Pedalling Prescotts
Katie
Adelaide to Melbourne: The Great Ocean Road
Leaving Adelaide was one of those tough days. Not only were we leaving behind new friends who had looked after us so well and treated us with such overwhelming kindness and generosity, but we had a really steep hill to climb. The cycle path up Mt Lofty is well known in Adelaide cycling circles for … Continue reading
Esperance to Ceduna: The Nullarbor
I bet there aren’t many couples that wake up on their 5th wedding anniversary in a donga (portacabin), sparsely furnished with a single bed and a plastic crate. We were immensely grateful for even this smallest of luxuries when we opened the door and let the early morning sunlight stream in. It was one of … Continue reading
George Town to Singapore: The end of Asia
From George Town we headed back to the mainland and continued our way down the west coast towards the capital city. On our way we passed through a series of uninspiring towns connected by horribly busy roads. When we occasionally managed to find a back road we would gratefully escape the madness to find lush … Continue reading
Thai border to Khao Sok: On the beaten track
The Cambodian/Thai border was up there with one of the busiest we have crossed on this journey. Fortunately we did not have a repeat performance with any corrupt officials as we exited Cambodia, although they did insist on recording all our fingerprints on an electronic machine. The only place I think I’ve had this before … Continue reading
Nong Khai to Cambodian border: Meandering with the Mekong
We had become accustomed to cycling with our heads down, avoiding eye contact with adults due to the number of times our smiles were met with blank stares in Laos. When we hit Thailand everything changed. Each time we glanced around us there were friendly faces full of smiles. It couldn’t help but lift our … Continue reading
Chengdu to Mengla: Racing for the border
We managed to put away nine burgers between us during our 2-day stay at the hostel in Chengdu. Don’t get me wrong, Chinese food is absolutely fantastic but it was such a novelty to have a menu that we could actually read and to be able to eat something other than rice or noodles. We … Continue reading
Jiayuguan to Lanzhou: Entering the Middle Kingdom
A day off in Jiayuguan was very welcome for both of us. On our ride the previous day we had endured multiple sets of road works, three punctures caused by tiny pieces of metal from truck tire blowouts, gale force winds and the expressway becoming increasingly busy with huge trucks that thundered by incessantly. We … Continue reading
Chinese border to Urumqi: Flying to a halt
Pedalling out of the border area into China felt like entering a different world. On the Kazakh side there was a small dusty village and a dirt road. On the Chinese side there were modern high rises and a six-lane motorway through the centre of town (complete with cycle lane). Not far out of town … Continue reading
Bishkek to Hong Kong (and back again): The great Chinese visa hunt
We arrived in Bishkek with one goal in mind; Chinese visas in our passports. There were never any doubts in our mind that we would achieve this – Bishkek is noted on caravanistan.com (a font of all knowledge about Central Asia) as being the easiest place to get Chinese visas in the region. Little did … Continue reading
Nukus to Samarkand: The not so golden road
Sweet to ride forth at evening from the wells, When shadows pass gigantic on the sand, And softly through the silence beat the bells Along the Golden Road to Samarkand. We travel not for trafficking alone; By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned: For lust of knowing what should not be known We take … Continue reading
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