London to Sydney via Vega, 1969/1970

In 1969, 3 Australian young men decided to go home, but they didn't have the money... so they persuaded Lambretta Concessionaires to sponsor them (see News letters section). They rode 3 75cc Vegas from London to Sydney. It was supposed to be Ted Anderson, Ken Burrows, and Ray Whitehouse. Ray dropped out and was replaced by Gary Butler.

The Itinerary, kept by Ken Burrows, was as follows:


14th Ausust 1969 - Left London for Dover
15th Au; - Took ferry to Oostende Belgium . Got a bit full, Ted fell off bike, later Ken fell off and grazed face and ribs. A Belgium person saved his life.
17th Aug - Ken went to Doctor, arrived Amsterdam,
18tn Aug - Purchased parts for clutch of bikes, went on canal trip, picked up clutch  cable.
19th Aug - Toured Heinekin Brewery, went on canal trip. Went to red light area.
20th Aug - Travelled through Utrecht,Rhenen,Oss,Grave & St Anthonis
21st Aug - Travelled through Venlo,Dussuldorf, and on to Koln.
22nd Aug- Sightseeing in Koln, clutch is still stiff.
23rd Aug- Travelled beside the Rhine to a place called Andemach then on to Koblenz.
24th Aug- Set off down the Rhine through Bacharach, St Goar, Rhens,and on to Heidelberg youth Hostel
25th Aug - Travelled to Rastatt, stayed at local camping ground
26th Aug- Travelled to Keil and on to the border, continued to Severne. Stayed at a youth hostel
27th Aug- Headed for Ligny-en-Barrois through Toul
28th Aug - No seats on the toilets, travelled to Reims, stayed at youth hostel.
29th Aug- Got to Paris, stayed at hotel (cheap one)
30th Aug - Sightseeing - Ken went to Doctor about his ribs, sightseeing
31st Aug - Paris sightseeing
lst.Sept - Gary's bike was playing up, travelled to Chartres.
2nd Sept - Gary put his bike on the train for Milan, travelled to Portiers Youth Hostel.
3rd Sept - Travelled to Bordeaux raining again, Youth Hostel again.
4th Sept - Travelled to Bayonne then the Spanish border, crossed the border and the  Pyrenees to Pampalona, stayed at a hotel
5th Sept- Set out for Zaragozana where we camped out.
6th Sept - Set out where we climbed from 68 feet to 3000 feet to Tereul, camped in the
bush.
7th Sept - Travelled to Valencia and did some sightseeing
8th Sept - Sightseeing and the beach
9th.Sept - Sightseeing and the beach
10th Sept - In the bush near Yinarcz Just started tea when 2 border guards came and
told us not to stay there after we had tea. They came back later that night but did not tell us to go.
11th Sept - Travelled to about 60mls south of Barcelona and did some sightseeing.
12th Sept - Did some sightseeing
13th Sept - Made a dash for Barcelona and Ken got lost. Stayed at the hostel
14th Sept - Ken found Ted and Gary turned up at the Post Office. He had a wonderful
time hitch hiking to Madrid and out to the island of lbiza. We all went to a bull fight.
15th Sept - Travelled through Blanes to Tossade. Slept on concrete. Could not sleep on
the beach because of the border guards. 
16th Sept - Terrible storm last night, rain coming through the roof, got soaked. Travelled through Figueras (not far from the French border) then to Perpignan. Stayed at youth hostel, first shower in 10 days.
17th Sept - Travelled through Baziers,sete,Montpellier then to Arles.
18th Sept - Lunch at Martuques then Marseille. Kens clutch cable snapped, put another in then on to Brignoles. Sampled the local vegie patch.
19th Sept - Set off for Nice through Frejus. Kens accelerator snapped, walked about 7km to service station. Fixed cable then on to Cannes then Nice. Slept in concrete lookout overlooking Nice.
20th Sept - Travelled through Monaco, Monte Carlo, Menton, crossed border into Italy then on to Genova. Youth hostel again.
21st.Sept - Set off for Milan through mountains to Voghera,Pavia then Milan.
22nd Sept - Met Sales Manager of Lambretta, had photos taken and write up in Italian papers.
23rd Sept - Milan sightseeing.
24th Sept * Travelled through the Swiss border to Lugano. Camped out
25th Sept - Set out for Glochenen, great scenery.
