Singapore

So, having bid a fond farewell to my fellow cyclist Pete, I spent a week in Darwin organising various bits and bobs for my onwards travels, staying with our good friend Eammon.  

A skyward adventure

I really valued my time off the bike in Darwin to get on and prepare for the Asian leg of my trip, however its amazing how one soon settles back into routine life again all of a sudden and immediately I'm reminded of why I have chosen dedicate this part of my life to riding a bike across the globe; I already miss cycling everyday, I miss waking up at a savage time in the morning to catch those cool hours, that unrivalled sunrise, that peaceful dawn. But above all I miss that element of ‘unknown’, that daily surge of adventure, not knowing where you’ll end up, who you’ll meet, what events are likely to unveil themselves on the road ahead. It seemed life was beginning to lose its colour, things had taken a beige turn, or so I thought…..Thats until I boarded my MH144 flight to Singapore, with……..Malaysia Airlines! Hell yeh! The adventure was right back on track! That element of risk? That element of unknown? This airline had it all in abundance (and with those knock down prices, you’d be a fool not join the fun). This was the airline for me, and as for my fellow travellers, well these were the exact thrill seeking companions I wished to share my journey with. Together we boldly boarded the flight, proudly saluting those untamed wings to our journey. This was an adventure of a different sort. Destination; Unknown. 

(Its probably worth pointing out at this point that we did indeed arrive safely into our required city. Both the pilot and crew provided us with a first class service and all round satisfying experience. Thank you Malaysia Airlines…I say this realising that your road ahead is looking even less stable than mine- you could do with the pick me up. #ForJustOnePassengerADay #AdoptAnAirline)

Life in Singapore

So this week I have had the pleasure of staying with a family friend in Singapore. I can reassure you that the transition from tent to bay-view apartment, from sleeping bag to duvet and from medium-hard ground to a mattress has been seemingly easy. Not once have i found myself pining for some pouch fronted company or the melodic sounds of a stray mosquito during the nocturnal hours. No, life has been just wonderful. Aside from self guiding myself around Singapore's attractions whilst munching my way from one ‘Hawker’ (a typical Singaporean market place) to the next, I also took up the opportunity to join my host and her cycling team on a mornings ride up the ship trading waters of the island. Now, this was slightly more than just a ‘casual ride’, this was a ‘cycling in a pack with purpose’ state of affairs. Upon agreeing to join the team for a lazy ride around the island, I had in fact inadvertently signed up for the Tour de Singapore. Worst of all, Id forgotten the wrap around sunnies. Nonetheless, I had a very enjoyable morning in the privilege of some delightful company! 

Over the past week I also had the pleasure of catching up with my cousin who happened to be passing through Singapore at the same time (as you do!). Ordinarily our annual meetings centre around a Turkey, a couple of christmas crackers and some thorough Shropshire farming chat (cows, wellies, the texture of grass….that sort of thing), but not on this occasion. We couldn't have been further removed from our usual traditional, festive environment. Instead we had found ourselves in the midst of an oriental high rise jungle, slurping noodles, wrapped in sweltering evening heat at a slight loss as to who would be organising the ‘after dinner games’…

Singapore

Singapore appears to have detached itself from the rest of South East Asia, it stands amongst the likes of Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Tokyo as a huge, modern financial centre. From the once natural jungle turned concrete jungle, the city has seen huge growth and development. Walking around the place, its unsurprising that it is regularly recognised as the leading business hub of Asia; The city is dominated by high rise, modern buildings filled with corporate offices. The whole place feels like it has been built to serve a purpose. Everything feels man made. Everything works. Everything appears so organised. Everything feels so reliable. 

In terms of culture, unlike other countries which welcome in a host of different cultures, ethnic groups, nationalities whilst still maintaining a clear stamp of their own, in my opinion Singapore appears to lack such a national identity. This city encompasses a hybrid of malay, indian, chinese and western ways without a clear Singaporean backbone running throughout the State. I would be hard pushed to draw together a Singaporean stereotype.

