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Cochabamba To Independencia
After surviving Cochabamba .....just, we defiantly decided to hit the 25 back road to Coroico which is at the base of the famous “Death Road”
Jaime joined us for part of the way on his XR650L which is a very nice machine, leaving mid morning we ventured out into yes ... more protests and blockades, todays strikes are the public transport and taxis blocking as much as they possibly could. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-1.jpg The policemens wives were also protesting about something as well so pretty much Bolivia came to a standstill yet again. The blockades meant some pretty unusual riding tactics to negotiate the vans and buses strewn all over the intersections, at one point we had a policeman on a KLR650 in front of us, he took a wrong side of a bus and ended up behind us, we mounted the kerb, up onto the footpath, around some fruit stalls, past a bus shelter and along some shop fronts only to have Mr.Plod think that our route was much better than his and he followed us. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-3.jpg Buses parked diagonally across the road to stop everyone http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-4.jpg Minivans parked all over intersections ... some too tight for us to fit through meaning alternative routes like center islands and footpaths. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-6.jpg I wondered if he was gonna get grumpy with us so I was armed and dangerous and was ready to tell him to take a flying leap but he didn’t and just turned off his way. Finally through the blockades, some 20 - 30 of them we came to our turnoff, we wanted to gas up but the YPFB (Petrol station) would not serve us, they said they didn’t have any petrol ..... sure. Anyway, having the super tanker we still had enough to get to our lunch stop which also we could fuel up at Morochata but first we were sent to 4400 meters above stress level to stunning mountain top scenery, with the public transport and taxis on strike we had the road pretty much to ourselves which was so nice, thanks guys ... go on more strikes please. Bit of a rough section here http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-8.jpg The range we rode over, sorry for the lesser pics as they are all taken with the little camera which gets lost in the big long scenes. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cia/file-9.jpg Zig zag :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-11.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-12.jpg In Morochata we found two more girls that smiled, actually the whole town was friendly which was so unBolivia, although shy the two girls that were serving in the restaurant were genuinely interested in our moto, gringo faces and where we were from so we had a nice chat with them and yes I had my picture taken so that was three smiling people we found in Bolivia thus far, with the exponential growth in smiles this place has possibilities. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-15.jpg See in the background in the photo above the other faces looking around the corner at the aliens ... it was funny. :rofl Two happy kiwis after a nice lunch and friendly people :clap:clap:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-18.jpg From Morochata the road opened it doors to an array of exciting scenery with spectacular backdrops, to be fair if there is one road worth doing in Bolivia it would be this one, I hope the death road is much more dangerous cos this one was a serious contender, in places it dropped 400 - 500 meters straight down with no stops except at the bottom which would not have hurt because you would be dead. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-22.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-19.jpg This made me keep my mind on the job, all the heartache and crap in Cochabamba pushed to one side and fresh mind-food put in via the scenic eye candy.:freaky Destination Independencia, time to put our feet up for the night and lay the heads down. |
Independencia To Pucara
As you know Bolivians are the best at blockades and strikes, as it would turn out today was one of those days, as we went to leave town we found our first one, logs across the road and stones etc, they were not going to let us past, Ellen hoped off and went to shift one log and they all got upset so as quick as a flash I rode to the right and over the log, a big fat woman was angry and tried to stop me but her arse was too big for her to be agile and I made it over no problem, Ellen climbed on and we rode of amidst yelling at screaming at us .... not our doings....
Just up the road they had cut a trench across the road and left a part wide enough for people to walk across so we took Maya across no prob, more trees down, more branches down and small road blockades ... just when I thought we were home free we came a cross a truck, a digger and some big rocks and a bunch of angry men pushing BIGGER rocks onto the road. They tried to stop us, there was just enough space to fit through the last hole before they closed it with a big rock which would have left us in no mans land trapped, again thinking quick I shot for the gap and one of the ****wits threw a rock about 300 mm round into the gap, as he through it it piled in just behind the front wheel, I had enough pace on that the rock rolled smashing into the bashplate and the back wheel going over it .. kinda rodeo style really but I got over, again amidst yelling and stone throwing Ellen got on, I cracked it opened and we took off giving them the ADV salute on exit. Now I don’t mind if they wonna protest but to take it out on us ... no I don’t think so, not our doing, we made it out thinking it was going to be a long arse day of blockades and trouble, turns out that was the key entry point and we had made it through and had the rest of the road to ourselves. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ucara/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-2.jpg All was well until we found a wee creek .... full of brown water ... and flowing...bridge pylons only ... no bridge, gezz the day was getting very exciting now. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-4.jpg We picked our way down to the river, picked our way onto the river then picked our way up stream, this all happens at the confluence of two rivers, after where they had joined into one there was no way we could cross so we had to try other tactics. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-9.jpg Now being a keen 4 wheeler for many years I used my river reading and crossing skills to try and get us across as dry as possible, the only other alternative was to go back 70 km into the blockades and bullshit ... no bloody way. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-12.jpg We rode upstream probably 1 km past the confluence so we only had to deal with one river at a time and pick the most braided spot, we made a few small crossings where the river had braided out, finally after 5 - 6 small crossings the main course was in front but river crossing tactics had paid its way, the main stream was an easy crossing only 500 - 600 mm deep ....the last bit had some bigger lumps called Murphy rocks hidden underneath the surface so Ellen came out to help with that section, thankfully only 10 meters or so. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-7.jpg Happy to report we made the main stream easy enough although boots were full to the brim, a small detour around the sinking sand stuff we made the second smaller creek crossings with ease, the last one deeper than we thought but easy doable. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-13.jpg There was a casualty of the crossing tho, our faithful glue bottle full of chain oil drowned never to be seen again, that trusty small bottle travelled 90450 km sitting in the bashplate .....R.I.P glue bottle and thank you for your service over the last two years. River done and dusted we climbed up to Pucara for lunch and boot emptying much to the amusement of the locals, now some confusion was had with the GPS saying go left and a local guy saying go right, we decided to take the locals advice which sent us on a 65 km one road end goose chase...wanker, so 130 km later we return to the same village, quick retank of fuel and set off before dark encroached, we rode to just prior 6.00 pm to make lost time, Ellen spotted a soccer field so we found the track down to that and set camp for the night. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-15.jpg The video of part of the crossing. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PKpat1OLUts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The rest of the road looked similar to this http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-18.jpg Mushroom soup if you wonna know and yet is was nice. Bed early, I was spent as the road was very greasy and we had a HUGE moment with a near highside at about 50 km/hr, the BIGGER worry was the side of the road and more to the point what wasn’t on the side of the road ....it was a long way down. |
Pucara To Chulumani ... Getting A Knee Down!!
