It's Time!

I have to say how excited, and how nervous I am becoming as late. I have decided to step into an early retirement. As I have blogged before I have had issues with depression, anxiety and PTSD. Well, as I would with any other illness, and that is what it is, I have decided that I should stop work to get myself better.

What better way to do that than with a bike trip. Cycling helped me once before to manage this darkness, why can't it do it again...

Most of my bike trips up until now have been relatively short with an attempt to make my set ups as budget friendly as possible. I did attempt a longer trip in November 2017 but unfortunately the weather beat me to a pulp and I returned home by train.

Well I have for some time, been planning a trip, the longest trip of my endeavours to date. The trip will cover approximately 5,500 km and take me around three months to complete.
It will begin in Bundaberg then head out to Kingaroy. I then plan to head up over the Bunya Mountains which has been on my bucket list for a while. The mountains will take me down onto the Darling Downs west of Toowoomba and then lead me down onto Queensland's Granite Belt.

Then, from one of our states finest wine areas, I'll ride down to the New England area of New South Wales and then finally get the chance to tackle The Old Grafton Road. This is a must, as this is where I had to pull up stumps before as the weather moved in. I will follow this all the way into South Grafton and have a rest day or two there.

After resting, washing and restocking I'll head down the coast riding as many off highway routes as I can. The new Pacific Hwy has been completed in many areas, but the old highway remains. This will be a much more scenic, and a far quieter option.

Heading down through Port Macqaurie via the Maria River, I'll make my way down to a little town on on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. This little town is called Wingham and it is where I did much of my growing up. My plan here is to spend a couple of days catching up with some old school and footy mates.

From Wigham I'll continue south through Krambach to Buladelah, then down through Newcastle to the Central Coast north of Sydney. I plan to catch the train through Sydney to the southern suburbs. I've spent enough time driving trucks through Sydney, I sure as hell don't have any desire to ride a bike through it...lol. The train will also save me a couple of days and it will be a kind of a Claytons rest day. For those who aren't Aussies, a Claytons is someting like but isn't. In the 70's a company brought out a non alcoholic whiskey. It was promoted by the Famous Australian Actor Jack Thompson. It was the drink you have when you're not having a drink. Needless to say, it tasted like shit and didn't last long. But the saying lived on.

From Sydney the plan is to travel along the coastal route taking in the sights of Stanwell Tops, The Sea Cliff bridge and enter Wollongong via it's northern suburbs. I spent my younger and early riding years here in a suburb called Undanderra. But I no longer know anyone here so the plan will be to head out through the south eastern suburbs of Wingdang, Warrilla and down through Shellharbour to Kiama.
There will be times where the main highways will need to be used but the plan is to deviate as much as I can and take coastal roads that link the Southern New South Wales townships.

Continuing south I'll take in towns like Mouya, Batesman Bay, Nowra and Bermagui. From Bermaguis is where I'll begin to change course. I'll rise south west to south of Bega then hit the climbs up into New South Wales' High Country.

The Snowy Mountains will be a challenge and I will be taking back roads and basically link onto the Snowy River Way. I'll be keeping a strong eye on the weather through here, it can turn nasty. It will also be early snow season and recent reports show sow in the Victorian High Country just south of here.

I'll work my way up to Jindabyne where a much needed reprieve from climbing will be welcomed. I'll be on the Alpine Way by now, and although the first half sees a decent amount of ascending, the general altitude descends.

From the Alpine Way I'll join onto the Murray Valley Highway and work my west into Victoria. Now on the flat country I hope to experience what the Cudgewa - Woodonga Rail Trail has to offer. Whilst the Murray Valley Hwy sports a decent shoulder to ride on, I ca't miss the opportunity to ride a rail trail if it is there. The Cudgewa to Woodonga Rail Trail isn't fully completed but a reasonable amount has been.

I'll then follow the Murray River as much as I can to Mildura where I'll spend a few days looking around. Then I'll make my way west once again, heading for Port Augusta. I'll spend a day or two in town preparing for my next stage, te Flinders Ranges and the Strzlecki Track.

This has been something I have waned to do, see the Flinders and travel the Strezlecki Track. To do it on a bike will be just a ream come true. This is the southern heart of the country and the Ranges are older than time itself.

