A 4000km Ride - Horizons Unlimited - Queensland 2025 - a journey - there and back again

Federation Way

This year in April (2025), I (Lizzy, one of our Karakoram Bikers co-founders) made a somewhat last minute decision to ride our HondaGB350 the 4000km round trip Melbourne to Queensland and back. The main reasoning was to attend the Horizons Unlimited Queensland meet up. This was the first HU event held in Australia since 2018, we have missed them greatly. 2025 is the year for Horizons Unlimited to celebrate 25 years of overland adventure motorcycle meetups, so what a great time to bring them back to Australia! This post is in part about the event itself and a bigger part about the motorcycle journey to and from and why this was a big deal for me.

Australia is big, very, very big, so vastly big and relatively underpopulated it’s possible to go for hundreds of kilometres and not encounter another soul. There’s huge swathes of nothingness as far as the eye can see… but is it, is it really nothingness. This emptiness is full of wonder, the dull monotony when broken down to micro moments and tiny pinpoints of nature - the whole becomes even more vast and mind bogglingly bigger than big. There is masses of somethings in the nothings. And diversity, Australia has it all. Riding across three states, in a relatively compacted amount of time, gives opportunity to see and experience an amazing mix of quirky old towns and spectacular natural locations enough to fill a simple life with wonder.

A little back story about Liz and riding. Riding a motorcycle had been a tickling at the back of my mind for sometime as a fun thing to try but I’d not seriously looked into it at all. In 2015 a friend gave me the most wonderful opportunity and experience to ride together, I on the back of his motorcycle, a Royal Enfield Classic 350, through Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in India. It was my first time on a motorbike and will always be one of the most amazing experiences of my life (that’s another story for another day) and for that I am forever grateful to him and for that connection. It opened up a world of adventure motorcycle travel, a passion I now hold dear. Then in 2016 after visiting Pakistan, again by motorcycle, it was time to get serious and learn to ride myself. Together with Shah, my brown bear of Deosai, we started our motorcycle travel company, Karakoram Bikers, it is our passion bringing people from all over the world to experience the wonders of Pakistan. And of course I now had to go and get my motorcycle licence.

Lizzy at Deosai

I did my first rides as a noob in Pakistan - on an early Karakoram Bikers tour across Deosai National Park when Mike’s butt was too sore to continue with the bumps I rode his bike. Transferring bikes from Skardu to Gilgit along the then hair raising route and trying not to land in the Indus whilst avoiding the jingle jangle trucks. Our first Suzuki 150 we named Bulleh and our first Honda 125 we named Rumi. I love both these bikes and have had many amazing moments with them in a huge variety of terrain and weather conditions. I rode sometimes as well in the city traffic of Melbourne on a Kawasaki naked 250… but for a long time I had no bike and when covid hit I was stuck in Australia and had no opportunity to ride for years.

Finally not that long before the Horizons Unlimited event I got our sweet Honda GB350 - but with life and lack of emotional will, did not use it much, my riding confidence was in the gutter. Without the impetus I was in a motorcycle funk. Having never ridden faster than 80km per hour or for longer than a day or two at a time, something in my brain suddenly clicked. Originally I was going to the Horizons Unlimited event by car, taking our Karakoram Bikers display items and flyers, but then I had a seed growing and then bursting in me… I had to ride to Queensland. I couldn’t let it go despite clearly being woefully underprepared, I had just 3 weeks to get my shit together and go.

So off I go, for better or worse, it was time to ride. I managed to get a few longish day rides in as practice before I headed off and a couple of times on the major freeway doing 100km plus but nothing with any luggage or adverse weather. Was I ready, no, was I backing out, hell no.

