Seasoned traveller and motorcycle enthusiast Anthony Wood loves nothing more than spending time on the wide open road. Never quite knowing where he'll end up, he says "the destination is usually not that important; it’s all about the ride for me."
What is your passion and how did it develop?
I have always had a passion for mechanical things, especially cars and motorcycles. As a kid I would always be pulling things apart to see how they worked and, living out of town, I learned to drive a car and ride a motorbike while still in primary school.
Ironically, nobody in my family was mechanically minded, so it was a brilliantly handy uncle from whom I learned most of the fundamentals. He also taught me to drive and gave me my first bike, an ancient 80cc Suzuki road bike that he found at the tip, which we modified and I used to hoon around the place on.
After school it was cars that I got into, initially Holdens and then Chryslers. Valiants were unloved by most people back in the 1980s so they were much cheaper to buy than the equivalent Ford and Holden (far from the case now!), so this was the initial attraction. They were also more powerful, handled at least as well, and were just different, which is something I like. I drove an old Valiant halfway around Australia in my youth and it didn’t miss a beat, so this cemented the deal for me. I’ve owned and driven them ever since.
I got back into bikes, mainly road bikes, in my late 30s. There’s something special about riding a motorcycle that is hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t done it. It's a much more visceral experience than driving a car – you’re out in the elements, really experiencing your surroundings, rather than being cossetted in a climate-controlled box. I have a few bikes: a couple of Ducatis, a Triumph and an assortment of Japanese bikes in various states of repair.
What does it involve and how much of your time does it consume?
I love nothing better than throwing a bag on the back of the bike and heading off somewhere for a day, a weekend or a week. The destination is usually not that important; it’s all about the ride for me, either with some mates or by myself. I find it very therapeutic – great for the mind and the soul.
I’ve ridden to the motorcycle mecca of Phillip Island countless times, always via the Snowy Mountains- those mountain passes are invariably the highlight of the trip. I’ve ridden around Tasmania, which is motorcycling heaven, and last year I rode to Perth and back, a trip I highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t done it, even in a car.
I’ve also been lucky enough to ride in several countries: the USA, Holland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Germany. Last year I ticked off a bucket list item by doing a lap of the infamous Nurburgring racetrack. New Zealand and South-East Asia are also on my riding radar.
But you don’t have to travel far to ride great roads. We’re really lucky in the New England to have so many on our doorstep. Those that make you feel nauseous when you’re a passenger in a car are the ones I love to ride on a bike. People come from all over Australia to experience our roads on two wheels, and in fact I rode many of them a couple of weeks ago with some friends from Sydney- the Oxley Highway to Wauchope, Waterfall Way, Grafton Road, the Gwydir Highway and the Bruxner Highway. I also have a dirt bike, and there are even more great gravel back roads and tracks to explore in our region than sealed ones.
The downside to having a range of cars and bikes is that they require a lot of maintenance. Most of my weekends involve at least some spannering, which I do kind of enjoy, but I’m a very average mechanic.
I have just enough knowledge to keep everything maintained and running, but I could fill a book with my shed disasters! Having said that, I’ll have a go at most things. I also do the maintenance on my family’s vehicles, too, so it’s rare that I don’t have grease under my fingernails.
How does this passion enrich your life?
I have met so many people around Australia and the world thanks to bikes and cars – in fact some of my closest friendships have come through our shared mechanical passions – and seen so many cool and interesting places while taking the roads less travelled.
What (if anything) does this personal passion and your enjoyment of it bring to your working life?
Ultimately, I just love cruising in cool old cars, and the adrenaline rush that comes from riding a motorcycle. As the great Australian songwriter and UNE alumnus Don Walker wrote: "The motion is its own reward".
