. I have seen interesting stuffs along the way. I arrived here safely and I proved to myself that I can do it. Perhaps; it was not about the rock after all. Perhaps I found what I was looking for all along... Yes, it then struck upon me. I did. I found what I was looking for! The treasure that I was looking for (for those who have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho) was where I left it 6 days ago. What matters the most to me, is waiting for me at home, right now!

I quickly gather all my things (hey, but first a few quick self-portrait shots now that all the tourists are gone!) and head straight to my bike. Forget the tour. I found what I was looking for and I'm going home for it now...! Some might say that you don't have to ride your bike alone like an idiot for days in the sun and the rain and the thunderstorm to figure that out... well, good for you then. Maybe it took me the whole journey to figure it out (one guy said, "If you want to find yourself, pegi umrah lah... buat apa nak pegi tengok batu!"). Maybe the rock was only the source that triggers the inspiration. But think about this; and maybe also, the fact that what I had to put myself through and endure for the last 6 days have given me a totally new perspective of everything... The time I spent reflecting, and later on reflecting some more on my previous reflections and all the solitary time I have with only me and my bike have given me the opportunity I never had to think things through, again and again. It was a soul-searching journey indeed. Hence, you will never see what I see and you will never have what I have found...

The "Red Centre" is my heart.

It's time to ride home to what matters the most to me... my family...!

Day 5: Alice Springs to Uluru (536.8 km. Total now 3,613 km)

2010-10-28T21:56:00.361+10:00

Last night was obviously not one of the most comfortable night. While I lay there awake in the middle of the night, I recalled that the last time I went camping was probably more than 7 years ago! Perhaps I'm too old for this... Oh how I miss the comfort of a motel room or a cabin...

Anyway, here's the view of our camp site. Not so much of wilderness to be bragged about but at least a certain level on inconvenience that demands a lot of effort to tolerate at this age. The bike is parked just next to the tent so that we can keep a close watch on one another...

Anyway, I woke up extra early this morning, all excited for the big day. If all goes well, we should reach Uluru by this afternoon!

First thing I noticed was that my shoo-roo was actually broken. No wonder the emu was just standing there staring at me the other day! Lucky I brought a spare...

We hit the road while the camping site was still quiet. It was a brilliant weather today and the road around Northern Territory was as usual, straight, long and virtually flat with scenery on either side of the road that can be exactly the same for miles after miles after miles. During times like this I'm so glad for having my auto-cruise function (yes, for those doesn't know, this bike does have an auto-cruise function like the one on cars. Cool eh?). First stop was at a roadhouse in Stuarts Well. Even after our 200 km ride we still arrive there very early in the morning and I was the only customer. I thought I'd order breakfast since we still have quite a long way to go that day. I went for my customary eggs-on-toasts and when the guy asked me about drink, I confidently requested for a large skinny flat white. He stared at me blankly, picked up a coffee mug, hand it over to me and gestured with the mug to a corner in the bar where I now see a big hot water pot, with a big jar of instant coffee, sugar and stuff and he said, "Go make yourself mate!". Lessons learnt; at a roadhouse, ask first what kind of coffee they have!

I also found out that they have quite an attraction there; "Dinky the singing Dingo" whom I judged from reading the many newspaper clips on the wall; is quite famous! I did ask the guy where Dinky is and he said, at this hour, he'd still be in his bed. Well, I guess I'd just have to take their words for it. (I did check out on YouTube later and guess what; there were actually quite a number of videos of Dinky "singing"!). But I still don't think I should get myself one of the t-shirts though...

When I was just about to leave, Dinky just woke up so I did get to say hi to the star in person...

This picture was taken at the Erldunda Roadhouse later that morning.Notice the sign? But they don't mind actually...

It was still another about 250 km to reach Uluru from there so we made our way quickly. This is one of the pic of a nice spot I found on the way there. There were quite a few of these called, "The Red Centre Way"

And after a ride that seems to be forever, it finally appears in the far distant; "The Red Centre" in its glory.

Wow! It was exactly the way I had imagine. It was quite an emotional moment. After months of planning and thousand of kms of riding, finally we made it here! I found a spot (there's hardly anyone else there at this hour) and started getting busy taking pictures of the bike, myself, myself with the bike and sending pics to FB and other BlackBerry friends announcing my arrival there. Yup, that's it... WE MADE IT!!! After that we made a quick "victory lap" around the 10 km track around the rock and I couldn't help but to congratulate the bike for taking me there with no problem whatsoever (touch wood for now!).

After bringing myself back to reality again, I realized that I had to start looking for a place to stay for the night (2 nights as per my original plan). I rode down to Yulara and true as what I have read before, it is a resort especially and exclusively created to serve the visitors of Uluru (Ayers Rock). And you can guess what people would do with "monopoly" market? Yes, charge them like crazy! It was quite a shocker for me because on my way there, I hardly bumped into any tourists at all but over here, they were everywhere; buses and buses of them and I also noticed that 90% of them are international tourists.

I had a quick lunch at the tourists centre then went searching for accommodation. According to the lady at the info counter, all the cabins in the caravan park were fully booked. The only ones available are dormitory and single rooms in the resort. The 40-people sharing dorm is $35 a night, 4-sharing is $45 a night and the single room is $235 a night! I thought to myself, I'm not going to succumb to this extortion so I book myself in for a 4-sharing dorm room. I went to the "resort", checked in and were given the key to my shared room. As I stepped into the room, the other occupants were not there but I can guess they are buddies. The only bed left is one of the upper bunk bed. The room was probably not more than 8x10 ft wide, no aircond, packed with the stuffs from the current occupants and their clothes, wet towels and everything else were hanged all over the place! It was damp and dark and.... I don't think I can survive one night in there! They are probably just some 20 year olds, so this 40 year old tough and rugged biker would not have a problem handling them but I just can't take it!!! I'd probably handle it better and blend in well some 20 years ago but not anymore...

Another quick call to home base for advice and same advice like the night before; if you're not comfortable, just get out of it! Stop being stingy! Well, what to do... went back to the reception, asked for an upgrade, paid the $235 bucks and decided to book for only one night and see how it goes later. It was probably one of the best decision I made so far during the trip. I moved my stuffs from the dorm room to my single room so quick, I even forgotten to take a picture of it! But anyway, now finally I can rest easy, unpack my things in my comfortable room, went back out again to take pictures of Uluru at sunset. Came back later, had a nice quick dinner then had a very nice and more importantly, undisturbed sleep...

