A Possible Change of Plans for 2012 ?

More to come!

Update 19/01/12;  A 3 month long back injury that shows no sign of improving means this trip is out of the question. Next time, maybe!

Outer Hebrides; Barra to the Butt Bike Packing List.

Bicycle Accessories (attached to bike)

*Ground Effect Tardis Bike Bag
*Handlebar Bag
*Keys for Handle Bar Bag
*Two Rear Panniers
*Rack Bag
*Back pack rain cover for bike rack bag to suitably waterpropf bag when over-filled
*Two water bottles
*One Trangia fuel bottle
*Rear Mounted Kick Stand - usless, ended up throwing away as it never really fitted the bike correctly so was scratching/damaging the frame
*GPS bracket and mount - not taken as no GPS maps available for the Western Isles
*Bike lock and key - light weight cafe lock taken to save weight on plane
*Bungee cords as required to tie down rack bag
*Bike seat cover


Shelter/Sleeping

*Tent
*Tent stakes
*Tent Poles
*Tent Groundsheet
*Sleeping Mattress
*Sleeping Bag
*Sleeping bag inner
*Thermarest Pillow

Camping (in various stuffsacks)

*Trangia stove
*Trangia fuel bottle
*Trangia fuel (buy in Scotland)
*Waterproof Matches (buy in Scotland)
*Cooking Pot with lid
*Foldable plate/bowl
*Mug
*Utensils; Knife/Spork
*Two water canteens
*Clothes line - forgot to take
*Clothes pins for drying riding clothes after days ride - forgot to take
*Tea Towel


Cycle Clothing

*Helmet
*Cycling gloves 1/2 finger - x1 pair
*Cycling gloves full finge - x1 pair
*Cycling shirt short sleeves - x2 each
*Cycling shirt long sleeves - x2 each
*Chamois shorts - x2 each
*Cycling Shorts - x2 each
*Socks - x2 pair
*Inner socks - x2 pair
*Shoes - x1 pair for on/off bike


Foul/Wet Weather Clothes

*Ground Effect Storm Trooper Rain Jacket
*Ground Effect Two Timmer fleece jacket
*Rain pants


Camp and Town Clothes

*PJ shorts x1
*Merino T-Shirt x1
*Long pants x2
*Tracksuit pants x1
*Casual shirt x1
*Thongs x1 pair
*Jocks x 3
*Garbage bags to hold clothes in panniers


Food Bag (in ziplock-bags)

*Buy all food in Scotland
*Ziplock bags

Documents

*Wallet
*Passport
*Travel details wallet
*Travel Sim details
*International Drivers Permit
*Rohloff Manual
*Thorn Cycles Manual


Gadgets or Electrical Items

*GPS and cable - did not take as no GPS maps for Western Isles
*Phone with Travel Sim
*Phone charger
*I-Touch
*I-Touch charger
*Camera in case
*Camera charger
*Camera batteries
*Camera SD cards
*Camera tripod
*UK adapter
*Headlamp
*Rechargeable batteries (for headlamp)
*Journal and pen


Bike Tools and Spare Parts

*Air Pump
*Multi Tool
*Leatherman
*Spare tube
*Sapre tyre - did not take
*S&S spanner
*Open ended spanner for pedals
*Open ended spanner for Rohloff drive pin
*Open ended spanners for rear rack bolts
*Allen keys as required
*Spare zip ties
*A small roll duct tape
*Tent repair kit including sleeve and seam grip
*Air mattress repair kit
*Spare garbage bags
*Spare zip lock bags
*Tube patch kit
*Tire pressure guage
*Chain lube
*Rag for lube removal etc

Toiletries

*Travel towel
*Toilet paper
*Toothpaste
*Toothbrush
*Razor
*Shaving cream
*Soap
*Body washer
*Shampoo
*Deodorant
*Sunscreen
*Lip balm
*Chamois cream - did not take as saving weight on plane

First Aid

*Bandages
*Saline ampoules
*Antiseptic ointment
*Absorbent gauze
*Compression bandage - excess baggage became such an issue that I did not take all the first aid items listed above
*Mobic
*Panadol
*Zanex
*Temax


Post Trip Comments

All up the weight was just a fraction over 40kg including the bike, panniers and Tardis bike bag. To meet most airline weight restrictions in the future I need to cut 10kg's from the above list. I'm not sure this is possible on a camping tour however a credit card tour would not be a problem.

