After two months in Japan, and nearly four months in total in Asia, heading to the Southern Hemisphere felt like a big transition moment for us both, with quite a lot of sadness as we waved goodbye to Japan. The seasons were catching up on us though and if we didn’t want to start sleeping in sub zero temperatures we needed to head south!
The last time we were in Australia was during our three years living and working in NZ. We’d visited twice – spending a few days in Sydney and Melbourne. We didn’t travel very far from the city on either trip, and so we wanted to do things differently this visit, with the gift of time on our side.
Before the trip, we had ideas about cycling north to south through the middle, or even west to east through the middle. And then we looked at the map in more detail, and the distances involved and wondered if we really wanted to spend weeks (and weeks and weeks) on end cycling through the outback. Erm, no thanks – maybe next time?!
We did want to see as much of the country as we could though, so we came up with a bit of a ‘different’ plan for us on this trip – involving flying into Brisbane, in Queensland (a shorter flight from Japan than the south-eastern cities) – arranging a campervan relocation from Brisbane to Sydney, and then a people carrier relocation from Sydney to Adelaide (more on relocations later!)
We would have a few days in Adelaide, before getting back on the bikes to cycle round the coast to Melbourne, and then a boat over to Tasmania, before heading onwards to our next destination…
Like all good plans it looked great on paper, and overall we think we’ve done the right thing. But – whilst driving long distances isn’t quite as physically demanding or time consuming as cycling – the first 10 days in Australia ‘on the road’ definitely felt a bit rushed, especially given we were both feeling tired from Japan, and in particular the last few days of busy-ness in Tokyo.
So what’s a vehicle relocation? Essentially it’s a free or low cost vehicle rental in exchange for driving said vehicle from fixed point A to fixed point B within a fixed amount of time. The van (and car) hire companies always end up with some vehicles in the ‘wrong’ place so for them it’s a free way of getting the vehicle where they need it for the next (paid) rental. Despite this rationale, it still felt a bit unbelievable to us – we could have a vehicle for free for several days which other people would then be spending thousands of dollars on to do a roughly similar trip in reverse… Really?!
Too good to be true? Actually, no (in our experience). It worked well for our purposes but the time limitations meant that if you wanted to slow down and see everything en route you would struggle, and the first van we had was… ginormous! We had been promised a two berth hi-top. Instead we ended up with what felt like a lorry with 250,000km on the clock. Incredibly comfy inside though, with kitchen and toilet/shower. A bit of an upgrade from the tent!
We had three nights and four days in this van, driving from Brisbane down to Sydney via Byron Bay, Port Macquarie and the Hunter Valley. Highlights for this stage definitely included Byron Bay – a really thriving seaside town with a quirky vibe, good food and beer and a beautiful beach.
We also enjoyed having our first Southern Hemisphere wine tasting experience by bike on this trip in the Hunter Valley (plus our first kangaroo sighting!), and our first fish and chips in a loooong time at Port Macquarie. Anyone who knows Matt’s family knows that Fish and Chips are a key part of their well rounded diet, so this was quite the event.
Lowlights were… the weather. We had naively thought that arriving into Australia in November meant blue skies and warm days. Erm, not this year. Our first few days were spent mainly in the rain with some epic downpours including the heaviest ever whilst driving (Matt did very well to keep our lorry on the road). Good job we weren’t on the bikes…
We had a night between relocations so booked ourselves into a suburban campsite in Sydney, pitched the tent and then caught a train into town to explore the city.
We were lucky to catch some sunshine that afternoon and enjoyed the obligatory walk around the harbour, taking in the famous Opera House and Bridge.
Our second relocation meant we would be continuing to sleep in the tent (luckily we hadn’t quite got used to the luxury of a campervan set- up) but in good news – Matt was driving a brand new Kia Carnival with only 2,000km on the clock. This felt very swish, complete with all of the bells and whistles you expect in a new car and quite the novelty for us!
We decided to take a cross country route to Adelaide, including stops in Canberra, Albury, Bendigo and Nhill. Canberra is one of the smallest capital cities we’ve visited – purpose built for the role, we had a fun afternoon exploring on our bikes including just turning up at the Parliament House and being treated to watching a debate in the Senate.
We learnt that Albury had been a contender for capital city, sitting as it does on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. For us, it was the scene of delicious ice cream, a roast dinner (again the first in a long long time) and the most ridiculous thunderstorm of the trip so far.
Both missing our Mum’s efforts!
Unfortunately, this time we were in the tent. Which unfortunately has lost quite a bit of its waterproof capabilities in the many months of use – regular readers will remember those traumas! The lightning was impressive, the thunder deafening, the rain… very wet. Emails duly sent to Big Agnes (manufacturers of our sleeping mats [now replaced!!] and our tent) in the hopes that we can replace the offending outer.
Gleeful (for the other)
Bendigo we also enjoyed – a town with a rail trail (another lovely shorter exploring ride for us both), gold-mining history, yummy pizza and more wine tasting.
Bendigo felt like the end of the interesting ‘bit’ before we entered the flat, dry zone all the way to Adelaide. Actually, I tell a lie! We did briefly stop at the metropolis of ‘Cope Cope’! Probably (twice) named after an adventurous relative of Matt’s (we actually have no idea before this enters the historical record).
Our proper stop for the night was in the excitingly named ‘Nhill’. Having had stormy weather, our afternoon in Nhill was characterised by extreme heat (39 degrees!). Hm, another sleepless night and both of us wondering what we were in for with the weather in this place?!
Adelaide appeared like an oasis the next day – a beautiful city with elegant architecture, stunning beaches, amazing food – and the home of one of Matt’s great friends from his time in Japan and London – Angus.
For those who attended our wedding you might also remember Angus as the handsome young man from NZ taking the photos. Looking not a day older, Angus is now married to Clarry and is Dad to Immy and Ava. We had a wonderful few days with the White gang – enjoying a run (I know – madness) with Gus, some time in the city, and a trip to the vineyards of the Barossa Valley.
Suffice to say, South Australia knows how to ‘do’ wine. We made the most of the opportunity whilst in residence!
Matt also made firm friends with 3 and a half year-old Ava, who started off by addressing him as ‘the boy’, then ‘the big boy’, before dabbling with ‘Matt’ (when we explained that that is his name) before ending up with ‘babes’. Don’t ask!
Gus still has the photography skills it turns out as you might have spotted above! We took the opportunity for a very mini shoot before waving goodbye from the bikes as we set off for the next part of our Australian stage.
Thank you to Gus and Clarry and the girls for hosting us and giving us a taste of ‘home’ for a short time 🙂
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