Day 17 - 18 Albury

The ride from Canberra to Albury took me through the snowy mountains. Oh my God! Insane and very challenging. Thredbo to Khancoban; 60 or so km; Curves = 10, Road = 8 (bit bumpy), Traffic = 2 (barely) and View = 9. That was the top section, but the rest was good too. Lots of blind corners which aren't my favourite, but make me into a better rider. Yellow curve signs ranging from 15 km/h to 85 km/h. I was fueled by some free cookies that Monica from the Cooma Subway slipped me. The Albury backpackers is a bit rough around the edges, but is as laid back as it gets. Went on the piss to the Bended Elbow and chilled on Day 18. We had a BBQ by the river tonight and I saw a "live" possem!

Day 14 - 16

Canberra is very much like Ottawa. They have a much newer parliament building now as they have upgraded. I was only going to stay 2 nights, but last night it was $2 beer all night at Mooseheads, so I got pist. It's a University town as well with lots of international students. Great ride on Cotter rd which takes about 1.5 hours if you don't get lost. Australian maps are very bad! I saw my first Kangaroo, too bad he didn't see me as he was lying on the road and didn't have mush to say. Off to Albury on Day 17, just a stop before Melbourne. The town to town riding has been good so far. The bike is running well, but the small engine sucks back a bit more gas as I am running at 6000 rpm at 120 km/h. I haven't been speeding much...yet. Photos: On the road to Canberra from Sydney, My bike loaded up, Parliment at night

Day 12 -13

The Blue Mountains are really nice and the riding is awesome when it's not raining. The YHA in Katoomba is like a hotel! Foosball, Pool, Pinball. Some more cool travellers here and I checked out one of the Jenolan caves, which was a good day riding around. I avoided a little yellow and brown snake on the road and managed to ride in the rain for 1 hour! Photos: Hostel, Orient Cave, Three Sisters

Feb 11 to 12 Day 10 - 11

These days in Sydney were spent relaxing and resting my wrist. A couple of pictures of the roommates and others. The bars in town are very picky, we got thrown out of Patrick O'Mally's for Paul closing his eyes and looking pist on 3 beer. Original Backpackers was a great hostel. Thanks to Des for letting me store my bike in the back. Jorgen, Ganilla, Helen, Me, Barret, Len, Paul.

Feb 6 to Feb. 10 (Day 5 to Day 9)

Bike has been purchased! CBR 600 as per the photo (there will be more to come). Spent a full week in Sydney as of Day 10. I have the bike stored in the back of the Hostel for now. Hard drive yesterday on my first outing. I jammed up my wrist of my own fault, so I am not able to drive my bike right now. I will be leaving Syd for the Blue Mountains on Sunday or Monday depending on the wrist (Anybody ever used Emulgel?). I would like to start seeing the rest of the country. Driving on the left is a bit tricky, in order to exit on a freeway you have to be on the left! I ended up missing my turn for a good hour and then found myself on the Harbour bridge.
I got a great group of people in my room at the hostel. Barret and Paul are from Edmonton, Len is from Ireland, Helen is from England and Jorgen is from Denmark. Apperently Helen is the envy of all the other girls at the hostel. We've been doing a lot of drinking of course. On Thursday the tour guide had a FREE bar tab all night at the "World bar". Holy crap.
Manly beach is really nice when the wind is not pounding you. Took a ferry over and got a couple of shots on the way.

Feb 5 Day 4

Feb. 4 is gone. Some lady missed her birthday on the flight. I only watched two movies and played a little gameboy and the flight cruised by. I guess it was all my mental preparation. Free shuttle to the Hostel, $10 on return of course. Aussie dollar is almost the same as Cdn. Got drunk with Kirsty, Sayra, Marty, Robbo, Markus (all UK), Len (Perth), Seth(Ontario). So far it's just like Canada and I am missing a couple of you. Not completely sure if I'm going with a Bike or Van yet. If you would like to call or text me, my cell phone is 0405260997 (it costs no minutes to receive calls). Use Yak so, dial 1010925 011 61 405260997, should work. cheers, Brad

Feb 3 Day 3 LA

Hermosa Beach shots. Hostel was a bit rundown, but it was a great location. Flight was 30 minutes late taking off. Stay tune for pics.

Feb 2, Day 2

Just got out of the Tonight Show. Rosanne, Sex with Sue and one of the Blackeyed peas. Not the most exciting line up, but it was a great experience (doors close at 3 pm sharp means 4 pm ish). Jay Leno was the best part, he is truly gifted and the chin will be legend for years.
Hanging with American Joe from Boston. He also enjoyed the show. I expect to go again upon my return and catch Craig Ferguson for sure. Joe was telling me that Quantas is a kick ass airline, so it should be a great flight. cheers Brad

Feb.1 News flash

I got an email yesterday saying that Craig Ferguson's dad has past and he will be in Scotland as of Thursday on, so the show I was going to attend on Friday has been cancelled. Now there is no reason I will miss my flight.
I had a whole row to myself on the way down to LA. Gameboy came in handy as there were no tvs. A Hare Krishna tried to give me a book and now I am paying $1 / 10 minutes on email...bye