Don Mardle

2011-07-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Sun 9 July

We packed up our tents this morning for the last time and hit the Interstate West. After 2 days riding the flat plains of Illinois and Iowa we made it back to Omaha mid afternoon. It's been over three weeks and 6,700 miles since we left. We are all tired, suffer from bug bites and sore rumps but we achieved what we set out to do - ride Newfoundlands abandoned rail line and traverse the great gravel road that is the Trans Labrador Highway. Franks DL650 was the only bike that did not need some attention during the ride but all our bikes need servicing. Pete and I will change the oil and replace the worn out tyres over the next couple of days and repack for South Dakota on Wednesday.

2011-07-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sat 9 July

I avoid cities of these journeys for all the obvious reasons but mostly because they all largely look the same and hold no appeal. Well Chicago is different in the extreme. Sure the traffic going into the city was a bit nerve wracking at 8 lanes and all going like a bat out of hell. And my first impressions of the skyline did nothing for me either. In the brown soup that hovered over the city you could just make out a single tall building with a couple of white masts on the top. Once in the city you were presented with trees and flowers and parks and grass verges every where. There were even flower baskets hanging of an overhead pedestrian walkway. We rode along a wide clean street fronting in to Lake Michigan. There were kids playing on the beach, sailboats on the lake and people strolling along the walkway. There were literally hundreds of high rise apartment blocks facing the lake. You have to wonder where they all worked. Even a couple of blocks back from the lake the tree theme continued. Suffice to say this was a really neat city and the folks I spoke to were immensely proud of their city. This would be a city worth visiting in its own right.

We found the BM dealer and Terry fitted his sprocket while we watched the mechanic assemble one of the new 1600 6's. This dealer has presold 25 of these bikes and we saw 6 sitting on the floor waiting to be collected.

More toll roads to get out of town as we head west towards Nebraska.

2011-07-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Fri 8 July

Terry has found a sprocket for his bike – at the BM dealer in Chicago. So we are going to ride into Chicago tomorrow morning. I'm not looking forward to that. This morning we had yet more examples of the income disparity of people – trailer homes vs 3-story ones with manicured lawns. In the afternoon and for all afternoon we took the Ohio Freeway towards Chicago. It was a bit tedious to say the least but we shore made some miles. Toll = $6.

2011-07-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

Thur 7 July

We had a delightful ride out of the Adirondaks this morning through quaint villages and then the back roads (more like back blocks) to Rochester. The back roads were an eye opener for the number of derelict and abandoned houses. Those that were lived in were pretty crappy. The contrast with the lovely home in Rochester was incredible. Made it to Niagara Falls late in the afternoon and went back into Canada for the better view. The falls are quite grand and pictures don't do them justice. It was also teaming with tourists. In the early evening we rode out through Buffalo looking for accommodation. Buffalo was once a major industrial city but is in serious decline. There are abandoned industrial facilities every where you look. The abandoned steel mill looks quite Dickensian and one wall still bears the 'together we stand' logo of the steel workers union.

2011-07-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

Wed 6 July

Rode the streets of Montreal. What a lovely city, though it could equally be Sydney or Melbourne. A huge number of apartment building close to down town. Later in the day we crossed back into the US from Quebec to New York state. Camped the night by a lake in the Adirondak mountains. It was a beautiful State Park with lots of families camping. It poured down for a bit in the afternoon – like the tropics – wind, lightening and heavy, heavy rain. We had to wait an hour at a gas station for the power to be restored. Terry's rear sprocket has died and he is looking for a BMW dealer with one.

2011-07-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Tue 5 July

It's like being in a foreign country here in Quebec. All the signs are in French only and it's hard to find an English speaker. A benefit however is this mornings breakfast of crapes, fruit and syrup – delicious. We are stuck here in paradise while Terry goes back to last nights camp site to look for his phone. He later found it in his pants pocket. Our time was spent sipping a nice white wine in a cafe on the foreshore of this quaint town. The sun is out and we have a cooling sea breeze. Life is tough on the road at times. Early in the afternoon we took a look at this.

Later in the afternoon we drive through Quebec City for a look-see. It seems to be about the size of Wellington and has a lot of brown stone buildings. Seems a nice place with surprisingly little traffic at 5.30 PM. Tomorrow we will take a quick look at Montreal.

2011-07-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

Mon 4 July

Still packing up wet tents. Toured Manic 5 and Manic 2 dams courtesy Quebec Hydro. There are 5 dams on this river, all built in the 60's and 70's so it was a huge project. Great tours but all in French so we had to be wowed by what we saw rather than what we heard. In truth it was a hugely impressive couple of tours. Manic 5 emphasized the dam and construction while Manic 2 explained the process of making the electricity. By nightfall we were transiting down the St Laurent seaway on the Route des Baleines to our nights stop at Tadoussac.

2011-07-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sun 3 July.

Good bye Labrador and hello Quebec. The road we are on will lead us to Baie-Comeau and the St Lawrence Seaway and I suppose the start of civilisation. It rained most of yesterday and all last night and was still raining when we left for the last of the gravel. At least the road had some curves - a relief after the endless straight roads of the past few days. We were getting along at a reasonable pace on the gravel when a chap on a Ducati hyper motard went past us as if we were standing still. Step aside Barry Briggs. Seems he does the trip twice a week just for fun. As we get closer to civilisation the traffic is increasing. We are heading to a hydro project called Manic 5 and will do the tour tomorrow. In the meantime we will have to camp on the side of the road because there are no camp grounds around here and the motels are permanently booked by construction workers. The roads are still flanked by endless trees and the mosquito's and black flies drive us mad. We finished the gravel today after over 1,000 km of it. Every one here speaks French so getting anything done is a bit of a mission.

2011-07-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

Sat 2 July

Pete's bike failed to start this morning (it was just a gummed up switch) and mine needs radiator repairs which we solved with JB Weld. Finally left Churchill Falls just before lunch time for the 250km ride to Labrador City. Rained all the way so tonight we are camping in a motel again. Labrador city is a coal mining town and is pretty much a company town as well. Again, one big building holds just about every thing, but over the years other business have established themselves as the city has grown. Met a number of other riders today heading in the opposite direction. Most were from Quebec and GS1200 mounted with all the gear and they were very keen to know what the road surface was like to Red Bay. Good luck with the marbles chaps – did we mention the marbles? - maybe not. Anyway guys ya got 400 km of it.

2011-07-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Fri 1 July

Today everything is shut because of Canada Day but we managed to find a tire for Pete. We decided to take it with us on account no one was keen to put it on in the rain. Trail bikes are not the favoured form of transport up here – ATV's and snow mobiles are it. We did the 300-odd km's of poor gravel road to Churchill Falls in fairly good time. Churchill Falls is a hydro town owned by the hydro company. We had intended to tour the dam but no tour today. The town has one large building which houses all services including the motel/hotel, supermarket and stuff. Only the gas station was elsewhere. I blew my radiator today – green goop all over my boot. No pictures today unless you want to see more gravel road and tree. Refer to yesterday.

2011-07-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thur 30 June

Well the sun was short lived – it's gray and cold again (real cold). Toured an excellent Basque museum in Red Bay. The Basques were whaling from the bay here in the 16^th and 17^th century. Divers found a wreaked Neo (merchant sized ship) on the sea floor of Red Bay. According to Basque records found in the area, the ship was blown aground with a load of whale oil. A reduced scale model of the ship is exhibited in the museum. An excellent morning.

In the afternoon we started on the first leg of the gravel road – the Trans Labrador Highway – with the 136km to Port Hope Simpson. This is our last gas stop for the next 400 km to Happy Valley/Goose Bay. This latter section of road is the new bit opened last year. The surface is good but the grader has spread the marbles across the surface seemingly just for us to slip and slide on. Made Goose late in the evening and ended up putting the tent up in the dark. Terry rand out of petrol a couple of miles out of town so Frank towed him in. All up today was 535km of gravel road. And a lot more to come yet – one sign says we still have 800 km to go just to get to Labrador City.

2011-07-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Wed 29 June

We are in St Anthony and it's really quite cold so we cheated last night and stayed in a motel. This morning took us up to L'Anese Aux Meadows to visit the Viking site. Seems the Vikings spent some time here in the distant past so the locals dress up and re-enact events in the daily life of a Viking.

Sun at last in the afternoon for the boat trip from St Babe, Newfoundland to Blanc-Siblon, Quebec en route to Red Bay in Labrador. Still no tyre for Pete.

2011-07-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tue 28 June

Another gray day today as we ride up the northern peninsular in the mist. We pass through small fishing villages, almost tundra like landscape with small ponds such that you see when the permafrost has melted. The roadside has the occasional garden plot each carefully tended by the unknown occupier and fenced to keep the moose out. There are also piles of cut firewood waiting for buyers – seems no one steals the stuff. The cutters are taking the dead trees from the forest.

2011-07-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

Mon 27 June

For the past two days we have been riding the abandoned rail trail of Newfoundland. The first 120 miles took us all day coping with woops, potholes and stuff. The heavy bikes bottomed out all the time. First night on the trail we finally stopped at a full camp ground on the edge of a lake. Today the trail headed inland no longer following the road. It got much better and we made good time to Deer Lake. Some deep gravel caught a couple of us out with a minor fall. Traffic on the trail consisted of mostly ATV's but oddly there was some guy driving a PT Cruiser despite little room available and signs forbidding cars etc.

We have ridden around 300 km on the trail and have seen parts of the island that most Noofies have not visited. Now we head towards Labrador. We stayed in a neat camp run by a mother and her son which had a bar. Entertained by the locals proved a laugh – if only we knew what they were saying. She's a strange dialect of english is this Noofy. Tomorrow we head up the northern peninsular to visit a Viking landing site.

2011-07-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sat 25 June

We have traveled over 2800 miles and the transit portion is over. Disembarked at Agentia, Newfoundland - pronounced new fin land by the locals. Met a local couple, Dee and Barry, who took me to the local Kawasaki dealer where I got the chain and later we went to their place to fit it. They also showed us the sight of St John's, the town, signal hill and the furtherest easterly motorable road in Nth America. In the afternoon we rode to the start of the rail trail at Clarenville. Weather gray and cold. Tried some Noofy food – not good – cod tongues and refried pork fat. Yuk.

2011-07-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Fri 24 June

The tide thingy this morning was a but of a fizzer. It's getting colder but no rain as yet. Made it to Sydney, Nova Scotia and boarded the ferry for the overnight trip to Argentia, Newfoundland. It will be good to not tent for a night. My bike needs a new chain.

