Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo by Any Means

Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means
Created by	Charley Boorman Russ Malkin
Starring	Charley Boorman
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producer(s)	Russ Malkin
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC2
Original release	27 September 2009
Chronology
Related shows	Long Way Round Race to Dakar Long Way Down By Any Means
External links
Website

Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means, also known by the working title By Any Means 2 is a 2009 adventure series by Charley Boorman and is a sequel to the 2008 BBC travel series and book By Any Means in which Boorman travels one from one place to another by any mode of transport. By Any Means 2 follows Boorman's journey from Sydney, where the last series finished to Tokyo.

Background

On 22 March 2009, Charley announced on his Twitter page that a sequel, tentatively named By Any Means 2, was in the works. He originally announced that it would take him and the team from Sydney to far eastern Russia via the Pacific Rim.

Filming for By Any Means 2 commenced on 18 May 2009 leaving from Manly, Sydney with a bike convoy. Boorman traveled across Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and completed his journey in Tokyo, Japan.^[1]

The journey finished at Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo on 9 August and following this he vacationed in Bali, but with family. Throughout the journey, Boorman kept his Twitter page updated of the latest developments in the trip and released pictures of himself in a 1923 Ford in Japan for example. On 17 September 2009, Boorman announced on Twitter that the new series would air on Sunday the 27 September at 9.00pm on BBC2 under the title "Charley Boorman: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means".

Journey

Episode 1

The first episode sees Boorman departing from Freshwater Park on a hired Deus bike with a very large biker convoy in tow to Frazer Park up the east coast of Australia.^[1] The newspapers reported approximately 1,501 riders took part at the start, including veteran racer Wayne Gardner. He then travelled up to Nymboida by bike where he switched with an EVME lime green electric car which he travelled in to Byron Bay. There he stayed in a camp of backpackers before catching a lift with one of them up to Moggill near Brisbane. At Watts Bridge Airfield Boorman travelled in a custom made 9/10 scale Spitfire aircraft up to Maryborough. From Maryborough he caught a Tilt Train to Rockhampton where he caught a plane to visit a cattle station and experience local cattle mustering on horseback. He then hitched a ride in a customized ute up to Cairns. He then joined the Flying Doctors to travel to the Aboriginal settlement of Pormpuraaw and surveyed some of their traditional weapons and art before returning to Cairns and switching to trail bikes to travel up to Helenvale and Cooktown. Later he rode an electric trail bike and caught a plane to Weipa. At Weipa he caught a plane to visit a snake farm in the bush to see some of Australia's most poisonous snakes and later visited a mining community near Weipa. He then caught another small plane to Bamaga and then a boat to Thursday Island on the coast of northeast Australia and Horn Island. At Horn Island he caught a plane across to Daru Island and landed in Daru Airport in Papua New Guinea.

Episode 2

In the second episode, Boorman travels up to Lae from Port Moresby and then catches a truck to Goroka. In Goroka he views the work done by the VSOS and a Dutchman at Goroka General Hospital, views local customs in which they would coat themselves in clays to appear white to play a ghost which traditionally was used to ward off unwanted visitors and Boorman was taken around a coffee and given an explanation of coffee production in Papua New Guinea. He then travelled up to Betty's Lodge where they switched to dirt bikes to travel up to Madang past places like Mount Wilhelm, Brahman and Usino. The route had never been ridden on motorbike before and the roads were heavily flooded and treacherous, and at one point some ruthless locals placed a blockade across the road and demanded money. Nevertheless, masses of people viewed their progress up to Madang. From Madang, Boorman rode in a minibus to Boroi and then a speedboat to Gapun. There he met with an anthropologist and discussed local village life with the natives. He then rode in a canoe boat along the broad Sepik River to Angoram where he inquired at the local police station and joined a truck up to Wewak and then to Aitape.

Episode 3

In the third episode Boorman travelled from Aitape to Vanimo by boat but was denied entry into West Papua. Given his UNICEF commitments, this meant he had to return to Port Moresby and fly to Singapore, then to Jakarta and then to Makassar, two days of flying to reach Makassar on time. He then travelled up to Watansoppeng (where he witnessed the black bats overhanging on tree) and Masamba, and arrived in Sengkang and was treated to Paniki, a bat dish (and later on the journey, dog). Then Boorman went to Cendana Putih and south to Siguntu where he spent a considerable amount of time surveying local funeral customs in which a grandmother received her funeral one year after passing with a large celebration of pig slaughtering and finally taking the body to a cave. He then rode on a Harley-Davidson to Makale, Parepare, and down to the port of Ujunglero where he experienced boat building customs. From there he drove in a Land Cruiser, professed to be one of his favourites modes of transport, for 150 miles north again to Mamuju. From there he had a 15-hour cramped bus journey up to Palu and then to Gorontalo by bike, and eventually after camping out for the night on a beach, reached Manado. The plan then was to catch a boat across to Davao City in the Philippines but they found out that the immigration service in Manado was shut down, meaning that they had to enter the Philippines another way.

Episode 4

In the fourth episode, Boorman flew to Davao City via Singapore and Manila. He then travelled up to the barangay, Mintal where he experienced a local organic farm. From there he went to Cagayan de Oro (where Claudio and crew visited a barbers) to Camiguin to the port of Balbagan operated by the Philippine Ports Authority and caught a super shuttle ferry across to the island of Bohol. There he visited the Chocolate Hills and went to Tagbilaran. On the island of Leyte he surveyed the local fishing trade and the problems of overfishing and poverty. He was given a boat ride by the Philippine Navy. He later visited Tacloban and a local historian and learned about the Philippines in World War II. He visited the Leyte Landing Memorial where General Douglas MacArthur landed in 1944 after liberating the Philippines from Japanese occupation following the Battle of Leyte. He also given a ride in a bamboo car than ran on coco biodiesel. After visiting Calbayog he went to the Scout Rangers Batallion barracks and was given an escort up to Legazpi, encountering a motorcycle accident along the way. From there Boorman went to Pili to Lopez. At Lopez he visited the Lopez Sports Centre to witness cockfighting in the Philippines. One cock died in the fight and the winner died soon after, leaving Boorman shocked and remarking "this is not for me. I feel dirty". Following this, Boorman went to a livestock farm in Unisan and drank many shots of coconut vodka. He then went to Las Piñas and visited Sarao Motors and was given a ride in one of their colourful military jeeps to the busy city of Manila.

Episode 5

Fo Guang Shan Monastery

In the fifth episode, Boorman went to Subic Bay port to support UNICEF and took a trip in an ultralight. Due to typhoons, Boorman had to return to Manila and fly to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. There he attended the World Games 2009 including experiencing dragon boat racing. From there he visited Fo Guang Shan Monastery, the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan at the time celebrating its 40th anniversary. From there he went to Sinshih and visited a cricket farm before catching a bullet train to Chiayi. From there he rode in a post office truck up into the Alishan Mountains and Sheng Le Tea Farm and its Fen chi hu tea. From there he went to Meifeng where he met a group of dirt bikers who travelled across the Taroko gorge into the eastern part of Taiwan. Boorman professed the bike ride through the mountains to be the best he had ever experienced. He then went to Taipei and ascended Taipei 101 the tallest building in the world as of 2009 and the SYM motorbike factory. He visited Hua Xi street and Snake Alley and experienced dishes such as snake blood, snake penis and turtle testicles. Boorman then caught a train to Keelung to catch a Star Cruises cruisership headed to Okinawa, Japan, experiencing a drag queen act along the way.

Episode 6

In the sixth and final episode, Boorman went to Naha, Okinawa where he learned about the Battle of Okinawa. He then went to Kagoshima, Kumamoto and onto Mount Naka, travelling through countryside he described as being "as beautiful as any I've ever seen". He stopped at the Beppu hot springs and took a mud bath before moving on to Yawatahama where he caught a train to Shikoku before catching a flamboyant deco truck in the middle of the night to Shozui. Then he went to Kobe and learned about the 1995 Kobe earthquake which had affected local bikers and then went to Kyoto and caught a bulletrain to Nagoya. There he surveyed local motorcycle and automobile customs including a tattoo artist who owned a 1923 Model T Ford and took Boorman for a ride. Boorman then took a bike to Hamamatsu before returning west to Hiroshima where he was shocked learning about the bombing of Hiroshima and the devastation it caused to the people. He visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and a peace ceremony. He then went to Yamanashi,visiting the Fuji-Q Highland theme park and experiencing the Eejanaika and later viewed Mount Fuji. He then rode into Tokyo alone on a Harley Davidson, breaking the usual custom of making the final leg with a convoy.

References

External links

• Charley Boorman on Twitter