An early start being in the tent, long day ahead so an early start a welcome.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ico/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ico/file-1.jpg Muesli and Coffee to kick start the session, packed camped up and set off. Some traffic was moving, mainly big trucks so we had to be mindful on the tight single lane road. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ico/file-4.jpg All was going well until we came across a small creek crossing only 200 - 300 mm deep which we crossed with ease and out the other side where it was wet and greasy ... and the at was it. 1st, .....2nd, ....3rd then bang down we went, it was clay with a wet top and as greasy as a politician, lucky we were only doing 35 - 40 km/hr, there was however one ill placed rock that tested the integrity of the Jesse case and rack, well despite the impact the case hardly had a scar, the mounting system designed to give in an impact worked well. It spun us nearly 180 degrees and pointed us back to where we had come from ... the dreaded creek as it would turn out :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ico/file-7.jpg Time to unload some gear as I had injured my shoulder in the crash http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-10.jpg Things took a bit of a beating for sure http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-12.jpg Oooops http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-13.jpg The rack did get a tweaking but as luck would have it we crashed right beside a bunch of mum natures finest tools, a bunch of big sticks and a some rocks, we used these to get things at least remounted so we could carry on, 10 minutes work and we were ready to race. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-15.jpg As we were getting sorted to go a local man rode past on a Jawa twin stinky (they are everywhere here) entered the creek then ring ding splash and he when down and took an epic swing in the freezing water:eek1:eek1, as quick as a flash he was up and picking up the bike, we ran over to help but he waved us as ok, poor bugger would have frozen his nuts off and his moto was not happy either probably have water in at least one pot. So within ten minutes the creek and exits had claimed two motos, at least we made it through the creek before we biffed it.:rofl Mrs.Garmin wasn’t happy with where we were either and told us some lies, this time we did take local advice (from several to make sure they all told the same story) finally arriving at Chulumani late afternoon. We called it quits there for the day as I have a weak left shoulder from smashing the front out of it in a snowboarding accident when I was a young punk and todays crash give it quite the tweak which it did not need. Rest day, shoulder said no way so we decided to stay and relax a day, we had a swimming pool (bloody freezing cold water ,...even for Ellen!!) and access to a bar b que, off to town for some good steak and an epic lunch was brewed up over the coals. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-23.jpg Coroico tomorrow .....the base of the death road. |
Chulumani To La Paz
We sat out the bad weather for one more day in Chulumani as it had crapped out and turned the place to mud.
The next morning was still grim but we made break for it, very wet and very slippery on the clay all I could think of was to keep Maya upright and look after my damaged shoulder. Mrs.Garmin was also having a siesta and we were riding down a road that didn't exist, stopping to ask instructions we were sent off down a shitty boggy track, this lasted about 50 meters before I decided no way, it took us about 3 meters to stop sliding to stop and we were only just chugging in first gear. When enough mud, clay, sticks, goats and little kids were jammed under our wheels we stopped by doing a two wheel drift sideways. Ellen bailed and helped turn us around, with Maya pointed seriously straight up I feed it to her cutting a trench and sending rooster tails out the back. Back on normal wet shingle and what appeared to be the village drunk merrily explained we could go the main drag we were on and it would cross a bridge and take us to the main dirt road, given that was our only option we did it and he was right. A nice big bridge in the middle of nowhere http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-24.jpg Coripata was the lunch spot with a local providing the entertainment on a Jawa, the cobbles being very wet, muddy and greasy he started up and took off completing a 180 turn in front of his mates, with typical Bolivian gear he cut his leg, ATGATT for me. Our road then opened up, the rain stopped and the riding easy enough for me to see out the window and enjoy. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...co/file-27.jpg The last section to Coroico was crap, muddy and wet again. While in Corico we spotted a 1200 GSA rolling around in the streets, I chased him, he disappeared, I ran up the next street and there he was, it was Gail who we crossed on the Stahlratte with, good guy so he decided to hang with us for another day, we then organised to do the death road together and go to La Paz, Gail needed his bike checked and we needed to buy a new camera. The next day was wet and shitty again but we decided to hit it anyway, the road very wet and very very greasy. This is what soggy looks like http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...20Paz/file.jpg Gail tiptoeing through http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Paz/file-2.jpg This is what a defiant smile against wet and cold looks like, it was very cold at 4000 meters with rain!! :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Paz/file-9.jpg That was the entry to the death road, we decided due to rain and lack of visibility we would do it on our way back. Finally a glimpse of sun sprinkled hope to the sodden and cold riders with temperatures only a few degrees above zero. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...az/file-11.jpg More sun ... things are looking up, here is 4680 meters so bitterly cold. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...az/file-15.jpg Finally in La Paz it was warmish in the sun, very cold in the shadows http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...az/file-16.jpg Gail got his bike checked out for a small oil leak and we purchased a new camera so we are back on board for long shots.:clap Tomorrow is the death road with the forecast half reasonable, time will tell. We head to jungle so we are going from -3 to 33 degrees, unsure of wifi and service so catch you fellas in a few days. |
La Paz To Caranarvi, Thieves Strike Again!!!!
Leaving La Paz was manic, cars, buses, people traffic jams, this time riding with Gail on his R1200GS BMW who we met on the Stahlratte .
The crowded market outside our hotel garage :eek1, had to scrape and wedge our way through. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-15.jpg Nearing the edge of town we were needing to fuel up, in true form the lady (bitch) would not serve us and was quite anti, so she got it back and with some Kiwi love thrown in too. :rofl Finally out of town and gased up we hit the road to the famous death road, crystal clear views and nice ride, on turning off to the death road it was foggy and misty but not raining this time so we were on a win.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-17.jpg At the start of the road http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oad/file-2.jpg Not long into it we stopped and waited for a digger to clear some rocks from the road, we left the bikes and walked about 100 meters to see the happenings for 5 minutes, on our return some wanker had stolen the drink bottle from the back of our case, you can’t leave anything here unattended for a minute cos some Bolivian retard will lightfinger it.:cry Now for the funny part, this is my “piss tin”, when we camp I use it for a having a piss in during the night so I don’t have to climb out and back in so some Boliviano wanker has my tin tainted with piss, I seriously hope the ****er gets a sore guts and chucks his ring out.:lol3 Now the shitty part, there was a bus parked behind us and the driver was in it and did not get out so he would have seen someone steal it, when I asked him it was basically “see no evil hear no evil”, the buses were all tour operators for the mountain biking so he would know who did it but just covered for them. ...wankers :huh Rant over (for todays shit) we carried on down to the famous corner then the famous cliff and waterfall. While it was neat we have ridden far more dangerous roads in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru thus I felt it was a bit over rated. We did the usual pics and returned back up to the main highway, pissed off about some wanker nicking the bottle and a little disappointed, at least that is ticked off and I am not wandering any more. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...oad/file-9.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-11.jpg Gail on his 12 GS http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-13.jpg Guess who :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-14.jpg Now the road to Caranarvi was closed until 5 pm which would have seen us late to town, they road team people let us go at 4.30 so we got a jump on the rest of the rally driver taxis. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-18.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-19.jpg So, this to me is where the death road really is because it it tight, narrow and the chance of dying are greater with you fall straight into a rumbling gorge many meters below. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-20.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-21.jpg It was a cool ride apart from the taxi drivers (they must be from Peru).:cool4: |
I am rather late with this, but just read about your attack, Ellen. Hope you are fully recovered now.
