A Travel Story by Grant Guerin and Julie Rose
This is the beginning of our Journey.... well the beginning bit after the more than 12 months planning anyway!
Freight to Date
Freight cost for DL 1000 Suzuki V Strom ex Cairns Australia to Vancouver AUS$885.00 plus discharge and handling fees at arrival to be advised.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a big Thank You too everyone who has supported us and helped us with the mammoth task of preparing for this trip.
WE MADE IT...Well we both arrived in Vancouver safe and sound after a long trip from Cairns, stopping with Joanne and Rae in Sydney and then stopping again in Taipei.
After passing the Emerald Lake we stopped for a breakfast/brunch/lunch at Carcross where we met Jo and Graham on a BMW from New Zealand who were traveling with Mark and Lisa, also on a BMW from New Mexico. They had just gotten off the ferry from Skagway and we spent some time chatting with them and getting the low down on the ferry trip we were to make in the next few days.
The ride down to Skagway is one of the most stunning and awesome roads we have been on so far.
The run across to Jasper was uneventful, both of us full of colds, that will teach us for going to Alaska! *Laugh*Jasper is a very trendy ski village, although still remains quaint and plesant. We stayed in a Home Stay - which is like a Bed and Breakfast without the breakfast. The proprietors moved their car out of the shed so the bike could have a warm bed too!
Welcome to the first National Park in the world YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK established in 1871.
About 640,000 years ago a massive volcanic eruption, at what is now know as Yellowstown National Park, spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western United States, much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific and left a caldera 30 miles wide by 45 miles long.
Yellowstone to Rapid City and lots in between.
Leaving Yellowstone through Roosevelt and the North East Gate we head up through the Bear Tooth Pass and down through Buffalo Bill Cody country, across the Big Horn Pass and into Sundance (yes, yes it is where The Kid got his name).
After two hot days (40 degrees C) riding we came to Devils Tower, made famous in the 1977 Steven Speilberg movie Close Encounters of the Thid Kind.
So leaving Rapid City we had a look at Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, they were amazing.
We headed through Newcastle - not in New South Wales! - and stopped for lunch in Donnas Kitchen.... where... yet again... Julie announces her birthday was only a few days away and was spoilt with the most delicous 4 Berry Shortcake on the house.
Thanks Gals!
Arriving back in Farmington to the house of Mark & Lisa, much to the delight of Suni!All the parts, ordered two weeks prior, for the bike arrived and Grant managed to change the front sprocket - which was surprisingly worn - with the greatest of ease, well it seemed like it to Julie! Grant was also able to put the front tyre on using only the tools we carry and with Marks assistance the tyre was ballanced.
Goodbye to Farmington New Mexico for now anyway and off to Canyon de Chelly.
Canyon de Chelly is in the Navajo Indian Reservation and is a beautiful and intimate Canyon. You can camp (for free - no showers, however you can get them at the Chapter House) at the shady Cottonwood Campground.
There are guided tours of the Canyon or self guided rim drives. There is only one walk you can undertake on your own and that is down to the white house.
So we leave Deming and head across to Yuma where we were to make our boarder crossing into Mexico. The bike was having difficulty with some low down tuning and Grant deduced, after many discussions with various people, that maybe the KnN filter was leaning the mixture off at low speed and allowing the bike to run very poorly. Now to find a stock air filter!
We cross the Gulf of California on the Ferry from Pichelingue (La Paz - Baja California) to the mainland Topolobombo (Los Mochis) on the fast 5 hour ferry. Jules did well organising the tickets in her bad broken Spanish and even asked what time the ferry would arrive!Whilst travelling on the ferry we saw quite a few pods of dolphins swimming along side the boat, were given lunch as part of our ferry ticket and watched some crappy movies.
We met Claas and Patrick, from Germany, riding to Tierra del Fuego on Honda Africa Twins.
We left Creel and headed towards Zacetecas. We had heard that it was a lovely city to visit and that we should not miss it. Our first stop was the city of Hildago Parral. We spent a lot of time riding around to find a cheap place to stay, but the cheapest we could find was Hotel Turista on the round-about for $US35/night. It was very clean, had secure parking and cable TV, but the decor was very very 70´s!
