Home

Tuesday 23rd December:-



Well, it's been 2 weeks since I arrived back home from Sydney (pictured above). Apologies for those waiting for the final installment, but I thought it right to spend a couple of weeks deep in reflection before the final 'inspirational' summary??

Back to Sydney - Having finally reached Tim & Jo's house, late on the Friday night (day 12), it was great to wake up on the Saturday morning knowing that I didn't need to venture anywhere near the bike and I celebrated with a big mug of hot tea and a non-muesli based bowl of cereal. Great surprise as well - I didn't realise but Jen & Ad had flown all the way up from Melbourne for the weekend - great to see them again! (45 minutes flight as opposed to 82 hour cycle!)

It was a very chilled weekend in Sydney and it was great to finally relax:-

Kid's birthday party Sat am:-



very important of course here in Australia to stay rehydrated through the day:-



Male bonding around Manly North Head Sat pm:-



The newly weds:-



What the hell is that!?!:-



and I did get a little homesick when we wandered past Shelly Beach (add a little concrete, a few scallies and some smatterings of dog sh*t and you can start to see a little bit of Moreton Shore there, yes?):-



Why Tim & Jo like it here - I've no idea!?! I used to think Tim lived in 'Manly' because he was possibly struggling with his own sexual identity and needed to reinforce himself with as many positive heterosexual affirmations as possible... but I now realise that it is probably because Manly truly is a great spot to be based!

But after 3 and a half weeks away from home, I was desperate to get back and be with Sally, Tom and Lucy. So, after an awesome weekend in Sydney, Monday came and it was time to wrap this adventure up and head back to where I belong - back home to my family in Greasby!

I hopped onto Manly ferry, took approximately 100 pictures as I passed the Sydney Opera House:-



and made my way to the airport.

A quick scoot round the airport shops to load up on some Australian memorabilia (please tell me those aren't Liverpool football shirts?) and I'm good to go!



Now, for many, the prospect of being sat on a plane for 28 hours may not be their idea of a good time - but for me, I couldn't have been more excited! A successful trip away was now drawing to a close and 1 stag-do, 1 best-man's wedding duties and 1 bicycle tour later and well... I had nothing left to plan, nothing left to organise and nothing left to fret over - I was filled with an extremely warm feeling of satisfaction and contentment - 28 hours sat on a plane, seats with a surface area 30x greater than a bike saddle, maybe a beer or 3, read a book, watch a movie, catch a few zzzz's - oh yes, BRING IT ON!!!....

...but not for the 1st time on this trip, with the end in sight (10 minutes until boarding and 40 minutes until the flight was due to take-off) - the proverbial century just a single run away - and despite getting to the airport with over 3 hours to spare (a personal record in being organised, Sally you would have been most impressed), and....

...I missed my flight!

I'm not really too sure what exactly happened at 5.05pm on Monday the 8th of December... but it was a bit like that horse in the National 50yrs ago - got round the 30 fences no problem, into the home straight, victory assured and then, with no warning, inexplicably buckling with yards to go and collapsing to a heap onto the ground.

As possibly one of the fittest people in the airport that day, it was ironic (to say the least) to be told that I would NOT be allowed to board the flight as I was 'unfit' to fly...

Maybe it was the excitement of being only 40 mintues away from personal nirvana, maybe it was chronic exhaustion after a hectic few weeks, maybe there was a little dehydration issue from a weekend with several beers and some champagne knocking around, I've got a funny feeling that a tuna sandwich from the cafe an hour before may have had something to do with it, but whatever it was I suddenly cramped up, fell to the floor in foetal position frog-breathing for the next breath, perspiring profusely and (apparently) going as white as a sheet, before paramedics arrived ("quick, there's a guy having a heart attack" - the message they received!) - 10 minutes and 2 bottles of water later, and I was fine! but it was too late, I wasn't allowed onto the flight.... not without having a medical 1st to prove my fitness!!!

...and so, as Qantas flight QF31 accelerated down the runway, London bound, yours truly was being unceremoniously wheelchaired out of Sydney airport to the taxi rank whereupon I was driven around the Sydney suburbs attempting to find a medical centre that would be open at 6.30pm...

...at 8.40pm, I emerged from an 'interesting' (apparently medical) establishment, complete with diagnosis (colic!) and the all clear to go ahead with a 'fitness to fly' certificate - wahoo! and for all those females reading this, it's not easy being a bloke you know!

So, with pride slightly dented, I returned to Sydney airport and thanks to the Herculean efforts of Brad (the Qantas airport manager and my 1st Brad of the trip, to go along with 1 Bruce, 1 Rod but no Sheilas in the Australian 'I spy' name game), I boarded the next flight out of Sydney, albeit to a slightly off-axis destination:-



but nevertheless, heading 'sort of' towards home!

And what a great flight back - the Japanese, renowned for their politeness, respect and compact frames, meant that the flight was a far more pleasurable experience than being crammed in to a Boeing 747 with 550 pis*ed up lardy Brits! A 5 hour stop-over in Toyko, 12 more hours on a flight with 2 spare seats to the side of me to Heathrow, a 3 hr wait at Heathrow, connecting flight back to Manchester, 1 lost luggage bag and the necessary forms filled in, blow up Skippy kanagaroo at the ready, Australian hat complete with corks in position, and I walked through the customs doors to be greeted by my family!

A fantastic trip to Australia? - unquestionably YES! Great to catch up with old friends?- undeniably YES! but glad to be back home with Sally and the kids? Unbeatable!

and so here we are, back home in Greasby:-



The Ugg slippers, inflatable Skippy, chocolate TamTams, a red T-Shirt with 'Australia' written on the back and - all the way from Australia (cough, cough) - the Star Wars DVD trilogy for Tom (i.e. Dad) and all is well with the family!

11 hours after returning home, after a broken night's sleep with coughing and spluttering children up and down all night, and I am outside de-icing the car in preparation for the 20 minute drive to work. I have never felt happier..

1 hour later, in work and happiness rapidly diminishing back to normal levels, and I pause for reflection - 1342km on a bike in 12 days, with a bike loaded up to the hilt, was it really that hard? Or was it possibly one of the easiest 2 weeks I have had for a long time!

Yes, it was physically demanding and mentally draining. But, it allowed me to experience all the wholesome things about life - the beauty of the outdoors, the diversity of the nature, the power of the elements, the spirit existing within communities, the friendliness of good people, freedom from paperwork and phonecalls and emails, freedom from decision making (other than 'steak pie' or 'steak and bacon pie'?), a daily sense of achievement, the spirit of adventure, the basics of life - shelter, warmth, food, water - that's all I needed to think about for 12 days? just the necessities... getting from A to B in 1 piece, that's all I had to do...

The Australians call it Walkabout... a chance to escape from the routine, head into the empty wilderness and empty the body and soul of built up trash.

I would recommend it.

..although, maybe one doesn't need to travel to the far side of the planet to experience - Manly ferry one week, Mersey ferry the next:-



(Yes, the brakes were on!)

Eucalyptus trees one week, Xmas trees the next:-



Freeze your bits off on the top of Mt Kosciuscko one week, or 10 degrees warmer on the top of Moel Famau the next:-



Refreshing ice cold lager one week, heart-warming real ale the next!!



On which note, maybe this is a good point to stop, so cheers everybody

Cheers for reading, cheers for posting comments, cheers for being there in spirit - I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did

Until the next walkabout?

THE END