Saturday, December 23, 2006

From the Jungle to the Desert

The ride up to Mali was once again very beautiful with a few interesting things along the way to remind us "This is Africa'' First was the border of Sierra Leone and Guinea. To get there involved going on one of the worst roads yet wich reduced to a mear walking path at times, cars would never get through, many water crossings as it wound through the jungle, although the road was hard work it was amzing to ride trhough the north of Sierra Leone. But once at the border our first problem, got our passports stamped out and I asked about our Carnets for the bikes to be stamped which has to be done and the reply was that its back, two towns back!! Nothing could be done but to take all the panniers off and I would shot back quickly and get the stamp and signature and be back in an hour or so, no problems....but then there was a Sierra Leonian soilder wanting a lift, hell I lost the luggage but gained a 70 kg soildier who also wanted to carry a chicken with us, I explained loose the chicken mate we are not going to be going slow, off we went leaving Amy to amuse the immigration officers for awhile. It was more than the 21 miles the told me, it was 42, droped my soildeir off and got the stamps then to ride back to the border, was a load of
fun on an empty bike flying through the jungles of such a place until I hit a small bridge to fast and slinging me accross into the path of some massive pot holes, managing to stay aboard I dont know how but the bike did not fare to well, smashing my centre stand, with nothing I could do so it rattled the remaining 10 miles, fix it later.
Finally three and a half hours on I rejoined Amy, fixed the centre stand and into back Mali we road. Road north and camped a couple of nights in the bush and on our last day we rounded a corner and there dragging trees onto the road where three soilders forming a road bloke and one clutching an AK 47, hell whats this, with big smiles and hand shakes from us and our best french hellos they turned out to be ok and made a gap and let us through, but for a moment my heart was in my mouth, you just never know what to expect out here.

Highway number 1, Seirra Leone.

Then into Mali with the green jungles far behind us it is hot and dry again, closer to the Sahara. So for Xmas we epect to be on our way to Timbuctoo camped somewhere in the bush, I guess no roast turkey for us, tuna and pasta I suppose.
My Soldier passanger, Seirra Leone


Camp, Guniea.
Village girl, Guniea.


Niger River, Mali.


The road to Bamako, Mali.



Friday, December 15, 2006

Sierra Leone

After a few more days resting Amy's ankle in concerning also we arranged our visas for Mali and Sierra Leone. Plus because of our decision to go to Sierra Leone it meant getting a double entry visa back to Guinea which meant a visit to the Guinean Ministry of Interior. Once we found it we of special interest to a few official looking policeman or our bikes more so than us, they gestured to follow them, we walked to a shed and they opened the doors presenting to us the whole fleet of BMW's used to escort the president.......By the amount of dust on them I don't think the president gets out much!!


Sierra Leone here we come

After completing our business we headed for the border, it was getting late by the time we reached it but found nowhere to camp and decided to get through the border and camp out the other side. Not that simple these formalities can take a long time in Africa, eventually we made it through without to many questions...We were in SIERRA LEONE!! Almost dark we managed to find a camp done a small little track in the jungle just beyond the frontier, both wondering about every little noise we heard from the darkness...Well we did not no what to expect!


Wheres Robbo?? They love crowding!! My bike is in there somewhere

We rode off very early the next morning on your typical rough dirt road but then we reached a highway as good as a German autobarn, once I hit 100km/hr I thought the mother ship was about to launch! Just out of the capital Freetown we came to a check point, which was a friendly experience, so friendly infact they fetched us some Poyo(palm wine) to taste...The cops encouraging drink driving, what a place. We are quite supprised with the place, it is very beautiful and the physical emotional scares of a war that ravaged the country for so long and only just ending are few to be seen all over.