Time to leave Zacetecas... again, and say goodbye to Frank and Brenda... again.
We headed off towards Durango and decided to call it a day in a small town 7kms off the main road called San Juan del Rio.
We followed the signs into town advertising a hotel, and hoped it would not be too expensive.
(Late Entry Photo: Road from Parras to Los Muchachos)Zacetecas is a beautiful city. It has alot of baroque architecture, little 'walking only' alley-ways, paved streets and over at least 10 museums. There are great markets and losts of street stalls, you can buy almost anything you need.
We arrived back in Zacetecas after riding in the rain for the afternoon and were fortunate enough to see some beautiful rainbows.
We said goodbye to our good friend Federico at the turn off to Aguas Calliente, with promises to see eachother again sometime, somewhere.
Miss Piggy ready to roll
Our first stop was on the other side of Aguas Calliente where we were initiated into buy 'lunch by the kilo'... well meat by the kilo..... we found this quite strange, however in Michoacan it is quite the norm to eat at the Carnitas.
On Eduardo's suggestion we headed up Nevado de Toluca. This is a dormant volcano that stands 4,500 meters above sea level. The dirt road from the highway winds 27kms through lovely forrested areas to the exposed alpine crater cone. Then decends into the crater to two lakes at 4,300 meters.
Cholula a small town some 126km south of Mexico City boasts over 70 churches and the largest pyramid of the ancient world though this is mostly in ruins and has a cathedral built on the top! It still is a remarkable site with over 8km of excavated tunnel.
Los Remedios, sits on top of the pyramid
Around the base of the pyramid are many excavations of the temples that surrounded it, with exceptional stucco and architecture.
Mexico City is inhabited by more people than live in the entire country of Australia!
So we could not imagine what it was going to be like to visit there. You dont just visit Mexico city, you experience it!
We are so grateful to know Garry who lead us in and out of the city on his BMW 1100GS or the Honda CBR 1000 and Ivonne, who has the most amazing driving skills, took us every where in the van!
Tuxtla Guitierrez is the capital city of Chiapas. It is quite modern and has a wonderful zoo where you can actually roam about with many of the animals. ZOOMAT was founded by Doctor Miguel Alverez Tores to ensure the preservation of the native animals and plants enabling the local indigenious people access to thier heritage.
On Valentines Day we said our Goodbyes to Mexico and crossed the bridge into Belize where we secured 1 weeks insurance for the bike and went for a tour around the duty free shopping zone before arriving at Belize immigration.
Belize (formerly British Honduras) has a population of approximately 230,000 people and gained independance from England in 1981, it has only just been recognised as an independant country by the Guatemalan Government.
We crossed into Guatemala at Melchor de Mencos, it was a straight forward affair, all departments are located close together. You first pay Q12.50 to have the bike disinfected, then Q40.00 for your vehicle permit and a dodgey Q20.00 for your tourist card (there is no cost for this but some people charge it!). We could not buy vehicle insurance at this border.
On a winding road we passed many small villages and farms. The mountains started emerging out of the flat ground, forming sharp peaks and deep troughs.
Miss Piggy
One year on the road finds us in Nicaragua, Central America.
Thank you to our families and friends for thier support and encouragement throught out the past year and to our new firends that we have met along the way.
Grant
Border Crossing Los Manos - Nicaragua
We approached the Nicaraguan border post of Los Manos with caution and nervousness (after our episode entering Honduras two months ago), steadfastly resolute that we would not succumb to any corruption... as if.
Sighting the Honduran Aduana (Customs) on the left side, a group of small offices with numerous money changing operations on either side, with the usual gaggle of trabajadores and hanger-oners we parked Miss Piggy.
View from Volcán Poás
Slowly edging closer to South America we entered Costa Rica. The border crossing was reasonably easy though somewhat confusing and time consuming taking approximately 2 hours to complete.We arrived in Peñas Blancas at what appeared to be a large bus terminal.
