Australia (local)

A weeks ride down the coast of Western Australian from Geraldton to Perth via the Brand Highway, Indian Ocean Drive and then Two Rocks, Yanchep and the coast back to Churchlands in Perth, Western Australia.

I rode my Surly Long Haul Trucker pulling a BIB Ibex trailer.

In October 2007 we started pedalling across Australia. The point of departure was Darwin, and from there on the first week of December, almost 5,600 kms later we reached Sydney.

From Sydney we flew to Christchurch to cross the South Island of New Zealand. We changed our initial route and pedaled the whole South Island. This took us a lot more time as we thought (so beautiful landscapes and so tough mountains to climb on wheels...) therefore the plan to pedal on the North Island had to be changed...:(we rented a car in Wellington and reached Auckland almost 2000 kms later at the end of January 2008).

On our trip across the Kangaroos territory we crossed several Aboriginals' territories and national parks. Kakadu, Uluru and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)... fantastic sacred places to bike!!. Before reaching Katherine we received rewards from Life and help to survive a 5 months old Joey... we pulled him out from his dead Wallaby mother's pouch.

On wheels we carried a message of freedom, peace, love, and the joy of life.

My last three year before retirement, I have been covering 'Asia' as a sales manager. The Singapore Changi Airport has been more or less my home... I hit this airport at least three times a Months. So, I decided to take my mountain bike with me, leave it at the Changi airport and continue travelling further after my business trip. Anyway, I have to spend some miles from my contingent... Adelaide was a good destination... And I have been interesting in wineries at the Barossa Valley... I combined both...

Adelaide, a good place to stay. Nearby Hahndorf. A 'German' city. With German menus on table of the restaurant, German newspapers, etc. Visiting the Barossa Valley is easy. You can do it a day... And moreover, you find well known wineries with International reputation. Very popular the 'Shiraz', a very tasty red wine! Still my favourite, beside Californian brands. Enjoy the pictures on my site! Good luck to all the followers!

The 2011 Great Ocean road cycle challenge. Three days of riding along Australias most stunning coast line. An amazing experience. Riding with a team of like minded cyclists for a great cause.

This the story of Fernando Candido's cycling trip across the outback of Australia from Darwin to Port Augusta via the Stuart Highway, a 29 day long journey from sea to sea, a distance of 2900 km.

Since my last attempt in 2002, it had annoyed me I didnt complete, and as time passed, I realized I had to try again, to regain at least some self-respekt. In the meentime Swiss/Australian Eugen Schilter had set a incredible new record of only 55 days and 17 hours. A time I had no intentions on beating, my only goal was to complete a full Around Australia biketrip.

I set a timetable of 74 days, or pretty much an average of 200 km a day. This would beat the Danish record of 80 days, if completed. I made an agrement with the Australian Red Cross to promote Blood Donation, in return I was allowed to wear their logo on my back, hoping for some goodwill and a safer ride in the traffic.

This time I brought camping gear with me, it would be cheaper acommodation and I would not have to rely on roadhouses as much as last time. I had a trailer too, and it meant lots of space for food and water on the long parts. Afterall, I wasent going for the world record, so a few extra kg didnt matter.

I choose a route going more north this time, up to Innisfall, then west to Normanton and south to Cloncurry. This would ad nearly 500 km ekstra to the trip compared to 2002.

I have a confession to make. There are times when I enjoy planning our trips as much as taking them. There is a certain excitement to putting a magic marker on a map knowing that you will be following that zig zag line on your bike. Could it be that the planning process heightens the anticipation of the trip? Is it the beginning of the adrenaline rush? And if it was adrenaline that we were looking for, then why not go to the adrenaline capital of the world, New Zealand!

The tour would begin in Wellington at the southern tip of the North Island. We would take a ferry ride across Cook Sound to Picton. From there we would make our way to the coast and bike along side the Tasman Sea to Haast. At Haast we would turn inland to Lake Wanaka and Queenstown. After taking a week off from biking to hike the Milford Trek, it would be back across the island to the Pacific Ocean and Dunedin. Our trip would end in Dunedin where we take the bus to Christchurch and then the train back to Picton.

Am Morgen des 01.12.07 landete Mäfju in Auckland. Auf seiner 4 monatigen Reise will er die Nord- und auch die Südinsel erkunden. Er startete entlang der Westküste Richtung Süden und passierte einige Herr der Ringe Drehorte, bevor er in die von Surfern geliebte Gegend um Raglan kam. Dort verließ er die Küste und fuhr quer durchs Land nach Rotoruo, wo er für einige Tage bei einer Familie verbrachte, die ihn schon in Auckland eingeladen hatte. In diesen Tagen erkundete er die sehr aktive Geothermische Gegend mit Vulkanen, Geysiren und vielen blubbernden Tümpeln. Danach ging es weiter an die Ostküste und entlang dieser wieder nach Auckland. Damit war die erste Runde geschafft. Der zweite Abstecher führte ihn in den Norden wo er in Paihia Silvester verbrachte.