26th Sept - Headed for Zurich through Lucerne andZug.
27th Sept - Travelled through Feldkirch (Austria). Bikes got hot, rested them 3 separate times, mountainous area, then on to Landeck. Met an Australian family, son had brain tumour. Frank, Jan & Kristen
28th Sept - travelled to Munich - went to the Hofbrauhause, had a few.
29th Sept - Again at the Hofbrauhause, that was it for the day
30th Sept - Went to the Dachau concentration camp then the Hofbrauhause again.
1st Oct - Guess what Hofbrauhause house again then headed for Wasserburg, camped out.
2nd Oct- Set out through Berchtesgaden to Salzburg, did a bit of sightseeing, had been travelling with the Aust family off and on. Crossed border into Austria again,hostel again.
3rd Oct - Headed for Bad Ischt then to Linz. Did a bit of sightseeing.
4th Oct - Followed the Danube River stopped at Griems then Vienna. Frank & family arrived a camping area.
5th Oct - Went to see The Vienna Boys Choir and then had a look around.
6h Oct - Went to Sconnburg Palace among other things
7th Oct - Left Vienna travelled through Wiener,Neustadt,Bruck & Knittelfeld and camped near Judenberg in the bush
8th Oct - Set off for Klagenfurt. Travelled through the Italian border, camped out near Carnia. Found Ted in the end.
9th Oct - Arrived in Venice, set up camp on the mainland, did some sightseeing.
10th Oct - Rear hub on Teds bike is loose, had it fixed. Did heaps of sightseeing.
11th Oct - Travelled to Bologna - youth hostel again.
12th Oct - On the way to Florence, Ken passed Ted who had run out of petrol, had to push it for a while. Did a bit of sightseeing in Florence.
13th Oct - Sightseeing in Florence, Frank & Jan joined us. 
14th Oct - Travelled to Galerie and visited a few museums then set off for Pisa.Camped in the bush just out of Florence.
15th Oct - Met up with Jan & Frank and set off for Pisa, visited the Cathedral and leaning tower. Left Jan & Frank as they were going to Spain. Camped out in bush past Pisa
16th Oct - Met up with Gary. He went back to Switzland, then Vienna and has now caught up with us. (Nearly married). We all travelled to Rome.
17th Oct - Rome - did heaps of sightseeing
18th Oct - Rome - more sightseeing - travelled to the Catacomb of San Sebastian
19th Oct - Had a look at the markets, Ken got lost, camped about 20k out of Rome
20th Oct - Booked our ferry passage to Patras (15375 LR) went to Lambretta to get spare parts then headed for Naples. Travelled to Pompeii, got lost on the way and could not find anywhere to camp. Camped on the road to Mt Vesuvius
21st Oct - Tenific views - Travelled to the top of Vesuvius on the bikes, the last 2-3 kms were ash which made it hard going, and then walked to the crater, steam from many cracks. There are 2 craters, the original and another higher one. Vesuvius is 5 years overdue in erupting. Travelled to the ruins at Pompeii then through Salerno and camped out near Battipaglia
22nd Oct- Awoke to the sound of a running stream, set out for Brindisi, lunch atPotenza, on to Matera, Bari then Brindisi. Locked out of the hostel, got in through the window after we climbed the fence.
23rd Oct* Gary's bike is playing up. Did a bit of sightseeing then to the ferry which sailed at 10.30pm.
24th Oct- Ferry arrived at Corfu then on to Igoumenitsa, made Patras (Greece) about 5.30pm, we then went to the nearest beach to camp out.
25th Oct - Set out for Athens when Ken hit 2 buses. The bus that Ken was following stopped suddenly to let another pass, Ken hit the back of it, glanced off it and the bus coming the other way hit Ken. No real damage to Ken. Ken drove to the nearest town, lucky it had a railway station, took the train to Athens. Travelled in the baggage compartment with the bike, pigs, chickens etc. Stayed at the Youth Hostel.
26th Oct- Sightseeing, Acropolis, Parthenon, Agora Museum, etc
27th Oct- Ken had his bike fixed, beat all the dents out and straightened the forks etc cost 100DR. Camped out beside the road near Athens.