Rob |
That's right , the show must go on ,,
You go girl! |
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Ellen is doing ok, and now we are staring to replace our gear. We are insured with World Nomads and to be fair they settled our claim pretty promptly and fairly (always a bastid loosing money of depreciation when stuff is working fine tho) So yeap, main thing is Ellen is good and we can continue :D |
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That's for sure sure mate, only one way and that is forward!!:clap: |
Caranarvi To San Aborje
Wanting to gas up we discovered there was no gas in town or as it would turn out none of the next towns for 200 km and we already had 200 km on the clock, thankfully we both had good capacity
Getting away at 9.30 am they said 6 hours, sweet that is a nice ride time. The first part was good, then it got progressively worse, then very then very wet and muddy with roadworks stifling progress every 10 - 15 km with up to 1 hours waits. With rock falls across the road they had heavy artillery clearing rocks off the road all the time costing us time, Plan B was discussed about camping somewhere as progress was extremely slow. Yes this is a WTF discussion http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...Borja/file.jpg Then it really caved in, serious road works couple with serious mud and truck jams blocking the road, we were too far into it to turn back as we would not have enough gas so we stuck to Plan A and continued from one blockage to another and ruts deep enough that our cases hit the ground at times. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-2.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-3.jpg Gail was also hit by an asshole truck driver, Gail was completely stopped and the truck driver just drove into him from a few meters away on flat ground, luckily damage was minimal http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-4.jpg I was very hard work to be fare and of course we were going down from 4680 meters to 188 meters so a huge elevational drop and the Amazon jungle heat with it, two days ago we were freezing and now we are sweating like a pig. Things were improving :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-7.jpg It is about 38 degrees C and sticky here, 100.4 F translated to USA language http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rja/file-8.jpg The last part of the road had huge potholes and mud sinkholes although flat, we made it into San Borje just on 6 pm very dirty and very tired, low on gas, no food or water left....what a great day :clap:clap |
San Aborje To Trinidad
235 km, flat, easy what can possibly go wrong.
First up, gas up ... join the line http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nidad/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-1.jpg Well, today is Sunday, last Sunday it rained BIG time and blew a lot of the road out, they had half a years rain in one day and it was evident with heavy trucks and buses damaging the road, in places the ground was as soft as Harley rider :hide and the truck had created ruts that would see our cases do bulldozing. After waiting for an hour to get gas we were finally on our way, our journey taking 7 hours to do the 235 km, so down to first gear trying to negotiate mud and and other parts we actually found and used 6th gear. This was common theme for the day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-2.jpg Some good spots, very shorts lived http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-3.jpg A short shadow stop http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-5.jpg We had two river crossings today, both on barges and their entry and exit ramps were a little unusual creating a bit of interest. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-11.jpg HMS Bolivia http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-13.jpg Nice glide across the river http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-14.jpg Today seemed to be national shift your cattle day http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-18.jpg Arriving in Trinidad we arrived for the world cup final between Argentina and Germany, the main square had a BIG screen ..... 5 meters x 3 meters and most of the town was watching, we rode between them and and the screen so it was kinda funny, wasn’t long and Germany scored the goal that confirmed their title. An icecream was had as it was 38 degrees C and accommodation was sorted. The evening settled in and we sat and had tea (dinner) and watched hundred of motos go by again and again, chicas calientes riding past as well ... boys had to behave!!! All in all Trinidad certainly not a tourist trap we felt more welcomed here than anywhere else in Bolivia, this really is the cool place at the end of what can be called the Trans Bolivian Trail via Ruta 3. We stayed two night here because it was nice :clap |
Trinadad To Santa Cruz
Trinidad, a surprise of niceness, people we differing in colour and attitude which was refreshing surprise.
Although no tourist trap it was a great place to stay and relax a day after wrestling mud and bog for three solid days. The owners wife had a wee daughter who took kindly to the white faces, the white face that looked like me played soccer (kid style) and she could not get enough so it was a very refreshing thing to be welcomed as equal. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-1.jpg Maya and Gails BMW tucked up safely http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-3.jpg Our interesting neighbour from Brasil making jewelery, he was very good at it too making nice stuff. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-4.jpg The wee girl couldn't wait to get her photo on Gails bike, he grin giving us all a cool as smile to take with us on our ride http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-9.jpg Gail on his R1200GS, very nice piece of kit http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ad/file-13.jpg We all enjoyed our tarseal cruze, Maya achieving 4.5 liters / 100 km or 51.69 mpg, very happy with that. Santa Cruz, Gail needed a coupla things fixed and we were looking for our stator solution so that was destination. More later |
G'day Andi and Ellen
So pleased you were not badly hurt buy the arseholes who robbed you Ellen .well the place is certainly a challenge .enjoying the photos as always .Travel safe Regards YDF Noel:D
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Heya Noel, I am glad she wasnt badly hurt too cos I would have to push the bike outa the bog by myself:thumbdown: In Brasil now and enjoying some normality although we have been caught in a huge cold snap weather system of heavy rain and fog. So on homefront note how is your mum progressing?, hopefully she is doing well. No new repot until we get our laptop fixed so we can upload more pix. Cheers mate and best wishes to you mum Andi & Ellen |
Santa Cruz To The Border
Ok, no more chatter, this is what been happenin :clap
Saying farewell to Gail we set east on good advice from Nicholas from Andar BMW in Santa Cruz, bloody nice guy and he is Colombian, seriously if you need something he will sort you out regardless of what make you are riding.:clap:clap Heading out of town the overnight heavy rainstorm had played havoc and it was as wet as a swimming pool. This from the previous night in Santa Cruz at about 9.00pm http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-12.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-18.jpg First stop was Chochis, an extremely beautiful little town and nice Hotel, the only stupid thing was a local guy with a PA system that started at 6.30 am and went through till 8.30 pm staining the air with what he sells, the hotel owners said he is a dick and some people have cut the cable but no one seems to do anything about it despite no one liking it .... good ol Bolivia going forward.:huh The roads are a brilliant red clay, Amazonian typical and when it rains not even knobblies hold onto this shit. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-25.jpg Maya at our hotel http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-22.jpg So at this particular town there is a rock stickin out of the ground and they call it the devils tooth or formally La Torre, it is pretty spectacular and it is free. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ochis/file.jpg We walked from the town centre which is approach two km then it winds its way up steep and narrow path ordering you to keep you mind on the job and reminding you where to put your feet. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-2.jpg The entry building, beautiful http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-13.jpg Lookin to the sky http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-3.jpg I was here http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-7.jpg The rail from Bolivia to Brasil also runs past at the base and we were there to see the trains come past and swap lines in Chochis. First one passes http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...his/file-8.jpg Next one comes up http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-11.jpg Our our way down http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-12.jpg On walking back we spotted this owl way up in the trees, beautiful bird http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-15.jpg We stayed two nights in this town as it was a nice stopover heading to the exit gate. Also at the back of the town there is a cool wee waterfall with a tree carved with animals http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-17.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...is/file-20.jpg The following day we only went 70km to Aguas Calientes, I was stuffed and managed to pick up yet another head cold, its my year for these free unwanted things.:cry Promising hot water to stodge around in it was a perfect place to stop and relax as we had not done this since yesterday.:evil The town is certainly no tourist trap but we found an ok place to stay and we hit the water .... noice ... very very noice. This is what satisfaction looks like. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-3.jpg The depth varies from ankle to booby height so you can sit in or walk around http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-1.jpg These must be strong fish as it way hotter than the human body temp wise :eek1 .... you would want a shitload too to make a reasonable lunch :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...nta/file-4.jpg After our plunge I spent half the afternoon in bed gathering a good fever but managed to get out for another plunge, in hindsight we should have stayed there a few days as my headcold thingy worsened. Not being too sure of what was happening we thought Dengue fever or Malaria being in the Amazonas but it just turned out to be a viscous headcold. Leaving Agua Calientes to the border was an easy ride except for .... you guessed it, get petrol, more bloody dramas and they couldn’t decided whether our plate was Colombian or Bolivian, unreal, the manager came out and didn’t want to get his hand dirty so he started kicking our number plate to kick the Bolivian concrete mud off so I yelled at him cos it was bending our plate ... ****ing idiot!!! ... no respect. So we paid our respect, the bill was $69 Bol at local price so we gave them $70 Bol, I started the bike, Ellen got on and we ride off ... end of argument!! .... again.:huh:D Finally our secret to getting fuel, not necessarily at local prices ... just getting fuel, the bonus is local price. So we had a sticker made for 20 cents to mimic their Boliviano rego plate, this confused the shit out of them completely, we deliberately left our plate dirty as they would always clean the top bit and soon as they saw part of Bolivia they generally stopped cos they hate getting their hands dirty. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-16.jpg This worked for 90 % of our gas fills, the occasional time they challenged us and Ellen just got loud which they didn’t want and she would say Boliviano!!!! most would then go ouwh ok, sometimes we said it a new style plate and they didn't know so they just agreed, the occasional one would just refuse so we would go to the next station and start the whole process again, very frustrating just trying to fill. On exiting we had our final lunch in a nice place to try and leave Bolivia on a nice note which kinda worked but I have to admit when we crossed into Brasil I was relieved, once in Brasil I turned around and swung the finger back at Bolivia .... it made no difference but I felt better. You can't see it well but there is a huge lake here so a nice location. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-17.jpg Next up Brasil ... looks boring but we will deal with it :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...uz/file-19.jpg |
Bolivia Sum Up And The Heart Speaks
It is that time where I speak my mind on events that have unfolded, good, bad and all, no sugar coatings.
Bolivia ......Deceit, Robbery, lies, distrust, arguments, more lies, bullshit, wrong doings, these are the good days, Bolivia is not for us. All the time there are riots, blockades, strikes and other stupid bullshit, these guys really want to do nothing and get paid for it with expectations that everyone else will support them. I have to say without being a whinger that Bolivia really ****ed me off and while I respect their culture I DO NOT respect them for being lazy bastids and everything is someone else's fault and I certainly DO NOT respect someone that disrespects us blatantly and for no prior reason. Never have I felt so much anger each day in one country. :huh In Bolivia there is a whole lot of not a lot happening and until they pull their head out of their arse and wake up they will remain in the same predicament, their wonderful corrupt government slowing sinking the place into a big hole along with corrupt everything in which you deal with daily. They insistently want all the westy toys but have no want to earn it but to have it handed to them, they want foreign money but will not serve you at petrol stations and when they do they want you pay 3 x the price, for a country trying to move forward supposedly they are seriously heading backwards with their attitude. Everything and I mean everything there is an issue and just needlessly hard work and 99% of the time involves pissed off long faced Bolivianos not wanting to serve you, I have to admit I struggled with the place given it is (was) the country of most interest to me. Since Ellens robbery and beating I have gone very dark on the Bolivianos as this was pretty much the last straw and I had revenge on my mind for everything we did so anyone who tried anything against us got the full blast of "get ****ed", not a nice way to travel but when a country backs you into a corner of this amount of crap then that is the game. Some good, we saw one girl in Sucre who smiled, we caught that picture, she is beautiful and has a beautiful smile, she made our day.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...cre/file-5.jpg In a small town called Morochata we found two more girls that smile, actually the whole town was friendly which was so unBolivia, although shy they were interested and yes I had my picture taken so that was three smiling people we found in total. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ia/file-16.jpg Indigenous people in the higher land seem to be the main contenders for anti white faces and they have no bones about sticking it to you, we then adapted and pulled that attitude too, in Santa Cruz they tried to charge us $50 Bolivianos to park our two motos for 15 hours, the going rate was $30 Bolivianos for a day. When it came time to pay a different guy was there and we told him we had been quoted $25 Bolivianos for two bikes and he was not sure so I just reinforced it with a raised voice and he agreed, now if they had been normal and charged us the $15 Bolivianos it should have been they would have been better off so I just stick it back to them with no qualms given they start the game of screw the white face.:cry While Bolivia has some nice parts they are few and far between and at least for us the amount of bullshit and torment you have to go through to get there we believe all of their neighbours backs yards are superior, easier to travel and you can actually enjoy the people which forms a huge part of the trip. Sorry for the non shiny report but being a Kiwi is my downside as I say it like it is and don’t try and sugar coat shit. The Heart Speaks Related vary much to the above but after Ellen was robbed and beaten I really wanted to damage someone, if I had found the robbers it would have been pretty bad for them, most probably I would have served some time too. The anger I had inside is something I had not felt before and I was having serious thoughts in my mind as to the way I felt, I had doubts that I could contain myself if presented in a shitty situation which seemed to be on a daily basis. For some strange reason we were not double crossed for a couple of days which left some essential cool down time for me. When someone you love gets attacked and injured it places your (my) heart on defense mode and I would stand to the death, it came to a slight head when we struck the blockades, we went through and the fat lady nearly became traction only her arse was too be to be fast enough, that was her saving grace. I hated that aspect of feeling the way I did but it was brewed and made in Bolivia by Bolivians. To finish, without sounding racist (which we faced everyday towards us, my white face particularly) the main problems we had (baring the ****wits in the petrol stations) were in the higher land with the indigenous people, once down in the amazonas and the peoples colour changed so did their attitudes and all for the better. So not to offend anyone, my general sumup of Bolivia is **** it and **** them, go to the neighboring back yards where you will be treated normally and more fairly and sometimes even outstandingly. While Bolivia was not a total waste of time I would not set foot there again, to me it went from the place of most interest to a shithole full of neanderthals who don't give a shit, if there is such thing as 4th world they are heading there. Now to Brasil ... onward and definitely upwards :clap |