Beach - Panama
Panama - The Bridge to South America. A country literally cut in half by a man made Canal. Home to the infamous and wild Darién Gap. We were looking forward to our last country of Central America.
BORDER CROSSING
View over the Valley - North of Bogota
Miss Piggy and her mounts rolled gently to a stop only inches from the deep gully at the edge of the road yet another checkpoint, 'Routine' we thought after riding almost 2000km from Bogota to Cartegena and return we had become used to the constant military and police presence on the roads.
The second most frequently asked question by Colombians (after 'Where are you from?') is 'How do you find Colombia?'. Colombians are very proud of thier country and conscious of the publicity foreginers receive about thier home.
¡Hola!'¡Aye, muy lindo!' (Very beautiful), we reply as they smile and chat amoungst themselves.
Ecuador is famous for its snow capped grandios volcanoes. The promise of viewing Cayambe, Cotopaxi and the recently erupting Tungurahua all beckoned. We travelled south along the Avenida Volcànes, and yes we did see the volcanoes.... well only the lower flanks as cloud after cloud rolled over allowing us only tiny glimpses of thier magnificence.
Volcàn ImbaburaBorder Crossing
Road to Caral
The deep sandy track continued on in a seemingly endless search for the horizon. With the worn front tyre next to useless in these conditions we ploughed on through steadfastly resolute on our destination. Miss Piggy showing sure-footed stability inspired us to confidence.
Sandy Track - Supe Valley
Zona de Arena - Panamerican south of Lima
The road south of Lima is very good and well maintained. We decided to stretch as much out of the front tyre as we could. Fine.... now where do we pack the newly purchased tyre?
We had briefly carried a tyre on the top box. This was ok however, with some experimenting we found the new tyre fitted beautifully on the front crash bar. Although it did act as a bit of a "Lean-O-Meter" on tight right handers under heavy breaking.
Road to Cochabamba
What do you do when three giggling young girls hastily converge upon you in Plaza 25 de Mayo, Sucre? Gripped with terror and not knowing which way to turn, I gasped, finding the scene far too alien.
What do they want and why are they so happy ot see me? And why, with my dishevelled appearance of faded jeans and shabby hair-doo, do three attractive Latino girls pour over me with big brown fluttering eyes?
High on Life - Up the Andes... again
What a culture shock... leaving Bolivia and entering Argentina.Argentine servos (gas stations) have cafes that are a) open, b) stocked and c) clean! Along the highway you find pull outs with a shady tree and picnic table. Tourist information offices are open with friendly staff and information!! OMG! we felt like we had returned to civilization.
Bienvenidos a Chile
The woman rapped out the hotel information at the pace of a firing machine gun.
"What the hell did she say?" asked Grant
"I don't know," replied Jules "I can't understand a single word she said!"We are accustomed to arriving in a new country and the inevitable differences in words and accent. It, generally, takes a day or two to adjust, however we floundered our way around Chile for two weeks asking ourselves "¿Commo?" ("What?)
Mount Aconcagua 6,959m - Highest Peak in South America
It was easy entering into el Centro, Ciudad Mendoza and despite the frequent warnings, about personal safety from fellow travellers and locals alike, along the way the city appeared to be somewhat calm and relaxed.
A photo album of the HU Meeting in Viedma, Argentina, December 8 - 10, 2006
Enough Photos Already! - Total Group Photo
Group around the Beast
L - R Aasha, Pete, Greg, Alexis, Jason, Anita, Lew, Emma, Jules
Javier & Grant working on Piggy - Buenas Aires
Brian the Rapid Rider - Not on the Ripio
Disembarking the ferry on Tierra del Fuego (the Land of Fire) the weather was cold and wet, we had 116kms of ripio (dirt) to traverse before entering Argentina and her paved roads. Following Brian for a few kilometers it was not long before Piggy wanted to go faster and we wanted to wear out the rear tyre. 
Lupins at Lunch Stop
Lago Azul - near Rio Gallegos
The view of sparkling blue waters in the caldera of an old volcano was the perfect setting for a picnic. Now to find shelter from the icy wind on a clear sunny southern Patagonian summers day!The tranquil setting was beautiful for a hike down to the waters edge where wary Upland Geese took thier young to a safe hiding place. This was a nice start to our trek up the ripio (dirt) road of the famous Ruta 40.
