Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means (39 page)

Pulling over, I sat with the bike burbling away in neutral and stared at the city ahead. There was so much more to do, so many other places still to see. I adjusted my helmet, kicked the bike into first gear and pulled back onto the bridge.

Winding on the throttle now, I crossed the bridge and was in the city. I was among the skyscrapers and glass, the concrete and unlit neon. It struck me that I was still in the jungle, only instead of palm trees and muddy rivers it was glass buildings and spotless tarmac. It was exactly where I had planned to be when we set out eighty-one days earlier. Boorman on a bike, blasting into the city!

On and on I rode, two kilometres, three, four, before finally I came to Shibuya Crossing, deep in the heart of the city. This was the centre of everything - shopping, entertainment, nightlife. Even now some of last night’s revellers were still spilling from various nightclubs.

Five roads converged here and as I slowed for a zebra crossing, the old Harley was coughing and snarling and a bunch of kids, still half cut, were looking on as they leaned against each other in a collective effort to remain upright.

Suddenly I was laughing: they reminded me of the bunch of drunks we’d encountered at the river crossing. Pulling up, I stopped the bike and climbed off. In that moment the relief just seemed to hit me, the euphoria of bringing it all to a close. The kids were gawping now as halfway across the street I stopped to consider the five roads leading in five different directions.

Quietly, I lay down. Right there in the middle of the zebra crossing. Arms stretched, I lay on my back and looked up at the sky. An intersection that gave me five separate options; it seemed a good place to stop. Before I had a chance to consider it further, one of the kids staggered over and looked down at me. He was followed by another and another, all of them still reeling with drink, breathing the fumes all over me.

‘Are you all right, mate?’ one of them slurred.

I looked up at him with a grin. ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ I said. ‘Thanks for asking.’