The slums of Freetown


They carry everything on their heads, kids with stacks of coal


A camillian on the road

From here we are heading back north to Guinea then onto Mali where we expect to spend Xmas and a journey back into the desert for a week or so to Timbuctoo.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Hit and Run

What a horrible horrible day, firstly our camp the night before turned out to be only metres from a train line as the combination of the tall grass and the sun hanging low in the sky we did not notice and at about midnight we thought there was literally a train coming through our tent!! This was only the beginning oh a really shit day. The ride into Conakry was beautiful through the mountainous jungle but then the bottle neck of a penninsular city began funneling every man, dog, cow, bloody you name it it was there somewhere into one point. We dodged in and out of cars, the going was frantic, then I haerd a bang, glancing in my mirror Amy was right there...ok all is good but then I heard her horn tooting frantically, I turned around to see her slowing and her face grimacing through the visor of her helmet, something was wrong; She managed to bring the Baja to a halt and I looked for a spot to park, a masive drain to my left and the busy road to my right I just pulled up and left my bike running on the side of the road as I ran back to her.

She was in pain and I noticed her pannier on the right side on an unusual angle and the left one was actually nowhere to be seen. Whats wrong I asked? A car just hit me....shit I said outloud.... I think I broke my ankle was the reply....OK I said just sit still? she was still pertched on her bike, cars all around and a big fat policeman was suddenly there wanting to help, I told him slow down, she is hurt help lift her from the bike. I then noticed as I looked up the car behind had something wedged under it, holy shit it was her missing pannier, I picked Amy up and lifted her accross the drian to the side and layed her down on the ground, by this time a crowed had formed and more police lingured, my bike still running I run back to it and shut it down, at the same time trying to tell the fat policeman not to touch her foot. Running back to Amy I saw a man dislodging her pannier with great force and then throw it in the bushes, bloody hell all I wanted to do was help Amy but I had to control the circus around me. Stuff the pannier, I made her comfy and loosened her laces, together we removed her shoe and sock, it was bruised, the ankle was fine but the side of her foot back from the little toe was turning black. We are no doctors but we could tell it was not broken after a little prodding and pushing, it seemed not as bad as we first thought. More police and a crowd of about 50 people around. Police wanted to know what happened but we got no number plate, they speed off!! Then another man arrived by my side with the missing pannier in the bush, I thanked him. I inspected it, was a mess to say the least.


The spot it happaned and the ditch on the right

So on with her shoe, loaded the mothership with her panniers and set off into town, Amy was lucky, cant beleive how tough she is.

And then to top it off once we arrived into Conakry at the catholic mission where we were going to stay a policeman on a little scooter trailed us in ranting and raving about some wrong turn we did, poor bugger he did not realize the mood I was in...I let him have it, tell him not to f&#k with me as I have had a very very bad day explaining what just happened.....I would have been a sight, covered in red dust and dripping with sweat, I threw the panniers on the ground and showed him the result....he quietly asked for our papers, gave them back hoped on his piss ant scooter and slowly dissappeared.


The pannier all patched up!

A day on and some ice Amys foot is not too bad at all but a good bruise!

Things that go BOOM!!


Steve

After a relaxing day in sleepy Bissau at Steves and Cassnadras it was time to go but before we said our farewells we called into see Steve at the demolition range as it was in the direction we were headed. Steve and Cassandra have been out in Guinea Biassua for about six months looking for, digging up and destroying anything from mines, mortars to massive war heads, which there seems to be an abudance in this country from the many conflicts......guess its one way to get your kicks. Steve showed us around walking the path to the range stepping over the odd mortar here and there, ones yet to be distroyed.


mortars and war heads


Placing the war head

We met the local crew they are training up to do the job for years to come and where fortunate enough to watch them prepare two demolitions, the sight actually looked like a scene from an old war movie, from the several demolitions a day. They stacked in a huge hole about a dozen mortars, a few other odds and sods followed by a huge war head about a metre long ontop, then added the explosive, which was then all covered in sand bags to direct the explosion down, this was our queue to retreat back to the road a kilometre back where it was safe, centries where sent out to stop traffic and then we waited.................KABOOOOM, bloody hell it went off! It took about 10 seconds for Amy's feet to come back to earth and a few more for her heart to continue beating! That was one and about half an hour later the second. Once the all clear was given into the demolition site Steve took us....what a mess, shreaded sand bags in tree tops and nothing left of the ordanace, mission accomplished.


