This book is about adventure motorcycle riding, middle age, and chicken racing, but most of all, it's about adventure and what it means to be an adventurer. On this journey I learn to ride an adventure motorcycle in some of Queensland's toughest terrain. I develop a sense of self reliance, and find solitude wild camping in remote areas. This book is the beginning of my quest to ride around Australia. Queensland has some of the best adventure riding trails, tracks and roads in the world, from deep bull dust highways, long sandy beach rides to spectacular waterfalls and trails through tropical rainforests. Every town has a story, from bloody conflicts to the formation of political parties, throughout this journey I take the reader through the heart of Queensland and the soul of Australia. It's not just long lonely highways and dusty dirt tracks. Throughout my adventure I dodged giant snakes, suicidal kangaroos, ghosts, and tornadoes. I prepared for a gunfight in an opal mining town and uncovered the real story behind the song "Waltzing Matilda" and the old swaggie murdered at an outback billabong. Along the way, I discovered the quintessential Australian culture. This book is for anybody who has an interest in coming to Australia, riding an adventure motorcycle through Queensland, or who just loves adventure and wants to plan their own escape. It is full of historical information about Queensland, motorcycle riding and amazing people. The story takes the reader from Townsville in north Queensland to the heart of the outback and down to the Gold Coast, before returning back to Townsville via the Queensland coastal road.