CHASING THE HORIZON

Phase 1 complete

Phase 1 of the mission is almost complete. Phase 2 begins at 2300 hrs when we board the ferry for the crossing to the Isle of Man.
For the first time I awoke to bright sunshine. Had nothing planned but decided it was too good a day to waste so quickly packed up, said goodbye to James and hit the hills. Sunny it was, but fuck it was cold!

Had heard about the Peak district so decided to take the scenic route to get there.
Couldn't find a cafe open anywhere, so made myself some noodles and coffee out the front of the route 66 cafe.

 

 

Found some great roads as I wound my way out of Wales and back into England. The stone walls have changed back to hedges.
The peak district is beautiful and like going back in time. They even still have steam trains.
 

Had coffee n cake in Buxton and headed up what reportedly the UK's most dangerous road....The cat and fiddle. Don't know what's so dangerous about it. The access track to the veiwing area was scarier but it certainly was spectacular.

 

 

 

Headed across to the home of the Beatles (and don't they get some Milage out of that.) And found a pub not far from the ferry terminal, where I have met up with Buzz.

 

Stay tuned the next 10 days are going to be massive.
Oh and for those asking yes the water does spin down the toilet in opposite direction.

An assult on the senses

Forget to show you Captain Buzz's new bike....Meet starship enterprise,

 

Our ferry crossing was reasonaly smooth and uneventful apart from lunatic french boy racers reving the crap out of their bikes.

 

 We arrived in Douglas at about 4am, which was a bit early to check into our accomadation so of course we decided a lap of the circuit was in order, What an experience that was. I have been watching the Isle of Man for years but nothing can prepare you for how daunting this place is and I now have a whole new level of respect for the riders.  We stopped and payed our respects to the Legend Joey Dunlop. 26 time winner of TT.

 

 
With our sighting lap complete we headed for the house that will be home for the next 10 days. And what a house it is. Mega luxury place overlooking the spectacular Douglas Bay,

The veiw is brilliant.

 
 

 

Had no idea the place was going to be this great when we booked it and all for just 35 quid a night.....result.

 

So we settled in, got organised and headed down into town for a look around, then headed into the pit area to check out some of the bikes.

 
 
 
 
With our walk around complete we have made the decision that we are going to enter the baggage class. This has become a bit of a tradition with Buzz and I at many events we have been to in the past. Another sighting lap of the 64 klm course was required,

 

Unfortunatly another tradition also surfaced and we somehow ended up on the wrong track. No idea how that happened but was great fun. Buzz reckons the enterprise handles a treat on the single track.

 
 

Eventually we made it back out onto the circuit. This is me at the famous Ballugh Bridge.

 
We stopped at a quick beer at another famous land mark, The sulby pub

 

A local gave us a top shortcut tip that bypasses the nth part of the track. A Vital piece of info if we are going to win the baggage class. Saw some strage shit but....I mean seriously strange

 

 

Then it was time for us to see the race bikes  in action for the first time. We headed for the bottom of Bray Hill where the bikes were coming past us at 250 KLM/h and only a couple of feet away. It was unbelievable. You can feel the ground shake as the go past. These guys have seriously large testicles.

 

 Buzz and I were both blown away by the spectacle and cant wait to check some more out in the days ahead. The lack of  Sleep finally caught up with us, so it was off to the local chippy for fish, chips and mushy peas, then into Bed.

Going to the movies tomorrow.

Museums and half Naked fat men

Had Brekky then headed into town to try and get into the movies but sold out. The documentary TT3D Closer to the Edge is screening during the TT. Booked for tomorrow and headed to the south of the Island and Murrays motorcycle museum.

 
 

What a great time we had there.

 
 
They even had a postie TT bike

 

The bikes were all pretty cool but the best part was after you have a look around he invites you to sit down and have a cuppa with him and the other people looking around. Sharing the Craic they call it. Was hilarious with us all putting shit on each other. Havnt laughed so hard in ages,

 

We then went to a little bridge where the tradition is to say hello to the Fairies. This protects you while on the Island and ensures that you will return someday.There were quite a few sad messages to the faires that people had attached to the bridge.

 

We decided it was beer oclock and sat at the pretty little harbour at Castle town and had a beer before taking the back rounds to Peel where we met up with Ric and Emma who are a couple staying at the same house as us.

I dared Ric to to go for a swim in the freezing water and with in seconds he had stripped down to his shorts and in the water. Was quite a sight. The ladies went wild.

 

 

Buzz and I then had lunch at the Creek Inn Hotel, then headed to Sulby where we watched the sidecars practice. Another amazing experience as you sit with your legs dangling over the hedges and they go past at 190mph. Buzz was overcome with excitement.

 

I was overcome with dehydration, so set about fixing that.

 

To see these come past at about 260km/h just feet away is amazing.
 

 
 

Unfortunatly the session was cancelled due to a big oil spill, So we found a great little cafe in Ramsey had some dinner and headed home.

 

SOME VIDS

 

 

 

 

Movie stars and finding bars

Went and saw TT 3d closer to the edge this morning.

 

What a great movie. Make sure you go and see it when it gets released in Aus in the next few months. While there we met good old Charlie Boorman.

 

We went back to the paddock for a while to check out a few of the sights, like this dude. Obviously been coming for a few years.

 

Headed off on another lap to scope out some more vewing areas. As often happens it turned into a bit of a pub crawl. Was pretty cool having a beer in these famous pubs.

 
 
We settled into the Creg-Ne-Bar hotel and waited  for the final practice to start. The noise these things make as they go past is awesome.

 
 
 
 

RACE DAY 1

So today was the first actual day of racing. We had prebooked grandstand tickets for the day and it was a great place to see what goes on behind the scenes. You can get a real sense of the history of the place.

Things like the boy scouts putting up the times on the scoreboard. All painted by hand by hand no computers here. It was an awesome morning and the the sights and sounds are amazing.

 
Might have also found a class to race in when we retire from the baggae class down the track.

 

Got to get close to and meet a few of the riders. This is John McGuiness TT Legend and winner of todays Superbike race.

 

Great Aussie hope and new best friend Cam Donald , who finished a brilliant 2nd today. Go Cam !!!!!!!

 

Keith Amor...riding with a busted shoulder.

 

Michael Dunlop..... son of TT legend Joey

 

Capt Buzz of the enterprise reckoned The scenery wasnt bad either.

