Day 19

Hotel Icon

Pictures

I spent Friday being a total tourist visiting "The Peak" , taking the public double decker bus up and riding the tram down. This would be a great road for motorcycles, were it not loaded with trucks, buses, people, cars, I can't believe how these guys get around each other. I was on the upper deck front seat taking pictures of how close the bus got to one truck in particular, I looked at them later on and it doesn't even come close to doing it justice. I also did some window shopping and let me tell you, Hong Kong has shopping in spades!! Every high end name brand has their own store rather than a case or two at a big box retailer. I am very fond of watches (time pieces for the true collector) and was able to try on some that I've only read about or heard of the brand name. FYI, I tried a Petak Philippe that listed for $1,369,163 HK ($176,300 US), but as I was told in Hong Kong, there is no sales tax and I can just wear it back to the US to avoid import taxes, they would mail the box, when you think about it that way, it's quite a bargin, should have bought two!! I did get a couple of custom shirts made and bought a few other things you can't get back home but otherwise, I left my card in my wallet. I also took a night time harbour tour by the famous Star Ferry, it was a warm, humid, overcast and sometimes rainy day and night but it was still something I just had to do while I was here, well worth it. Overall I had a great time and am very surprised but I'd like to come back here again!! So on the plane tomorrow, leaving at 10:30am for Tokyo, which arrives at 4:14PM, I then change planes and leave Tokyo at 6:20PM arriving in Houston at 3:45PM, the same day, I get there before I leave, at least I get my day back that I lost!! Finally, I've got to give props to Hotel Icon, I selected them only based on Google feedback and did it work out great, the entire staff went out of their way to help, accommodations were superior and the view superb, all exactly as described. OK, enough for now, I've got to finish packing up and it's off to bed, morning comes awfully early.

Day 18

Sydney to Hong Kong

Hotel Icon

Got to the Sydney airport around 6:30 this morning for a 10:40 flight, traffic in the city is really similar to home, if I left at 6, I'm there at 6:30, if I left at 7, I'm not there until 9, it wasn't fun sitting in the airport, even if it was in the first class lounge!! So I was very disappointed that Qantas has a change in equipment today, I didn't get to fly the A380 and instead had to live with the 747-400, nice plane but I really wanted to try the other. Anyway a rather uneventful flight that I slept through most of. Once I got to Hong Kong it was a really easy process to go from the airport to the hotel, although traffic was once again intense and the guy driving the shuttle bus thought he was driving a Porsche, glad I didn't have to drive here!! This is my first time in Hong Kong and it's a really vibrant city, I went out tonight around 10 and it was fully awake. I'm planning on doing the full tourist thing tomorrow, tour the city during the day and a harbour cruise at night. Here is a video looking outside my hotel room, sorry for the angle, just turn your monitor on its side!! Also, here is a link to my hotel room (very cool) and the view out the window (pictures)

Day 17

Port Macquarie to Sydney 442 kms (275 miles)

Four Points Darling Harbor

Got up around 5am this morning, I wanted to catch at least one sunrise while having the Pacific on my east coast!! It was definitely worth rising for, I've got a full video of it, which covers about 2 minutes, but my internet connection won't support uploading that big of a file currently, I'll update when I get back to Atlanta. Meanwhile, here are some pictures from last night and this morning

So we got back to drop off the bikes today around 1PM, really easy drive without GPS until about 30km outside of Sydney, once there the GPS would have been real handy, took us over an hour to travel that 30km and find the place. All in all, not bad and overall a fantastic bike trip, Selena at Bikescape and Mark at BikeRoundOz were outstanding to deal with and very gracious.

I'm meeting a new friend tonight for dinner and will be heading to Hong Kong in the morning. Looking forward to the flight as I'm on a Qantas A380, I am quite an aviation buff and have wanted to fly on one of these planes since I first saw the design sketches. I was fortunate enough to have frequent flyer miles that allow me to sit in first class, I'm not sure I'm refined enough to be there, but I'll make due.

Not much else going on now, just finished up posting my blog link into the BU Vista system and look forward to getting started with that when I get home.

