5 Continents to cross, 29 Countries to navigate and I'm not sure how I got here. Yes I am actually, it was that train journey to Avignon in December 2005.
5 Continents to cross, 29 Countries to navigate and I'm not sure how I got here. Yes I am actually; it was that train journey to Avignon in December 2005.
Which bike? One of the most vexed questions for newbie travellers, which bike?Which bike? One of the most vexed questions for newbie travellers, which bike?
All types and sizes at HU meeting, Ripley, 2006
Camping equipment appears to me very much a matter of 50% personal choice and 50% common sense.Camping equipment appears to me very much a matter of 50% personal choice and 50% common sense. Obviously if Im going down to Wales on the Spring Bank Holiday for a weekend and my tent blows away, Im gonna be pissed off, but I seriously doubt if my life will be in danger. On the other hand if it happens in late Autumn on the Russian Steppes, hmm, I think we can all figure that one out.
What sort of lip gloss should I pack?Riding Gear
Me in the Hein Gericke gear with Christine
'Then it beginsa, I get those needles and pinsa'
The Searchers: 60's Hit RecordInnoculations
Not the sort of injection I'm looking for....
There is a wealth of information regarding diseases and prevention on the HU website but my doctor required me to go to the website www.masta.org for a printout of the recommendations listed for my journey. They charge about £4.00 for a list of 10 countries, so I needed 3 pages to list my journey.
Seems that due to my inexperience with the software, I held back a couple of episodes, instead of releasing them. So here you go........more stuff about pain.First Aid Kit
Another essential, there is only so much you can do to treat yourself, but remember you may be in a situation where the skill is available, but they do not have the equipment. Having said that, a motorcycle paramedic I aint, nor do I wish to become one.
Details of The Proposed Route: Trans-Canada; USA, Central America; South America; Australasia, Asia, Eastern Europe, Scandanavia, Western Europe.The Route Overall
North America
Canada (no Visa required)
USA (Visa Waiver Programme)
Mexico (Tourist Card) 6 months
The Route; Part 1; Stage 2; Trans-Canada.
Crossing the ContinentThe Route; Part 1; Stage 2; Trans-Canada.
Quebec Province contd
From Baie Comeau I follow the coast down to the River Saguenay (a) and head across Quebec, Camping at Lac Opemisca nr Chapais (b); Lac Quevillion (c) ; passing through Val dOr to Rouyn (d).
Ontario
The Route; Part 1; Stage 3; From The Artic Circle to The US Border
The Route; Part 1; Stage 3; South to the USA
So Far I would have travelled about 5000 miles, 750 around Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and 4250 across Canada to Inuvik. Now I have to travel south to the USA.
Well for better or Wurtz, I cannot cross the boarder where I planned.The Route; Part 1; Stage 4; The Great Divide
With only 70 days left before departure I need to concentrate on the 'show stoppers' now and the 'wish list' later. I spent a very pleasant day saying farewell to all my friends at work, having allowed a generouse 2 hours to complete this task, I was suprised to find that 7 hours later I had not got to see everyone. the interest in my trip and well wishes are uplifting. Living with the planning everyday, one forgets how uncommon the notion of travelling around the world on a motorcycle is. It's magic.
Take 2....I need to check that my new (2nd hand) pannier system plus all the other stuff, works ok. So what better than a 2000km round trip to Germany for the weekend?Thursday 4th May 2007
Well today I have been getting ready for my trip to Germany and the meeting of Los Amigos
The booking-in clerk at Heathrow asked me to place both of my bags on the conveyor. I knew they were overweight and fished for my wallet. He looked at me and asked me to take one case off, printed a label, wrapped it around the handle, gave it a shove to make it disappear into the Heathrow Machine.Due to the higher definition and larger size of some of these photos please click on the bold type to see photos
CANADA
Finally get to ride on the first leg of my journeyFriday 13th July 2007
Newfoundland greets me and spits me out!!
Sorry no photos this time.
Leaving Newfoundland for the perils of Nova Scotia
Still no photos, but stay with me they are yet to come.Sitting in the beautiful Rotunda at St. Anthonys hospital, with its black and gold ceramic sculptured walls, I was thinking How ironic, I was told to come and see this, but had decided not to, now here I am looking at the work of art that is dedicated to a NFLD doctor who pioneered the medical services to these northern folk.
Can I really continue with a broken collarbone, or are my doubts going win? Do I have enough guts to travel on after this second crash, and what if another major obstacle crops up/As I lay in the treatment room at Baddeck I once more faced the fact that my trip could be over, at least by motorcycle. Dr Chang and the A& E nurse put me in a halter (my cupless bra) to hold my shoulder in place while it knitted back together.
How long before this comes off? I asked.
At least three weeks. He replied.
The nurse rang a local motel and came back smiling.
Having crashed in Newfoundland, and again in Nova Scotia, I now stood in South Porcupine, Ontario; beside my bike looking at the wrecked rear wheel axleHaving crashed in Newfoundland, and again in Nova Scotia, I now stood in South Porcupine, Ontario; beside my bike looking at the wrecked rear wheel axle that undoubtedly is the result of these two previous accidents. I am talking to the owner of the motel, and waiting for Rick to pass by. He said he would check that I was ok at the Bon Aire Motel in Timmins, but like I said, I never made it that far.
