The wee strom seams to becoming a very popular bike quite a few at the HUBB meeting in Queensland.How many times did you bring up underarm bowling?hahaha.Nice shots as always.

Sold that bloody house yet

Yeah Weestrom is a great touring option but just not quite there at least for us who venture a little further into the sticks, we would have pummeled the bashplate, oil filter and headers to pieces by now as they sit just a little low.

Mayas tummy has some good rashes now from angry rocks

Underarm bowling .... that is like asking the Germans about the war ...he seemed like a nice guy so I didn't wonna beat em up

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Having had my rock and tomb input more than satisfied we set off on the back road up and over the national park, some said their was no road and some said too dangerous so it immediately took our interest

This is the road for those interested



Not only was it a heap shorter but it was so beautiful and was the closest thing to riding the Milford road in New Zealand :clap

The local Police were leaving to do their thing too so they all took off past us like a shower of shit two up on 250s and hangin it out around the corners ... the boyz were havin fun



Their race finished as they lined up to do their daily stuff



Much like a lot of roads here it started on tarnac then to shingle but the surface was reasonable although rough in places, nearing mid point at the top at just uunder 3300 meters there was a 10 km stretch of new concrete which was a treat, midway along this part was the military checking every vehicle (not that there were many), they stopped us just for a chat with much interest in Maya but only curious as to the orange alien





It started getting cold and ominous black clouds were looming and it wasn't too long before they caved in, the road surface was clay as well so we dropped our pace before we dropped the bike.



Managing to keep the team upright the rain chased others and left us a damp road this being a bonus for no dust until we dropped down to about 2500 meters then back to normal





Over the changing heights the moonscape around us changed offering all sorts, again we stopped just to take it in (and have a leak) :rofl



Making it through to Popayan without getting killed was good (or I could not do this writeup) and it was hot as, a quick bite and onward to Cali and a tarseal cowboy blast up the pan-am .....something we try and avoid like the plague ormally but the road condition was great so it made for a relaxing hoon up the main drag



Into Cali to Casa Blanca with Mrs.Garmin taking us to the door sucessfully, so nice to have prearranged accomodation rather than having to hunt it down

Mike had very kindly taken delivery of a pair of replacement boots and our new fuel pump at his Motolombia office which was bloody good, thanks mate really appreciated that.

Next mission was to swap over the fuel pump, should 3/4 hours work b u t the replacement was totally different meaning new brackets and hoses etc and some fabrication work needed

Again Mike to the rescue and he pointed us down the street to a laced called Astrurias and the owner Jorge who let me build some brackets, also did a couple of trips to the hardware store to get clamps etc



Sorry for the shit photos but you get the picture



The result



Mission complete we were ready to ride, because I blew 3/4 day in Jorges man cave and talked with some of his mates and customers we stayed another night at the casa.

We meet Alain as well who is a wealth of knowledge and has many contacts in the motocircles throughout south america

We first got our atention caught looking at his bike seeing Gus and Geoffs sticker as well as Dan and Saras so immediately we had a comnnection.....their stickers now joined by TMK



Alain, Ellen and Jorge and the sticker window



Prior to this we had been contacted by another Jorge, a couchsurfer in the moto community in Cali so he and his friend came and visited us at the casa which was cool, he invited us to have lunch with his family the next day and to stay the night

Plan A was one night in Cali, Plan B redo fuel pump so one more night, Plan C stick around a little longer ...... why not .... no plans, no prob :clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

"mentioned the war once think i got away with it"
Nice little bit of fabrication on the fuel pump ,a weakness on africa Twins and Varadero's too.
Looks like a beautiful city you are now in.
And NO i'm still the owner of the house.we need the sentiment to change and people to start spending again.

Yeap pump worked out well in the end so happy it is working.

Is OZ down in the dumps a bit?

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Jorge and Raul came and picked us up from the casa and we followed them back to Jorges parents house where we were given the celebrity welcome, Jorge had talked us up so we had to behave and be nice. :rofl

After an epic lunch the boys took us out for a hot chocolate with cheese....yes cheese, we did of course take the long way round and mum nature decided to step up the game a little.

The race was on



The road turned to track turned to mud turned in lafter and good times, bearing in mind they both ride small roadies which was entertaining for us to follow but full cred neither went down despite several near misses :eek1



The track was sloppy in places for the small motos



Boys havin fun



Stopping at a small restaurant was choco time, it was getting on to 6pm so nearly dark, being cold they have ponchos for the customers to wear, groovy outfits man we were locals



We ordered hot chocos with cheese and plantano to share ...yeah

Proof of Chocolate and cheese "chocolate con queso"



The plantano



After chowing down we hit the road for home, we waited for the rain to stop but to no avail we just carried on.

