Travel Story: heather ellis - africa
Motorcycle couriering was also part of the journey
that kept me and the TT, as it affectionately
became known, together. Some people give names
to their motorcycles, but I must say, the TT is above
this sort of frivolity (his opinion, not mine!). I was
always an off-road rider until I worked as a
motorcycle courier and became a ‘road warrior’.
The TT was in its element as I could jump it up over
traffic islands, easily filter through the narrowest of
gaps as its handlebars were above the side mirrors
of most vehicles. But riding 500 kilometres most
days, five days a week through gridlock traffic as
well as my own neglect from falling down the
‘rabbit hole’ of London’s underworld, soon killed
the TT. While the TT was being rebuilt for the ride
home, I bought a 1984 Moto Guzzi V50 for £400. I
love this bike dearly: it’s a quick and nimble thing
through traffic as well as on mountain roads. I later
shipped it back to Australia and today my V50 sits
in my shed alongside my old friend, the TT.
.
Everything that I ‘awakened’ to through my
motorcycle travels has never left me. And that
journey continues today. These days I live in the
Yarra Ranges where some of the best motorcycling
roads are on my door step. The latest member of my
family is a Triumph Thruxton, perfect for riding
mountain roads with like-minded friends or weaving
through city traffic like a salmon swimming upstream
as I go about my business. Tomorrow, (in about ten
years when my three boys are grown), I’ll dust off my
beloved TT, and our odyssey will continue. We’ll ride
from South to North America and beyond. Just like
Africa, we will go where and when the wind blows
us. Our journey will be a slow meander as we
explore further that search for some greater
‘unspoken’ meaning.
ENDS