Me, Matt and the ride

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A bit about me

I’ve been living in Australia for nearly 3 years, with most of that that time spent in Adelaide and 6 months in Perth. Prior to that I had been working in London for 2 and a half years following uni. Although I’ve been working full time as an Engineer with Connell Wagner I’ve taken the opportunity to travel around a fair bit of Australia in my time here.

As well as getting familiar with Adelaide’s surroundings including the Claire, Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills wine regions which are right on Adelaide’s door step, I’ve visited the Flinders Rangers, the Yorke Peninsular, Kangaroo Island all within South Australia and spent lots of time in the hills climbing and mountain biking as well as on the beach.

Further a field I’ve been to Mount Arapiles and the Grampians in Victoria for climbing, Cycled the Great Ocean Road and round Tasmania, visited Melbourne and Sydney a few times followed by driving from Sydney to Cairns with a mate and my sister (well what else to Backpacker Poms in Australia do!). I’ve walked around Uluru (Aires Rock) and visited the Top End.

Within all this I have met some great people, from the first day I got here (Thanks Todd for a great welcome in NSW, followed by the Ropers and the Hasketts in SA) through to meeting my girlfriend Greer and people I’m still meeting to the end. I have enjoyed my time in Australia greatly and it is only with the promise of more adventures, both on the way home and subsequently in England that I am able to drag myself away.

The Ride

The idea sprouted whilst I was still in the UK 3 years ago. It seemed such a shame to travel all the way to Oz barely stopping ( I had a few days in Japan) whilst there are so many places out there. Why not see a bit more, or even a lot more.. The bike seemed like a great solution - see lots, interact with the people, environmentally friendly, low maintenance and low cost. Initially i wanted to cycle the whole way: Adelaide in Oz to Bedford in the UK. A to B, simple really.. But some common sense kicked in an i decided to stop the ride before getting to the middle east and chop of the front bit (riding through the middle of Oz - hot, dusty and not too much to see) whilst i was at it. Encouraged by the recruitment of a good friend the trip became Bangkok to Delhi: Sea to summits. The route: (map in another post) Thailand (1 month), Laos (2 weeks), China - Yunnan and Tibet(13 weeks) Matt joins beginning of China, Nepal (3 weeks) and India (1 week). Should be back in the uk mid august...

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