To America and Beyond

http://v2.travelark.org/traveller/oneworldonebike

Finally we have a bike for the trip. After a momentary lapse of sanity (gargantuan brain fart) I have replaced the 1200 GSA with a F800GS This is a far more enjoyable bike to ride compared to the 1200. We Might as well of gone by car with that massive screen and the leg heaters sticking out the side. We have our flights booked and as soon as the log book arrives I can arrange to have the bike freighted out to Orlando.

Bit of a set back

On my way home from work after a crap week I was all excited as Marcia was up from cornwall for the weekend and looking forward to a curry and a few beers then BANG
I have re broken my left metacarpal and possibly written the bike off. And I only have myself to blame. What a plonker.

I attended the fracture clinic and was told that the casualty nurse had misread the x-ray and the fracture was of the old break from 2012. This has cheered me up, also I have found out that I have a protected no claims bonus so I will not be losing my NCB. Just waiting for the bike to be collected and find out if its a write off or not.

As I need a log book to apply for my EDP at least a month before we leave and it might take the insurance 2 months to decide if they are going to write the bike off or not and if in 2 months I had to get another bike and wait for the log book to be transferred to my name I would have very little time to arrange the EDP and shipping of the bike So I decided to bite the bullet and have put a deposit down on a 2009 F800GS with only 900 miles on the clock. Hopefully once the insurance pays out for my 2014 bike I should be able to recoup my losses.

The 24th is approaching fast now and I am looking forward to finishing work. There is not much more to be done. I have a tenant due to move in to my house in Jan so will need to get the house emptied and the cleaners in. We have Travel insurance and motorcycle insurance. We both need to get our international driving permits I hope to be getting mine from the Post office if I'm not to hungover this Saturday after the works Xmas meal. The bike is all ready to freight just need the EDP which I have been told should be with me very soon.

The EDP (Temporary import letter of approval) and The last piece of the puzzle has arrived. So all I need to do now is book the freight then sit back and wait till the 9th of Feb.
Getting really excited about it. Its now starting feel real.

I am now unemployed for the first time since before I left school. I was given a fantastic send off from work today. Feeling very excited about 2015 and our upcoming adventure. I don't think I will miss work to much but will Deffinately miss some of the people.
Thanks 3TRPD. May your order books be full and your bonuses be plentiful.

I Went out for a fair well drink at the station inn on Friday with some friends from 3t had a great night and slept on the floor of an empty house. It felt very strange leaving my home on Saturday. And leaving it for some body else to live in. It's now Sunday and I have another hangover from another good night out with friends. Off to Mum's today to unload the bike and get the van sold.

Took my bike to the freight yard today where it will be crated and air freighted to Orlando. It felt very strange wheeling my bike in to the warehouse and handing over the key. Starting to feel a little nervous now. It's not a dream anymore.

Woke up at 2 UK time so thought I would update our blog. Glad we checked in online the night before. And booked a Taxi from Lyn's. Taxi to the airport was on time even though we got there 3 hours before the take off we only had time for a coffee and it was almost time to board we had no problems at the bag drop. They stopped and searched my bag as I had left my IPad in it, this then madte Marcia think she had left her iPad behind as she thought it was in her bag too so once we got through she checked to see and yes it was in there, panick over. Other than that we sailed through boarding.

Note to self "never listen to all the pessimists"

Tuesday 10th February
After our first ride on the streets of Florida we decided to try our first of probably many waffles, waffles, bacon and maple syrup sounds very odd but was also vey good. We also had a plan of staying up late hoping to readjust our body clocks by going out for a drink at a local bar just down the road from our motel. We just had a couple of drinks and felt a bit pissed straight away, so did not manage to stay up as late as we planned but at least we slept till about 5:30 which is much better than 2:00.
Wednesday 11th February

Thursday 12th February

Sunday 15 February

We've just had a couple of lazy days and really done bugger all but sit by the pool.
Wednesday 18th February
Today we went back to Wekiwa springs for another day canoeing, due to yesterday's rain the water level was slightly higher and faster flowing. Saw more Aligators they are starting to come out of hibernation. We even saw one swimming but by the time I got my camera out he had gone. We're hoping to go back one more time before we head off on the road. There were also people swimming at the spring head and looked very tempting.

I have been posting up on an American adventure bike riders forum that we are here and what we are doing and we have now started recieving invites and suggestions of places to visit. How did we all cope without the world wide web?

