Brisbane 23 March

After a rapid ride across Australia, 3500k in 5 days I have made it to Brisbane.

It was a strange feeling to be in Aussie after the crowds of everywhere else. First class roads, and no one on them. No traffic at all. In 5 days I was overtaken by about 10 vehicles. It was wierd. Also Australia is so flat. I came down one hill nearing Brisbane. The rest was flat. It ranged from flat and dry to flat and green and flat with trees........just no people.

There was little to see or observe on other than the dead animals on the road. There were so many of them. Mainly Wallabies, or Kangaroos, but also an Emu, a Fox, some Dogs a Cat and birds but so many it was amazing and smelly as you may imagine.

There were lots of birds (live) and a couple of what I took for Eagles. Huge birds. Must have stood as high as the handlebars. What an impressive bird. I did see other live things as well you will be pleased to note and a bushfire by the road. Not a person anywhere, just a merry blaze !

So I have made it across Australia.

Now I put the bike on the boat to New Zealand.

So its then on to Bluff to complete the journey of Top to Bottom !

nzl04

Darwin and no bike 13 March 2009 !

The boat is due Saturday 14 March (a day late).
Customs do not work Saturday or Sunday apparently.
They do work Monday I assume, however to clear a motorcycle through customs and quarantine, will take them three days.
Astonishing that after all of the countries I have visited, all the borders I have crossed and the longest time it took to enter anywhere in the world by boat, plane, or land, was 5 hours, yet in Australia it takes 5 days from the date of arrival in the Port.
Amazing really.
nzl04

Indonesia

Finally left the bike on the wharf after returning to the Woodlands border for my stamp. Getting there was fun. 8 lanes of bikes about 1kilometer long to cross through the border, and that was a quiet day.
So I flew to Jakarta. It took longer to get from the Airport to the Hotel than it did to fly there. I was so lucky to meet a couple of locals who took me under their wing, booked me into their Hotel, took me in their Taxi, and then to dinner. What a really nice couple. Jakarta is hellish big crowded and dirty, plus it floods.
I took the train to Bandung. It was great to be able to look out the window and watch the countryside pass by. It was lush, green, intensely farmed with paddy fields scrambling up the hillsides. People working, planting harvesting and busy getting on with life. It was a great trip. The warnings that abound about travel in Indonesia seem to be overdone. The railstations and public places are habitred by the usual "hustlers" taxis, hotels, etc but when I finally found the taxi company I wanted which was Blue Bird ( Having been told often "no Blue Bird here") I also then got to the Hotel I had identified in a travel book. The people at the Hotel were great. The Hotel was great. I stayed the night and the next day I paid for the petrol and was taken for a tour. We went to the volcano which was clouded in rain sadly but again the countryside was magnificent. The rain forest, the nurseries, (by the mile) the villages, the gandening, the fruit trees, just a most pleasant place. Sadly as I said it was very wet.
So I stayed another night and went for dinner with the two guys from the Ahadiat Hotel, such a pleasant place to stay, and we were entertained by a local band playing pretty good music. A good stay.
Next day away early for the 8 hour train ride to Yogyakarta. This is also a most pleasant city and the ride throught the mountains and plains of Java was just great. Lots of rice and just so many busy people planting harvesting weeding, and caring for their fields.
Yogya as it is called has a Palace which was closed for the public holiday but I went to the most significant historical site in the southern hemisphere the book says, the Temple of Borobudur.
Then it was away to the plane to Bali. Short flight and a short ride to the beach at Sunur. Not an "upmarket" place but pleasant. I managed to get some sand and sun and a trip to the local Volcano. Again I greatly enjoyed the countryside. The plantings, the tress, the almost manicured look of the hillsides that contrasted with the rubbish everywhere else sadly. So after 3 nights it was time to move on to Darwin.
I am having trouble deciding whether Indonesia is a place I would want to visit again. To be able to ride the bike through the islands would be great but it is a nature ride for the beauty of the countryside. I would like to have seen some of the wildlife and that may be a reason to return.
Why people come to sit on beaches is still a wonder to me.
nzl04