The first two days were full of stress, emotions, processing the ups and downs. With heavy rains, road trains, fucking traffic… and a reassessment - sorry to all friends and family I'd intended on visiting along the way - have to be next time as I drastically overestimated how much distance I could cover in a day at my level of experience. I began with what I thought was a good idea to ride the Black Spur from Healesville north, thus avoiding having to cross Melbourne (I’m in the south east) via either the Ring roads or City links which would have plonked me into the bowels of the heavy Hume traffic - awful and I’m glad I didn’t take that route. However while crossing Lilydale on the outskirts of Melbourne I misread the road and its stupidly over zealous camber combined with my inexperience of the weight and balance of luggage led me to dropping the bike at an abrupt red light stop. Fuckety fuck fuck.

I stood staring at my bike laying on the ground, in a bit of shock. I was physically fine other than a weird dislocated thumb that I clicked back into place and the bike totally fine, just a slightly bent clutch lever but otherwise all good. Turns out the mountain of luggage cushioned the fall! As my brain ground back into action I heard a shout, “Are you ok, do you need help?” A nice gentleman next to me on the road helped me lift the bike. I’d been prepping before the ride by watching Youtube videos on picking up the bike alone but very happy I had help on this occasion. Thankfully I was only 45 minutes from home and Laurie the legend (rides a Kawasaki Ninja 300 but we won’t judge him for that) hopped in the car and came to my rescue and collected half of my now deemed unnecessary load. He saw the intersection where I dropped the bike and said he’d have run the red (not really but still), agreed the road was dangerous and definitely not safe to stop on a loaded bike, this made me feel less stupid, thanks Lozza!

Although slightly tempted to give up there and then I repacked by the side of the road and with a much lighter load but a heavier heart set off again. And traffic on my arse, both on the Black spur and then a particularly steep and twisty section on the Euroa / Mansfield road - would have been great if it weren’t for the driver who insisted on sitting right on my tail, nowhere safe for me to let them pass and they did not back off. I later learnt to zen through these types of moments. Then the Hume, great! Means not great. I rode this major highway in a very busy section between Euroa and Wangaratta, lots of traffic and massive trucks and it started to rain. I was now getting very late in the day to reach my planned night stop. I stopped, breathed and reassessed. Cancelled the accommodation for the first night and found a place much closer, only another 45 minutes to ride. I limped into Corowa on the Murray river, exhausted, emotional, frail and extremely glad to still be alive.  I’d crossed Victoria and made it to rural NSW looking forward to leaving the traffic behind.

Federation Way NSW

Day two began with some lingering slight jitters. In hindsight I was probably impacted by the bike drop and high stress more than I realised. A nice big green bruise was appearing on my knee as well, I don’t even remember the moments between thinking oh crap the bike is falling to me standing on the road looking at said fallen bike, maybe I did fall too? I honestly don’t remember! Shock is a wonderfully protective thing. Regardless, I was rested and ready to set off again. Soon feeling very calm and getting into a bit of a flow. Allowing myself to enjoy the long straight seemingly endless highways through the vast flat fields. Very very happy to finally be away from the traffic. Riding Federation Way was my favourite section for these first two days. No cars, just silence.

I paused by the side of the road to take a few photos of the great expanse and a car with two guys stopped to chat, firstly to see if I was ok but then they were very excited when hearing what I was doing and wished me well. So quiet was this stretch of road that they were able to stop literally in the middle of the highway, hanging out the car window for a good 10 minutes chat without any other cars coming along and being hindered by our friendly conversation. Then I hit the Newell highway and discovered the joys (not joys) of passing road trains. These mega trucks had me buffeted and bounced around like a pair of Grandmas drawers spinning on a hills hoist in a cyclone as I whiled away the kilometres near West Wyalong, To finish the day the rain decided to bucket down, 110km speed limit with road trains for the last 40 minutes between Forbes to Parkes. I arrived freezing cold with sodden feet sloshing around in my boot buckets. Again ending a day exhausted, pushed to my limit, freezing cold and completely drenched… although my waxed cotton coat kept my top dry, thank goodness for that.

