In May, 2012 I travelled to Central Sulawesi on a 16 day Tour led by Colin Freestone.

We departed Sydney for Jakarta and transited to Palu. My husband Tom and I had a fabulous ride through the countryside, along the coast and inland around Lake Poso.

We enjoyed a wide variety of cuisine, which kept us well nourished for the long hot hills. Weary bones and muscles were comfortably relaxed each afternoon with a swim in the warm sea.

My trusty New World Tourist endured a variety of road and climactic conditions. We were accompanied by a bicycle mechanic, two support vans with expert drivers.

Colin is an expert in all things Indonesian and all the fine points of this bicycle tour are explained on his website.

A highlight of this bicycle adventure was easy access to swimming and snorkelling. The daily distances ranged from 60km to 135km.

We left early in the morning and enjoyed siesta style barbecued fish lunches. Throughout each journey we were rewarded with locally made cakes and fresh picked tropical fruit including durian. The local Central Sulawesians always made us feel welcome and cheered us on!