 

 

Gratuitous puppy shot for Puppy lover Dan

 

 

Of course I was only interested in what was happenning on the track.

 

 

In the afternoon we moved up to signpost corner to get a different veiw.

 
 

 

From there it was off to the liverpool arms for dinner then down to the promenade to watch the fully sic monster stunt show and an icecream.

 

Tomorrow is Mad Sunday, where thousands of bikes will take to the circuit. I think I am going to give it a wide berth....too many loony wanna be boy racers  wanting to cartwheel off the mountain for me.

5 have died already.

Think I will just find a spot to watch the moto gp and have a few lagers.

MAD SUNDAY

So today was what they call Mad Sunday where everyman and his dog hits the track for a full on lap of the circuit. There are literally thousands of Loonies all determined to splat themselves across the road and many succeed.

 
We had already decided to give it a miss and instead set off  on a leisurely tour of the Nth of the island, Headed up the Coast road to take a look at the nutters come through what is known as the gooseneck.

Got a bit of a surprise along the way when we were hailed down by a journo from the UK Bike mag MCN news who had noticed our Aussie flags and Aus rego and wanted to interview and photograph us for the mag, Talk about megastars.

 

We made it up the gooseneck only to discover that the road had been closed due to yet another crash, I think the total deaths is now 7,

Got talking to the young local copper at the roadblock who turned out to be a great bloke, Wish I had of got a photo from him. Aussie coppers could learn a lot from the coppers here about creating goodwill  for themselves.

The road finally opened and it was too hard to head back to the coast road so we hit the mountain with all the other nutters. Was freaking wild..... I saw 180klm/h going up the mountain and I was getting passed like I was standing still. Scary shit.

Made it to Bungalow and turned off that was enough for us. It was certainly an experience though.

We headed to Point of Ayre, which is in the NW of the island and the furtherest point from home we will reach on this ride. I think its about 22000klm. Tried to get Karen to work it out but it was far too hard for her as well.

 
 

Thats the mountain that the the track goes over in the background

 
Stopped for a quick look at the Ramsey sprints

 

Cruised back to Douglas to catch the end of the Moto GP (well done Casey) then down to the local pub for a beer. I then headed back up to the pits for a bit more of a look around before heading to the local fun park for the purple helmets show. Dont know how to explain the purple helmets, so I will just post some pics and vids. Do a search on youtube as well.

 

They were hilarious with their cunning stunts, sometimes approaching speeds of 100mph on the ct90 scooters. Was a brilliant evening and Capt Buzz of the starship enterprise and I were both giggling like schoolgirls at the madcap antics. They must have been seriously pissed to think up some of there stunts.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Race day 2

Another fantastic day today. Started with a dawn hispeed circuit of the Course. Was bitterly cold but great fun. We averaged 98km/h for the 64 klm lap. Tomorrow we will break 100.

 Had brekky then  decided to catch the electric tram up to the top of the mountain so we could have a few cold bevvy's

 

We Created havoc on the tram, when I jokingly told the conductor that Buzz had fallen out, but he had just moved to another seat. Mr sad sack Conductor has no sense of humor i discovered.
 

It was clear and sunny at the top but bitterly cold. Thought these guys had frozen to death, but it was just some germans lying in a ditch to get out of the wind. Reminded me of the war it did.

 

 

The veiw from up there was unbelievable. We could actually see all the way to Scotland.

 

Met a couple of good ol boys who have been coming here for over 50 years. We had a few beers with them and really enjoyed listening to their stories and sharing the craic.

 

The racing was brilliant. The Aussie Cam Donald was leading until a crash (another fatal) stopped racing. After the restart he was leading again before he broke down. We were cheering him on every time he went past and were dissppointed when he broke down. The race was won by the Kiwi Bruce Anstey.  Well done bro.

 

 

The veiws heading back down to Laxey were awesome.  

 

Had a Famous Joey Burger at the pub, Low fat I believe.
 
 

Then it was on to Governers bridge to watch the 2nd race. This was another  great veiwing spot as the bikes come straight at you out of a dip. Very exhilerating when they go past just a meter or so away. But also kind of scary, cause if they had of crashed, I would have been killed instantly.

 

Met Amanada Jane who is an english lady who has worked in Aus and lives in Greece and who came over for the TT on her own. (sorry bout the crappy pic Amanda Jane). Not sure why the other blokes all look so cranky.

 

Buzz found it all too much and had a nana nap.

 

Hit Bushy's beer tent for a few too many  beers. Not sure how I got home but think I may have been teleported aboard the enterprise.

 

Or perhaps it was in this thing. What a pisser ;-)  [no room for shyness around these parts]

 

 

 

Baps and Twats

Was pissing down with rain we we woke and we almost resigned our selves to a rest day. But before too long the rain lifted and we set off for the most southern part of the Isle, picking up Amanada Jane along the way.

Headed for what is known as the Calf of man and the historical village of Craig Neish, where they still live like they did hundreds of years ago in tiny thatched roof coattages.

 
 
 

We made sure that we headed the signs and no wildlife interfered with. Was tempted though, the sheep over here are very cute.

 

Had a coffee at the calf and took in the stunning veiws.

 

We had told old Ron and Bill that we had met on the mountain yesterday that we would try and meet them at Peel for lunch, so set off along the very fun back round.

The fun wasnt to last though as I dicovered that I had picked up a bastard screw in my rear tyre and was losing pressure.

 

Set about repairing that, which didnt take too long. Spewing about getting a flat so early in the peice on a new tyre, but at least it is out of the way now and I wont be getting anymore. And if your going to get a flat you may as well get it where there is a nice veiw.

 

Bill and Ron have been coming to Peel everyday they are on the island at 1:30 pm for a crab bap for the past 50 years.  (a bap is a roll). They suggested that we should try one and we wernt disspaointed absolutly delicious.

 
We also had a quick look at the local museum.

Saw Carl Foggarty's factory race bike.

 
And this burnt out side car wreck.

 

 

And check out this horny bloke.

 

Headed back to the pits were we boarded a bus for what was supposed to be a tour of the course commentated by one of the top riders. Unfortunatly the rider was no where to be found, so the tour was comentated by the coach driver, which was still good as he pointed out all the interesting points aound the circuit. This is parliment square Ramsey. Hard to imagine the bikes screaming through here. Will try and spectate a race from here later in the week.

