All photos related to this blog entry can be found at Grant & Julie

We had come across this WWII Harley Davidson from Canada a couple of times in the UK

We had promised ourselves we would be in France in the first week of August and with Hamish, Emma and the kids now home from Turkey it was time for us to move on and let them have their house back. We said our goodbyes to all hoping we may see them in Turkey next year as we ride east.
The rode beckoned and our last night in Scotland we camped in a small site just out of Inverness, waking in the morning, Grant arises before Jules to find the tent and almost everything else swarming with midges. We had been warned that parts of Scotland possessed these pesky things however we had not come across them, until now!

Quickly we came to hate them as they buzzed our eyes and entered our noses, bit our faces, hands and necks. It was agreed that malaria infested mosquitoes would be easier to deal with as would flies at an Australian outback barbeque.

It was decided that a fairly rapid ride south was in order and our Suzuki, doing what it does best, covered the distances effortlessly. The weather had turned rainy, the traffic turned nightmarish and longer daily miles needed to arrive in Lands End in three days we slept in hotels and B&B's. Feeling jaded by the often standstill traffic on the M’s 6 and 5, we almost turned tail and headed straight to London, however a warm welcome, fabulous steak dinner and a good night’s rest at the Dogs Inn in Old Sodsbury gave us the resolve to continue to Lands End.

Jules, Tiff and Grant with Miss Crumpet

Tiffany Coates is one of the foremost female world motorcycle travellers. She works for several months of the year for Globebusters (when not working her day job), guiding motorcycle tours in far off lands. Tiffany is a slightly built petit and unassuming type of person happy to cook her own bread and live a relatively quiet life at Lands End, yet she rides a 1200cc BMW whilst on tour in all sorts of conditions and owns an 800cc BMW, one of the original air heads with approximately 420,000+ miles on the clock.

Most of those miles have been travelling two up in all sorts of foreign lands and often on a whim! We enjoyed spending time with Tiffany, talking travel, bikes and of course food. See her website at www.tiffanystravels.co.uk

Along with her sister, Sam, Tiffany encouraged us to take the stunning coastal walk from Porthcurno to Lands End. It is a three mile walk that takes four hours as it follows the coast line from waters’ edge, up cliff face, down again, across rolling hills until you reach the wonderfully tacky tourist centre at lands end. A fine Cornish pasty or Cornish ice-cream can be consumed before the three mile walk back to Porthcurno. Along the road it takes just about an hour.

Thanks to Tiffany we were able to re-connect with Cynthia Milton, whom we had met and partied with (quite hard actually) in Panama City in 2006. At the time Cynthia was heading north on her 800cc BMW twin affectionately known as the Old Dear whilst we headed south. It was a treat to see her after many years and little contact and to gratefully accept her hospitality for a night on our way back to London. Like Tiffany, Cynthia is a renowned female motorcyclist, known throughout the touring community. It is always great to hear the stories of some of the places she has been.

Cynthia, Grant, Jules, Crumpet and the Old Dear

We had promised Mike and Bonny that we would return to London before leaving the UK so we could return the borrowed UK electrical plug. We also needed to service the bike, do some more postage and sort out 'where to’ next.

Saying good bye to our dear friends was not an easy task, however we will see them again some where some time, stranger things have happened.

At the time Crumpet was arriving we found a very old tourist brochure for the IWM (Imperial War Museum) Duxford. Part of the collection includes a Lancaster Bomber. Grant, who loves anything that flies, has a special affection for the Lancaster as his Uncle Ted was a rear turret gunner and one of the few lucky survivors of the ones that flew in that precarious position. We decided that somehow we would get there before leaving the UK.

IWM Duxford, near Cambridge, is a former RAF base used during WWI and WWII. The American Air Force was stationed there towards the end of WWII. It is now an active airfield that is home to an outstanding and enormous collection of mostly retired airworthy RAF air craft. A lot of the planes are privately owned.

Whilst wondering through-out the heritage listed hangars it is not unusual for a beautifully restored Spitfire or Messerschmitt to take off down the runway, perform some acrobatics and come in for landing.

Whilst waiting in line to buy our tickets (approximately $35 each – however the museum is affiliated with English Heritage and members receive a two for one) Grant wandered off to read some of the information boards around the entrance. He returns with the biggest grin you have ever seen and says excitedly ‘They’ve got an SR 71 Blackbird’. Jules, feigning knowledge, grins, nods and says ‘Cool’. This did not fool her husband and he proceeded to explain the significance of this air craft.

Designed and built in the 1950’s at the height of the Cold War, the Blackbird was pushing the limits of technology and design. This delta winged spy plane used new ‘stealth’ technology, radar jamming, photographic equipment etc. Built entirely of titanium (bought covertly from the Russians by Front Companies of the CIA) this aircraft has gone the highest (over 80,000 feet) and fastest (+ Mach 3) than any other air aspirated craft before or since. (Interesting Factoid: It flew New York to London 1 hour and 54 minutes. Concord flew the same route around 3 hours.)