A significant amount of the weight comes from the steel framed bike so that is something I cannot change. Excess baggage costs are horrendeous so the next trip that involves air travel will need some serious thought. 10kg's of excess baggage internationally costs around $80/kg so that amounts to $1600 return - ridiculous. I saved a large amount of money (around $700) by posting my excess luggage back home once I had finished the trip. Qantas saved me a little bit (around $240) by graciously not charging me for 3kg's of the 10kg's in excess baggage on the trip over.

Darling Downs Tour; Postponed Again!

This is starting to sound like a broken record but this ride is now postponed indefinetely. Recently I had decided to use this ride as a shake down for the Outer Hebrides Trip, but a week of wet weather means that it would be just to miserable to ride.

So what does this mean? Firstly, it means I am heading of to the Hebrides without shaking down my bike or my set up. Not a particulary great idea! Secondly, I am now unsure when this ride will take place in the future. When I get back from the Hebrides I have the Mt Solitary hike and a possible partial ride on the Mawson Trail still kicking around so this trip will be on the back burner for a while to come. It will happen eventually, I just can't be certain when.

Mt Solitary Traverse Blue Mountains

My plans for this year still include the two day traverse of Mt Solitary in the Blue Mountains via the Ruined Castle. I'm not sure when exactly but it will be some time during the winter months. The plan will be to jump on a plane to Sydney, catch the train to Katoomba and start the walk the next day. There is a slight chance I might do a 2 day bush navigation course while I'm down there but it will depend on the timing of the trip.

Darling Downs Tour; Shakedown ride for Barra to the Butt.

One thing is for sure, this will be my only distance ride before I leave for the Outer Hebrides in May so it will have to serve as a shakedown ride to iron out any kinks in my set up. Not only that I am limited for time as I get back from New Zealand at the end of March then leave for the Hebrides in early May.

Looking at my work roster the only available dates I have are between the 26th of April and the 2nd May. If I don't go on those dates then I will be heading overseas without trying out my set up; not a good plan.

I may also consider extending the Darling Downs ride by one day, making it a four day tour. That should allow me enough time to sort out whats working and whats not. That's the plan for now anyway, lets hope the weather holds but I will probably go raining or not as I'm sure I will see a bit of rain on the Outer Hebrides.

Outer Hebrides; Flights Finalised.

Today, I finalised and paid for the flights in May to the Outer Hebrides. I ended up going with Qantas and changing a few of my previously planned travel dates and times so I could do both the out and back Singapore-London routes on the A380. I now end up back in Brisbane on Friday morning rather than Sunday morning so I have reduced the trip by two days.

The Qantas flights were not the cheapest but nor were they the most expensive on offer. Return economy fares Brisbane-Singapore-London-Glasgow cost $2328.72. By the time I added in travel insurance (around $149) plus the extra they charge you for using a credit card to pay the total came to $2518:91.

By my calculation I will have 16 days to travel from Castlebay to Stornoway which should be more than enough time. At this stage I will be spending two nights in Oban before I start cycling giving me a day to assemble the bike and get provisions for the first few days of cycling.

I still have the following to organise; accommodation in Oban (2 nights), return accommodation in Glasgow before I fly home (1 night),the actual detail and luggage space for the bus trip from Ullapool to Glasgow the day before I fly out, and consider insuring my bike for theft/damage. And of course I still have to organise my packing list and get the Thorn Nomad sorted for the trip but, that is a whole other story!

Wednesday 11/5/11.