I got the good job.....putting in the fuse!!!

It was late in the afternoon by time we set off again so up the road we went and ended up camping in a village where we asked the cheif if it was ok to pitch the tent, no problems he said and directed us to a patch of dirt to set things up. We had about 50 people come and errect our dome tent, all amazed as it took shape. They speak Portugesse in Guinea Bissau so that night we sat around the camp fire entertainting the 20 or so kids making noises.....best we could come up with but sure amused them.



Early morning in the village, crushing maze

Monday, December 04, 2006

Guinea Bissau

Guinea Bissau is a gem, its lush and green and the jungle is thick, there is hardly a car on the road which are also in a great state of repair and the people do not hassle us.


Guinea Bissua

Out here you dont have to look for adventure it comes to you, we took the only road to the coast, Verala which was 50 k's of dirt road and since it is at the end of the rainy season the road was quite bad. We came to a bridge, well what was left of a bridge with the locals slowly trying to fix it. Upon a closer look there was a huge yellow thing in the water, it was a truck!! For 5 months the bridge had been broken after the driver of the truck attempted a crossing at night and found himself swiming for his life, so what to do for us, turn around and give it a miss?? nope the man told us in half an hour it will be ready, where we going to witness a miracle because this bridge would not be ready in a month of Sundays! But sure enough after some deliberate placing of a few planks a makeshift path to push our bikes accross formed. We unloaded the bikes completely and with the help of all our new found friends we pushed Amy's bike over first no problems but then it was time for the mothership to take the journey, with a few tense moments and my heart in my throat we all managed to get it accross, what a releif.


The yellow thing on the right is the truck/workstand!

And of course been the only road in and out ment all haad to be repeated on our return a few days later but once again they were chuffed to see us and honoured to help asking for nothing in return, we gave them some fruit we had picked and a few bottles of water from a well, made there day.

Steady she goes lads this is the mothership remember


A dusty village waiting for a ferry

We have met up with some friends of a friend, Steve(Brit) and Casandra(Aussie) living here in the Capital Bissau clearing landmines around the country and have generously given us there lounge room and most importantly a garage for the trusty steeds, spoilt. Its nice to relax in a house and not have to talk pigeon English and dream about vegemite, chicken parmy's at the pub, cherry ripes.........and again tuna pasta for dinner, my favourite!


One of these is an African Twin......you chose which one!

Friday, December 01, 2006

To Hell and Back in The Gambia

We arrived into The Gambia where the people once again spoke English, the first time since leaving the UK. WE got comfortable at the Camp ground and went to bed quite relaxed.

10pm something was wrong I was freezing cold and it was far from a cold night, shivering and sweating! Amy asked the night watchmen where the nearest hospital was, it was not far but no taxis at this hour and me been the strongest person in the world decided to see how I would feel in the morning! Morning came with no sleep and deffinately no releif from what ever was inside my body so of to hospital it was. Upon arriving to the dust bowl of a hospital and walking in with old needle packets on the floor and syringes everywhere, they tested for Malaria but it came up negetive, I was getting worse as a failed attempt to get to the toilet in time followed the test, hmm this is shit I thought.



Maternity ward Banjul!!!

So hey decided to treat me for Malaria anyway telling Amy to go buy me Fanta, jesus why did not we think of this cure??? But then followed some pills and an injection in the rear end(we had all our own needles), a few hours passed as I lay on a bed in a room filled with ladies and their screaming babies, I was in a maternity ward! Then came the next symptom, vomiting, once I did that Amy had had enough and asked to get me to a bigger hospital, they aggreed and got the ambulance ready, I hobbled out to it and upon seeing the ambulance I managed a small smile, it was a Toyota Landcruiser Troop carrier, I new this baby would not let me down. The ride into Banjul saw me fly of the stretcher by a foot about a dozen times, they roads are the worst I have felt in Africa! And all for the cost of some fuel, great.


mmm...think I will wait hey!!!