Thursday 19th February
On our way to meet Bob & Jude at Melbourne Beach we stopped for some petrol and it came to $6.66 ooer the sign of the devil we laughed.
We got to the beach ok although it was a cold ride temp had dropped to 7c still bright blue skies. We arrived a little early and as there was a Starbucks on the corner we went in for a coffee and a warm up.
Sent a text to Bob to let them know we were there. At about 12:00 there was a bit of activity at the entrance with staff rushing in and out grabbing a first aid kit.

Saturday 21 Febuary
We had a trip into downtown Orlando and visited there science Museam at night.

Sunday 22 February
We have stopped off in a place called Winter Haven to Stay at a complete strangers house curtesy of a web site called couch surfing. We were both quite apprehensive about doing this but needs must etc. But we have both been pleasantly surprised and have been made to feel very welcome. We think we will be very happy to do this again.

Tuesday 24th February

Wednesday 25th February
We took a short river boat cruise around the waters of Ft Lauderdale today. What can I say Money money money.

Apparently Someone with more money than sense bought a yacht that was to long for his property so he bought the house next door and knocked it down.

Friday 27th February
We were up shortly after daylight and I could not wait to get out of the hostel. It's by far the worst place I have ever stayed in all my life but still glad we stayed other wise we would not of gone to Key West. Although the road there is only a single carriage way with road works and traffic jams at all the different Keys it was deffintately worth doing. It was hard to keep your eyes on the road. When I went to load the bike I realised I had left the helmets locked to the bike during the night and it had rained so we both had to suffer soggy helmets.

Tuesday 3rd March
Relaxing in Deland at the moment it's a small town just 20 miles from Daytona we have been made very welcome yet again courtesy of Lauretta and Kit from couch surfing.com

Friday 6th March

Monday 9th of March
Completely lost track of time, we're still in Daytona and this is our last day here we went to a blues club yesterday eve and I got a little drunk. The band playing was called the bath salt zombies and were very entertaining. The drinks are very over priced for bike week, It's realy nuts here during bike week and it's also spring break and the hotels are full of a mix of bikers and kids on there spring break. We have seen and done so much the last few days I don't know where to start so I'm not. I'm just going to post a few pics.

Tuesday 10th March
Arrived in Cocoa Beach and we have not been able to get a reply from the person from the ADV rider forum who invited us here for the rocket launch, after a coffee and a session on Starbucks free wifi there was still no reply. We did find out however that it would be better viewing from a town called Titusville and also a lot cheaper. Motels in Cocoa beach were $140 a night and $50 at Titusville. It's a little more remote than cocoa beach but it's clean and comfy and a little bit of peace and quiet after Daytona won't go a miss.

Monday 16th March
Just when you think you have seen it all. On interstate 10 just outside New Orleans there was a broken down car on the hard shoulder it had been jacked up on bricks with all its wheels missing and if we had stayed in the first motel we found I'm sure my bike would of gone missing.

We are in Sonora waiting for the flooding to drain away. Apparently over night there has been heavy rain causing flooding on a lot of the roads and the forcast is for more today heavier than yesterday. I think we managed to miss the worst of it yesterday on our way here. Last night we tried a Mexican restaurant that looked to be pretty good as it was very busy, however the food has put me off Mexican food for good apart from being disgusting I had a severe bout of food poisoning last night. Feel ok now but not going to eat anything for a while.

Sunday 22 March

Arizona
Tuesday 24th
Where to start? What a fantastic day. We set off quite early for Acoma Pueblo (Sky City)

Saturday 28th March
Rode over London Bridge, it looked ever so small I think it must of shrunk in the heat. Or perhaps they lost a few bits in the post. Took a few pics and then took a ride around the island that the bridge connects.

Wednesday April 1st

San Francisco
Friday 3rd April

We can't quite work out the best way to get motels some of the deals you can get online seem to be unbeatable compared to just walking in and asking the rates, but that requires Internet and that's not always available, we have also found out that if you just turn around and say sorry it's beyond our budget they often drop a few dollars but not always, we have tried looking up the rates then walking in but they have gone up and they won't reduce them so we went elsewhere.

Saturday 4th April
It's a lovely sunny day again with a cool breeze as we head off. The streets outside the motel were heavily marked with tyre marks or should I say tire, the crossroads had doughnut skid marks and there was also a fare bit of broken glass. It looks like the locals had quite a good night.

San Simeon
We decided to take a break from riding for a few days and have checked in to a Motel in San Simeon. We were near here on our way up to San Francisco, there was a tour of Hearst castle that Marcia really wanted to do but like Alcatraz was fully booked so we booked it up and came back to do the night tour.