Ancient Ruin? Moto Guzzi
On February the 18th, 2007 we arrived in San Rafael and stopped at the Cabañas Calderon. This is a photo journal of our time there.San Rafael is located in the heart of Mendoza province approximately 1000 kms west of Buenas Aires and 200 kms east of the Andes on the same latitude as Sydney, Australia.
Miss Piggy - 2002 Suzuki DL 1000 V-Strom
Around this time last year we were in Nicaragua, now another year has passed and we are still in the Americas.
Oh My! That's a dirty fuel filter!
Back in Argentina, and finding that changing the fuel did not really help Miss Piggy's nasty cough infact it got worse. Grant pulled out the fuel filter for inspection. The pre-filter mesh was.... well, you look at the photo!
OOOH Goody, Choices!
What can be said about Brazil? It is:
Big, Bold, Beautiful, Brassy, Boobs, Bums, Babes, Beaches, Breakfast, Beans, Bikes and Bloody Friendly!BORDER CROSSING
Argentina
* Go to the Brazillian Embassy and sort out visa requirements;
* Drive up to the Argentine Customs & Immigration window;
* Complete formalities
* Drive Across the International Bridge
Touch down, all arrived safe and sound. All being a bit strange to be driving on the left after two and a half years in the Americas, not having to speak Spanish and reading road signs in English.We were met at the airport by Robin who took us for a 10 cent tour of Cape Town, a beautiful city perched by the sea with a whacking huge mountain smack dab in the middle of it (Table Mountain).
Recomended short cut
The unpaved short cut was, as promised, a great ride, however low and behold road works ahead! No one mentioned that and especially not having to follow a truck kicking up dust in our faces for 20 kilometres!
Road from Warmwatersberg
Slowly the road improved and our velocity increased to make the 150 kilometre stretch relatively easy.
Road to A-Ais - softer than it looks
A-Ais thats what the sign said, we turned left off the melting bitumen onto the black sandy gravel road, the D316, with the hope of making it to the Fish River Canyon that evening.
Road to Fish River Canyon
Warning - Warthogs ahead!
We left Windhoek for a 6 day safari to Etosha National Park in the the mighty Toyota Condor with Allan, who prepared it by filling it with wine. Good on you Wine Rider! We prepared it by filling it with food!
YOU CAN'T RIDE THAT BIKE HERE! - Dune 7, Walvis Bay
West Coast or East Coast? What route to take?Many overland travelers passed through Chameleon Backpackers.
Richard - Off to Angola
Filling Up
'There is a problem with petrol in Zimbabwe, do you think you have enough?' This from a Customs Officer as he perused our entry papers.
Markets in Livingstone
ZAMBIA
The BOI (Body Odour Index) had been raised considerably since crossing the border... surpisingly it was not us and was to plague our olfactory sences for our entire stay.
Our desination in Zambia (formery Northern Rhodesia) was Livingstone and the Victoria Falls.
Building in Livingstone
Crossing The Limpopo River from Zimbabwe to South Africa
Our return to South Africa was purely for business and to transit to the Mozambique coast.Having said that we did meet up with Christo and Eloise, fellow V-Strommers we met in Luderitz, Namibia, several months past.
Braii with Christo & Eloise
EN1 - Main Highway of Mozambique
We spent almost one month in Mozambique. In that time covering over 2,000 kilometres. We were robbed, bent the front wheel rim, had our first fuel injection problem and discovered the worst paved road we have been on. On top of all that, we counted approximately 3,200,270 individual pot holes on the main EN1 highway from South Africa, Komaliport/Ressano Garcia border, to Malawi, Zobue.
Grant Plays in the Sand near Cool Runnings
How do you pee on the side of the road in the most densely populated country in Africa?? Rather quickly actually, welcome to Malawi.
Not a Car Crash, Not Football Hooligans but Market Day, Malawi Style
Cool Runnings is a small guest house on the banks of Lake Malawi at Senga Bay.
