Countries visited: Australia, Thailand
Cycled mileage in January: 783.5km
Cycled mileage per country: 396.1km Australia, 387.4km Thailand
Total cycled mileage incl. January: 30,469.1km
January mileage not cycled 23.6km (Taxi) - Flight not included!
Days per country: 19d - Australia, 12d - Thailand
Days cycling: 8d
Technical failures: 1 puncture, 1 rear derailleur, 1 cracked rim
Link to this month's route
Cycled mileage in January: 783.5km
Cycled mileage per country: 396.1km Australia, 387.4km Thailand
Total cycled mileage incl. January: 30,469.1km
January mileage not cycled 23.6km (Taxi) - Flight not included!
Days per country: 19d - Australia, 12d - Thailand
Days cycling: 8d
Technical failures: 1 puncture, 1 rear derailleur, 1 cracked rim
Link to this month's route
We finished last month and last year in Albury, half way between Canberra and Melbourne. After a relaxed New Year's Eve and an equally relaxed New Year's Day we continued riding on January 2nd.
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| Strolling around Albury |
After a lot of highway cycling on the way to Albury we were looking forward to the way to Melbourne as it would include mainly secondary roads and even two cycle trails.
On the first day we reached Beechworth around noon even though the way had included some unexpected hills. In Beechworth we joined the Murray to Mountain Rail Trail which we followed for most of the remaining day.
On the first day we reached Beechworth around noon even though the way had included some unexpected hills. In Beechworth we joined the Murray to Mountain Rail Trail which we followed for most of the remaining day.
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| Cycling the Murray to Mountain Rail Trail |
We called it a day when we got to Benalla which featured a caravan park.
The next day included some more secondary roads that eventually led us to the Great Victorian Rail Trail. We had a fun afternoon following that trail for 60 kilometres or so until we reached the small village of Molesworth where there was a budget camping option in a public park.
The next day included some more secondary roads that eventually led us to the Great Victorian Rail Trail. We had a fun afternoon following that trail for 60 kilometres or so until we reached the small village of Molesworth where there was a budget camping option in a public park.
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| The Great Victorian Rail Trail |
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| Another stretch of the Great Vistorian Rail Trail |
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| We found this cute Echidna along the way |
From Molesworth we followed the trail to one of its terminuses in Yea. There was some excellent coffee to be had in Yea and we spent way too much time in a café updating the blog. We had planned to make a short day and only go to a reserve some 40 kilometres further on. When we had last checked the council's website the reserve was supposed to be open. Luckily we checked the website again before we set off. In fact it was closed now. We reassessed our plan and found another caravan park an additional 30 kilometres from our original camping spot. Subsequently we would have to ride 70 kilometres and after faffing about in Yea it was already 2.30pm. Bugger!
It was a struggle but we actually got to the caravan park just before the office closed. When we checked the weather forecast we realized there would be a 40+°C heatwave in Melbourne the day after tomorrow. With more than a week left until our flight to Thailand we had thought about stretching the way into Melbourne a bit longer but as things stood we decided to rather get there tomorrow and escape the heat.
The good thing about pushing on to the caravan park was that there was only about 60 kilometres left to Melbourne. It was a surprisingly pleasant ride into town and we really appreciated Melbourne's extensive cycleway network. On the way we also hit the 30,000 kilometres mark. We decided this would be a good excuse for a pizza for dinner.
Just after noon we reached the hostel. The cheap price and the central location was the only thing it had going for it. There was no A/C, the room was crammed and dark, the filthy kitchen lacked cooking utensils and the guests were mostly the drink-until-you-throw-up type. We decided to have a coffee outside rather than hanging around in the hostel. In the evening we finally treated ourselves to our 30,000 kilometres pizza!
It was a struggle but we actually got to the caravan park just before the office closed. When we checked the weather forecast we realized there would be a 40+°C heatwave in Melbourne the day after tomorrow. With more than a week left until our flight to Thailand we had thought about stretching the way into Melbourne a bit longer but as things stood we decided to rather get there tomorrow and escape the heat.
The good thing about pushing on to the caravan park was that there was only about 60 kilometres left to Melbourne. It was a surprisingly pleasant ride into town and we really appreciated Melbourne's extensive cycleway network. On the way we also hit the 30,000 kilometres mark. We decided this would be a good excuse for a pizza for dinner.