 

We made to the northern most part of the circuit and began the climb up the mountain, only to discover that the road had just closed due to yet another crash. .

Note the cardboard cutout police man doing his bit for road safety.

 

Way to treat a limited edition VTR1000 firestorm. That  Might buff out though

This year has been the worst ever for crashes. I think we are up to 10 dead.

This is going to have have a significant  conseqences for futures TT's and the dickhead boy racer Twats only have themselves to blame.

Ended the day sititng in a pub on the prom watching the red arrows.

 

 

Not great vid, but sorry to say they make our Roulettes look a bit lame.

Race day 3 tomorrow.

Damn rain and Damn aussies everywhere

We got up early and spent a few seconds lounging around in our luxurious digs.

 
I wasnt game to touch anything though as the house owners are a bit precious.

 

The rest of the people on the island are very freindly, some even inviting me for a cuppa

 

The famous Ballugh Bridge was to be our vewing point for the day
Had a crack at the bridge jump myself.

  

 

Fortunatly I didnt end up like this.

 

 

 We made it just it time before the road closed and got a great position. Unfortunatly on the other side of the Raven.

 

Buzz chatting with a man in Lycra shorts. Not sure what that was all about.

 
The racing was brilliant.

 
 
  

 

 But unfortuantly rain caused it to be red flagged. We met 2 aussies guys Nick and Adam who amazingly we had previously, Buzz & I had actually  met Nick out in the middle of the Australian desert on our transcontinental ride last year. What are the chances of that???

We decidied that we needed to get to the Sulby pub to get out of the rain. We didnt have helmets for Nick & Adam, but they had bandana's, so that was ok.

 

 Doesnt seem to be any rules anyway. All the coppers seem to be a bit flat.

 

The beer was flowing freely beer at the pub.

 
 

Called in at a small museum and checked out all the old bikes

But We needed to be back in Douglas and luckily we were able to teleport the enterprise via this Tardis.

 

Actually we headed up the mountain and had an express run back into Douglas via Crack Ya Bra where we did a spot of bike watching from the wall.

 

Had a great roast dinner then met up with Amanada Jane and her friend Roseanne for a drink before heading home to collapse.

 

 

 

BYE BYE BUZZ

Buzz who?

Due to ferry bookings Buzz had to leave this morning. Huge shame that he didnt get to stay for the Senior TT, which is the events biggest race. But I will take one for the team and will be meeting him and Sam on saturday a the british Moto GP

Amanda Jane and I headed for Braddon bridge. Was a great spot to watch the supersport from and had a great time talking craic with the others. Took some heavy hits from the crowd being the token Aussie. Really could have used some back up, but I held my ground and gave as good as I got.

 

Really enjoyed the banter with the punters even if they did smell a bit. :-)

 

Cam Donald was doing a great job and leading the race till the bike shit itself about 2 kays from the finish. I was gutted. Luckily I had a few beers to drown my sorrows.

 
 

After the side car race we headed back up the pits for a look. Got cornered by Murray Walker who wanted a photo with me. Of course I was happy to oblige.

 
 

 

After the races we headed to Rosemary's house, who had very kindly offered to cook me a home cooked dinner. Met her two gorgeous daughters Aoife and Lauren.

 

Thanks for the dinner girls it was awesome, however there was a catch. In exchange for dinner I had to go and do some Irish dancing. Fortunatley no pics or vid footage exists of this momentus event, But all the girls were very impressed with my dancing prowess.

 

Surprisingly, I did have a great time. Noone is to tell Sam that i was dancing OK?

 

Last day tomorrow and the Senior race, Its going to be huge.

 

 

Senior TT Day and a dream fulfilled

With Buzz gone. Amanda and I decided that we would like to veiw the Senior TT race from the north of the island and headed up to Ramsey hairpin Where we watched the some of the old yamaha's go round on their parade lap which was celebrating 50 years of Yamahas breaking down or somfink like that.

 
It was about that then that the weather turned to total crap, It was only raining where we were, but actulally hailing a bit further up the track. The senior TT got put on rain hold several times, while they decided whether or not they were going to race.

 

Luckily I had packed acouple of beers.
 

We decided to head down into Ramsey town centre and have a coffee and hoped that the rain would pass, which it eventually did. But it was all too much for some

 

They then held the parade of champions. Great to see all the old bikes going around. The sound of Giocamo Agostini on the the 3 cyl MV was amazing.. Luckily for me they had the safety rope in place.

 

 

Decided to head up to the gooseneck and The veiw from where I was sitting was awesome.

 

Whoops wrong pic....I meant this veiw. ( I should be fully recovered from sustained injuries by november)

Eventually the race started and I had the best spot you could imagine. I was madly waving and cheering on Cam Donald, but unfortunatly it wasnt going to be his day. He finished fourth and The race was won by TT legend John McGuiness.

 

 
Fortunatly crowd favorite, Guy Martin only finished third as noone would have understood his victory speech anyway. (make sure you see the TT3D movies or watch the ITV coverage to see what I am talking about)

 

Was a great race. Will post some vid when I get home.

Headed back down to Douglas where I checked out the only remaining flying Vulcan bomber as used by the RAF to blast fuck out of the Falkland islands all those years ago.

 
 

Then it was back into Douglas to meet Rosemary and Amanda for a send off dinner at a great Italian Resturant. 2 of the most beautiful girls I have ever met. I really hope that you guys come to Australia sometime and spend some time with us.  It was really sad to say to say goodbye to them. Hopefully we will stay in touch cause I wanna stay at Rosemary's house when I come back.

 
Beside it was great fun seeing every bloke on the island checking me out with my 2 glamourous chicks. :-)

Was very sad to leave the Isle of man. Its been an amazIng 2 weeks and  fullfilment of a life long dream. Amazing racing and atmosphere and have met the most fantastic people, many of whom will remain friends. Hopefully I will get back one day to experience it all again....providing its not canned by the do gooders. Thinking that a postie bike tour would be cool in 2013. Whos in?????/

Suffering at Silverston

I got about 3 minutes 30 seconds sleep on the ferry crossing and got into Liverpool and headed off into the freezing night towards Daventry where we will be couchsurfing with Bill & Elaine Gibbons (funny surname but great people). I was kept awake along the way by the constant flashing lights in my mirrors. I think people must have been taking pics of me of somfin like that. ( or perhaps my letter box is going to be full when I get home).