The next day - day 3 - I decide to rest from the rain. It was forecast for a heavy downpour for most of my intended route that day. I was tired, still gathering my emotions and trying hard to calm my soul. My gloves, boots and pants were all soaked. It made sense to rest and reenergise. I again adjusted my day length, cancelled some camping plans, dried out and slept like a log. Day 4  I was ready again. Parkes to Narrabri. Finding a rhythm - the highlight for today definitely riding through the Warrumbungles. I’d visited this rugged rocky national park multiple times in the past and have some beautiful childhood camping and bushwalking memories especially of the Bread Knife rock formations and walking amongst the spires. So to ride through the area on the bike was quite special.

The rain had cleared and it became a calmer ride. Still buffeted by the road trains but I was ready and focused, they no longer completely freaked the bejesus out of me. One other challenge of the day though was the passing of a wide load. There are many of these wide loads that take the Newell Highway as it is straight and wide, they have a leader car warning the load is coming but this one was beyond wide. It should lave been warned as a mega gargantuan load, here comes a fucking monolith! It took 3 lanes of highway and then some. I had a minor moment of panic as there was no safe flat verge to get out of the way, I managed to precariously balance on the one tiny patch that did not have an 10 inch worn bitumen edge drop off. Survived another day and managing these little events I felt the strength growing in me.

I was looking forward to my fifth day, I had originally planned to camp at Mt. Kaputar but the torrential rain, cold, and time delays led me to cancel. However I was now detouring away from the Newell and entering some fun back roads which was satisfaction enough despite the setbacks. I took the Killarney Gap Road that cuts across through the north of Mt. Kaputar from Narrabri to Bingara, finally some beautiful fields, and twisting mountain curves through old forest. There’s a beautiful short walk to a place called Sawn Rocks which was a great spot to really begin to breath and settle my soul into the ride. Then the Delungra Road past Myall Creek a very sombre area, I sat nearby at a rest stop contemplating the terrible history. There’s a commemoration site for the Myall Creek Massacre - I’ve always felt I have no land to call home, never able to settle in the thoughts of the genocidal colonial history that Australia has never properly processed. I was lost in thoughts of the current Gaza horror and the injustices of ongoing genocide in a world where other genocides are never acknowledged or given the opportunity to heal with truth telling. I feel sick just writing genocides, plural, there should not even be one. I try to hold on to hope for humanity. Riding on in a sort of quiet I continued to my final stop for the night and where I was to spend the next 3 nights camping. I pulled in to Girraween National Park, content and very happy to see my brother Greg setting up his camp and fire waiting for me with a big smile.

When Karakoram Bikers made the decision to attend the Horizons Unlimited event in Queensland I had a moment of opportunity to act on something that had been weighing at the back of my mind for sometime. In 2015 my father passed away quite suddenly. I was very close to him and miss him dearly. He had mentioned in his will to have his ashes scattered to the four winds. I think it meant he really didn’t mind, just chuck him in the breeze somewhere but as a family we wanted to do something a bit nicer than that. However with all of us living spread out all over Australia and life commitments meant we could never agree on a time. We all had previously decided that Girraween was the best place for Dad. We often went there as a family and spent many hours hiking, swimming, sitting around the fire drinking 5 million cups of the best smokey campfire tea all while Dad photographed somewhat obsessively the wild flowers. Wyberba as it was once called was his special place.

I decided to let all my siblings know that I intended to spread Dad’s ashes on this trip north and if they had any problems with that speak now or hold your peace. I was very happy to hear they all approved and all bar one sibling were able to join me. We met together and shared an amazing casserole (thanks Greg) cooked on the fire with crusty bread, laughed and set Dad’s soul to rest. The morning before the rest of my siblings arrived I took a 2 hour solo hike up Castle Rock, an amazing walk which ultimately gives a full 360 view over the whole park, you can see both Pyramids, Mt.Norman, The Sphinx and Turtle Rock. I sat quietly talking to Dad and contemplating the universe and this amazing ancient land that Australia is. We are so so lucky to be able to live amongst and walk these natural places and I do not for one second take that for granted. I knew absolutely that this was the right place to bring Dad back to the land for eternity.

Thankfully the remaining ride to the Horizons Unlimited event which was being held at the Kokoda Outdoor Park in South East Queensland was only around another 3.5 hours away. It was a lovely day and had a great route coming down off the main range just south of Toowoomba - the Gatton Clifton Road. This is a beautiful area, green fields, an awesome twisting descent following a river. Just stunning and super fun. At one point I forgot I was riding and so mesmerised was I by the view that I almost missed a turn, had mere centimetres to correct myself and avoid going over the edge. Focus grasshopper.

I arrived into the event and was greeted immediately by Shane the main organiser and other presenters and volunteers already there, “Heyyyy here comes Lizzy!” Linda the overlanding legend straight away praised my waxed cotton coat and how she missed hers dearly. I was welcomed with kindness and smiles and a ready cuppa. Beautiful greeting and it set the tone for the weekend. Only minor draw back for me was they said the camping is up the hill… I took one look at the steep road and declared I was too tired to even be bothered to ride my bike up the grassy hill. I left my HondaGB350 parked with a group of other bikes and carried my gear up the steps instead! Set up camp and watched happily as others arrived, ready for a relaxing and inspiring couple of days.

Karakoram Bikers was originally booked in as an exhibitor but we were invited to also give a presentation. Back in 2018 I had given a talk at the Horizons Unlimited Snowy event in Jindabyne, the last HU event in Australia. So I was able to relatively easily edit that talk for this new presentation. We know the ins and outs of visiting Pakistan for a foreigner and we shared all the up to date information of travelling into and through Pakistan. Karakoram Bikers is hugely experienced as we have now been supporting visitors to Pakistan since those early days in 2016. As you might imagine it has not been an easy or straightforward journey, building our travel company has been at times intensely tiring with huge hurdles. The support Shah and I give to each other and the team keeps us going. We all believe deeply in what we do. We will always do our best to share our experiences in the most honest and open way. This is what we spoke of at the event and we look forward to continue to support all travellers - Horizons Unlimited Overlanders and all others ready to visit this most misunderstood country.

The weekend was very special. So many great moments and stories shared. From young adventure riders Emily and Houston sharing their mammoth Australian ride to lifetime rider Linda riding since the 1960s and sharing music and stories with the entire world, to Gary and his Australia outback myth buster tales, Lala’s South American dream ride, Bec and Dave’s Indo China muddy mayhem, African exploration with beautiful photography by Chris and her riding partner Dale, Ashim's dream of riding the world on his sports bike, Heather’s African odyssey and Kathleen’s mammoth round the world trip - as well as all the many many many conversations with Overlanders attending. Truly a beautiful group of people and I highly recommend attending one of the Horizons Unlimited events around the world if you have a chance and have even a slight interest in motorcycle travel or cross country adventuring. I enjoyed the weekend immensely and am proud to represent Karakoram Bikers around the globe. But by Sunday afternoon my toes were itching and I was looking forward to the next morning when I could ride again.

Monday morning came, day 11 into the trip and it was finally time to head off again and really find the zen of the ride and connect. Originally from Brisbane I was sad to have had to cancel some of my catchups with friends there but I realised I had factored in too much and safety became my focus. I wanted to enjoy the ride and not rush. I understood I had to shorten my days and allow plenty of time for stops and to be fully present in the ride. I also very much needed some quiet and solace. So I now had a return route spread over 7 days, you could easily extend that further. For the first day heading south I took it easy, morning coffee at the Dugandan pub just next to Boonah, an old haunt from hiking days and so great to see it again after 25 years, then past the iconic mountains of Barney and Maroon. This was the Boonah Rathdowney road connecting me through to Woodenbong and Mt. Lindesay on the Summerland Way to Kyogle. This area is most like home to me and has some super fun twists, gorgeous rainforest, rolling green fields. Amazing. I stopped for the night in Casino in some rain showers feeling calm and content.

