Last weekend was our last ride together before we take off for the US of A. We’d planned a while ago to meet up with friends for lunch in Temora and now it was pony up time.

We agreed to leave by 7am and I can only say that I started the day tired. Getting out of bed was hard and when we got on the road at 6.59am and I “joked” that I could have stayed in bed a minute longer, Kiwi didn’t find it very funny. Not far out of Sydney I started to doze on the back of the bike and it wasn’t just napping. I was out for the count and poor Kiwi had a bit of a lump on the back, only waking up when my helmet conked against his!

A pause for second breakfast at Sutton Forest and we were back on the road. I was not in the groove at all, standing waiting for the Kiwi to come back after putting our rubbish in the bin, when he’d headed out to the bike already!

It was great to see Martin and Alison and check out their renovations in full flight. Time off the bike to walk into town was welcome too. But all too soon it was time to say farewell and head back up the freeway to Sydney.

Once again I was asleep for most of the ride. The sun was warm and even with my butt feeling sorer than it was the week before (and for less distance!?!) I was happy to doze. Hopefully I’ll be a bit better rested for the IBR otherwise I’ll be no help at all!

So it was pretty uneventful really. Not much to tell but that we covered 900kms in 10 hours, including a couple of hours off the bike for lunch and without any dramas. Seems like we’re pretty ready to go.

What else have we been up to? We’ve checked off a few more tasks – buying new packing shells for the panniers, a couple more paper maps and an assortment of warm/cool gear ‘just in case’. We’ve packed up two boxes of Australian food goodness for friends, printed out assorted paperwork and refined our packing and to-do lists prior to departure.

Only 8 more working days until we jump on the plane and I’m starting to feel a bit more excited. I’m also really feeling the need for a holiday with long days of work travel starting to take their toll. A couple of quiet weekends and good sleep should help!

In other news, it’s now 4 weeks since my last glass of wine (!!!!) and it’s not been as difficult as I expected it would be. Occasionally I feel like a cheeky glass of red in the evening just watching TV and curled up on the couch, but it’s not the end of the world swapping it for a ginger ale instead. Kiwi is cutting down on coffee in sympathy so the two of us are having vague cravings at different times.

The next couple of weeks will be chock full and I’ll do my best to keep you updated with news. Believe me, there will be news!!!