We arrived at the main hospital and the conditions were not much better but the doc did another proper Malaria test and once again negetive but the test showed my blood was fighting something bad, again they decided to treat for Malaria, this tim giving me a drip to be taken over 4 hours, I lay there all afternoon til 7, my whole body was paining, one stage attempting to go to the loo but that alone nearly made me vomit, it was disgusting, once the drip had ran out they promptly removed the canular and told me to go home, I stood up feeling like hell walked to the ambulance and proceeded to vommit everywhere at the hospital entrance, whislt doing so I noticed a poor frog was getting showered by my aim........cant remeber eating him!!!

Another show ride home in the back of the Toyota ambulance troopy and the day was over and I actually started to feel better.

The next day I was almost 80% so I dont think it was Malaria but what ever it was I dont want it again!

We hung about The Gambia for a few days rest and getting a few more Visas and have now arrived back into Senegal. This afternoon we will cross into Guinea Bissau where we have heard of a nice beach, so once again we will be forced to relax and have more fun, tough life but someone has to do it hey.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Our First Bribe!

We are over sand! But to reach this feeling was well worth the effort, riding the dunes directly east for 540 kilometers from Nouadihbou to Atar following the train line along the Border of Mauritania and Western Sahara and at one stage riding on the tracks for a little releif from the sand. We teamed up with Blair and Kati who made it possible for us as they were able to carry some extra fuel for us to make the journey possible. We made it after 4 days and a few laughs and on day 2 we also had to perform minor heart surgery in the middle of the desert on Amys Baja, carb problems but a stocking may have been the solving factor in the end.


Fishing port in Nouadihbou


Beginning of 540 k Piste to Atar......translation is Danger Death!!


Directing the mothership is thirsty work out here in the Sahara...I need water

From Atar we went north into the Sahara again to an old old city and then it was the long journey to Nouakchott to get the Senegal visa. This was our first experience of having to been extremely patient, we arrived on Wednesday got our applications in first thing the following day only to be told it would be Monday that we could collect them, that ment 5 days in the capital and I can tell you it is no place you would want to hang out for that long but what choice did we have. So we spent our days, eating, reading, relaxing and come 4pm every day a ride to the beach for a well deserved swim..........maybe it was not that hard to fill in 5 days hey!


Our swimming hole in the capital Nouakchott.


Fishing boats in Nouakchott


Received our visas Monday afternoon at 5 and set off out of town and camped over a dune or two. The waiting of the visa had created a little problem, our insurance had ran out, we only had paid for 10 days but the waiting process of the visa ment we had been in the country for 14 days, but up til now we had never been asked for it, so I tried not to think about it much and continue on our merry way. So on our last day in Mauritania and our last 150 kilometers down to the Senegal border I prayed every time we came to a check point that they would not ask for our insurance. Not only was this on our minds but this road was like been in a real life computer game, dodging the endless amounts or goats, cows and camels, one stage I nearly had a camel as a new hood ornament or maybe if the collision occured the opposite way around, he was alot bigger than me! 10 kilometers to the border, a checkpoint.......first thing he asked for was insurance, oh shit what do we do, we tried stalling him for awhile but he insisted we present the insurance, so reluctantly I handed it over and what do you know first thing he noticed was the date.......monsoir insurance not current, he said........I played dumb saying really, oh no. He wanted us to turn around and ride the 600 ks back to Nouadihbou and get more, we explained this was not possible due to our lack of fuel and quite frankly this was not going to happen anyway. Eventually he said you pay me 20 Euros and puting his hand over his eyes explained we can pass and he turns a blind eye.......what the hell lets pay the bugger and get the hell out of here!! Our first bribe.

