One Thousand Three H1361km

If theres one thing I would advise you to do in life it would be to explore the land you come from. Do with it with people from your own country, do it with people who aren’t and do it as soon as you can. We always tend to explore the far away lands across seas before we explore our own but there is something so enlightening about exploring areas of your own country that you’ve never been to.

It was mid March when my Irish bred boyfriend and I took a 4 day trip through southern New South Wales on a Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro. It was my first road trip on a motorcycle and his first time exploring outside the confines of the recent infrastructure catastrophe that is Sydney. We rode 1361km starting from Sydney and took our journey through The Royal National Park, Stanwall Tops, Berry, Hyams Beach, Milton, Jenolan Caves, Singleton, The Putty Road, Stockton and Port Stephens.

As a local we always want to prove to people who aren’t from our part of the world that every single bit of our home is great. Having had past experience as a passenger on the roads in Europe there is a very distinct difference between us and them. That being speed. You ask any European about Australian speed limits and I can guarantee you’ll ended up either in an argument or agreeing to disagree. We here in Australia have varying speed limits, some which suit and some which definitely do not. The one distinct difference I noticed on this journey was the variation in speed limits but also how much better they are when you leave Sydney. There is more freedom, less distraction with cameras and speed limits and overall the people are generally more relaxed. Sydney roads have fallen victim to road works, speed traps, school zones and terrible traffic. Getting out of Sydney was a breath of fresh air which ultimately makes being a pillion on smooth winding roads ever so comfortable and enjoyable. This major difference enabled us to make quick progress each day which helped with our morale, especially when the sun was radiating all of its heat down on us.

As you pass through Stanwall tops, Kiama and small towns along the way you come to a famous old town called Berry. This old town is quaint, rustic but well evolved and embodies country Australia to a tee. Well known for their fresh sugary cinnamon donuts, you park up next door, walk over to their perfectly sign posted van and place your order for these warm, scrumptious life changing puffs of dough. If you’re crazy enough not to spend $3 on these fluffy beauties there are various cafes in the town center such as The Burrows of Berry and The Figbird Cafe whom serve only the best quality food to represent the efforts of the local farmers.

Powering on we arrived at our stop for the night in a very small town called Milton. With a population of only 1,663 it was a ghost town by night and a bustling little country town by day. As we entered the town we chose one of the infinite spots available to park and decided on a Chinese restaurant for dinner which was hiding inside the local pub. As we placed our order of our favourite Chinese dishes with the lovely waitress I popped over to the bar inside the pub to get drinks. The woman was bright and friendly greeting with a ‘G’day love’ and passed over my drinks of choice. By the time I had travelled back through the pub to the restaurant our food had already arrived sitting there looking ever so inviting. Safe to say it was as delicious as it sounded and worth the whole ten minutes we waited.

When we made the decision to go on an adventure we had a rough idea of where we were going and what we wanted to see. We wrote out very rough directions onto a piece of paper and agreed that if we got lost, we’d just go with it, and that we did. Checking every now and then as the kilometers increased we found ourselves following signs. We soon discovered that this was a highly reliable way of getting around. Almost every single location we were looking for was clearly signposted which made our journey smooth and consistent. In saying that, there is something so exciting about getting lost and this happened more than once. As we left the town of Milton we knew what direction we had to go in. We followed the signs and then got excited as we approached a dirt road. It was our first off road experience and we got so wrapped up in our surroundings that we realised we had gone 18km in the wrong direction. We weren’t mad, we were happy and enjoying every bit of being lost and as easy as it was to get lost, we turned around and headed back in the direction we ‘thought’ was correct and nevertheless found our way.

Exploring new territories on a bike is what I believe to be the embodiment of an adventure. An adventure being “an unusual and exciting or daring experience”. Not that it is rather unusual or particularly daring but it isn’t the ‘norm’ which makes it all the more exciting and as I wrote in my previous blog, there is something about being on a bike with nothing stopping you from feeling part of the world around you that is so addictive and inviting. Here’s to the next adventure, where ever it may be.

#blog #bike #ride #country #australia #roadtrip #sydney #ducati #dainese