The road to Yakutsk (12-16 June, 2750-3845km)

The biggest swamp in the worldThe day is cold and I soon stopped to gear-up, neoprene ski-mask, down jacket and thick gloves. Not far north of Tynda, I caught up with the easily identifiable Landcruiser of Frederick & Josephine. They are a young Belgian couple who sold up everything and have spent the last year in Africa and are now in Russia. We had met on the Fushiki-Vladivostok ferry and had spoken again briefly in Birabidzhan. While we expected to meet in Yakutsk, meeting them here was an unexpected bonus.

Adventures in Llama Land

Peru, Llama Land. Its a country which conjures so many images, Inca ruins, snow capped mountains, rich indian cultures, and of course the llamas. Everyone thinks of the same things when thinking of Peru and we're no exception. However, we've added a few extra images to our list since we've been here. Robberies, terrifying mountain roads, freezing nights and insane bike chasing dogs. There's no question that we love Peru but either we've made it hard for ourselves or its just hard full stop.

Tokyo

I could write a book about finding my way through strange cities in the Friday evening rush hour using meaningless maps.Anyway, I'm here now, staying will Will Penrice's father-in-law Peter. As luck would have it there's a BMW dealer 200m up the road and this afternoon they did my oil change and checked the bike over, which has saved me a lot of getting mucky.

Now sorting shipping to Thailand (said BMW dealer can provide a crate), and when that's done will go walkabout through other bits of Japan.

Reflections On A Little Irish Adventure - Part 1

To cram Family History Research, The Clancy Centenary Ride, the Shackleton Autumn School, and a pilgrimage to the South Pole Inn, all into one little trip to Ireland resulted in what felt like a real epic voyage.
So there are some reflections and contemplations to be mulled over.
On the very first day, I learned the correct local pronunciation of my old family name.
"C'nyon." And slight variations.
On almost the last day, in the South Pole Inn, a family from Dublin was having lunch. The mum was very well-travelled particularly in Africa. But in Ireland as well.

Day 28

Well we're still here! The only bear we came into contact with was Bear radio!!! Highway 17 took on a different aspect, after miles of dead straight roads at last the road began to twist and turn as it climbed its way round the edge of Lake Superior. Stunning views of the lake on the left and small lakes nestled amongst the trees to the right. On route to the provincial parks at Agawa Bay we stoppod at Pancake Bay's Indian craft centre, fascinating stuff on display including stuffed wolves and moose (yes they were real!).

Greetings from BC. Sept 2004

Well, we didn't expect to writing another update quite so soon but we've seen so much in the last few days that we thought we'd do one before we forgot just what we have done. After waiting out the weather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming we decided to bite the bullet and ride on to the Great Teton National Park and then to Yellowstone. As soon as we cocked a leg over the bike the inevitable happened. The weather got worse. The only reason we know we rode through the Great Teton National Park was the fact that the Ranger at the entrance gate asked to see our National Parks Pass.

Cotopaxi's Bottom

Where the roads are good they're very good, and the rest are not terribly good at all.This means that in a six-hour ride (which is about as much as the shoulder will take without screaming at me) I can manage maybe 250 miles at best. A couple of times I've been down to 150 miles or less. But I'll be having a bit of a rest now, which may help.

Italy Tour in A Nutshell

This goes together with the Motorcycling Italy entry. Contains more what to see and do rather than riding info.

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We've become accustomed to sleeping in our beds again instead of the sleeping bags. A hard adjustment but where there is a will...!

Italy was fabulous, Milano great food, great shopping, nice little boutique hotel in the heart of the city for only 130 euro a night (six nights of camping!).

First Steps

Welcome to the 'Departure and Europe' category.

We are making our first tentative steps, a little slowly.

We spent two days in Dresden seeing a friend of Caroline's and two nights here visiting Terezin (a nazi concentration camp town) just north of Prague.

Not much time to find an internet place good enough to post photos, and no real photos anyway. Next stop is Prague, then Budapest, Romania, Bulgaria and the Black Sea coast, probably another week away.

Hummus makes the world go 'round

As the picture implies, I managed to get myself and the bike to Israel. I was so happy and still couldnt believe it worked. Seeing road signs to Jerusalem just felt unreal.

22-02-05 -INDONESIA - SUMATRA

The immigration is as chaotic as any Asian port, with all the Europeans singled out and made to pay the $25US for a 4 week visa.

Sunny Side Up

I wish I hadn't sent my Winnie-the-Pooh hot-water bottle home - it's freezing here at night, and there were three inches of snow last week.I'm back into serious oeno-research mode again, and find that a perfectly drinkable dry red costs less than a fiver for a 1.5-litre bottle. Which is nice.