2011-07-01T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thur 23 June

Took the coast road in New Brunswick and and stopped in a little village for lunch. It was seafood chowder and lobster all round. The tide rise around here is so great the fishing boats rest on wooden cradles at low tide. Last act before crossing into Nova Scotia was to have a McLobster at McDonalds. I kid you not – I even took a picture as proof. Tonight we are at Truro in anticipation of seeing the tidal bore coming up stream in the morning. We booked our boat travel to Newfoundland this afternoon.

2011-07-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

Wed 22 June

Another relatively short day of 250-odd miles but it took us all the way through Maine. Maine might be nice by the coast but down around hwy 9 it's all trees and run down buildings. We crossed into New Brunswick, Canada about 8 PM. Nice (as in pretty) border control officer lady but her stab proof vest did nothing for her figure. She wanted to know whether I carried a gun and that was the formalities over.

2011-07-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Tue 21 Jun

This morning we rode through the Green Mountains in Vermont. What a delight – emerald green lakes with mirror glass surfaces or with the sole fisherman trying his luck in the early morning mist. This area is clearly a winter playground but the hills are covered in trees so quite where the skiers go is a mystery to me. In the afternoon it was the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We are camping for the night here in a little town called Lincoln. We are pretty much alone in the camping areas. It's either to early in the season or no one is traveling this year. So far we have ridden around 1700 miles since leaving Omaha.

2011-06-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Mon 20 Jun

Rode the Caskill Mountains this morning. The map says they are part of the Appalachians. By 5 PM we had reached Vermont – Bennington to be exact. This place is an absolute picture in the green as we see it now but in the autumn it must be spectacular. Staying at a wonderful camp ground tonight where we can put our tents up on the grass rather than the rocks to date. Got my card sorted today – bloody bank is impossible to deal with. No wonder Bank of America never went down the tubes – you can't get to talk to anyone to get your own money out let alone borrow some. Everyone is fine and bikes all going well.

2011-06-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sun 19 Jun

Still in transit. Goodbye Ohio, hello and goodbye Pennsylvania and Michigan and hello New York. The country side is very pretty up here and the buildings, even in the smallest of towns, are often quite stately. Sadly there are quite a few shops empty as the businesses have closed down. Some houses look abandoned also but for all that the streets are mostly tree lined. There has clearly been wealth up here in the past -many of the great homes are 3 and 4 stories tall and I suspect predate the civil war.

2011-06-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Sat 18 Jun

Tonight at Punderson State Park, Ohio. Delightful ride in the AM through corn fields with the odd Amish and Mennonite going about their business thrown in for good measure. Bank card declined today and efforts to contact bank turned to nothing. Rode the shore of Lake Erie for a while.

2011-06-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

Fri 17 Jun

In transit through Iowa and Indiana. Visited the future birth place of Captain James T Kirk this morning. In the afternoon passing through Chicago was a mission with six lanes of traffic all at a standstill. Overnighted at an overpriced KOA in Middleberry, IN. Noticed a sign pointing to Sturgis – I assumed there was only one – in South Dakota.

2011-06-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Thur June 16

Left late in the afternoon and did 200 miles before calling it a day. Still in Iowa amongst the corn fields which for the moment are about 6” tall. Took the back roads through all the small towns on Rt 92, passed the covered bridges of Madison County and the birth place of John Wayne. Lots of standing water about so tonight we sleep to the sounds of frogs, dogs, hogs (Harley's) and a rail train.

Labrador Adventure 2011

2011-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Prelims.

Got to Franks place in Omaha OK to find Pete's bike had arrived. Over the next two days we did the links, fitted tyres, re-titled it and sorted out our luggage. Mine needed a new battery, both tyres and only just started with the stale fuel in the tank.

2010-07-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

22 Jul - Thursday
It bucked down last night for about 6 hours. My new tent held up beautifully. Thankfully it is no longer cold since I am now way south of the lake. Today will be boring (I am writing this over breakfast) - simply follow I35 south to Des Moines then West on I80 to Omaha, 250 miles I guess. Piece of cake, will be there by lunch time - yeah right.
Tomorrow it is clean up time and prepare for flying home on Sunday. It's been a great trip.

2010-07-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

21 Jul - Wednesday
Fine again and back into the States and this time a great ride next to the lake. The Yanks don't seem so attached to the three as the Canadians - they cut them down so you can see the lake. It is also quite cool. The lake is apparently very cold and it definitely has a chilling effect on the surrounds.
The traffic in Duluth was hellish on account the whole roading system was being updated and all at once. It was detour after detour, thankfully the car in front seemed to know where they were going. I'm without GPS or map so the suck it and see method of navigation has its moments.
This navigation method got me in trouble later on as I approached Minneapolis/St Paul. I'm following I35 South and suddenly I'm given the choice of I35E or I35W - no south. I take West - wrong - that took me through the larger of the two cities and into the 5pm traffic. Spent ages crawling along at a snails pace and again not helped by road works.
Spare ribs for tea tonight - yum

2010-07-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

20 Jul - Tuesday
It rained for most of the day and these next three days have to be big mileages so there is no whimping out. I am now in Canada again and riding the Ontario side of Lake Superior. Sadly I can't see much of the lake either on account of the trees or the fog so it's all a bit of a letdown really. Hope tomorrow improves. Had intended to make it back into the States by nightfall but instead stopped at Thunder Bay and stayed at the KOA. Big mistake - ripoff best describes the experience. Won't ever stay here again.
Earlier in the day I filled up at a place called Wawa. It's a small town which has a huge statue of a goose with wings outspread stuck on a plinth. In lieu of an old aeroplane they used a duck. There was also one on the gas station roof and I saw another one of similar gigantic proportions just down the road. Seems the goose is called a wawa. I was left the the overwhelming conclusion that a 3 year old won that discussion - look mum a wa wa, no honey that's a goose, alright.

2010-07-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Monday
Ah ha - fine weather so it's off to the ship wreak museum at Whitefish Point which I bypassed yesterday on account of the rain. Superior is the largest of the great lakes and Whitefish Point light house guides the ships into the bay of the same name. Not all have made it - "Superior it is said never gives up its dead when the gales of November come early" - so say the words to the song of the Edmond Fitzgerald. Some ships were lost to collisions but the vast majority seems to have fallen victim to storms. It's a very nicely set out museum featuring not only the wreaks but life in general of the lighthouse and boat station.
In the afternoon I rode over to Sault Ste. Marie (Sault pronounced Soo). The locks at Soo lift the ships 21 feet to compensate for the different water levels of Lake Huron and Superior and of course there is a tour boat that will give you the experience for a mere $23. Sounds cool and it was - I thought it was a great trip. It would have been nice to see the locks with some commercial traffic transiting through. In fact I arrived in town just as a ship exited the lock and rode parallel to it for some distance. It was so close to the road I could hear the noise of the ships engines over the motorcycles' and aside from it being a most unusual traveling companion I was surprise how fast it was going.
Stayed the night in the RV park just down the road from the tour boat dock and whilst it was quite expensive it was right on the banks of the St Mary river so we can watch the big freighters go by as they head to the locks- if any will on my watch. As it happened one did.

2010-07-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

18 Jul, Sunday
Rained all day today, without let-up, for the ride north. My objective was to visit Munising on Lake Superior to take a glass bottom boat ride to view a ship wreak. No luck today so I read up on the sinking of the 729 foot long ore carrier Edmond Fitzgerald. I recall the Gordon Lightfoot song of the same. It went down in a severe storm on Lake Superior in November 1975 taking with her the lives of all 29 crew and 29,000 tons of taconite pallets (iron ore). It lies on the bottom in three pieces, the likely result of breaking her back in the huge seas. And she was just 17 miles from the relative safety of Whitefish Bay.
Stopped for the night with some other bikers in some dump of a motel, rain still bucketing down. So no tent tonight and right now it is off to the Lumberjack Bar & Grill over the road for supper (dinner). I can tell you what is on the menu before I even leave the motel door - *!#@ burgers. That's the Lumberjack Bar in the picture.

2010-07-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sat 17 July
The bike park here in front of the HD Museum is as to be expected, full of Harleys. There is a sole Victory, a BMW RT and slightly dirty ratty looking trail bike festooned with ill-fitting panniers and drying laundry consisting of towel, socks and underpants. And there are no Harleys parked next to it.
The museum building is impressive and gives a sort of new heart to an industrial wasteland. This area is past its manufacturing prime - the once busy buildings now stand quiet and empty, their tall chimneys now the domain of pigeons. Inside this spectacular building is a no less spectacular display. It is all about Harley Davison of course (and a little bit of Buell) and mostly it is the story of the Motor Company in words, pictures and metal. It devotes space to WWII, competition through the ages and in all its various forms, customs, movies and finally as you walk back into the lobby a chance for your own Kodak moment on your favourite bike - me, the XLCR. In another building there is a seperate display devoted to the life and times of Evel Kenevel (billed at $16) but given away free with a standard admission ticket. I guess Evel is not the draw he once was. I did not take up their kind offer either.
This afternoon I ride up the Michigan peninsular following the shore of one of the great lakes, Lake Michigan, as I head towards Lake Superior. I will be in the land of the Yoopers as the Upper Peninsular inhabitants are called.

2010-07-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

16 July - Friday
The National Motorcycle Museum was excellent and had a bit of everything. Evel Kinevils Harley was there along with some memorabilia relating to his exploits. Also on display was the only surviving Captain America bike from the picture Easy Rider. It was the one used in the crash scene at the end of the movie and rebuilt some years after the movie. This museum used to be at Sturgis, SD and was moved to Iowa to improve its fortunes. A brave move I would have thought but it has paid off apparently. They get around 150 visitors per day and more on the weekends. They had on display a Yamaha TY250 trials bike - I used to ride one way back in the 70's - never thought it would be a museum piece.
Visited a covered bridge in Madison County - remember the movie of the same name with Clint Eastwood and Meril Streep - well stick to the movie.
I will make Milwaukee today and visit the HD museum tomorrow morning.

