And that's a wrap!

$107,000 - that’s a wrap guys!

I was pleased to visit the Children's Cancer Foundation offices in Melbourne recently and hand over my final novelty cheque for $57,000.

That’s $57,000 from all you wonderful people in support of children battling cancer.

Combined with my $50,000 in personal donations spread across children’s hospitals and organisations in every state and territory of Australia, the Eyes Open Ride journey comes to an official end, having pledged a massive $107,000 to help children right around Australia. How cool is that?

Pictured here with me are Nat and Jeff, a few of the Children's Cancer Foundation board members.

Thanks to you all for coming along for the ride (get it?).

For me, it’s now on to the next thing - I look forward to what life has in store for me next.

Sincerely though, thank you, it has been an absolute blast and a journey of a lifetime.

It has truly been a privilege to share my journey with you all.

To those of you living interstate (and even overseas!), if you ever find yourself in South Australia, feel free to look me up for a beer, no doubt I'll continue to look for any excuse to share stories from the road.

All the best

James

Week 12 - 14: 30 May – 19 June

Mileage

Day 78: Melbourne to Apollo Bay
Day 79: Apollo Bay to Mount Gambier
Day 80: Mount Gambier to Adelaide
Days 81-84: Adelaide!
Day 85: Adelaide to…. Home!

Week 12-14 mileage (shooting all over the place): 1,043kms

Total trip mileage: 19,131kms

Welcome to the (almost last!) blog update –  I have missed a few weeks so this update may be longer than usual, sorry about that!

The final legs of my ride, while as always an incredible experience, have been frantic, as has been my return home and battling a bit of an illness.

Leaving Melbourne to embark on my homeward journey, I truly felt that I was on the way home for the first time on my ride.

I made my way down through Geelong before reaching Torquay and beginning the Great Ocean Road ride. What a ride it was! The coastline is beautiful, and a treat on the motorbike. So many twists and turns and, with some rain through the previous day, plenty of slow cars and caravans for me to zip past.

I arrived in Apollo Bay and decided to stay put for the night. The cold was certainly getting to me. My riding gear, while right for the job, is definitely on the lighter side of things (layer wise) due to my light packing. I have employed some novel strategies to keep warm during these past few legs of my ride, including buying a newspaper and stuffing it down the front of my jacket to cut down the wind chill!

Reaching Mount Gambier, I was lucky enough to have a roof put over my head and stayed with a close friend of mine from boarding school. I also got to meet his beautiful new baby daughter. We went out on a ‘man date’, eating at a local Italian restaurant and even visiting Copenhagen’s after dinner (despite the cold) – how good.

Waking to another cold morning, I was off to Adelaide. I could hardly believe it; my ride was almost over!

Reaching my mother’s place in Henley Beach, I parked my bike, walked inside and collapsed on the couch. Only 240kms to go to my country hometown but, seeing Mum again and being surrounded by familiar sights, I certainly felt like I was home.

Henley sunset, had missed this!

I spent a few days in Adelaide, catching some friends for breakfast and spending time with family.

Monday rolled around and it was time for my final hospital visit.

I was happy to present a cheque for $10,000 to the Women's and Children's Hospital.

Pictured here with me are some of the lovely team at the Hospital:

Unfortunately I was (and still am to some degree!) battling a bit of an illness so couldn't visit the wards - luckily I am relocating to Adelaide so will pop round for a tour in the next few weeks when I am healthy.

This hospital visit marked the completion of my personal donations, and I have now officially donated $50,000 across hospitals around our beautiful country.

I was then fortunate enough to get onto Channel 9 news live in studio to chat about my ride and share my story.

This was an interesting experience given my predisposition to avoid and feel uncomfortable in photographs/on radio, let alone TV, but all’s well that ends well and I have constantly reminded myself that if appearing through these mediums can raise awareness for the cause and highlight the plight of children battling cancer, I will grit my teeth and sing and dance or whatever else is required to help raise awareness – it is the least I can do.

Reporter: Just try not to look at the camera. Me:....

The next morning I was on the road to my hometown. It was a strange feeling. The frantic pace of the east coast had not been overly conducive to reflection, so I had not really taken stock of the fact that my ride was nearing an end. I was finally hitting familiar road on the homeward leg - it felt surreal, and I was full of energy.

I met my father’s childhood friend Steven (the man who inspired the idea for my ride) at Truro.

As we sat down for a coffee, I was struck by a sudden recollection. I had passed through Truro (a small South Australian town) on the very first day of my ride and, being unaccustomed to the heavy load on the back of my bike and all my gear, had very nearly tipped the bike over in the car park as I tried to manoeuvre it around the cars! What a difference a few months and 19,000kms on the bike makes... 

Steven and I finished our coffees before hopping on our motorbikes and setting course for Renmark.

I loved riding with Steven. It was amazing to have another bike on the road with me. Rolling through the familiar country side on the way toward the final destination, I was getting more and more excited.