28th Oct - Set out for Delphi through Lebadeia. Slept in the bush near Delphi. Gary and Rob 29th Oct- Camped on a hill overlooking valley and sea near Delphi. Judy & Lindell who had been travelling from England with us off and on in a mini van had troubles with their van, we purchased the parts and patched it up and set out for Delphi. Judy & Lindell are photographed with us at the Lambretta works in Italy.
30th Oct - Gary arrived (Rob)? Lindell & Judy had car troubles again. Camped in the bush near Lamia.
31st Oct - Travelled through Domokos,Nea,Zapperon & Larisa. Country was barron and mountainous. On to Katerine and camped in the bush at Gefyra.
Ist Nov - Arrived in Thessalonika about lOam. Garry still not with us so we set out for Kabala. Camped on a farm at Podochorl . Slept on straw that we had heaped up.
2nd Nov - Travelled through Xanthe,Komotene,Sapai and Ferrai. Hit the Turkish border about 3.30pm. On the border there were guards with machine guns and binoculars. Left a message for Gary .Travelled to Kesan where we bought what we thought was wine, turned out to be vinegar. Found a camp site in a paddock.
3rd Nov - Cold night - Travelled to Istanbul. Ken stayed at the youth hostel. Will meet the others tomorrow.
4'h Nov - Ken fixed his bike, waited for Ted to arrive, apparently Ted had hit a stone and came off his bike near Gallipoli and hurt his ankle, damaged his bike. Had a letter from Gary and went there. Stayed in the Istanbul youth hostel.
5th Nov - Sightseeing in Istanbul, many Mosques and toured the old part of Istanbul. 6th Nov - Still problems with the petrol pump on the girls car. Had Turkish tea with the garage proprietor. Went to the underground water storage featured in James Bond film ( To Russia with Love ).
7th Nov - Went to the markets and leather factories and did some more sightseeing.
8th Nov - Did some sightseeing. There were a few sad faces; this is where we leave Lindell and Judy after travelling with them since August. On the ferry across the Bosporus. In Asia now. In third class as the train pulled into the station people were climbing in the windows. We were in a compartment wth 3 turkish people. One we named Harry because he was interested in our things, one we named monkey because he looked like one and the other puzzle because we gave him one and that's the last we saw of it. In transit on the train.
9th Nov - Awoke to Harry singing. During the morning Harry had most of his friends around, we were rather a novelty. The only thing we had to eat was coca cola, raisins and peanuts. Countryside was barren, dry with rolling hills.
Still the train - awoke to stomach pains, Harry sang most of the day, the countryside was becoming mountainous, still bar:ren and dry. Started to see snow. Arrived at Erzurum in a lot of snow. Found a cheap hotel.
10th Nov - 11th Nov - Very cold - Talked to 3 english guys who were hitchhiking to Australia to work at Mt Isa. As we were packing the bikes for the bus great crowds gathered
around us. The afghans carried the bikes onto the top of the bus and we were off, travelling all night.
12th Nov - Woke early and found we were in Tabriz. Bus did not leave until 6.30pm - spent the day going to a film (Rawhide) dubbed and walking around. Bus set off for Tehran at 6.30pm
13th Nov - Awoke to arriving in Tehran. Did some siehtseeine.
14th Nov - A big crowd gathered to see us pack our, bikes, the crowds had to be moved on by the police. Got on the train for Mashhad, countryside was flat and on the edse of a salt flat.
15th Nov - The train reached Mashhad, countryside was flat with snow covered mountains in the distance. Did a bit of sightseeing. Hotel tonight.
16th Nov - Loaded the bikes on a bus, got to the border (Afghanistan) Through the border we put the bikes on another bus to Herat . Slept with 8 others, heater was a 44 gallon drum with sand in it with a flame underneath. The toilet was a hole in the floor that dropped to the ground floor.
17th Nov - Herat is fascinating, many horse and carts about. Managed to bargain our way on the Government bus tomorrow and overnight in Kandahar. Sightseeing for the rest of the day.
18th Nov - Had to pay the fellas to put the bikes on the bus, they carried them up on their backs. Very bare country, no towns and followed a mountain range. This part of the road was built by the Russians and the road from Kandahar to Kabul by the Americans. The only stop was a little village, took photos of camels. Arrived in Kandahar. 
19th Nov - On the bus at 6.30am, still barren and following a mountain range, many camel trains and nomads roaming from place to place. Stopped for lunch at Ghazni.Arrived in Kabul, had to pay the kids who helped get the bikes off the bus.Alot of deformed people begging.