Sunset in Uluru. If I can wake up early tomorrow... sunrise in Uluru...!

Tips of the day: If you go there, never forget to slap on some generous amount of insect repellent. The flies there, all hundreds and hundreds of them, can be really annnoying!

Day 4: Mount Isa to Alice Springs (1,171 km. Total now 3,076 km)

2010-10-28T21:41:00.086+10:00

This day has to be one of the earliest start since I'm planning to break the 1,000 km barrier. Why 1,000 km? I don't know. It's just that at one time the number seems impossible, to me at least, so now I'm just going to prove that it can be done. In comparison to Malaysia; you would have to travel from KL to the North all the way to Chumphon, Thailand (2/3 the distance to Bangkok!) to do a one-thousand km journey. In Down Under, you could still be in the same state!

Anyway, I did leave the caravan park before anyone was up and probably when the whole of Mount Isa was still sleeping. I came across a few cars heading out of town to the mines but that was about it. Luckily the weather was brilliant and as I entered Barkly Highway I came across this sign. This has to be one of the customary pic for any Oz tour! Where else would you have to rely on one road sign to cater for the next 190 km!

During my refueling stop in Camooweal (according to my plan, this should be the last gas station between here and Tennant Creek which is 471 km away!) I met these two surfer dudes, Niels from Holland and James from England in their "Sydney-to-Sydney" tour! I overtook their car earlier and they caught up with me later at the gas station. I find their story fascinating: They met in a surfing school in Sydney 8 months ago then decided that they both have the same keen interest in surfing, travelling and exploring so they decided to tour Australia. Got themselves a car, packed everything they own into it, and off they go! They have been everywhere and have done every kind of work including pineapple farming, work on freight barges, driving bus; you name it! They have just left a place called Currumba (?) where they last work in the pineapple farm - I couldn't even find the place in the map! Now they are on the way to Darwin - to find a job, then surf some more.

I started taking notes of their story and told them about my blog. Then we all went back onto Barkly Highway together and later will go our separate ways as we changed onto Stuart Highway.

Wherever you are guys; take care and have fun!!! Hope we meet again one day...

After that it was a long ride for me to Tennant Creek. What was in the beginning a good weather turned cloudy after the Barkly Homestead (my research was not right, or was probably outdated - there ARE at least three more gas stations along this route!) and I can see lightning in the far horizon. It was really not much of a choice - ride in the rain or what? Stay out there in the field and become a lightning target? It rained and it rained hard all the way to Tennant Creek. It was a tough ride (which I thought would have been the toughest part of this whole journey) and I arrived totally drenched in Tennant Creek.

As I entered the Red Rooster at the Rest Area, I thought, oh no, they must be having a leak in their roof. Newspapers were spread everywhere so I tip-toed in so as not to make a mess of everything. Then I realized, hey, this is actually their floor design! How embarrassing... Maybe I've just never been to a Red Rooster before...

It was a quick lunch then hit the road again. Oh but, I also just found out that when I used my "octane booster" at Barkly Homestead for the first time just now, I only used half a bottle and kept the remaining half bottle in the side pannier. What I found out when I reached Tennant Creek was that the top was probably not meant for safekeeping - the octane booster spilt all over the content of the pannier! Now, I'm wet and smell of gasoline!!! This couldn't be any worse, I thought, and I hope...

I also bumped into two bikers on Triumph tourers and seeing that they came from the opposite way, I thought of striking a conversation asking about the weather where they come from. Turned out they weren't that friendly (ask one; answer one!) so I went off my way. One thing I start noticing here also that (I apologize upfront as I don't really know how to make this sounds politically correct, but) there are a large number of native people wandering aimlessly around town mostly middle aged to old. They seemed "lost" in their own world. I just get this uneasy feeling over all this and at the same time glad that I'm not spending the night here.

On the road, I started to come across bikers, mostly in pairs or more and on rare occasions, solo riders like me. But think again if you think I'm crazy; twice I came across guys on bicycles!!! Now; THAT's crazy!

This pic is me at the Devils Marbles near Wauchope. Occasionally my bike does help take a picture of me... :-)

It was still a long ride away to destination; Alice Springs. I stopped for refueling in Wycliffe Well where they supposedly had UFO sightings there, many years ago.

Here are the "Aliens". I wonder, what people would do just to sell gas! But I know I did and I even took a picture of it - so it DOES work!

Yeay! I saved a bundle as compared to sleeping in motels) and went to find a spot. The guy said, "...just take any spot!". I wonder why then I noticed, in the park which could have fit at least 30-40 caravans, with maybe another 20 cabins and plenty of space for tents - I was the ONLY person there! Then I also noticed few other things; a few suspicious characters wandering around outside the fence and my phone doesn't have coverage! I went back to the "reception" and asked the guy about phone and he pointed me to a phone booth outside the bar. Now, it doesn't accept coins or credit card so I had to buy a phone card. And the booth is stenched with stale urine I had to cup my nose to talk! I called home for advice and the advice was, RUN!!! It was getting dark and I had very little time to react. I went back to the reception and told the guy I needed to stay at a place with mobile phone reception. He was kind enough to let me go and even returned my $12! I fled out as fast as I could. Now, I did say I want to camp out for the night but definitely not out here. I can almost hear the dingoes howling at night and I'll be the only person in the whole camp site in the outback! Hey, I am adventurous but I want to write about my experience, not to be written about in the local newspaper [Newsflash: The remains of a lone traveller found in a deserted campsite].

I covered the remaining distance to Alice with the sun setting down fast. Imagine the feeling as I saw my shadow to my left getting longer and longer and I kept hearing the advice - don't travel in the dark in the Outback. It's dangerous! Yes, but so does staying in a deserted camp site out in the nowhere! It was a race against the setting sun. I felt like Fiona!

At the first sight of street lights of Alice Springs I breath a relief. Have I turned soft? I would have craved for the kind of adventure just now many years back but now I longed for the shelter of a city? Just to prove a point; I picked a caravan park and asked for a tent site. Here I am, camping in the "wild", in my little tent. It was a quick pizza dinner then off to bed, actually foam mat (sponsored by Ezran!)

It took a while to go to sleep. But at least I achieve two things today - ride for 1,000 km and sleep in the tent! I'm proud of myself and dreamt of the next big day...

