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We planned 385 km down the 4 to Ranong and the sky is cloudy, but looks dry.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4541/...bd5d9b01_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-11-30 at 16.38.14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We set out later than planned at 830 and stopped at the Wat at the edge of town for some photos, at 7-11 for some cold drinks and then for gas and we still made 200 km by 1030. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...1dbd45d6_b.jpgThailand-79 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...ebbc5658_b.jpgThailand-80 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...66d9b50b_b.jpgThailand-81 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...b4191451_b.jpgThailand-83 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
There is some traffic, but the speed of it is mostly 80-90 and most of the road is 4 lane divided highway. Plus in Thailand the drivers are not constantly trying to kill you!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/...967f684b_b.jpg We had planned to stop when we had 100 km left, but of course by then it was raining moderately hard. This is too bad, since the last part of the road is curvy, 2 lane, and mountainous. We arrived to the hotel just before it started really pouring. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...b5fd677c_b.jpgFILE4963 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4516/...65f16286_b.jpg |
It is a drag as we are in prime beach paradise over the next few days and the forecast is for rain for the next week. We borrowed some umbrellas and braved the storm to get a late lunch and for Dan a shave and a hair cut. Despite the forecast we booked tomorrow at what is supposed to be one of Thailand’s nicest mainland beaches not that far south from here.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/...60a2dd9c_b.jpgIMG_1338 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/...b56155c5_b.jpg We got up and walked to the “palace” and city shrine, which are actually quite small, but there is a great breakfast place across the road called “sunny side up”. It is very overcast and grey, but at least not raining. |
We had 312 km south to Koh Kwang beach north west of Krabi. We drew a crowd from the bus station as we were leaving.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4560/...5ac45b31_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-11-30 at 16.33.59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4536/...7d925a98_b.jpgFILE4976 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Just south of town we stopped at this large Wat complex. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...522a5831_b.jpgThailand-89 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...7155c320_b.jpgThailand-84 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...bc0ddb30_b.jpgThailand-86 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...63863464_b.jpgThailand-87 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The route is mostly on the #4 and it is a 4 lane divided and so we made great time. Surprisingly after 70 km from Ranong we did not see another gas station for 100 km and we were cutting it pretty close when we finally found one and they of course only had 91. There are a few 2 lane sections with construction and we had some light rain for the last hour. This made for a pretty humid afternoon and it was sweaty even thought it was only 28. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/...dd3851fa_b.jpgFILE5036 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...31273a09_b.jpgFILE5053 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It was also raining when we left the 4 to ride on the small roads over the mountain towards the coast and they were a bit “mossy” so we had to take it pretty slowly on the narrow serpentine roads.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/...2a29bcd2_b.jpgFILE5061 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...92326e30_b.jpgFILE5081 (1) by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...a2a3c612_b.jpg |
The place we booked is in the town, but on the sea shore. We hid out in the air con most of the afternoon to recover from the intense heat and humidity.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...9a111958_b.jpgThailand-100 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4694/...d3ffe8d3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4565/...a1a00f41_b.jpgIMG_1350 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...b7301400_b.jpgIMG_1351 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/...54aa1dd2_b.jpgThailand-96 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...2f3f1419_b.jpgThailand-95 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we rode just 6 km down the road to the beautiful Tubkaek Beach. This is a very shallow bay when the tide is out and you have to walk a very long way out to swim and the water is very warm. We were lucky we left when we did as about 45 min after we got back to the guesthouse it started torrentially raining. There was an amazing thunder and lightening show. The town was pretty quiet because the roads leading north here have been flooded.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...fb855042_b.jpgThailand-97 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...b6d73b8d_b.jpgThailand-98 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4661/...df3d50a0_b.jpgThailand-99 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We are only going 129 km south to Pak Meng Beach as we still have two days to get to Hat Yai to meet Faizal and Trevor.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4532/...9938e683_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-03 at 16.25.06 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The road south is now open since it had been closed for the last 2 days because of the flooding. This guy looks like he has a monkey hitch hiker! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...78931235_b.jpgFILE5178 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We made good time since there is no traffic, but stopping at the long traffic lights was brutal in the humidity. The skies continued to be dark grey all morning, but we had only the odd sprinkle. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...b89f672f_b.jpgFILE5189 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4518/...c40b5fac_b.jpgFILE5206 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...ed37033f_b.jpgThailand-101 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4697/...a1021599_b.jpgThailand-103 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had booked at a place on the beach and though check in was at 3 and we arrived at 11 they let us shower and change so we could enjoy the pool.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4563/...b66694d8_b.jpgIMG_E1365 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4733/...738c06df_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...4432af16_b.jpgThailand-106 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...0d33e907_b.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/...aae30da3_b.jpgThailand-112 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The forecast has improved for today and we opted to take the long way to Hat Yai via Satun.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4585/...e243a283_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-03 at 16.28.09 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/...06900415_b.jpgFILE5246 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There was quite a bit of flooding still in spots. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4595/...6b8061e6_b.jpgFILE5265 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were planning to meet Trevor who was riding from Ko Lanta island and Faizal who arrived yesterday from Kuala Lumpur. We have now met Faizal on 4 continents ( at the Porvenier ferry in SA, in Vancouver in NA, in Luxembourg in Europe, and in Hat Yai in Asia). He has been here many times and was able to book us a hotel and treat us to some great food. Interesting that I get the daily Canadian Government travel alert emails (mostly for natural disaster info) and Hat Yai was listed this week as “avoid all travel”. Wonder why?
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...4ee6e71e_b.jpgIMG_1387 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/...b5e82512_b.jpgIMG_1389 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4518/...1190f741_b.jpgIMG_1386 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Trevor also arrived from Ko Lanta about 20 minutes after we did. Today we also met Andy who arrived from the UK to pick up his bike that came by truck from Bangkok today. Lunch was at a local spot with lots of seafood. We had a few too many beers at the Irish pub (every tourist town in the world has one), some food at the night market, and then headed to bed. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...27de6f1e_b.jpgIMG_1390 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...651250de_b.jpgIMG_1391 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/...b2f8d961_b.jpgIMG_1393 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The plan today is breakfast at the Hotel with Trevor, who will stay here another night and then the rest of us will head to the border. It is 60 km down the 4 south to the border zone and we left at 930 (1030 in Malaysia).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4532/...f878a48d_b.jpg About 4 km from the border you are directed into what looks like the border zone, but this is just for trucks to stop and you must keep going. The road pops back out onto the main drag of town. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...31146d6e_b.jpgFILE5313 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4693/...82174c5c_b.jpgFILE5319 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4521/...3a5f52f0_b.jpgFILE5322 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
When we arrived at the actual Thai border zone we were met by Malaysian biker Nor, who lives nearby and who came to help us thru the steps here since Faizal has never used this border with a carnet. She also knows the routine for the insurance and the International driving permit (IDP). (Agencies will charge 60R to do the IDP, which the police actually do for free).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4736/...3aa775b6_b.jpgFILE5340 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We parked to the left and then crossed over to the insurance office across the street. You have to get the insurance here at the border before you cross as the next place to get it is KL 475 km away. They want your passport, bike registration and your Thai TVIP (they use this as it has your VIN and engine number where they know where to find it). The ladies keyed all the info into the computer, but then they needed approval from the Kuala Lumpur office. They initially could not get ahold of them and then it was noon there and they had gone to lunch. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4633/...3b57155a_b.jpgIMG_1396 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4544/...51283541_b.jpgIMG_1397 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4515/...85acd6ed_b.jpgIMG_1399 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4546/...e0a8901b_b.jpgIMG_1400 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr So we rode back into town 2 km to have our own lunch. When we returned the insurance was done and we paid the 90 Ringet ( Thanks Faizal our personal money exchange) or 22 USD for the minimum 1 month. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4766/...397c756e_b.jpgThailand-128 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...bdc1decf_b.jpgThailand-129 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You then ride south under the gate and go left and follow the “motorcycle” signs. These ultimately direct you to a coned off lane that goes right in a U turn and back to the entry side of the border.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4568/...d79834f9_b.jpgFILE5342 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/...64e152bf_b.jpgFILE5346 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4523/...e6c2ca34_b.jpgFILE5356 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4593/...8da60df1_b.jpgFILE5360 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr They are under construction here and it is a bit disorganized. You park to the right and go to the first building on your left where you hand in your Thai TVIP and get your Thai exit passport stamp. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...9a464ef8_b.jpgFILE5364 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...380d5325_b.jpgFILE5367 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Next you ride back north and to the left and park to the left just after the car Thai exit gates now on your right and just before the road south/left to the Malaysian side. This is where you would just keep going if you got into Thailand without using your carnet.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...6d64fae4_b.jpgFILE5372 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...09295f74_b.jpgFILE5376 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4575/...abb90d6c_b.jpgFILE5377 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4731/...49ca2418_b.jpgFILE5380 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here you walk 400 m west to the building with the green roof and go to the far window beside the new fancy entry gate to Thailand and talk to the customs officer. He had to take us inside to discuss this with his boss, who initially did not seem to keen to give us the stamp. Luckily we had Faizal to discuss this with them. Ultimately they relented and we all walked back with the officer and “said stamp” to see the bikes.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...a5c5efb3_b.jpgFILE5389 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4546/...76caab52_b.jpgFILE5391 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr He did not check the VIN or engine numbers just the plates. He needed a bit of help to fill in the exit piece of the carnet, which we need, but did not seem to want to fill in his section (which we don’t need but he probably did), and he left it in the book. We are done with Thailand in 30 minutes not counting the 2 1/2 hours for insurance. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...3e287db0_b.jpgThailand-130 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...71de9965_b.jpgThailand-131 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...56109ba0_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/...984b3d48_b.jpg |
