A great read of the finer details! You nailed the feelings well. Top cred to your pillion for toughing it out.
You sure had a rough time with emus. There is no right way to deal with them if they want to dance except a load of 14 gauge, I reckon.
Regarding 91 RON. The Honda ST manual specifies 95, but I've used 91 in all my 3 STs with no apparent ill effects. It's all about compression and pinging. Contrary to popular belief, it's not about power. The engine design does that. If the compression demands pre-ignition inhibitors, then you must have higher RON. If the 1400 runs on 91 and doesn't ping under load, it's not damaging the engine and your fuel consumption will be no different. And you save at least 10 cents per litre. Just don't use E10, even if it claims to be 94 RON.