Arriving into Waikerie, low and behold my 89-year-old grandfather was there waiting for us with my Mum. Being on my restricted licence, I am not allowed to have a pillion passenger, so we had organised for my grandpa (Clack) to jump onto the back of Steven’s motorbike and complete the last leg of the ride, amazing.

Road Hogs. Me with my grandpa Clack, and my father's childhood friend Steven.

This was one of the highlights of my trip, cruising the final kilometres of my ride with my grandpa and my father’s childhood friend along for the ride, it was exhilarating - Clack had not been on a motorbike for over 50 years!

Riding into Renmark my heart was beating out of my chest, I had made it! Dropping my grandpa Clack at his home and farewelling Steven on his ride back to Mildura, I jumped on the bike one last time to ride out to my country home.

Riding around the familiar bends, now much more comfortable on the bike than when I had left, I rolled down my driveway and stopped the bike in the exact same spot I had ridden off from, some 85 days and 19,131kms ago.

Turning around to greet my Mum who had followed me home, I couldn’t resist a little celebratory fist pump, it was good to be home.

Bit happy to reach home!

The week that followed saw me appear on a few radio stations (appearing on one with my grandpa was a highlight!), and generally catch up with sleep and some people from my hometown.

It was now I felt the ride start to catch up with me, I was exhausted! Particularly after a bit of a big homecoming night, I had not had many large nights on the road and seeing some old friends and family for a big celebration was probably the last thing my health (or head) needed. Regardless, it was lovely to see them and was a wake-up call that I am no longer 21 and cannot bounce back so quickly after a long time on the road and a big night – time to grow up I guess.

Pushing through, I was thankful to hold an auction day out at the Wilkadene Woolshed Brewery, as my fundraising efforts are nearing to a close. This day was a roaring success, with $5,622 raised! I cannot thank the Brewery, the businesses who donated items for the silent auction, or the people who made the effort to attend enough – it was a wonderful day, regardless of the fact that I was running around for the majority of it like a mad man.

Out at the Wilkadene Woolshed Brewery for auction day... no leathers and much more relaxed!

As I write this blog update there is just under two weeks remaining to donate to the Children's Cancer Foundation.

I have a few events to attend and present at, which I look forward to doing once I am back to full health. Sharing my story and creating awareness is a huge part of my ride and I have been very grateful to have had the opportunity to do so at many points throughout my ride.

It truly has been an incredible journey. It has not quite sunk in yet, but I do look forward to reflecting on my ride in its entirety once early July rolls around and I fade back into social media wilderness and do not touch Facebook, Instagram, or manage a website for a long time!

Look out for the last few blog posts over the next two weeks, and thanks for coming along for the ride.

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $44,578 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations complete (I have jumped the gun a bit!) toward hospitals around Australia, this means that, as a team, we have pledged $94,578 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all, we are so close to the $50,000 goal from public donations, and the $100,000 total goal!

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Please do chuck in a few dollars if you can spare them, every single donation is greatly appreciated by the Foundation and myself. Tax time is rolling around, and donations close at end of June, so please get involved.

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 11: 23 – 29 May

Week 11 mileage

Days 71-73: Melbourne
Day 74: Davenport to Hobart: 282kms
Day 75: Hobart to Davenport: 380kms (scenic route!)
Days 76-77: Melbourne

Week 11 mileage: 632kms
Total trip mileage: 18,116kms

Welcome to the Week 11 Blog.

Well, I started and finished week 11 in Melbourne!

Early in the week, I visited the Royal Children’s Hospital to make the seventh personal donation of my ride, presenting the hospital with a cheque for $5,000.

The Children's Cancer Foundation will work with the hospital to direct my donation to critical needs areas.

Pictured here with me are Merridy and Maria. Thanks to you both for the hospital tour and filling me in on both the amazing staff, and the amazing work being done at the hospital.

Maria has been my contact point and charity guru at the Children's Cancer Foundation.

Merridy's role, funded by the Foundation, is to support the children and families enduring a hospital stay – a truly vital role in a children's hospital. Her passion is evident, and she is well loved by staff, the kids, and families alike.

The hospital itself is massive, complete with an aquarium and meerkat enclosure for the kids - incredible!

After spending my last day in Melbourne (for the week anyway), I loaded my bike onto the Spirit of Tasmania and set sail for our often forgotten friends down south (coming from Adelaide I can empathise with Tasmanians often feeling left out of things…).

Arriving into Devonport bright and early at 6am, I made sure I was covered head to toe in thermals, balaclavas, and insulating layers before leaving the ship.

Just before Dawn in Devonport, freezing!

Still, as soon as I got going on the bike in brisk 3 degree weather, I was freezing!

Regardless of that fact, Tasmania is beautiful. Riding down toward Hobart, the landscapes were breathtaking. The grass was about as vibrant green as I have ever seen, and combined with the morning fog rolling through the hills and the orange glow of sunrise, it was an absolute treat to experience.

Arriving in Hobart, I could unfortunately hardly stop shivering and shaking for a good 15 minutes after I had got off the bike.

A few coffees later and some concerned looks from the staff where I was staying, my body temperature seemed to have regulated itself and it was off to the Royal Hobart to make my next personal donation.