Onto Senegal we road and did some more relaxing in paradise at a placed called the Zebra Bar just south of Saint Louis, it was hard to leave but we had to else we may well be there this time next year! Rode down the coast to the famous Paris to Dakar finish line, yeah I was imagining away in my helmet. And now we are in Dakar try to sort out a Cameroon visa so we do not have to try for it in Nigeria, rather spend time here waiting than in one of the worst countries in the world but time will tell on that subject.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Western Sahara to Mauritania

Well Western Sahara offered us nothing but 100's of kilometres of nothing but at times again I swear we were on the moon, although the roads were straight and long there was the occasional camel, donkey and random Arabs just walking in the desert with nothing, where they come from or where they are going is a mystery, and like I said with nothing no water, no food......mmmm glad I am aboard the 750 Africa Twin!


Gateway to Western Sahara....Tan Tan

Because of the hostilities on the boarder between Western Saharans and Moroccons there are loads of Gendermere Royal(police and military checkpoints) which did become tiring been asked, the usual questions, destination, profession, etc but the first question they always asked was tourist or rally Paris Dakar, always we answered tourist so then came all the quetsions.........so next checkpoint when they asked Paris Dakar Rally I answered ¨wee¨ and they waved us on!! Great so from then on we were apart of the Paris Dakar Rally, but the silly buggers don't know its not on til January, works for us though.


Camp with a view

The border crossing from Western Sahara to Mauritania was interesting, exiting Western Sahara we road on dirt tracks for about 5 kilometres with instructions to stick to the road due to landmines known in the area!!! Interesting, after three hours and numerous checkpoints getting insurance, visas and the like we road into Nouadibou( Noo-adi-boo) where the streets are filled with tooting cars, dust, almost more goats than people walking around and the people are very black, feel we have reached another part of Africa, I love it.




Sourced some oil gave the steeds an oil change and check over, so far they have been great, except I have been in puncture Mecca with three in the previous days and my Africa Twin is eating my rear PIRELLI tire for breakfast, lunch and dinner!! But Amy's is fine.......guess shows who is spinning the back wheel more hey and one might say having the most fun.......ha ha!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

A Saharan Piste

Piste is French for track and it was a word used alot latley, (Moroccons speak French also), the phrase ¨Piste se ou?¨ or in Aussie slang ¨wheres the bloody track mate?¨

We teamed up with two German lads Andy and Axel riding KTM 640s to ride a piste accross one corner of the Sahara. It was late one afternoon when we loaded our ikes up with all the fuel we could carry and about 10 litres of water each and food enough for a few days atleast, the plan was to take two days and two nights to complete this leg from Merzouga to Touagnite, about 260 kilometres. We set off as the sun was low and the wind blowing up a nasty sand storm but only wanted to ride about 10 ks out of the last village and find a camp and hopefully by the morning the wind will have died away. When we entered the last village all the locals could do was shack there heads and wave a finger at us, gesturing that we will not make it and our bike were to heavy, which all were except Amys, but still it was very heavy for her, mine probably weighing it at over 300 kilos with all the extra fuel and water and myself sitting on its back, this was no XR 600 in the back paddock!!


So which way is it lads??

We set off regardless still with the locals shaking their heads in the thick dusted air, hmmm things went from bad to worse, the track we thought was right was not and it took us straight into an Oued(river) dry of course but the sand was deep, we all wrestled our bikes for about half an hour getting no where, the wind and sand picked up, I was in lead thinking what the hell am I leading the others into, what are they thinking, the others dropped their bikes in the sand so we all ran back and helped pick them up , at different times, this wore us out quicker and the sun was almost set, higher ground we needed and fast, a place to camp also. We got out of the Oued and onto a rocky plateu where we followed my GPS in the direction of where the correct track was supposed to be, it came to a dead end but was sheltered behind a small mountain, ¨thats it lets camp here¨ So after about an hour we had gone nowhere, burnt up valuable fuel and acheived nothing, I asked myself ¨is this how disasters start?¨

With the sun rising came a new day and to our delight no bloody wind but Andy had decided this was not for him as a few days prior he had had a fall and damaged his ribs quite bad so would be wise for him to go back and take the highway all the way round. Shame for Andy and us as well as Andy was a doctor so kinda gave us some confidence about the whole thing, well he could have done a McGyver with a leatherman or something!! So that left Axel, an oven builder, Amy an Occupational Therapist and me, a underwater construction diver, not much water out here!!

