Leaving Key West

Leaving Key WestLeaving Key West, we motored back along US1, stopping fro a delicious fish sandwich at Porky’s by the sea at Key Largo, we rode along at a slow pace, enjoying our thin roadway with blue water on either side until we came across the John Pennicamp national park, where Jacquie had found a place for us to snorkel on continental USA’s largest reef.

Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays

Discovering a new "Favorite" place every couple of days!!! Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands moves to the top of the heap (so far)!!I finally tore myself away from Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. I had already changed my vote for “favorite place” from Byron Bay to Hervey Bay so it was very hard to leave but the guide book said that Airlie Beach (500 miles north) had a lot to offer so I rode north a bit reluctantly (you know how wrong guide books can be). There wasn’t a lot to see on the main road except sugar cane harvesting

The Pinnacles

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the pinnacles west oz

From West to East

Luck being on our side, we arrived just as the road was being reopened, it was like a bad obstacle course, and my idea of hell.Riding the Caretera Austral in the daylight was much more fun than in the dark, a little faster and time to look at the beautiful scenery. After the town of Coihaique, we rode north on tarmac at first, then back to gravel. It was a reasonably good road, but narrow with lots of traffic. On a nice straight stretch I decided to ride as close to the verge as possible, got a little too close and dumped the bike!

Ecuador

Our first experience of Ecuador, as of any of the countries we visited, was the customs and immigration at the border. Now, this is never “fun” but it can be quite interesting if you get a decent customs officer who shows a little interest in the trip or the bike and is happy to get on with the sheaths of paperwork, get you processed and on your way. We set off at a reasonable hour the next day in gorgeous Colombian sunshine, but with in an hour of leaving, the skies had once again darkened, and as we neared Popayan, the heavens opened once more.

Getting REAL Close Now

Australia here I come!! Only a couple of days till I leave for my 2008 Around Oz Ride and there is Good News and Bad News! Yup, Aug 28th is fast approaching and I still have all kinds of things to do before I leave. SOME even having to do with the trip. ;=} Visas, plane tickets, reservations (for when I arrive), suitcases, and motorcycle bags, are just a few of the additional things I have to be concerned with this time unlike last when I just threw everything in the boxes on the bike and rode away.

Indonesia - Sumatra, Java and Bali

With it’s steaming jungles, smoking volcanoes and pounding surf Indonesia is a land for adventure. Our first adventure was getting the bike over here.

click here and see the bustling port we shipped from

Day 2 - Embarrasing !

Day 2. Grafton to Port Macquarie

KM 311
BEAR RIDES 120, 36

Ok, lets gets this over with. Today something embarrasing happened. I ran out of gas. There, I said it and you can all have a good laugh. Its the first and last time for me that I can guarantee.
I rose reasonably early after the first night in the tent. I reckoned the body would take a couple of nights to get used to the move from comfortable mattress to a tent !

El Salvador-Honduras-Nicaragua

While we were in El Salvador, there had been a military coup in Honduras...quite something, they kidnapped the president and took him to Costa Rica. America and Colombia were up in arms saying it was an illegal coup, and thousands of people were in the streets in Honduras. At this point no one knew if they were protesting his arrest, or celebrating it...only in (Central) America.While we were in El Salvador, there had been a military coup in Honduras...quite something, they kidnapped the president and took him to Costa Rica.

Koalas at Apollo Bay!

Cute, Cuddly, Koalas. A Lighthouse, and a ride in the rain!! A quick update.It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and we were at church -- no wait, we were visiting the museum, well, I actually don’t remember but we ran into a local resident (bartender) who told us he heard that the rain had brought out some Koalas. There were several in the trees on the road out to the Cape Otway lighthouse. I REALLY wanted a picture of a Koala in the wild so I figured a ride in the rain might be worth it. Off we went, and we were NOT disappointed!! Several Koalas, and even a mother and baby.

Turning North Towards Canada

It was with the best intentions that I left Bozeman, Montana for Missoula. I had seen a website for an campground in St. Ignatius, Montana, some 60 kilometres or so north of Missoula. St. Ignatius, in particular is nothing spectacular: a little provincial place in northern Montana, with a supermarket a hardware store, a bar and a gas station.

Sector 2 - Istanbul to Baku

Day 11 - I crossed the Bosporus today leaving Europe (and 2,100 miles) behind me and ventured for the first time into Asia Minor. That was quite a task in itself. Istanbul was full of signs to various suburbs but almost no signs to Ankara which is what I wanted. I tried to navigate by compass and gut feeling but failed miserably the first time. After 45 minutes of trying main arterial routes and a number of back streets I discovered I was back exactly where I started !! Second time round I found the bridge I wanted and off I went.