4D's BIG RIDE

Well I have finally taken the plunge and resigned from my role as National Sales Manager for a Marine Refueling company and my last day at work will be the 14th of November 2013.

I delayed my departure due to the sale of the business, but that is now all behind me and I am ready to go. Sold my house in Adelaide, but kept a property in Darwin as a safety net, ended my lease in Perth and sold almost all of my worldly possessions. All I have is a few bits and pieces, one fully set up bike and my car which I will sell after using it to trailer the bike to Darwin as I have already ridden that road before and it bloody hot and wet that time of the year.

The trusty stead


My work took it really well and a three day Marlin Fishing Competition I had been invited to at the end of the month is still on, was convinced I would not get to go on that after resigning, so they must still like me just a little. Five days in Queensland and three days of Marlin fishing is a hell of a way to work out your notice....my life is so hard.

So its done.... I'm ready, the bike is ready and all that is left is a bit of paperwork to complete and I am good to go. Hope to be in Darwin around the 22nd of November and then ship the bike to East Timor with a planned arrival date of the 5th of December.

Life is adventure.

I am almost as happy for you as I am jealous of you. Get on your bike and don't look back. I am sure a great adventure awaits.

On the final countdown to the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of another. My last day at work will be the 14th of November or 3 days away.

Have spent the last two weeks enjoying some corporate largess, with a week of Marlin fishing in Queensland and followed by a week in Darwin saying goodbye to most of my major customers. Funny thing is as I prepare to leave the corporate world the job offers are flooding in with the current count standing at nine. But I am sticking to the plan and at this stage and I will be in East Timor on the 9th of December to meet the barge and claim back my bike.

Thought I should post a few photos to better explain the hardship I have put up with over the past two weeks.

Nasty Port Douglas Hotel

Sushi anyone

Big smile, ugly board shorts and my 500 pound Marlin


Will be departing for Darwin next Sunday. A lazy little drive of 4500 km which I aim to complete in five days.

Life is adventure....

Well I finally made to Darwin. Four days 4000 km far too much fatty food and fabulous accommodation, well not that fabulous.



The situation has improved greatly as I am now staying with a mate in his luxury waterfront home ( thank you Fred).



But I'm really here now and this is the jumping off point for my adventure. A few things to do before I have to load the bike on the barge to East Timor, but fortunately I should be able to get access to one of my ex clients workshops to complete everything. Still waiting for my Carnet de passage to arrive,despite paying for it over three weeks ago and I need it to pickup my Indonesian Visa according to the staff at the Indonesian Embassy, not sure why, but no point arguing with them.

Really getting quite excited about the trip to looking forward to getting the bike on the barge in about a weeks time and both the bike and myself should be in East Timor early December.

Life is Adventure.

Looks like the start to a good trip. One I'd love to do sooner than later. Congratulations on your new station in life!

Well, it sounds like a great start!
Where to and for how long?

The plan is to leave Darwin for East Timor then, Idonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia then fly to Nepal and on through India, Parkistan, Iran, Turkey then into Europe. Then ship the bike to Canada and ride across Canada, down the West coast of the USA to Mexico and on down through Central and South America, followed by New Zealand and finally back to Australia.

Planning on taking 3 years, but if it goes longer it won't bother me. After that I may go again via Africa and the Balkan States through Russia and Japan. Not trying to overplan anything as I know things will change once I get on the road.

Was looking forward to a slow week of prepping the bike, but went to Toll Marine to set up for a load date of the 2nd of Dec.......but no, they have changed the rotation of the vessels (yesterday) and I now must have the bike and all the gear there by 3pm tomorrow. Who brings a sailing forward by a week??? So now in a panic to get it all done as if I miss this sailing there is now nothing till the new year. Problem is my Carnet De Passage is Dated the 1st of December so I hope Customs will process it so I can load the bike.



Sort what to take and what to leave.

Life is adventure

Managed to get the bike prepared and loaded in time for the barge cutoff time. Even Australian Customs was helpful and stamped my Carnet de Passage dispite the document having a start date of the 1st of December.

Total cost for shipping the bike (Toll Marine) with the panniers fitted and uncrated from Darwin to Dilli was only $420, but I think the guys in the international freight office did me a favour or two when they measured the bike ( thanks Guys, I owe you a very cold beer or two). All pretty easy and only took about 45 minutes to complete everything.


