If you missed the recent talks given by Frank on his adventures in the antipodes, he’s now provided a guest post of his epic ride down under:
I started ‘turning pedals in anger’ for the first time in 1978, the year that the CTC celebrated its 100th birthday with a series of 100 mile reliability rides. A few months after joining the club, I rode my first century ride, and ended up a trembling wreck … but amidst the pain and suffering, I knew I was hooked for life.
After 35 years of expedition riding, I decided recently to take on the challenge of riding the End-to-End of New Zealand (1,800 miles) and Sydney to Melbourne (700 miles) and, in the process, to raise money for Save the Children’s Syrian Appeal … which now benefits from the £8,000 so far collected.
If you like long-distance adventurous cycling, New Zealand will make an excellent destination. With a population of only 4 million, there are vast swathes of unpopulated wilderness, especially on South Island. In fact, you need to be prepared to cycle for many hours across open hinterland, without being able to re-provision yourself.
I started my journey at Cape Reinga, the northern tip of North Island, traversing south through Kauri forests, along the stunning Coromandel peninsula, through the geyser lands of Rotorua and over the volcanic plateau of Ruapehu. I paid a courtesy call on our sister village of Kimbolton in New Zealand, and spent valuable time at the NZ Headquarters of Save the Children in Wellington.
A stormy crossing of Cook Strait (being bounced around in a 16 metre swell!) took me to Picton on South Island, where I was hosted by the President of Save the Children, in their log cabin on the Marlborough Sounds. The journey south took me along the stunning coastline to Christchurch (still recovering from the earthquake of 2011), up to the base of Mount Cook (the highest mountain in NZ), down to adrenaline-pumping Queenstown, where I arranged for two days of cruising on the Sounds (Milford and Doubtful) on the west coast. My NZ journey terminated at Bluff, the Land’s End of South Island, followed by two nights on Stewart Island, whose beautiful beaches are bathed by the icy waters of the Antarctic Ocean.
Over in Australia, after a compulsory sight-seeing stay in Sydney, I headed south along the Princes Highway, hugging the coast for 700 miles, to Melbourne. Thunder storms eventually changed into blistering heat of 38 degrees C. Bushfire alerts were evident everywhere, dead kangaroos and wombats littered the roads, but the reception in both Australia and New Zealand had been heart-warming. People everywhere extended a hand of friendship, gave me a bed for the night, invited me to share a meal on campsites, and above all made donations to the Syrian Appeal. I became accustomed to the ‘drive-by donation’, where motorists drove up alongside me and made spontaneous donations through the passenger window of their cars, frequently maintaining a speed of 20mph! I kept asking myself…..would this happen in the UK?
For a long-distance cyclist like me, this journey ‘ticked all the boxes’. The terrain was hilly and varied, the people were warm and friendly, and being a self-sufficient solo rider, I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of the countryside. With bike, tent, food and drink … what more do you need?
If you’d like to make a donation, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Frank-Burns1