Off we went, this time the going alot better as we had the correct track, if only we found it first thing last night, but the going was good and the scenery just amazing and to imagine where we were gave a great feeling.....until we came to a little village, these people a from another world, once again shaking their heads, in french saying 5 kilometres very bad, you not make it.....right then lets go see what the fuss is about, my GPS and map said a large Oued crossing about 6 kilometres wide, oh shit if its like the last we are in for some fun! Sure enough there it lay infront of us, not just a wide sandy river but one with gullies and canons within and yes alot of sand as well with the main track winding through it. Away I went and down I went, hitting the deck for the first time, was like hanging onto a wild camel, luckly there where some kids around from the nearby village waiting for the stupid westerners to try their luck accross the Oued, I gestured for them to get around and pick up the mothership, like 10 puppies jostling for position to get milk from the mother, un dux trois(1 2 3) we got it up, and away I went spraying my little helpers in sand, ha....the going was tough, Amy and Axel dropping their bikes as well, this was hard, maybe the locals were right again! We rested for lunch about 2 kilometres in and drank alot of water, joined by the kids earlier who just run along beside in the growth. We give up, but not completely but to allow a kid to show us a better direction out on some higher and harder ground, for a small fee of course, this time it was easier but not great, after a time we emerged from the other side farewelled our guide who seemed to lead us straight into sand dunes!! And to top it off our old friend wind was back along with his mate the dust storm, with our guide gone who gestured the track was just over there, which our GPS also said we now had to tackle sand dunes, of course I steered the mothership straight into one and bogged immediatley! Plus could ony see a few metres in front from the sand, I walked over a few dunes and sure enough there was the piste but to get there was no easy feet, unbogged and alot of throttle we all got through onto some harder surfaces, thank goodness.

Wheres the bloody piste???


Houston we have a problem!

From here the going was good, we road accross huge open plains from waypoint to waypoint following no real track, I really thought this was adventuring, the whole three bikes strung out making their own track, their own dust. It was a beautiful wild place. We camped the night with 70 ks to go the next day, still the wind howled all night, we had tuna pasta with sand for dinner.

Hilton Sahara

The Next day was easy going and we reached Touagnite by 10am and what a sense of acheivement, we made it......and Andy rocked up about an hour later covering the 500 odd ks in much the same time as we did 260 but he did stay in a nice hotel for the night.

What a feeling!

Could not have done it without you Axel, cheers mate.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

We Finally Made It!

I swear when we crossed the straight of Gibralter we actually flew to another planet, boy did things change dramatically, from the landscape to the people, we entered an Arab world which for some of you may no what that equals, yep squat toilets and no bog roll.



I will say straight away that this place is very beuatiful before I mention what its actualy like incase it sounds horrible, but to us we are loving it. I thought the Mallee back home was dry, this part off the world is so harsh and the people have very little especially on the roads we are taking. We headed across the Riff mountains where some of the best hashish is grown in the world and was that clear, about every 500 meters we had someone trying with such desperation to stop us and buy a sample, a pot smokers heavan this place. And if it was not the dealers which ranged from 15 year olds to 50 year olds it was the tiny little kids standing on the roads throwing rocks at us, I sure hope they realize I can throw alot harder than they can! ha


Scotty Munros Butcher eat your heart out, and I wonder why we fell ill!!