Not long to go…

So, having had the tent patched up after our viscous outback Wallaby encounter (fortunately I haven't come across any of the bouncy beige wildlife during my time in downtown Singapore- it seems this continent has had a lucky escape), made a few adjustments to the bike, eased off the severity of my head-turningingly horrendous cycling tan lines (Children no longer give me a wide berth in the street) and saturated my extensive music library with the good stuff

- Despite ruthlessly abandoning Norah and her entire life story through the medium of lyrical sound,  part of me wonders whether I might well have just gone and carelessly replaced her with the likes of Annie Lennox- what can I say, I was on a roll on the downloading, she’d clearly made good ground on the album charts……one thing led to another and before I knew it she was on the ‘pod’. Not far behind Buble (yes, the all singing, all dancing christmas edition). On reflection, I’m not entirely sure these pair are quite the right sound to to echo the ambience of a typical Malay street scene, but I’ll be sure to keep you posted.-

Im now just one wingman short of beginning my ride up through Asia.  

Tomorrow, I shall be joined by an old school friend who has agreed to spend the next 2 weeks cycling Singapore to Bangkok along side me. Providing I remember how to ride a bike and Harriet isn't feeling too jet lagged from her distant (though in comparison, relatively brisk) journey from England, we shall begin our ride over the next few days. 

Darwin (Aus)

We made it! 4500km of pedal pushing and Pete and I finally made it into Darwin! 

The Tidy Town of Batchelor

The final few days of our trip had us passing by the lush green tropical rainforest’s of the Lichfield National Park. We made sure to stop by the quaint, rural town of Batchelor too, acting as the gateway to these extensive parklands. Batchelor is perhaps (or perhaps not) more famously known to once be Australia’s ‘tidiest town’, proudly claiming the award back in 2000. Im beginning to wonder how much progression the town has made over the last 14 years though, because this was an award you weren't going to miss. The place was positively plastered in signage and certificates proudly acknowledging their achievement. The jaw dropping sites of the stunning Lichfield National Park sitting in their back garden became a mere after thought once we’d seen the sheer cleanliness of the ‘tidy town’ trophy cabinet.

Wildlife in the tent

And as for our final few Australian nights spent in a tent, well, they were about as Australian as it comes. Now, as much as I appreciate a good bit of Aussie wildlife, a wallaby in the tent during the early hours of the morning was a step too far. I don't care how ‘at one with nature’ the likes of Ray Mears, Bear Grylls or Sir David Attenborough might be, Im yet to see any of them happily snuggle up to a wallaby inside their sleeping bag; 

So, Pete and I had chosen the perfect little camping spot (needless to say, the ground was soft, life was sweet). We nodded off early acutely aware of the growing wallaby population bounding around our defenceless sleeping shelter. Nonetheless, we were now ‘hardy outback campers’, a few cheeky wallabies could hardly stand in the way of us an our valuable nights sleep……3 hours later……theres a wallaby at my feet. The crafty, not so cheeky, just plain rude little beast had effortlessly munched a hole through the side of the tent, hardly acknowledging mine and Pete’s existence (#EyesOnThePrize), setting its sites firmly on the muesli. As I soon realised, 2am in the morning is not the time to be messing with a weary, sleep deprived Mr Peter Kopp. Before I knew it, he was bolt up right sporting some rather venomous eyes and a pair of flaring nostrils. Things were getting serious - i’d only seen this expression once before; 18/10/2014- 48hours without tea. Pete immediately leaped out of the tent, reached for the trainers (I thought to myself, c’mon now Pete this is no time to be exercising) and started pelting the now sizeable wallaby community with his footwear. Shortly after, the place was deserted. This was now a completely wildlife free zone. Despite the fact we had lost our valued muesli during the nights event, we rested easy knowing that a wallaby on a spit would suffice for some morning grub,

Pedalling into Darwin

Arriving into Darwin was an absolute joy. Having spent so long cycling on somewhat of a never ending road, we finally reached the end of the Stuart Highway and into Australias tropical northern city of Darwin. Together we cycled down to the beachfront looking out to the warm waters of the tranquil blue Timor Sea. The days we spent pedalling along the Great Ocean Road having just left Melbourne now seemed a distance memory. The long days spent in the depths of a deserted, lifeless landscape now seemed a far cry from the thriving, vibrant surroundings, both in vegetation and infrastructure, of Darwin. It began to dawn on us both what an epic journey we had just endured through Australia. Naturally, we then headed to the nearest bar and got smashed...

Australia complete

So, the first puzzle piece of the global adventure is in place. Next stop, Asia. Starting on the 18th November I will begin the long ride home through Asia and into Europe beginning at South East Asia’s most southerly point (of the mainland), Singapore.