Paper, Paper Everywhere

In the last 2 weeks, we have been busy sorting out all the documents that we need to take with us.
We got our international drivers licences and international registration documents and booked the shipping of the bikes.
In the last 2 weeks, we have been busy sorting out all the documents that we need to take with us. I had to get my bike registered in my name instead of Arno’s, not just for this trip; incidentally, the machine has to be in my name when it is shipped to Australia, if we ever get our Permanent Residence Visas.

Guanajuato

GUANJUATO had been bigged up by some many people were had very high expectations, not always a good thing.
This time, however, we weren’t disappointedGUANJUATO had been bigged up by some many people were had very high expectations, not always a good thing.

Ushuaia, 1:30 PM Dec. 20th!!

Ushuaia. South, WAY south! Penguin Country. The town folks bill it as the "Southernmost City in the World". Very nice little city. The Beagle Channel to the south and snow covered mountains all around! Lots of tourists (and a few crazy motorcyclists) :=) We still had a LONG way south to go so it was time to leave Mendoza. We decided to set a course southeast toward the Atlantic side of Argentina. Sal and I both had spent a lot of time on the Pacific ocean in California and we wanted to see what the Atlantic looked like

Australa - the top bit

Q: What is bloody huge, red in the middle and covered in flies?

A: Australia.

It’s also stinking hot.

Day 5 - Putty Rd into Sydney

Day 5 Port Putty Rd Grey Gum Cafe to Sydney
KM 220
BEAR RIDES 32, 31

After camping over night at the Grey Gum Cafe and an excellent breakfast at the cafe there was another 60km's of Putty Rd remaining heading south towards Sydney. I was staying with friends in Sydney that night so had a few hours to spare.

Update

From Campeche we had a hard ride on a dirt road 21miles down to Celestun to see the pink flamingos. The “short cut” added about an hour to our journey, and caused a not insignificant amount of tension between Jacquie and I, but that was all washed away on the boat trip to see the Flamingos the next day.

Mendoza, Argentina and Bike Service

Finally made it to Mendoza, Argentina after some pretty BAD roads getting out of Bolivia. The big push to Ushuaia will start form here. Sal needs to be there by the 22nd of Dec. (his sister is flying in from China) Gotta Hurry! Riding on the Salar de Uyuni and taking funny pictures was a lot of fun but little did we know that there was a BIG price we were going to have to pay. That price was the road south from there to Tupiza, Bolivia (where the map said paved road started again). The gps said it was 97 straight line miles.

The Isle of Man

The ferry crossing from Heysham to Douglas (the capital of the isle) took just under four hours. I left the ferry at around 7:00 pm and began looking for accommodation. Douglas struck me as being moderately touristy, with a number of rather expensive-looking hotel on the promenade. I did not see any signs for B&Bs or for campgrounds or for that matter a tourist information office. Consequently, decided to try my luck in the countryside – without success. A friendly attendant in a gas station, with the help of some customers, suggest that I try Douglas again.

Sector 1 - Calais to Istanbul

Well the big day has arrived!!

Day 1 - Had a pleasant trip to the Channel Tunnel. After all the rain it was marvellous to get up to sunshine. It turned out chillier than I expected and I was glad of a warm coffee at Folkestone. The shuttle was running 1/2 hour late as a result of a problem earlier in the morning. Once onto French soil it was a blast via Lille, Charleroi to just south of Luxembourg to a little village called Dudelange for the first night. Chose the hotel because it was a Logis which normally has good food, but the restaurant was closed for the week-end.

Santiago/Valparaiso

Arrived at Santiago Airport 5:30 AM, 31st of Dec. Got through customs with no problems in about 45 min. Rental car place was not ready for me till 7:00, but were happy to tell me they had upgraded me to a 4X4 pickup at no charge. The problem was that the 4X4 pickups are two seats and 5 foot bed. Took till 9:00 to get this solved and get the right truck.

Broome, South toward Perth!

Broome south toward Perth! A lot of nothing interspersed with some great Beach Communities!Broome was an EXCELLENT stop where we could ride our motorcycles on the beach.

Eat at great restaurants on the beach,

And enjoy some excellent beach sunsets!

Planning &Preperations

We returned from a RTW three years ago having travelled to South East Asia, New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands, USA & Canada. Extended travel was always something Julie, my wife, and I had wanted to do. We'd always done the foreign holiday thing, but somehow two weeks in Corfu it was never enough. In 1998 we sold the house, both took career breaks, bought two RTW air tickets and flew off into the sunset. We had a great year. On our return we set about buying another house and resuming our careers.