¨Hey I saw your friend before¨

We headed south towards the Sahara where it became even dryer an dustier where I had yet another problem with my honda, a seized in choke that took me a few days to discover and quite a bit of worry went with it as well. We eventually made it to the dunes on the edge of the Sahara that reach 300 foot into the air, quite amazing, a motorbikers Mecca. As we checked into some luxary, a place with a pool things took a turn fo the worst and not motorbike problems this time but I guess you could say a similar symptom to a bike by the way of valve chattering, yep the fine Moroccon food had got us, we both fell very ill very quickly, so some R and R was needed with the loo at a handy distance. Four days on and we have moved on from both the luxary pool and the stomach cramps, oh the joys of travelling!


The dunes are big out here

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Our view...whats yours?

A week on and we have not really made it far at all. We made it down to Gibralter, back to some English life for a night and boy was the Surf n`turf we ordered a real treat, reason been was that we thought that it would be our last night in Europe and the frontier of Africa was awaiting us the following day after picking up some new tires for the trusty steeds.


Yep thats Gibralter, "The Rock of Gibralter"

Well a week later and we are still in Spain, the "trusty" steeds was not so, well one Africa Twin to be exact, as I was taking the rims off for the tyres to be fitted I dicoverved a broken fork seal, so after the new tyres were fitted, which to all fellow bikers gives a warm fuzzy feeling inside....which Amy did not quite understand. We then decided to head back into Spain to seek a honda shop of sorts to get some fork seals. Off to Algerceris we went and sure enough found a bike shop or should I say bike mechanic that could help, but been Spain it was 2pm and of course Siesta, shops close for a few hours.....come back at 4........Africa was slipping away every minute, so close but so far!!!! With the help of a chap called Frank who was able to talk a little English and take us to a superb Spainish bar for some real good food we drove all over town in search of Honda Africa Twin fork seals. After exhausting most places the only option was to order them in, ok sounded good to me....Tuesday 4pm....aaarrrgggghhhh, and to make it all the more worse you can see Africa across the straight of Gibralter, only about 20 kilometers away!!! So Frank recommended to head around the coast a little to a place on the beach called Tarifa where we could find a camp ground, did not sound like a bad option as the weather is a fine 36 degrees.

Well that was 4 days ago now and I tell you its been fantastic, we met a dutch couple travelling around, Marcel and Monique, oh and Woody there beautiful dog, staying where we were and for the past 4 days the beer has flowed, the muscles relaxed and a great time had by all, going to be hard to leave this part of the world, but once again everytime we sit up in our tent all we see is Africa, sometimes I think its calling me, Robbo, Robbo...or that could be something to be with all the over indulgence of a certain drink, Amy can´t hear it!!!


Amy and her new pal Woody


Our view from our camp, that is Africa in the distance(and I can hear it calling me!)

But as I sit and type the Honda is getting fixed, Amy´s bike is ready to go, gave it an oil change and check over as with mine so tomorrow Africa. Touch wood!

Adios Amigos

Monday, September 25, 2006

Goodbye England hello France


Lets Go.

What a feeling to ride away from 18A Chelverton Road my home for the past 18 months, was very exciting, and the nerves where flowing. we road about 50 meters and was stopped at our first red light!!! Typical London the traffic seem to be the worst I have ever incounterd, we could not wait to reach the fringes of London to atleast get into 3rd gear. Get us out of London is all I could think.

Hassle free all the way to Dover we made some last minute adjustments to the bikes and boarded the ferry for France, could not beleive I was leaving England forever, very strange feeling. Calais was as far as we made it, think the tension before departure and the weeks, months of arduous preparation making sure we had everything sorted was finally lifted from our shoulders and such releif drained all our energy, could not beleive this day had come! So long England!!


So long England!

France was awesome, only ever been to Paris so did not have much to judge it on but the roads we travelled down to Andorra on gave us some amazing scenery and plenty of camp grounds in some sleepy little French towns, and they are actually quite a friendly bunch aswell!


Le Mont Saint Michel(France)

Accross the Pyrenees was spectacular into Andorra but can´t say the same for that place, what a shit hole, mind the french, must of picked it up on my way through. So straight onto Spain where it has been raining ever since we got here, so time for some R and R and a few nights out of the tent in Granada, Africa is close now!