Day 12 - I continued on the Summerland Way towards Grafton then took the less travelled Armidale Road through Nymboida and Clouds Creek. This is such a beautiful route, surrounded by National Parks, thick forests, curving roads and little traffic. I was now fully enjoying every moment. Such beautiful country and gorgeous roads for riding. Armidale Road joins onto the Waterfall Way which crosses through Ebor, Wollomombi and Armidale. Just south of Armidale at Uralla I turned onto Thunderbolts Way and a night stop at the beautiful town of Walcha. Walcha is a bit of a mecca for riders in the area as it has so many lovely ride routes crossing through. It now looked stunning in the Autumn colours.

The next day - day 13 I think is my favourite day of the entire ride. The route was amazing, remote, a fun, mix of dirt and some dodgy Pakistani style road works in highly questionable locations on cliff edges. I was in my element and enjoyed every second. Leaving Walcha bright and early amongst a low lying atmospheric mist and heading south following Thunderbolts Way as far as the town of Barrington just north of Gloucester. This region is currently soooooo green and beautiful. I then took the Barrington - Scone road across the northern section of Barrington Tops National Park. Loved every second of the Scone Road. Simply amazing. Lots of dirt but it was firm and not difficult. The road works coming down off the range though were a bit of a mess hahaha crazy chaos. Took me straight back to riding the landslide areas in Pakistan waiting for excavators, complete with signals that don’t work, taking time to get around obstacles under the arm waving of the workman. Some thick fresh road toppings had me sliding all over the place but I stayed upright. I was having so much fun.

I came to a shut gate across the dirt road at the edge of a beautiful forest. At first I thought the road was closed and the gate was locked. Thinking oh bugger I don't want to ride all the way back to Gloucester to find a different route. But upon closer inspection I realised it was the Dingo Fence and I just had to open and close the gate. I had no idea I would be crossing that and so it was a lovely surprise. I was smiling ear to ear. Absolute joy. Descending down the range was amazing, steep, twisty but open with fantastic views. Coming out to the highway again near Aberdeen I passed some pretty serious open cut coal mines along the Wyong road around Musswellbrook before arriving at my night stop at the small town of Sandy Hollow.

There was a group of riders staying at the same place and they all commented on my dedication and admired my trusty steed. Seems my humble Honda is well respected. It is a nice confidence boost to have seasoned motorcycle riders comment supportively and with kind encouragement wishing me the best for the rest of the journey. They spoke fondly of the Bylong Way that I was about to ride and I was excited to set out. They waved me off and I stalled the bike instantly, I hate an audience. I shooed the group away and set off. This became my second favourite day, feeling remote and away from it all, the Bylong Way passes around the back of Wollemi National Park. With rugged cliff lines and meandering beautiful curving roads a couple of twisting passes. Superb riding.

I was enjoying the moments of contemplation and connecting with the bike. The name Henry kept appearing in my mind as I rode, it didn’t seem to mind the name and so that is what it is now currently called. Henry the Honda. Henry and I discussed the latest troubles of Pakistan and India, it was rather stressful being on a journey to tell people to come and ride in Pakistan at the same time there was an all out cross border conflict. Very troubling and the messages from our past, present and future traveller clients were coming in. I did my very best to reassure and ease the worry. Thankfully it is calm once again but it’s an endless pain deeply entrenched in the psyche of Pakistanis and our team (half of which are from Hunza and Skardu - part of the greater Kashmir region). We all just want Peace and to get on with life.