Day 3: Mt. Isa (Rest Day – 18 km. Total now 1,904 km)

2010-10-26T21:54:00.003+10:00

I need a rest and the bike needs the rest too… Here it is, resting in front of the cabin. Notice the outhouse? (The little shed on the right) This would have failed my family’s mandatory requirement of a place to stay during their holiday! It was alright for me. It’s clean and it’s cheap... :-)

Anyway, one thing I didn’t mention in yesterday’s posting; the first downside (and hopefully the only one) so far. While travelling between Kynuna and Cloncurry, as you can imagine is another long and lonely stretch, there was hardly anyone else on the road. With the monotonous scenery for miles and miles sometimes you couldn’t even tell whether you are moving or not. I must have speed up a bit and as it so happens, out of nowhere just on the other side of a crest popped out a police trooper!!! Within a split second his siren was blaring and he made a U-turn – I knew this was going to be the lowest point of my trip… I received a "souvenir" from the kind police officer of Cloncurry. It’s a severe dent to my budget! Come to think of all the money I tried to save and here I did such a stupid thing and cost me money for nothing! I was so depressed the whole journey, it took me a while to recover. I just sat for a long time by the roadside in front of a grocery store in Cloncurry pondering on what had happened. This is NOT one of those moments I was hoping for…

Anyway, I had to accept what I deserved. You guys can help you know – now, start clicking all those ads on this blog and help me raise fund to pay the traffic ticket! Pleeaaasseeee….!!!

I decided to count my blessings and try to look on the positive side. Isn’t it good that it happened earlier on in the trip that it becomes a reminder for me not to ride too fast for the rest of the journey? I also decided not to let any mishap spoil the spirit of this journey. I move on… Sigh… it’s just that riding with the auto cruise on in this kind of road is so boring it would even affect my concentration. Well rules are rules… And let that be a very valuable lesson to you all too… Speeding is dangerous – to your life and your pocket!

Today I decided to explore Mount Isa (I have to spell in full now; if not some people thought I was referring to Mat Isa!). Having surveyed the brochures and internet, I chose to go to the “Outback at Isa” complex. I read that in Bill Bryson’s book Down Under.

They have this Underground Mine Tour in a real mine which I’m sure would be very cool. Everywhere I read their advert, it says, “BOOKING ESSENTIAL”. So I called them up early in the morning hoping to be able to get a place in today’s tour and to my surprise, the lady said, “Sorry, we might not have the tour today as there has been no booking”. Apparently, I was the only one! I still insists that she put my name down and I said I will come around the time of the tour in case some tourists came along (for once I was looking forward to bump into one of those bus load full of Japanese tourists!). I arrive there earlier than time hoping to be able to browse through the complex while waiting for my tour. To my surprise again; I was the only visitor there! The lady explained that this is their quiet season – I know, but I never expected it to be THIS quiet. Anyway, in the spirit of don’t-worry-be-happy, I took the “Isa Experience Gallery”, “Outback Park” and “Riversleigh Fossil Centre”. To my nice surprise this time, it was good! I learnt a lot about the history of the town and the mining process. And the Outback Park is a little park with collection of all the floras you can find in the outback – all in one place. There was this lizard too who spooked me but I don’t think it was part of the exhibits. And oh those annoying flies… they are everywhere!!! Plenty of pics below.

The highlight of my visit was when I got a special personal tour (what do you expect; I was probably the only visitor for the day!) by the resident palaeontologist Dr. John Scanlon around his lab. Hey, this is a real deal palaeontologist okay; not like Ross Geller! And I get to touch a 26 million year old fossil! How cool is that!!!

There are so many stories to tell about the visit but I guess I would have to tell it in person later. By the way, do you know that there were 52 nationalities among the thousands of miners back during the WW2 period? Each of them had their own football team; except for Australia! There once lived carnivorous kangaroos 2 meters tall! A day’s gathering of fossil-containing rocks takes a year to analyse. Riversleigh’s water is super-saturated lime and that’s why the animals were properly fossilized. Ok, stop; now I’m beginning to sound like Ross!

Next stop is the City Lookout. It was beautiful but in the 38°C temperature, it was a bit unbearable. I decided to come back at dusk as recommended by the tourist brochure.

Went back, had a good nap, then went out again. Yes, it is more bearable now… I decided to switch off my SatNav as I already learnt the street within a day. I noticed the multi-ethnicity of the population just like the video I saw. I find it fascinating that a place out in the nowhere is like a mini world of its own. And it was so easy to find the Chinese Takeaway and the Indian Restaurant. And the people were very friendly too. Here’s the little girl at the caravan park who stopped by on her bicycle to have a chat with me. When I ask her, shouldn’t she be talking to strangers, she said, “Oh yes, my mum told me not to stop and chat with people…”, then she went off.

Below is the pic from the visit to the Lookout at dusk. Again, a Canon EOS-550D would probably have captured it better…

And not forgetting, here’s a picture of a road train!

So, that’s it for today. I’m excited for the big day tomorrow.

Day 2: Blackall to Mt. Isa (923 km. Total now 1,886 km)

2010-10-25T22:44:00.000+10:00

Simply put; Day 2 makes Day 1 look like a ride to the neighbourhood grocery store!!!

A good start this morning. Weather was a bit chilly but the storm has cleared up and the sky looks clear. I was hoping it stays that way today. Anyway, I shouldn’t complain – it’s a Monday morning and I don’t have to go to work! While packing, I realized most of the stuffs I brought were untouched. Well, it’s only Day 2 and most of it are “just in case” stuffs anyway. My back started to ache a bit but nothing that a painkiller can’t fix. A group of guys in the next cabin were also packing up their 4WD and getting ready to depart. A customary “G’day” and “Hi, howya doin, mate” was all I can manage at this point.