Was about 5 am when I got to Daventry and Buzz met met in his underwear in the street to guide me into the house, which was nice. Got a couple hours sleep before Bill arrived with Sammy. I handed over my washing then Buzz and I promptly headed off for the Silverston circuit.

 

What an amazing place that is. Absolutly massive. Makes Phillip Island look like a go cart track. Excellant facilities as well. Mr Autralia was well impressed.

 

Took our seats in one of the grandstands and  watched 125 and moto gp qualifying.

 

We decided to head up towards the pits and had a look at a couple of the exotica that was on display for an upcoming Auction.

 
 

While looking enviously over the wall above the paddock area, We got talking to a  couple of guys and they tipped us off where just maybe if we were to walk along the pit fence line, we may be able to go through an opening and into the paddock.......so we did just like rabbits.

 

Had a great time stalking all the riders and and famous people and  getting kicked out of the hospitality suites. Was fantastic.

 

 

 

 

Nearly took Vales eye out taking this shot. That would have been embarrassing.
 

Even got to take Vales and Casey's scoots for a spin.

 
 

 Met Vales Glove man Ucio

 

And we hunted down Casey. 

 
And his missus Adriana

 

But the highlight for me was meeting  Alex Briggs [Valentinos mechanic]. What a top bloke he is. Chatted to us for a good 20 minutes and pissed himself when we told him we had come through the fence.

 

We headed home after a massivly fun day to huge chinese banquet with Bill & Elaine.

 

Before hitting the sack in there ultra cool house. Night Night Buzz

 

Its Fookin Chuckin it Down

Pictures have sufaced of some dork doing an Irish Jig, Check out the bloke in the background....No Idea.

 

Bill & Elaine reckoned that Daventry didnt have much going for it, but last nights chinese was brilliant.

 

We all got up early and headed for the track. It was really cold and rain was forcast for the day.

The hole in the fence still hadnt been repaired, so while Buzz went for a walk around the circuit, I pushed Sam through and we spent the morning stalking. Sam had a great time and met some of her favourite riders.

Alvara Buatista

 

Moto gp legend Randy Mamola

 
Casey

 

Vale

Me and Marco Simmocelli

 

Sam also met Casey's wife Adriana. Doest she look happy to meet us?

 

While Sam was stalking the riders and their wives, I took the time to take in a few of the other sights.

This is Randy DePuniet's Aussie girl friend Lauren. Absolutley stunning girl and super friendly. Spent 20 minutes chatting to her. My new favourite promo chick.

 

Check out the ferrari. These girls were just sitting it in revving the crap out of it. Sounded awwesome.

 

These girls wanted to get there pic taken with Me and Buzz.

Also met Alex Briggs wife Ellen and their twin kids. Ellen is a stand up comedian. They live just down the road from us at Mullumbimby.

 

Check out her website at

www.ellenbriggs.com.au

Very funny lady. We are defineatly going to catch up with her again at one of her shows when we get home.

Sam and I snuck into the Cadio AB hospitality suite to watch the moto 2 race but decided to leave after getting stared at by security. Apparently your not supposed to help your self to the acres of uneaten food sitting out waiting to go off.

Headed for the stands to watch the moto gp race and on the way out got harressed by security who wanted see our paddock pass. Told him I didnt have one, which put him into overdrive. How did you get in he asked. Through the fence I said. You cant do that he said, so kick me out I said. He went into melt down, I told him to fuck off and all was good. Can  you belive its easier to get into the pits than it is to get out. Very funny. Sam thought we would be thrown in Jail. :-)

It was fookin chukin it down, so we headed for the stands to meet Buzz and watched an awesome race with Casey Stoner blitzing the field in atrocious coditions. We had a ball screaming and yelling everytime he went past. Was pretty cool to be an aussie in the stand coping shit from all the locals, then givin it back when Casey won.

 
 

Mary Poppins was there.
 

was freezing cold so we watched the 125 race then headed back to Elaine & Bills place, where Buzz packed up and headed off to meet Maureen in London.

We sat down to an awesome roast dinner. We have loved every minute od staying with Bill and Elaine. Their house is so cool.

 
The dunny is painted silver and even has a green sparkly seat. Brilliant

 

 

Bill & Elaine, thankyou so much for looking after us. We are really looking forward to you staying with us in September. Isnt it amazing the people you meet through couchsurfing.

Oh and Bill make sure you check out weddings parties anything.

Kippers and pigs arse sausage

Sadly we said goodbye to Bill & Elaine this morning. The good news is that they are coming to stay with us in November. Cant wait guys and thanks again for looking after us.

 

Sam and I hit the M1 for the 2 hour jaunt into  London.

 

 The traffic was chaotic due to a slight mishap heading in the other direction.

 

Met Buzz & Maureen at the legendary ACE cafe. Home to many conflicts between the mods and the rockers in years gone by.  

 

The max Kippers were amazing, although I did get to savour them for the rest of the day as well as they repeated themselves over and over.

 


We made a slight diversion on the way to the ferry to check out the tower bridge. Timed it just right to see it open up to let a boat pass through. I was very tempted to hit it a speed and jump over it.

 

I guess fortunatly the gates were closed, so I settled for a little wheelie.

 
That couple in the photo are going to have a great background for their pic eh?

Made it just in time for the ferry departure and just after they had hosed down the loading deck. You think that dint make it interesting. Fortunatly I was able to keep it upright right up to the loading point where I promptly cliped the wall with a pannier and sent me and Sam sprawling across the wet floor. How embarresment.

Fortunatly no damage to me , sam or the bike and no pic, so it probably didnt happen.

The white cliffs of Dover lookes exactly as they did when I last saw them 26 years ago. Funny that eh?

 

We checked out the boat and had a wander around. Shit it was blowy on the deck, but was a pretty smooth crossing.

 
 

 

Only took a little bit and the shoreline  of France and Calais came into veiw

 
Riding on the wrong side of the road took some getting used to. Fritened quite a few of the locals a couple of times we did.

 
But we soon had it sussed and made our way to Abbeyville, where we have checked into a cheap hotel.

Had dinner in the resturant, which was the most disgusting sausages that we think are made out of pigs arse. The smell was diabolical, and it is still lingering a couple of hours later.