I arrived at the Royal Hobart Hospital to make my eighth personal donation early in the arvo – I presented a cheque for $5,000 to the paediatric ward.

Thanks to Kelly, pictured here with me, for showing me round, and to Robyn for coordinating my visit.

The paediatric ward is a 24-odd bed ward, treating children from 0-18 years old who are battling a wide range of illnesses, including cancer.

The Royal Hobart does not have all the resources of some of the larger mainland hospitals, so staff need to be proactive and deal with a wide range of scenarios – I have so much respect for staff at hospitals like this.

The ward implements many of the great initiatives I have seen all over Australia. From a play therapist for the kids, to an educator keeping the kids up with school work (where possible), to a number of distractions for the kids around the ward (picture star stickers on the roof, and fairy tale themed paintings for the kids to decipher (like the one in the background of this photo)), it was another education for me on the different types of strategies used to help children feel as comfortable and distracted (from whatever ails them) as possible while visiting hospital.

Leaving the hospital, I spent the rest of the afternoon riding around Hobart – I had never been and it is a lovely city. It has a very countryside feel to it and the architecture and rolling landscapes are truly something special.

The next day was spent making my way (much slower and in warmer weather thankfully) back toward Devonport. I stopped off at a few wineries and cafes on the more scenic route I took, and left Tassie far more appreciative of the state than before I had arrived.

I had only visited Tasmania once before, when I was much younger, and unfortunately, all I can really remember is my parents blaring ABBA’s greatest hits into the back as what I still believe was a form of cruel and unusual punishment in response to me and my two brothers belting each other black and blue constantly in the back and generally ruining the planned serenity of the trip that my parents had clearly set out to achieve.

I was happy to have my memories updated and left with much fonder ones.

My older brother Nick then met me in Melbourne for the remainder of the weekend.

It was fantastic to spend time with him. Our weekend consisted of visiting as many bars as possible and trying to see as much of Melbourne as we could, making sure we didn’t go to any bars either of us had been to before. We saw a lot of the city and what it has to offer, and was a nice reminder of how much I enjoy Melbourne. I had not visited very often since Dad was ill and then passed, as I had spent most of my free time visiting SA from Brisbane.

I am looking forward to more frequent Melbourne trips to catch up with friends in the future.

I now enter my second to last week of my ride (!) and will be making my way to Adelaide this week.

I look forward to sharing my last few kilometres of my ride with you soon.

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $33,699 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, this means that, as a team, we have pledged $67,398 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all!

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Please do chuck in a few dollars if you can spare them, every single donation is greatly appreciated by the Foundation and myself, and my journey is not too far away from finishing.

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 10: 16 – 22 May

Week 10 mileage

Days 64-65: Sydney
Day 66: Sydney to Canberra: 286kms
Day 67: Canberra to Eden: 315kms
Day 68: Eden to Melbourne: 655kms
Days 69-70: Melbourne

Week 10 mileage: 1,256kms
Total trip mileage: 17,454kms

Welcome to the Week 10 Blog!

I am writing this on Day 70 of my trip! On the one hand, time has flown by. On the other, my body is starting to feel the kilometres (I know, I know, my motorbike does all the work but still, let me complain).

Beginning Week 10 in Sydney, I dropped by the Sydney Children’s Hospital to make the fifth personal donation of my journey.

I was pleased to hand over a cheque for $5,000 and get another snap with a novelty cheque – at least my eyes are open in this photo:

Thanks to Jess (pictured here with me) from the Kid’s Cancer Centre for showing me round and giving me a tour of the children’s cancer ward, and to Sophie from the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation for coordinating.

We toured the ward, and while as usual it was a bustling place, I got to witness two pretty cool things.

One was to watch one of the musical therapists in action, banging away on the drums to the delight of the young fella in his hospital bed, and the other was to meet one of the residential pharmacists who, with a big smile on her face, informed us that she has just delivered a basket of meds for a young girl to take HOME.

It was a special day for this young girl – she had been in and out of the Intensive Care Unit for quite some time and was finally going home after 120 days in hospital!

Witnessing moments like this and seeing the pride and joy in the staff who are genuinely stoked to get these kids on the mend is a fantastic motivator for me on my ride.

The Sydney Children’s Hospital is another hospital staffed by some amazing people. The cancer ward is a pioneering ward, with a high percentage of the children participating in leading clinical trials. The money I donated will go right to the front line of cancer care and will impact not only children treated today, but will help develop cures for the future.

I am thrilled that my money can be put to immediate use.

I then spent a few days enjoying Sydney. I was staying down in Coogee, which is certainly a beautiful part of the world:

Coogee sunrise - beautiful.

While the hustle and bustle of traffic is a slight nightmare, it was wonderful to be able to catch up with a few old friends.

After fitting in some frantic catch ups with friends (which were all brilliant), I packed up and was on my way to the Nation’s Capital.

In my past job, I had often worked on transactions involving Government Departments based in Canberra. Though that was often frustrating (the wheels of Government can turn slowly etc. etc.), it was great to arrive and visit this city – I had never been.

