Day Eight - The trip with no name - Friday 15 Feb 2013

Would you love to hear or read something witty today?

Read a book! No just kidding, as I type this something should come to mind; I hope.

Yesterday was the first day to the Adventure Travel Film Festival which will go through to Sunday 17 Feb 2013. Already seen two great films but had to skip the third one to go do some washing etc.

From the lessons learnt on this trip, I am begnning to learn the realitys of what you can and can not pack and this is all related to your own flexibity and the size of your bike. Yesterday I posted home a spare jacket, a power lead and a few other things. About one saddle-bag in size and close to five kilos of weight. This will make packing easier and less strain on the bike. I am starting to see that whilst some people can cycle around Australia, or ride little postie bikes and so forth, that crossing the the top end on my 650 Yamaha is a worry. Accordingly, I am thinking about crossing the Nullabor, travelling west to Albany and then re-assessing at that time. It would be nice to get to Broome and sit on Cable Beach. At the Film Festival their are a number of riders who have travelled acroos and through Australia and so today and tomorrow I will ask for their advice.

My other concern is that there are a number of people from the motorcycle travelling group I am involved with - Horizons Unlimited - that I had planned - at least in my head to drop in and see. Several are here at the film festival and have reminded me as such. I hadn't really planned out this trip very well and as such not really included these visits. If I double-back I can then make sure that I visit these guys, which is really the inspiration for the whole trip in the first place.

If I don't make it right around on this bike that's AOK. I can see a Yamaha FJR1300 with full touring kit sometime in my distant future.

Now, for those that know me well, here is the witty bit. Amongst the handful of jobs helping out here at the festival, what do you think the most important is? I'm busy sewing patches onto the designer overalls. Can you believe it? I don't believe it. Unbelievable!