Just after noon we reached the hostel. The cheap price and the central location was the only thing it had going for it. There was no A/C, the room was crammed and dark, the filthy kitchen lacked cooking utensils and the guests were mostly the drink-until-you-throw-up type. We decided to have a coffee outside rather than hanging around in the hostel. In the evening we finally treated ourselves to our 30,000 kilometres pizza!
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| Woohooo - 30,000 kilometres! |
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| Approaching Melbourne |
The next days went by rather uneventfully. We had ordered some spare parts to replace the worn drivetrains of our bikes before flying to Thailand. In fact the parts had arrived in our absent and we spent two afternoons working on the bikes and boxing them for the flight. We had also ordered a replacement for Dominik's cracking rim. For some reason the shop had managed to use the correct address but to get the country wrong. Essentially they sent the parcel to a non-existent Melbourne in New Zealand. They admitted to have messed things up and agreed to send a new parcel to Thailand.
Apart from working on the bikes we wandered around town daily and avoided spending much time in our disgusting hostel.
Apart from working on the bikes we wandered around town daily and avoided spending much time in our disgusting hostel.
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| Victoria State Library |
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| Downtown Melbourne |
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| Shopping at the Queen Victoria Market |
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| Working on the bikes - time for a new inner tube! |
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| Carlton Gardens and Royal Exhibition Building |
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| Cooling down in a 40°C heatwave |
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| Strolling along the Yarra River |
On 13th we finally left. We had booked a bus to the airport and all went well despite the crazy traffic. When we checked in our luggage they didn't even ask as to put the bike boxes on the scale. Why can flying not always be that hassle-free!
After 8 hours we reached Bangkok. We seemingly arrived in a rush hour and it was almost 3 hours until we had claimed our bags and had cleared customs and immigration. Imm and P.Py from Spinning Bear Hostel were already waiting for us to pick us up.
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| On the flight to Bangkok |
After a good night's sleep we spent the next morning preparing the paperwork to apply for Chinese visas. On Monday we went to the service centre that handles all visa requests. It was quite an ordeal to make them accept our application but in the end we succeeded.
There wasn't much to do for us for the rest of the week. We re assembled the bikes and did some research for the onward route. On Friday we returned to the Chinese visa service centre to pick up our visas. We were lucky and got 2x30 days – exactly what we had applied for. Check out our Instagram post for details on our onward route.
There wasn't much to do for us for the rest of the week. We re assembled the bikes and did some research for the onward route. On Friday we returned to the Chinese visa service centre to pick up our visas. We were lucky and got 2x30 days – exactly what we had applied for. Check out our Instagram post for details on our onward route.
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| Chinese visa |
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| Food market in Bangkok's Bankapi suburb where we stayed for 2 weeks |
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| On the Chatuchak Weekend Market |
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| We chaught the last boat service to get from Chatuchak Market back to Bangkapi |
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| Thai snacks... |
With the Chinese visas sorted we would have loved to start cycling but the parcel with the new rim still hadn't arrived. 12 days after arriving to Bangkok the Thai Post eventually notified us that our parcel was ready to be picked up at a custom's office in town. After another day fighting with Thai bureaucracy and after building a new rear wheel for Dominik the next day we were finally ready to leave Bangkok two weeks after we had arrived.
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| Finally the new rim has arrived! |
Our first destination was Ayutthaya, the same place where we had started and finished the SEA leg of our journey last year. The way to Ayutthaya was rather unpleasant with a lot of traffic on the way out of Bangkok.
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| Wandering around Ayutthaya |
The next days were much nicer. We managed to stay on secondary roads almost all the time and it was great to get a glimpse of rural Thailand. From Ayutthaya we continued to Singburi. Despite being the capital of one of Thailand's provinces there wasn't much of interest in Singburi. We rode on to Uthai Thani the next morning. There was a supposedly interesting temple along the way dubbed Crystal Temple. Unfortunately we arrived there just a few minutes before it closed at 4pm and the tourist police refused to let us in.
We finished January in Bang Mun Nak to where we rode from Uthai Thani.
We finished January in Bang Mun Nak to where we rode from Uthai Thani.
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| Monument just north of Ayutthaya |
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| On the way to Singburi |
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| Charcoal production in rural Thailand |
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| Cycling to Uthai Thani |
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| Lush green rice paddies everywhere |