A few of my friends had also relocated at different times to Canberra, and I was looking forward to catching up with them. I had a lovely Italian dinner, an early morning breakfast, and a very healthy lunch – certainly packed in the catch ups as much as I could!

I managed to also cruise around on the bike and check out some of landmarks and famous buildings, dodging the rain as often as possible.

It was a bit of a lightning visit, but I also managed to stop off at the Camp Quality ACT office to make the sixth donation of my ride.

It was great to drop by and donate $2,500 to this brilliant organisation.

Camp Quality receives NO government funding – the organisation relies solely on donations and fundraising efforts to facilitate the amazing programs they run for children battling cancer.

Through amazing camping experiences, Camp Quality helps connect kids and families going through what can be an isolating and certainly scary time with others in the same boat – a truly wonderful and valuable initiative.

Camp Quality has also expanded in recent years and now allows siblings of children with cancer to come along on the camps, keeping families together and ensuring that the siblings of children with cancer do not feel ‘left out’ – a real and psychologically damaging reality of the siblings of children battling cancer.

Another little fact for you: Camp Quality staff are among the lowest paid staff of any charity; the majority are pure volunteers. The staff are truly passionate and believe in what they are doing and it was a pleasure to learn about their work.

I may or may not have been recruited to apply to the ‘Bro Up’ initiative run by Camp Quality once I return home – over 50% of the Camp Quality campers are boys, while less than 30% of the volunteers are men!

Thanks to Sonia, the Camp Quality Regional Manager (pictured here with me), for grabbing a coffee with me and filling me in on the work done by the organisation.

Post caffeine hit and lunch with a friend, I set myself up to re-join Highway 1 and make my way to Melbourne – I am truly starting to feel as if I am homeward bound!

Making it to Eden, the cold was getting to me and I was spent, but happy to have rejoined Highway 1.

The day then came to reach Melbourne, one of my favourite Australian cities (after Adelaide of course!).

I am currently sitting at a café writing this blog post (so Melbourne am-i-rite?). It is a beautiful sunny day here.

I visit the Royal Children’s Hospital tomorrow to make the seventh donation of my ride, and finally meet Maria, the brilliant operator from the Children’s Cancer Foundation who has been such a massive help with my ride and my contact point on the Foundation side of things.

For me, it is then off to Tassie for the rest of the week before a return to Melbourne, and the beginning of my ride back home!

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $32,274 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, this means that, as a team, we have pledged $64,548 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all!

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Please do chuck in a few dollars if you can spare them, every single donation is greatly appreciated by the Foundation and myself, and my journey is not too far away from finishing.

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 9: 9 – 15 May

Week 9 mileage

Day 57-59: Brisbane
Day 60: Brisbane to Byron Bay: 166kms
Day 61: Byron Bay to Port Macquarie: 398kms
Day 62: Port Macquarie to Sydney: 384kms
Day 63: Sydney

Week 9 mileage: 948kms
Total trip mileage: 16,198kms

Welcome all to the Week 9 blog. Having made my way down the east coast to Sydney, the main distances have been covered and I only have a few thousand kilometres left on my ride!

I spent the first few days of the week in Brisbane. Having spent three-odd years working there, it was nice to be in town without having to go to work!

On the Tuesday, it was time for me to make my fourth personal donation of my ride.

I visited the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane and presented a cheque for $10,000 (back to the novelty cheques but trust me I did hand over a real one).

I am making slightly larger donations in Brisbane and Adelaide to reflect the weight of support I am receiving in both QLD and SA.

I was privileged to be given a tour of the Oncology Ward by the head honcho, Dr Wayne Nicholls, Director of Oncology, and also had a tour of the Inpatient Unit with the very passionate Helen Proctor, Nurse Unit Manager.

The team there are justifiably proud of the hospital they work in and it was great to be around their energy – I was very thankful.

Massive thanks to Laurie Johnston from the Children's Hospital Foundation (pictured here with me) for organising it all and for also acting as tour guide for much of the hospital.

Me and Laurie Johnston from the Children's Hospital Foundation.

A lovely team of people, and a wonderful hospital.

As with the other hospitals I have visited, there are many initiatives in place to help the children cope with their time in the hospital.

One initiative I found particularly touching is the ‘Wishing Tree’, where children can write down wishes and hang them on this beautiful tree. I had the time to read some of the wishes the children had made. They ranged from the heart wrenching wish of a young boy wishing that his eyes would work, to the humorous from a young girl wishing for more Pokémon! When the tree is full of wishes, they are collected and burned in a Japanese smoke ceremony, to release the wishes into the universe.

Other initiatives include in house entertainers, and a pet area where children can have their pets visit!

The money I have donated will be used to support many hospital initiatives and support the great work being done there.

The next day I dropped by my old law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, to share my ride with some of my old colleagues.

What a privilege it was – I had a great time catching up with many of the great people I worked with while living in Brisbane. I also managed to get my motorbike 30 stories up above the Brisbane River – how good!

Herbert Smith Freehills has been incredibly supportive throughout my ride.