Harley Davidson Museum Tour

2010-07-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

15 Jul - Thursday
Frank came with me to Baxter Cycles in Iowa to view their extensive collection/stock of classic British bikes. There was a huge range of Triumphs padded out with A65's, Norton twins (mostly electrics start 850's) , Velocette and a couple of Vincent twins. They were nicely restored or in excellent original condition commanding what I thought were quite high prices. Anyway my pick of them all was a 1958 Ariel HS looking brand new even down to its 20" Avon front tyre.
Followed I80 East for the rest of the day to arrive at Anamosa, still in Iowa and the National Motorcycle museum which I will visit tomorrow. Tonight I am camping in another mostly empty State Park - and it's a pretty one as well

2010-07-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Day 24
A very long day today but we made it back to Omaha.
First up it was breakfast in Sturgis which is clearly gearing up for the August Rally - the welcome banners across main street are mostly up and cafes are advertising for staff. Also 2010 T shirts are available in gas stations. You can get lasts years ones 3 for $10. There are quite a large number of bikes around as well, most notably BMW's so I suspects they have an event organised.
Entering Nebraska I was pleasently surprised to see rolling hills of grassland much the same as you see in NZ. Turns out they are sand dunes left behind when the sea receded a million or so years ago.
A couple of hundred miles before reaching Omaha we got rained on big time - thunder, lightening, the lot. As impressive as the forked lightening was against the gray sky, it was not until dark that the show really started. There were two lightening storms. The closer one, which light the whole area up like daylight, was actually behind us and not so easy to see but there was one ahead of us way way in the distance and which had a cloud bank between us and the storm. Constant flashes silhouetted the clouds in a most spectacular way and to add to the awesome display of power was the occasional exchange between the clouds of bolts of lightening. I tried videoing the display and take the occasional picture but they did not come out.
We pulled into Franks place at around 1 in the morning for a 550 mile (880 km) day. My speedo says we had traveled 8,200 miles and to misquote Ed Hillary - 'we knocked the bastard off'.
In the remaining few days I think I will pop up Wisconsin and have a look over the Harley Davidson museum.

2010-07-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

Day 23
Not much to report because today was much like yesterday - transiting through vast grassland plains with every new mile looking much the same as was 1,000 miles ago. All the farmers are mowing for hay including on the long acre next to the road. There is no visible signs of stock so what the bailage is for is beyond me. East Montana looks much like Saskatchewan and North Dakota is no different to either. I am starting to get the reason why some guys trailer their bikes. It's a bit of a mission crossing this type of country in 200 miles chunks. There seem to be a large number of abandoned houses and out buildings. And it is not as if there is a new house close by either. Tonight we are in South Dakota just near Spearfish. Tomorrow we take a look at Sturgis without the thousands of bikes.

2010-07-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

Day 21 Lost Frank today for a short period but we reconnected later in the day just in time to bid farewell to Alberta and say hello to Saskatchewan. Much of today was on the Transcontinental (hwy 16). This Provence is awfully flat and the land so far has been devoted to crops - mostly wheat and rape (canola oil). The rape is in flower so there is a lovely yellow tinge to the landscape. We are in Battleford tonight.

Day 22
We are back in Montana after pretty much another day riding through vast area of crops on roads that disappear into the horizon. Frank wonders whether there is enough machinery in the world to harvest the stuff let alone ponder as to where it all goes. Houses are all tucked behind belts of trees presumably as a shelter from winters arctic blast. Towards the border suddenly it all stops and you enter grassland prairie. The info board says it goes from here to mid Texas. It also informs me that the temps range from -55 to +45 degrees C. I don't know about +45 but is is 95 degree F at 7 PM.

2010-07-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Day 20
"They bike like crazy - ah" - says the Canadian about no see ems. Seems we have swapped the mosquito's for these bugs. It got dark by 11.30 tonight so things are sort of back to normal. In Slave Lake 'Jewel of the North' tonight - very nice town so the promise might just be true. We had a surprise return to the gravel when the tarmac ran out for 130 miles. Thankfully we have seen the last of the boreal forest. It is interesting for a while but after a while it gets a bit much. There is a wood pecker in the trees around here this evening but I can't see him but he sure makes a noise.

2010-07-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Day 19
Today we turn south and go back home - it's a good 5 days away yet however. We have had some remarkable strokes of luck on this ride. The first was the family that helped us push our bikes up a steep loose gravel bank, the second was the KTM rider who happened across my flat tyre problem. Without his tools and spare tube my predicament would have been unenviable to say the least and today it happened again. Frank bought a tyre in Yellowknife 'just in case' and within 40 miles of leaving YN his rear tyre delaminated. We had two problems - getting the bead to release and the prospect that 3 gas bottles may not inflate the thing. The knight in shining armour this time was Greg, a trucker hauling two bulk cement trailers behind his Western Star tractor unit. He had tools that fixed the bead problem and the air system of the truck inflated the newly installed tyre. And he will dump the old tyre, and handed out the Coca Cola and hand cleaner and towel. You are a champ Greg and we are enormously greatful for your help. We missed you at MacKenzie River ferry but we caught up with you (or at least your truck) again at Indian Cabin. I trust you got rid of the mosquito's from your sleeping berth.
Must also make mention of the wonderful hospitality shown to us by Leon at Indian Cabin Fas Gas store. While Greg was asleep in his truck cab we were drinking beer and telling tales over in the store.

2010-07-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Day 18
We have arrived at Yellowknife and have ridden all the gravel that is possible up the north/south continental divide. We finished the last of the gravel this morning - about 3,100 miles of it since we left Antelope Wells. Petrol stations are few and far between up here and we were all but out of petrol by the time we boarded the ferry to cross the MacKenzie river. Frank must have been running on fumes. This is the same Mackenzie river we crossed going to Inuvik a couple of years ago. It drains north to the Beaufort Sea from the Grate Slave Lake on which Yellowknife is located.
It was a cold ride this afternoon and we are tempted to stay in a motel but the prices are way beyond our budget. Even the locals are moaning about the spell of cold weather but for me it's a question of what do you expect when you are the equivalent of 2,700 km south of Invercargill.
Yellowknife is a surprisingly large and established modern city - nothing like I was expecting. The uninspiring nature of the architecture is probably necessary to combat the winter cold - this is ice road trucker country after all. Lots a Bison grazing the roadside - these are woods bison and are larger then their plains cousin.

2010-07-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

Day 17

It rained last night and all day today till about 2pm so todays morning ride was cold and miserable. By 2pm we were in Fort Nelson and the weather picked up a little. The afternoon was a dirt ride up BC77 to NWT7 and eventually onto the MacKenzie hwy. This is the long way to Yellowknife and we took it to keep the dirt road theme alive but also to avoid retracing our steps on the return south. Tonight it is camping in wet tents in this beautifully set-up camp ground with virtually no one in it. Maybe no one is here because of the kazillion mosquitoes that are driving me nuts as I write this. It's 11.45 pm and the sun has just set. It will not get dark tonight at all – we are not in the land of the midnight sun but you can see it just down the road. Just over 500 miles today so we should make Yellowknife easily tomorrow.

2010-07-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Day 16

Today we crossed back into British Colombia from Alberta en route to Yellowknife. Just long straight roads through dense forest. An obligatory photo at Dawson Creek which is mile '0' of the Alaska Highway. Fine today and at one point temp up to 23 degrees C but for the most part it was a cold ride. Rain this evening so staying indoors at workers camp at mile marker 101. Addresses on the Alaska Highway are stated as “mile markers” so just down the road at marker 100 is the general store, Blueberry. I think we might be in for some more wet weather tomorrow.

2010-07-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

Day 15

We have made it to the Canadian border and hope to make Hinton in Alberta by tonight. It rained again last night and we had to pack up wet tents this morning, It rained most of the day and got very cold especially in the Icefields National Park. Thank goodness for the warming influence of a Tim Horton coffee and donut. I got to see most of the Parkway because the weather cleared in the afternoon. We pulled into Hinton at 10.30 PM and it is still day light. It wasn't so long ago that it was lights out at 7.30. Frank has a nail in his rear tyre.

2010-07-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

Day 14

The Canadian border is in sight and we have finished the gravel for the time being. Made it to Polebridge, with its little bakery, for lunch and a good lunch it was to. Polebridge is in the middle of no where and is something of a must stop place for adventure riders doing this route. None were there. In fact we have seen no other bikers on the whole route save for a group at Pie Town who had clearly made a lot of shortcuts. Went to the Canadian border but it had been closed for the last decade so we moved over to Eureka. At the moment we are in Rexford having a steak sandwich for dinner and drinking a beer from a glass screwtop jar.

2010-07-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

Day 13

Yesterday a storm came through town toppling trees onto vehicles and generally creating havoc with tents etc. We saw nothing of this except for the cleanup operation. We got our turn at midnight, first with a magnificent lightening display, followed by horrific winds that flattened our tents and finally the rain. Flooded tent, wet sleeping bag and clothes – not a good night at all. We got a break in the rain about midday so shot through. Many trees down in the forests but the forest service had cleared then by the time we got to go through. At one point the road was closed but we noticed a track between the boulders so squeezed our bikes through and followed a bit of single track to a broken bridge. We clearly were not the only bikes to have got through. Tonight we are in a delightful lakeside camp at Bigfork. It's a Queenstown style town. The camp is completely full – something we have not encountered before. Most places are reporting slow demand this year.

Wild life seen today: turtle, rabbits, squirrel and a black bear.

My bikes needs some maintenance: loose head bearings and a rear wheel bearing that needs repacking with grease.

2010-07-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

Day 12

Lincoln, Montana is only a short 210 miles from where we were this morning. The Helena Forest was our undoing. The map and GPS instructions were to vague and of little use once in the centre of the forest. Despite searching around for a route forward we gave up at around 2PM and took the pavement to Helena. More forest tracks in the PM to arrive at Lincoln. For a part of the day we followed an old disused railway track bed (rails long gone) next to the interstate and went through an old tunnel dated 1911.

We are in a public park campsite on the edge of town and now at 9.45 PM the deer have invaded the town. Some are wandering around the front lawns of houses and some are amongst the trees in our camp. There is one 10 metres away happily chewing the grass and occasionally looking up to see what I am doing. Prior to this it was watching a family as if wanting to be invited in and feed.

2010-07-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

Day 11

Montana, Marlboro Man country. It's big blue sky country, snow capped mountains in the distance and vast grassy plains in between. Wow this is really spectacular country. The splendor of Colorado, while I never tire of it, is close in so much the mountains are “just over there”, kind of at arms reach but the mountains in Montana are way beyond arms reach.

We have two more days of Montana but for now are holed up in a little spot that is probably not on a map but for the moment they have cold beer and country music on the juke box. Tonight we washed away the smell from our gear.

2010-07-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

Day 10

Short day again today (180 miles) mostly because I had to find a solution for the broken top box. We are heading north and after passing the Grand Titons enter Yellowstone National Park ($20 thanks) and yet another National Forest. Now the delay is a nail to my rear tyre – ah crap Frank has the tyre gear and he is ahead of me. Lucky me when a guy on a KTM 950 burbles into sight so I borrow his gear to fix the puncture. Actually I bought his spare tube so that fixed the problem. Frank and I mounted the tyre and wheel and we were off. Must say that the task was way easier than it is on my DR. Frank will like this but I will never tell him – I think the KLR is perfect for this ride and way better then my DR would have been.

Mack's Inn, Idaho tonight (it's a place not a pub) and another night in a forest park camp ground. After lying in the dirt and hot sun fixing my tyre I kind of would like to have had a shower. Our gear is getting a little smelly also. Frank is still suffering the stink from his sojourn into the bog hole – me, well I ride suitably far to the rear. I blame the dust. After taking our money ($12) the park ranger warns us about the bear in the woods. Ah crap, I will be awake all night now.

