a Harley Sportster 1200 and went out and did it . I had never owned , or even ridden a Harley before . Although it wasn ’ t my kind of bike , I did find it fun for a couple of days . The first day was blistering heat , then cloud and drizzle set in ; south east Australia has a weird old climate .
I had a couple of spare days before flying on , and happened across a skydive centre while taking a walk along St Kilda beach . It was pretty much on the toss of a coin , as I said to myself I ’ d do it if there was a free space that same day . Twenty minutes later I was being kitted out with the jump suit and we were off to the airstrip .
I hadn ’ t been up in a Cesna since my flying days more than twenty years gone , but it felt okay making the spiral climb to fifteen thousand feet .
When it came to my time there was not a lot to think on really . I didn ’ t look down , the Ruskie strapped to my back just tipped us both out and the force of the air took over . I do believe that was one of the greatest things I ’ ve ever done – terrifying because I had no control over what was happening – and I don ’ t particularly want to do it again either .
When I got back to Kent , the opportunity came to buy , from another ex-cop , a proper old rat bike . It was a 1970s Z : a four cylinder 750 engine fitted into a modified Z650 frame . It runs but there is work to do on it .
Emu Creek Bridge , an hour outside Melbourne , is the place where , in the film , Max catches up with Johnny the boy and it all ends in a fireball . It was a hard place to find , even once I got to the vicinity . As it happened some luck fell into place and I got led to the turn-off by a friendly Aussie , driving a new Ford Falcon . It was as much as the Sportster could do to keep him in sight as he was leaving me for dust .
When I came over the brow and looked down onto that bit of tarmac which snakes across the low profile bridge , it surprised me a little . It was so obviously that same image from the film , the place hadn ’ t changed in forty years and it was just as deserted … It was perfect . JT
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