Who would of thought that after all these years of driving up and down the Hume Highway there was such a great mountain bike park just out of Newcastle.

Awaba Mountain Bike Park is about 100km along the F3 from Sydney. Craig made the early morning trek up from Wollongong last Saturday for Round 1 of Rocky Trail Entertainments 4 and 8 hour event.

Although Craig was just up for the day we hope to make a longer trip soon to check out more of the trails and of course what there is to do Off The Bike!

It has been awhile since my last blog entry, however it has definitely been a busy time.

After Alice Springs, Craig had an awesome trip over to Melrose where he enjoyed some crazy bike trails and the local entertainment.  He is very keen for us both to go back there, so hopefully we will be back there next year for the same event.

We have just been back to Victoria for the weekend. Craig travelled up to Albury to test out the trails there at Round 5 of the Victorian Enduro Series. he was very impressed with the tracks.

We have just about completed the Blue Mountains destination review, with the photo gallery the last item to update. Have a look at the site as the On & Off the bike sections are completed.

We are trying to look at where we will fit in Orange as our next destination to review. With so many races coming up in the calendar and with the cooler months upon us we haven’t quite decided yet when it will be. Will keep you posted through the blog.

We had an amazing time in Alice Springs. We had perfect weather the whole time, it was a shame the pool at the resort was freezing as it looked so inviting! We stayed at the Chifley which was great as many of the race events were there, which added to the atmosphere.

It was quite a culture shock arriving in Alice Springs, I was expecting it to be like a modern town centre, however it was quite the opposite. There are some amazing art galleries in the area, with plenty in the town centre itself. We were lucky enough to see the markets in the Todd Mall where the locals sell plenty of aboriginal art work, crafts, produce and more.

The landscape is amazing and I wish we had of had more time to head down to Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon. We made the most of our time after Craig finished riding and went out to Desert Park, which is a 10 minute drive from Alice Springs. Desert Park showcases the natural scenery and wildlife with an awesome Birds of Prey show where an owl, kites, hawks and more came in for a performance.

The Blue Mountains review will hopefully be up on the site in the next week or two along with Craig's visit to Melrose in South Australia.

I am pretty excited, I am heading off to Alice Spring next week to have a look around and see what there is to do in Alice Springs "Off The Bike". I haven't been there since I was 9 and most of my memories are of a caravan park with lots of red dirt! I'm sure it has come a long way since then and I can't wait to see it.

Craig heads off on Sunday, which he is very excited about as he gets to ride for a whole week at the Red Centre Enduro. Should be a great week of riding and meeting new people.

After Alice, Melrose in SA is up next to be reviewed with a fun weekend over the June long weekend.

Photo: Courtesy Rapid Ascent

Well our crazy two months of reviewing destinations is nearly over. We have reviewed a number of great locations in the last 6 weeks, some are already up on the Destinations site the rest will be up in the coming weeks. I had a fun time at Wagga Wagga, the shopping was certainly more than I had expected having a Myer, Witchery and other great stores!

My favourite thing to do whilst in Wagga was going to the Zoo in the Botanical Gardens. I was quite amazed at how good this free Australian animal zoo was! We spent a couple of hours there and at the playgrounds right next to the zoo.

We just got back from reviewing The Blue Mountains where I went on the cable car across the Jamison Valley. It certainly is worth doing if you are planning a trip there, the sights are almost indescribable. The cafes and shops are worth mentioning too, there are quite a few quirky shops as well as many modern and retro ones too. The Blue Mountains review should be up in the next few weeks.

Next month we are off to Alice Springs where Craig will be riding for the week (Ed: Red Centre Enduro, Yeah!...), I haven't been there since I was very young so I am very excited to get back there!

What a crazy few weeks we have had travelling around the country (well NSW, Victoria and ACT at least!). We had such a great time visiting areas around Victoria and can't wait to get back there and see some more.

Photo: Dinner Plain, Victoria

We went to Canberra last weekend where Craig covered The Mont 24 hour event and I had look around the local sites checking out some awesome shopping and plenty of great restaurant/cafe strips.

Photo: Canberra Shopping

My favourite thing to do whilst I was in Canberra was a morning walk around the Lake and through Commonwealth Park with art sculptures, a Bonsai collection and an amazing cafe overlooking Parliament House, Lake Burley Griffin and more.

Photo: Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra

Next up we are off to Wagga Wagga for the 3 + 3 event held this Sunday. I am excited to go somewhere that I haven't been before like Wagga Wagga, which is not normally high on a holiday destination list, will keep you posted...

Still to come in the next couple of months for our destination travels are The Blue Mountains, Alice Springs and Melrose in South Australia.

While Craig was off riding all weekend at Bike Buller this is what I got up to at Mt Buller:

I know Craig enjoyed himself, but I know what I would rather be doing! What a great weekend, I can’t wait to go back there again one day, I highly recommend the visit.

We are now in Bright and loving it, we head up to Mt Hotham and Dinner Plain tomorrow which should be awesome.

My 10 month old son woke me up last night and that wasn't the bad part, the bad part was that I was dreaming I was mountain bike riding! all these mountain bike related activities have taken over my thoughts!!

Bright in Victoria is up on the site, we just have to take some more photos when we are down there in mid March, which I can't wait to do. Bright is one of my all time favourite spots, that's why we keep going back there (not to mention the fact that the bike riding there is awesome and I can't keep Craig off the bike!). The photos of Bright will be added to the Gallery not long after we get back.

We have almost finalised Forster, just sorting out a few areas and it should be up next week some time.

Looks like we are heading off to Wagga Wagga and the Blue Mountains in April. I am really looking forward to going to Wagga as I have never been there and I am really interested to see what it has to offer. Craig tells me there is some kind of beach there which seems like an interesting concept for an inland town! so keen to get there and see some new sights.

The Blue Mountains is such a lovely area, I have only been there twice and haven't explored much out of the usual tourist area so it will be great to look at some new areas. Pretty keen to get back to Leura and have a great look around there and have some scones from a cafe there that serves them up in flower pots, yummy!

Keep checking the destinations site and "The Loop" as we are sourcing many businesses to offer discounts and specials to Enduro Pulse visitors.

Forster was awesome! Nice sunny weather and plenty of time was spent on the beach and lakes. Craig hit the trails around Forster including a monster mountain bike climb up to Whoota lookout with spectacular views over the great lakes.

We went to some great restaurants, had an amazing facial and went on a beautiful cruise (no dolphins were sighted though!).

Can't wait to get the review of Forster up on the site. We're madly writing up the articles and will have these finished in the coming days. It is truly an amazing part of Australia.

Next stop Kangaroo Valley NSW before Canberra, Mt Buller, Mt Hotham, Bright, Falls Creek, Beechworth, Mt Beauty....... the list goes on....

So we now have the Southern Highlands up on our Website with just a few finishing touches to do. It will be 1 down millions more to go!

The Nowra/Berry area will be up (hopefully) in the next day or so, keep an eye out for that one it has some great cafes, shopping, beaches and wineries.

Bright in the Victorian Alps should be up by next week, fingers crossed, with the finishing touches done when we head back down there in mid March.

I'm still enjoying the travel, restaurants and sight seeing. Its been great fun to get out amongst it all, especially when Craig backed the car into a 'Winery Open' sign and knocked it flat, there was lots of laughter after we realised there was no damage and then we got out of there quick smart! Now its time to get back to the hard part of writing it all up!

Other destinations coming up soon will be Wiseman's Ferry, Forster, Kangarro Valley all in NSW, Canberra and then a bunch of North East Victorian towns.

Keep sending through your locations to review, we're always looking for great spots to explore. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it