After 28hrs (21 airborne) I’m in London. Took 30min to get through the visa queue and a further 15min for my bag to show. This worked to my advantage because Sheila was coming to Heathrow to see off her Dad and it meant we could meet up there. I’m staying with Grant and Sheila and had no idea how to get to their house, so meeting her at the airport was a good thing.

$50AUD = 24 smegging pounds!! What a fscking joke!! Aussie ruples aren’t worth the plastic they’re printed on! Cost me 2 bob just to use a payphone for 30 seconds!

The second leg of the flight was much better than the first. Aisle seat again and no sickness. Didn’t touch any alkimahol just in case. Food was better this leg too – more like Singapore Airlines. Movies still a bit light-on.. so I started reading DaveB’s ‘A Significant Other’ while ‘pod’n’ up.

After landing it took a full 32min before I heard my first “innit?” – come on poms lift your game! 😛

I did finally grin when standing in the 3-mile long visa queue.. the accents rock.. it was just like being on set for The Bill!! hahaha! 😀

Grant and Sheila’s place is very nice. 3-stories high, warm, fairly modern reno, close to South Ealing station. They share with another couple and Sheila’s Mum is here for another few days.

I’m really tired now..

Hopefully get a UK SIM for my phone tomorrow and head to a pub for lunch with Tezz, Grunt and Sheila..

Dan, wheredafuckarya? 😛

Left Melbourne 0015 with no dramas having scored a good aisle seat – perfect for drinking!

Started watching some Dennis Quad drama/comedy. Finally got around to ordering a B&C. It was the strangest tasting bourbon I’ve ever had. Perhaps more like engine degreaser than Beam..

To cut a long story short, the rest of the trip was hell. Malaysia Air is fine but my good seat was wasted – I was crook as! You can tell when the hippy is sick – only 1 free drink, 1 movie and doesn’t finish the in-flight meal!?!?! WTF?!?!

Yeah so, still feeling pretty seedy but better. Dunno what the go is..

Arrived here around 8am Melbourne time. I have another 4 hours or so to wait before the next leg to London. Found a free ‘net terminal. Slow as, but passable..

Thanks to everyone who wished me a good trip and all – much appreciated guys! 😀

I need a wee, so I’m gonna go and do that..

“Tandas” = “Toilet” here 🙂

12, 517 is the number of kilometres currently showing on the Cateye Enduro 2 computer that I removed from the Avanti in order to fit it to the GT. I’ll reset it. It is on a ‘new’ bike after all..

2hrs to pack the bike.. and counting..

Up until midnight on Tuesday, packing more stuff, for the final drive to Mildura. Big thanks to Tee for her help packing! (and the fish and chips!!! haha!! YUM!)

Finally in bed and all too soon two alarms are going off letting me know it’s 4:30am (yes, AM! bleh!). I nuke a cup of water and add instant coffee (see the sacrifices I’m making.. don’t even have a kettle any more :S) for a much needed boost. I’m wrecked and I haven’t even left Melbourne yet..

I took Hatchback to the vets the day before and paid ~$60 for a checkup (“Does he eat properly?” “Does he piss and shit?” “Well, he looks healthy.”) and some drugs to knock him out for the drive. Even the 5-minute drive to the vet was a hassle. This cat has serious issues with being in a car!!! He’s a frickin’ strong cat too and it was impossible to contain him in the box I had, so he ended up meowing and scratching and being generally frantic and disturbed until the car stopped. I was going to need these drugs!!

Anyway, I tried putting a pill in his food, but he wouldn’t touch it so I had to resort to the disturbing method the vet showed me. You put little finger and ring finger behind the cat’s head and clamp the other fingers over his ears/head. Lift the cat up by its head (preferably with someone holding his paws – I was alone though) and force his mouth open with the other hand. You then shove the pill right down the back of his throat until he gags on it and it’s gone. He should lick his nose when he’s swallowed it. It sounds horrible for the cat, but it’s also pretty bloody disturbing for me!! Poor Hatchy! 🙁

I locked him in the laundry while I packed and waiting for the drugs to kick in. He came out later and was definately groggy. He staggered around and his eyes look like dinner plates!! (I was going to have to try some of these pills later.. )

I set about transferring the pile of bags from the house into the car. Once all the prepacked bags were in, I started scouting the house for all the loose items that would fit and needed to go back to my parent’s place (thanks for the storage M&D!!!!!!). Once the car was CHOC FULL of crap (again!) I put Hatchy in and we left. It was around 7.45am.

Hatchy wasn’t calm at all. He whined a lot and scampered around the car until we stopped and I could pat him – then he’d calm down. It took about 1:15 to get out of the city through peak hour. I was extremely tired and having to deal with a loaded car and a frantic cat was NOT a fun start to the day. I stopped for a piss and while we were stopped I force-fed Hatchy another half a pill.