After this you ride 500 m to the Malaysian border zone where Nor was again waiting for us.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4549/...4e0d292d_b.jpgFILE5396 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4568/...18485843_b.jpgFILE5404 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/...c3995a30_b.jpgFILE5410 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/...bacc8029_b.jpgFILE5414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...9cae1cbe_b.jpgFILE5424 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...83799e92_b.jpgFILE5431 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Here you park on the left and get in line on foot (or pillion on a scooter like Dan) with all the people in line on their scooters. You get your fingerprints done and a passport entry stamp and exit sticker.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4639/...5f30e166_b.jpgIMG_1409 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Next you walk 150 m to the left to the new building and have your carnet entry stamped. They also needed help on how to fill this in and in fact spoiled a page of Andy’s carnet as they put their entry stamp on the very top section, which remains in the book when you return it instead of on the bottom, which is the entry section that they keep. Luckily he has extra pages. They did all 3 in less than 15 minutes. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4593/...b49c0895_b.jpgFILE5440 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Then we went with Nor to the traffic police office. This is back past the bikes and then 150 m to the right to the not so new building, which is next to the old collapsing customs building. Here the very friendly police completed our International Driving Permit. They also wanted stickers from WWR. Now back to the bikes and we hit the road after 3pm. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...26360c59_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/...c760b5f3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4551/...34deefed_b.jpgFILE5451 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4685/...ca41ed45_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...ed9fb434_b.jpgFILE5493 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We made it about 15 km when it started to pour and we pulled in for shelter and gas, which is half the price here it is in Thailand. We said goodbye to Nor about 10 km later and headed south.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...f1a178fb_b.jpgMalaysia-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4614/...0083d41e_b.jpgMalaysia by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4560/...9f5cafdf_b.jpg The idea was to book it on the highway and we have a hotel booked in Perak Tengah by a friend of Faizal’s. We still had 150 km to go at 6pm, but we had to have a break and a coffee. We had only an hour of driving in the dark and managed to get to the hotel at 830 pm after a day of 372 km and a border. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4693/...1c1379f831.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4731/...252b0abe_b.jpgIMG_1414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...f2cd1805_b.jpgIMG_1413 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
At the toll stations they have these paved detour paths for the motorcycles!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/...19aaaa97_b.jpgFILE5512 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...c1edd619_b.jpgFILE5532 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is very hot and humid and we stink. So it was a quick shower and out to the pub for some beer, snack, and darts! We dragged ourselves to bed after midnight. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/...c60dc2f2_b.jpgMalaysia-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...5467ed6f_b.jpgMalaysia-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This morning we rode a few km from the hotel for an Indian breakfast and then north east to Ringlet thru the Cameron Highlands. It is a lovely 18 degrees up here!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/...faf9782b_b.jpgIMG_1420 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4737/...ebdf0520_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.52.30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4566/...8bcd360b_b.jpgFILE5543 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4600/...c8e6336d_b.jpgFILE5566 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4582/...b25068c1_b.jpgFILE5571 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This is mountain riding and thru the Malaysian tea region. We did visit one tea plantation ( BOH Sungai Palais Tea Center) that is accessed by this very narrow winding road with 2 way traffic. This meant some pulling way over and squeezing by. It was packed with school holiday families and so we snapped a few picks and left.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/...e1a47193_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.52.56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4554/...497ab98b_b.jpgFILE5584 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...e1ebe707_b.jpgFILE5623 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4533/...afb3cf61_b.jpgIMG_1443 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...03690f4a_b.jpgMalaysia-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4766/...b866cb56_b.jpgMalaysia-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...b585db3d_b.jpgMalaysia-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode out again and then to the nearby town for some tea of course. Here we ran into some fellow riders from Singapore that have been all over SE and mid Asia on they bikes. They were in Iran and the Stans this summer as well.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4520/...385d8ff5_b.jpgIMG_1282 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4550/...4ea1495f_b.jpgFILE5705 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...7f338123_b.jpgIMG_1444 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4590/...2144e06f_b.jpgIMG_E1426 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4522/...5e739e78_b.jpgIMG_E1425 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We continued over the mountains again to stop at a very famous local spot for lunch at 3 pm. On weekends it is mobbed with bikers. They serve fire grilled chicken, curry, and sticky rice cooked in bamboo!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4750/...b0ce863d_b.jpgMalaysia-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4591/...0e7f743d_b.jpgFILE5765 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/...5581ea82_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4617/...85f8a2c4_b.jpgMalaysia-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...3b4d26df_b.jpgMalaysia-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/...c8c41761_b.jpgIMG_E1437 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/...ca0bcf09_b.jpgIMG_1429 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/...35540ff4_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...a999683d_b.jpgIMG_1432 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were leaving the restaurant and there was a huge non-moving line of vehicles that was not there half an hour ago. This turned out to be a 10 km long grid lock resulting from a semi trailer/van head on with the semi turned over in the middle of the town of Bentong spilling it’s load of cooking oil (slippery). We split the lanes and rode in the oncoming lane until we got about 2 km and into the town proper, where 5 lanes of vehicles were stopped and not even the mopeds could get thru. Here we did not move for 15 min in the oppressive heat and humidity. Luckily before we immolated we began to move. This meant more weaving, splitting, riding on the shoulder, riding on the sidewalk, and then oncoming lane until we finally made it past the accident. It was then back to the main road and then the highway and a 20 km ride to the exit to the village of Janda Baik where we were staying at a biker camp housed in a traditional Malay home.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4725/...20f8f297_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.53.17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did have a few wrong turns on the way there and when the GPS said “driving on the hiking trail” it should have been a hint. A phone call later and we made it onto the correct road to the house where we arrived pretty hot and tired after 338 km. It is situated by a bubbling creek and the only other noises are the geckos and frogs. The best part is there is no WIFI! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/...a17900a5_b.jpgFILE5798 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...9579ff42_b.jpgFILE5805 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...32cff38b_b.jpgFILE5822 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4587/...ccc2ed6f_b.jpgFILE5858 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...9b3116a1_b.jpgMalaysia-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...2145e5e4_b.jpgMalaysia-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/...cb42bcb0_b.jpgMalaysia-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...1da5df88_b.jpgMalaysia-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4656/...a175d8b0_b.jpgMalaysia-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...f4c084f7_b.jpgMalaysia-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4746/...81afe233_b.jpgMalaysia-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We set out from the home stay and road back to the main road with the plan to get 256 km to Melaka (Malacca).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/...c1be14b1_b.jpgFILE5867 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4523/...4865caaa_b.jpgFILE5878 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4570/...8a3d639e_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.35.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr First item on the agenda was to head up to the Genting highlands for breakfast at Coffee bean and Tea Leaf. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4556/...607b58a4_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.53.52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We were shocked to see the amazing 6 lane divided highway up to the mountain top, which is covered with hotels and casinos all owned by the same company. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4729/...d2d81e16_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...9bda7c39_b.jpg The ride up and down is pretty nice with huge sweeping turns and some switch backs. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...2425403f_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.54.51 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...a932b07c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4645/...3350e631_b.jpgIMG_1285 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4735/...6050201d_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/...f47c831d_b.jpgFILE6002 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We did not have to go into Kl, but the weather is so nice today and the forecast for the weekend when we plan to be back in not great. This was actually quite fast to get in and then out in the middle of the day. We made directly for the Twin Petronas towers for the iconic photo op.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...2e7d574b_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 19.54.38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/...eecee2ce_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4704/...08a32bdc_b.jpgMalaysia-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...c25d4126_b.jpgMalaysia-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4610/...a2b2dbe6_b.jpgMalaysia-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4599/...56ee10e4_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4625/...520c67da_b.jpgMalaysia-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...685bc892_b.jpgMalaysia-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...14781305_b.jpgMalaysia-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...f5992b74_b.jpgMalaysia-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...73854db7_b.jpgMalaysia-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode south past Port Dickson and stopped for a rest at the beach near Si Rusa.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4570/...8a3d639e_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.35.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/...814fcd3b_b.jpgFILE6078 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4517/...09ce13da_b.jpgFILE6112 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/...9c80ec62_b.jpgIMG_1304 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...4cd5440c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4633/...bd976afb_b.jpg |
Stopping for cold drinks and bags of fruits we did not recognize and had not tasted before!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...8dd39ed4_b.jpgIMG_1300 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4549/...e2eef90d_b.jpgIMG_1301 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here we then headed south to the old city of Melaka (Malacca) after 256 km. This town is full of tourists that have come to see the old English, Dutch, and Portuguese settlement. We enjoyed a traditional fish hot pot for dinner and then the very touristic 3 wheel bike tour of the city.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...89d3fcd7_b.jpgMalaysia-45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/...07664cb7_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4687/...33d8360c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/...c2cd70d3_b.jpgMalaysia-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4608/...8df6babb_b.jpgMalaysia-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...071c6ae3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4584/...c526d782_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/...e414e6e9_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4574/...c82beaf8_b.jpg https://youtu.be/xXoDwIALmcA https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4728/...8f1e38bf_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4715/...847c0370_b.jpg |
Today we are riding to the southern most point of Continental Europe at Tanjung Piai and will be joined by Apis and his wife Azizah who are friends of Faizals.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4582/...5161fd9a_b.jpg We went the faster way on the highway as it is 260 km just to the point. More fun moto toll detours. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4597/...99b10492_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/...0efdc65f_b.jpgFILE0032 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4546/...6551088b_b.jpgFILE0048 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You exit the highway with 56 km to go on the secondary roads. When we got to the parking they would not let us ride the bikes up the ramp to the monument. Actually Faizal did ride his, but the security guard ran over right away to kick him out. So we all walked over for the “end of the road” picture. Not exactly the epic Inuvik/Ushuaia/Cabo San Vicente/Nord Kapp photo we planned.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/...b5b88c87_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.37.45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/...97c81e63_b.jpgFILE0046 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...8e0538df_b.jpgIMG_1509 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...3a62122e_b.jpgIMG_1519 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...6ece5131_b.jpgMalaysia-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4704/...312732ce_b.jpgMalaysia-47 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4765/...e4a25720_b.jpgMalaysia-50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We have been invited to the home of Apis and Azizah for the night in their town near Ayar Tawar. This route is mostly secondary highway, but there is a lot of traffic. This meant some Asian motorcycle driving skills were needed especially for 5 big bikes, 3 of which have luggage. This is riding at speed in heavy traffic with passing on the left and right, and splitting. So it was a bit stressful at times, but exciting as well. After 6 months in Asia we are pretty agile.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/...e21e107e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.42.11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The family lives in a small enclave in the south east of Malaysia and they kindly offered to host the 4 of us for the night. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4588/...14864581_b.jpgIMG_1518 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4768/...c6083758_b.jpgMalaysia-52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/...39fd2027_z.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.40.04 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...f295754b_b.jpgFILE0059 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4595/...a2eefdbc_b.jpgIMG_1584 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Their house is near their fish farm where we went to catch our dinner. We had a fun evening trading war stories from around the world and Faizal and Andy scared Apis with their GS Trophy experiences into starting his training for the Mongolia GST next summer.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4578/...12f9a61e_b.jpgIMG_1361 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...93f83095_b.jpgIMG_1362 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...3ba70fce_b.jpgIMG_1365 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/...67ca017e_b.jpgIMG_1363 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/...d1e5ee0a_b.jpgIMG_1366 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4758/...f6e5e91a_b.jpgMalaysia-54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4744/...f38f4cb9_b.jpgMalaysia-56 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/...393b11f8_b.jpgMalaysia-58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...8a7b4cf9_b.jpgMalaysia-59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...b4073aa3_b.jpgMalaysia-61 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4660/...0a80c38e_b.jpgMalaysia-62 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
There was a massive rain storm during the night, but it was just misting when we left at 8. Apis and the kids were going to have breakfast with us, but the local place was packed when we arrived and the one at the main road was closed and so we headed off alone towards the highway. We found an open spot for some spicy sticky rice and egg pancakes.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4745/...295cd76d_b.jpgMalaysia-66 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4721/...13cc256e_b.jpgMalaysia-67 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...ef19849b_b.jpgFILE0065 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The other 2 guys took off from here for KL (390 km on the freeway) as Andy has to be at the airport at 6 pm for his flight to Bangkok. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4801/...3e488d6b_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-03-07 at 12.46.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We went about half way back on the secondary roads until it started absolutely pouring and we then headed west the 25 km over to the freeway at Yong Peng. It had stopped raining by then and within 15 km we were air dried.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...5d330b4a_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.41.59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/...e21e107e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-09 at 20.42.11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The traffic got a bit heavier 30 km from the city, but not too bad until the last 10 km. Here we had to ride in the ER lane on the shoulder and sometimes squeeze by on the left when there was no lane. Otherwise we would have been cooked in the very humid 34 degrees after 432 km. We checked into the hotel, which is located on the 4 th floor of a parking garage! Well the access is and the hotel is built onto this so the parking is stellar. Our lucky day again as there is a coin operated laundry right across the road and ALL of our cloths reek and can almost walk on their own. The suits are horrific, but we will send them to Faizal’s laundry “guy” next week. We stopped next door to the laundry for some dosas and yummy chicken biryani. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4642/...a1f8bc42_b.jpgIMG_1557 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4596/...1ff44b06_b.jpgIMG_1536 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4658/...d7e92ea6_b.jpgIMG_1662 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Here is a little overview of the year so far! (Well at least to where I am in the RR of course! We just finished 12,000 km in New Zealand and arrived to Melbourne last night)
May 1- Dec 29, 2017 https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4644/...bf89be9c_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-13 at 16.36.04 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today the weather looks pretty good and we walked down to “Chinatown” KL and then up to the main Merdeka Square. On the way to the square we came across a Hindu and a Buddhist temple and a church before we came to the Merdeka Mosque. Malaysia is such an interesting melting pot of cultures and religions.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...a72488f4_b.jpgMalaysia-68 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/...edc15875_b.jpgMalaysia-69 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4630/...666ef965_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4660/...390b124f_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...bacc0c06_b.jpgMalaysia-75 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4618/...3cb4e01e_b.jpgMalaysia-76 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4649/...880272ce_b.jpgMalaysia-78 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4609/...df85f312_b.jpgMalaysia-79 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4625/...750e6542_b.jpg |
