much that they hadn’t left.
“Who could blame ‘them’ for stay-
ing,” she commented.
Meeting Jeremy from Canada and
on a BMW HP2 and New Zealander,
Shane on a DR650, it occurred to
Steph that all travellers do so for a
reason and if they stay “together too
long, we might find out EXACTLY
what those reasons were!”
The trio discovered a very differ-
ent side to Australia when visiting the
alternative community of Nimbin,
close to the border of Queensland
and New South Wales.
“Nimbin is the home of the alter-
native lifestyle, promoting self-suffi-
ciency, sustainability and of course
(being hippies) the use of cannabis,”
explained Steph.
“It has hosted a Mardi Grass festi-
val since 1993 and could be described
as a mini Amsterdam without the
red lights, in the heart of New South
Wales. We couldn't resist checking
it out. It certainly sounded different
to the rest of Australia and "different"
was something we all shared a love
for.”
“No one batted an eyelid at 3 ar-
moured bikers riding in to town!”
The lifestyle suited Steph, plans on
hold, enjoying the community and
friendship of the locals. There was
only one deadline, to be in Sydney by
January 10, 2015 to be interviewed on
live television, Weekend Sunrise, a
promise she had made when leaving
the UK.
The warmth of the Australian sum-
mer had given Steph renewed spirit,
she learnt to surf discovering Austra-
lian beaches and was now on her way
to discovering more. Two nights in
Walcha, slightly inland and north of
Sydney, allowed for pleasant nights
as the temperature was much cooler,
odd for this time of the year. It was
welcomed.
Rhonda, Steph’s little red Honda
had other plans. Overnight rain and
the cool air was enough for the bikes
TRAVERSE 39
battery to say, ‘no more’, Rhonda re-
fused to start.
An energetic push and Rhonda was
up and running again, the pair were
back on the road and riding into the
cool morning. Cool enough to war-
rant the use of the heated grips, a first
since leaving the Himalaya’s. A first
for an Australian summer.
Picking up a 140 kilometre forest
track that “ran through some stun-
ning countryside” Steph headed to-
ward Gloucester.
“We had the place to ourselves,
aside from a couple of large Kanga-
roos who joined me for a while!”, she
mused.
“Why is it that roos insist on run-
ning in front of you? They seem to
have a death wish. No matter which
way they were travelling before, they
turn and head straight in to the path
of your front wheel!”
“Luckily, I have come to expect this
and so it ended well for both me and
the roo this time!”