By Any Means Done
Charlie Boorman finishes off By Any Means trip.
Surrounded by several hundred keen motorcycle-mounted fans, actor and adventurer Charley Boorman swept across the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday, aboard a BMW R 1200 GS Adventure motorcycle.
The last stage of the ‘By Any Means’ challenge on 22July, 2008, brought to a close three months on the road travelling ‘By Any Means’ from Wicklow in Ireland to the Botanical Gardens in Sydney’s iconic Harbour. The team covered 21,132 miles (33,811.2 km) and crossed 24 countries.
With the Sydney Opera House as a backdrop, Charley was able to relax with his family and friends as well as the crew of the latest adventure, after the ride. "It feels incredible to finally arrive in Sydney after an epic three and a half months’ journey from my Dad’s house in Ireland. One of the most memorable highlights was sailing in a small wooden boat from Timor to Darwin. It took six days and for three of them we had really bad weather. It was brilliant to meet up with the family. It was fantastic. I was so excited to see them," Charley said of wife Olivia, and children Doone and Kinvara.
The final day of the trip began just after dawn in Wollongong, on the New South Wales south coast. There Charley met up with hundreds of well-wishers and fans who joined him on the three hour ride into the centre of Sydney on a picture perfect Australian winter’s day. BMW Motorrad Australia provided the crew with a selection of motorcycles to complete the last leg of the journey, with Charley on a 2008 model R 1200 GS Adventure, the latest iteration of the bike he and Ewan McGregor made famous in their ‘Long Way Round’ and follow up ‘Long Way Down’ adventure journeys.
Also in the fleet for the crew and Charley’s wife Olivia, were a BMW HP2 Megamoto, several R 1200 GS and F 650 GS models and a K 1200 R. Before departing Wollongong, Charley was interviewed by breakfast television and several key media organisations followed his route into Sydney. Charley shared the ride with his children, having Kinvara on the back of the Adventure at first and then swapping to put Doone on the back for the last stretch into Sydney.
The BMW riders escorted Charley along the route which took in the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge, before threading its way through the western suburbs of Sydney and culminating in the ride over the Harbour Bridge. At the end of the ride Charley was welcomed to the Botanical Gardens by an Aboriginal representative of the indigenous owners of the land.
"We were very pleased we were able to supply Charley and his crew with BMW motorcycles to provide a fitting finish to his latest epic adventure," said Cameron Cuthill, General Manager BMW Motorrad Australia and New Zealand. "Charley has had a strong link with BMW with ‘Long Way Round’ and ‘Long Way Down’ as well as ‘Race to Dakar’, so to finish ‘By Any Means’ on a BMW seemed to be the perfect ending to a dream trip. And just to make his transfer back to civilisation all the easier, we have lent him the Megamoto to commute around Sydney for a while," Cameron said.
Charley and his family look set to stay on in Australia for a while visiting Uluru (Ayres Rock) and far North Queensland.