20ft Nov - Had to obtain a road permit for Pakistan. Did some sightseeing.
21st Nov - Started riding again, did some maintenance on the bikes. Said goodbye to Geoff, Larry & Chaff who had been travelling with us since Istanbul. Travelled to Jalalabad - staved at a hotel.
22nd Nov - Ken was violently ill (spicld kebab), set out for the Pakistan border through the Khyber Pass and on to Peshawar.
23rd Nov - Ken is still ill, where ever we stopped great crowds gathered. Got to Rawalpindi
24th Nov - Crowds gathered again. Set off for Lahore. Terrible drivers, buses knew only one speed - flat out. They forced you off the road, saw many trucks and buses ploughed into trees along the way.
25th Nov -Ken still feeling poorly. Set off for the Indian border at Ferozepofe. Took photos of lady official at the border and headed for Ludhiana. Stayed in a hotel.
26th Nov - Set off for Ambala. Road is narrow and bumpy. Travelled to a mission hospital, Joyce (American) took Ken to a doctor who prescribed tablets re his stomach. Stayed the night, other nurses Anne (English),Alice (new Zealand)
27th Nov - Ken gave a pint of blood as he was the right blood group and it was required urgently. After lunch we went on a partridge shoot with an American property Officer, a doctor, Joyce and a Indian nurse.
28th Nov - Left the Mission Uospital for Delhi. Passed thousands of bicycles and bullock carts. The countryside was treed and the land cultivated. Had problems finding accommodation but stayed at a mission school with an American teacher.
29th Nov - Had breakfast with Miss Perry.We went into town, on the way back we stopped at some celebrations, turned out to be the Seiks celebrating 500 years of their religion.
30th Nov -Miss Perry gave us an address of a Mission School in Agra. Arrived in Agra about 3.00pm. We went to the Taj Mahal then back to the mission.
1st Dec - Gary had his bike fixed, Met an Indian doctor on a motor bike and chatted for Vg some time. Roads are narrow and the trucks & buses force you off the road. On a very good day we travel about 120 - 150mls aday. This has been the trend throughout the trip. Made Shivpuri, had a meal in a rat infested shop 
2nd Dec- A young boy woke us early and after breakfast took us to a temple and a tomb. Set off for Guna. Just as Ken was entering Biaora there was Gary pushing Ted along. Ted had hit a person on a bicycle and hurt that persons arm. The countryside was more tropical. We seem to be eating a lot of bananas.
Reached Sarangpur.
3rd Dec - Breakfast was made by the chockador and we set out for Indore. We were shown over an industrial school run by the Government. We set off again but were stopped by some army captains who asked us if we wanted a beer. Followed them to Mhow where they were based and on to their club where we met a army major from Iraq. Rolled out of there to a rest house.
4th Dec - another good breakfast by the chockador and set out for Dhulia. Ken had trouble with his bike, could not travel over 30mph. The rest house we stopped in was rat infested. Went out for tea, a great crowd gathered watching us eat.
5th Dec - Travelled through Dhulia, Nasik then on to Bombay, the roads were terrible.
6th Dec - Went into town by the train and did some sightseeing.
7th Dec - Again we travelled into town, people begging and going to the loo everywhere. Also they were sleeping in every nook and cranny that you could find.
8th Dec - Enquired in town with shipping agents for the passage toPerth and did some sightseeing
9th Dec - Ken fixed the mudguard on his bike, went into town, having some problems re passage to Perth.
10th Dec - Spent the day lazingabout, Ted went to a swimming pool up the coast.
11th Dec - Travelled to Poona, green countryside with rolling hills. A long ride. Ted & Ken ended up at one place and Gary another.
12th Dec - Set off for Hyderabad, road was rough and very hilly, there were monkeys on the road. Ken ran out of petrol, Gary towed him and Ted pushed. Later Ted ran out of petrol also. Found a rest house at Nalburg.
13th Dec - Travelled through Hyderabad and it started to pour with rain. We went to the nearest rest house. A young Indian from the Survey of India camp beside us befriended us.
14th Dec - Terrible road, big potholes, a lot of water lying around. Stopped at Guntur at a rest house, the roof leaked, Indians sleeping on the front porch, bikes in the room with us,bells ringing all night.