*Fly out of Brisbane 13:55pm

*Arrive Singapore 19:50pm (7.55hrs)

*Depart Singapore 23:59pm

*Arrive London 06:35am (13:36hrs)

*Depart London 10:00am

*Arrive Glasgow 11:25am (1:.25hrs)

*Catch the train from Glasgow to Oban 18:21pm arriving 21:26pm - takes 3.5hrs

*Overnighting in Oban - Failte Bed and Breakfast Oban (0044 1631570219) (www.failtebedandbreakfastoban.co.uk)

Thursday 12/5/11 - Friday 13/05/11.

*As I will have arrived in Oban so late last night I will stay another night in Oban which will allow be to stock up on food on the mainland and assemble my bike for the ferry crossing tomorrow. - Failte Bed and Breakfast Oban (0044 1631570219) (www.failtebedandbreakfastoban.co.uk)

Saturday 14/5/2011.

*Ferry crossing from Oban to Castlebay departing 15:40 arriving Castlebay at 20:30pm

*Overnighting in Castlebay - Craigard Hotel Castlebay (01871 810200) (email- stay@craigardhotel.co.uk)

Sunday 15/5/11 - Monday 30/05/11.

*Cycling Barra to the Butt then final night;

*Overnighting in Stornoway at Caladh Inn Stornoway (44-01851-702740) (email- caladhinn@calahotels.com)

Tuesday 31/05/11.

*Ferry crossing from Stornoway to Ullapool depart 07:00am arrive 09:40am

*Catch the bus from Ullapool Pier to Inverness depart 09:50am arrive 11:10am

*Car hire downtown Inverness then drive to Glasgow Airport Holiday Inn

*Overnighting at Holiday Inn Glasgow Airport - (email-Operations-Glasgow@Ihg.com) (44-871-9429031)

Wednesday 01/06/11.

*Fly out of Glasgow 16:10pm

*Arrive London 17:40pm (1:20hrs)

*Depart London 21:20pm

*Arrive Singapore 17:30pm (13:00hrs)

Thursday 02/06/11

*Depart Singapore 21:25pm

Friday 03/06/11

*Arrive Brisbane 06:55am (7:30hrs)

Iceland North-South Traverse

Its early days still but I'm planning a North-South cross country traverse of Iceland in 2013 or most likely 2014.

Darling Downs Tour Update, FLOOD!!

Torrentail rain turned into devasting floods so this tour appears doomed for the near future. Although the flood waters have receeded the newspapers are reporting widespread damage to roads and bridges in the area so I think it will be wise to put this trip on the back burner for a while. In a months time I will check on the state of the roads and bridges to see if I can finally make this trip become a reality.

Gillespie Pass Circuit Update

Plane tickets, car hire and the first night accomodation have now been booked for this trip so its all systems go. I should consider some alternate options in case the weather turns foul but I may wing it and speak to DOC if this hike becomes a no go and get there ideas for a different hike.

New Zealand Gillespie Pass Hike; Holidays Confirmed

Work has approved my holidays for the 21/03/11 - 27/03/11 so all I need now is for my rosetred days of work around these dates to be approved and it will be all systems go. I still haven't confirmed if I will be flying into Christchurch or Queenstown but that can wait until I have my rostered days off confirmed.

Darling Downs Tour; Torrential Rain!!

Well, my rostered days off have come around again and it appears that this ride will not happen this week. A week of torrential rain and more forecast to come over the following days paints a bleak picture with minimal chance that this ride will happen this year. There may be a small window of opportunity for somewhat finer weather this Thursday, Friday and Saturday but that positions the trip during New Years Eve and New Years Day which would almost certainly rule out any vacancies at the campsites I intend overnighting at. So, at this stage the Darling Downs Tour will be in 2011, somewhere around 29th-31st January depending on our "beautiful" Queensland weather.

New Zealand Gillespie Pass Hike; Prelim Planning

I need to start planning next years trip to New Zealand so I can apply for holiday leave, organise work rosters and book flights. Getting flights in and out of Queenstown on my preferred days has been difficult with either no flights scheduled on the desired day or a combination of two flights spread over two days to travel to Queenstown.