Once on the Strzlecki Track I'll head toward Inaminka, but turn off just shy and head for Cameron Corner. Cameron Corner is where the Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet. There's not much here but open country and a store with a pub.

After a few days resting from my trek across one of the harshest deserts in the world, I'll head north east for home. But it wouldn't be complete if I missed the Carnarvon Nation Park. So the plan is to head to Quilpie, Charlieville then up t Tambo along the Ward River. From Tambo I'll zig-zag north and south making my way east through Carnarvon Gorge and the National Park and eventually getting to Theodore in Queensland's central eastern region.

Not far from home now I'll ride through to Crackow, Eidsvold and through Mount Perry, Gin Gin and home into Bundaberg. 5,500 km there about's completed.

I have purchased some new gear for the trip, and whilst I'm all about budget sometimes you need the gear to match the trip. Considering the gear that I have bought I still haven't broken the bank.

The first is a new tent. I found the little one man hiking tent no longer suitable, It still works well but I wanted more room, so I purchased a new 2 man hiking tent, a Companion ProHiker 2. This tent still came in just under $170.Considering other major brands, this is still a budget tent.

I decided to buy a trailer for this trip. I looked long and hard and picked the Extra Wheel. Light at 4.7 kg, compact and easy to tow. It came in at $440, much cheaper than a Topeak or Bob. Also much more user friendly.

Along with the trailer I bought a set of Azur Tarpaulin Waterproof Panniers. Carrying an extra 54 liters will be a big bonus. At only $126, they appear to be good quality for the price.

I opted for a new front rack, a Blackburn Outpost. At $138 it offers a much more stable platform for my front panniers.

As I want to carry more water I purchased a couple of Blackburn cage/carry alls. $38 each enables me to carry four liters of water in my frame.

I needed better a better power supply set up. My old home made 5 watt system won't cut if this trip. I decided on an Anker 21 watt dual USB panel that can supply an easy 5 watts of charging power. With one 2.5 watt and a 2 watt USB outlet this should get a couple of 20,000 mha Comsol power banks charged during the day's riding.
I also purchased a smaller Korr 12 watt panel to add that little extra umpf when needed. The Anker at $139.99 and the Korr at $69.99 still come in much cheaper than their much more expensive competitors.

Along with new items some mods have been made to old gear. The Kona Sutra has a gear ratio change. With an 11-36 rear cassette coupled with a smaller 22t front chain ring, it will make climbing that little easier.

My budget -10C sleeping bag that I purchased from Aldi has worked well, but I'm not a man that likes sleeping bags. Quilts being expensive I had a friend who is a wizz on a sewing machine. In a day she had me a new -10 down quilt for the trip.

So yes, I have upgrade on things, but still within a budgetary restraint. A lot of gear I will be using is the same gear I have been sine I started touring. My Deuter Panniers, my Coleman One Peak gas stove, my kitchenware, air mat and much of my riding gear. Although I did splash out on some new shorts.

It will also be great to give the Topeak Tourguide 5 lt handlebar bag a good work out. It hasn't been on a trip yet but has been doing wonderfully round town.

I did splurge on a couple of things, these weren't necessary but sometimes boys just like toys. I wanted to add a bit of diffeent element to my videos so I purchased a DJI Spark Drone. These aren't new and to tell the truth I have wanted one ever since they came out. They're much cheaper now so I thought, "Why not?"

Another item I purchased was a Go Pro Hero 7 White. It is only the base model of the Go Pro family but as I shoot in 1080p it was a good budget friendly choice. I love my Sonys, the HDR AS50 Action camera and the Cybersgot DSC HX90V do a fantastic job, and I am much more of a fan of these. But my Sonys aren't water proof and although the action camera comes with a 60 meter water proof case, audio is just not possible with the case on. Hence why I went the little Go Pro, it's waterproof so came rainy days I'll still be able to record and vlog on my trip. So along with my Samsung S10+ I should have all recording bases covered.

So as the time draws closer I becoming extremely excited about this trip. I plan to blog at least once or twice per week to keep all updated.

If you like you can see more about the trip here...here...

or about some of the gear that I have bought...here...