It was getting sunny and very hot and so we decided to hop on the metro to the KLCC or city centre for our 1 pm ticket time for the Petronas towers visit. We took advantage of the viewing platform for the towers in the KLCC park.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...b94f2311_b.jpgMalaysia-73 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4642/...413f396f_b.jpgIMG_1562 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...3fd6277e_b.jpgMalaysia-82 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...70d60b79_b.jpgMalaysia-83 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The first stop inside is the 41 st floor and the sky bridge. It is 170 m above the ground and is floating between the two towers. While we were here it was suddenly pouring, but when we arrived to the observation deck on level 86 the sun was back out.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...9c4f11c9_b.jpgMalaysia-84 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4733/...7d3dac17_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4622/...fdbe88fd_b.jpgMalaysia-85 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4635/...d795cc4c_b.jpgIMG_1571 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4589/...02953057_b.jpgIMG_1573 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/...b798d2a6_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/...61469f21_b.jpgMalaysia-88 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here Faizal drove us to Low Yat Plaza for lunch at the “famous” Nasi Ayam Chee Meng restaurant for Malaysian “chicken and rice”and then some electronic shopping in the 8 story Low Yat. This is the first place we could find reasonably priced and legitimate items we needed to replace like memory cards, external back up memory, and camera batteries.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/...3bdca3e1_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4732/...dd34d8ea_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...1b58591d_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4766/...1bbc9c0f_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4764/...6d387ba1_b.jpgMalaysia-81 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We spent all evening sorting out all our gear and cleaning everything to ensure it passes thru inspection for New Zealand. There can be no visible dirt or sand. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4710/...609ff232_b.jpgMalaysia-97 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we were slow getting out of the hotel and we slept in bit and then had an issue getting out of the parking garage until after 945. We had paid a paid ticket from the hotel, but when we got down 4 levels they wanted 2 tickets. We also got stuck in some traffic, but still managed to get the bikes and luggage washed and get 22 km across town to the mechanic only 5 minutes late at just after 11.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...472f58f9_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-19 at 20.59.31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4691/...1713fb4f_b.jpgIMG_1602 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4640/...99aef9e5_b.jpgIMG_1603 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Faizal has arranged for our service at his mechanic Motowerks. We have ordered all the parts we need here (chains/sprockets….). We will also have valve check, oil and filter change, wheel and steering head bearing change, spark plugs, properly fix the rock hole in the oil pan on the 650 that we bodged with quick steel in Peru in 2014, and new Beemer buddies. We have had a bit of an issue with warm starts and think the valves are too tight especially onto 650. We have not been able to get the oil filter off the 650 since Tblisi where the mechanic “helper” used a torque wrench to put it on when we were not looking. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4730/...02666c1f_b.jpgIMG_1621 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We also had the suits to deal with today, but dumped the very smelly bags onto Faizal! The bikes will also be detailed here for inspection quality cleaning. |
Now we had to drive 61 km south to the Cargo terminal to discuss the shipping with Faizal’s agent. We have found out that the first estimate for Andy’s bike is it will cost 2000 Euros to Munich!! OUCH. We are really hoping for 1500 USD per bike to Auckland. The agent took our info and we had measured the bikes….within 30 minutes he called us to say it would be 900$ US each!! (or not) The best part this is not crated and no pallet, but roll on roll off as is on Malaysian Airlines! That means we can just ride away from the Airport on arrival. We are flying 16 days from now on Dec 29 and the bikes ship Dec 31. This means we can pick them up Jan 2 with no storage penalty. ( or so we thought). More good news also is the latest estimate for Andy it is down to 1500 E. Dealing with shipping the bike is stressful, confusing, constantly changing, and expensive.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4656/...b30a54db_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-19 at 21.00.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4728/...b9bba57d_b.jpgIMG_1607 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4641/...44d9d2b4_b.jpgIMG_1609 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...989df19d_b.jpgMalaysia-107 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
On the way back to the city we stopped in the administrative capital of the country Putrajaya to have lunch and visit the massive mosque here. Tourists must put on cover robes and the women must wear the hood.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4746/...0b63e5a1_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4635/...6f4bddb6_b.jpgIMG_1620 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4693/...c0557536_b.jpgIMG_1611 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4727/...6a0fec3e_b.jpghttps://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...f326d367_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4683/...d03e1b14_b.jpgIMG_1614 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Nearby is the Presidential Palace https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/...1af3a209_b.jpgMalaysia-96 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We are waiting so long to go to NZ because the flight price for us is half if we go after Christmas. The money we “ saved” we will use to fly to Borcay Philippines to the kite surfing Mecca!
On our day off we decided to visit the Batu caves 25 km north of the city. The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, and is dedicated to Lord Murugan. This is pretty easy to access as you can walk 600m to the metro station and take the train 2 stops to KL Sentral from here you take the commuter train 25 min to the end of the line. The caves are all in a limestone formation just across the parking lot from the station. The first cave you access from nearest the station is Ramayana Cave. There are certainly a lot of monkeys here despite the ‘do not feed the monkeys” signs. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...7746bf62e8.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-19 at 21.02.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr “No cave at Batu is more spectacularly embellished than the Ramayana Cave, which boasts psychedelic dioramas of the Indian epic Ramayana.” https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4621/...b62dc23d_b.jpgIMG_1630 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/...7f125ef7_b.jpgIMG_1631 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You keep walking another 100m and you will see the huge golden statue of Lord Murugan and the 272 steps to the cave. There are more aggressive and larger monkeys here on the stairs that prey on unsuspecting tourists struggling up and down the steep steps. Never carry a plastic bag near a monkey they will steal it to see if there is food in it. You also might be asked to carry a bucket of cement or a few bricks up the stairs to aid the workers in the construction of a new temple in the large cathedral cave.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/...187fa484_b.jpgIMG_1637 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/...7f31923c_b.jpgIMG_1641 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...3500a349_b.jpgIMG_1645 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...2b7746ae_b.jpgIMG_1646 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4620/...0839413a_b.jpgIMG_1647 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...1a687ed6_b.jpgIMG_1649 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...5ab50c03_b.jpgIMG_1650 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...e105dc90_b.jpgIMG_1651 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4608/...3e8b84f3_b.jpgIMG_1657 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://youtu.be/8qeySGN6jtg |
Tonight our friend Trevor arrives and to celebrate the end of our journey together we are booked at Jakes Charbroil Steak house!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4669/...447bf4cc_b.jpg Then it was to Martini's on 57 for a night cap with a view of the twin towers! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4696/...19d14f5c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...3df0ab23_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...2e107445_b.jpg |
The trip to Boracay is a bit of a jaunt.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4682/...a8919843_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-15 at 17.54.49 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We left the hotel at 730 and walked 600m to the subway, took this 2 stops to KL “Sentral" station, and then boarded the KLIA express train for the 30 min ride to KLIA 2. Here you have to walk 15 min to the gates, but first you must exit Malaysian immigration and go thru customs X-ray inspection. The real security screening is just before the gate area. Our flight was 45 min late and very turbulent for most of the 4 hours to Kalibo Philippines on Panay island. Here you clear immigration and then customs after filling out all the appropriate forms. Next you exit the airport and are inundated with touts, which is why we had the hotel prearrange our transfer. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...367999cd_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-15 at 17.57.04 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We went to the west coast taxi desk and were given our tickets and taken to a very new luxury bus for the 2 hour/68 km drive (big bus, narrow road, lots of traffic, slow moving moto- taxis) to the ferry dock at Caticlan Jetty Port (mad house of traffic and confusion), then the 1.8 km high speed boat ride to the Cagban Jetty Port and finally the 4.5 km mini van ride to the apartment we had rented for the 12 days here. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4582/...f6cc3829_b.jpgScreen Shot 2017-12-15 at 17.57.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There is a typhoon expected here in 2 days time, but that left at least one day for some great kiting. The island is only 800 m wide here and it is windy with kiting on one side and calm with a beautiful white sand beach on the other. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...54308dca_b.jpgIMG_1690 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...1d1a359f_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...678ef3de_b.jpgBoracay-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...a3294958_b.jpgBoracay-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were pretty house bound for the next 2 days with the Typhoon, but though the rain was heavy the winds were not too bad. This gave us some really needed down time . And then it was gone!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...88bb4ce1_b.jpgBoracay-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4649/...2ac65e88_b.jpgBoracay-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/...e9791e3e_b.jpgBoracay-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...f78246a6_b.jpgBoracay-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...dd282142_b.jpgBoracay-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
What a difference a day makes as we woke up to blue skies and sunshine! We walked across the island again and then all along the coast to the north west tip.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/...df5bd02f_b.jpgIMG_1703 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...ec84115b_b.jpgBoracay-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...fff8eea4_b.jpgBoracay-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...14580728_b.jpgBoracay-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4658/...2e83a545_b.jpgBoracay-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/...26e3f86d_b.jpgBoracay-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...c8ebfc5b_b.jpgBoracay-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/...7dabd3cb_b.jpgBoracay-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had 10 days of sun and cloud, but great wind for kiting.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...cfdfe949_b.jpgIMG_1715 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/...eb386ac3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...d00186d6_b.jpgBoracay-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...ac3b6a92_b.jpgBoracay-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...5ecf0e67_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4765/...bf8de99b_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4741/...cc0081cc_b.jpgBoracay-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4630/...d835c2d8_b.jpgBoracay-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr They had quite a big Christmas celebration! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4620/...5755111c_b.jpgBoracay-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/...129c08f6_b.jpgBoracay-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/...867cd0e4_b.jpg |
We have to head back to KL and it is an all day affair and we left the hotel at 1030 am. First we are driven in a mini van to the ferry dock and we enter the secure ferry dock building and wait for our boat. The fast ferry holds about 30 people and takes about 15 min to cross the channel.