First stop, I decided to check out some local historical place. Visited the “Black Stump”. Long story but basically this was the original place used by the surveyors in 1887 to locate their theodolite in mapping of Australia. At that time, anything to the west of the stump is known as “beyond the stump”. Fascinating story; for a surveyor, I think… At 5:30 am, I was obviously the only visitor around…

Then when I was about to make a head start I realized that the bike needs a fill up. And I also found out that the gas station in town is not open until 7:00 am! [Note to self: Fill up in the evening next time]. I asked an elderly gentleman who’s one of the town council cleaning crew (you got to admire these guys who started working while everyone is still in bed) and he told me there’s a BP station as I come into town yesterday and it’s already opened. He was right. I also managed to get myself the routine double espresso. For whatever reason, I decided to just sit there on a rock in front of the gas station and decided take it easy. It was my second “moment” in this trip. Yes, I’m going to do more pondering and less rushing. I’ll try…

Then off heading Northwest towards Barcaldine. The road was just as bumpy but not as bad as the Roma-Mitchell stretch. I stopped counting dead kangaroos though – it’s too depressing. The scenery is just all the same except this part the tarmac is red. I shot a video of it from the mounted camera. Perhaps one day when I’m bored, I can just watch it and pretend… Anyway, I still don’t see any life roos so I assumed that my shoo-roo is working. But there was this emu who just stood there by the road side watching me curiously. I thought the shoo-roo works for all animals? [Note to self: Look for a shoo-emu?]. At one time I also had to swerve to avoid a hawk who was just standing (do birds stand?) on a roo carcass. He was just staring at me in a very intimidating way. It was his neighbourhood, so I had to show some respect…

Arrived Barcaldine still a bit too early, even on a Monday morning. Decided to visit their “Tree of Knowledge”. See what it’s all about. I stopped for a quick chat with an elderly couple who was setting up their stall for the pink ribbon charity then head off to Longreach. I noticed that the stretch in this part is getting longer and longer in between towns. I started a new habit of customary wave to passing highway buddies. I was wondering before why people do that; now I realized that it was so lonely, you’d be happy to see another fellow travellers passing by! I also did a survey; you will most likely get a wave back from people in caravan, closely followed by road trains drivers. You get less percentage of wave back from locals especially those in cars. I will do some more analysis later. I also noticed that all the towns here call themselves “Gateway to the Outback”. I was wondering how many gateways are there… Then it made sense to me. The towns are the gateways to the Outback on either sides of the road! I think…

I stumbled upon this funny place The Bottle House just between Barcaldine and Longreach. It has old car rims hung all over its fence! Hundreds of them! Weird. A must-stop for car rims fans! I decided against actually visiting inside the house for fear it could be even weirder! By the way, every now and then I get a “where are you now?” message. Someone at home is missing me, I know… :-)

The thing about riding a bike is that I couldn’t do anything else but ride. I couldn’t even eat or drink while riding. I had to memorize all my ideas and at the next stopping opportunity wrote them down in my little notebook. Maybe a Bluetooth voice recorder would be handy next time… At stops, this is typical. A working toilet (they are surprisingly clean – for a Malaysian like me - and even have toilet paper!). You would have to use a foot pump to flush. Maybe I should get a picture of it next time.

Another wonder of the Outback are the road trains. [Note to self: Get a pic. Maybe not all have seen a road train before]. Some are 3 trucks long and up to 50 meters! After a while you’d have a love/hate relationship with them. You’d hate them when they come towards you (they would shake the whole bike!) but after a while not seeing them, you kinda miss their presence. There’s only one thing worse than road train – road train carrying livestock! The smell!!! I couldn’t roll up my window though…

Hey, I had more to write than yesterday! Read on…

Here’s a pic at the Qantas Museum in Longreach. Nice patch work, huh? I read first that the birthplace of Qantas is Longreach, but then when I arrived in Winton, they also said they are the birthplace of Qantas. Need to check which one is correct.

In Winton, I decided to crank up the adventure a bit. I took a detour to the Australia Age of Dinosaurs Fossil Preparation Facility. Sounded great but it is what it is; a warehouse full of fossils. The best part was that it’s 11 km into the outback. See pics below. I even recorded a video as I climbed down the steep gravel path from the mountain top. Not easy on an RT! Now, THIS is Outback!

The journey to Cloncurry was really torturous. This would really define “ludicrous”. This is the part I meant in my opening statement. Even I am beginning to think that I’m crazy to make myself go through this. Long lonely stretch and the temperature is now up to 38°C! At every stop, even the tiniest shade is a blessing!

But I still have time to take out my tripod to capture my biker look…

One last event for the day was a quick stop for lunch at a roadhouse in Kynuna. It was attended by an elderly couple and their dog. They were very friendly. The dog was sleeping, thank god.

Finally made it to Mt. Isa just before dark. AND, another cabin night. Oh, come on; I deserve it after a long ride like this. The tent and the foam mat can wait. Besides, I’m already one day ahead of my plan. Tomorrow I’m staying here and will be touring the town. For some reason, the town’s tagline is “You’re not a real Aussie ‘till you’ve been to Isa”. I guess I’ll have to find out tomorrow why they say that…

Day 1: Brisbane to Blackall (963 km)

2010-10-24T19:38:00.004+10:00

There; I made it! I guess it was just about making that first move. Once I was on the road, all the worries and nervousness just got swept away by the wind and I was able to enjoy every moment of the ride today...

Make this the "before" picture. We'll compare it to the "after" picture when I get back!

It started early this morning as planned. By 5:15 am, I already had all my gears loaded onto the bike. I had only one fan bidding me farewell as all the others were still in bed. It was an emotional moment nonetheless. As I hugged and kissed my wife goodbye, she whispered to me, "I hope you will find what you're looking for...". Yes, perhaps that is what this trip is all about - searching for myself. I don't mean to sound too philosophical or melodramatic about it all but one whole day on a bike, all by yourself with plenty of time to reflect on all sorts of things tends to make you a bit softy inside somehow.

Anyway, I'm refraining myself from writing too much on the first day for fear of getting the "journal" too long in the beginning and thinning towards the end. But all the way I had so many ideas and thoughts to write about, I think I wouldn't be sleeping tonight if I were to write them all!

It went exceptionally well in the morning. As I got onto the Ipswich Highway there were already few wrong setups that I spotted but hey, we can only plan every detail of the trip but we can't help missing a thing of two. First I noticed that the duffel bag that I strapped on the back seat blocked part of the view in my rear mirror. This means that I would have wider blind spot than usual. Anyway, that just need a bit of adjusting myself to the condition. Next, I realized that the camera mount that I fixed on the windshield is vibrating badly. I really should have attached it to the body of the bike but that's something I would have to figure out later. The other problem was when I wanted to switch on the camera on the move. I was struggling to push the tiny button while wearing my riding glove! I tried once taking off the glove while riding just to push the button then putting it on again but decided that it was too unsafe as it took my focus from the road. Looks like the camera mount could be the first redundant gadget on this trip after all...

