KING OF THE DESERT

Nick Arley, a 55-year-old public servant from Canberra, sets out on a motorcycling odyssey to break a Guinness World Record crossing all ten of Australia's deserts.

Nick Arley's motorcycling journey began racing around paddocks on an old Honda. From the moment he first rode a motorbike at age eleven it was destined to become a lifelong obsession. Speed and adventure were never far from his mind. The working week was all suits and ties, nine-to-five; but, come the weekend, things were very different. The desert started calling, the bikes got bigger and the rides longer, evolving into multi-state odysseys crossing the country. The danger was real, with exceptional skill and planning required, but these were the foundation for his greatest challenge: the fastest crossing of all ten Australian deserts, unaccompanied, on a motorcycle. Chasing a Guinness World Record and needing to cover 5500 kilometres over less than twenty-nine days, Nick, with just his Suzuki motorbike for company, set off on an insane trek across Australia's ten harsh and isolated deserts, pushing himself physically, mentally and emotionally, completely alone and unassisted. This is the raw, vivid and gripping story of Nick's quest to become King of the Desert. Nick Arley's motorcycling journey began at age eleven and the open spaces of rural New South Wales fuelled what became a lifelong obsession.