Fortunaltly the desert was much nicer.

 

We finished the nights with a couple of english lads that introduced us to Pernod and french beer.

 

They suggested we should do a wheelie......I mean a lap at Le Mans, so thats where we are headed in the morning.

 

Route 66

Today was always going to be a big transport day, but it turned out to be bigger than we thought.

Told Karen to get us to Le Mans via the back roads and she took us through some briliant French coungtry side and little villages.

Saw heaps of spectacular chateus and castles and stuff like that.

 
 

Stopped at a roadside resta rea for lunch.
 

Called into a KTM shop and was very tempted to ship this home.

 

Lemans was heaps bigger than I thought and while we didnt get to ride the course as they were pulling it all down from the weekends 24 hr race, we did get to ride a short section.

 

Buzz being the attention seeker that he is, made quite a scene when he dropped the enterprise right out the front of the the entry to Lemans. He and Mareen went sprawling across the road but luckily only damage was his pride and course we dont give a shit about that.

 

We needed fuel but the servo's had all closed for the day. They do have self serve 24 hour stations, but none would accept our aussie cards. Flagged down a  guy on a Ducati monster and in my perfect french I explained our dilemma and he very kindly used his card and we paid him cash. See not all Ducati riders are wankers.

The route 66 hotel is a bike hotel and this is we we told Karen to get us to. More pretty french country side and it was about then that we discovered that rural France shuts down at 6 pm.

 

Arrived at the hotel at around 9.30pm and were made to feel very welcome with cold beer and a spur of the moment eggs and sausage meal.

Sam and I spent the rest of the night in the bar having afew quiet drinks with Steve & Gareth a couple of the other guests . 

 

 
 
 
And then retired to our luxurios suite

 

Another great day done. 

Wednesday...Must be my turn to crash

Woke with a bit of a sore head but noting too serious.

Had a quick look around the local village.

The toilets here take some getting used to.

 

 

The scenery was spectacular and the temps are rising. A swim was  defineatly on the cards

 

We stopped at a little road side van and picked up some stuff for lunch. A chainsaw would have been handy to slice the bread, but it was delicious..  

 

In fact it was so heavy, it caused me to overbalance and Sam & I once again ended up on our asses.  




 

No damage except to my pride, but of course noone gives a shit about that. After picking up the bike we headed off once again on  some fantastic roads.

 

Headed to the beautiful city of Millau to check out the worlds tallest bridge. 2.5 klm long and 1klm high. Its pretty impressive.

 

 

 


Set up camp on the banks of a river and as it was stinking hot, we had no opton but to nude up and hit the spa with an ice cold delicious.

 

 

We also had a drink with our camp neibours.

 

I whipped up some dinner.

 

Then Sam and I had a night wandering around the streets taking in the French sights and sounds.

 

 

 

 

 

Plan della tour

Had brekky at a little cafe then headed straight for the hills

 

 

After brekky we somehow lost Buzz & Mareen, so after waiting around for a while Sam & I decided to head off through some spectacular countyside.

 

Had to make an emergency stop at one point and take a closer look at the woods. You know when in the woods do as bears do etc.

 

The pretty backroads were great fun.

 

The scenery was spectacular again and it was bloody hot, so when we cam across this waterfall, there was no option but to nude up again.

 
 

Some of the rock formations were incredible.

Then it was to off to our friends Natlaie & Stephs place at Plan Della Tour and out to dinner in Stephs resturant where we had the full on french gastronomic experience.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Stephane, the owner of the resturant used to be a journalist and spent many years following the Dakar rally and I was blown away when he presented me with a copy of his awesome photobook with hundreds of pictures from the Dakar over the past 20years. This ones going straight to the good room.

 

 

Was a great night and Sam really enjoyed catching up with her old school friend.

Sadly, Nat and Steph are off on their own holiday tomorrow, so we only got to spend the one night with them, although they have very kindly let us stay at their house for a few days.

The Decadant French Riviera

Brekky was at a lovely little patisserire owned by a friend of Stephs.

 

All low fat of course.
 

After gorging ourselves we headed off for a ride up the coast of the French riviera. Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo and Monaco. Was totally unbeleivable. Beside the amaziing scenery, we couldnt belive the money in this area. Have seen it all on TV of course but to see it for real was incredible.

 

The veiws on the  beaches  were ok as well.

 

 

 

 



Never seen so much car exotica, Massive mansions and boats the size of suburbs....oh and beautiful half nekked women everywhere.Think I got a bit of whiplash.

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

Had to be very cautious with the local fauna.  Nearly crashed when this stepped out in front of me. Just like our roos at home only prettier.

 

Everyone tries to out do each other with their cars. Top of the range AMG benz, BMW, maserati etc are everywhere.

 

 

  

What about a midnight blue roller.

 

Or what about a stealth mega cruiser.

 

Something a bit more stately

 

Anything goes it seems.

 

The roads were pretty amazing as well.  

Even got to ride around some of the Monaco F1 course, which was pretty cool.

 

Luckily we never had any trouble with these guys. They looked scary.

 

 

I was getting sick of hanging with all the  beauitiful people. Much prefer to hang with Buzz. Besides its all a bit obscene really although I would'nt be saying that if it we me on one of those boats.

We decided to head back down to St tropez for a drink and created havoc on the mototway when Buzz tried to evade the toll. Thought we were going to jail there for a minute, but we played the dumbass Aussie routine and pulled it off. St Tropez was also an eyeopener but a bit over rated if you ask me.

The beer was cold though.

 

Sam and I decided that we had to have a swim in the mediterrainian sea so went for a dip in the warm waters.

 

Buzz was happy to settle for a dip in the warm bath.

 
Had a wine and cheese entree before heading off to Dinner at the local crepery. The waiter Tonnini was hilarious and the girls reckoned he was a bit of alright as well.

 

Sam & I had a few million drinks in the bar and hit the sack at about 2am apparently. I tell ya I could certaily get used to this lifestyle. Love the way they sleep in till 10am get up have lunch, sleep till 4 get up and go out all night till late. I love it. Dunno when the buggers work though.

Hitting the high country

Got into the alps proper today. The mountains here make our little hills at home look lame.

Our route took us over the Route de Grande Alps and our first col (mountain pass)

 

Very pretty gorges, lakes and huge mountain peaks.