2010-07-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Day 9

It is 132 miles from Rawlins to Atlantic City – all on gravel and not a tree in sight. Vast plains of sage brush and hardy grass with the occasional beef cattle and antelope. Atlantic City is no city, just a collection of old buildings left over from the gold rush. We had lunch here but for me it was the sight of a white guy carrying a side arm trying to erect a tee pee. He is having no luck at all so occasionally refers to a set of instructions which seem not to help – possibly they are written in Apache. Never figured what the gun was for. By nightfall we had made it to Dubois for a total of 317 miles for the day. Top box gave up the ghost this afternoon – just to much pounding from the trails.

2010-07-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Day 8

To date we have ridden 2621 miles since we left Omaha and have made it to Rawlins, Wyoming where we are staying at a KOA camp ground. Very nice it is to. Rawlins looks to be a harsh town with a railroad that bisects the town with a good number of double wides (trailer homes) on the wrong side of the tracks. Lots of coal trains in town. Anyway it was goodbye to Colorado today. Colorado is such a visual delight despite their colour coded houses - seems you can chose from a standard set of plans and get to paint your place in either or both of two shades of brown but the roof must be green. Reminds me of Switzerland actually. Being on back roads you get to see the state like no one else does and I loved it. I never get tired of riding Colorado.

Entering Wyoming we rode into an avenue of Aspens (a scene that appears on every web site of this ride) and then onto a vast rolling plain of grassland. I have mentioned that this is actually a route planned by cyclists. Well I take my hat off to them and have a new respect. We clip through 200 km of dirt road in an afternoon and think nothing of the wonderful but never changing environment but for a cyclist the scene must be interminably long winded.

2010-06-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Day 11

Montana, Marlboro Man country. It's big blue sky country, snow capped mountains in the distance and vast, vast grassy plains in between. Wow this is spectacular country and I mean spectacular. The splendor of Colorado, while I never tire of it, is close in so much the mountains are “just over there”, kind of at arms reach but the mountains in Montana are way beyond arms reach. We have two more days of Montana but for now are holed up in Wise River, a little spot that is probably not on a map but for the moment they have cold beer and country music on the juke box. Loved the sign in the bar - ya gotta read the small print. Tonight we washed away the smell from our gear.

2010-06-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Day 10

Short day again today (180 miles) mostly because I had to find a solution for the broken top box. We are heading north and enter Yellowstone National Park ($20 thanks) after passing the Grand Titons and enter yet another National Forest. Now the delay is a nail to my rear tyre – ah crap, Frank has the tyre gear and he is ahead of me. Lucky me when a guy on a KTM 950 burbles into sight so I borrow his gear to fix the puncture. Actually I bought his spare tube so that fixed the problem. Frank and I mounted the tyre and wheel and we were off. Must say that the task was way easier than it is on my DR. Frank will like this but I will never tell him – I think the KLR is perfect for this ride and way better then my DR would have been.

Mack's Inn, Idaho tonight (it's a place not a pub) and another night in a forest park camp ground. After lying in the dirt and hot sun fixing my tyre I kind of would like to have had a shower. Our gear is getting a little smelly also. Frank is still suffering the stink of his sojourn into the bog hole – me, well I ride suitably far to the rear. I blame the dust. After taking our money ($12) the park ranger warns us about the bear in the woods. Ah crap, I will be awake all night now.

2010-06-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

Day 9

132 miles from Rawlins to Atlantic City – all on gravel and not a tree in sight. Vast plains of sage brush and hardy grass with the occasional beef cattle and antelope. Atlantic City is no city, just a collection of old buildings left over from the gold rush. We had lunch here but for me was the sight of a white guy carrying a side arm trying to erect a tee pee. He is having no luck at all so occasionally refers to a set of instructions which seem not to help – possibly they are written in Apache. Never figured what the gun was for. By nightfall we had made it to Dubois for a total of 317 miles for the day. Top box gave up the ghost this afternoon – just to much pounding from the trails.

2010-06-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Day 8

To date we have ridden 2621 miles since we left Omaha and have made it to Rawlins, Wyoming where we are staying at a KOA camp ground. Very nice it is to. Rawlins looks to be a harsh town with a railroad that bisects the town with a good number of double wides (trailer homes) on the wrong side of the tracks. Lots of coal trains in town. Anyway its goodbye to Colorado. Colorado is such a visual delight despite their colour coded houses - seems you can chose from a standard set of plans and get to paint your place in either or both of two shades of brown but the roof must be green. Reminds me of Switzerland actually. Being on back roads you get to see Colorado like no one else does and I loved it. I really do like Colorado and never get tired of riding it.

2010-06-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Day 7

302 miles today and now into Colorado – Silverthorne to be exact. Early morning was a delightful ride in pine forest and then we took a wrong turn and it all turned to shite. Steep and long rocky downhills, wheel deep ruts, mud holes and finally a river crossing with a viscous rocky uphill. Frank, bless his cotton socks, full of bravado attacked the (very deep) bog hole with gusto with the inevitable result. I was too concerned that he might drown in the bog to take a picture – long story short I had to hose him off at a local car wash. He smelled like the downhill side of a feedlot.

Afternoon much improved with excellent road surfaces through high plains meadows with grazing cattle and the odd antelope. Met a shepherd walking with a couple of dogs way out in the wap waps. We tried to talk to him but Lord knows what language he spoke. Heard wolves howling last night and this morning got a glimpse of one darting into the bush just ahead of us.

2010-06-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

Day 5
First stop Reserve for breakfast – much appreciated after lasts nights fast. Spent ages talking to the cafe assistant, George Barreras, regarding his history and the history of the area and were to learn that it would be our pleasure today to ride the calichie (red clay) to Pie Town. It was no problem in the dry but the route would have been impassable in even the slightest of wet. Reached Pie Town and its Pie Cafe, something of a meeting place for adventure riders and had the obligatory piece of pie. Frank had the good sense not to have a piece.

Excellent PM ride to Cuba (pronounced coo ba) through rugged outback country. Real trail ride stuff and country to die for – just the perfect cowboy movie backdrop I recall from my youth. Getting the hang of buying healthy from McDonald's courtesy of Frank. About 300 miles today and mostly off road. Of note were huge mounds of lava magma without the accompanying volcano.

Day 6

143 miles today. We started a little late because of laundry detail but the biggest reason for the short distance was that we got stuck in the Santa Fe forest. We got stuck on 2 impassable roads so had to back track and then finally a road with deep bulldust. So once again we have been forced to camp out unprepared. Last time it was emergency rations of sardines and tonight we had to share a McDonald's apple pie and a jar of peanut butter – crunchy so we aren't so badly off. Oh and a bottle of bourbon that we are sampling from the caps of our chain lube cans. We are still in New Mexico and a lot of the country side is dry, harsh sagebrush prairie but as we head further upland and towards Colorado things are starting to green up. It is still very hot despite being up at around 7,000 feet and our water bottles don't last very long. Anyway tonight is another impromptu night under the stars. Our original plan for day 6 had us almost out of Colorado so we area little behind schedule.

2010-06-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

Day 4
From Deming to Antelope Wells on the Mexican border. We are now at the start point of our great adventure to Yellowknife. Obligatory photo, turned around and headed north. Stopped at Hachita – a cluster of buildings and a church all abandoned except for a small store with a gas pump. Got the lowdown on the area from Cheyenne McDonald whose husband,Rocky McDonald, a local rancher and New Mexico rodeo champion. Also saw his impressive trophy from the Calgary Stampede.

Picked up the gravel just north of I10 for a short period – actually it was just hard packed dirt. Back onto the seal for a period then into the massive Gila National Forest. We got lost and were forced to spend the night in it but as luck would have it we found a delightful camp site by a lake. It's a clear moonlight night and it is finally much cooler. We will start out early tomorrow for Pie Town.

2010-06-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Day 2
Not so long a day today because we took up an invitation to spend the night at Palo Duro Canyon State Park with Bob, a friend of Franks. So tonight we share our evening with horse flies that bite like hell and rattle snakes. It was as hot as hell today (110 degrees) and even now just as the sun drops below the rim of the canyon the wind drys our washing in no time at all. Bike goes well.

Day 3

Canyon, Tx to Deming, NM today, a distance of about 450 miles. First part of the days ride was through beef country with huge feed lots and grain processing facilities everywhere. Pulled into Roswell (town of alien crash) again this afternoon and later Alamagordo and the white sands facility. I have been to these places in the past and it is quite a strange feeling to be so familiar with a place in what is really a foreign country. Another hot day 98 degrees. Picture = Alamagordo and White Sand in the distance.

Continental Divide Ride

2010-06-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

The theme of this ride is to follow as many gravel roads as is possible following in the shadow the the Continental Divide. It will take us from Antelope Wells on the New Mexico/Mexican border up to Rooseville, Montana on the Canadian border. From there we will cross into Alberta, continue along the divide and ride the ice fields parkway and eventually make it to Yellowknife, NWT where the divide largely ends. The US side of the route has been established by mountain bikers.

Day 1
An early start for what ended up a 500 mile day. Initially the ride was through pleasant back roads of Nebraska then into Kansas but by days end I had pretty much had my fill of flat land and fields of wheat and corn. Collected a third rider, Randy, who will ride with us to Texas.

2009-12-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

Day 7 & 8. Christchurch - Nelson - home.

The rain has stopped for the moment and the ride over Arthurs Pass is a visual delight. I’ve been over this pass a number of times but this is the first time it has looked like this so indulge me as I snap off a few shots to share.

I think this is why we like B-trains in NZ. The corner before this was very sharp but by the time I got my camera sorted out I missed it.

This sign had me worried for a moment wondering what might be lurking in the mist ahead.

A classic Canterbury braided river.

There is no getting past this guy in a hurry.

We are over the top of the pass here and heading for the West Coast which is renowned for its wet weather. I was not to be disappointed – I spent the rest of the day riding in the pouring rain.

Some of us are old enough to remember when trains once looked like this. I gather the rest of us must have grown up with Thomas the tank engine.

Chock full of salmon I follow my brother on his XT600 out of Nelson and back over the mountains to catch the ferry to Wellington. And yes it was raining in the hills.

Boarding the ferry at Picton with the other remnants from the rally. Today the sea will not be so calm.

If you think these decks look slippery, try the off ramp in Wellington. I made it home from here – 1,600 miles in total, 8 days and the end of another ‘Bert’.

2009-12-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - Invercargill to Omarama

Rally over and with improved weather I head north past the great lake associated with the tourist town of Queenstown. I am heading to Omarama in the McKenzie country famous for its perfect gliding conditions. It is also to be a reunion with the riders from the South American Patagonian tour.