Wednesday 8th April
We a good ride South on highway 1 to Los Angeles through Malibu beach.
We had booked 2 nights in a small town called Downey through AirBnB.com

Monday 13th April

Tuesday 14th April
Viva Las Vegas, one night is more than enough. It's like everything in USA it's huge. In the year 2000 the population was 478,000 it's now over 2,000,000 it's a seething mess and growing. It was worth going for the cheap hotel and to see it, so been there done that now let's get the f&@k out of here.

Wednesday 15th April
After another day of strong winds and we were more than happy to have arrived at San Francisco. After checking in to the motel I fell asleep we were both absolutely knackered. Around about 6 we decided to go for a short walk and get some grub, it ended up being a long walk, on the whole a very friendly city although we did bump into an interesting character who was off his head on something brandishing a knife and shouting at us, we just ignored him and walked on bye.

Sunday 19th April
I was awake at 5 this morning so made use of being awake early and managed to get on the Internet and check emails and FB. Went back to sleep and we both slept until about 9:45. This free wifi at motels is really hit and miss as to wether it's useable or not. We are really getting a bit fed up with having to go to Mac Donald's to book Motels when we arrive in town, Starbucks is Ok but harder to find.

Tuesday 21st April
Despite it being cold wet and windy it was still a very enjoyable ride to Washington. We have found a cheap Motel at Ilwaco and only have a short ride to Seattle tomorrow. The bike is booked in for its second service just outside of Seattle in a place called Fife, the dealers in Seattle were fully booked and could not fit the service in at short notice.

Wednesday 22nd April
A cold start to the day but warmed up we are now in Fife for the bike service tomorrow then on to Seattle for a couple of days.

Monday 27th April

Wednesday 29th April
We had a good days riding today it started out a little chilly but dry and as we headed east it started to warm up until we headed over the mountains on highway 22. Then it got very cold but a very enjoyable ride. We stopped the night in a town Called Bend.

Thursday 30th April

Friday 1st May
We had a pretty good days riding to Lassen national park but sadly when we got there the road through was still closed. I was very tempted to just ride around the closed gate, but decided against it. We were both very knackered probably due to the altitude we have been riding in. And still had a fair way to go before we could find a town with motels.

Monday 4th May continued

Thursday 7th May

Monday 11th May
Suns up at last, not that warm though but at least it's above freezing.
Good ride to Las Vegas New Mexico today sunny all the way.

Tuesday 12th May
It's gone again yes the bloody sun has disappeared. Our ride started off cold but warmed up as we descended in to Texas, we stopped off at the famous Cadillac Ranch.

Sunday 17th May

Tuesday 19th May continued

Thursday 20th May
Birmingham Alabama what a dump.
Eventually got some sleep last night and thankfully my bike was still outside and untouched. We really did F£&k up staying hear last night even though we hardly slept last night we were showered packed and on the road by 8:30. I really don't like the big cities out here, actually I don't like big cities period. Still lesson learned if it's about to piss it down get wet or put the waterproofs on and find a better place to stay.

Friday 22nd May
We are having a couple of days off we have stopped in Cartersville at a place with an outdoor pool, so today as the sun was out we have had a pool day. Well despite me using sun block and trying not to sit out in the sun to long I still managed to get slightly burnt unlike Marcia who is now red as a lobster.

Saturday 23rd May
Another lazy day but we did get out on the bike. All of 7 miles to he Bartow History Museum and the Bartow Western Art Museum.

Sunday 24th May
We had a short ride in to Atlanta checked in to the hotel then went for a ride to downtown, we planned to do the world of coco cola tour but as it was Memorial weekend downtown Atlanta was packed, so we settled for a ride around town and then back to the hotel for a dip in the pool.
In the evening we went to visit

I am having to re write this as my iPad decided to lose notes on the last 5 days so this may not be very accurate.
Monday 25th May
We had a good ride from Atlanta to North Carolina to Bob and Jude's for a cookout.
We were made very welcome by every one there and the food was great. Bop and Jude have a fantastic place up in the Mountains of the Nantahala National Forest surrounded by twisty mountain roads.

Sunday 31st May
Bob and Jude were not going to go out today and as Jude has told me how dirty my bike is and I should clean it. It was also overdue it next service so I decided I would get some oil and at least give it an oil change, Bob had a spare oil filter that he let me use. So after the service it got its well needed clean.
Shortly after finishing the bike the rest of their guests started to arrive. They have all trailered their road and trail bikes here from Idaho. So once the bikes were unloaded it was not long before the food and drink was flowing.