 

 

 
Came across these guys with a profiterole tower. Looked awesome.

 

 
 

The roads were brilliant.

 

 

 

Weather turned a bit dodgy wet and cold but we still had a great time.
 

Someone fucked up here I think.

 

 

I kinda like it when Karen gets all messed up and leads us through the back blocks. Ya see some great stuff

And thats when it really started to piss down. We took refuge in a nice little coffee shop and peeled off our wet gear much to the amusement of the locals.

 

Our stop for the night was the ancient city of Briancon. Created havoc by riding down the pedestrian only streets within the walled city then found a cheap hotel for the night. The veiw from our room was brilliant.

 

had a great dinner at the local tavern. then a reasonably early night (about midnight)

St Bernards and stupid roads

The veiws may have been great, but the service in the hotel next morning was crap. Took ages for the cranky old bag to get our breakfast.
Straight out of town and we were into some awesome scenery and great roads.

 
 
There must have been some serious shitfighting going on in years gone by. Huge forts all over the place.

 
We crossed breifly over into Italy for a coffee.

 

Had a bit of a run in with the law, but played the dumbass Aussie card again and all was good.

 
A car rally in process meant a diversion up  a great little track.

 
Rode the Col D'Iseran for the run up to Val D'sere the huge ski resort.

 

 


 

 
 

And thats when the trouble started. The obligoritory snow fight got a little out of hand

 

And was a chilly run back down the mountain.

 
The engineering that has gone into some of these roads is amazing makes the clem 7 look lame.

 
Headed for the Petite St Bernard. Whenever Karens face looks like this, you know its going to be a fun rride.

 

Had a great lunch with fantastic veiws at the bar and Sam checked out the massive St Bernard, who had an amazing abilty to turn away just as a photo was about to be taken. (unless you dropped a coin in the tin of course)

 

 


 
Had a great time chasing these crazy Germans down the pass. Beat them all I did too.

 

Then the Grand Col St Bernard. Stupid fun  is the only way I can desribe this road.

 
 
 
 

It was wheelie good fun

 
Checked into a traditional Swiss hotel and had a traditional swiss meal.

 

Again, All low fat of course

 

Another day in happy land

 

Started the day with a brilliant run through a pine forest.

 

The enterprise was in urgent need of some love. We tried a few bike shops but none had the right size tyre in stock. Eventually we found a BMW dealer in Sion, who could get one reasonable quickly.

 

I took the opportunity to give the strom a check over........ um errrr under.

Checked out a few of the latest modesl while we were there. I particularly liked this 5 series GT coupe.

 
Sam liked the convertable.

 

We decided to Leave Buzz to get the tyre organised and headed down the beautiful Rhone valley, which is a major wine producing area. Every sqaure inch of land is utilised. Buggered if I know how they get the machinery in.

 

Headed up through Sound of Music country.

 
 
And once again came across some seriously weird shit. Have no idea what this is all about.

 

The Grimsel pass is seriously steep and tight. This bus had to do a 3 point turn to get around this corner and dipshit in the van wouldnt move. So the bus driver gave him what for.

 

Once again the roads were just stupid.

 

Yes I know I was on the wrong side of the road. I got a bit confused.

Walking is very popular as you would imagine. But you better not suffer from vertigo.

 
Had lunch at the top of Sustenpass

 
Its amazing the machinery you see on the road.

 

 
Destination was Andermatt where the camp groud was crap, so checked into the skiclub. Very expensive but comfy beds.

 

 

The hills are alive with the sound of umm errr was that a bomb going off???.

So Buzz and I decide that we need to spend some time alone together and left the girls to their own devices and we headed off up the amazing Old St Gotthard pass. The road is made of millions of cobblestones. Its hard to comprehend the amount of work that went into this all those years ago.

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 

 

Had the crap scared out of us by the Swiss army doing avalanche control blasting.

 
The Nuerofen pass was spectacular as well. Am running out of vocabulary to describe this scenery.

 
 
The Furken pass was furken excellant.

 

Stopped and had a look at the Ice grotto, which is under a huge glacier.

 
 

 
Boys quality time over it was Back into andermatt to pick up the girls. Sam had spent the morning checking out some of the local sights and caught the train up the mountain.

 
 
More weird animals.

 
Our destination for thre day was Denzlingen in the black forest of Germany where we are staying with our Friends Christa,Jurgen,Julia and Fi.

Karen plotted us  a scenic route that took in Lichenstein. The scenery was as always brilliant.

 

We got caught in a massive traffic jam just after crossing the german border. Fortunatly we were able to latch onto a passing ambulanace which cut a swathe through the traffic for us. Was great fun.

 
Had a short stint on the autobarn, where we cuised along at 160 and were still pased by cars like we we were standing still.

 
The enterprise was able to record a much higher max speed.

 

We wound our way through the beautiful black forest roads.
 

 
We finally got to the house and had a brilliant traditional german meal and 4 million glasses of wine. was a great night and fantastic to meet up again with Christa and Julia and also to meet Jurgen and Fi and thier friends.

 
 

A  day or so looking around here is on the cards.

 

Frieberg

We had a day off the bike today. Got a tour of the beautifull city of Frieberg by our gorgeous hosts Fi & Julia

 
 
 
Needed to cool down after our long climb to the top of the catherdral. So a gelati bar stop was in order.

 

Me and my harem.

Cost me a fortune at the chocalate bar.

 

Climbed to the top of the local lookout.
 

 
Luckily there were beer maidens at the top and a refreshing beer was in order.

 
 
 
Did a spot of shoe shopping then headed home, where a massive storm hit.

 

 

The local thermal baths we fantastic. We had a great time in the refreshing waters and as Usual Buzz played the fool. Someone should really give that boy a spank.

 

Oui wheres your hand?

 
 
 
 
 
Stopped a a traditional farmhouse resturant on the way home where we had an 8 course feast. Made absolute gluttons of ourselves and met a young fella called Marcel  and his Dad Schouren.

 

 
Then home to a midnight icecream feeding frenzy. Like we didnt eat enough today. Think I have put on about 15 kilo's. Back on the plan when we get home.

 

 

 

Stuttgart and The Black Forest.

What image do you get when you think of the Black Forest? If its deep dark pine forests and perfect sweeping roads, thats exactly right.

 

Uber Mum Christa led us a ride through this magnificent area today and we had a great time.

 

This woman is seriously amazing. Raising 2 kids, working full time, artist, great cook, best lady bike rider I have ever seen, and can read a map. Unbeleivable. :-)

The ride  was  awesome.

 

Had a short stint where we hit the autobahn, and sat on 200kph for about 5klms. Wasnt that great fun.

Sam was trying to take pics, but at that speed they didnt turn out. this shows 187, but we actually sitting on 200 for quite a bit.

 

Some of the villages we passed through were really pretty.

 
 
 
We headed to Stuttgart, where we had lunch, with my Aunty and cousin Luca, who I havnt seen since 1985.

 
That was pretty cool.
 

Sadly we said goodbye to Lina and Luca and Christa led us back into the Black forest stopping in at a traditional german village and the countries largest waterfall. Oh and icecream.

 

 

Dont we look cool?

 
 
 
We found Sam a new ride.

 

 
Buzz was strangly attracted to this contraption

 

Germany's largest waterfall in a very pretty national park, that I have forgotten the name of.

 

 

Then it was back to denzinglen, where we had yet another traditional feast at a very cool resturant that even had its own medievil tower.

 
Had a crack at driving the Merc home, but the girls couldnt cope with me drifting to the wrong side of the road, so got delegated to the dog box of the ford.

 
 

Tomorrow Austria 

 

Me and my girls in Bavaria

Sadly we had to leave Maureen and Buzz behind today. Maureen has done some damage to her back and needs to get it sorted. Buzz will stay behind to get her sorted then catch up with us in a day or 2.

Also dissapointed that today was meant to be the day that we visited the KTM Factory in Austria, but dickhead Dieter the detailer, who also does the factory tours had pissed off to Erzberg for the weekend, so no tour, Was very dissappointed as i had intended to march in and demand  my 690 Adventure. Oh well that one stays on the bucket list and gives us a good reason to return in a year or 2.

Christa The uber mum  and Fee the daughter I never had, decided to join Sam and I for a day or 2 which was just fantastic. We love these girls to bits and wish Julia could have joined us as well but she had a big day at uni and coudnt escape.

 

Christa led us through some more spectacular black forest country side.
 
 

We stopped for a coffee at Tittysee and despite my best urging I couldnt convince the girls to get em out for a looksee.

 
 

Then it was back onto the bikes for more of the fun stuff.

 
Had lunch at a cool little cafe in a pretty town that I cant remember the name of, but the lunch was brilliant and it was great to have the girls along to explain and translate the menu. Otherwise it would have just been Weiner snitchel mit pomme frites for us.

 
 

 

More amazing scenery, roads and structures followed in the afternoon.

 
 
 
 

We had another blast on the Autobarn to try and make up some time. Spent quite a bit of time sitting on 200kph and didnt die once so perhaps the QLD police motto that speed kills isnt quite correct.

Felt totally safe sitting on that speed and the German drivers are excellant, quickly moving to the right after they have passed a slower vehicle.

 

We started looking around for somewhere to stay and in one little village came across a heap of guys out on a bucks night, who had set up a road block and were charging 2 euro for every car or bike to get through, so they could buy more beer. I didnt have 2 euro so they said I could go through if i pulled a wheelie. Of course I didnt want to upset them and besides it was Fee's first ever wheelie.

 

 
One of them even jumped on the back of Christa and she manages a small wheelie as well. Also her first time.

 

We found a guest house and while the girls did themselves up for dinner, I rehydrated myself.

 


 
Then it was yet another full on german feast served by the lovely Martina.

 
 
By this stage I was toatlly knackered, so it was off to bed. Another huge day completed.

Bad Aussies

We got an early start today and Christa took us into Bad Tolz. A very traditional Bavarian village and apparently more important to the Germans than Munich. Was certainly a pretty place.

 

 

How cool are these two? It was very sad when we finally had to say goodbye to them near Salzburg.

Christa, Julia and Fee have become dearly loved friends and we cant wait to see them again as soon as we can, Fee you better get your bum down to OZ, so I can take you for a dive.

Thank you so much for looking after us so well, and especally for what you did for Maureen and Buzz.

 

Sam and I headed into Salzburg where there is a definate shortage of good electricians then had to stop for an ice cream at a place called Bad Aussee.

 
 

The weather started to close in and it soon started to rain quite heavily.

Then through a spectacular national park to Isenberg.

Home of the totally insane ERZBERG RODEO

 

 
Had a very healthy dinner of icecream at a little cafe.

Then went to bed listening to the soothing fireworks explosions being set off by the nutters up on the hill. Tomorrow is going to be epic.

Erzberg Rodeo

 
The Erzberg rodeo is the most extreme enduro in the world and mecca for the totally insane from all over the place. It is run over 3 days in a working iron mine. The first 2 days are used as a prologue where the 4000 entrants try to qualify for the main event on the sunday. Only 1200 can qualify for the sunday and to be considered a finisher you must complete the course in 4 hours. Of the 1200 starters on Sunday only 12 finished.

Qualifying is a full on high speed blast around the mine roads. Ther are all sorts of bikes used from 50cc 2 strokes thru to things like this .

 

There was a lot of nice machinery on display, like  this 990 rallye for sale at 24000 euro

 

Or what about Marc Coma's Dakar 450 rallye at 35000 euro. I would kill for one of these.

 

The 1200 qualifiers line up for a midday start, then all hell breaks loose as they are let go 50 at a time.

 
 

 

 

It is absolute chaos with bikes going everywhere. At one stage I had to kick a bike away that was coming straight for me. Absolute mayhem.

 

 

I was wondering why all the spectators were wearing helmets, but it soon became apparent as they all carry towstraps and drag the riders up after they get stuck. Roost is thrown everywhere and I copped a few good smacks in the head.

 


 

Yep thats me in the orange raincoat. I was having a ball

 

 

The only way to get a full appreciation of the event is from the air, so we boarded our luxury Bell Jet ranger for a quick lap of the course.

 
 
This is a crap vid from the heli, but will give you an idea of the area. Check out the bikes stuck at the 1 min mark.

 

 
The first bloke in was Brit Graham Chalmers but he was promptly disqualified for missing a checkpoint, so the winner was Taddy Bluasik from Poland. Third place was 20 year old Johhny Walker also from the UK. An amazing result in his first erzberg considering all the finishers (all 12 of them including past Dakar winner Cyril Despres), said it was the toughest event they had ever done. So Jared there is hope for you yet.