We were later to learn that the ‘Blackbird’ at Duxford is the only one outside of the USA.

Grant with the Blackbird

The entire day was consumed by U2 spy planes, boarding a real life Concorde, Battle of Britain memorabilia, talking to Air Force Veterans and hearing their stories, seeing the enormity of a B52 Bomber, reading fascinating accounts from the pilots of each aircraft, and on and on. It is truly a great day out, made somewhat poignant as a few days earlier was the anniversary of the declaration of World War 2.

We have just purchased new heated motorcycle clothing. Having never experienced heating on a motorcycle it was quite a revelation even in the UK summer. After all having lived in the tropics for such a time anything below 20 degrees C seems chilly! Anyway the gear is Gerbing, a US based company, and was recommended by Tiffany. We love it so far with gloves, jacket liner and heated socks to go it seems no amount of chilly weather will deter us. We will wait and see. However, we now have more electric wiring and plugs on the bike than you can poke a stick at!

Notes from Grant’s Journal

Talking about motorcycles, one of my favourite subjects, this would be a good time to introduce Crumpet properly.

She is a 2010 Suzuki V-Strom 1000cc, almost identical to our first V-Strom which we sold with 200,000 hard kilometres on the clock. We hope to get a similar mileage as trouble free as possible, however only time will tell. It is a dated design in many ways (there is a new 2014 model that is virtually all changed and it looks good) anyway having an 11 year production run on a Japanese motorcycle with little change is not common.

There are a number of bikes out there of similar capacity that handle better in the dirt, are more powerful and mostly always look better than Crumpet and invariably are more expensive and complicated. We know the V-Strom over the many kilometres we have travelled and have grown to respect and love its capabilities.

The point is really that whatever the bike is once you are two up with a long distance load, they all become pretty difficult dirt riding bikes. Plenty of people may disagree – so be it.

We have covered 11,000 kilometres since leaving Cairns and 7,000 of those in the UK. We leave for France on the 17th of August, tomorrow as I write this, my impressions on the UK are mixed.

Whilst I enjoyed, very much, visiting friends and the wonderful archaeological/historic sites and the very pretty country side, I felt a little crowded with Britains population which seems to grow each day! Being Australian we are just not used too it so much and sure we have been to plenty of more densely populated countries, however, they have mostly been developing countries where 1 in every 1000 people have their own vehicle. I am yearning for some long distances without traffic, however I suspect Europe won’t offer said either!

Notes from Julie’s Journal

Well here I am sitting in the tent in Dover, thinking about the last few months here in the UK. It really has been like ‘Old School Week’ for us. Meeting people from our last big trip, meeting new ones, finding people we thought we had lost forever. It has been amazing. As always it is the people that make the trip memorable more often than not.

Hooking up with Bonny, Mike, Matthew and Duncan; Emma, Hamish, Sam and Isla has been akin to finding lost family. These people had a special place in our heart then and these feelings have rekindled and grown with the reconnection. We are grateful for the part they have played on this trip.

The connections are going to continue as we hit the European continent too which is really exciting.

As an overview of my feelings about our UK stint here is a wee list.

Things I love about travelling in the United Kingdom

- Countryside, cottages and villages – What you see on TV is what you get. I have read Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca innumerable times. It is one of my favourites. It is set in Cornwall (maybe) and the description of the gardens of Manderly and countryside fit perfectly. I read it again just recently as we have been touring and Du Mauirer’s descriptions are perfect.

· Pubs – we never go to the pub at home. The Olde Pubs of England are beautiful, welcoming and a nice cosy place for a quite drink.

· PG Tips – OH MY GOODNESS TEA LOVERS, finally I can get a cup of tea strong enough to satisfy my needs and chronic addiction to builders tea.

· Museums – So fantastic, so chock a block full of interesting and exquisite exhibits.

· Public Footpaths and Right to Roam – This is an amazing right of pedestrians. In Scotland you have the right to roam any where... unless there is a big bastard sign saying do not enter and Wales and England have public access across fields and meadows through woods. It is wonderful.

· London – it’s great, it’s massive, it is full of people, you can find everything there if you look hard enough.

· History – there is so much history and antiquity in the UK you could spend a lifetime and only just scratch the surface

Things I do not love about travelling in the UK

· London – it’s dirty (we had the worst hay fever ever when in London), it’s massive, it is full of people, you can’t find anything even if you look hard enough. This dot point is a paradox, but it is mine to tell.

· Motorways – yes they can, if there are no hold ups, get you about quickly. However, they are long and boring and arduous.

· Traffic – often the traffic moves along nicely, people in London are quite polite and patient. Get outside of the M25 – London Orbital Road – everyone drives like a maniac. So fast on tiny one lane roads frequented by horses and tractors. I am surprised we did not see more accidents.

Well France beckons, we are only running a week late. and we will see what the future brings.