Yes, the road is smooth
'You are very near now. Only thirte... kilometres and the road is smooth all the way.' (Easy for him to say sitting atop his steam roller.)
Miss Piggy & Grant
The first of June seems to come around quickly as does Easter, Christmas and Birthdays.
'So, where are the four lanes?'
According to our map the road, from Tarveta (border town with Tanzania) to Mombasa, was nothing short of a four lane super highway. Our map has been proven wrong in the past!After completing all border formalities we were not greeted with a 'Welcome to Kenya' sign, just 109 kilometres of bumpy dirt road.
Its official.... it's just like Equatorial Africa
Ethiopia at last
Finally arriving in Moyales we found the town to be as dusty, dirty and tired as we were, yet it was a blessing to find sanctuary at the Catholic Mission where we could erect our trusty tent and bed down for the night.
Featuring Grant Guerin and Julie Rose with special appearance by some other guy
Our flight from Addis took us to Sydney via Bangkok. For the first time in three and a half years we were eating seriously good Thai food. How we had missed it. The eight hour lay over saw us having Thai massage and eating noodles non-stop!
Piggy Arrives in Sydney
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Grant and Miss Crumpet, Piggy's replacement
Well after talking about it for what seems an eternity, the time for us to get back in the road has finally arrived.
There have been a few hiccups along the way, the biggest being the GFC ate all our savings, but we have managed to overcome those hurdles and are ready to get moving.
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Cardwell
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Early Morning Start - Hay
Time to leave Brisbane and we have decided to whip down to Adelaide rather than womble along.
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See you on the other side of the pond Crumpet
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Modern Singapore
A two night stop over, on our way to London, in Singapore was a lovely respite from what would have been a 21 hour flight plus transfers.
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Riding the Monopoly Board
Arriving in London and there is still a month before the bike is to arrive. A very good thing we have such lovely friends to amuse us and keep us occupied. And how grateful we are to have such a lovely welcoming roof over our heads in Ealing.
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Camping in Iceland in Summer
From the 13th to the 22nd of May 2014 we took a joyride to Iceland. It is a spectacular and interesting country, both historically, culturally and geologically.
We took so many photos that we decided to publish a short blog with photos.
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Iceland... Interesting factoids
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Fingers Crossed
Waiting, is a cruel game. The MSC Irene, with Crumpet on board, was due to dock on the 3rd of June. The container was to be de stuffed on the 5th. The destuffing was pushed back to the 7th, then the 10th...
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Stone Henge - quite a famous pile of rocks
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Rievaulx Abbey
We have a rule when it comes to travelling and cities and that is 'If it pisses you off, then get out". Once out, you can decide to stay outside and catch public transport in or give it a wide berth and do something else instead.
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Hadrian's Wall
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2007 - Salta, Argentina
Photo Courtesy: Marcel Achermann
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We had come across this WWII Harley Davidson from Canada a couple of times in the UK
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Dover to Calais Ferry with its specially designed motorcycle parks
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Autumn is coming to Europe. The signs are there for the reading. The lush summer greens of the forests are hinting at it with flashes of red, yellow and orange, the evenings are whispering a little cooler and as we ride the wind causes a flurry of chatter amongst the fallen leaves.
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After getting lost in Lucerne, and circling back to Marcel and Karins three times (misdirected road works were to blame) we finally found our way out. This seems to be an all too common occurrence of ours lately and quite frankly we are getting bored with it.
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Amalfi Coast
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Fellow Traveler Noel and his trusty Renault
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Which way today?
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Traditional Tunisian Wedding Scene - Matmata Museum
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All photos related to this blog entry can be found at Grant & Julie
All photos related to this blog entry can be found at Grant & Julie
All photos related to this blog entry can be found at Grant & Julie
This blog entry is written after we have been travelling for a year and in two halves. One from each of us. Blabbering by Jules
It feels as if the Gods have flicked a switch and turned Spring on in fine form. Five days of rain and foggy mist was followed by five days of howling icy wind has suddenly turned into bright clear blue skies and 26 degrees C.
