Cycling up Sani Pass

Jeep on bumpy road in the mountains travelling up Sani Pass

Sani Pass connects the pleasant, rolling hills of South Africa’s ‘midlands’, with the remote, inhospitable mountains of Lesotho. This results in one of the most spectacular and iconic mountains passes in Africa. When planning my bike tour through Africa, I was urged to ride up Sani Pass; with plans to pave it, there is only […]

Sailing into Durban – Indian Ocean Complete

Man stands beside South Africa Flag and a catamaran in a marina.

It is 4am and my final night-watch. There are all the usual creaks and groans of the boat, the same star-studded Southern Sky, but tonight a beautiful halo of light is crowning the horizon. It’s beautiful, because it is the lights of Africa. I can’t see land yet, but it’s there, and oh man – […]

The Joy of Reaching Land – Sailing the Indian Ocean

Sailing Crew sits on Sailing Yacht roof and watches for land. Flat, calm water of Indian Ocean all around.

We stopped at five islands as we sailed across the Indian Ocean – Ashmore Reef, Christmas Island, Cocos Keeling, Mauritius and Reunion – and after weeks of bobbing in the Indian Ocean, the excitement to be approaching land was always anticipated long before we arrived. Birds were always the first sign we were nearing land. […]

Paradise Found but Not Lost: Sailing into Cocos Keeling

Tropical Direction Island in Cocos Keeling at sunset with tropical water, sandy beach and palm trees.

I guess I had always been sceptical whether those tropical island paradises you see on the cover of postcards really existed. I have travelled enough to know that for every photo of the ‘perfect beach’, there are a dozen tacky resorts and hotels hidden just outside the frame. And if you visit, you’ll invariably find […]

Land Ahoy – Sailing into Christmas Island

Hammocks set between palm trees on a sandy beach at sunset.

After 15 days at sea I was desperate to see land, however the view as we sailed into ‘Flying Fish Cove’ on Christmas Island was stunningly disappointing. In the 400 years since Captain William Mynors, a fellow Brit, had first arrived on Christmas Day 1643, 2,000 people have moved to this isolated speck of land […]

Letter from the Past – You made it!

Climbing up a mountain in Turkey while bike touring.

I recently returned home after 2.5 years cycling around the world. On my desk I found a letter I had written to myself before I left, back when there was no guarantee of my success – in fact, failure seemed more likely. It is the ramblings of a young idealist, but something about it forces […]

Cycling Across Australia 4: The Storm in the Desert

Hesitant pedal strokes swept me away from the refuge of Alice Springs. Now, the simple comforts people often take for granted would be a struggle. It would be weeks before I slept in a house, or had a shower again. My panniers were crammed with 11 days of basic food. Pasta. Porridge. Tuna. I hoped […]

On a ferry named PELNI – Leaving Singapore!

Boat resting by palm trees in Indonesia in beautiful clear, blue water.

In the niche world of ‘cycling around the world’, and overland travel in general, legend tells of a boat from Singapore to Australia, which ferries travellers from one continent to the next. The thing is, beyond speculation or rumour, no-one knows anything about this boat, or anyone who took it. There is certainly no passenger […]

The Hardest 10 Pedal Strokes – Cycling Around The World

I hugged my mum and kissed my sister. Friends and family who had come from all over the country began a countdown. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. And then I began to cycle. I was off. I had dreamed of this day for two years; I was finally an adventurer, cycling around the world, with […]

Across Myanmar in 24 (mostly illegal) sleeps!

Illegal wild camp in Myanmar. MSR Tent in a quarry at sunrise.

Wild Camping in Myanmar What I did in Myanmar… it was crazy. You may say stupid, and perhaps you’d be right. Foreigners must stay in a hotel every night, and it must be specially licenced to accept foreigners, i.e. very expensive. That is the law. But I didn’t want to stay in expensive hotels; it […]