This is my food shot just so as Sherm and VSP don’t feel left out. Fresh salmon steaks, whitebait fritters, new season potatoes and all for breakfast.

Heading up through the McKenzie country you cross a number of aqueducts feeding snow melt water to hydro schemes. Behind me this one supports a salmon farm. At today’s rates salmon is $4.88 US a pound so I buy a couple of chunks to take to my brother and supper tomorrow night.

Lupines have taken over and by now must be classed as a weed but for the traveler in spring they add much welcome colour to an otherwise colourless environment of tussock grass. Today I ride for 6 hours in the rain so stop early at a country hotel. Tomorrow I will tackle the pass through the Southern Alps to the West Coast.

2009-12-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

The Rally - days 4 & 5

Home for the next two nights. It was raining and windy and the beach races were cancelled. Drat – the beach races are one of the highlights of the weekend.

An aerial view of the rally site taken from a previous year. The sites for three events can be seen from this picture - the beach, the ¼ miles speedway oval (centre) and on the left the track circuit (teretonga). The street races are held in a town nearby.

The beach race from last year - note the guy on an HP2. She’s a grey old climate down here. Invercargill in northern hemisphere terms is up around Vancouver in Canada.

The speedway is a well organized event and attracts a capacity crowd. The bikes follow the European format so there are no Yamaha’s, Suzuki’s etc as you would see at US short track meets.

Sidecar racers are the hoons of speedway and are hugely popular with the crowd. They look to be hugely dangerous and certainly crashes are spectacular but the sound of a ZX10 or Firestorm engine on the rev limiter adds a new dimension to the spectacle.

Bert is buried in this family plot at the local cemetery.

This is 105 Bainfield Road and is the house Bert bought in 1951 and from which he did the development work on his Indian. It bares no visual resemblence to the house shown in the movie and I suspect is has no lemon tree either. Me thinks it is to far south for citrus trees to grow. The house in the movie incidentally was a standard 1950's 'state' house. These were houses built by the government to house low income families.

Sunday morning and not much stirs in Invercargill. The rain has stopped but most of the campers will go home with wet tents. The weather in Invercargill is so unpredictable that most of the rally goers stay in motels and as such the town is fully booked for the weekend. The cafes just down the street from this view were full of bikers tucking into the great Kiwi breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatos and hash browns with a side of toast as it comes. No choice of wheat, rye or sour dough here, it’s white bread or nothin’.

Wyndham is a village north of Invercargill and each year they surrender their streets to be filled with hay bails and motorbikes. The local garage lends itself as a ‘hat check’ for riders gear, the PTA sell hot dogs and the moms from the pre-school sell BBQ lamb in pita pockets and have a line 10 deep.

Bert’s original bike on display in the pits. It is crude in the extreme and a far cry from the Ducati based replicas made for the film. One of the film replicas does the rounds on a trailer nearby.

This guy has taken a old 1942 30 cu in ‘Army’ Indian out to 45 inches and races it both here at Wyndham and also on the beach. I like his new take on warmers, most of his fellow competitors use the warmers on their tires.

2009-12-14T15:08:00.001-08:00

Day 2 & 3. Christchurch to Invercargill.

Just North of Dunedin the road introduces you to the Pacific Ocean again.

This is the city of Dunedin city spread out below and I never tire of this view. Dunedin is a lovely city of Scottish heritage with a charm all of its own. I was stationed here many years ago with the military and also did my undergrad degree at the local university. Prejudiced? – you bet.

The Catlins, a remote part of the East coast between Dunedin and Invercargill. They have sealed the road now so the traffic density has increased – motor homes and tour buses mainly. The fine weather of the past two days has gone as a southerly front reaches the coast bringing with it cold, wind and rain. It does not bode well for the rally this weekend.

The South Island is a high tourist area and these arrows are on many of the roads to remind drivers to drive on the left. Despite this my sister-in-law and her partner were run down by an Italian in a motor home driving on the wrong side of the road.

2009-12-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

25 Nov - still the first day. The idea was to make it to Christchurch for the night.

Not sure where all the people have gone but this is Kaikoura on the East coast of the South Island. The coast is famous for its cooked lobster and whale watching tours. Not far from here is a seal colony that has taken up residency on the rocks next to the main road. They stink real bad but the tourists love them.
Highway 72 west of Christchurch. This route is more scenic and less monotonous than State Highway 1 to the east. This road also avoids the need to transit through Christchurch. Stayed the night in a forest just north of here and had a lovely Thai meal, the chef of which also acted as waiter.

Sheep – what more can you say, this is New Zealand after all.

Day 2 - 25 Nov
Before the humans came, New Zealand had no mammals so bird life flourished. The Moa (sounds like lawn ‘mower’) was the largest of the birds. Guess what? – they are extinct. I started the day of with a breakfast of smoked salmon eggs Benedict at Seagers café and cooking school, expensive but a real treat.

2009-12-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Bert Munro Rally 2009
This ride report is for my American friends who have showed such interest in the Bert Munro 'thing'. Bert lived in Invercargill, New Zealand's most southern city, and the event is in its fourth year. It's not really a rally but more of an event spectacular over four days. There is a hill climb on Thursday, beach races Friday evening, circuit racing at Teretonga Park Saturday, Speedway Saturday evening and on Sunday there are street races in a small village north of Invercargill.

Wed 25 Nov. Waiting to load at Wellington for the 10.30 sailing to Picton in the South Island. The sailing time is approx 3 hours.

This is one for the truckers. The curtain side B-Train, New Zealand’s answer to the 18-wheeler. Standard US 18-wheelers are too long to negotiate our tight roads. Single trailer units in NZ are shorter than US 18-wheelers and have 22 wheels.

Today’s sailing is on smooth seas so riders tie their bikes down more out of habit than necessity. When the sea is rough, as it often is, tying your bike to the deck is necessary. There are as many ideas on how best to do this as there are bikes and riders.

Looking over the stern at the gap in the rocks that the ship needed to negotiate in order to enter the Marlborough Sounds. When the sea is rough it is a great relief to arrive at these calmer waters. We have an hour steaming through the sounds before docking at Picton. As for scenery; think of British Colombia’s inside passage.

2009-09-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

4 Sep – Holbrook, AZ

Today was quite a long day in the saddle – over 6 hours – and it was all just transit. The ride along hwy 89A through the high forest was quite nice despite many of the trees being scarred from fire. But the real highlight was seeing the Vermilion Cliffs. Around this area in northern Arizona the red sedimentary rock is soft and easily sculptured by wind and rain leaving the various lays of sediment exposed. The result in one case are the Vermilion Cliffs and in another the Painted Desert. Both formations are quite striking, more for their grand size than anything else. When it rains here it buckets down and the runoff carves out channels so the desert floor is littered with these minor canyons. The largest of them all is the Grand Canyon and is nearby.

Once past these highlights there is not much of interest. A lot of the ride was through an Indian reservation so you get a small insight into their world but it is only fleeting. There are clusters of houses here and there in much the same way as we see Pa. They must still refer to these settlements as 'camps' because many of them had public notice signs promoting a camp meeting.

I arrived at Holbrook around 5 pm to find TC here so tonight it is steak and beer. TC is a 40 year veteran of the guitar so we have entertainment include.

Tomorrow I fly out.

2009-09-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

3 Sep – Cedar City, Utah

There were even fewer cars on the road today so I can see how hwy 50 (officially called the Lincoln Highway and famous in its own right) could be construed as the loneliest highway in America. But boring it is not – well at least the first time you ride through the area. The topographical map show a number of valleys roughly linked together that appear to stretch from the Sierra Nevada to way out here in Utah. Turns out that it is indeed “The Great Basin” and it is very easy to identify areas that in the wet would form lakes. At the height of summer some are dried up and dusty whilst others have green pastures for live stock. Fascinating if you are into that sort of thing. If not then you have the geological structure to ponder over. This area was clearly once a great sea bed and today the sedimentary rock has been thrust up to expose the layers of sediment. You can identify the various fault lines as you ride along. No surprise then that last night I met a chap from a company looking for spots to drill for geothermal water.

2009-09-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

2 Sep – Austin, NV

I finished off yesterdays train spotter day with a visit this morning to a train museum in Portola, about 30 miles on from where I stayed last night. The museum is entirely dedicated to diesel trains and seems to have one from every era and technological permutation. There was a lot to see and if you timed it right you could get to actually drive an engine. No today though. One train that took my interest was the original California Zephyr. In the 1950's this train was the height of luxury and sophistication and the display of promotional brochures show a splendid futuristic train indeed. Today the once glorious domed passenger cars lie abandoned and vandalised, shunted off to one side to await their future. One is being restored in the workshop and I understand the locomotive is in working order.

My route for the afternoon took me into Reno again and then on to Hwy 50 to Fallon and tonights stop. Hwy 50 is billed as the loneliest highway in America. I was preparing myself for it to be the most boring ride in America also but no it's a lovely ride with lots of varied scenery. Nor was it particularly hot. We are quite high up and it snows here in Austin in the winter. Most of the inhabitants of Austin appear to have left so the place is a little run down at the moment. For all that, the three motels in town are fully booked. Tomorrow I finish Hwy 50. Photo

2009-09-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

1 Sep – Quincey, CA

Finally got my laundry done – no mean feat I tell you. Leaving Eureka you climb into the hills to the east that traps the sea fog in the town until eventually you look down on it. It made for quite an interesting picture. By mid day I had left the green hills and forest to enter the parched grassy flatlands around Redding and Chico. Much more interesting was entering Feather River Canyon which is the lowest pass through the Sierra Nevada. Much like the Manawatu gorge; road one side and rail line the other with a river in between. Except this one was around 70 miles long. Excellent road.

Western Pacific Rail Road built the track over a number of years prior to 1909 as their part of the Transcontinental Rail Road. It is still a working line and I was lucky enough to see a freight train winding its way round the bends. The train was quite long and I suspect very heavy (40 foot containers stacked two high) because the wheels protested loudly as they were dragged around the curves. There was an engine at the front and another at the rear belching huge amounts of smoke as they tried tto drag their load up the incline. The engine compartment of the front engine was so hot the oil and grease associated with the environment was at smoke point and me thought next step flash point. So I stopped and waited to see what would happen but the train stopped also so drama over – or so I thought. Seems it might have been the rear engine that caught fire. What ever happened it sure got the Forest Service activated – 6 trucks and a police car rushing to the scene. Just my luck -no picture.

I've sort of done a big loop and despite being on the road for the past three days and covered around 800 miles, I'm only a couple of hundred miles from where I started. Tomorrow I go through Reno again when it wasn't that long ago when Lildoc was buying Harley merchandise from the Casino HD outlet. I know because she shouted me an ice cream and I took a photo of her behind an elephants balls.