I had such a nice ride I didn't realize that by the time I reach Dulacca (about 100 km from Roma) it was only 9:20 in the morning! I way underestimated my travelling time. I have not even had any breakfast yet but I feel like I can go another 200k easily! Had a short break eating dates (good energy source - I learnt that the hard way while mountain climbing once) then head off to Roma.

Note: Resting under this tree was one of the "moment" during this trip so far

As I approached Roma I noticed that the "Km to go..." was reducing quite rapidly. My plan was to fill up at Roma. I had always find that the bike can go minimum 500-550 km without filling but this time, it went down to 0 only after travelling for 450 km! It must be the weight of all those gears. I was almost literally holding my breath as I rode the last 16 km on "0". I was praying that when the manual says the bike has a 60km worth of tank capacity of reserve, it really has it. I made it to Roma finally and filled the tank to the brim!

One of the few things I was really glad I had was the windshield on the bike and the full face helmet I wore. That route is really a bug fest. By the time I got there, if I had not had the windshield or wear and open face helmet, I would have been full with all the exotic outback bugs! Thousands of them all splattered their guts on me. And am I glad also that I brought the handy "optical wet wipes"!.

The stretch from Roma to Mitchell was absolutely beautiful. In my my trial run back in April, I passed through there near dusk. Now in daylight and when the rain was forming in the horizon, it was such a brilliant scene. It felt like one of Monet's painting actually came to life... and I was right in it! I did stop and tried to capture the scenery but my cheapo camera didn't do justice to the scene (perhaps it is now justified to get the Canon EOS 550D after all, wink..wink..)

By the time I got to Mitchell again I found out I'm way ahead of time (how I wish those projects I worked on were like this!). I had to make an executive decision there and then. By the way, the storm was faithfully following me from behind. So, what's it gonna be; put it up in Mitchell as per plan (it was still noon at that time!) or try to outrun the storm to my next destination. I did call my "home office weather station reporting unit" seeking information but as it turns out, the "support team" was busy attending a knitting and craft convention! I decided to push on...

But I forgot; up till Mitchell, I was moving westward and so is the storm. After Mitchell, I was heading north and so the storm caught up with me in no time! I arrived in Blackall [edited] drenched. Found the caravan park just in time before another downpour and as I enquired about a camping spot, the owner of the park said, "Mate, a thunderstorm is heading this way. I don't think you gonna make it in your tent!". So, here it is; now I'm sitting comfortably in my (as luck turns out; the last one available) cabin and a very strong wind is forming outside. I guess, I do get to enjoy the luxury of writing like at home while on the road. I wonder how it's like writing from inside a tent... Oh, and for one of my sponsor, no mention yet as I did not get to use his sponsored foam mat! [edited: Shah, the answer is; cabin night!] hmmm...

All in all, it was a great day today. It was time to reflect and ponder, and even to come up with few great ideas. Over the mileage I put today, I have thought of a design patent, construct half a poem and thought of a very good comeback that I should have come up with on one previous occasion. I also spotted 26 roos who ended up as roadkill along the way... poor souls. One did try to cross my path but my "shoo-roo" must have deterred it! What's a shoo-roo? Google it...

Here's my bike resting peacefully under the porch... Heheh, who could say "no" to a biker...

So, good night all. We'll ride on tomorrow...!

p/s: most of the pics will be posted on Facebook instead of here - the blog will be too heavy with too many pics. So, for those who are yet to have an FB account... you know who you are!!!

All set and ready to go!

2010-10-23T22:01:00.000+10:00

Just thought that I'd post a quick one before I retire early for the night.

I can gladly say that everything is done! All the stuffs are packed nicely on the bike. I spent the entire morning (not that early though... some of the guys - and one of my "sponsors" - came over last night to bid farewell and we ended up chatting until 2 am!) and afternoon going through my packing list again and ticking them off one by one. It was going on so well, until I had to packed everything into the bike - they won't fit!!! The worse and saddest part is reducing the load. I'm very sure all the things on the list that was the result of months of research are all important - but some of them have to go. Anyway, there was also a bit of small success here and there. Look at the two "before" and "after" pics below - Look closely and you can guess that the wife would have came along at some point and help out...

The other funny (but also a bit scary) moment was when the bike was fully loaded, while on its centre stand, the front wheel just rose by itself! Haha... imagine how rear-heavy it is now. Thanks to the Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA) system, one push of a button fixed the rear suspension pre-tension level. But imagine carrying a big pillion rider everywhere for every day for two weeks!

Below here will be part of my fixed view for 8 to 10 hours a day. My cockpit:

One could easily mistaken it for a cockpit of a fighter jet, haha! The middle screen is the GPS and the compact camera is fixed on a separate mount next to it (that's the Camzilla camera mount).

By the way, this is also a practice for quick blog entry. From now on, I can forget the luxury of writing from the desktop PC in my home office, sitting on a fluffy chair with a mug of tea writing through the night. Starting tomorrow night, I'd be lucky to be able to spare 1 hour.

Anyway, here goes, butterflies in stomach and all - I'm retiring for the night. Hope I can sleep easy. This was what I cook the family for dinner tonight - fillet steak accompanied with greek salad, garlic oyster mushroom, sauteed onion and red pepper... Just wanted to see that smiling face before I depart tomorrow...

Good night and good ride... :-)

This is it!

2010-10-22T18:41:00.000+10:00

This is it - after many months of preparation and dreaming (more dreaming than preparing actually); the day finally has come! I'm extremely excited but a bit nervous at the same time. I know I have sort of a plan and I'm sort of packed. I guess I would just have to wake up on Sunday morning and ride off. It's a blessing to have all the best people in the field working for me otherwise I would have never been able to make this trip and leave the office for two weeks! I just hope I'd still have my job when I get back...

Here's the bike with the new topbox. This pic was taken just after the Safety Inspection at the BMW Motorrad workshop. The gave it a nice wash too!

And here's the pic during the practice setup of the tent few evenings ago. It's roomy but it's also light - and it will save me a lot of money that otherwise I would have had to be spent on motel bills! Come to think of it, the money that I spent for the tent vs. money I save from motel bills gave me a return on more than 1000%! How's that for IRR...

More pictures to come (I'm sure I can spare some time in between packing my stuff)...

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

2010-10-13T23:34:00.000+10:00

As more and more people got to know about my planned adventure (I prefer this rather than "trip"; it sounded more uncertain and challenging and less prepared - which I am), I have been asked many kinds of questions. All are innocent questions and most are inquisitive in nature but there are also one or two annoying ones. Nevertheless I enjoy answering them all - or at least make a straight face at one of those annoying ones. So, here are the questions and their answers; in no particular order except maybe ranked by the number of times I heard them:

Q: Are you going alone?
A: Yes, alone. That's why I call it solo ride.