Day 16

Byron Bay to Port Macquarie 410 kms (254 miles)

Quality Resort Sails

We left Byron Bay before 8 this morning for our first non-GPS day, a 400K ride down the Pacific Hwy to Port Macquarie.  It was a very uneventful ride with great weather and little traffic. We got into town around 3 and decided to skip the workout to instead explore the town. Port Macquarie had the IronMan Australia triathlon this past weekend, so banners, stages and such were in various states of removal, otherwise it was a very sleepy town, a good way to unwind from a fun week.

Day 15 (Surfing attempt)

Well we woke up early this morning and were setup with a surfing lesson at 9:45, pretty pumped with this and ready to go. The company the hotel contracts with to provide these canceled them because of the surf and rips, well since we were only going to be here for today we sought out a surf instructor with less concern for his liability insurance. Probably not the best idea in hindsight but still lots of fun. I was never able to get beyond my one knee up and was being knocked around like I was in a washing machine. The instructor kept telling Rick and I that as soon as our time was up, he was coming back because the waves were "calling him", that should have been another clear warning, but we ignored that as well. Rather than trying to describe the surf, just look at this video.

After coming back and rinsing off the sand, we went back into town to see what was going on, busy again, we just went to grab some lunch and some Hahn SuperDry (watch this video!!). Very chilled day, we're getting ready to go out for the evening and tonight the self proclaimed "Party Bar" Cheeky Monkey's is open, look out Byron Bay backpackers, US is in the house!!

Day 14

Brisbain to Byron Bay 165 km (102 miles)

Lord Byron Resort

Woke up this morning in Brisbane to a bright blue sky and a short ride ahead. Decided to go to the gym to get a good workout in before heading out. We started out towards Byron Bay, the eastern most point of Australia and were on the interstate, quite a boring ride so we pulled off and went through the beach drives, lots of tourist traffic and we ended up stopping for a bite in Surfers Paradise and do a little people watching. Not all that different from Panama City or Myrtle Beach. The more I travel the smaller the world seems to become.

Highlight of the day though was the demise of my GPS unit that has done such a great job finding our destinations. We're going down the interstate at about 120 kph (70 mph) fast by Australian standards, but very slow for 285, Rick is leading and hits a bump in the road and all of a sudden I've got a missile inbound, the unit hits the road surface and bounces twice before falling into pieces on the side of the road. We stopped (safely) about 1/2 mile further. After a discussion of are we going back and if we can even find it, would it work? We decided it was a futile effort and moved on. Well it took quite a bit of effort to locate the Lord Byron, not only because we lost the GPS, but because Mardi Gras 2012 was going on and the city was packed with both people and cars. After driving around Byron Bay in every direction but the correct one we get some local advice and she told us it was down from Woolies, well after figuring out what a Woolies was, she was right and we found it with no problem. We checked in and went out to see the town. Byron Bay has a cool, laid back feel and with lots of big money intertwined with back packers. We had a pretty relaxed evening with just some pizza and beer while talking to two French backpackers. These guys have been here for 6 months balancing seeing the country with working on farms to earn enough to stay a little longer. The really unique thing about them was their entrepreneurial streak; both are finishing up a dual Accounting / Pharmacy degree and want to develop a biotech company to develop the next big drug. Rick and I talked about some of the advantages in the US and business in general, never too far removed from work, I suppose. Being Sunday night and surfing coming up tomorrow, we decided to call it an early night.

Day 13

Lismore to Brisbane Map 205 km( 127 miles)

Diana Plaza Brisbane

Back to the beautiful Australian weather, we’re headed to Brisbane today; this is as far south as we’ll ride and marks our transition to the coastal riding. We stopped at a couple of parks / lookouts on the way, but the highlight was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I got to hold a koala (even softer than they look) as well as feed/pet kangaroos, emus and such, plenty of pictures. I know I’m limited on detail here, but I can’t put into words how cool this really was. I thought this was just going to be a tourist trap but it was a great experience and we closed the park down and would have stayed longer if we could.

