25-Mar-12

Mick: Sunday morning ride to test out the new tyres and where else would we go but to the local motorcycle accessories store MCA down at Auburn. Nathan and I grabbed some new ventilated gloves to help deal with the hot weather riding, some more spare tubes as we punctured one on Friday night and Nathan got a new set of handlebars as his old ones were a bit bent from a few minor mishaps off road and to increase the height of the bars when standing on the pegs.

We have decided to pretty much live on dried beef mince and whatever we can mix it with such as pasta, rice and noodles, I have started the process of precooking it and will start dehydrating tomorrow. Sounds like a good diet plan anyway, ha ha ha.

31-Mar-12

Nath: The final packing day where we’ll all be together for the allocation of communal items i.e. gas cooker, pot, tire inflating devices, tools, medical supplies and coffee percolator.

All three of us where bubbling with excitement and felt the need to get on the bikes and ride. I was lucky enough to ride to and from Mick’s place fully loaded up to get a feel for the bike. Surprisingly the bike rode better, sure it was heavier but it just felt firmer and more stable, my right mirror was not vibrating so much I couldn’t see any thing in it. The new handle bars….. WHY O WHY did I not get these earlier, they sit just that bit higher and makes a huge difference to the ergonomics when standing up or just cruising on the seat….  Any way I had a grin from ear to ear and it made me feel on top of the world all kitted up looking like I was the one about to do the long way round.

With a cheerio and a get the hell out now ‘cos we are eating prawns and there is not enough for you, I left and the next time we meet up is to start out on the trip.

We all left with extra stuff to pack and bits and pieces to do… Mick and Buckets did what they do best after I left and drank more beer. I rode home and wrote a list of what I needed to do before Thursday.

Mick: We didn’t just drink beer, there was rum and Jack Daniels too, plus we restructured Buckets sleeping gear after a bit more thought on the air bed and he is now taking the mattress out of his swag. We had to keep our blood alcohol level over 0.5 or I think we would have jumped on the bikes and started our trip a week early.