look on his face was priceless and I had to stop myself from laughing especially when I continued . “ I plan on camping and the only reason I am getting an EPIRB is to keep my husband happy .”
On another trip , I remember arriving in Broken Hill after riding all day in temperatures of 40 degrees . As I started to unload my bike , ready to setup up my tent , two fellow riders who were enjoying a beer came over and suggested , “ Why don ’ t you let your hubby do that , when he gets here ?”.
I still remember the look on their faces when I replied , “ I would but his at home a 1000kms away .”
I know when I travel , I am amazed sometimes by the sights that I see . I remember riding along a section of road between Mildura and Broken Hill . The road between these two towns is about 300 kilometres long with a small roadhouse in the middle . On the day I was travelling I had not seen another car for hours , but the roadside was covered in feral goats . As I rode along , I could see something in the distance however , because of the heat haze it was hard to make it out . As I got closer , I could now see that it was a car , so I started to slow down .
To my amazement , as I approached , I could see it was an SUV parked in the middle of the road with all its doors open . Why does a car stop in the middle of the road ? So the family inside can take photos of goats , of course .
Each trip leaves me with memories of how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world but also of the amazing wonders that exist .
I also think of all the lovely people I have met along the way . From the caravan park owner who offered me a free bed for the night because it was raining , to the kind gentleman who drilled my tent peg holes in Lightning Ridge on a 45-degree day . Yes , that ’ s right ! Drilled ! Because , as I found out when I tried to put up my tent , if you don ’ t drill your holes your tent pegs just bend .
As travellers we sometimes forget that some of our most beautiful places are areas we choose to avoid . The first time I travelled into the outback , a lot of my friends asked , “ Why do you want to go out there ? There is nothing to see .”
Yet , until you have been to a place where you can see nothing on the landscape but the horizon you really don ’ t understand true beauty . I soon realised that beauty comes in many forms . I have been blessed to be able to ride through some of our beautiful snowfields and over some of our tallest peaks . I have seen some amazing coastlines and watched how their colours then changed as the sun went down . I have also witnessed the resilience of our rainforests which were once green and full of life regenerate themselves after being ravaged by fire .
So , as I plan for the next adventure where or whenever ever that might be , I am reminded of the person who dared to dream and who turned her dream into a reality .
Keep dreaming because dreams do come true … AR
TRAVERSE 91