I may have finally sorted out an itinerary that works so depending on holiday leave and rostering approval the trip hopefully will pan out as follows;


Photo courtesy http://picasaweb.google.com/trampgeek

Sunday 20/03/11

*Fly out Brisbane 08:25am
*Arrive Queenstown 02:55pm
*Hire car or shuttle to Wanaka
*Stay the night at Wanaka somewhere

Monday 21/03/11

*Start Gillespie Pass walk to Young Hut (7-9hrs depending on Makarora River height)
*Overnight at Young Hut (camp near hut)

Tuesday 22/03/11

*Young Hut to Siberia Hut (6-8hrs)
*Overnight at Siberia Hut (camp near hut)

Wednesday 23/03/11

*Side trip to Crucible Lake and return to Siberia Hit (8hrs return)
*Camp again at Siberia Hut

Thursday 24/03/11

*Siberia Hut to Top Forks Hut (8-10hrs)
*Option to overnight at Kerin Forks Hut (?? 4hrs from Siberia)
*Or if it is a bit much to get to Top Forks Hut free camp along Jumboland Flat

Friday 25/03/11

*Side trip Top Forks Hut to Lucidius Lake or Lake Castalia (4-8hrs return)
*Overnight at Top Forks Hut

Saturday 26/03/11
*Option to walk from Top Forks to Rabbits Pass Waterfall (6-8hrs return)
*Overnight at Top Forks Hut or;
*If not walking up to waterfall face then return to Kerin Forks Hut (6-8hrs)

Sunday 27/03/11

*Either walking from Top Forks Hut to Kerin Forks Hut (6-8hrs) or;
*Kerin Forks Hut back to Makarora and the car (5-8hrs)
*Either overnighting at Kerin Forks Hut or in Wanaka

Monday 28/03/11
*Kerin Forks Hut back to Makarora and the car (5-8hrs)or;
*Free day in Wanaka

Tuesday 29/03/11
*Drive or shuttle back to Queenstown and fly out to Brisbane
*Two flights home will be required departing Queenstown to Brisbane via Auckland at 12:20pm arriving Brisbane 4:50pm

Darling Downs Tour; More Delays

I'm not sure this ride is ever going to happen the way things have been going. Thirty two degree heat, afternoon thunderstorms, general slackness and the lack of motivation to pack have stopped me this time. At least I have assembled the Nomad as it has been sitting in the bike bag since I packed it for the cancelled bike ride on the Mawson Trail.

I think the key for me is to have as much as possible packed and ready to go during the days I am at work leading to up to my rostered days off. That way it will just be a case of throwing the gear in the car and leaving. I have developed a distaste for packing and use it regularly as a excuse not to get away. No more excuses I say. Having said that this ride will definitely be my last longer ride for some time as the QLD heat and humidity is starting to bite. Probably by mid March I will have to kick up the kilometres and iron out any set up kinks for the Outer Hebrides trip in May/June 2011. At this stage I am pencilling in the 28th, 29th, 30th December as the days for the Darling Downs Tour.

Organising Myself!

Its not only work, health and the never ending rain that has put a dent in my trips on days off work lately but my lack of planning. I wish I could wake up of a morning and just head off but that doesn't seem to work for me. So, with that in mind here are my ideas for the next three groups of days I am rostered off work.

1) Darling Downs Tour 15th, 16th, 17th December.

2) Maroochy River Trail 29th and 30th December.

3) Road Trip ?? Bunya 11th to 14th January.

Darling Downs Tour; Delayed Again!

Its starting to sound a bit like a broken record but this ride has been delayed again. After eight fine days while I have been at work rain has developed again now that I am on days off. This seems to be the pattern for me recently. While the weather may be a bit on the nose the truth is I was struggling to fit this trip into my days off as I am kayaking the Maroochy River Trail on Saturday and have to pick the kayak up on Friday evening.

