Great Ocean Walk

Just got back from some great walking with some great people! For those of you who don't know the Great Ocean Walk is a purpose built walking trail from Apollo Bay to Glenample Homestead adjacent the 12 Apostles. The trail takes you through a variety of different landscapes including tall forests, coastal heathlands and rocky shores. The walk is spectacular. You should join us some time!

Next years is looking good!

At the Adventure Collectives head quarters we have been busy putting the finishing touches to all of our itineraries for 09 and I am excited!

For all you ROCers out there we are adding some new itineraries to the ROC schedule and we are confident you are going to love it... We are heading East and I am happy to say it will include the Daintree...

We are also going to continue with our old favourites and speaking of favourites, we have had a lot of enquirers about the Bike 'n Wheels for next year so if you are interested get in quick, this ride is a ripper - ask anybody who has done it! We will also be giving you the opportunity to ride from Cairns to Broome... yes riding all the way 45 days from east to west...

See you out there!

Walking

As many of you know cycling is my recreation of choice, although I must say I have just been up to the Flinders to settle in a group of walkers and we had a great walk together and I loved it!

It was raining and the country looked great!

The purchase of Ecotrek has taken us into the world of Walking and canoeing in a more serious way. For me it gets me back to my roots as an outdoor educator and for you it means more choice.

Take some time to look at the Ecotrek website it has some great product for you to enjoy.

On another note le Tour de France is underway and our plans for the Tour Down Under are also well advanced If you missed this years tour don't leave it to long to book your opportunity for the tour in 09!

Well its about time!

I have just got back from leading a trip across Australia, and what a trip it was a great group of people and the best conditions you could ask for, great sunny days, tail winds.... fantastic!


So what about round the office I hear you say...

Well big announcements! we have taken over Ecotrek a long standing nature based adventure company which gets us well and truly amongst the walking and water sports and on another note we have decides to run an Epic Ride from Cairns to Broome along the Savannah Way from May to July next year this will be a 45 day epic and it will be a beauty if you are really crazy you could ride the Gulf to Gulf as well.... wow what a trip that would be!!

ROC will also have some great new rides in store for you, including The Daintree, Cairns to Darwin via Kakadu and a ride through the channel country Darwin to Cairns visiting some af those great world renowned outback pubs! We have also designed a ride from Alice Springs through the edge of the Simpson Desert and out to Uluru then in those summer months we head on down to the Great Ocean Road and Tasmania so plenty of new stuff for those of you wanting to do it ROC style.

Directors Special and other things Adventure!

Have a look at our web site and keep in touch with my specials every couple of weeks I will choose one of our great trips and put it on SPECIAL so keep an eye out.

As I have said previously in this blog 09 is looking like a cracker it will see the introduction of a Darwin - Cairns trip via The Overlander's Way. For more than 100 years pioneers have been discovering this area we will be opening it up to you on a trusty steed. Along the Overlander's Way you will see vast rugged cattle country, dramatic basalt landscapes, spectacular gorges and prolific wild life. This trip promises a journey rich with discovery, unspoilt natural beauty and friendly local characters. This trip will be a ROC style trip - a combination of 4WD bus and Cycling.



The photo above is some of our participants enjoying the Glenelg River during our Great Ocean Road Trip. We canoe down this river for one day during the trip. Great Fun!

New YouTube Video

We have just released our new promo on to YouTube enjoy!



Today, we have continued to put together our 09 itinerary and it is looking great. I can't wait to release it... we will shortly be testing on the market and then we will settle on the product and release it, so stay tuned!

Why not join me for this epic ride across Australia

I have just finished mapping The Bike n Wheels Expedition have a look and why not join me for the epic ride of your life!

Hanging out with Bodensee Peter and other things!

I have just said goodbye to Bodensee Peter www.bodenseepeter.de If you can speak/read German you will love his blog. Peter is one of the largest cycle tourism operators in Germany and together we will collaborate on a number of projects, stay tuned for these! One of these will be www.bikemap.com.au

We also had a journalist on board from Outdoor Magazine Denver was a great guy to have on the trip I think he really enjoyed it we look forward top any stories which may emerge and we will keep you in touch. Speaking of Outdoor Magazine grab a copy of the March April edition and see one of Emma's great stories.

We are currently working on a great set of new trips for ROC in 09 including Cairns to Darwin and the Daintree stay tuned!!

A week to go and its Tour time!

The streets of Adelaide become cyclists streets as we lead up to on of the great races in the world held right here in South Australia.

Road bike everywhere it is great, although very hot. The long range forecast however is looking ok for the race at this stage.

The Adventure Collective have a good crew of people coming across for the race to join the hundreds of thousands of people who will line the streets, ride stages of the ride, drink great food and wine and of course ride the now famous Challenge tour.

Thousands of riders will participate in the ride hoping to finish before the professionals (of course the punters start several hours earlier).

See you out there!

Out for a Ride on my new Avanti

Well just arrived back for the first ride of my new Cadent 3.0 by Avanti. It is a great bike. Responsive, light and great geometry for an old bloke like me! So I would love to thank the crew from Avanti for their great sponsorship / partnership with The Adventure Collective - riding the best bikes available is always a pleasure...

The Adventure Collective uses Avanti, Specialized and SUB bikes for our tours and our key staff get to ride on our sponsored bikes.

This morning I also wore my new Avanti Team kit, again really comfortable the chamois is great and the new kit design works well.

2008 of and running

Well Friday the 4th of January and the year is about to go off with a bang. The Tour Down Under is only a couple of weeks away and Adelaide is ramping up. The weekend warriors are out and about warming up for the event. My good friend Peter Eich will be over for the tour, talking about bikemap.de, a great little interactive tool that all cyclist can use to map their favorite rides.

Today we are planning the logistics for our tour of The Tour Down Under, it is going to be a great event! Keep an Eye out for some great competitions which we will run during the tour!