My trip to Darwin from Washington DC took the better part of 3 days (after 2 cancelled or postponed flights from San Francisco to Sydney) and then I had 3 days in Darwin without luggage. United Airlines can be incredibly lousy at customer service, they managed to send two 747's fairly loaded with passengers from San Francisco to Sydney without luggage. When we finally got to Sydney, the United baggage manager was surprised -- "What, you don't have luggage?" Well, after postponments and switching and then replacing planes United didn't load luggage aboard. 13 hrs later at the other end of the flight, the Sydney baggage office was totally surprised.
Finally luggage and riding gear arrived in Darwin. I've been working 12-16 hr days and I'll be working straight through until I fly to Sydney early am Friday Dec 14 and then I pick up a BMW R1200GS bike and ride my first leg. I was hoping I might be able to rent a bike here in Darwin for a few days, but except for scooter rentals, I haven't found any available. I'll be ready for a nice ride a week from tomorrow!!!
My scheduled route is:
Friday 14/12 Sydney to Windsor 279 km, 173 miles
Saturday 15/12 Windsor to Cessnock 263 km, 163 miles
Sunday 16/12 Cessnock to Armidale 360 km, 224 miles
Monday 17/12 Armidale to Bellingen 153 km, 95 miles
Tuesday 18/12 Bellingen to Byron Bay 305 km, 189 miles
Wednesday 19/12 Byron Bay to Port Macquarie 410 km, 255 miles
Thursday 20/12 Port Macquarie to Sydney 442 km, 274 miles
total distance: 2212 kms, 1374 miles. Bike rental includes unlimited mileage, so side trips and detours are likely! I was thinking about bring one of my Garmin Zumo 550 GPS units along until I found out that Garmin wanted $320 for the Australian maps. The motorcycle rental depot has units available to rent. I asked to reserve one, and they told me that they'll have a Zumo 550 mounted on the beemer for me when I pick it up!
Thursday night in Sydney, then fly home to Washington, DC via LAX and BWI.
Christo, PM sent.