Corumba To Ponta Pora
Welcome to Brasil, the border crossing easy and painless, in fact even enjoyable.:freaky
With no TVIP required we were in and welcomed..... what an incredible change just a few meters makes from their neighbours. Getting our feet on the ground we took to the streets exploring the new territory and seeing what our new currency wouldn't buy us knowing that Brasil is expensive, we also purchased a pipa string cutter (kite string cutters as they like to dog fight with motorists) As evening claimed the last of day we watched the sun go down over Bolivia for the final time ....kinda relieved feeling came with it. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-3.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...mba/file-2.jpg A local bird sat and watched us with a welcoming chirp http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rumba/file.jpg Our first day into Brasil was very hot as we made our way to Bonito, arriving at Bonito we set up per usual, that night the skies erupted with a lighting display and thunderstorm that put all previous storms to shame, as it turned out this was to be the beginning of what turned into a cold and wet week. The road side was a huge wash of thousands of hectares of swamp and waterlands http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-1.jpg After three nights of waiting out rain, fog and thunderstorms we set off toward Bela Vista as all the clear water attractions had turned brown so that was that, these pics are what we should have seen. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-5.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-6.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-4.jpg This is a crackup, Brasils on version of Red Bull ... yes Red Horse http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-3.jpg Bonito is famous for its fish and clear waters, they are featured in the main square http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ito/file-2.jpg Paraguay was in our sights to pick up our new stator as the Bolivian rewind of the rewind was dying so down to Bela Vista was the choice and it was cold and wet, arriving there at the border wee were told there was no immigration there and we needed to go 130 km south east to Ponta Pora:eek1:eek1:eek1. Tanking up we hit it to Ponta Pora, the weather caving in soaking us in rain and thick fog which bought the temperature down to 6 degs. On arriving at Ponta Pora we were shoved from pillar to post trying to find immigration to clock out of Brasil, finally the police where the ones to give us an exit stamp, off to the Paraguay side we found customs, they said we needed immigration first so we then found the immigration building and two fat ugly ladies who couldn't be bothered with us...felt like Bolivia again :rofl Now, we read on an internet site we did not need a VISA for Brasil or Paraguay however the two fat ladies insisted we needed VISA and were laughing at us saying we had to go to Iguassu Falls to apply, they took pride in being bitches despite our polite approach to asking for help. Realizing they were not going to help, it was late in the day, we were wet, we were cold and we had had enough we decided to can it, find a hostal, bunk down for the night and forge Plan B Finding a hostal with a hot shower, parking and wifi saw us settle in, warm up and breath and allow us to find out our options :clap It was not looking good with our stator on the other side of the country..... |
Ponta Pora - Let The Magic Begin
Feeling like we had jumped from the frying pan to the fire from Bolivia we were questioning ourselves with a big element of doubt, outside was doom and gloom with miserable weather and very very cold.
I am siting in reception "licking my wounds" per se when a fella who owns a laundry business said something in English, my ears pricked up and I asked, do you speak English and in very good English he replied yes.:clap Now, this is where doom and gloom ended with more power than a nuclear plant. He said four very powerful words with sincerity "do you need help?" well I replied yes we do and the discussion followed, we needed our new stator that was sitting in BMW Paraguay in Asuncion across the other side of the country and we could not get it. No problem he (Aldo) said, I have a Paraguay cellphone and I will be back in 10 minutes, we will ring the guy!!!, so things are now looking up, sure enough within 20 minutes Aldo had organised for our stator to be sent across Paraguay to his Paraguay address saving us $100s in taxes, couriers and import duties. I nearly :cry with joy. He asked what else we needed?, so yes we need a new charger for the lappy and we had been looking for an oil cooler for Maya to help her keep her cool in the slower going stuff. We had a great lunch with Aldo, his wife Sara, and three great kids, thanks guys it was a very warm and homely thing to do. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ora/file-5.jpg Ellen reciprocated the following night with dumplings which went downa real treat, Sara and Ellen with the goodies :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-14.jpg That following morning we were in the car and off illegally into Paraguay (felt good to knowing the two fat ladies didn't know ) to the KTM dealership, the guys were absolutely taken with our ride and insisted we return with the bike for photos, given they too went out of their way we were very happy to go back with Maya, it made their day to see the SE http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ora/file-8.jpg They also had a cuddly KTM dog :evil http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...0Pora/file.jpg They found us an oil cooler from a late model Honda 300, it was second hand but mint condition, although not perfect in size it was all we could get, we had looked all over Bolivia so decided we would make this work, style points not very high but function points 150%, it works a bloody treat In cruzing zig zigs and tight back roads Maya belts out a lot of heat and in 35 - 40 deg days the fans are on a lot so to help keep her cool we added the oil cooler which will help oil and engine life in these hotter parts :clap So, back to our Ponta Pora God Aldo, we needed an engineering shop to fab some brackets and buy some oil hose and clamps. We found one, the owner Wagner said we close at 12 30, it was 10.00am already, talking with Aldo I said not worth starting the job as it will take longer. As quick as a flash, Wagner says hey no problem, take all the time you need and gave me full access to his workshop, he left and came back with the parts, Aldo left and returned with our new stator in hand so today the stars aligned and everything was going to the new plan. This is happiness in a box, thank your Jaime for getting it sorted mate :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-15.jpg The burnt one :eek1:eek1, all 18 poles burnt but it was still working as long as there was no load or very little anyway. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-17.jpg Wagner the shop owner then organised some mates to come over, it was beers, barb que and bullshit all in Portuguese of course.....good times :clap Wagner soon realized he did not have to spoon feed me and we had the tank off, cleaned the air prefilters, fitted the new stator and fabricated brackets for the oil cooler all while eating steaks and drinking coke and beers.... we just needed the dancing girls to finish off a perfect day. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-10.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-11.jpg Wagner is a Jiu Jitsu fighter with lots of international titles to his name, we watched a couple of 10 round fights that were literally over in 60 seconds with knockouts and Wagner not even breaking a sweat ... the dude is good, if Ellen had him that day in Bolivia the would be dead.:clap Ellen with her new found boyfriend ... she had stars in her eyes :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-25.jpg While we had access to the workshop we straightened out Ellens case and racks after our off in Bolivia, having the right tools made it easy, to top it off we were invited to stay and meet their family who were also keen to meet the crazy people from New Zealand riding a motorbike from the top of the world to the bottom of the world...it was cool Aldo and his wife Sara have lived in the USA and Guatemala and had been planning to move to New Zealand or Australia, preferably New Zealand. Now Aldo and his family are practicing Christians and had prayed to the big fella for a sign and guidance, as you may know Ellen and I are not religious but we believe in a higher power than humans as we are not the top of the chain in the universe, what is a higher power we d not know tho. Anyway, after Aldo had helped us without a blink of an eye then we sat down and he asked so where are you from?, ....New Zealand ..... next thing silence (hard to photograph that) and the conversation sparked up all about New Zealand as he wants his two girls to go Medical School there. We helped him with a monumental amount of information only known by locals so to say they were over the moon would be and understatement. In a funny kinda international way where people meet from across the world with a bunch of mutual help it does make the mind think how do these incredible events happen. On a side note and nothing to do with any of this ... yes they do exist, see the engine case name :rofl. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-18.jpg There are massive shops here too as it is a duty free zone, they did not have my colour http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-19.jpg Motos that I can stand over, Wagners mum, she was really cool http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-21.jpg Ponto Pora, funny wee town split by a border that does not exist so you can roam freely to either country, golden hearted people ..... :clap |
What a blessing for Y'all after Bolivia!!! Hats off and hugs your new friends!!:clap:
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Great to read that story Andi and Ellen, you guys needed some good news and great people. I'll be travelling Brazil and Paraguay next year so looking forward to seeing what you find! Loving it in Guatemala at the moment!
Cheers PN |
Awesome Thread Andi & Ellen. Definitely wetting my appetite.
Keep it coming Cheers |
Bravi dos Kiwis ,,
Muchas gracias por photographia magnifico y journale moto aventura. |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Pleased you are in a better place both in mind and location ,love the devils tooth shots,and the owl ,seams racism exists in all countries .Mum is much better ,got the boot splint off her foot today and doctor is very happy with how it is mending ,she now will have physio twice daily from now on .here's hoping she will make a full recovery.great you got your bike sorted in time.Anyhoo have a great week talk latter.YDF Noel.:thumbup1::thumbup1:
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Yeah man so good to feel free again and fee positive energy from the people and surrounding, too much negative crap in Bolivia got me down. Onwards and upwards :thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
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Brasil is good, the people here are very nice and helpful. Paraguay we did not get into as we needed a VISA and the ladies were very unhelpful ... never mind. Only fresh into Brasil seems like the coastal part is the gem, be prepared to have you wallet take a hiding though it is spendie!! Gutemala is cool, we could live there quite easily too. Cheers Andi |
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Thanks for your compliments, definitely some neat places here. Lots more to come :thumbup1::thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
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Usted es amigo de bienvenida, muy bueno tener a lo largo y disfrutar de nuestra aventura. Saludos Andi Heya Joe You are welcome friend, very nice to have you along and enjoy our adventure. Cheers Andi |
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Yes this place has a far nicer effect on you than their neighbours place, what a difference it makes to your mind and body. Great news about your mum too that is nice to hear, pyhsio twice daily will make a huge difference. Again wish her well from us next time you talk to her, most days I think about it as I have a lot of time to contemplate life and what it brings while riding straight roads, what happened to your mum was not good and up there with what happened with Ellen only Ellen has not suffered injuries like your mum. She is a soldier :thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
Ponto Pora To Sao Paulo, Santos And Goin Coastal
Leaving Ponta Pora saw us as sorted as we could get with huge thanks to Aldo and Wagner.
Maya had started missing a bit at lower throttle openings but I didn’t think much of it there other than we must have picked up some dirty fuel which will sort it self out with later fills. Heading to Battaguassu was an easy day, but still cold with the weather system playing a hard game for the day. We decided to stay there for a coupla nights still feeling a little less than idea with both of us still sporting a bit of snot from a generous donor, I think just travel weary and tiredness etc caught us up. The crossing of Rio Paraña http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ulo/file-1.jpg Onwards to Ourinhos, very nice and tidy town with lots and lots of shops, looks like a servicing center for the surrounding area, we tried to find a new water boiler as our one crapped itself in Santa Cruz, plenty of big ones but no traveller size boilers, might have to dodgy something up again.:evil Our last stop before hitting Sao Paulo was Itu, another nice wee town ....no pics though, firstly we forgot the camera and secondly it is just a town. Slabbing it from Itu we dived off the main drag (still on tar though) and took the back road, arriving in Sao Paulo (another nice wee town of 16 million) we picked up our new debt cards and made our way to our couchsurfers place ready for a fun filled few days. Like bits of Europe in places http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ulo/file-3.jpg Edu .. our host, his family lives in Santos at the coast so the plan was to invade his family, terrorize them and we were to stay at Edus sisters apartment, firstly tho was a night on the town on Friday night involving grog, lies and dancing with a little chickie chatting up in between (for Edu not me). How is this for a welcome!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-23.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ulo/file-4.jpg The had a live band (never seen a dead one) and they shouted out English sounds :clap....and well. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ulo/file-7.jpg Not to disappoint it was a 3.30am finish with a skin full of all sorts, dancing and good times.:freaky:freaky Come Saturday morning Edu had bottle flu and was as white as a ghost but with a phone number is hand he was a happy chappy.:wink: Santos, cool coast city and loaded with scenery .... of sorts. Perfect people ... ouwh to be a young punk again :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/.../file-10-1.jpg Some of the older buildings in Santos are having foundation problems, see the leaning towers of Santos ... as an engineering type this spooked me :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/.../file-11-1.jpg This guy has the coolest yellow shirt http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/.../file-12-1.jpg The guy with the cool yellow shirt is still there ... man he can run :rofl:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/.../file-13-1.jpg Then ... the camera played up, no telling when but seems to be mountain shots and clear felling of bushed areas .. gotta sort that out http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-19.jpg Measuring the waves for height :wink: http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-21.jpg The stonework on the walls is well done and standing up well http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-17.jpg Another night at the local, Edu and mates out for fun, we had a few drinks and some dancing then cashed it in, lucky we did as the boys got home at 7.00am.:eek1:eek1 Sunday afternoon while we were out crusing with Edu and family, 4.30 pm we noticed some black smoke from the port, not a good look and turned out to be a monty sugar fire. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-15.jpg Picture from the internet of the damage :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tos/file-8.jpg A picture with the mob. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tos/file-5.jpg View of Santos from the top, pretty cool http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tos/file-4.jpg Some waterfront art at Santos http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tos/file-7.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...antos/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tos/file-9.jpg Edus sister Ana Paula and I http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-12.jpg After successfully terrorizing Edus family Sunday night saw us cruise back to to Sao Paulo. I will add at this point Edus family were outstanding to say the least, very welcoming and warm to the two strays that Edu bought to them, they fed and watered us, the only thing we could do was supply the Coca Cola and Guarana as everything else was done.:clap An uneventful trip saw us safely home, being a school night for Edu bedtime was sought at a reasonable hour. Monday, relax day, we went for a walk and bought some sushi stuff for tea that night and Edu told lies to his boss so he could come home earlier, Ellen made the bulk of the sushi, Edu was the student and I was the official photographer, such was the job done well we celebrated with a bottle of port .....good times. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-10.jpg Selfies :roflEdu was very happy and proud of the sushi:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...lo/file-11.jpg Tuesday we left back out to the coast via a different road then north us the coast via the BR 101, neat coastal road. |
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Did the missing continue? I found the high ethanol content in Brazil required some carb adjustments. Plenty of nice photos in there. :clap: Good memories of Brazil! All the best |
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Yes still having a look around and loving Brasil. I am pretty sure we have water in the fuel as it came on suddenly after a fill, I hope that is the problem, we are fueling up with the good stuff and not the ethanol. Any good advice will be taken :thumbup1: |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Glad you two have found your happy place ,Mum continues to improve ,some short walking now with help of a walking frame . Yes i miss youth a bit too ,haha .no shortage of the lovely ladies so it would seam.anyhoo carry on YDF Noel.:D:D
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Easy to be happy here man, totally different take of life to their neighbours. Good news on ya mum too. Met up with Sheldon, fello Ozzie traveller on a F800 GS with his girlfriend Ev, great people and gonna do some riding with them. Cheers Andi |
Sao Paulo To Paraty To Rio De Janeiro
Leaving Sao Paulo after good times we headed the wrong way over the truckers road to Santos .... was cool tho.
Heading up the BR 101 saw us going coastal, cruising and taking it easy, Maya now running like a bag of shit at lower RPM after the water from the bad batch of fuel made itself at home in the carbs. We put an additive in but it does not seem to be very successful so far, will see the tank through with the cleaner and assess it from there, really trying to avoid lifting the carburetors out as they really are in the heart of the bike and it is a big job. We stayed the first night at Caraguatatuba, the town smaller than its name and nice place to stay, the owner of the hostal a petrolhead having three motos including a 600 Tenere. An easy start to the next day with a walk along the beach (a run for Ellen) then it was was back out on the 101 north along the coast, diving off the main drag saw us go through small seaside villages, very nice wee towns along a piece of paradise. Ellen jogging down the beach http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aty/file-1.jpg Small seaside town and river http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aty/file-5.jpg Trinidade was recommended to us so we took the exist into town, it was quite busy so we decided to carry on out to Paraty Mirim and camp a couple of nights, which turned into four nights as the place was beautiful and we had beaches to ourselves ..... kinda cool. Road out of Trinadade http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...aty/file-3.jpg In Paraty Mirim there is a beautiful waterfall, again we had the whole place to ourselves so a sit in the sun and listen to the water ... tranquilo :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rim/file-2.jpg The waterfall http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rim/file-4.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rim/file-5.jpg At one beach there was a young Kiwi with a Chinese chickie .....having snuggly buggly cos there was no one else around. This pic comes with a health warning ... there are splinters on the deck :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-44.jpg Our intentions for the following day was to head into Paraty township, a historical place and the first settlement in this region for Brasil however we met another couple from Sao Paulo that were staying at the hostel, they invited us for a 1.5 hours walk which turned into 5 hours and walking through stunning areas of prime beachfront lodges, one place was “if you have to ask the price you cannot afford to stay here” place. We nearly couldn't afford to take this photo :rofl:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-22.jpg Stunning place http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-23.jpg Here is our temporary millionaires photo :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-20.jpg Mum nature decided we had enough great weather and she turned on the rain that night and the whole of the following day so Paraty was cold and wet, seems to be the norm every time we hit a tourist town in Brasil. Maya, lonely under a tree and sitting in the rain http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-30.jpg The flooded streets of Paraty http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-35.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-36.jpg The hostel we stayed at in Paraty Mirim, very nice place, pictured here with other guest and thw owner Pedro on the right. If you want to find them, go to www.paratyparadiso.com.br http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...im/file-40.jpg There are these small monkeys here and they are cheekie little buggas but pretty cool, they are the size of a small cat http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rim/file-1.jpg The last 263km stretch to the famous Rio De Janeiro to meet up with Sheldon and Ev, Sheldon is from Ozzie and Ev is an angel sent from Poland, they are travelling on a KTM coloured F800 GS. Rio De Janeiro .....next up. |
G'day Andi and Ellen
seeing the bum shot i thought ,mmm been hanging out with sheldon and ev too long ,i see their stuff on FB a fair bit of the time ,Sheldon is a real Aussie LAD ,makes me laugh with some of his posts ,Ev must be a great sport to put up with him.We have had a spot of much needed rain here too ,took the day off yesterday to drive the 9 hours down to Kingaroy to see my Rhonda .Any hoo as always enjoyed your post YDF Noel:D
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Yeah sorry for spoilin ya day mate :smartass::smartass: Sheldon who :rofl: ... yeah good buggas and great to hang with them, nice to talk to someone who actually understands you too. :thumbup1: Good news on the rain man, always nice to get things growing again. Cheers Andi |
Rio De Janeiro To Itacoatiara
The road up from Paraty very scenic along the coast, the tail end of the cold spell still playing with us and the road damp in places but as the day grew older the temperature climbed again.