The bus stop is just outside the ferry terminal and it is a very hot and humid 45 min to wait. The air-conditioned bus ride is just about 2 hours to the Kalibo airport. Our plane is late, which is apparently the norm for this flight and is now an hour late. It is chaos at the airport as there are 3 flights to China leaving at the same time. You have to line up to pay the tourist exit fee of 15 USD per person and then line up in a massive crowd that is not cueing, but funneling to get your fee ticket checked and then enter a roped off line to get your passport stamp. Last of course is a line for security. We had a pretty turbulent 4 hour flight and arrived back to KL and to the airport hotel just after 2130. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4753/...ced28508_b.jpgIMG_1726 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we need to get the bikes sorted to fly and we got a Grab cab for the 22 km drive back to Motowerks. Here the service was done (or so we thought), except the oil filter issue. The shop guys had all the plastics off for a super clean. This left some time for us to get some lunch and run some errands. Nearly every time we got back in the car Dan made for the left “passenger” seat.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...472f58f9_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-19 at 20.59.31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4718/...da674b23_b.jpgMalaysia-91 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...acdab510_b.jpg |
We headed over to Faizal’s house for some rest before meeting the Swede downtown for some tapas and then a visit to the Whisky bar KL.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4759/...e14f3705_b.jpgIMG_2038 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4604/...d956014e_b.jpgIMG_2043 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4765/...897d7f81_b.jpgIMG_2042 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr After the fact we found a number of things were not done or were not done properly at Motowerk. If the small stuff was messed up then what about the valves!!! The 650 still seems to have a stutter on start, but it is too late now we will have to deal with this in NZ. We also found out today that despite the promise of a booking on Dec 31 on MA we do not as there is no Cargo space until Feb 1. The options are 9000 Ringet per bike to send the bikes Dec 29, 4500 Ringet to take the bikes out to MAS cargo and leave them open ended and hope they get on, or find another airline. This was a very stressful day as we already have flights booked Dec 29. In the end we managed to get them on a Thai air flight from KL to Bangkok and then from there to Auckland for 3500 Ringet per bike, BUT now they have to be crated. |
Now it is packing day for the airport. We went to BMW to pick up a metal palette for Dan’s bike (he already had a wood BMW one for the 650, but it is for a much smaller bike!) and 2 dozen tie downs. Faisal’s dad also showed up with one of their trucks for the transport. We had a lot of help from the shop guys, Faisal and Orvar to get them crated, loaded, and onto the flat bed. This meant mirrors, windscreen, and front tires off as well.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/...3e9bdcfd_b.jpgMalaysia-104 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...9e10cbae_b.jpgMalaysia-105 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...7841438e_b.jpgMalaysia-106 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The next issue today is that Mohadin now says we have to pay cash unlike with MAS which takes Visa. There is no way we can get that kind of cash from an ATM in one day. We will get what we can and try to get him to sort out a Paypal account for the rest.
We finally set out for the airport at 445 pm. We arrived to the cargo terminal, obtained day passes for us and the truck, and entered the secure zone. Mohadin the agent met us inside and he dealt with the carnet exit stamps. We had “inspection” , which was a check of the VIN and then we moved the bikes over to the loading bay for final “volume” measurement and wight 315 and 324 kg (bikes, luggage, helmets, and gear). Mohadin worked some magic on the numbers to get us the best deal. They are flying Thai Air Cargo tomorrow to Bangkok and then TAC to Auckland on Dec 31. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4721/...8f338a91_b.jpgMalaysia-108 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...8cf66883_b.jpgMalaysia-109 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4710/...55f96f25_b.jpgMalaysia-110 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4750/...8d3c8977_b.jpgIMG_1748 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4752/...15cf6c45_b.jpgIMG_1749 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is a very brief description, but does not really describe the huge hassle and stress that is involved in the shipping. The issues of getting a booking, getting the best rate, making the smallest volume, being told a different thing every few hours, being told you could roll on and then that you need to crate, being told you can pay with visa and then at the last minute you need to pay cash, trying to organize money international transfers for the next day when transfers will take several days…..We were finally in bed at midnight and up at 5 am for our flight. We had met the agent at the hotel set up a PayPal account for him, paid him all the cash we could get from the ATM daily limit, and sent the rest by paypal. In the morning we get a message that the payment was sent back by the agent as he clearly did something wrong on his end. The bikes did go to Bangkok, but several hours before we had a message that the agent that we needed to get the money to him ( it is sent, but as he refused the last one they are holding this one) or the bikes will not fly tonight (we have a way bill that says paid), but Faisal to the rescue again and he guaranteed the payment. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4614/...c96a011f_b.jpgIMG_1757 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We arrived to Auckland airport at almost 1 am. Here you have to go thru several layers of customs screening after immigration. It is important to declare any food or items that may contact soil. If they find something you did not declare (even a candy) the fine starts at 400$. We handed over our tent for fumigation and had the luggage X-rayed. They spotted something in the bag that turned out to be a Vick’s candy we had forgotten about and they let that go. After all this we used the SIM card purchased in duty free to contact the hotel shuttle and finally fell into bed at 2am. You know you are in the first world when your room is as booked, there are towels and 4 pillows, there is a bar fridge and it is already cold and has fresh cream in it for your coffee.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4609/...a1f7c884_b.jpgIMG_1764 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Janet and Charlie Russel who we finally met in Osh have kindly offered to host us until we get the bikes (very kind as it may be 4-5 days). They arrived to pick us up about 11 and drove us to their home in almost rural Albany. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...97e82122_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-05 at 18.53.05 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4769/...45777259_b.jpgIMG_1768 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4723/...e273b67e_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4661/...dd0a30ec_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Nice Garage! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/...491b5cc2_b.jpgIMG_1767 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We are quite shattered today, but rested up here at the Russel’s. Well the bikes have left Bangkok and arrive to Auckland today at noon Dec 31. The cargo company Menzies says that we can come at 2 pm (Saturday) and “all the paperwork with be done”. We did drive all the way over there again only to find the paper work done, but customs is closed for the next 3 days!! AGH. We did pay our 113$ NZ (Import international terminal fees and document import fees plus GST)
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4630/...765b50cc_b.jpgIMG_1782 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is Dec 31 and so the Russel’s have organized a BBQ for tonight and we will finally get to meet TINTOMKIWI who are Tina and Thomas that we missed by just a few hours in Brazil and by a few days in Vancouver. It is so nice to finally meet up and we all enjoyed talking to others who understand the journey.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...7c5a32d2_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...3764358c_b.jpgIMG_1771 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/...8393ccc6_b.jpgIMG_1774 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...63eb1a98_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Well we managed a bit of sight seeing around the city by car and the weather held out for us. First we made for Muriwai beach and then we drove into town to see the view from Mount Eden and and then from Battery Point.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...81bf191c_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-05 at 18.54.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...fc02c457_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/...c856a221_b.jpgIMG_1777 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4701/...4eb18f43_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...a81a4b49_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4756/...1a741747_b.jpgIMG_1779 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...de3f3b7a_b.jpgIMG_1781 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is finally “pick up your motorbike day” January 3. We loaded up the trailer again and Charlie drove us back to the airport. We arrived to customs at 930 and they seemed a bit confused about what to do. This is a Carnet country, but very few bikes arrive here i would guess. They did manage to stamp and sign the papers, but it took them over an hour. They told us “you do not need to go to inspection”. From here you go back 200 m to the shippers Menzies with your document from customs and they then told us we did (of course) need inspection and had to drive 3.5 km to the new MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) office to get our inspection even arranged. Because customs did not enter the info the officer here had to redo all the data and after the long wait in the cue we finally left after 11. We called to book the inspection, but they could not do it until 1. Lunch it is. We arrived back to the warehouse area and just had to wait 15 min for the inspection officer to finish with the last customer. We were of course worried the bikes would be clean enough and that we would not have any banned items. He unwrapped all the saran and opened the bag with the boots and suits, Dan’s tank bag and one of his panniers….10 minutes and both passed. Now we just had a few minutes to wait for a fork lift driver who lifted the bikes onto Charlie’s trailer. We unloaded the luggage and strapped the bikes in for the drive the 46 km back to Albany.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4769/...727a7c5c_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flick https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...a0eee94a_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...48de9737_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...9c9b2869_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/...017cc57d_b.jpgIMG_1787 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The weather held out all day and there was just a sprinkle starting as we arrived home. Charlie has all the bits and pieces that we can use to set up a good ramp. We all worked together to lift each bike on the center stand and get the front wheel back on. We managed to get them both unloaded before the predicted storm hit.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/...50415b35_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4661/...bf232b82_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...73c0b4db_b.jpg |
We had planned to try to leave today, but it got too late and then the next day the 4 th it was gale force winds and pouring. There is a severe storm warning and they have evacuated the beaches and camping on both the central coasts. It is Sara’s birthday so we went out for a birthday dinner!