15ft Dec - Still rain and road was terrible. saw overturned trucks. The water had turned into rivers running over the road, Gary got bogged in one. The accelerator broke on Gary and Ted's bikes used a rope to repair.
16th Dec - Still raining hard as it did for most of the day. Stayed at a rest house in Tada.
17th Dec - More rain, Set off and Kens exhaust pipe fell off, tied it on with a cord from the raincoat. Reached Madras and straight to the Post Office, received a letter from Lambretta with 300 pound, room at the YMCA and checked flights to Perth.
18th Dec - Most of the day was spent organising the flight to Perth. Flying to Calcutta, Bangkok, Singapore (one day stop over in each) and then Perth.
19th Dec - Cleaned the bikes for the flight with 2 Indian kids helping. Took the carby's and spare wheels off the bikes and put them in our packs. 
20th Dec - Had troubles getting the bikes organised for the flight, spent most of the day arranging things.
21st Dec - Did some sightseeing Ted & Gary went to the beach. Our packs maybe overweight.
22nd Dec - Again troubles with the bikes being packed for the flight. We had a 2 hour flight to Calcutta (Cathay Pacific). Kens first flight. Sent our excess baggage sea mail.
23rd Dec- Flight to Bangkok 4hours (first class) Cathay Pacific. Overnight in Bankok.
24th Dec- Did a 3hr boat trip to the floating markets and the canals, In the afternoon went to the airport (hour & half flight to Singapore. (Cathay Pacific). Had Christmas lunch on the plane.
25th Dec - Spent the day sleeping and sightseeing.
26th Dec- Spent most of the day with Mr & Mrs Schofields. They took us to their club for dinner and drinks. After that we went back to the YMCA.
27th &28th Dec - We had the services of a chauffeur driven car curtesy of the Schofields. Visited the Tiger Balm Gardens, stores etc. Took off from Singapore at 9.30pm. Arrived in Perth and were picked up by Winterbottom Motors. Ended up pitching a tent in Mr & Mrs Manning's back yard. The next night we stayed in the YMCA.
29th Dec - Had an interview with radio 6 IX and people from channels 7 ,9 &2 are interested. Had an interview with radio 6 KY.
30th Dec - We picked up the bikes from the airport. Did an interview with channel 9, channel 7, The Daily News
31st Dec - Sat for our licence - Ken failed. We had an interview with the Sunday Times, Slept on Bobs floor after a 21st party.
1st Jan 1970 - Spent the day in Perth.
2nd Jan- Ken passed the license test then went to Winterbottoms. Went to Fremantle for tea.
3rd Jan - Ted & Gary went to Rottenest Island.
4th Jan- Ted & Gary arrived back from Rottenest Island.
5th Jan - We had to register the bikes in Australia. Winterbottoms had to put the new plates and mirrors on the bikes.
6th Jan - Went to Winterbottoms and Channel2 were there. They filmed us leaving Perth. We stopped at a place called Southern Cross and received free accommodation.
7th Jan- Countryside was very dry and sunburnt and so were we. We ended up in Norsman WA.
8th Jan - Had people madly waving at us all the way, sunburn not too good at present. Slept on the back of a deserted truck at the back of a Service Station. 4.00am it started to rain.
9th Jan - Country was flat, small bushes and a few trees. Took photos at the WA border .Ecula was the last stop before the gravel started. Could only do about 15MPH, Slept somewhere on the Nullarbor. 
10th Jan - Set out early again, still on the gravel and dust. Ken had his third fall, hit a hole full of bull dust, Ted was following and ran into Ken who then skidded along the road grazing his hand, elbow and thigh. We reached Nullarbor Homestead then on to Nandaroo South Australia.
11th Jan - Still on the gravel and dust (quite bad) quite a feat to stay on the bikes. Travelled to Ceduna on the coast. Found a camp in a golf links along the way.
12th Jan - Set out for Adelaide. When we arrived in Port Augusta it was blowing a gale, went on to Port Pierre {gale force winds). Should reach Adelaide tomorrow.
13th Jan - Awoke to pouring rain, made Adelaide and arranged some TV interviews.
14th Jan - completed the TV interviews and had lunch with Mr Baggio of Baggio Motors.

​This is where Ken's diary finished. Ken thinks it took about 3 days to get to Melbourne where they stopped at Ken's parents place in Brighton. They did TV interviews here but it's probably best to follow with Ted and Garry for the trip to Sydney. 

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