Q: Are you crazy???
A: Well, technically, no. But isn't everyone crazy about something somehow? I think going fishing in the rain in a small kayak is crazy but hey, who am I to criticize.

Q: How long are you going for? When are you going? Which route are you going to take?
A: Please refer to my blog posting entitled The Plan Finalized (19 Sept)
(This is normally followed by the second question above again)

Q: What if something happens to your bike?
A: I can mend a flat myself, thanks to my puncture repair kit that comes complete with CO2 canisters and all but anything more than that it has to be with the help from the BMW Motorrad Roadside Assist who promised that "Now you can travel the length and breadth of Australia, secure in the knowledge that BMW Motorcycle Roadside Assistance will be with you every step of the way.". I just hope they come when I call... And oh, I picked the bike that has been voted the most reliable tourer, made by one of the most widely known brand as being of highest reliability, insya'allah...

Q: Is it not dangerous being in the Outback all by yourself?
A: Not if you know what you're doing! Besides, I probably need a bit of that. I have been too comfortable lately. Watching "Dangerous Animals" from the comfort of the sofa in my living room doesn't do it anymore. A little element of danger and unknown will spike your senses and sharpen your instinct. Besides, I just like to ride and where else can you find space and distance other than the outback.
(This is normally followed by the second question above again)

Q: Is your family okay with this?
A: I have my wife's blessings; and even encouragement. It has been a trying year for me in many aspects so far so hopefully this trip can rejuvenate me and with a bit of soul searching (I will have plenty of thinking time to myself during all those daily rides) hopefully I come back a better person. [If not, I'll go one more round, until I become better...]

Q: Do you have to train for this?
A: Riding wise; see my blog posting Even pros need training (5 June). Health and fitness wise, yes, I have started running again and manage to lose a few pounds back to my Ramadhan weight. As they say, the bike is designed to stay upright when it's moving forward - I just need to make sure I stay on it!

Q: What if it rains?
A: BANG! BANG! BANG! Don't you ever bring that up again, capisce???

Q: Where will you sleep?
A: Well, where I lay my head is home... ("Wherever I may roam" - Metallica). But seriously, 1st choice camping, 2nd choice, motel or hotel. Decision factor: (1) Cost, (2) Convenience, (3) My back. "What if it rrr....". BANG! BANG! BANG! I told you...

...and last but not least, a kind of question that left me perplexed...

Q: Why are you doing it?
A: Now, this is tough to answer. If only I knew the answer. Well, let's see... uummpphhh... well, I can't really answer this without sounding too philosophical about it but I guess, in no particular order:
1. I just like to ride
2. It's a calling
3. Don't you find the Red centre awesome? Do you know that geologically it is known as a "bornhardt" - a weather-resistant rock that was left standing when everything else around it was worn away over millions of years. Isn't that such a symbolic splendour by itself? God must have put it there for a reason. I just want to admire it and praise God for it.
4. I'll find out when I finally get there
5. And as the famous Harley Davidson saying goes; "If I have to explain to you, then you'd never understand..."

If you have anymore, please do not hesitate to ask. I will try to answer them in the friendliest manner...

The Plan finalized

2010-09-19T23:02:00.000+10:00

Now I can really say that the plan has been finalized! I'm leaving on Sunday, 24th October 2010. The date had to be pushed back a few times in the past mostly due to work constraints but I just had to make it happen somehow. Otherwise, it'll be too hot in summer. After october the temperature in NT can reach as high as 43ºC! Besides, if I didn't make it by this year, I'm afraid I'd never make it...

So, here goes, after months of constantly interrupted planning and late nights doing research, the itineray has been locked. I'm doing the trip in 13 days including 2 days of rest, once in Mt. Isa and once in the Red Centre itself. The travelling days are alternates between "short" and "long" days with average distance on a travelling day of 610 km. I've managed to map out all the refuelling and overnight stops thanks to Google Maps, RACQ guide book and various websites. Anyone planning on long roadtrips can get my advice on great online resources on this subject.

Here's the day-to-day itinerary (refer to the map further below):

Day 1 : Brisbane - Mitchell (555 km)
Day 2 : Micthell - Winton (794 km)
Day 3 : Winton - Mt. Isa (462 km)
Day 4 : Mt. Isa (rest day and exploring)
Day 5 : Mt. Isa - Alice Springs (1,175 km - longest day!)
Day 6 : Alice Springs - Uluru (445 km)
Day 7 : The Red Centre (rest day)
Day 8 : Uluru - Coober Peddy (733 km)
Day 9 : Coober Peddy - Port Augusta (539 km)
Day 10 : Port Augusta - Broken Hill (415 km)
Day 11 : Broken Hill - Nyngan [I don't even know how to pronounce this!] (588 km)
Day 12 : Nyngan - Armidale (552 km)
Day 13 : Armidale - Home!!! (456 km)
TOTAL = 6,714 km

View Larger Map

I have also completed my packing list. It grew from the 1 page I started with to 3 pages! Thanks to tips and guides from books and magazines and travel logs on the internet - I'm pretty sure I'm well equipped to conquer the Outback - I just don't know how to carry them all! Anyway, that'll be the story for another day in my next blog posting. I still have a few more things to buy too, like tent etc. I also got myself a few cool gadgets to assist me like sattelite phone, camera clamp, flat repair kit, octane booster, animal sonic guard etc. Ooohhhh... I'm so excited!!!

Any comments or suggestions for improvement on my plan above are most welcomed.

The ride with the gang to Montville

2010-09-18T20:45:00.000+10:00

It had been more than 5 weeks since my last ride! I was actually tempted to still go out for a ride during Ramadhan but then again, long ride with no coffee breaks is quite a scary thought. Weather.com.au has been predicting rain this whole weekend up until yesterday evening's 48-hour forecast but finally late last night was showing clear weather for the whole day, at least for Saturday. I would never missed the opportunity to ride. And oh, by the way, we have our own little riding club now - with Tony being the President, and a new member, Graham with his Kawasaki 1400GTR. Eadie is still on his Raya leave.