Great day out an including a hooligan night ride through town zipping in and outa traffic with the little bikes, easy as with no luggage

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

The lake day

Started with a sleep in a big breaky to set us up for the day till lunchtime, a quick hoon around town to the local KTM shop, pick up girlie no 2 (Jorge rocks, new girl each day....onya mate)

Raul and his girlfriend joined us for lunch then the assault on the lake was on, Buenadventura being a no goer due to washouts, great thing is it gets fixed quickly but no good to us.





We got wet....again.....and cold this time, Jorge has his impermiable jeans on, he got very wet so I lent him my wet pants (which were dry) as my klim gear was doing fine.





Darien was the coffee stop warm up center, we got warm but the coffee was crap unanamously agreed by all.

As time was getting on (Note 7.00pm)((never ride in the dark))(((exceptt with local hooligans))) a descision was made to grabsome food in a small town, because we had the LEDs we went up front to guide the crew, reaching our almost destination it was established the bridge had been washed out so that was a no goer, plan b stop there and eat

Given we were 90km away from home we had quite the hoon home in the dark sifting our way through 10km of parked trucks, cars and buses partly due to a truck fail then down the main drag to Cali arriving home at 10 pm

On the way back we went to check out some local pussy :evil



So we broke all the rules and had a blast

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Rio Claro was delayed slightly by rain but nonetheless we headed out after gearing up and the further we got in elevation and into the park the better it got.

The road however being the biggest challenge yet for the two smaller bikes on road rubber, even Maya was wriggling around a bit as it was hard clay with a wet top



A couple of creek crossings proving to be fun for all and we made it all but to the end when one creek crossing was a little higher, being on Maya there was an unspoken request that we go first which was fair and they could gauge the depth





It turned out to be only 300 - 400 deep but flowing fast enough to make it interesting for the lite bikes







Finally reachng Rio Claro it was like having a small side trip to Africa, now bein blanco (white) I love dark .... suddenly I was surrounded with girlfriends much to Ellens amusement

My fav



Six pack boys, beautiful girls .....out here in the middle of nowhere WTF, Jorge and Raul watching on in amusement too.

This time Maya not the subject of discussion but the whiteyfoo and the yella terra, they all wanted their photos with us and we with them .....totally awesome fun



Leaving Africa and heading back into Colombia the road progressively got easier then back to the main drag to Rauls grandmothers place for lunch....more yummy fud



Back to home base, a quick wonderwoman clothing change and off to the salsa festival in town, gezz talk about busy, on conclusion of that we had a quick interview with the TV asking what we thought of Cali and Colombia so that was cool ( so I thanked my supporters and asked for world peace and fud for all the children in Africa).





The TV lady



Una Chimba



Raul on the left and Jorge on the right ... being so immature



An evening stroll with a guided tour on the way home finished the day

Vid of the day

Cali ride - YouTube

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/65F4Cn8OhtA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

A huge thanks to Raul and Jorge, you guys rock, you made Cali spectacular for us which was so cool.

Also a free punt for a good man https://www.facebook.com/pages/Touri...46931822073001

They have access to lots of touring stuff so you don't need to go without.



Now we are back to reality, heading south to the border after enjoying just short of 3 months in what can only be described as an utterly awesome country and fantastic people.

Mike from Motolumbia gave us some interesting back roads to go on rather than just carve up the Pan Am and they were great taking us through small villages and military blockades ... they were kinda taken when they saw us.

From Cali we took the back road to Suarez and headed up and over the top passing the reservoir, in places the road was very boggy and kinda slippery and the views epic.







The plan was to cross the road to Silvia but it was pissing down with no visibility and our road was shingle so we passed on it and sooked out down the last of the main drag.

Making it in to Popoyan we picked up our stuffed old fuel pump then continued south ending up at El Bordo for the night, not exactly a tourist trap but kinda cool.

Next day was only going to be a main drag blast, we decided to kick off the main drag and go via Policarpa, the road again had outstanding views and it was fookin hot.



Arriving ALMOST in Policarpa our day changed completely, we were stopped by Militars who said not going any further .... the FARC were having some sorta scrap with the Colombian Feds so NO ONE was going through to the main road on the old 25.

This is what Policarpa looks like ... at least from a distance



So, now we were officially on the worlds most dangerous road (forget Bolivia), these guys were playing for keeps with local vehicles etc being stopped and searching everyone and emptying out car contents, .....us they were more concerned for our safety than us being a threat.

