Friendly Beaches.

Ben's camped at Friendly Beaches near Bicheno and thinks it will take some time to get back to where he was one month ago, healthwise that is.

Small part causes big problems.

The little Honda is running well and very economically too. The bike swap happened just in time because the Ducati needed $450 of repairs today with more maintenance booked in a month's time. The various problems of the past few weeks were probably due a failing electrical part in the ignition which stopped working completely yesterday. In the end, the two-cylinder bike was only running on one cylinder which made for an interesting ride to Brad the Bike Boy's workshop in Oakleigh. It's a little surprising that, in a state as small as Tasmania, the bike (and Ben) have managed to travel 20,000km in the last six months but that's why the steering and suspension are worn and need further work.

While watching the mechanic for over three hours, it was obvious that there was no way I could have diagnosed and fixed that problem by myself. Sometimes it's necessary to get help, even though it costs. Finding people with the right expertise (and attitude) is not a simple matter and, in the case of the unhealthy motorbike, it was a combination of some online research, asking around and a good dose of luck. For now, the red Ducati can power along quite nicely; at unknown speed since the speedo isn't fixed yet. If you find that you can't fix something yourself, it's worthwhile to keep searching for those with the skills and knowledge who can help.