Just a small edit that i hope will go out to those on my contact list. Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011. I am now on a new trip, on a new page at www.offexploring.com/michaelp Right now im in West africa heading towards south africa and this blog page is linked to facebook so check for updates there if you are interested in following along and im updating as often as i can. Ive been unable to manually input all your contact details into the automated pro...

Well, it turned out to be leave your skirt in the closet type riding on Friday. It began with drizzling rain, followed be some snow which turned into a snow storm. Yep it was properly coming down and i was riding amongst fields that had a good 5cm or so covering them after a short while. The autobahn was hectic with loads of traffic that didnt give a rats that i couldnt see through the snow constantly covering my visor - people forget that riding a bike is not li...

I survived a coupla laps round the Arch de Truimph in Paris no probs, cars everywhere though! Rode south to the south coast of France at Montpellier. Staying with Vanessa saw around the city and did some work on the bike, had the valve clearance check done. This was great but i didnt realize at the time that this had somehow stuffed the grip heaters and caused me many days of drama. On the road again heading east now towards the Alps and Italy. I was worried hea...

So after the tour of a lifetime round the UK I arrived back in London with the propects of finding a job in Norway, or anywhere in Europe for that matter very slim. A massive thanks to Davo, Ryan and Blanka for the use of their houses, computers etc while i spent the best part of 2 weeeks looking for and applying for work. Without your help guys im certain that i would most likely be back in Australia or at least making plans to head back. Youve kept my dream ali...

And so began my whirlwind tour of the UK. Set off from London, stopping in Birmingham to visit Mark, Reiss and family who i met on tour in Oz. What a fantastic (but busy!) family. Very rewarding to have met everyone in the street and have survived the number of beers we drank with much lesser side affect than Mike or Mark! Back on the road to the Lakes District. Well known for great scenery, i noticed loads of hedges and stone walls in place of fences like at hom...