By 11 am on the 5th there was a window where the storm looked less severe and we set out the 147 km to Tikipunga where Tina and Thomas live. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4769/...498e35df_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-05 at 18.59.28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It was pretty windy, but not raining that hard until our lunch break in Wellsford. After that is was Patagonia windy and pouring. The traffic our way was not too bad , but there was a continuous line of vehicles coming towards us. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...68db0914_b.jpgFILE0092 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...1328a82d_b.jpgFILE0086 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We arrived to Tina and Thomas’s to fresh baked rhubarb cake. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/...2af7fabb_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Well the weather has improved quite a bit today as it is cloudy, but not raining. We set out from Tikipunga on the small windy roads. It is ideal riding weather at 23 degree and even on a Saturday there is almost no traffic.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...5471c388_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-06 at 20.11.12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We made for the coast road and rode thru Matapouri before turning inland again. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...6bd4d6fe_b.jpgFILE0107 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There is a loop road back to the highway 1. You only go a short distance on this main road and then exit again on the narrow country lanes to Helena Bay where you can stop at an art cafe for a coffee. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...0234904d_b.jpgFILE0110 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4721/...a223ff81_b.jpgFILE0111 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...407b6a21_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4659/...b8a3eb19_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The coast road continues around the point to Russel and we stopped in here for some amazing Red Snapper fish and chips. It is a short and 5$ ride on the ferry across the inlet to Paihia.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4675/...037ee945_b.jpgFILE0171 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...574dfd25_b.jpgFILE0189 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4694/...34fd2373_b.jpgFILE0190 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/...f1c16ac9_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4744/...536ee11f_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...370b73c3_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/...695427c2_b.jpgFILE0225 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...1acf839e_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We made a brief stop in Kawakawa to get a photo of the "famous" Hundertwasser toilets here! There are public toilets in almost every NZ town. This may be why there are sort of unfriendly signs on the door of all the shops and restaurants warning " toilets are for guests only”!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/...b86fd45e_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr From here we rode on some small roads thru the woods and then on some gravel cross country to arrive south west of Whangarei again. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/...1918f842_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-06 at 20.11.51 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...e740f174_b.jpgFILE0242 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Tina and Thomas have been very kind to host us for 2 days here. They also looked over our map and gave their suggestions on our route. |
Our plan over the next few days is to make it to the north tip of the island at Cape Reinga. Today we set off on our own and rode south west to Dargaville.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...72ce126d_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.18.03 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is Sunday and there are almost no cars on the road. The town looks deserted and all the shops are closed. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...1f048f89_b.jpgFILE0292 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...f72c1c8c_b.jpgFILE0298 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here we rode north on the 12, which takes you thru the Waipoua Forrest. We did a few gravel side trip, with a visit to the Trauson Kauri park, the Waipoua Forrest lookout (not much to see but trees), and to the visitors center where we had lunch at 3 pm.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4625/...a72e8b25_b.jpgFILE0300 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4615/...b60ea121_b.jpgFILE0319 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4604/...e0752f81_b.jpgFILE0342 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...f605d015_b.jpgFILE0350 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...89d5626e_b.jpg Got to watch for KIWI! Probably not actually since they are nocturnal. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...883a22aa_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4654/...e9ca14d9_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4746/...4459de92_b.jpgFILE0406 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We decided to cut the day short and stop in Rawene before the ferry and camp for the night. There is a small shop at the dock to get for provisions and we had a cozy first night in our tent.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...17cc89d4_b.jpgFILE0413 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4649/...1f02c6fc_b.jpgFILE0432 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4656/...71d5c212_b.jpgFILE0446 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4763/...78aeee26_b.jpgIMG_1795 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...bfc46f07_b.jpgIMG_1796 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Getting up today it was less cloudy and warmer and we arrived to the dock just as the boat was loading.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...e687f57a_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.19.58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4678/...43f16794_b.jpgFILE0454 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...57002d98_b.jpgFILE0457 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4608/...5483d9ff_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...bc49332c_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The scenery in NZ is right out of Hobbiton from Lord of the rings (we wont be visiting the set as it is 70$pp), with rolling hill and small winding roads past farms and villages. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4620/...6e877829_b.jpgFILE0473 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We gassed up in Kaitaia and found a hardware store to get a tarp (we did not want to deal with bringing our old one thru quarantine to NZ). And we grabbed some sandwich fixings and rode back 10 km to the 90 mile beach access point at Ahipara. The tide is still rising and we arrived at 130 with the high at 230. That said we did get some riding up and down the beach.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...cd3f6ab9_b.jpgFILE0500 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4769/...cc23c5b9_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/...dc0fae50_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...0cf0d0e7_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...6bf22e61_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4660/...612f9d70_b.jpg |
From here it was a short trip to Waiharara and the nearby home of fellow riders Roscoe and Raewyn. They have a lovely farm and we will tent in their back paddock ( full shower and flush facilities to boot). They were kind enough to feed us a lovely dinner and we slept well in the peace and quiet.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4763/...c0fd8871_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-47 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...28a8d1c2_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...1d4fc8eb_b.jpgFILE0636 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4621/...56120a1d_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This was a huge Emu/Ostrich farm, but they now only have a few mating pairs and their pet Emu Carol! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...28ff8ced_b.jpgIMG_1809 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...2ea08ac7_b.jpgIMG_1814 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today’s plan is to make it to the north tip of the island at Cape Reinga and then ride some of the gravel roads to the coasts and ultimately to get back on the 90 mile beach.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4757/...e1e565b2_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.27.14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/...75151619_b.jpgFILE0672 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The ride up to the cape is lovely and the parking is perched on the cliff side. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...c13aeb1b_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-51 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4742/...95bc7308_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There is supposed to be 90 mile beach and dunes access by driving down a gravel (or as they are called here metal road) and then down the stream at Te Paki. We arrived down the 5 km road to the base of the big dunes. Here the energetic climb up and sand board down the slopes. There are off road buses heading at full speed down the stream to the beach. Dan decided to scout the water before we ride down with low low Lulu after the heavy rains this week. It started out well with water at most a foot deep, but it got very deep in some spots and Dan turned back when he had water almost to his seat https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4622/...0baa80b4_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4710/...ae8e15b4_b.jpgFILE0715 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4620/...b21ce5b0_b.jpgFILE0722 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode out again to the main road and then out on another “white” road 10 km to Te Hapua to see the locals fishing. You can see the white Silica dunes in the distance.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...6e0c3dde_b.jpgFILE1186 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/...be0cf5e6_b.jpgFILE1199 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4747/...7a82ec45_b.jpgFILE1220 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...1e57c52f_b.jpgFILE1222 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr After another 20 or so Km on the highway we took the gravel 8 km down to Henderson Bay. This is again a beautiful beach with cliff access only and we decided in the heat we were not keen on the hike back up. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4668/...f39ca73a_b.jpgFILE1231 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The last road was 10 km of at times deeper gravel to Hukatere. Here there is easy beach access with firm wet sand that leaves off from the gravel and you can ride all along the beach. The tide is receding now as it is after 4 pm. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...58c044ef_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4618/...9e61b0c9_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4672/...69c8b104_b.jpgIMG_1819 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...02059c32_b.jpgIMG_1816 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...f352bc37_b.jpgIMG_1825 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...b952739e_b.jpgIMG_1828 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...36083eae_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...2abd688b_b.jpg |
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When we arrived back to the home stead Roscoe was frying up some tuatua (clam) fritters for us all!! This included Rosco’s sister Connie and her husband John as well as his long term rider friends David and Sally. What a fantastic group of people who so warmly welcomed us!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...b2875a76_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.31.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is like Hotel California here and you never want to leave, but leave we must. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4603/...b04ff11a_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/...053547e2_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-58 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode just down to Kaitaia to a cafe for brunch and then took a ride out onto the Karikari Peninsula. The road is paved until the last 10 km and you drive thru the campground and can park on Maitai Bay.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4619/...8e8ac37e_b.jpgIMG_1830 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/...9d4c674e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.32.29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4670/...7e7e2440_b.jpgFILE1294 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/...49c42054_b.jpgFILE1303 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is a very sheltered large bay with no surf and very shallow water for swimming. We stripped off and enjoyed the beach for an hour or so. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4744/...762f0c06_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4767/...a41c6f6d_b.jpgIMG_1836 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Then it was back to the scenic “Costal Discovery” route south with a side trip out around the peninsula to Matauri Bay.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...f1161100_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.32.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Most of the bridges here in NZ are one way only even on the main roads. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...3218bf59_b.jpgFILE1306 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The road initially follows the coast before turning inland. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...6737ed4b_b.jpgFILE1308 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4697/...e16e90ec_b.jpgFILE1314 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...4912cfa7_b.jpg |