The firm has generously donated $5,000 to the Children's Cancer Foundation, and have committed to matching employee donations up to another $5,000 – potentially resulting in a $15,000 total contribution by the firm and its employees to the Children's Cancer Foundation!

I have been truly overwhelmed by the support and am very thankful that I spent time working at a firm where community initiatives are strongly supported. It has been very humbling.

Pictured here with me are Vic Brockhall (rocking the mic), who was instrumental in coordinating the support and my presentation day, and HSF Partner Kirsty Faichen, one of my favourite partners at the firm and an active supporter of many of the community initiatives the firm is involved in.

PS: the room did eventually have some people sitting in those chairs… as entertaining as it may have been to present to an empty room! In addition, here is further evidence of my great track record with photos, surely shouldn't be that hard to keep your eyes open?

From Brisbane, it was then down to the Gold Coast where I met up with my younger brother Alex! It was fantastic to see him, and, combined with him being on holidays overseas before I left on my ride, this was the longest we had gone without seeing each other in our entire lives! We are very close, so I was thrilled to have him come along for part of my ride.

Alex would be joining me from the Gold Coast to Sydney, so we immediately set off and made it to Byron for the first night. I was a frequent visitor to Byron during my time studying on the Gold Coast, so we went out to a few local pubs and enjoyed the scenery, making sure we got my bike up to the lighthouse so it has now visited the easternmost point of Australia!

Not sure what I'm doing here - easternmost point of Australia, Byron Bay lighouse

The next morning, it was off to Port Macquarie. Riding in a bit of rain, I could almost see Alex smiling to himself as he followed in the car…

Reaching Port Macquarie, we took a look around town, at the beautiful beach, and caught a movie before having a relaxing night after the previous large night in Byron Bay!

The next day it was off to Sydney. We faced a bit of a decision this particular morning. Port Macquarie had 50-100mm of rain forecast, and many of the towns we would pass through toward Sydney had 25-50mm rain forecasts.

Alex had to get to Sydney to return the hire car and fly back to the Gold Coast, and I didn’t particularly want to wait around.

So, we decided to push on, and what a day it was!

I got drenched for large parts of the ride. It was an absolute life saver having Alex along with me.

It was funny, when Steven, my father’s childhood friend, had written the letter to our family upon Dad’s passing, the letter that formed the catalyst for my ride, one of the stories he told when recalling childhood memories of growing up with my father was of a time he (Steven) was riding home from Adelaide on a motorbike through heavy rain, and a car pulled up behind him, put its lights on high beam, and guided Steven through the storm.

When the storm eased, the car pulled past Steven and Steven saw it was my Dad driving the car!

Well, on my way down to Sydney, Alex pulled right in behind me, and had his lights on. I felt much safer knowing that he was watching my every move should I need to brake suddenly or come off the bike, I certainly felt less likely that he would run me over and didn’t have the stress of having impatient cars getting right up behind when I needed to ride a bit slower through heavy rain.

When we arrived in Sydney we both exclaimed how we were thinking about that part of Steven’s letter throughout the journey down!

I farewelled Alex, and had one of the best sleeps of my ride, feeling very tired from the ride down!

Me and my younger brother Alex, my support driver from the Gold Coast to Sydney!

I will spend a few days in Sydney, catching up with Friends and visiting the Sydney Children’s Hospital tomorrow to present my next personal donation!

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $30,469 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, this means that, as a team, we have pledged $60,938 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all, especially for cracking the $30,000 barrier!

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Please do chuck in a few dollars if you can spare them, every single donation is greatly appreciated by the Foundation and myself, and my journey is not too far away from finishing!

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 8: 2 – 8 May

Week 8 mileage

Day 50: Cairns: 64km (up toward Port Douglas for a look)
Day 51: Cairns to Townsville: 347kms
Day 52: Townsville to Mackay: 389kms
Day 53: Mackay to Gladstone: 443kms
Day 54: Gladstone to Hervey Bay: 282kms
Day 55: Hervey Bay to Brisbane: 289kms
Day 56: Brisbane

Week 8 mileage: 1,814kms
Total trip mileage: 15,250kms

Hi all

Welcome to the Week 8 blog!

I have finally reached the east coast and made it to Brisbane. Out of the (sometimes) wilderness, and into the traffic and the heavily populated towns and cities I go.

I was excited to reach Cairns. A great mate of mine, a fella who actually moved my admission (i.e. stood up in court and got me admitted as a lawyer) lives and works in Cairns, so I spent a few days on his couch exploring the area and having a few good meals and beers out and about.

Cairns and its surrounds are beautiful. It is another place I had never been, and I will definitely be making another trip up to visit at some point to escape the SA winter.

Cairns was also bigger than I expected and has a very rich backpacker and tourism vibe – it all makes for a pretty coastal/holiday town vibe, I like it.

From Cairns it was off to Townsville, not the longest ride but still an enjoyable one. Some of the views of the ranges and rivers are spectacular.

I dropped in to visit Ray and Ronnie in Cardwell on my way down, friends of my grandparents. I had committed to making Townsville and having dinner with a friend, so just stopped in for a coffee. It was lovely to meet and chat with them both.

