Trains that run on time 03-04/08/06 We decide to head out to Nikko to see the shrines, then on to Sendai where another old PhD friend of Vernon's lives (magneticists, they get everywhere!). So we leave the bikes in the bike park under Ueno Station, having checked with the attendant that they'll be okay until Sunday, at least we think that's what we asked. The excess bags go in a locker and we take a tube to Asakusa, where we buy tickets to Nikko, the train will leave platform 3 at 4.05pm, and it does, exactly, not 4.05 and 30 seconds [View Full Entry]

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Doing the soft shoe shuffle 31/07/06 We sleep for most of the 6hr flight to Narita but still arrive feeling knackered, we stagger like zombies through immigration and customs and find a space to rebuild the bikes near the bus stops. People keep wandering up to have a look (see the silly Gaijin getting hot and sweaty). Next to us is the pick up point for one of the buses to Tokyo, each time a bus leaves the porters all bow to it which is really weird to see. As we are about to leave they approach us and the best [View Full Entry]

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A sign of things to come? 18-21/08/06 So, we finally leave Bowen. It's a warm, sunny day and the riding would be perfect if it wasn't for the lump that has developed on my bum! It's right under the left sit bone and is making life very uncomfortable; when I get on the bike there's a few minutes of comedy "Oooh. Owwwww, oooh" accompanied by much hotching around until the damn thing gets squashed enough to ease the pain. I'm then able to ride for about 5 or 6 miles before the pain gets too much and we have to stop [View Full Entry]

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Land of sugar cane, rum and ginger beer 03-05/07/06 We set off north towards Bundaberg, taking a lovely quiet back road through the "hills" to Howard where we have lunch before getting back onto the Bruce for the rest of the day. Our route is now through fields of sugar cane and as it is the start of the harvest season there are a number of cane trucks on the road and also a lot of cane trains, these are narrow gauge trains which run from the farms to the processing mills with the harvested canes, the tracks run alongside the [View Full Entry]

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Running away from Brisbane 23-29/06/06 Up early and finish the packing, then try to eat breakfast; the YHA, which has 165 bed spaces, is incredibly poorly equipped and has the grand total of three spoons in the kitchen, ten mugs, about the same number of bowls but, oddly, hundreds of knives. Stupidly we are on the porage today as we need the fuel for cycling, so while Vernon cooks the breakfast I stand next to two people who are eating cereal (and selfishly using 67% of the hostel's spoon supply) and as soon as they have finished I get their spoons [View Full Entry]

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Stuck in Port 23/05/06 - 03/06/06 We decide to spend a day in Port Macquarie so we can visit the koala hospital, it's probably the only way we will get to see any of them! Spend a pleasant couple of hours ooohing and aaahing at the patients, they are incredibly cute although we are told they have a nasty bite and very strong claws; we are happy to keep our distance and just look. The koala hospital doesn't allow visitors to touch the animals because they need to be kept wild if they are to have any chance of survival when [View Full Entry]

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Taking colds to Newcastle 11-15/05/06 We say our goodbyes to the hostel staff and head back into Central Sydney, we're going to cheat and take the train to Hornsby thereby avoiding the worst of Sydney's traffic. The Pacific Highway is a secondary road here as a freeway has been built next to it, so we get a quiet ride almost all the way to Gosford, although the bikes are rattling well under the strain of all the pot-holes. We meet two hills which we have been warned about, however we manage to ride up them both with a couple of recovery [View Full Entry]

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Two Poms in the big city 30/04/06 - 05/05/06 We arrive ahead of schedule and get through immigration incredibly fast, the longest queue is for Kiwis and Aussies, the everybody else aisle is almost empty. Amazingly the bikes have arrived on the same flight, we get them back together and entertain the crowds by removing many layers of clothing and emptying pockets before rearranging our bags and heading for the train station. As it is already dark we have decided to take the train to Central Sydney, rather than trying to navigate in a strange place in the dark. We reach [View Full Entry]

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Making all the right decisions 16-18/04/06 We have a choice when we leave Invercargill; we can take SH1 direct to Balclutha, a fairly flat and boring route on a quick road, or we can take the Southern Scenic Route through the Catlins, a much more interesting (and hilly) route. SH1 is the sensible choice as it will get us to Christchurch more quickly and we have a flight deadline. The first problem with the Southern Scenic Route is finding it! We cycle past the turning before looking back and seeing the route sign which has been thoughtfully placed on the southern [View Full Entry]

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Our slowest speed yet 04/04/06 We're off towards Queenstown today, the forecast is for a southwesterley so we will at least get wind assist by the Haast river; we ride away from Haast Township into a northeasterly which stays with us all the way along the river - ho hum!! Our progress is slowed by photo stops at every waterfall we see, they are all very impressive since the rains of the last two days. We reach the Gates of Haast and the road goes up, a lot. We get off and push, doing the next mile in about an hour. [View Full Entry]

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