The road around here is narrow and windy and steep at times, but there is very little traffic. You can stop on the way to admire the vista of the farmland, islands, and bays.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...a009a5a9_b.jpgFILE1393 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...88f172a9_b.jpgFILE1411 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr For lunch we had some burgers at a take away and Kiddie cones as this is what single scoop looked like! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4659/...3b6e5007_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-60 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr It is now 3 pm and we have 177 km to go to get to Janet and Charlie’s batch in Mangawhai Heads…we will be late!! We stopped in Whangarei to get some meat and garlic bread for the BBQ and unfortunately they all had to wait for us to arrive after 630 for dinner. We pitched the tent in the yard as they had a full house with all their kids and grand kids. We had a very quiet and comfy night. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...b2875a76_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.31.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We want to get out onto the Coromandel Peninsula and are hoping for clear skies to get some Milky Way shots, but it is pretty cloudy today.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4757/...d17af240_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.34.34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...6697b968_b.jpgFILE1427 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Leaving Mangawhai heads we gassed up with 91 and then we took the back roads, but had to get on the Highway 1 after 30 km just before Wellsford. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4752/...d5089abf_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.35.03 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There was heavy stop and go traffic here and Dan’s 800 would not stay running. We pulled into a small park and set up the 911, which said there were no fault codes. The fuel pump and the injectors were are functioning correctly. This has happened a few times in the past as well. Is it bad gas or did he flood the bike at Te Paki!? We limped 600 m to the BP and purchased some octane booster and so far so good. From here and thru Auckland and will stay on the motorway until we exit to get to Clevedon on the small roads. There is a really good pub here called the Corner! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4609/...1c99e018_b.jpgFILE1435 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Again we had a late start and the delay with the bike and by the time we made it to the base of the peninsula at Thames it was after 5. We got some groceries and then headed 20 km to Tapu to camp on the beach. The road north here has just opened after the damage done by the storm last week and the King tide.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...ee238bd1_b.jpgFILE1499 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...36f3e5a8_b.jpgFILE1510 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The camp spot is a huge grass field right on the water. We set the alarm for midnight, but it was totally cloudy and not good for star shots. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4630/...a30ba281_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4668/...1933876e_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-61 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we want to explore the Coromandel Peninsula and ultimately make it to stay in Papamoa.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4768/...9932b90a_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-20 at 15.22.45 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr First we set off on the Tapu-Coroglen cross road. The first 5 km is paved and then the rest of the 22 km is gravel (except the last 2 km which had just been grated and the watered and was now packed mud). We only met 2 vehicles. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/...e9555c10_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...299c0687_b.jpgFILE1536 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...8714d1ae_b.jpgFILE1542 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4659/...43facb11_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/...6e02bb42_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4763/...f56c75f9_b.jpgFILE1625 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...90104284_b.jpgFILE1640 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We then headed up the 25 to Kaimaramara and then after 10 km you are on the gravel again for 25 km to Coromandel City. There is a bit more traffic on this road, but it is not too dusty.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...57c4d467_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...fa86ea5b_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4622/...4dc8d229_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/...cf71c9e1_b.jpgFILE1659 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4665/...5a3766e5_b.jpgFILE1672 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/...752952c4_b.jpgFILE1707 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4697/...bbf08831_b.jpgFILE1717 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is 26 km from Coromandel to Colville on the pavement and then 35 km on the gravel to the end of the road at Fletcher Bay.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/...ef29a3c1_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-20 at 15.25.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...3e576507_b.jpgFILE1727 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4750/...c9556a8c_b.jpgFILE1750 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4760/...1ef3d643_b.jpgFILE1751 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The road is pretty curvy and you can get some speed with the good surface, but it was slow going at times as you had to be careful of the tight corners to make sure a local driving at speed was not coming the other way. The road hangs on the beach at times and then passes thru a few small settlements before rising up on the cliffs above the bay. We got caught behind a few cars and it was VERY dusty before they finally let us pass!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...2328e971_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.43.03 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/...597cf380_b.jpgFILE1771 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4719/...832e5e50_b.jpgFILE1775 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...7b97bc4a_b.jpgFILE1810 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4624/...4e205fde_b.jpgFILE1812 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4716/...8147700b_b.jpgFILE1818 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/...c265d731_b.jpgFILE1821 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4717/...d4de2491_b.jpgFILE1828 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4698/...0578deb3_b.jpgFILE1838 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Actually our map GPS said the road continued thru, but they lied as beyond Fletcher Bay it is a walking path only. We had our picnic and then blasted back out to the paved road and to Coromandel.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...3a367d5c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4660/...25f0c3f6_b.jpgFILE1852 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4715/...08001f7e_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...aa3b0759_b.jpgFILE1898 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...8ae4b497_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-64 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It is faster to go south to Thames, but we wanted a new route and opted for the much longer way thru Kuaotunu. There is little traffic and we were only held up a few times by a slow moving logging truck or people pulling boats.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4699/...5580ef04_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-02-20 at 15.25.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4621/...8fec1fa4_b.jpgFILE1908 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Most of the route the limit is 100 and we could really fly. It was still a long way to go from Coroglen to get to Papamoa on time and we were of course late again. Here we had been invited to the home go Ruth and Roger who have traveled all over by bike. Roger is a friend of our friend Julio in Guatemala. Julio helped him out a lot when he was in hospital 6 weeks after being rear ended on his bike and having surgery. We were warmly welcomed to their home on the beach and met their good friends and riders John and Susan. While we were chatting a killer whale was surfacing in the waves 10 m off shore! They had a comfy room for us, had moved a car from the garage for the bikes, put the laundry in right away, and served us up a feast for dinner! Got to love riders!! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4706/...3bce5881_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4621/...0a9cec1a_b.jpg |
We had only planned to stay 1 night as we did not want to impose, but they made us feel so at home and comfy we stayed a second! This meant we had a day off here to get some things done. They had an appointment this morning and dropped us in Mount Maunganui.. Here we walked the 45 min around the mount and along the beach.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4702/...8fd4356b_b.jpgIMG_1854 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...d7a09b2f_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-65 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr When they got back we had lunch at their favorite spot and then did the 1 hour hike to the summit. Not difficult, but very hot. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4762/...7ac5bb11_b.jpgIMG_1862 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...0e644686_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4677/...e03b91f7_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-66 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Roger was kind enough to drive us all over town and to 3 motorbike shops, 2 bike shops, Revco, and warehouse so we could get new gloves for Sara, a rear tube for the 800, chain lube, patch kits, and a tire gauge! PHEW. Then back “home” to wash the very dirty bikes, do the laundry from today, and have a beer watching the waves. Again we are sad to leave our new friends, but there is a lot to see here. |
The plan today is to get around the east cape.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4758/...cd2dda79_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-14 at 20.45.27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flick First we headed south on the Highway 2 and made for Opotiki (A-poe-te-key) to stop “at the good cafe’. It was packed and had amazing coffee and baked goods. It is a biker stop and we met Richard and Robert who like many have advised us to go to the Burt Monroe rally in Invercargall Feb 8-11. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...2512290d_b.jpgIMG_1877 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We then rode the coast road, which is very windy and slow going despite the complete lack of cars. We passed maybe 10 all day. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4706/...72b9d97f_b.jpgFILE1959 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4602/...a269ce3c_b.jpgFILE1964 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4709/...96a4ff07_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4722/...0f796229_b.jpgFILE2009 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4606/...54b729ec_b.jpgFILE2014 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We had been advised not to stop or stay between Ruatoria and Tokomaru as “it is rough and we may not be treated well by the locals”. Not sure what people meant it looks the same as everywhere else. It was a very long day for us since we wanted to camp on the beach and this meant getting to Tamarau near Gisborne after 441 km.
