The London couple rolled into Tamworth for the first time last week on their trusty postie bikes as part of a year-long tour around Australia.

Their strange obsession with the tiny “step through” bikes started last March when they rode from London to the little-known West African nation of Gambia.

Riding alongside them was an Aussie friend, Kempsey-born Nadine Holfter, who was so taken by the experience she decided to ride from London to Mongolia with Mrs Sinclair just three weeks after completing the Gambia trip.

Since last October, the Sinclairs and Ms Holfter have continued their odyssey, revving around Tasmania and Victoria before stopping over in Tamworth.

Mr Sinclair, a retired London bobby, said the postie bikes were the perfect marriage of cost-effectiveness and fun.

“They’re easy to ride because they have a semi-automatic clutch and it only costs us $10 a day in fuel to travel 200km,” Mr Sinclair said.

“We just strap everything we need to live – our clothes, our tent and everything else – onto the bikes and travel around.

“We were thinking of doing New Zealand or South America next but we love it so much we’re going to stay in Australia for the next year.”

He said the couple was “blown away” by the friendliness of Australians.

“In the UK, if you say hello to someone they look at you strangely,” Mr Sinclair said.

“But here they take 20 minutes to talk to you and they’re full of ideas and recommendations. We were only going to stay in Tamworth a couple of days but we’re loving it so much we’re going to stay the entire week.”

The fully-loaded postie bikes only travel a modest 80km/h, giving the travellers plenty of time to admire the scenery.