11 March Reflections on entry and exit, Singapore

My frustration with Singapore was complete. What a bloody awful place. The rules, the nonsence, the ticket clipping. Where should I start !
I arrived in Singapore and was "waved" through customs after having my panniers "looked in" and assumed all was in order. The path through immigration and customs was amazing. A dedicated bike lane with hunderds if not thousands of bikes.
So I went to the shipping agent. I was told that I could not export the bike due to not having completed the Carnet. However in order to complete the Carnet I first had to visit the AA to buy insurance and a Certificate to allow me to use the vehicle in Singapore.
I suggested that I did not want to do that and "was there another way" ? Yes I could pay an extra $50 and get a certificate that would allow me to ship without the Carnet. Great so I went to the Port. There I was stopped. No Carnet. Go back to AA I was told. So I did. At AA I was chastised for not bringing the Carnet to them before entering Singapore. That is the system. Arrive in Malaysia and go to the border. Leave the bike in Malaysia, and go to AA in Singapore. They will "validate" the Carnet and issue insurance and Licence. Return to Malaysia and collect bike. Ride to customs and immigration and exhibit Carnet which they will stamp. On the way back to Singapore find and hire an electronic card reader which is attached to the bike to enable fees to be collected if visiting the CBD. I somehow forgot to do that. Return to shipping agent and get anothet "letter" to enable Port entry pass to be issued ( after fingetprinting and photgraph). Enter Port. Process Carnet. Told by Customs that I should not ride bike in Port. Told by Port Police that I cannot ride bike in Port even 500 metres to loading shed. Can I push the bike I asked. No not permitted ! I ask Port Police to ask "Boss". Head office reply "too dangerous". So I now wait for two hours for a tow truck to arrive. We load the bike on the truck. Drive 500 metres and unload in shipping agents shed.
That process took me three days. The only reason I went to Singapore was to get the bike to Australia, having established that my plan to ride Indonesia would fail as I could find no way to get from Bali to Dili where I could ship to Oz. Talk about a buggers muddle !
nzl04

3 March Singapore

I left my beach resort after a day of walking in the sand, swimming and having a day off. It was great. Went to the south of the peninsula, a fishing town of Ringit, and enjoyed a crab and fish lunch. That was great. The blue crab in Georgetown however was better if you ever go to Penang.

So on Monday I headed for Singapore. The ride to Johar Baru the southern entry point was very pleasant, the roads in Malaysia are good.

The fun started when I approached the City, as all reference to Johor Baru disappeared. I rode round for an hour looking for any indication that Singapore was close, and nothing. There is the odd sign for Woodlands, which is I astablished the first town on the Singapore Island.

The Malaysians certainly do not like their neighbour it seems, but are happy for the tourism they bring.

The motorway system on Singapore Island is comprehensive however thay have yet to work out that signs help.

Crossing to the Island was interesting, there is a bike lane, and once on it the reason becomes apparent. They cross in their hundreds. Only problem is that even with my distinct appearance they ignore the formalities. So I was "inspected" with a look in one pannier and then "waved" through customs where I should have had the Carnet stamped. The AA in Singapore are living in the past. They said when I got the email from them, that I should have left the bike in Malaysia, travelled to Singaopre AA in the City to have the Carnet validated, then return to Malaysia to collect the bike and get my validated Carnet stamped as I crossed the border, so I could in turn the next day take it to the wharf for shipment.

They also isue a data card for paying tolls and Insurance so perhaps that is the real explanation.

However the Carnet was not stamped. The shipping agent says they can provide "documentation" that will allow the shipment ( at a cost of $50 Sing) so here we go, I am back in the world of petty officials and lots of pointless rules. I better get used to it because it gets worse, Australia is next.

Apart from that it is fascinating to be here. There economy is built on nothing, just providing a service. They do not even have sufficient water to survive, and they recycle an enormous proportion of it. Still building huge buildings, still busy it seems, lots of expats, Aussie accents everywhere. But it is great, it is vital, and energetic, and it is warm, very warm.

So I want to include a pic or two that will reflect the last two days.

nxl04