We popped into town for groceries and then backtracked 10 km to the Tatapouri Motor Camp. We set up shop with a view of the sea, the stars, and the first light of the east cape at sunrise. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4707/...8e12942f_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/...cc5e8019_b.jpgFullSizeRender by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...1679bc02_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-67 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today the forecast is supposed to be good and we planned the cross road route back north west to Rotorua past Lake Waikaremoana on as the sign warns “Caution 105 km of curvy un-surfaced road”. You never know though as the weather changes here every few hours and the forecast is very unreliable.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4695/...8ea5a4b9_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-16 at 10.01.24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4759/...85b14634_b.jpgFILE2024 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/...65a3241f_b.jpgFILE2028 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The sky began to look ominous as we made our way south to Wairoa, but we only had a few sprinkles. Stopping here for a coffee the sun was actually out. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4674/...981f97e5_b.jpgFILE2039 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We rode north west “to the lake”. There is little traffic, but on the first 70 km off road the curves are tight and the route is very narrow. This means despite the good surface it was hard to get up any speed for fear of meeting a local coming at you at 80 km/h and likely towing a boat. The road hangs on the cliff above the lake and then drops down and widens after Ruatahuna. There are just a few scattered homes on this route and no services.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4667/...87a414de_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4676/...cf627990_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4618/...f3c9eaec_b.jpgFILE2094 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4662/...26ce7c65_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-71 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4632/...a35ab470_b.jpg |
Just 7 km before we made the sealed road Dan had a rear flat. This would not have been so bad as we did get a new tube this week, but then it started to pour.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4709/...fcb175d8_b.jpgIMG_1882 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4755/...03e0f388_b.jpgIMG_1883 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had the wheel off and the bead broken when the rain started in earnest. We got the gear hidden under a tree and we hid under the tarp. The rain settled a bit and we got back to work. We found the nail hole in the tube, but could not see a hole in the tire. It must have been an in and out and the hole was small enough to take a while to flatten. After the problem we had in Iceland and Greece with the metal shards buried in the rubber we were worried. Interesting none of the 10 or so cars that drove by slowed or stoped to offer help. We got the tire inflated and it was holding air. We had just packed up the tarp when it started bucketing. Getting our suits and rain gear on was a comedy as was finishing up the mounting of the wheel. We set off for the last few km of gravel that was now muddy puddles and by the time we made it to the pavement it was only showers. Murupara is 20 km on the paved road and by then it was sunny, our rain gear was dry and we disrobed to air dry the suits. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...6decc472_b.jpgFILE2152 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4611/...9448b45d_b.jpgFILE2174 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4724/...3c1a25e7_b.jpgIMG_1884 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We also managed to get cell coverage finally to message Ash in Lake Okareka 70 km away that we were intact finally coming. He was kind enough to message us off HU and offer us a place to stay. He has motorbiked and biked all over the world. We enjoyed a nice hot dinner and some wine as well as lots of travel stories. The weather forecast really sucks for the Rotarua area and all points south and west! This messes with our plans, but we are used to change. So we will stay here another night and then head south and east to Napier where the sun is supposed to be shining. |
Today in Lake Okareka it was raining on and off and heavy at times until about 1 pm. This gave us some down time for “office hour” and we got caught up on emails and blogs. Dan’s 800 is still having on and off issues with idle and it did not sound great this morning, but by the time we got 10 km it was running perfectly. We made a break for it to town for lunch at a typical NZ cafe. This means good strong coffee (long black or flat white) and self service hot display cases full of yummy things like pot pies. The price may be premium here where the minimum wage is $17, but the quality is first rate.
Fortified we headed to the Kuirau Park in the center, which is full of thermal jets and bubbling mud pots (along with the sulfur stench as well). Then we did a tour of the lake front with intermittent drizzle. We stopped by KTM to price out tires and check out the options, but we will order them in Wellington. Next we made for the Pack n’ Save to get fixings for dinner for Ash and some of his riding friends tonight. We had another great evening exchanging travel and riding stories. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4710/...2187eb2e_b.jpgIMG_1887 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...9a8ffe53_b.jpgIMG_1891 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/...62480f97_b.jpgIMG_1897 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/...5005673a_b.jpgIMG_1901 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...cda73089_b.jpgIMG_1904 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4717/...998c4dab_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-73 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4755/...a641882d_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-74 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
With some better weather forecast we will head south to Napier. We made one small detour to the mud pots in the Waiotapu Thermal area just south of Rotarua. Just about half way we took a brake in Lake Taupo for another great cafe meal.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4621/...18f4a61979.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4671/...5fb5ba85_b.jpgFILE2180 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The weather turned cold and wet as we headed over the mountains on the highway 5, but 20 km before the turn off for the Taihape-Napier road we could see blue sky to the east.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...422d3f3c_b.jpgFILE2186 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4620/...e812e241_b.jpgFILE2196 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4673/...80a01e39_b.jpgFILE2199 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is a recently paved cross road, which may be closed in winter and of the 134 km we did not pass a car until the last 40. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4651/...17aa8018_b.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-17 at 17.33.05 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4616/...58196179_b.jpgFILE2217 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4740/...60ba3ac4_b.jpgFILE2219 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4672/...da2dcff8_b.jpgFILE2243 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4708/...31f61aaf_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/...7779412e_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-75 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4663/...5e8315a6_b.jpgFILE2258 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did meet quite a few sheep however. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4709/...b8a2a507_b.jpgFILE2288 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...0d70a03c_b.jpg https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4770/...61e8f203_b.jpg |
We have been so lucky to be hosted almost every night since we arrived, but we booked into a hotel in the art deco city of Napier. We were warmly greeted by the manager who came right out when we arrived to tell us where the best spot to park was. At check in he said that we had been upgraded as well. Dan was confused when they asked “what kind of fresh milk” he wanted. This was of course for “our tea”! only in NZ!!
For our rest day we lazed about in the morning and then did a 5 km walk around the city. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4753/...19f6093b_b.jpgIMG_1916 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4769/...78707a92_b.jpgIMG_1917 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Our room had a full kitchen so it was nice to have all our meals at home! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4743/...13038db5_b.jpg |
Today it is cloudy and cooler.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4618/...74dcd236_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-21 at 22.27.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4607/...3081f3eb_b.jpgFILE2325 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4664/...3451c355_b.jpgFILE2336 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had planned to ride out to the Gannet colony at Cape kidnapper, but after getting most of the way out there we found the access is blocked by private land and you have to go on a tour. AHH no. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4711/...9f70dc64_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-21 at 22.27.49 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4668/...87afefec_b.jpgFILE2341 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr So we continued south on the route 52, which a a nice secondary road thru the occasional settlement and past farm lands. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4714/...2b9c6b44_b.jpgFILE2351 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We stopped in Porangahau, which has a nice coffee kiosk in someones front yard and we grabbed a pie from the corner shop. It is starting to sprinkle a bit. We have just a few km to go to
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakit anatahu, which is the place with the longest name in the world. We saw very few cars all day. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...40b7e582_z.jpgScreen Shot 2018-01-21 at 22.28.57 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4761/...aab74f6a_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-78 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4631/...3a2bfc6c_b.jpgNorth Island NZ 1-79 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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