Day 1: Wed 22 Oct – Hippo Farm to Hervey Bay to Brisbane to Sydney

Unfortunately, the easiest way to Bangkok was to fly to Sydney, overnight, then fly Syd-BKK in the morning. That way I could meet up with my mate Phil and travel with him to Bangkok.

 
The flight from Hervey Bay, Brisbane then Sydney went without a hitch, all on time. Once in Sydney I quickly collected my luggage and jumped a cab to the hotel, which I'd picked for its walking distance (500m) to the International Airport. I met up with Phil my roommate for the whole trip. Phil was my Army Padre for many years and eventually became my cycling/racing buddy in Canberra. He has also been one of my Faith Mentors since we met in Townsville in 1993. 

To kill some time we grabbed a jumper and water and set off on foot to the International Terminal, about 15 minutes away. There we hopped on a bus to the city. After a wander and just about getting blown away by the wind we ended up at Darling Harbour where we had a Turkish chicken and salad. It was then back to the motel for some admin, like emailing a copy of our passports to the Cycle Tour people and notifying our respective banks of our OS travel.