Dopo Patagonia, Toascana, Sicilia e Corsica ecco la cigliegina sulla torta: la Nuova Zelanda da Auckland a Christchurch in bicicletta. Due mesi e mezzo e 4500 km (almeno credo, il tour deve ancora finire!) tra laghi, vulcani, alpi e splendidi paesaggi costieri.

As I came to the sign ``Perth 46 km'' I become a bit sentimental. I remembered a moment on the opposite side of time and space, the end of the first day (Day 0) just outside of Darwin. I was at the kitchen of a caravan park and a young fellow asked me where I was going to. ``I'm cycling to Perth'', I said. I had a sum total of 41 km under my belt at that time. The other camper, preparing the meal at the kitchen, looked at me bewildered, thinking probably ``What is this lunatic talking about?''.

A three month bicycle journey through both islands of New Zealand. It begins in Christchurch in January 2008 (south island) and ends in auckland (north island) in April 2008. This is a Live-blog that already contains a lot of information...and during the trip you can track my route and read fascinating reports with amazing pictures!

Our trip began in Wellington at the southern tip of the North Island. After a day to adjust to the time and date differences, we took a ferry across Cook Sound to Picton. From there we made our way to the coast and biked along side the Tasman Sea to Haast. At Haast we turned inland to Lake Wanaka and Queenstown, the adrenaline capitol of the world. After taking a week off from biking to hike the Milford Trek, it was back across the island to the Pacific Ocean and Dunedin, where we stopped cycling and used wonderful New Zealand public transportation to make our way back to Wellington.

On the road, we stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand owned by Maoris natives, the first peoples to inhabit New Zealand. They gave us a warm welcome and soon the whole family, aunts, uncles, and children, was buzzing around us. They showed us their craft centre and took some pictures. Thinking we were missing something, they made us a Baby on Board sign. We fastened the sign to Marjolaine's bike, over-thanked our hosts, and were back on the road an hour and a half later with 3 tomatoes, 1 avocado, and 10 kiwis.

Around the Bay in a Day is a major cycling challenge ride organised by Bicycle Victoria around Port Phillip Bay. Over 200km in length and with headwinds guaranteed for part of the ride at least, the ride attracts in excess of 6,000 participants, it is a major event on the calendar of challenge rides in Australia.

Named after Sir Douglas Mawson, one of Australia's greatest Antarctic explorers and geologists, the Mawson Trail is a mountain bike touring route extending nearly 900 kilometres from the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia to Blinman in the Northern Flinders Ranges. The trail uses a combination of gravel roads, farm access roads, forestry tracks, fire tracks, roadways which were surveyed but never actually built and short stretches of sealed road. It passes through forests, vineyards, grain farms and sheep and cattle properties to reach the arid and semi- arid country of the South Australian outback.

James Esmond was not the first person to find gold in Victoria but his discovery of alluvial and quartz gold on the Clunes ``run'' triggered the great gold rushes of western Victoria in 1851. When the rushes ended and the gold ran out, a number of towns and cities struggled to adapt to being country farming towns or faded away into insignificance. The gently rolling countryside and attractive old towns of the western goldfields provides the perfect opportunity for cycling touring. Seventeen cyclists from South Australia and Victoria accompanied Alan, Mary and David on Adelaide Touring Cyclists third bicycle tour through this region.

Tony was recuperating from major surgery to replace a faulty valve in his heart and felt the need to be some place warmer than Adelaide in a cold and wet winter. It had been nearly twenty years since David had returned to Far North Queensland where he was born and where he had spent his early life. These two old farts left their partners in the cold and flew off to the tropical paradise for a few weeks of sun and relaxation.

``The Great Heart Travelers'' promote the blood donation riding around the world. They made a Europe tour of 5400 km in 2004, and a tour in New Zealand in 2005.

In March 1996, I sold my home to fulfil a dream I'd had since my childhood. At age 46, I'd always wondered if one day I might realise my ambition to ride horseback the length of the beautiful country in which I live - New Zealand. So I did it.

It took almost a year but my trip was complete, and this is the story of my journey. It's not just my story, though. The journey was more than a physical one - it became a mental, emotional and spiritual journey as well. And not only for me, it affected (I hope all positively!) the lives of so many other people.

I hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoyed living it!

The Waterous Trail is a fairly easy two day ride that takes in some of the Munda Biddi Trail in Western Australia. A great trail to ride to to get away for the weekend or to get a taste of off-road touring.