From Timmins to JasperWest to The Rocky Mountains
Leaving Timmins I returned to the main highway and headed west once more in fine weather. Stopping first at Vermillion then Lake Nippingon on Lake Superior
Sunset from a prairie motel
Ok, so I'm really in Belize at the moment, but here is part of my journey when I crossed into USA. At this rate I'll be home long before I finish this blog!!!!
Anyway Merry Christmas to all my readers, I'm sorry that the lack of comms in the last few weeks has meant I could not reply to all your emails, most of which I have just received.
Tomorrow I start for Guatemala, but hope to be online again in the New Year, don't hold your breath though!From Friends at Red Deer to the US Border
Second chapter posted today, but it only brings me up to November 17th my final day in the USA!
Spending a couple of weeks with my twin brother Norman was like a refreshing holiday for me. We toured south west Texas and east New Mexico in a hired 4x4. I had not realized how much harder it is to tour by motorcycle until this point. Many of the things we take for granted in the UK and Europe are not available elsewhere in the world, like just pulling off the road for instance, try doing that when there is a 6 inch drop off onto loose gravel at the road edge!The Dallas Interlude
Sitting in my hotel room in Panama, waiting to fly to South America, I have had time to catch up with my blog a little. Trouble is my bike has developed a leak in the radiator and the shipper has informed me that I will have to pay duty on my bike when it arrives in Quito, Peru. Great, but I'm flying to Bogota in Columbia!!!The border crossing at San Luis was more chaotic than the others I had crossed, but in retrospect not too bad at all.
Strange things happened to me again during an important time in the pagan year, plus I get to see those fantastic Maya Ruins that I had only seen in books.Saliner Cruz has the unfortunate privilege of being both a commercial town and a port. Along the coast here there are shallow lagoons that for centuries have been flooded and then dried out to produce sea salt.
Hi all,
Some problems with my email address have meant that you did get my last notification. As I am not at home, Virgin have dumped my account so I am now using a Yahoo.co.uk account with the same name. Many thanks to Grant for letting me know about this.
Anyway if you go to the Horizons Unlimited site and go to Travellers Tales you will not only find my latest entry 'Maya Ruins and the Winter Solstice' but lots of other interesting stories as well. By co-incidence I had lunch with a HUBber from Lima today!Hi all,
It is Christmas Eve and I had walked out for something to eat. Walking back down on the right hand side of the road, there are stray dogs, pot holed side streets and youths letting of firecrackers and rockets in the streets. I meet the young hotel owner on the roof garden, well it will be a garden one day he says, and ask him if the gun at his hip is really necessary. He replies that it certainly is, as the right hand side of the street is extremely dangerous and on no account should I walk down there!!
Leaving San Diego behind, we headed into the mountains and south to the coast. A KLR kept us company for a while, and I found out why Freds nickname is Fast Freddie. I was soon one lorry and three cars behind them, but when we were stopped by road works I attempted to rejoin them. Unfortunately the lorry that was behind them was slowly inching forward anticipating the signal to move off, and I was so preoccupied with the rapidly closing gap that I caught the empty pannier frame of the KLR with my pannier and slowly fell over sideways at about 1mph.New Friends and on to Panama
So were off, Curtis and Janet, Roger and Linda, Fred and I, heading out through the early morning rush hour in Bogotá. In the middle of an underpass my bike cuts out leaving me stuck in the middle lane of traffic while I watched my companions weaving through the traffic ahead of me. So were off, Curtis and Janet, Roger and Linda, Fred and I, heading out through the early morning rush hour in Bogotá. In the middle of an underpass my bike cuts out leaving me stuck in the middle lane of traffic while I watched my companions weaving through the traffic ahead of me.
There were police and army clearing away the old men from their normal seats around the war memorial and cordoning it off. Trumpets sounded, the Presidential Guard marched onto the terrace of the Presidential Palace and a military band struck up. Lancers rode their chargers slowly in from both side of the plaza and formed up in front of the Palace.In Quito the University buildings are right next to the main square and house an interesting display of exhibits including, while we were there, an exhibition of photographs from international photographers.
I thought to myself that since the camping gear was off the bike anyway I might as well camp until morning, when along the track there came a battered old car. Three young men got out and each showed me their identity cards. But why? I asked. It is very, very dangerous here, the leader said, many robbers and guns, you must not stay here, it is not safe.....Barriers, Arguments and the £10 bottle of Coca Cola.
Now who would have thought in their wildest dreams that they would be personaly serenaded by an opera tenor performing 'O sole mio' in a busy street, in a little Peruvian desert town?There is no garage at the Hotel so I drive my motorbike through the lobby and into the tiny courtyard garden, where, trying to make a tight right hand turn around a raised flowerbed, the bike once more blows a fuse. That will have to wait until tomorrow as now I am too tired to fix it.
The next morning after breakfast I head out to look for an ATM and am accosted by a ticket tout who offers me a flight to see the lines. Not only that but there is another couple booked on the flight, so I get the co-pilots seat; how could I refuse?
Lines in the desert.