I had heard about their trips to Karumba through my grandparents, and a coffee stop off is always welcome. Cardwell is located half way between Cairns and Townsville, so was a welcome rest. I know Ray reads my blog, so thanks for the coffee and chat Ray!

Reaching Townsville, it was off to the pub for a catch up and dinner with another friend, before a relatively early night for me. I wanted to be up early to catch the sunrise from the top of Castle Hill, and boy did that not disappoint. I rode up and passed many brave souls on their morning run to the top, no thanks. The view was pretty special though:

View from the top of Castle Hill, Townsville. Beautiful.

From Townsville I spent an odd ride literally being followed by rain all the way down to Mackay. It got to a point where I would stop for fuel, look to the horizon behind me to see it clearing up, look to the horizon in front of me to see it clear, and then jump on the bike only for the rainclouds to stay firmly above me and remind me of how much fun it is to ride through pouring rain.

I was keen to reach Mackay though, as another friend was visiting for the day for her work –  a massive coincidence. Was great to catch up with her, have a beer, and quit riding for the day. I also met some good people at a local pub that night, resulting in a few free beers for me and $80 odd in donations to my ride, cheers to that!

The next day I was off to Gladstone, a small detour to check out this massive mining town. Again, I had spent time at work on some transactions centred around this area – it was astonishing to see the size of the machinery and plants around town!

Other than that (and sorry to Gladstone residents) I was content to rest up and take it pretty easy.

I had planned to reach Noosa the next day, the first place on my ride I had already been to since heading West from SA!

However, detouring out to look at Hervey Bay, I was done for the day – what a beautiful place.

Originally stopping for coffee, sitting on the esplanade I decided to spend the rest of the day/night right where I was. It is such a beautiful, charming coastal area, and I will certainly be back.

The day then arrived for me to reach Brisbane, my home city for the past 3 and a half years.

Riding into the city felt a bit strange, knowing I am there not for work at all, but purely for my hospital visit (well and visiting work to update my old firm on what I am up to!) is a different feeling.

It is lovely to be here though and I am staying with one of my close friends, so it is a nice chance for me to kick back and relax for a few days.

Apologies for the lack of photos this week, the rain and my general poor awareness of snapping photos got the best of me. Will try and take some good snaps this week! On that note, I did have a query on what my bike looks like fully loaded with my gear, so here is a random photo of my loaded bike in front of some lovely scenery back when I was in WA!

The pride and joy all loaded up.

For me, it is now off to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital tomorrow for my next personal donation, my old law firm on Wednesday to chat about what I am up to, and fitting in a few coffees and dinners with friends I have not seen in some time.

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $27,394 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, this means that, as a team, we have pledged $54,788 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all.

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Please do chuck in a few dollars if you can spare them, every single donation is greatly appreciated by the Foundation and myself.

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 7: 25 April – 1 May

Week 7 mileage

Day 43: Alice Springs to Uluru: 451kms
Day 44: Uluru to just passed Alice Springs: 471kms
Day 45: Campsite to Barkly Homestead Wayside Inn: 719kms
Day 46: Barkly Homestead Wayside Inn to Mount Isa: 450kms
Day 47: Mount Isa to Normanton: 499kms
Day 48: Normanton to Mount Garnet: 517kms
Day 49: Mount Garnet to Cairns: 192kms

Week 7 mileage: 3,299kms
Total trip mileage: 13,436kms

Welcome all to the Week 7 Blog post.

Huge week on the road for me, covering over 3,000kms!

This was mainly due to my detour down the Red Centre and wanting to get back on track and reach the east coast by 1 May.

The week began with me heading off to Uluru after having visited the Alice Springs Hospital to make my third personal donation of 5 iPads to the Paediatrics Ward.

The ride down to Uluru was a beauty. It felt like a return to more of the Nullarbor type landscape and boy, when you first spot Uluru as well as the Kata Tjuta rock formations, it is a pretty spectacular sight.

FYI – Uluru stands 348 metres high, with most of its bulk below the ground. Kata Tjuta was similarly (but not quite) as spectacular, and embarrassingly I had never heard of this unique group of rock formations – very beautiful though.

I was keen to witness one of the famous Uluru sunsets, and it did not disappoint. The big rock changes colours multiple times as the sun sets. From various shades of red to a blue/purple hue. While not quite as vibrant as the tourism brochures and websites may have led me to believe, it was a pretty special sight and I managed to snap a photo that I will treasure and made the ride down from Alice Springs very worth it.

Snapped this beauty during sunset.

Not being to camp at the base of Uluru (you are not allowed to climb it anymore either) I set up base just outside of the national park in Yulara.

I met a lovely English girl on a solo trip around Australia. We had a chat about our respective trip plans and she sent a photo of my card with my website details to her Mum, who then donated to my ride! How good.

The next morning it was back on the bike headed back the direction I had came! This was mentally a bit challenging, realising I had 800-900kms of riding back over road I had already covered, as well as knowing that I had a long week ahead if I was to make the east coast on time.

