Sydney to Newport – 36 km (25 by bike, 11 by ferry) We are on the traditional territory of the Ku-ring-gai People It’s been nearly a month since we were on our bikes, so we were anxious to begin our cycle trip to Brisbane today, joined on this leg by our old friend Wayne Balanoff. The route ...

Sydney (2) – 3150 km (by air) Traditional Territory of the Gadigal People During the 4 1/2 hour flight from Darwin we had a stimulating and enjoyable conversation with a young man sitting beside us who was reading (and expounding on) the book, “Thinking Fast and Slow”, by Daniel Kahneman. We arrived back in Sydney to relatively warm ...

Kakadu – 1107 km (by car) Traditional owners: – Kakadu, the Baninji and the Mungguy People – Katherine,  the Jawoyn People We picked up our rental car, stopped at Aboriginal Bush Traders for takeout espresso and latte, then headed south on the Stuart and Arnhem Highways to Kakadu National Park, approximately 150 kms. We were booked to spend the ...

Darwin  (1635 km by air) Darwin is the ancestral territory of the Larrakia people. It was a crisp -2 in the desert this morning! We missed our connection to Darwin as the plane that would have dropped us in Alice Springs hit a bird leaving Cairns. We eventually left Uluru, but then had a 5-hour wait in Alice ...

Uluru and Kata Tjuta – 2180 km (by air) Traditional territory of  the  Anangu The question of what to see in a short time in Australia is daunting. Like Canada, the vastness and diversity of the country make for some tough choices. Even our planned cycle route from Sydney to Brisbane will cover only a small fraction ...

To Sydney – 9172 km by air The Gadigal of the Eora Nation are the traditional custodians of the place now called Sydney What a privilege it has been to travel and cycle in South Korea and Japan, if only to barely touch the surface of these ancient, fascinating and gracious countries. Having a family connection to Korea ...

Notes on PD research in Japan The prevalence of PD in Asian countries was assessed as being slightly lower than in “Western countries “ but, with considerable variation in the reported prevalence and incidence of PD, this difference may not be real.  Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Incidence of Parkinson’s Disease in Asia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/6830454/ In a study ...

Kyoto Earthquake: two days after we left Kyoto and flew from Osaka, a 6.1 earthquake hit Osaka, killing 3 people and injuring more than 100, damaging buildings and infrastructure. The quake was felt in Kyoto.  One of Japan’s best preserved cities, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan for over 1000 years until 1869 and continues to ...

Osaka to Kyoto (49 km by bike) We took the cycle path described on the Cyclekyoto.com website, which essentially follows the banks of the Yodo and Katsura rivers to Kyoto. While It was not that easy to follow in places and the dozen or so motorcycle barriers were tedious to get through, overall it was a pleasant, ...

Osaka We had our morning espresso at Bogart’s, looking out on one of the canals and listening to recordings of familiar songs sung Hawaiian style, accompanied by a ukulele! We spent the morning at the National Museum of Art, viewing an excellent exhibition, “The Myriad Forms of Visual Art”, comprising 196 works from the collection presented in ...