We gathered early this morning at Tony's in Bridgeman Downs (a beautiful house with a nice swimming pool in a cul-de-sac of a posh neighbourhood - now, how did I miss this area when I was house hunting last time!). We were hoping for an early start as the sky was still a bit dark at some places. It was not that early after all after I got held up because my SatNav couldn't find Tony's address and for Graham, all he had was a one-page printout of Google Maps! We also have a guest member, Rachel, Graham's daughter.

I was supposed to be the route planner for the "club" but today Mr. President had to be the planner - he even made coffee for me! Tony picked the route north-bound which is obviously more familiar to him.

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We first head up North into A1 then turned West towards Woodford via the d'Aguilar Highway. One thing about riding with Tony; minimum 2 coffee stops - which I actually enjoyed very much. First stop at a Cafe in Woodford town, along the d'Aguilar Highway (I can't remember the name but it's obviously famous with bikers as we bumped into at least 20 others). Let the meeting notes of the club record that Graham was issued a yellow card by Tony for attempting to bring up the topic of work during the coffee conversation! You should know better, Graham...

At the stop, just before we got back on our bikes a friendly biker came along just to compliment me on my bike and how much he admire it and how he wish he has one - much to Graham's envy of course... Here's me grinning and Graham smirking...

We continued North towards Maleny via the Kilcoy-Beerwah Rd. What a scenic route! I would recommend this to anyone, even those who drives in a car! Check out this scenery when we did a quick stop on top of the mountain. It would have been better if I could get my DSLR out but with limited time, the BlackBerry quick snap would have to suffice.

After that, downhill towards Maleny and after another short climb we arrive at Montville. Tourist advice: if you want to take a stroll along a small town in the Hinterlands, don't miss Montville. There are so many curiosity shops along both sides of the road you're bound to find something extraodinarily interesting. I went there with my family once and we spent the whole afternoon just browsing from one shop to another and ended up buying quite a bit of stuffs you would otherwise never buy in the city!

We stopped for another round of coffee at a very nice little cafe called Montville Cafe with a very authentic English interior complete with a working wood fireplace and other memorabilia. It must have made Tony and Graham feel at home... The smell of burning wood and freshly roasted coffee on a cool spring morning and in good company of friends... priceless!

Finally time to head home but oh, just got an sms from home "On your way back, please stop to buy some chicken...". Hehe... real life awaits the cool bikie gang...

What a wonderful start to a wonderful weekend. The weather was fine and the ride was wonderful. Waved goodbye to the guys as we all head on our different ways on A1 heading home... me to go buy chicken, then freshen up and then go to a Hari Raya open house at Chong's...

And When Did You Last See Your Father?

2010-08-10T14:03:00.000+10:00

Last Sunday was not one of my ordinary ones. I was not out riding as I always do. I was originally planning to go out deep sea fishing with a bunch of friends but had to cancel that too. I was back in my hometown, sitting in the Intensive Care Unit, next to my dad’s hospital bed. It was a Sunday afternoon of mixed emotions; watching the man who was once strong and healthy (and most of the time very loud) now lying helplessly, struggling with his every little move.

A lot was rushing through my mind; reminiscing the many years of my life. He had always been the father figure – in his own unique ways. He may not be the perfect parent but so were we as his children. Everything good and all the success I have now would be his success as a parent. While we may not have such a story-book relationship, we do have our fair share of moments together. Here is the man who taught me how to find a good fishing spot, how to hook a bait, and how to unhook a fish. Here is the man whom I shared many motorbike rides together – with me pillion riding him on his 110cc bike and later him pillion riding me as I get older – of course with continuous commentary and annoying instructions along the way…

Probably one of my best recent memories of him was when I once surprised him and turned up in front of his house on my Harley. I was in between assignment locations and managed to squeeze in a one-week leave just enough to help my family prepare for the next move and went riding 450 km back to my hometown. I heard he was not feeling well so I thought I’d cheer him up. I must have told him at some point that I bought myself a Harley but of course many things didn’t quite register in his memory as always. I can still remember his face when he saw me that evening. The next day, the two of us were riding all around the kampung with him pillion riding at the back, visiting families and even attending a kenduri! He was proudly telling everyone even when they did not ask. I don’t think a ride with him like that will ever be possible again but that’s what I like about good memories; they linger around for a long long time. That was definitely one of the greatest rides of my life!

And now; he doesn’t even recognize me anymore. Alzheimer can be so cruel to the patient as much as to the people around him. When I first arrive at the hospital, he just stared blankly at me. I could just be a familiar face to him but would not register as anyone important to him anymore. It was sad but I kept reminding myself that I needed to be there for him regardless. It’s just that I’m not so good at feeling helpless.

As I sat there next to him, I kept wondering what he is thinking about. He kept talking, almost whispering, mentioning names and places but most of them don’t make any collective sense anymore. I believe those were the remnants of his memories and what’s left within pockets of history of his life. All his life he has been a great story teller with a keen sense of adventure but now he couldn’t even remember them anymore. What’s a great story teller without his stories…?

I was also reflecting of life’s many lessons in all these. The fact that everything comes to an end. What you did affect others in ways beyond of what you can imagine. Life is short so live it to the fullest but even when your life comes to an end; life of others that you have affected will continue, hence a portion of you will live forever… During my ride to the Red Centre I know who will be riding with me – it’s those who believed in me and also those who have made me the person I am today. And I can almost feel him smiling and enjoying the ride, minus of course the commentaries and the in-actual-fact-no-so-annoying instructions…
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An ambitious Sunday morning ride

2010-08-02T22:24:00.001+10:00

The weather has been a bit unkind this whole week - it has been raining almost everyday! One evening I was riding home in the rain with my daughter after picking her up from her visit to the Gallery of Modern Arts (GOMA) for a school outing. But funny how winter in Brisbane is; it can be raining and windy in the middle of winter but the temperature is still close to 20ºC!

Finally after what seemed like a long week, the weekend arrives and so did the sun! I was not going to waste my last weekend (yup, last one before the fasting month - next Sunday I'm going deep sea fishing with the guys) so I planned a long ride around the South plains - over 300km! Google Maps says it would take 5½ hours but I think just over 3 hours will be enough.

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Bad start; had a late night last night hence late start this morning. Almost did not make it but kept telling myself, "Last weekend... last weekend...!" Where are all my riding buddies when you need them for morale support, huh? Anyway, finally made it out by 7:00 am. Stopped by the 7-Eleven near my house to fill up (yes, here in Down Under, 7-Eleven sells fuel!). A gentleman in his early 50s approached me after he filled up his 4WD. "That is a very nice bike!", he greeted me. I smiled embarrassingly and thanked him for his kind compliment. We chatted for a while about the bike and he kept praising it. I can almost see my bike blushing! "You must be a biker", I added at one point. "No", he said. "I just admire them..." I was thinking to myself how lucky I am. Off I went with a grin on my face and spirit high up for the long ride...