 

 
We celebrated with a beer and bagel and some deep fried stuff that Sam stole.

 

 

Dakar Legend Cyril Despre, couldnt resist getting his photo taken with Sam

 
It had been a huge day and another thing ticked off the bucket list. We headed off for Graz to find a hotel which proved to be impossible so found a camp site at about 10 pm and slept like babies.

 

 A memorable day indeed .

A skinny ? dip into stunning Slovenia

Packed up early this morning and headed into Graz to check out a Harley davidson shop and cafe I had been told about. Unfortunatly it was closed which pissed me off a bit.

 
 
We crossed over the border into Slovenia and it was like stepping back in time, but the scenery was no less spectacular.

 
 

The roads were in not quite as good condition as Switerland and Austria, bu still great fun.

 
 
It was stinkin hot down in the valleys, so we stopped for lunch and a dip at a pretty little stream. Was freezing cold water but very refreshing. Sorry no pics suitable for publishing here.

 

Have seen these road signs all over europe and I keep slowing down expecting to find topless backpackers around the next corner, but hasnt happened yet. Still dont know what the sign means.

 
Karen suggested we take an interesting looking twisty pass over the mountains, but she didnt say it was slippery gravel. Had quite a few moments on that one, including having the crap scared out of us by these goats.

 
Stopped for a cold beer at this very cool log cabin bar in the midle of nowhere. The locals took quite a liking to Sam and were not shy in asking her to stay for a drink.

 

 
Little log cabins dot the hillside all over the plce. They look very cool.

 
 

We booked into our own little log cabin (not as cool as sme of the others though) and had dinner at the cafe in the camp ground. An early night for a change.

Oh and the camp site is clothing optional. Crusty fat old bods wandering aroound the place completely starkers. Again no pics suitable for publication.

 
 

 

Tomorow we hit the Italian alps

The Dolomites

We had brekky at the camp ground. Fortunatly everyone was fully clothed,

 
Karen led us back into to spectacular Slovenian coutry side on some awesome backroads.

 
Check out what the postie rides.....I want one.

 
The colour of the water in the lakes is amazing. Slovenia is a beautiful country and definately one we want to revisit sometime.

  

Was an interesting moment when riding past these bee hives.

 

 Wasnt any drama crossing the Italian border. Noone even there.

 
Was good to be in a country were I can at least partly understand the language. The awesome Dolomites soon came into veiw. Absolutly breathtaking.

 

Everyting is big around here and the Lycra clad vermin are everywhere, creating havoc on the mountain passes.
 
The photos dont do justice to the scenery

 

 

We had an awesome pizza for lunch

 

The scenery doesnt seem real. Its as if someone has just painted it in the background. Would be amazing in winter.
 

The little villages were absolutly beautiful.

 

 

 

 I reckon an outback pub crawl in one of these things would be a scream.

 
The roads are just amazing but the Germans are so freaking slow on their fully kitted Bmtroublewes. I love going up the inside of them on the hairpins then wheeliing away. It frightens crap out of them.

 



 

I dropped Sam off at our Mega luxurious accomadation the Evaldo hotel, and went a did a few passes on my own. Have to go back tomorrow now to show Sam. It was spectacular and great fun, although I need to be careful. I have nearly worn out rear brake pads and lost brakes twice on the way down.

 
 

Then it was back to the hotel to check out the facilities including the gardens.

 
 
The Garage, ckockas full of guests bikes.

 

The pool

 

Got in trouble for doing Bombies.

 

So had a spa.

 
Then a sauna

 
Then a little lie down on the heated hotbed thingy. Got a bit of a shock when one of the other guests wandered in fully starkers. She didnt care one bit, so neither did I :-)

 
Then back to the room for a shower before dinner, Check out the bathroom. it even has a footwasher.

 

Dinner was a delicious 5 course affair. It was all a bit decadant but the hotel was great value, Only 140 euro including dinner and breakfast.  

Tomorrow the famous Stelvio pass.

All passed out on the Stelvio

The veiw from our room was breathtaking this morning.

 

 We had an awesome brekky, where we also discovered that the room tariff included lunch. Well thats at least that what Sam reckoned as she stuffed every available pocket with enough food to feed us for a week.

Una grande resulte.

Headed up into the mountains for more spectacular roads and veiws.

 

 

Have no idea how many passes we did or what they were called, but they were all great.

 

Everything you have heard about Italian drivers is true. We experienced our first tatse of eyetie road rage, when came up on this truck on a very tight pass. The morons in the cars in front refused to reverse out of the way, so I squeezed past the truck and gave them a gob full in my best italio/English. until they moved. It was hilarious. Heaps of fun for all the family.

 

Actually gave this thing a bit of a touch up with the pannier, didnt hang around to see the result though. Dickhead shouldnt be driving such a car on these skinny little roads anyway.

 

We decided we had done enough passes for the morning and hit the highway for the transport to the highest pass in Italy. The Stelvio.

 

 

It was stinking hot. About 32 degrees, so we had a little break at a pretty rest area.

 

 

 

Stopped for a quick Iced cafe, for energy before the climb.

 

 Built entirely by hand during world war 1 this road is the most spectaclar we have done. It was actually hard work.

 

 

 I was knackered when we got to the top. So was Sam.

 

We had a beer to celebrate and bought the obligatory tshirts.

 

Oh and did a happy wheelie as well.

 

 Of course then we had to get back down.

 

There was amassive storm brewing, so we hit the highway to try and outrun it.

 

We ended up in yet another rluxious hotel on Lake Garda. As it is not quite high season, the hotels are desperate and will accept anything to get guests in. We are at the beautiful Palace hotel, with fantastic veiws over the lake. ( if ya can see past the haze.)

 

The pool was so refreshing after the heat of the day and washed off all the road grime we picked up in the stinking tunnels. I was even allowed to do Bombies.

 
 

The room was luxuirous and also had one of the foot washer thingo's.

 
 

Despite us saying we were going to have a light meal tonight, we went to the local pizzaria, where we made gluttons of ourselevs once again.

 

The previously mentioned storm caught us at about 10pm and totally blacked out the hotel. But the lightning show over the lake was brilliant. Going to try for the Ducati factory in Bologna tomorrow.