2009-09-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

31 Aug – Eureka, CA

This is a funny old country. A couple of days ago we were melting in 30 degree days and tonight I have the heater on. The days ride has been quite cool because firstly I am riding along hwy 1 which follows the coast so is naturally cooler and secondly there is a heavy fog that rolls in from the Pacific Ocean and because this side of the Pacific is very cold (unlike the NZ/Aust side), the fog is also cold.

I followed hwy 128 then switched into hwy 1 for most of the morning then picked up hwy 101 again at Leggett. An obligatory photo of the road through the tree and then it was a detour to state route 254 which goes through Humboldt Redwoods State Park or more commonly the Avenue of the Giants. The road, which follows the old 1880's stagecoach and wagon trail, is about 30 miles long so you get to see plenty of trees and as the name suggests, some pretty big ones at that.

Tomorrow I leave the coast and head inland to the high desert.

2009-09-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

30 Aug – Ukiah, CA

We left Stockton taking Hwy 12 to southern Napa & Sonoma wine regions before turning left onto US 101 to travel across the Golden Gate bridge. We got the bridge with its cloak of fog – something San Francisco is famous for. I thought this was a bonus because when I was here a few years ago I only ever saw the bridge in its naked form. Sadly no time to ride around downtown SF so we simply retraced our steps and headed north and out towards the coast. First stop a French cheese factory stuck out in the middle of nowhere then alongside Tomales Bay with their numerous, and busy, oyster shacks. We left hwy 1 to travel inland to the old railway town of Occidental (for lunch) then on to the Russian River wine region where at least 4 different valleys support wineries then to this town via yet more vineyards and Hwy 101. I was staggered at the vast plantings of grapes – they seemed to go on forever. Today was a delightful days ride.

2009-08-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

28 Aug – Mindon, NV

The return back to Stockton was to be completed within a day and going via hwy 88 and thus avoiding the monotony of I80. Well we got as far as Reno when VSP's F650 blew its radiator fluid all over the place. Turns out that it was the fan at fault. It was fixed at the local BMW dealer so we made it to Mindon for the day. We booked into a huge hotel/Casino and had dinner in the dining room. With jeans and T shirts we were a little under dressed but the staff forgave us when we purchased an excellent Rodney Strong Merlot from the Sonoma Valley.

Next Day. Back to Stockton by mid day. Lovely ride while it was cool but it soon warmed up to around 90 degrees as we left the mountains for the flat. Rest of the day devoted to route planning for the next week.

2009-08-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

27 Aug – Winnemucca, NV

The HOG people have a rally centred on this town called “run-amucker in Winnemucca” so it's not just me that finds the name amusing. What's not amusing is the ride here. It was OK from Stockton to Colfax going over the mountain but then it flattened out and got baking hot. I am told that from here to Salt Lake City is even more inhospitable. Sure glad I don't have to ride this road to often. Actually the Californians do have to ride this route or one as equally onerous (to and from Barstow) to get out of the state. Anyway, heat and all we made it to Winnemucca and met up with “littledoc” who will ride with us back to Stockton tomorrow. In the meantime we had a delightful dinner at a Basque restaurant. On the menu were crumbed sweetbreads, tongue, lamb shanks and other delights. What really surprised me was the number of people tucking into the stuff. Here's me thinking that the Yanks only eat hamburgers. I still think New Zealand bread and butter pudding is better – just a little too much nutmeg for my taste. Whilst on food I must mention breakfast. VSP took me into what looked like a fruit and vege market from the 1930's. It was and it also had a dining room that was historically mostly frequented by the traders but in particular the Japanese “before they were accepted into society”. Prior to WWII and up to as late as the 1950's a lot of the Japanese-Americans were produce farmers and gardeners. The menu reflects this history to the extent that with your breakfast eggs you have a choice of hash browns or fried rice.

It's sad to think that the only useful comments about the day is the food we had but there it is. Photo 853

2009-08-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

26 Aug – Stockton, CA

The road out of Bishop steadily climbs to around 5,000 feet and the cooler temperatures are a welcome relief after yesterdays baking hot effort. With the altitude comes greater moisture so the parched ground at the lower altitudes gives way to fields of grass and the sage brush now has a smell of sage to it, At around Mono Lake I turn left onto US120 which takes me into Yosemite Nation Park. A fee of $10 gets me entry and I am rewarded with all the visual delights the park brings. Tioga Pass at around 10,000 feet is the highest pass in the park and today is not so cold you cannot ride over it with just a T shirt. The park is mostly high altitude forest with the usual meadows of grass, mirror perfect lakes and rocky streams. Walking tracks abound and judging by the number of cars parked near by, the tracks are very popular. The pass is closed in the winter. The ride down the other side takes some time and with the reducing altitude comes the return of the baking heat. The trip into Stockton is no fun. Tonight I am the guest of VSP.

2009-08-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

25 Aug – Bishop, CA

Gavin and I rode to Barstow together in the morning. Barstow is a Route 66 town with a rail line passing through. It is also the start of I40. But for most people it is a hot dusty town on the edge of the Mojave Desert just over 100 miles from LA. Motels are cheap so it is a popular place for motorcyclists to overnight. US 395 runs north from Barstow and was the road I needed to take to get to Stockton. Bishop is just an overnight stop though VSP tells me there is a bakery here famous for its turkey sandwiches. US395 runs east of the Sierra's and goes through the Mojave desert, a desolate wasteland of sand and sagebrush. To my right (East) is what looks like a huge salt pan shimmering in the sun with an occasional sign inviting you to go there. "Death Valley 102 miles" the signs say. I will have to leave that invitation for another day, I'm already feeling the heat at 40 C. All the riders you see are in long sleeve T shirts – me included so dehydration is a serious issue as is the hot air coming up from below the helmet and drying your eyes. As the sun drops below the mountains to the West and the shadows fall on the road, there is a marked cooling to be felt and the riding becomes more pleasant. For all that it is 10PM as I write this and it is over 80 F outside. I am consoled by the air conditioner at full blast and a can of beer sitting in an ice bucket. I guess somebody has to do all the rotten jobs.

2009-08-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

24 Aug – Laughlin, NV

No joy with getting Gavin's bike registered. First it was “the computers are down” in Holbrook then in Winslow the price was higher than expected so the whole idea of registering the bike was shelved. So there we were standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona .......... Just had to get that in – the ADOT (LTSA equivalent) in Winslow really is on a corner.
The ride here to Laughlin at 300 miles was of little consequence being all on I40. Laughlin is a casino town, a sort of poor mans Las Vegas, located at the end of a lake. While it looks nice it is as hot as hell sitting as it does in a natural basin bounded by hills. The heat is trapped in the basin and just seems to notch up with each hour. Not much relief at night either. Thank goodness for air conditioning.
Tomorrow we go in separate directions, Gavin to Los Angeles while I head north towards San Francisco.

2009-08-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

23 Aug – Holbrook, AZ

It was kind of sad to see the end of Colorado. The ride back to Holbrook was without incident and not much to report en route. We rode through a Navajo reservation which looked pretty depressing – poor housing and 4 generations of used cars out back. Rode past a train so long it required 5 engines, 3 up front and two at back.

2009-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

22 Aug – Pagosa Springs, CO

A long day in the saddle today – almost 11 hours. We rode over four major mountain passes : Monarch Pass on route 50 at over 11,000 feet, and 3 others on route 149 at just under 11,000. Most of the days was therefore spent at quite high altitudes with both bikes and riders feeling short of breath. This is Colorado mountain country at its best. There is evidence of spruce beetle infestation but not nearly as extensive as I saw in British Colombia last year. Tomorrow we leave Colorado for the high green pastures of northern New Mexico.

2009-08-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

21 Aug – Canon City, CO

No biggie today, less than 70 miles. The reason is that we visited the Royal Gorge suspension bridge. Built in 1929, it spans the Arkansas river some 1053 feet below. What ever the truth of the matter the river is a long way down. Being America this bridge has to be the 'biggest' at something – seems like it is the highest suspension bridge in the world and next door is the highest Skycoaster (registered trademark) in the world. The Skycoaster (read gondola) claims to have carried over 5 million passengers across the chasm. There is also a funicular that will take you to the river below – also worth the ride.

2009-08-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

20 Aug – Salida, CO

Ever flexible, we shelved the plans of yesterday and instead decided a tour of Colorado might not be better. We took hwy 85 south out of Cheyenne, through rural northern Colorado, passed Greeley and made our way to I70 West from Denver. I70 from Denver through to Grand Junction must be one of the most beautiful main highways in the US. The road climbs to around 10,000 feet as it crosses the Rocky Mountains. At the summit there is a huge tunnel I remember from an earlier ride when we stopped to don wet weather gear. When it rains up here it buckets down. I remember the tunnel more for the sight of VSP head down bum up cannoning out of the tunnel in full flight, heading as we were to find out later, for a motel to wait out the rain. He comes from California.

We turned left onto hwy 91 to Leadville and Salida but not before having a bite to eat for lunch in Idaho Springs. Along this part of I70 are a number of tiny settlements that grew out of the mining activities. The mining of ore has long gone to be replaced by the mining of tourists. Tonight we are in Salida where by pure chance we are in the midst of a Gold Wing rally. The town is full of yellow whispering Tupperware machines with riders in matching his and hers riding gear. I guess there will be no room at the Dairy Queen so we will have to settle for a couple of 9 oz fillet steaks at the place next door. Photo 728

2009-08-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

19 Aug – Cheyenne, WY

Got to Boulder without problem and met up with Gavin – with shiny new looking silver and black Vulcan. What with one thing and another we never left till after lunch and headed north to Cheyenne. It was our intention to head West across the plains of Wyoming to Salt Lake City ostensibly to have a look at the Mormon Tabernacle. I quite like the open spaces of Wyoming and South Dakota so this was promising to be a nice ride.

I saw here for the first time one of the original style motor hotels, later to be shortened to Motel, where the motor vehicle had its own 'garage' next to room being rented. Right here in the main street of Cheyenne which has to be said was once the main route before the interstate was built. I80 killed most of these places as did the building of I40 to Route 66.

2009-08-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

18 Aug – Pinon, CO

Left Holbrook reasonably early and headed for Boulder, CO. about 700 miles away via Interstates 40 and 25. Pinon is really just a truck stop 30 miles north or Pueblo on I25. For the most part getting here was just a case of winding the throttle round to 80mph and filling up when the tank emptied, which at this speed it did quite quickly. But $10 fills it up and away you go again.