I arrived at Boorowa for the night weary from all these circular thoughts and fears of what might be coming next for Karakoram Bikers and the region. I was however looking forward to my first ever experience of a night stay in an old traditional country pub/hotel. I’m sure this one may have been haunted. It’s a beautiful old hotel with original furniture and fittings. I was staying there alone in a room off the wide sprawling verandah. I slept deeply and despite a middle of the night bizarre screeching from the suspected ghost I was not afraid. Back to sleep and looking forward to entering the last days of the ride.

I was invited to coffee as I packed my bike in the street in the morning by another group of bikers staying next door (maybe they’d heard about the ghost so declined the nice old pub) People are very warm and friendly to solo travellers, I always felt like I was being cared for with others looking out for me and ready to help if needed. I had to say thank you but no thank you, I had a bit of a way to go and was keen to get moving. Boorowa to Bombała, was originally going to be my second last day and one I was looking forward to the most before I began the trip. I was very keen to cross the high country at least in part and this seemed like a nice way to go. In the end I cannot rate it with the same love as some of my previous days. While crossing the Snowy mountains was lovely, the amount of road kill was actually horrific, and from the bikes perspective the graphic visibility of the kangaroo, wombat, wallaby and bird bones, blood and guts was far too much in my face to be enjoyable, and the smell… There was also some seriously crazy timber trucks gunning it well past the speed limits which was unnerving and horrible and the most likely cause of all the road kill.

Kosciuszko National Park

My second last night of the ride was in Bombala, renowned to be one of the best places to spot a Platypus. And despite the morning temperature of minus 2 degrees, an ice covered Henry and a pea soup fog I headed out first thing in search of Platypus. There is a reserve just on the outskirts of Bombala where you can get close to the river and a family of Platypus is usually hanging around. I headed off the main road down to the reserve and in the thick fog completely missed the sign that pointed to the Platypus reserve. It was a few minutes riding on a dirt road until I realised my error as the road became a track and then disappeared… I did a dodgy u-turn, successfully avoided getting stuck in the boggy mess and as I rode back I was lucky enough to have a friendly teenage cow challenge me to a race! For a whole minute it ran on its side of the fence alongside me as if to say beat me if you can. Backtracking I found the reserve and with a frozen nose in thick fog searched for the Platypus. I was quickly rewarded with the tell tale ripples and splashes. Feeling complete I could now descend to the coast for my last day back home.

I’d taken a short detour out to Cape Conran, somewhere I’d meant to visit many times but until now had not managed to. A beautiful area of coast, riding along the oceans edge between the Cape and Marlo brings you to where the Snowy River meets the sea. Then up to Orbost before arriving at Eagle point where I camped for my last night. Eagle point bay was lovely with swans and a gorgeous sunrise. Another coffee with an elderly caravanning couple who were staying in town for a lawn bowls competition and I was off on my last days ride home. Killing it back on the highway to Melbourne, a million worlds away and infinitely a better rider from how I was when I first rode out of Melbourne 16 days ago.

There’s tiers of immersion in modes of travel, in my opinion hiking has the most connection, followed by cycling (I'm far too unfit for this at the moment) and then motorcycling. There’s something about being on the bike that allows you to experience nature and your surroundings in such a special way, far outsets travelling by car. If you can take it slow, the animals your see, forest air you breathe, the textures, smells, sounds are all deeply present. The mental challenges and benefits of such a long solo ride definitely help you to be a better human. I learnt a lot from this ride. I can only imagine what the very long cross world solo Overlanders must face mentally. There are moments when the silence is intense, when you have the awareness that life is fragile and you are at once a part of and separate from existence. It’s easy to get lost in isolated thoughts but also the connection and encounters you have make solo adventure riding an amazing experience.

Will I go again, absolutely and as soon as possible. I’m already thinking of the next multi day ride in Australia. And looking forward to returning to Pakistan very soon. Hopefully I will see many of you on the road and on our motorcycle tours in Pakistan.

Mcmahons Reef Road

A map of the way up

A map of the way back.