12th - 16th December 2004
OK, so we cheated. We wanted to be with Mark's relatives in Australia for Christmas so the only way was to fly straight to Sydney. But first we had to pack the bikes and somehow get everything to the airport:
|
|
Despite having 65kg of checked baggage (plus 15kg of hand luggage) between us, we were checked in without complaint or excess baggage charges, hurray for Singapore Airlines! After the obligitory waiting around in the airport, we folded ourselves into our seats and got ready to endure the flight. Actually it wasn't so bad, Ju was made up with the food and the movies, Mark grumpily tried to sleep. Two minutes after takeoff we flew over the beach where we'd camped the night before arriving in Singapore, one day by bike equals two minutes by plane!
The following morning Mark's Uncle Ralph met us at Sydney airport and whisked us and the bikes off to the leafy suburb where he lives. We marvelled at the multicoloured birds and the size of the steaks, and listened wide eyed to tales of bush fires. We also slept for most of the afternoon!
 |
 |
 |
Over the next few days we put our bikes back together, did a bit of shopping in Sydney (which seemed terribly expensive after S.E. Asia) and got ready for the road. Then we were off over the Blue Mountains to our final destination...