When the Police vehicle turned up from town they were also searched and checked the vehicle, the Militar guys then said we had to go back the way we came and that the Police vehicle would be only 5 minutes behind us and if we had trouble they will be there, normally we just brush off the “danger” bit but these guys on this day we talking a different language and were clearly not messing around so we heeded their warning with respect and turned around.

This is the one and only time in Colombia we thought yeap these guys are serious as well as curious, all other stops have been curiosity only (as well as their usual checkpoint stuff)

So back out and back down the Pan Am, I will add to that the Pan Am at this point is actually very nice as you ride through massive steep side valleys.



Pasto, that is where we ended up for the night, great chips.

Next on the agenda was the famous Las Lajas church just out of Ipiales built across the river, it was only a short ride for the day and we ended up staying right in the small township looking down on the BIG waterfall (yes there is a BIG waterfall Geoff) and the church.



We spent the afternoon there hovering around and relaxing, interesting several people have had trouble getting GPS there, we also pushed SPOT clocking in and that failed to so there are some confirmed dead spots around even in the open.

The church is a spectacular bit of work and well worth the visit, accommodation was $9 for the two of us including hot water and a comfy bed, Maya had her own 20 meter x 7 meter vinyled floor room to stay in.





The border, so yes the time came to finally say goodbye to Colombia and after spending just shy of 3 months there I wanted to spend another 3 months but the next corner is calling as well as a new country.

Farewell Colombia and Colombians, we had expectations of Colombia having been pumped up by fello travellers and it exceeded all expectations ....Colombia is even more dangerous than Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador for not wanting to leave ....

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Great reading, though its always hard to say what was the 'best' part of a trip, for me & Lisa, Colombia was certainly a big highlight, friendly helpful people, fantastic landscapes and everyone is Moto Crazy what more do you need?

Good Job Kids, looking forward to the next installment....

Enjoy it, cos here in Canada the roads are snow covered - Poor old Sammy is looking over my shoulder at the photos of Maya riding those great roads in Colombia and is VERY jealous....

.

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

Heya Grif ... now ya how I felt reading your stuff from my office ... payback time

Great to see Sammy enjoying the warmth, don't water the water in the radiator freezing

We have yet to get to Peru and Bolivia but hey I can't wait either.

Cheers man

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

It seems the equator was too hot for our house which caught fire at 3.30 am yesterday morning in New Zealand.

We have the house rented which is helping pay for our trip so we are on a diminishing timeline for when +/- equal is equal and we will have to go back home to work.

Thankfully the smoke alarms went off and our tenants were unharmed and a quick call to the fire service saw them turn up and extinguish the fire.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined officially.

So, given the yellow pipe is the main gas feed in we consider ourselves extremely lucky there were no deaths and we still have a home to go to cos if that had burnt through it would have changed everyone's day :eek1







This is literally 1 meter from where Maya will live :eek1

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Geeze ! close call or what?Hope repairs can be made quickly.
Aussie economy is not too bad but up here in the coal fields ,the market has gone down ,so i just have to ride things out .
Great photo's,remarkable scenery .Regards Noel

Heya mate, yeah close call alright, coulda been a lot worse so we were lucky eh.

Don't be giving ya pad away after after all your hard work.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Ecuador The Border To Quito

Arriving at the border we did the usual formalities, we also meet another couple of two weestroms which was cool, just on two hours we were set and on our way, again into a new country so having to relearn everything about it in a hurry.



Guess who had been here before us



We did a huge day of 17 km and settled in Tulcan for the night to get feet on the ground and suss out costs etc.

From Tulcan we went coastal enjoying a great ride through Ecuadorian jungle and heading to San Lorenzo, San Lorenzo wouldn’t be classed as a tourist stop but interesting none the less.



On the way they were doing massive road works, three diggers perched up on hillside just throwing bucket after bucket down, spectacular stuff, we sat on the road watching it for 40 minutes



The ride down the coast line was good sweeping through lush jungle and out to barren desert like areas, turning inland we headed for Quito to find out the lowdown on Ecuador from the lads at Freedom Rentals.

The very kindly spotted us a Tee shirt each and a key ring for Maya so now I have two formal going out shirts ... flash as Michael Jackson :rofl



We bunked down at Casa Helbling in Quito, what a great place that is with real Wifi and proper hot water and very very nice hosts.

We kicked around in Quito taking the city in, old town was beautiful.



Next up was Papallacta thermal pools.:clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere