Jill Maden

Excess Baggage Jill Maden

In 2010, after the closure of her dream business, Jill Maden sets off to tour Australia - alone on a motorbike. Weighed down by seven stone of luggage and a crushing sense of failure, her riding skills rapidly deteriorate. Freezing weather, violent winds and treacherous road surfaces all add to her fright. Jill almost decides to give up and buy a car. But the need to overcome her fears pushes her on. Testing her resolve, Australia throws everything it has at her: the worst floods in living memory, extreme heat, plagues of insects, torrential downpours, hurricanes, isolation and her ultimate nightmare, gravel roads. But turning back is not an option. What results is an exciting and heart-warming adventure through a vast, staggeringly beautiful but unforgiving landscape.