Episodes

  • s1e01: The Journey Begins

    s1e01: The Journey Begins
    Feb 28 2014
    Had everything gone to plan, us (Janell and Stu) and our 7 year old Bull Terrier mix Skyla would be riding through Central America right about now. So what went wrong? Skyla was diagnosed with cancer (Lymphoma) in October 2013, only weeks after booking our flights to Dallas. We were rapidly packing up our life in Sydney in preparation for a two year motorbike adventure across four and half continents.
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    8 mins
  • s1e02: Geared Up and Riding

    s1e02: Geared Up and Riding
    Apr 7 2014
    We had said a fond farewell to Dallas, our home for the previous three weeks. The departure was not quite as we planned and were thankful for no great send off. The checkout from the hotel was midday, we handed over our room keys at 12:01pm but then spent the next three hours in the hotel car park loading up the bikes. It wasn't the plan of course, we had hoped to be on the road at midday to take the scenic four hour ride to Austin, the capital of Texas, set up camp and explore the city the next day.
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    16 mins
  • s1e03: Let Loose in Mexico

    s1e03: Let Loose in Mexico
    Apr 17 2014
    From Real de Catorce we were on our own and headed for San Miguel de Allende. It was our first leg in Mexico without support (Hank and Jochen). We were perhaps overwhelmed for the first two days trying to find our feet. Our Spanish was non existent so we quickly discovered 'street' food. It's cheap, tasty and you can point at the pots of food you want, just make sure you smile and say 'por favor' (Spanish for please) so it doesn't come across as rude. If you prefer somewhere to sit and relax for a while, the rooftop restaurants are something fun and different and you can enjoy looking at the church towers or down on the brightly coloured streets during the day or sparkling lights at night. Mexico really comes to life at night but with the warm evenings it's no wonder families and friends are out mingling, socialising and shopping.
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    9 mins
  • s1e04: Fall at 3,000m

    s1e04: Fall at 3,000m
    Apr 21 2014
    Janell lay there upside-down calling for help, head resting on a concrete beam which ran along the bottom of the deep gutter, her legs sticking up the steep incline holding up 250kg of bike. The bike was also upside-down with fuel pouring out of the breathing tube. Stuart quickly pulled his bike up and ran to her assistance. He took the weight, enough for Janell to slip out from under the bike and then allow it to fall about 1.5m to the bottom of the gutter. Luckily there was no signs of injury, although Janell was in a bit of shock, holding her broken rear-view mirror and cursing Skyla who was the reason for the emergency stop.
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    11 mins
  • s1e05: Chicken Pizza

    s1e05: Chicken Pizza
    Apr 30 2014
    Three sore bottoms pulled in to a tropical Cancun at 4:30pm. The Pack Track left the bustling city of Oaxaca on Wednesday, with the goal of checking in to our accommodation in Cancun by 5pm on Friday. That's approximately 1400km in three days. Why the hurry? Glad you asked! Stu's younger brother (Greg) who moved to Canada about 18 months earlier was flying down to spend 4 nights with us. It had been a very eventful, exhausting and at times stressful three days but definitely worth it to see two brothers reunited!!
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    7 mins
  • s1e06: Border Deluge

    s1e06: Border Deluge
    May 17 2014
    Never do a border crossing on an empty stomach. We'd done it a few times now and it makes a hot and slow process so much worse. Crossing in to Mexico we were lucky to have two experienced travellers with us, who both spoke Spanish. The countries that were to follow Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua progressively got hotter and slower, taking anywhere between 1.5 hours to 5.5 hours.
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    13 mins
  • s1e07: Panamania

    s1e07: Panamania
    Jun 10 2014
    By the time we reached Costa Rica we had put around 6,000 miles (10,000km) on our bikes since leaving Texas. That means it was time for a service. Luckily, back in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, we met Ricardo by chance. Janell was standing on the balcony of our hostel in San Miguel checking out the view with Skyla when a gentlemen yelled from bellow "Are you going to Manaus?" Followed by "come downstairs", so we did and introduced ourselves to Ricardo. Ricardo had been told about us by someone following our journey and made it his business to come and find us. He invited us to take a walk around San Miguel during which time we exchanged stories and he sold us on spending a few days in San Jose, Costa Rica, where he knew a good mechanic if we needed any work done.
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    10 mins
  • s1e08: Sunburnt & Seasick

    s1e08: Sunburnt & Seasick
    Jul 22 2014
    The Darien Gap! A 50km stretch of jungle separating Panama in North America from Colombia in South America. The jungle is so thick that it isolated the Mayan civilisation from the Inca's. Although a few well equipped adventurers have had success in navigating through the harsh environment, most attempts have failed. Plans to join Panama to Colombia by road through the Darien Gap have never eventuated, mainly because of the terrain but also because of the poor relations between the two countries.
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    12 mins