By the northern regions of New Mexico the desert had given way to green pastures and slightly cooler weather and you would never guess you have crossed into Colorado except for the sign welcoming you to “Colorful Colorado”. At one point earlier I rode under some very dark clouds and it was clear that rain was in the offing but right now it was the lightning that was my immediate concern. Lightning really gives me the willies. Anyway it left me alone this time but just over the hill there was the prettiest scene straight from a winter wonderland – white everywhere. The traffic was at a crawl and there were many vehicles stopped on the side of the road. The white carpet turned out to be hail stones and the road was awash with water from the melt which put paid to my dry boots and pant legs. Not to worry, I ran into the hail storm just down the road and that finished the job. By the time I got to the shelter of a gas station I was soaked to the skin, not to mention bruised all over by the lumps of ice.

2009-08-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Monday 17 Aug 2009 – Holbrook, AZ

A lazy day catching up on things with my hosts and being reintroduced to the Nomad. The bike has a new set of tyres and handles much better for it. Gavin should be in Colorado by now and have purchased the bike (a VN800A).

2009-03-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

19 Mar – Valparaiso, Chile
Well we are not going to see the bikes into the container, that we will have to rely on the Chileans to do themselves. For the next few weeks they will sit in a warehouse gathering dust.
Our group here in the hostel is quickly diminishing in number as various ones leave to catch flights back to NZ. Today four more trudged off down the road with their bags over their shoulders to the bus station and transport to Santiago. We had a farewell lunch together at a delightful little eatery just down the road after which there was much hand shaking and back slapping as we bad farewell to what now seemed like old friends. We had come together six weeks ago, a disparate bunch not knowing each other and together ridden 10,000 kilometres, endured the roads, food, cramped accommodation and bad showers not to mention the odd case of food poisoning, enjoyed the beer and wine and spun tall tales and now it was time to go our separate ways again.
Down the road from our hostel is an area bustling with street commerce. Peddlers lay out their produce in the street, those with status on tables and those lower down the pecking order on a mat laid directly on the pavement. The vendors sit glum faced on wooden boxes hoping passers-by will spot something of value. Passers-by shuffle equally stern-faced past the goods occasionally stopping to inspect but rarely buying. All the while the motley stray dogs, ever on the lookout for a morsel of food, sniff at everything and pee on anything vertical. Since it is mostly lunch time the food sellers are busy frying local treats that resemble burger patties made of a yellow substance and eaten with aji pobre, a chilly and coriander sauce. Next door the vendor heats up empanadas, small pasties, and offers them to you in carne (meat) or queso (cheese). Meanwhile over by the park Sebastian Vila belts out songs to a beat box, collects what he can from tips and tries to sell his CD's. Actually he is not half bad so Pete and I sit there on the broken park bench listening to him. The poor fellow has his work cut out trying to compete with the tooting of impatient drivers, the roaring engines of trucks delivering beer, countless buses and the shrill sound of the policeman's whistle as he tries to wrestle order from chaos. Even the policeman retreats to the sidewalk occasionally seemingly temporally defeated. Sitting on our bench we watch the teeming humanity pass by, the vendors, old men and derelicts, mothers with kids, kids in school uniform and university students on some sort of orientation week prank. As relieved as we might be to see the back of this country, high street NZ is going to seem awfully dull.

2009-03-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

17 Mar - Valparaiso, Chile
We got the bikes packed back onto the platforms today and all the export paperwork done. The one major problem is there is no container available to load the bikes into. We hope this will be resolved tomorrow. If not we will all be gone and the Chileans will have to do the best they can on their own. My betting is that they won't get them all into the one container. We will see in a couple of months.

2009-03-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

16 Mar – Valparaiso, Chile
My odo shows we did just on 10,000 km – trouble free in my case. The DR was not the ideal bike for this ride; a more road oriented bike would have been better. It struck me that the new BMW 650 GS, a V Stom/TDM or a Transalp would have been ideal. But no matter, I have hauled the DR up through BC, Yukon and Alaska to Deadhorse and the Arctic Ocean and now it has taken me to Tierra del Fuego so it will do.
In general Patagonia is dry, barren and windy and is no great joy to ride, Ruta 40 has lost it's charm as a historic road, and we failed to complete the Carretera Austral in Chile but for all that I achieved my aim of riding through Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego and riding the famous Ruta 40.
I am no fan of Argentina; any first year macro economics student will tell you what's needed with their economy, and the state has an inherent mistrust of it citizens. The constant police checks are more sinister in intent than irritating. Their infrastructure is crumbling around them and they are knee deep in rubbish. But for all that the Argentinian people are delightful, friendly and helpful and seem to have a zest for life. Chile on the other hand I found to be simply organised and on to it. Their banking system is stable, their infrastructure is in good order and repair and their people do not appear to be at war with the state. Chileans seem to have a thing about dogs – there are hundreds of strays wandering the streets and they all seem to get together at dawn and have a bark-up. Do I need to mention the poop? Things are more expensive in Chile than they are in Argentina.
For the moment we are concentrating on cleaning the bikes in preparation for loading back into the container tomorrow and tonight we have a farewell dinner together before the group breaks up for the trip home.

2009-03-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

15 Mar - Valparaiso, Chile
We finished off the blackberries for breakfast and hit the road for the short ride to Valparaiso. We got talked into a different route by one of the locals – it had the advantage of avoiding toll booths and we would also get to see some different sights. It turned out to be true. The road in places was littered with little stalls selling fruit or fruit juice and later we passed through vast acres of nut trees (protected by high electric fences) and vineyards. Officially it was route 66, Ruta del Vin, the locals, in what might be a case of language humour call it Ruta de Fruta.
We got a little lost in one town when the road was barred due to new works. Unfortunately there were no signs pointing to an alternative route but once again were were rescued by a fellow biker who guided us around the obstruction.
The rest of the days was spend on a motorway reeling in the miles to Valparaiso where we arrived at around 5.30 to be greeted by the rest of the gang who had all arrived by one means or another. The two broken bikes are here as are the three who skipped the ripio and opted instead for a leisurely cruise on a ship. The evening was spent, with everyone talking at once and as loud as possible, retelling their individual experiences.
We, like Bilbo Baggins, had made to there and back again.

2009-03-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

14 Mar – Linares, Chile
Last night was spent in Pucon, a resort town on a lake. This general area is the lakes district of Chile so we took a in couple of them on our tour north. Sadly the weather was crappy so we did not see to much.
Today was better weather wise and we made it half way back to Valparaiso. We stopped on the side of the road to collect wild blackberries and along came a couple of cyclists – a 60's plus couple from NZ; so that filled in a bit of time. On arrival in Linares we stopped outside a butcher shop to get our bearings. The owner came out and plied us with meat, bread and home made wine. That filled in some more time. Then still without any idea of where to find accommodation we befriended a group of young kids on motor bikes who took us in hand and found some for us. That took some more time.
Autumn is arriving down here so while the Makracapa, pine and eucalyptus are still in their cloak of green, the poplars, willows and aspens are turning yellow. Occasionally there is a light litter of leaves on the road which the bike in front send dancing into the air. They come back to rest just in time for me to pass. The topography of this area is remarkably similar to NZ.

2009-03-18T06:59:00.000-07:00

12 Mar – Puerto Varas, Chile
A rest day for me and a couple of others. The majority went off to visit Chiloe Island to see what it offered. We had originally intended to ride up the island having crossed by ferry from Chaiten in the south. You might recall that we had to cut out the Austral highway and Chiloe Island would have been part of the route. A casualty of riding Chiloe island would have been the northern reaches of the Austral that we attempted yesterday. Staying here at Puerto Varas gave us the opportunity to rectify a little of the problem. Frankly I think most are a little relieved at not doing all the Austral if yesterdays experience was anything to go by. Despite enjoying gravel roads I add myself to the list.
The LOB's walked the local town today, a male version of shopping where you ignore all the shops and just walk around aimlessly. We were really looking for a special oil for one of the bikes but couldn't find it so settled for lunch and a glass of wine.
This is a nice town with clean streets, well dressed people and a delightful feel about it. I get the grand vista of the town, the lake and the Mt Egmont lookalike from the window of our digs.
We had wild blackberries and ice cream for tea; I don't know how I can stand the pace.

2009-03-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

11 Mar – Puerto Varas, Chile
Our first wet day in ages and the day we decided to ride the gravel. I suppose miserable might describe the ride. Aside from the crappy weather the road surface was from hell – pot holes in pot holes and wash board by the miles. No views to speak of on account of the mist and fogged up visor. We were rescued by a puncture. It was fixed and in a nano second agreed to turn back. We weren't quite in the back end of nowhere but as someone said you could see it just down the road.
Waiting for the ferry we befriended a fat little stray dog. He had a repertoire of tricks from tail and hip wags, longing looks to rolling over (in the mud) for a tummy scratch, after which he expected payment in the form of food. Judging by his girth he has a successful act. We gave him a biscuit with brie topping.
Ah, the things you see.

2009-03-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

9 Mar - Entre Lagos, Chile
For the past 2 days we have have traveled over 1,000 km on roads already traveled just to get past the fuel problems in Chile. We crossed back into Chile today and had hoped to make it to Puerto Montt but one of our group had serious bike problems so we are a couple of hundred K short. The bike may be terminal - we will see tomorrow. I suppose one good thing came from the detour which was I got to do the remaining portions of route 40. The loss is possibly missing the complete Austral highway and that is sad - it is one of the worlds must do trips.
Next day. The bike is terminal and is being shipped back to Santiago.
Our two groups have now formed one of seven bikes for the remainder of the trip - we started with 12. We hope to rescue what we can of the Austral over the next three days and then leg it for Valprasio in two long hops. The last bit should be easy because the Chilean toll roads are excellent.
This afternoon we were hanging around a flash hotel when I heard this American voice I thought I recognised - I did. It was Mark. I met him, his wife plus Stu and his wife in Alaska last year. We crossed paths 6 times last year and now again. He is a pilot so is here on work assignment not riding his bike. At lunch today our bike attracted a bit of a crowd - mainly West Coasters selling Moss to the Chileans. It's a small world.

2009-03-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

7 Mar - Chile Chico, Chile
We finished off the last section of Route 40 this morning and I loved it- not sure everyone shared my enthusiasm. I was suspicious of yesterdays road, it seemed just a little too re-engineered to me because every so often you would see bits of old road, narrow bridges and the like. Well today we were pushed off onto a diversion that was clearly the old road. This one hugged the hills and valleys and followed the contours of the land, was mostly single lane and with narrow bridges. One of the poor old bridges showed the scars of many a confrontation with its customers. The surface was rutted, pot-holed, soft spots and lots of washboard surface. Wonderful. Unfortunately it was over almost as soon as it started. We were forced back onto the newly contoured road while the real route 40 wandered off into the distance and obscurity, alive only in the memory of aging adventures. Soon there will be no Ruta 40 left at all.
In general it is warming up so the winter woollies are being stowed at the bottom of the pack. We are also seeing more green which is a relief from the parched steppes of the past week or so. The poplars are showing the first signs of yellowing of autumn. In a couple of weeks the first snows will fall on Ushuaia.
I had hoped todays crossing back into Chile would be the end of Argentina. Unfortunately we have been advised of industrial strife up north and as a result there is no fuel to be had for hundreds of kilometers so we are going back into Argentina tomorrow for a major detour. Good news for me is there is a bit more route 40 but everyone here is trying to find a way around it. Soft sods.