Luckily, I had some new tunes on my Spotify playlist and I have become pretty good at both singing along/rapping into my helmet, and mastering some pretty cool head bops and shoulder rolls. I managed to keep myself amused for a while and made it just past Alice Springs, setting up camp for the night. It had cooled right down, 8-9 degrees in the mornings, so was much easier to sleep in the tent!

I was up very early in the cold to jump start a huge day on the bike. There were a few stop offs to include, such as the eccentric Barrow Creek Roadhouse Pub, and of course, the Devils Marbles which I had only cruised past on my rush down for the Alice Springs Hospital visit.

Again, my ignorance of this beautiful country was corrected. I had assumed there were only the two famous Devils Marbles and a few scattered others, not the thousands that fill the area!

Still had to snap the famous money shot though, these two were definitely the most impressive/imposing.

Devils Marbles. Precariously balanced.

After reaching Three Ways, I finally began heading east! The road conditions up north required a slight detour from Highway 1, and instead I embarked on the Barkly Highway, to cover what is known as one of the most lonely stretches of road in Australia, a roughly 700km stretch of road that links the NT to QLD, with only a few roadhouses to break up the ride.

Reaching the Barkly Homestead Wayside Inn, I decided to set up camp for the night. This Inn is one of those truly isolated places, yet with a remarkably large and well equipped Roadhouse bar. I guess being such a common stop off for people making the centre crossing, they need to be well established.

I met all sorts at the bar. I was even invited to a wedding up in Borroloola by an extremely intoxicated couple if only I would buy them some drinks from the bar as they had been cut off – it made for a very entertaining night.

The next day I set off for Mount Isa. It was today I left the NT and made it to QLD! 

Making across another border!

Reaching Mount Isa, I was surprised by how big it was.

I knew Mount Isa as a big mining town, and for that famous gaffe made by the previous mayor years ago, John Molony, who claimed that Mount Isa should be a destination for unattractive women, due to the high male to female ratio. Yes, somehow this fella was mayor for a time.

The hospitality was great though, and I had a chance to post some collected souvenirs home, and give the bike a clean. I was exhausted in general though so after a big feed I had a very early night – crashing pretty much as soon as it got dark!

The next day I set off for Normanton, re-joining the Highway 1 route and crossing the Savannah Way. I had been advised to visit Normanton by my grandfather, a wealth of knowledge about all destinations Australia!

My grandfather (Clack), Dad’s father, and my Nan have visited or driven through almost every place I have been to so far on their various travels. It has been great to be able to jump on the phone to Clack and share our experiences. It has been particularly entertaining to learn about how much has changed in some areas in the 20 or so years since Clack and Nan have visited, and equally entertaining to hear about how little some places have changed – there are many “one pub” towns that have not changed in decades, truly frozen in time!

Normanton is a small town in the Gulf of Carpentaria, famous for one very interesting thing, its gigantic crocs. It is known to have the biggest crocodiles in Australia, with the largest ever (unfortunately shot) croc being displayed as a replica statue in town.

I was amazed at the size of it. Krys the Crocodile was 8.63m long, and weighed over two tonnes! Seeing the replica in person it is truly as big as a bus, and looks like something out of Jurassic Park rather than something you can ever imagine seeing in the flesh.

Krys the Croc replica... 8.63 metres!

I visited the Purple Pub for my obligatory local pub visit (you know, for cultural reasons) and met some fantastic people. I do truly believe that, especially in small towns, the local pub is the place to be if you want to learn what the town is about and meet the local characters.

This was no exception, and Peter, a very vocal fella, promptly approached me at the bar. “You’re dressed up a bit fancy mate.” This was based solely on me still wearing jeans and boots from riding the bike around the town, rather than the stubbies and pluggers every other bloke was wearing in the pub.

After explaining myself because, well I felt like I had to, I had a good chat to Pete about my ride. He promptly, and in his very vocal manner, announced to everyone (there were quite a few in the bar!) what I was up to and asked everyone to get their wallets out and cough up.

Due to the generosity of everyone in the bar, particularly one traveling couple who fished out $100, I collected $185 in donations to the Children’s Cancer Foundation.

The consensus from the patrons as to the donation message resulted in an appropriate “Drive (ride) safe, stay hydrated” well wishes.

A few dollars spent on beers from me, resulting in a donation to the Foundation, happy days!

It was then off to Mount Garnet, and almost to Cairns! Reaching Mount Garnet, Cairns was so close, but I was exhausted again from a long day on the bike and the week catching up to me. Getting a good sleep, I was looking forward to reaching Cairns.

The ride to Cairns was amazing, starting to move from the arid rural landscape to the lush tropical greenery of Northern Queensland. Riding up through Atherton and then down through the rainforests into Cairns was beaut.

Beautiful, winding ride down to Cairns.

To Cairns! I finally reached the east coast, and the most northern point of it that I will visit.

I am spending a few days in Cairns, staying with a good mate of mine, and will begin the trek down the east coast later this week.

I look forward to updating you on my east coast ride next week.

