TRAVEL FEATURE - AUSTRALIA BENJI BRUNDIN
THE NEXT LEVEL
“
What the hell am I doing ?”, was the thought rattling around in my head on repeat . It was about 4am on a Sunday morning in early February 2021 . Driving through east Gippsland with the WR250R strapped to the back of my van , I was about to embark on a 3-day Victorian high-country adventure .
It had been a pretty challenging year with pandemics and state lockdowns taking the wind out of many sails . As restless and frustrated as I had ever been . I hadn ’ t even looked at the bike in almost 12 months and was pleasantly surprised when it still kicked over as I was loading it up the previous night .
Short videos of bikes riding up these incredible mountain ranges start to pop up on my news feed so on an impulse , I looked them up ; Next Level Dirt Bike Tours and booked myself a spot on their next available adventure .
Pulling into the meeting point at Mount Taylor I met Josh and Myles , the team behind this new adventure ride touring business .
Josh was a quietly spoken carpenter in his early thirties , and Myles was a florist from Bairnsdale . Together they would be our lead and sweep riders . With their shared love of dirt bikes , Josh and Myles had met a few years prior . A ride out together had seen the idea born , within 12 months the idea had become a reality and tours were being run .
After suiting up I met the other dozen or so riders that I would be spending the next three days with , there was a nervous , uncertain energy in the group as we all looked at one another wondering what the hell it was we were getting ourselves into .
Josh got up as we were finishing our coffee to give our pre ride brief . Before ever picking up a
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