2009-03-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

6 Mar - Bajo Caracoles, Argentina
Today was a serious attack on Route 40 and as a result we are ahead of our schedule. The road is in serious need of a grader and in places appears almost non existent. There is some sign of work being done because there is a long stretch of diversion road next to a nice new one being built. Also some sections are being sealed. Ruta 40 is a little like Route 66 - once a famous road that for the most part has been absorbed by other roads or bypassed altogether.
Caracoles is a dusty one-horse town with a gas station, pub and a cluster of ramshackle buildings one of which has been turned into a hostel, our nights accommodation. When the intercity bus stops for refreshments the towns population doubles. This is outback Argentina at its best (worst?).

2009-03-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

5 Mar- El Calafate, Argentina
We have caught up to the group that were originally behind us and have decided to ride as one group from now on. Our little group is now 4, down from 7 and the other is 4, down from 8. That was until they decided to move on and help out one member further north whose 1200 GS has spat the dummy. So back to quatro amegos.
Today we did the 160 km round trip out to the Moreno Glacier in the Parque Nacional Glaciares. We duly paid our 60 pesos at the gate and within no time were presented with the most spectacular glacier terminal you could ever imagine. To say it is huge is to understate it entirely. The face is 4 km across and 60 metres high and this ice mountain runs 14 km back up the valley until it disappears into the mist. It presents itself as a series of ice stalagmites of teal blue that crack with the sound of rifle shots. Every now and then huge lumps of it come crashing down into the lake. This was a truly awe inspiring experience and no future glacier will measure up to this monster. Money well spent.
The ride back into town was no less spectacular. Think of the road past Lake Tekapo - milky blue lake stretching to the base of a snow capped mountain backdrop. But now think of the lake also reaching to the horizon in the other direction that with no hills in the distance to give it a boundary you could imaging the water pouring over some giant fall. It is Lago Argentino and it is huge.

2009-03-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

4 Mar – El Calafate, Argentina
Back into Argentina today. The border crossings are becoming less perilous now we sort of know the routine. The key is to beat the bus to the officials otherwise you are stuck behind 40 jabbering tourists – not that we aren't tourist also. The wind is still with us but our riding days are quite short so we are often off the road by the time they get strong.
Ruta 40 is not the horror promised – todays stretch could be taken at 90kph. We get serious doses of it in a couple of days.
Tonights accommodation is a brand new hostel which unfortunately they are cramming 6 persons to a room that would/should struggle to accommodate 2. The bottom line is that they are getting NZ $300 per room. The backpackers don't seem to care.

2009-03-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

3 Mar - Puerto Natales, Chile
We are here for a couple of nights primarily to enable us to take a trip into the National Park “Torres del Paine”. The park is huge and it takes all day for the tour. It also wasn't exactly cheap but in the end we all considered it worth it. I thought I had seen some spectacular mountains in Canada/Alaska but these beat them hands down. Typically pictures do not do them justice. The mountains are not part of the Andes which are the result of tectonic plate activity but rather the result of magma rising from a fissure in the ground. The distinctive shape of the towers is a function of time and weather.
There are also a number of glaciers in the area but for us just to far away to see properly. You can take a boat to the terminal. It's a hugely popular park and there are a large number of trampers wearing out their joints. All in all a great day out made all the better by not having to ride the bike.
This is also a very attractive little town – neat and tidy and in sharp contrast to the broken footpaths and street litter of Argentina.

2009-03-02T13:01:00.000-08:00

2 Mar- Pto. Natales, Chile
We are here for a couple of days ostensibly to do the tourist thing around the area. Only problem is that the day is overcast and as cold as hell and a trip on the lake tomorrow is not that appealing just now. Pto. Natales is a miniature version of Taupo - a cold hole on the edge of a lake.
Our group of seven is now down to three. One bailed out at the first sight of the gravel and has taken a boat ride up north to bypass Ruta 40, one has a broken bike and may have to truck it back Valpraiso and his riding companion is suffering a medical issue regarding her leg and is flying back to Mendosa for an operation. So for the moment we are the Tres Amigos. One will rejoin tomorrow.

2009-03-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

1 Mar – Punta Arenas, Chile
Despite the view that lasts nights accommodation may have been assembled by teenagers on dope it was in practice a pleasant visit with wonderful hosts. Breakfast was a grand affair with crapes and scrambled egg and in stark contrast to the usual fare of dried bread and tea.
We left early with a very fresh cold wind to accompany us. The chill went right through you in the same way it does on a winters day in the Maniatoto when on the way to the Brass Monkey. Only this was the end of Feb not the end of May. The road followed the shore of the Magellan Strait while out to the right in the far distance, low rolling hills with a great expanse of grassy plains in between. A couple of Guanaco grazing the roadside look up and make a bolt for the fence and with one graceful leap easily clear the top wire. Later on I see a fox approach from the right. It takes a quick look and trots nonchalantly across the road in front of me and just as it reaches the safety of cover on the other side takes a furtive look back at me before disappearing from view. We round a corner and startle a flock of geese by a water hole and in unison they leap into the air, powerful wings straining to motivate their fat bodies into action. By the time we get there they are above our heads and circling away. We wait for the parting shots of poop to rain down on us. It's our lucky day.
The ferry takes us the short distance across the strait to the mainland and for me the purpose of this ride is at an end. I wanted to ride to Tierra del Fuego and it is done. The rest of the day was largely an uninteresting ride to our overnight stop. Possibly the highlight was passing through an abandoned 1879 Estancia, San Gregorio complete with two rusting hulks washed up on the beach. One of the ships is an 1860's “Tea Clipper” – the Ambassador. A Google search shows it is one of only 4 of its type left in the world, one being the Cutty Sark.

2009-03-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

28 Feb – Porvenir, Chile
Well, we are on our way back north. At the moment we are still on the island of Tierra del Fuego but will be off by tomorrow evening. The ride back over the mountains to Rio Grande was cold and wet but without incident except possibly our decision to go mean on the accommodation. We wanted to skip the high-priced hotel and use a hostel of more modest appointment. We got our wish and exchanged marble floors and sweet scented rooms for lino tiles and the smell of paint. This was a place in early transition from run down wreak to, er a place in transition. At least they had mastered the dismantle stage. Our group crossed back into Chile today and most took the main route to Punta Arenas, a road already ridden. Peter and I took the route that followed the coastline along an inlet of the straits of Magellan to this little town which while still on Tierra del Fuego is just a short ferry ride to Punta Arenas. I'm glad we did. The route was really quite beautiful despite it being very desolate. It was also cold and we had a stiff headwind. It is hard to believe anyone would seriously choose to live here but they do. There are a number of estancia's (farms) and every now and then a corrugated iron fishing shack with a precarious hold on the shifting stones of the beach. Hauled up next to the shack is a yellow open deck wooden boat of about 8 metres and out the back are crab pots and fishing associated litter from times past, all slowly rusting the years away. A scruffy dog comes from nowhere to investigate and finding us of little interest hurries back to the warmth of its shelter. This is no place even for a dog it seems. Tomorrow we continue our journey around the coast to catch the other boat off the island on account we missed todays one by 30 minutes and are now faced with a 300 km ride or a day and a half wait for the next boat. We were told the boat left at 2PM but it apparently went at 1PM. So for tonight we are holed up in the Chilean seaside town of Porvenir, a place of around 5,000 hardy soles. The town has nothing to recommend itself except possibly as a place to threaten the kids with the next time they drive you mad. The town is said to have been founded by ex Croats and certainly the owner of this place looks like a refugee from the Serbia/Croatia war. There is even a fading picture of a man in a suit hanging on the wall. I would like to think it to be his father but it bears an uncanny resemblance to a former Croat leader now resident in the Hague. This hostel too has seen better days. The ceilings sag and the floors creek eerily. You step directly from a gravel roadway into the guest entrance which at night is illuminated by a single bulb that flickers on and off as it rattles in its holder from the wind gusts. We are the only guests and have been made to feel very welcome. I do hope this mans name is Jankovich and not Bates for I fear we will wake up dead in our beds.

2009-02-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

26 Feb. If up north it was beef, beef and more beef then down here it is sheep and more sheep. This country is no place for a vegetarian. We walked the town today and every second restaurant had sheep carcases splayed out on racks roasting round a central fire. Eating is obviously big here – the rest of the shops seem to sell tourist essentials like plastic penguins (bought one), stickers (yes) and other stuff (no).

I lost a day yesterday, the aftermath of a serious case of food poisoning, and am a bit tender today. I'm not the only one glad of a couple of rest days, there is at least one other in the same predicament.

It's around 9 degrees C outside and the heaters are on all day long. Anoraks are a popular summer dress item and suitably togged up the tourists shuffle on and off the boats that take them out into the harbour for the obligatory viewing of the seals, penguins and lighthouse and their own special Kodak moment. At around NZ$150 I will go to Dunedin instead.

We lost Jose our Guatemalan friend today. He picked up with a Brazilian on the biggest BMW you have ever seen and headed back north. Jose was great company despite a language barrier.

We finish the day with the two Brazilians accompanying us cooking up a BBQ Brazilian style which I think means a 3 hour dinner. At least they got beef. Tomorrow we head back north.

2009-02-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

24 Feb – Ushuaia, Argentina

We are here at long last – it's been a bit of a mission. The days and distances have not been long but the endless featureless landscape has been a chore at 100 kph, not to mention the ceaseless wind. The ride from Rio Grande to here has been the one exception with towering mountains, alpine lakes and no wind. My initial misgivings over the bland pastoral landscape and the expectation of it lasting forever were misplaced but I suspect the flat will be back. For the moment there are signs of an indigenous bush much the same as you find around Horopito on the National Park side of Ruapehu. I presume this bush once covered the whole island and has been mostly cleared for pasture. The bush shows considerable die-back which a Dutch research student here at the hostel says is caused by changes in hydrology. The ghostly scene is aided by dead trees in their hundreds that have not rotted.

We also had a visit from a member of the 54 South Motorcycle Club, clearly the worlds most southerly, who was a great help in pointing us to various service agents – an auto electrician for a BMW starter motor and a tyre changing service.

Guzilia had her birthday yesterday, complete with cake and candle plus happy birthday sung in 3 languages.