Look at these scenic view along the Rosewood-Aratula Rd.

Such a lovely winter morning... Notice the perfectly clear blue sky.

Other than slight bumps on the road every now and then (this road is not as good as the Ipswich-Boonah Rd in one of my previous trip - no wonder there are no other bikers on the road that day!) it was a lovely ride. Just when I thought how inland this route was and how far I was from the nearest town; I stumbled upon a group of about twenty cyclist! They must be crazier than I am!!!

I thought it would have been a perfect ride until about 20km after Rosevale I came across this sign. My Blackberry camera couldn't quite catch the writings but it says, "Bridge closed ahead. Take alt route". Now, who would've thought to put a sign so far out? They could have warn me before I passed the last junction, don't you think? Oh well, I can't argue on this because there is no one to argue with - so had to turn back some 30km and head East through the more familiar Boonah-Beaudessert-Nerang Rd.

Stopped at the usual place, my favourite Outpost Cafe and "hang out" with the other bikers. I actually did a total of 330km that day and fatigue starts creeping in on the way back. Another stop along M1 for an energy drink struggles to help. I wonder how the ride to Red Centre would be like... I need to be fit, I need to be fit...

Finally arrived home safely, and dry. And oh, here's the garlic bread served with Pandai's special sautéed garlic herb prawn French style I made for dinner for the family... How I wish the weekend never ends...

Of Rocket and the winter rain

2010-07-27T18:17:00.001+10:00

I got a new riding partner this week! Tony, a friend from the office can't wait to show off his Triumph Rocket III. As far as showing off is concern, this will definitely be the ultimate show-off. It's not a bike; it's a BEAST! With its 2300cc three in-line cylinders engine, this is the biggest capacity on any production bike ever made! If Tony was ever going to name this bike, I think he should name it "The Mid-life Crisis"... haha!

Anyway, made plans to ride on Sunday morning with Tony. We picked my favourite Somerset Dam route with its scenic and gentle twist. I don't think tight uphill roads like Mt. Tamborine would be so kind to the 320kg machine Tony is on today. Besides, the weather forecast predicted early afternoon rain so I'd rather be around familiar territory, just in case.

Tony was at my house by 6:00 am. After a nice cup of Nespresso coffees each (my wife even got up just to see the Rocket III!) we hit the road by 6:30 am. The sky looks a bit cloudy but I'm sure we'll be alright - rain in Brisbane has never been known to be like the rain in KL anyway.

Here's Tony with his baby at our quick stop at The Spit. Suddenly my RT looks tiny in comparison.

We head on to Kilcoy and stopped for pie and coffee (oh, how I wish they have nasi lemak, roti canai and teh tarik!) at my favourite cafe. The sky turned darker so we decided to head back through Mt. Mee and Mt. Pleasant. Just 5 minutes after leaving the cafe, it started to pour. Now, you'll see who's the master of the road - by now Tony is drenched but I'm tucked comfortably, nice and warm behind my windscreen, with my seat and grip heater on.

We had to stop by the roadside for Tony to put on his wet gears. And he also learnt later that putting on his wet gears on top of his already wet clothes was not a good idea after all...

As we continue our journey crossing the top of Mt. Mee and Mt. Pleasant (in which by now, is not that pleasant anymore!), the road was already slippery, the rain on the visor made visibility rather poor and to top it all up it was foggy and very windy. I was thinking to myself; what kind of person would rather be here than being at home lying in bed under a warm blanket or enjoying a hot cup of coffee and breakfast while watching the tv? And I thought, "Naaahhh... I'd rather be here!". Like Fred my instructor said, you'd have to be a bit crazy to be a biker!

One final quick stop at Dayboro for yet another cup of coffee and for Tony to dry up then we went our separate ways heading home. I finish off my Sunday with a nice Malaysian Indian food lunch with some friends later. The weather forecast showing rain for the whole of next week so I guess my bike will be resting in the garage for a while.

A freezing Sunday morning ride to Mt. Tamborine

2010-07-18T22:26:00.001+10:00

The dawn was calm with clear blue sky, promising this to be another bright and sunny Sunday morning. My riding buddy, Eadie is back after his long dissapearance. His Ducati must be screaming with joy to be able to hit the road again. We met up in front of the office (such a good feeling of being so near to the office, yet not having to go to the office!) and headed South on the M1.

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I picked the route that I went with my family last Sunday (Brisbane-Beenleigh-Mt. Tambourine). And oh yes, the road felt totally different on the bike as compared with driving in a car. When you drive; you just drive but when you're on a bike it's like every turn and every curve means something and your view of the road ahead and its surrounding seem totally different. One not very good part though is the temperature and the wind... It was a freezing 3ºC! I had my grip and seat heater on full blast. The new fleece neck warmer and long sleeve thermal helped too... I glanced through my rear side mirror and saw Eadie following close. A few bikes stopped by the road side with the riders basking in the sun trying to warm up as we were climbing the steep mountain road. But hey, we are the tough ones... we ride on...

By the time we reached the top of Mt. Tambourine I decided to stopped at the same lookout point we went to last week. I need to let Eadie thaw himself...

The breathtaking view is worth the freezing climb...

...and that's Eadie thawing slowly... He actually put his hands on his exhaust pipes to defrost them! Haha!

It was a much needed break. Surprisingly, despite the wind and all, it was a nice 12ºC at the peak. Met a guy on an Aprilia and had a brief chat then head downhill again towards Canungra. I never bothered to stop here when I went out riding alone but today just feel like hanging out at "The Outpost" (I think this is what it's called, a biker hangout place for brekkie at Canungra town). It feels like going to a bike show with the rows of bikes of all kinds from Harleys to superbikes, customs and tourers...

A flat white and a pie each then we hit the road again. We headed west towards the Gold Coast, then north bound at Nerang back towards Brissie. As I was cruising on the M1, the sun was already up high but the wind still has that crisp morning feeling. Humming to "Wherever I May Roam" (by Metallica, for those who are not familiar) blaring on my stereo, I was thinking... this is the life.

"And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save
To the game you stay a slave

Rover, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will..."