With our bikes put to bed we put our flat caps on and headed ooop north on the train. Keighley, Bradford and Leeds. John's sister kindly let us stay whilst she went on holiday; all we had to do was look after the parrots!!! More evil birds I have yet to come across. Not only had they learnt to mimic the telephone, sending you hurtling down the stairs straight out of the shower but they insist on emptying their water bowls on the floor as well as whistling the theme tune to the Adams Family whilst you are trying to watch [View Full Entry]

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Well I was going to tell you all about our journey up the coast and how we started in 1970 at the Crossroads Motel in Rockhampton and ended up in Bates Motel in Port Douglas. On the way we had met a host of cyclists and some even joined us. But as many of you now know we needed to return to the UK to visit Ray's mum. Our flights to New Zealand and Vietnam in the bin and the prospect of living in a tent in the frozen wastes of the UK awaited us. The story started well with Ray's [View Full Entry]

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Well the attempt to get a tandem worked for 2 days and then the paint fell off. No replacement available and could we wait whilst it was sent to the US to get a paint job. We ended up with two separate touring bikes and headed off on the train to start our trip outside of Sydney in a place called Emu Plains. We arrived fine and started to put up the tent just before the rain set in. John then turned to me with the brand new tent pole in two pieces. I went back to the bike to get [View Full Entry]

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After a bout of Denge fever (yes I finally got the real thing) and the rains opening up in Thailand it became obvious we had to fly south for the Winter. All of SE Asia was covered in rain cloud and Australia looked dry. Welcome to Sydney. Decided to stay for a month and so organised a flat share with some Koreans. Planned to buy a car and extend our visa to 9 months so that we could travel the length and breadth of this island. Received lots of advice from various Brits, Irish, Thais, Kiwis and Chinese (are there any [View Full Entry]

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We found someone with a yacht willing to take us on as crew for a dream 5 month trip from Phuket to Hong Kong. It seemed a good idea to meet and so we arranged a weeks trial sail around the islands off Phuket. We were to meet at the yacht and so we arrived 2 hours late (a long story with John's sunglasses). Called out but no sound. As we hung around the yacht, dark clouds formed and we moved back to the Marina. The guard said our yacht owner had "gone home". Not sure what to do we hung [View Full Entry]

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Our time in Thailand was over and so we headed off to KL. The hotel was above a nightclub and opposite an all night bar. If only we could afford a beer we could join them. Well we watched more Star movies in between the adverts telling people to visit Britain because the pound is hardly worth anything (yeh thanks guys!). This coupled with fatwah declaring women in none feminine clothing to be against the law in an attempt to stop lesbianism indicated that Malaysia was definitely not for us. Our onward flight to the sunny Philippines couldn't come quick enough. [View Full Entry]

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Sinners and Saints (a tale of two cities). Hat Yai - what a party town! A few days prior to New year the Thai's blocked the road and set up stalls and music. Our final night there and we slurped cheap beer in a boisterous bar with an ensemble of musicians belting out the full 'Eagles' back catalogue! 3 Days later and we were over the border into Malaysia and the city of Penang nursing a Thai hangover. The countdown was on and New Years eve approached. Down by the historic fort, Penang promised to “Rock the Fort”. Well, we were [View Full Entry]

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