We went out last night expecting to experience a Brisbane Cinco de Mayo as this was on the news earlier in the week. Well the celebration was quite weak, actually non-existent; guess the news had it wrong again. Brisbane didn’t disappoint otherwise though and the Southbank was packed. 

If you don't browse the full picture album, here are two:

Day 12

Bellingen to Lismore 275kms (171 miles)

LismoreWilson Motel

The weather was calling for showers all day but thankfully, the sun held out. Today’s route didn’t have any sightseeing stops unlike yesterdays “Waterfall Way” but it was one of the better rides. Not much traffic and nice curvy roads, very similar to SR-180 in N. GA, in goat path kind of way, what was different was the tractor trailers that use this road, not many, but when they showed up, I was on my toes!! It was really a day devoted to riding, no pictures even. We finished the day in Lismore around 3:30, add 45min to clean up and we were in the town by 4:30. Turns out this was graduation weekend for Southern Cross University and another night of celebration at the local pub was alright by me. So we’re mingling with the locals over pints of Tooheys Extra Dry when Rick and I comment that the students are closer to our age than the coeds I was picturing. We start talking to a group of graduates and discuss this, it seems as though most Australians graduate high school and travel or otherwise enjoy their youth before getting on with being an adult, maybe there is some wisdom in that thought process. The other unique thing with regards to secondary education is that it is paid for by the government, the only way it gets paid back is if you earn a certain amount when you start working. I would assume that works pretty well if you were a doctor or engineer but what about an artist or teacher? 

Day 11

Armidale to Bellingen 153 kms (95 miles)

Bellinger Valley Lodge

Well it just wouldn’t be a complete trip without breaking out the rain gear at least once and today was that day. It was a short day in terms of mileage but there was so much to see that we didn’t get to our hotel until almost dark. I really don’t have much to share that the pictures won’t tell, so enjoy these and rest assured that neither Rick nor I had any problems with leeches in our eyes!! ;)

Day 10

Hunter Valley to Armidale - 360km (224 miles)

Quality Powerhouse Hotel

Great ride today, lunch in Gloucester and a fantastic hotel in Armidale, see the link above for the full route. We're in the New England area and it's fall, leaves are changing and it was a cool, clear day. The landscape over this route remind me of the Shenandoah Valley area. Strange to think Australia is about the same size at the continental US, it had a gold rush, lots of natural resources, etc, could have easily evolved the way we did. Anyway, this region is the only part of Australia to have four distinct seasons. Armidale, where we are staying tonight, has a town population of 22k, 17k of which are students, you know what that means, another night on the town, something to make us feel older and so uncool, but still something to do. I'll keep it short today, but if something goes on tonight, I'll check back in.

Here are the pictures and a video

Day 9 (You gotta see this video, AKA STUPID AMERICAN)

Windsor to Hunter Valley - 263km (163 miles)

Pokolbin Village hotel

Hey guys- Rick here. You may be asking yourself why it is that I am posting for Paul. Well, I felt it necessary to try and explain what may be one of the dumbest things I have ever done. While riding on the famous Putty Road today, I thought it would be really cool to get a little video of us ripping through a few corners. We scouted a perfect spot and Paul set up the mini tripod and camera and I rode down the mountain to get my run started. I was so excited about getting a good video that I forgot the most important rule in riding- STAY ON YOUR OWN SIDE OF THE ROAD!!! For whatever reason, I totally cheesed it and reverted back to riding on the right side of the road. All I can say is that it is not my time to go. If it was, I'd be writing this from my grave. I learned my lesson and can say without a shadow of a doubt that I will not repeat this again. Without further adieu.....

PS- I'll apologize in advance for the gratuitous swearing. Apparently, a brush with death will make you cuss like a sailor!!!

Now watch it again and look in the motorcycle mirror at Paul trying to warn me and then bracing for impact- Classic!

Other than the near miss, it was a pretty laid-back day as we rolled into Hunter Valley and Australia's wine country. I started to drink immediately to take the edge off of the day.

Just glad to be here for the rest of the story!

... And, I'm back, here is what we were trying to go for:

Rick's second try!!

Me!

Here are today's pics too.