Category: Rowing Home

After 3900km, 45 days, 29 nights in my tent, one puncture, one tantrum, 1000 dead kangaroos, zero days of rain and one near punch up with a truck driver I have arrived in Coffs Harbour. My journey took me from Darwin, across the remoteness of the Northern Territory where life is tough and people are…

The scenery has changed remarkably in the last week. The massive flat brown plains I have been riding through for weeks have been replaced with the hills of the great dividing range.  Green trees and pasture, cockatoo, sheep and balls of cotten are my daily view now as I near Coffs Harbour and the East…

I am writing this from the small town of Condamine, only 650km from Coffs Harbour.  The last six days have been rather different from the previous 31 as film producer Alistair Harding caught up with me and we took three days off to film.  Since then I have been back on the bike and ridden…

Day 28 saw me depart Barcaldine far too late at 1000 hrs due to some serious farting around. I paid the price by riding through headwinds and rotting kangaroo carcasses all day arriving into Blackall at 530pm. I was desperately hoping to get a room for the night as had spent a number of nights…

I spent a relaxing day in Winton on day 23 visiting the museums and wandering around the town eating ice cream after ice cream, until I became embarrassed at buying too many from one store and moved to the next. My appetite has gone crazy and I can’t stop eating, generally I seem to crave…

I departed Mt Isa just after 4am on day 18, for a 125km ride to the next town of Cloncurry. I was very privileged to have been hosted for two nights in Mt Isa by Craig and Vicki and their lovely family – they were a great ambassadors for the town, opening up their home…

I decided to splash out 50 dollars and stay in a room at Camooweal – it was the filthiest room I have ever stayed in but even worse was the toilet which had seriously not been cleaned in maybe a couple of years. I soon realised that no one ever stays here apart from short…

I departed the Barkly Roadhouae around 930am on day 13, loaded down with 10 sticks of chocolate and   12 litres of water to get me through the next 260km stretch to the one horse town of Camooweal.  This stretch was interesting for a couple of points – it is the remotest stretch of the…

As soon as I turned left onto the Barkly Highway on day 11 I knew I was in trouble. I was met with a constant head wind that slowed me down to just over 10km per hour. With 190km to go to my next water stop, and the bike loaded up with 10 litres of…

After 960km of cycling since departing Darwin, here I am at ‘Three Ways’ junction where I have to make the biggest decision of the cycle leg. To turn left or go straight ahead? Turning left takes me a further  2800km across the Barclay Tablelands and a more direct route to Coffs Harbour.  Straight ahead takes…

Every night I sleep out in the open in my tiny bivvy bag. This is basically a small waterproof bag that goes over my sleeping bag. It’s advantage over a tent is that it is very lightweight and I set it up in less than 30 seconds by simply unrolling it on the ground. Three…

Hello from the small town of Katherine in the Northern Territory – some 320km from Darwin’s Cullen Bay Marina where I started. Day three was a short ride of 93km from Pine Creek to Katherine. I did not sleep so well during the evening and rose at 5am on day three with the intention to…

Thanks to Alistair Harding for the production!

Hello from a small ‘village’ some 220km form Darwin. Yesterday at 0720hrs I departed Cullen Bay Marina on ‘Stephanie’s Donkey’ laden with enough gear I hope, to get me the 4000+km across Australia to Coff’s Harbour.  I was lucky to be accompanied by fellow Kiwi ‘Rob’ a soldier with the Australian Army for the first…

Hi all! Please see episode 10 of the Rowing from Home to Home video diaries – the best yet and it brings tears to my eyes just watching it. It is my favourite episode so far as it captures us becoming the first people to cross the Timor Sea by human power from Timor to…

Departure from Darwin looms!  I would like to invite anyone who is interested and enjoys cycling to join me as I depart Cullen Bay Marina at 7AM on Sunday, 14 May, bound for Coff’s Harbour.  Please do come along and cycle with me as I make my way out of Darwin on day 1 of my…

The wet season in Darwin is drawing to a close.  Wet season is HOT and HUMID with massive thunder storms on an almost daily basis.  Once May arrives, Darwin enters the dry season.  Temperatures will drop slightly and the rain will almost disappear.  I am (patiently?!) waiting for May to arrive before embarking on ‘Stephanie’s…

Hello folks! Enjoy episode 7 of the Rowing from Home to Home video diaries – lovingly and professionally put together by our very own kiwi film producer Alistair Harding.  As you can probably tell, Alistair does this for a living and if you are after professional video production, don’t hesitate to contact him! This episode…