Nashville

Friday 5th June
Back on the road.
We headed on to Nashville taking one more ride along the tail of the dragon, it was a lot harder with full luggage and the bright sun flickering through the tvrees but still great fun.

http://youtu.be/Can_z33tmW4

Thursday 11th June

Tuesday 16th June
We had one hell of a storm last night, thankfully it has finished and the good old sun is out this morning. I really don't feel like sitting on anything today let alone my bike as my hips and butt ache from the horse riding. As its to expensive to stay here in Jackson we have decided upon a short 90 mile ride to Idaho Falls for a cheap night and a bit of RnR before riding through Yellow Stone and on to Montana.

Saturday 20th June
My itching arm is driving me crazy but at least the Antibiotics have started to kick in the swelling has gone and it is not as red although it's still hot to touch. Don't like the steroids they make me all jittery. Had a boring day sitting around doing bugger all. Marcia went for a ride on a tour bus in the afternoon and also had a walk around a museum.

Sunday 21st June
A good ride to Missoula today went the long way and was still only 135 miles. Felt absolutely knackered though. Went straight to sleep as soon as we were checked in and unloaded.

Friday 26th June
Had a good ride today feeling much better. It was a tad on the hot side and the roads are very straight with nothing for miles. We stopped off in Billings and found a place with a pool. I have given up on the visa extension and have the Flights and Freight all booked now. We will be back home in August. Can't believe we have been here 5 months.

Monday 29th June
We were woken up at about 2:30 this morning to the sound of thunder and a chorus of car alarms. It was the loudest storm I have ever heard there was almost no time between the lightning and thunder and the rain was torrential. Very glad we were not riding in it.

Sunday 5th July
Another sunny day, loading the bike up this morning outside the hotel was covered in a swarm of dead or dying insects. Apparently they were fishfly's and they have this problem throughout the months of July and August and have to clean them up nearly every day.

Monday 6th July
It's very hot and humid this morning and the forecast for today is not good but we are hopefully moving ahead of the storm front. First stop was breakfast as the motel we stopped at was not offering a free one and had no fridge either so a bowl of cereal was out too. From there we had a short ride to the Harley Davidson museum, not a bad museum but not good for the price.

Wednesday 15th July

Sunday 19th July
Warm and cloudy again today, a short ride to Arcadia National park where are annual pass came in handy again. A very beautiful place to ride and as its Sunday and holiday season very busy as well.
From there we went to Bar Harbor for lunch, I tried some lobster as so many people have said its the best, sadly it was not a patch on any I have had in England.

Wednesday 22nd July Massachusetts. Another hot start to the day, we rode in to the town of Salem, had a walk around, as it was very hot and humid and we did not last long before we were back on the bike trying to cool down. From there we rode to the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site.

Wednesday 28th July

We had a very good flight, much shorter thanks to flying home from New York instead of Orlando. 
We touched down on time at 6:45. I was really looking forward to seeing my Mum and the bus back from the airport seemed to take forever. 

Sunday 2nd August
 I borrowed my Mum's car and drove Marcia to Exeter where her car has been in storage for the last 6 months. 

Its been great being back in the UK, especially seeing Mum, caught up with a few friends since I've been back but not enough of them yet, and having no wheels is not making it any easier to get to see people. Also I still don't know when I will get my bike back. The freight company have told me it is due to dock at the UK port on the 6th September but they will not start clearing through customs until the 16th. With that in mind I decided to pick up a cheap run around that I can use until I head off for Europe. which I am hoping to get going by early October.

I finally had some good news about the whereabouts of my BMW and although the ship it's on is 4 days late at least it has docked. And hopefully my bike is actually on it. I am now impatiently waiting for it to be unloaded and cleared through customs so I can collect it. Its getting a bit tight for time now as I am booked on a ferry to Bilbao Spain for a 2 week bike/camping trip with a mate.

To days the day I get to collect my bike from the freight yard in Felixstowe.

Sunday the 20th John and I set off for Portsmouth we stopped off in Selsey to visit a friend of Johns, turned out I knew her from years ago. From Kelsey it was only a short drive to the port and we were boarded very quickly as the bikes were first on. After boarding the ferry and finding our cabin we set search for the bar which just so happened to be on the same deck. The crossing was 36 hours in total stopping at Roscof France before eventually reaching Bilbao. We had a very calm and uneventfull crossing and arrived to a wet Bilbao, well more a mist than rain.

No problems on the flights to NZ apart from the length of time sat on a plane. It was a bit of a rush at Singapore as the first flight was a little late in and it took nearly half an hour to find and walk to the gate for the second flight and there was only and hour difference between arrival and departure. But no waiting around got straight on the plane. Arrived in New Zealand on time and sailed through customs.