Donation update and call to action

As I write this, $26,774 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, that means that as a team, we have pledged $53,548 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all.

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

All the best for the week ahead.

James

Week 6: 18 - 25 April

Week 6 mileage

Day 36-37: Darwin: 70kms (getting round the place)
Day 38: Darwin to Daly Waters: 590kms
Day 39: Daly Waters to Alice Springs: 914kms (huge day!)
Days 40-42: Alice Springs: 50kms (multiple trips to golf course and sourcing tyre replacement…)

Week 6 mileage: 1,624kms
Total trip mileage: 10,137kms

Welcome all to another week of my ramblings.

Week six was a big one, both km wise (have ticked over 10,000kms in total!) and with two hospital visits.

Kicking off in Darwin, I visited the Royal Darwin Hospital and presented my second personal donation of my ride, a $5,000 cheque to the Royal Darwin Hospital paediatrics ward. My money will go toward some new treatment chairs for the kids in this very busy ward.

Again, what a wonderful team of people they have there. Currently going through renovations, the team were extremely appreciative of my donation and were kind enough to give me a great tour of the ward and field all my questions on the goings on as well as the future look of the place.

Me with Gina Majid, Acting Clinical Curse Manager General Paediatrics, and Maureen Brittin, Co_Director Nursing, Division of Women, Children and Youth.

I finally got my bike serviced (felt a bit guilty) but thankfully my faithful stallion passed (if you can pass a service) with flying colours and there were no issues. It is certainly holding up its end of the bargain being hard ridden around this beautiful country – I am no expert rider and the bike has been extremely forgiving.

After hearing about the wonderful work the Alice Springs Hospital does in their paediatrics ward, I jumped on the phone and asked them if I could help out. They gave me the perfect answer – new iPads! This was something I had been hoping someone would ask for as I really want my personal donations to help kids have a better time throughout their stay and have some fun (ironically enough I only own a very old iPad mini for reading but I assume iPads are generally fun (disclaimer: I find reading fun)).

The ward is a 40-bed ward and they currently had only 3 iPads! I promptly ordered 5 new iPads to be delivered to the Alice Springs Hospital paediatric ward (so I didn’t have to strap them to my back) and jumped on the bike to make the detour to visit this great ward.

Two big days on the bike (1,500 odd kms) later I arrived in Alice Springs.

You and me both buddy... on the way to Alice Springs.

My major stop off on the way to Alice Springs was to visit the famous Daly Waters Historic Pub, an eccentric pub if I ever saw one, and one of Australia’s most famous (the one with all the bras hanging from the rafters). They also have very generous parking...

Nice angles.

Alice was much bigger than I expected, and with a flattened out back tyre due to the high speeds of the NT roads and the heat (see below) I needed to source a replacement!

Luckily, when I dropped in to Jetcor Yamaha in Alice and convinced them that the flat-spotted back tyre was due to 10,000kms+ of a lot of straight riding and heat and not due to me thrashing out burnouts to try and impress people on my ride, they hooked me up with a very generous deal in support of my ride and hooked me up with a new rear tyre much better suited to the type of riding I am doing.

Yep, I think this tyre is done!

After sorting out mechanical issues, I visited the lovely Alice Springs Hospital, and thankfully Apple’s renowned express delivery had performed and the iPads had arrived well ahead of me.

As mentioned, this was a bit of a detour from my original route, but when I spoke to the Royal Darwin Hospital team and heard about the Alice Springs Hospital Paediatric work and the amazing things they do, particularly for indigenous kids and families who do not want to travel/may not be able to, I had to ride down and visit.

Coming from a rural area, I know that rural towns can sometimes be forgotten (no matter how beautiful they are, hint hint Renmark South Australia). While the capital cities often attract a lot of fundraising, sometimes the valuable work and services in remote areas can go unnoticed.

These rural hospitals do not have the same facilities/resources as many major hospitals – they truly put in a mammoth effort.

The Alice Springs Hospital has a wonderful team of people providing amazing services to many children.

The 5 iPads I have donated will be used by children who find themselves having an extended stay in the hospital. The funky one I am holding has one of the hospital cases put on it to "child proof" it – given I drop my iPhone alarmingly regularly I had forgotten to consider providing some cases!

Me with Sukoluhle Moyo, the Clinical Educator in the Paediatrics Ward, and Dr Keshan Satharasinghe, a resident paediatrician.
PS: Sukoluhle and Dr Satharasinghe are both sitting on kid chairs, I am not performing some weird half standing squat.

For me, it was now off to Uluru (I had detoured this far why not!) and I look forward to updating you on my time there and my trek back north and finally heading east in next week’s blog.

Donation update and call to action

I am thrilled to inform you that we have now passed halfway in donations! As I write this, $26,369 has been donated to the Children’s Cancer Foundation! With my matching donations directed toward hospitals around Australia, that means that as a team, we have pledged $52,738 in the battle against childhood cancer! Thank you so much to you all.

I am still looking for corporate sponsors and connections so please let me know if any businesses you may be involved in or know may be keen to get involved.

As always, you can donate by clicking here.

Best
James