This would mean that I was going to struggle to fit in three days on the Darling Downs Tour and still have time to get back to Brisbane to pick up the kayak. I briefly thought about cutting the tour back to two days but that seemed to be defeating the purpose and would mean missing out on an area of the tour that I really wanted to see. So, fingers crossed, this ride will now take place on the 14th,15th and 16th December.

2011 Tours and Trips

Next year is just around the corner so I need to give some more thought to the trips I hope to take next year. My holiday dates for the Outer Hebrides trip have been approved so all being well that will go ahead in May and the early part of June. I hope to get to New Zealand to walk the Gillespie Pass in late March or early April. Then, I want to fit in a ride on the Mawson Trail, probably around September for about nine days.

I had hoped to fit in two week tour of Kangaroo Island during the later part of next year but at the moment I can't see how I can fit that in. Also, I was thinking of a snowboarding trip and an outback camping trip at some point, however, time and allowable holiday leave is limited.

So at the moment the plan is as follows, but I have no doubt that it will change at some point,

1) New Zealand Gillespie Pass Hike - March/April 2011
2) Outer Hebrides Cycle Tour - 11th May - 5th June 2011
3) Mawson Trail 9 Day Ride - September/November 2011

Other Options

* Snowboarding Trip New Zealand - August 2011
* Blue Mountains Mt Solitary Hike - After April 2011

Outer Hebrides Prelim Planning

This trip is still 6 months away but as I tend to leave things to the last minute I should start planning this trip now. I have no doubt these plans will change somewhat but at least its a start.

Wednesday 11/5/11.

*Fly out of Brisbane 13:55pm
*Arrive London 05:40am
*Arrive Glasgow 08:30am
*Catch the train from Glasgow to Oban 12:21pm takes 3.5hrs (check 2011 timetable when available)
*Overnighting in Oban - accommodation to be arranged

Thursday 12/5/10.

*Ferry crossing from Oban to Castlebay departing 08:15 (A)sailing via Coll and Tiree arriving Castlebay at 15:00pm (check 2011 timetable when available)
*Overnighting in Castlebay or near abouts (probably camping)

Friday 13/5/2010 - Wednesday 01/06/11.
*Cycling Barra to the Butt then final night;
*Overnighting in Stornoway

Thursday 02/06/11.

*Ferry crossing from Stornoway to Ullapool depart 07:00am arrive 09:40am
*Catch the bus from Ullapool Pier to Glasgow Airport depart 09:50 arrive 17:10pm
*Overnighting in Glasgow airport region?

Friday 03/06/11.
*Fly out of Glasgow 16:10pm

Sunday 05/06/11.
*Arrive Brisbane Airport 06:50am

This itinerary allows a total of 20 days to cycle the Hebridean Islands which, I think should be enough and allow for some rest and sight seeing days. I may end up shortening the trip a little so that I get back earlier and allow more days to recover before I start back at work.

Rain, Rain,Rain

Showers, heavy rain and thunder storms across Brisbane and the Darling Downs over the next few days have put an end to my planned Darling Downs Tour ride. I will attempt the ride again weather permitting on my next days off between 29th November and the 4th December.

Outer Hebrides Tour Update

I mentioned in this post http://thenorrisfiles.blogspot.com/2010/07/future-cycling-tours.html that I planned to ride the length of the Outer Hebrides from South to North in 2011. I have requested holiday leave from work and hope to get approval this week. The plan at the moment will be to fly out on the Wednesday 11th May and fly back home on the Friday 3rd June. More details to follow but in the mean time here is a video of a cycling trip on the Outer Hebrides

Mawson Trail Update

As I mentioned previously in this post http://thenorrisfiles.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-changes.html, after my failed first effort to ride the Mawson Trail I now hope to complete the trail in sections as time allows. I thought I may have been able to ride the first section of the trail this month, but work and health have not permitted that to happen. Summer is approaching and between now and the end of April is the least favorable time to ride the trail due to the heat. So, this ride will have to wait until the cooler months of next year, probably after August sometime.