A rough outline of the trip

The Companion Pro Hiker 2 will supply enough room for 3 months travel

The Extra Wheel trailer was my pick. Nice and simple

The Blackburn Outpost Front Rack offers a sturdier platform for the front panniers

New toys, DJI Spark and Go Pro Hero 7

Jack from Dr Bike offering his fantastic service getting the Kona ready

Getting Away...Finally...Part 6!

I was awake early, I suppose after a few days on the road you just begin to get accustomed to getting up and going. It wasn't long and the bike was packed and I was heading down to a cafe for coffee and breakfast.

After fueling up the tank, mine, I embarked on yet another picturesque section of the trail. I think that the old station reminders are more prevalent from Esk onward, as there are plenty of posted reminders along the way.

Leaving Esk the trail is smooth, and well maintained. A museum in the standing, it is as pristine as it is historical. It is a credit to those who have built this trail for our convenience. Not far out of town, the track does toughen up a bit and it's not long before you are on the bone shaking run into Coominya.

Coominya is a small, but quaint little town. I sports the basics for survival and it's good to know for future reference that the pub is doing free camping. A good free camp is worth the price of a cold schooner.

Once out of Coominya small acreage lots become standard and a lot of the scenery is of peoples' back yards. It's not as though you are looking in their back windows or anything. But this doesn't last long and opens itself up to farm land once again.

Heading well on the way to Fernvale by now you begin to see a variety of lightly undulating landscape and snippets of the upper reaches of the Brisbane River. Again, as you encroach the outer limits of Fernvale small hobby farms and acreage lots begin a familiar sight.

I followed the trail just to the outskirts of town where I turned onto a dirt road that ran down past the local sporting grounds. It was then a quick dash out along the Brisbane Valley Hwy to my night's camp, Geoffery Fischer Bridge. It is only a couple of kilometers out of town, and is rather an open area that is perched neatly beside the Brisbane River. As I was the only one there I was able to set up at the only covered table there was. I looked down by the banks of the river but camping was not permitted. It was also extremely overpopulated on the banks of the river, obviously the local swimming hole.

It was here I had my worst night's sleep. Close to a major road that is frequented by empty gravel tippers all hours, I was left with a drumming in the ears all night long. Needless to say I was up early, packed and heading into town for breakfast. I've scratch this area off the free camp list indefinitely.

Chowed down and full I then headed for Wulkaraka. I think this section is one of the most scenic of the trip. Lush bush land, sweeping valleys and periodic river views. Couple that with a relatively smooth trail and you are in heaven.

As stated the scenery never fails and as you continue to ride past the reminders of years gone by, you can't but help imagine of what was. I know we are only a relatively young country, but we have come so far and accomplished so much in that short time. Sometimes I think maybe we should have been a bit slower, but unfortunately dollar signs and progress out weight sentiment.

It wasn't long before houses become the distinguishing statement of the trail, paired with concrete overpasses I knew the trip was sadly coming to an end. It was just as I started to see the concrete, the trail gave way from gravel to concrete under my tyres. It was no longer a crunching and bouncing, but the mountain bike tyres began a humming sound. This was now suburbia.

I couldn't help but notice how quickly the city was growing. Only eighteen months prior this was still bush land, now housing estates. Whilst progress can be a good thing, it's sometimes sad to see.

From now on it was a smooth and easy ride along the bike way, and also among phone using BMW drivers. I love how along the Brassal Bike Way the road crossings are unique where as cyclists must be given way to by cars. It's a kind of pedestrian crossings for bikes. This is fantastic and works well in most cases, except for the odd time when a driver or two couldn't look up from their phones long enough...mobile use whilst driving is mt pet peave...I hate it and it should be treated the same as drink driving...OK, rant over...lol.

Heading down the hill to Wulkara Station all I really wanted to do was turn around and do it all over again. The South Burnett and Brisbane Valley Rail Trails have this effect on you. It's a bit strange, feeling so isolated and free but at the same time feeling part of a community. A community of hikers, trail runners, cyclists and horse riders that always have time to stop and chat for a time. Whilst being alone a lot of the time, you never get lonely.

Until next time then...I can't wait.

Cheers all and ride safe out there.