Bike loaded up for shipping to East Timor all that's missing is a tank bag and my waterproof roll bag which I will take on the plane.

Flight is booked for the 10th of December and hopefully I will be able to pick the bike up on the same day.

Life is adventure and the adventure is about to begin.

Vicariously enjoying your trip so far. Looking forward to hearing about many more adventures.

-- Bubba

I'm in for the ride.. good luck, ride safe and far!

What a great trip you have ahead! Love the Ute - wish we had them here.

Sounds like the making of a great adventure!

I'm in

Let's see here,3 years or so drifting like a vagabond,going from continent to continent,this may get interesting.

Subscribed!

Made it to East Timor or Timor Leste if you prefer on the 10th. Now the journey really begins.

Sorry everyone, but no photos at this stage as I can't seem to get enough speed to the wifi here to upload photos, but will post them when I get to Indonesia and hopefully better speed. Managed to get some up on facebook if you want to check it out.

Very comfortable flight on Air North's new jet and only took about an hour. The fun started when I got to Customs as I was bringing in some parts for a friend in Darwin for one of the dive companies. Taken into the office and given a hard time about bringing in the items and they wanted to know the value. I just did my best impression of not understanding for about 10 minutes until the guy from the dive business arrived and sorted it all out. He needed to pay US$25 which would be way lower than the duty owed and I suspect that went straight into the officials pocket.

Dumped my gear at East Timor Backpackers (US$20 per night for basic aircon room) and went off in search of my bike. First you have to go to Toll Marine which is past Timor Plaza, over the bridge then the second left and then all the way to the end of the road. Should be about $3 taxi ride. Once you have paid your Timor Fees ($50) you then need to go to the port to see Customs. You go back into town on the main road past Timor Backpackers/Tiger Fuel by about a kilometer and you will come to a big market on your left and you will see the Port on your left. Customs office is in through the main gate and the white buildings on your right. Get your Carnet stamped and then back to Toll for more paperwork and then to the onsite Customs guy ( was grumpy with me as he was asleep and I woke him up), bit more paperwork and then at last you are reunited with your bike.

Today the 11th I sorted out a few things I still had to do on the bike and then off for my first real ride of this adventure. Miles and miles of deserted coastline and lots of windy roads following the coast. Water lovely and warm and very inviting on a hot day.

Riding is a bit interesting when you combine pot holes and traffic that is all over the road.

Have almost forgotten where the indicator switches are, but rest assured I can find the horn button. A beep or two indicates you are either stopping, passing on the left or the right, traveling on the wrong side of the road or the worst of all I am heading straight at you...get off the road any way you can.

Managed to get back before the sky's opened up. So all in all an good day as I managed a bit of an explore, a swim and missed the rains.

Will spend tomorrow sorting out the packing of the bike and working out what route I will take to Kupang. I am convinced I still have way to much stuff and will be donating a few things to the locals or posting back to Australia.

Life is an adventure.

Good god, what an awesome adventure!

For some reason, the first few posts of yours "grabbed" me more than any other I have read here.

Like someone else said, I'm equally happy for you and jealous!

I was just looking at Indonesia and that part of the planet on my world map yesterday!

Ride well, stay safe, and thanks for the details on the logistics! Very interesting!

Spent the day packing and repacking my gear untill I got close to fitting nearly every thing in, but not all. Some donations will be going to the staff at East Timor Backpackers. I sure I will lighten the load as I go, but for now everything I need plus some shit that I'm sure I really dont need are spread over two panniers, one small top box, a drybag and a tankbag.

Had to go into Timor Plaza for a few things and got myself a data card for the Ipad as the wifi here is so slow you really can't load photo. So now I have included a few photo's just to add to the story.

My ticket to Adventure


On the big bird of freedom


East Timor Backpackers and the Pink Suite ($20 with Aircon)


The Yellow Moster visits a few beaches.






The end of the day has is rewards


Could not resist this after coming for an industry obsessed by Health and Safety. This is at the Timor Plaza which is Dili's largest shopping mall which is undergoing expansion.

I will think of a prize for the person who can identify the most breaches of HS&E in the three photos below,





Life is an Adventure.