Stopped at Malsbury for some stimulants. No, I didn’t deal with some truckies.. just bought some iced coffee and chocolate (and chips, which is odd, because I hardly ever buy chips).

Hatchy was flaked out now and would sleep until we hit a bump or I made a loud noise – then he’d stir and start his sad, drugged-out meowing.. until he faded into kitty snooze land..

The drive was much better once out of the city (duh!) but to keep myself entertained for the next six hours I needed something more.. I decided to prey on a fellow aus.bicycle poster.. and called Tamyka a couple of times.. more than a couple actually because she kept hanging up on me hahaha no, because the service kept dropping out in central Victoria (shakes fist at Telstra..).

Almost out of petrol, the stoned cat and I rocked up in Mildura after 7hrs on the road. I had already arranged with Mum to book the 5.05pm flight BACK to Melbourne, so it was: talk, eat, shower and then off to the airport for a hasty goodbye (Graeme rocked up in his Toll van too) and flight back to Melbourne. (See you in Switzerland, Mum! :)). Another big thanks to M&D who now have to unpack the car and sort through all my crap before packing it. I swear, half of Earth’s resources were contained within the walls of my house!!

1h:10m flight duration. I was so stuffed I actually slept on the plane! That never happens! Not even on the 24hr Australia-Europe flights! $13 Skybus ride to Spencer St. station (construction site!). Wonder when this will be renamed “Southern Cross” station? 1 hour or so on the MET train to Croydon and Bob’s your father’s brother! If that wasn’t enough.. I then go and type all this shite into a blog!!! hahaha 😛

Getting my name taken off the Australian electoral roll.. makes me feel even more hippy-like than before! haha

You will never find me again Mr. Government!! haha!

Bought myself a Kryptonite U-Lock from Cecil Walker ($109.95AUD) and will see Mick for a 7ft cable tomorrow. I kinda want my bike to remain in my possession while I’m in Europe..

Also bought a Cateye Enduro wiring kit ($22.90) to replace the busted one on the Avanti. I mean, it’ll be fitted to the GT but it’ll use the speedo from the Avanti..

Carried on with the build today and fitted SPD/Flat pedals, LX shifters, LX cassette, LX brake levers, new cheapass front wheel (Joytech hub & Zac 19 rim), new(ish) Vredestein “StreetRazor” slicks, new Ritchey WCS grips, my existing Axiom pannier rack.

The trickiest part of the build today was running the cables and tuning the gears. I don’t do either of these tasks much so it took a while. I also seem to have a tendency to run the cables the wrong way around so derailers don’t sit properly, or leave grommets out so I have to remove and reinstall a cable four times before I get it right.. another plus for singlespeeds.. shuddup! 😉

Once all the gears were on and tuned and the brakes worked, I swapped the old front wheel for the new one and swapped the reflective Vredestein tyres off my Avanti for the original (worn) slicks. Took the bike for a spin.. COOL!! This thing rides super nimble and the gears and brakes are SMOOOOOOOOOTH! What a beast – GT had this (cheap, remember?) frame dialled to my spec’s or something when they built it.. it’s frickin’ AWESOME!

Back inside, I spaced out the brakes and shifters properly (decided to stay with the 670mm riser bar rather than go for skinnier flat bars) and fitted the Ritchey WCS foam grips. Well, actually Quentin fitted the grips – and suffered great pain doing so! The grips were sprayed with metho to help them slip on, and slip on they did, squashing poor Q’s finger under the shift lever. Oops! Thanks for drawing blood for my bike man!

To spoil the bike’s subtle grey on grey looks.. I fit the Axiom rack. I hate racks! But, I’m not carrying everything around Europe in a backpack so a rack is necessary. Used some longer brackets than the ones I had (black too) so the rack could be pushed back further. Another test ride.. schweet! This thing rawks! I like this more than the Avanti I think.. maybe I should take the Avanti and leave this one behind safely locked up? 😛

Have some SKS guards here that look like they might fit, so she’ll look even more daggy soon.. 🙂

Check the current state (GT – Groovy Tourer?):

Three cheers for the flyingdutch man!

He’s shown me the light.. I can see now that there IS an advantage to marriage and even benefits associated with having children..

“What are the benefits?” you ask. Well, FD wouldn’t have a 1-man tent to part with if he was single hahaha! 😛

My home, when not hostelling in Europe, will be this 1.8kg Macpac Microlight tent. In return FD gets my Miche track crankset which ‘was’ going into storage.

Also, thanks FD for the loan of the three-bike tow-ball carrier so I can cart even more junk home in one trip! 😀

I had one of these in Japan, but had dismissed it for this trip because I was taking my bike.

aus.bicycle’s SteveA suggested it to me again and I thought about it – it’s only $27AUD and it means I can drive around if I need to.

If I hire a car or if I need some other form of ID, it could come in handy. So I went down to RACV with a (VERY DODGY LOOKING!) passport-sized photo and got myself an IDP.