Between February 2002 and March 2003 I circumnavigated 12,504 miles around the Australian continent on my bicycle, or push bike as they say there. After that I went to New Zealand for three months and met up with a friend and ended up pushing the total mileage to 14,115.7 miles (22717.02 km). I spent 269 days on my bike, 272 days not on my bike, and getting 67 flat tires over those 17 months.
I started and ended my 13 month lap around Australia at Luna Park in St. Kilda/Melbourne.. The distance around Australia (including Tasmania) ended up being about 20,281km (12,600 miles).
One fun thing I did during my trip was to visit six "confluences", which is where a whole-numbered latitude/longitude mark intersects for The Degree Confluence Project.
Craig
Called up Duncan and made arrangements to meet him. He first contacted me through the bike touring list. Was having coffee with him and ran into Steve...who I first met down in Glebe/Sydney a couple of months ago.
Duncan invited us to the university where he worked. They were having an "American 4th of July" celebration complete with hot dogs, Coke, Apple Pie, and a softball game. Turns out one of the guys from the Uni is from New York. We all sang the Star Spangled Banner. It was kind funny to be singing it with a bunch of Australians reading it off of a piece of paper.
Steve and I met up later for dinner at a hotel. There was a band playing that night. Turns out it was a duo specializing in Eagles covers. "I like the way sparkling earrrings lay, across your skin so brown...and I want to lay with you in the desert tonight, with a billion stars all around..."