21st Oct Wednesday
woke up to a very sunny and windy day but by the time I got up and headed out it started raining. It wasn't very heavy but I still got wet. Got what i needed doing then headed back to Johns. Went out again later for some lunch and got rained on again. Spent the rest of the afternoon researching unpaved roads and decided I needed some old fashioned paper maps so I could mark the trails off on. 

Friday 23rd Oct. John has his 2 boy's over this weekend and his eldest Dan had a basketball match this evening. It was fun to watch especially as I have never been to a basket ball match before. Dans teem won as well followed by takeaway pizza and a few beers. Back at Johns Dan tried teach me how to play mine craft.

Te Paki Stream and 90 mile beach.
Click this link for the video

  
Thursday 29th Oct.

Friday 30th Oct.
Back in Aukland for some much needed bike repairs, the chain and sprockets were not going to last long and the trip to Cape Reinga and back has finished them off so I have ordered a set from the Suzuki dealers here in Takapuna, they will be in Monday also Ferg has ordered me a set of tyres through his place at cost for me. They would probably last another 1000 mikes but as i'm going to be doing the chain and sprockets I thought might as well get them done now. Also I have been given a ticket from Ferg to the http://www.bigboystoys.co.nz/auckland for tomorrow. 

Tuesday 3rd Nov.
Left Johns at about 9 O'clock this morning it was cold and windy but at least it was not raining.

Friday 6th Nov.

Monday 9th Nov

Wednesday 11th Nov

Saturday 14th Nov

Monday 16th Nov.

Tuesday 17th Nov.

Wednesday 18th Nov.
Woke up to the sound of rain this morning so decided to stay put. Later in the day the backpackers filled up with a load of german teenagers. Thankfully I got a free upgrade to a room so they could keep all the kids together in the dorms. 

Friday 20th Nov.

Monday 23rd Nov.
Sadly the curry house was fully booked last night, so I wandered around for a while and ended up in a Thai restaurant. More than a bit disappointing. 
 
 Got up to a sunny and windy day, certainly not as cold as it has been. Leaving Wanaka Heading for Milford Sound today via Queenstown. Just outside Queenstown I stopped off at the Shotover for a bit of fun on a jet boat.   
  Shotover Jet Boat Video.

Tuesday 24th Nov.
Yup still raining and still windy but not as bad as it has been.

Wednesday 25th Nov

Thursday 26th Nov
A sunny day for a change still windy though, I took a ride down to the Bluff hill climb. Watched a little of the racing but to be honest it was quite boring to watch from the side of the road, there were good collection classic and modern bikes and it was more interesting wandering around the paddock. 
Later that evening I walked to a near by pub for a pint and some food and ended up getting very drunk. It was quite busy with a good band playing and everyone was very friendly.
 
Friday 27th Nov 

Sunday 29th Nov.

uesday 1st Dec.

uesday 2nd Dec

Friday 4th Dec

Sunday 6th Dec

 Monday 7th Dec

Thursday 10th Dec

Wednesday 16th Dec
After breakfast we said good bye to Darryl as he was heading west then Craig and I set off heading east it was cold, wet and did not look good for the next few days. After about 25miles I said good bye to Craig and set off to Kaikoura and he back south to Oamaru. I was Hoping to get a trip on one of the whale watching boats, but on arrival found out they were fully booked for the next few days and they may not even go out due to the weather. As the weather was not good I decided to find a place to stay, warm up and update the blog and make a plan for tomorrow.

Sunday 13th Dec

Saturday 19th Dec
Despite it being sunny it was freezing cold due to that bloody south wind. Had a good ride to Wairoa and an early night.

Monday 21st Dec
Very Lazy Day. 
Drinking beer and eating food. 
 
Tuesday 22nd 
A hot and sunny start and I was almost tempted to spend another day just relaxing by the lake. Although very touristy, Taupo had a feel good factor, it probably had a lot to do with good accommodation at a good price and a short walk to a bar.

My last day in New Zealand to day and its another hot one, I have been enjoying a couple of weeks just relaxing here in Auckland at Johns here in Browns Bay and at Ferg's in Takapuna, plenty of beer, food and lazy day's. Well to many beers and lazy days really. Also a few trips out on the bike and many an early morning swim before the sun gets to hot. Christmas was weird as it was my first ever not in the UK, went for a walk along the beach which was quite busy with whole families spending Christmas on the beach BBQ's, present opening, music everything but the cold.

Well it's time for another adventure, a short trip this time, I am returnng to New Zealand for two months travelling around visiting freinds old and new but this time Marcia will be joining me. I have moved my blog to the link below, so if you wish to follow us please log in and enter your email address.

http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog/oneworldonebike/2