Coastal was the order of the day sneaking into Copacabana the back way which was easy given our hostel was just off the main drag in. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...iro/file-3.jpg We had organised to meet up with Sheldon and Ev and they had already booked in to the hostel. On our arrival our booking had been mucked up, the manager who was not there had dropped the ball completely and was quite offensive, we then got the owner Fabio involved who stepped in and sorted it out working everything out to keep everyone happy.:clap It's not easy to find a reasonable priced hostel in Rio with parking, we were very happy with the location and service. http://www.lagoagusethouse.com. We spent the next day going for a tour with Sheldon and Ev who were local enough to know there way round ...outstanding!!!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...iro/file-7.jpg At the top of the hill in the plants Ellen spotted a green butterfly, hadn't seen these before http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...iro/file-8.jpg Me Kiwi, Ellen Chiwi, Ev Polish & Sheldon Ozzie ....slightly international in Rio http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...iro/file-9.jpg Dodgy bemma riders :rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-21.jpg Some interested people at the famous stair in Rio http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-24.jpg We decided to hit it the next day and head north along the coast line, getting out of Rio was interesting with traffic jams and serious heat, poor ol Maya still runnin rough from the crappy fuel so I will have to clean the carbs. Ev and Sheldon http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ro/file-30.jpg We only made it 33 km (big day) ....nearly as far as Itacoatiara when a Suzuki car pulled up beside Sheldon and said where you going?, Sheldon says talk to the guys up front cos they are leading, so the Suzuki pulls up and the dude says where ya going, I replied and said dunno but north and we are turning right here. A quick conversation before the lights changed he said, there is a nice beach etc follow me so we did, we pulled over further down and he said there is a nice beach etc and if you want you can come and stay at my house .... done deal!!! So the beach appeared with scenery walking everywhere .... Sheldon and I stoked at the scenery, Eve and Ellen stoked to be a in a nice place but there was chickie eye candy too so everyone was happy. Paulo (our new found host) took us to back to his house, under the cover was a new 12 Tenere, he is a rider too. Later we found out he had met our friends the World Wide Ride Sara and Dan in Argentina. Ditching the bikie gear we turned into humans and took a walk back to the beach and their local clubhouse which saw us rehydrate and have to go for a swim ... hard times. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...tiara/file.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-1.jpg A walk along the beach netted some great views and the sun warming our backs and to finish a walk to the supermarket to get sushi supplies. There is nice sand here too http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-3.jpg Ev gettin frisky .... (sorry chick you need different parts for that:evil) http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-7.jpg The sand was a different colour at this end of the beach http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ara/file-9.jpg I like yello :eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-12.jpg Some real talent here, if I get into this position call me an ambulance :eek1:eek1 http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-13.jpg Ellens section, apparently this is good swimming sea http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-14.jpg More on Itacoatiara ...... no more beachkini shots though :lol3 |
Page Shortening Post
Needs to be done
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Hopefully last one
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Itacoatiara
We thought it was dirt fuel in Maya, we had a few pops back through the carbs in Bolivia but when we got into Brasil it got worse, we added carb cleaner and meths but it made no difference.
Back track to the Rio post we only made it 33 km (big day) from Rio De Janeiro ....nearly as far as Itacoatiara when a Suzuki car pulled up beside Sheldon and said where you going?, Sheldon says talk to the guys up front cos they are leading, so the Suzuki pulls up and the dude says where ya going, I replied and said dunno but north and we are turning right here. A quick conversation before the lights changed he said, there is a nice beach etc follow me so we did, we pulled over further down and he said there is a nice beach etc and if you want you can come and stay at my house .... done deal!!! Paulo our host took us for a local ride and an inland loop for the day, we had a great ride taking in local places and sights, on the way back we hit some rain as the weather was due to cave in, to correct Sheldons report with our slide we hit a patch of oil or diesel on a corner causing both front and rear to kick out a bit, we were lucky we were not leaned over very far so it was just a reminder to keep the mind on the job. Paulo, Ev, Sheldon, Ellen and I http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-21.jpg This is a picture of a picture, unfortunately the cloud had come over so we did not get to see this from the viewpoint. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-22.jpg Back to the issue closet to my heart at this moment of the bike running badly to the point we did not want to ride any small back roads because it was very hard work and it cannot be good for Maya either. As time moved on it did not get any better so now we are in Itacoatiara and with Paulos contacts we got to Moto Biu, the guy has a great shop and all the tools and we could do all the work ourselves. We set to and removed the carbs for a spiffing clean, there was some gunk in the jets but for nearly 60000 km that is to be expected, a thorough clean netted nothing as far as the bike running badly still popping back through the carbs. Nice and clean now :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-28.jpg At this point we deiced to dig in deeper and have a look as it really could only be valves, spark plugs or colis. The coils were taken out of the equation testing ok, the spark plugs being iridium and only 10000 km old still looked like new and tested ok. Given the start for the big job was the next morning we walked back to the shop catching up with the guys who were heading out on a ride. I was lucky enough to sit on a new red F800 adventure .... yes I did like it, nearly as cool as a KTM :rofl(actually they held me at gun point and forced me to smile to pretend I liked it :lol3) http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-34.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-35.jpg Back to the main job ..... Having gone as deep at the spark plugs we were only one cover away from a valve check so we did that. Shite pic but there you go http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-29.jpg All four exhaust valves were in spec all four inlet valves were so tight they had no clearance .... problem found, the valves were essentially being held almost slightly open causing the popping back through the carbs. This is what concentrated work looks like, I really enjoyed sorting it out properly and doing my own valve job http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-30.jpg My only hope is the valves have no suffered any damage and I guess time will tell. We did though have a very frustrating time as the cam bridge bolts were so heavily overtightened it was ridiculous, we bent and twisted hex head sockets and allen keys along with mauling the heads and having to use a coal chisel to help budge them so I was not seeing the funny side of it at all. Bent :cry http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-32.jpg Twisted :cry http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-33.jpg At 10000 km we should not even had to have been there so I was pretty pissed off, Sheldon did like to take the advantage to pick on KTM but this was a careless mechanic problem who clearly didn’t give a shit, we also discovered some parts that were lost and not fitted to the bike ... so yeah not a KTM problem. Comes time to pay, although we had down 95 % of the work we still used his space and we swapped shims etc, not speaking Portuguese the discussion was held on Goooooogle Translate :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-36.jpg This is the sign of happiness, a KTM back together and running like it should and an owner having accomplished a valve check in Portuguese :rofl:rofl .... picture with m is Biu, top bloke and very very nice and helpful :clap:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-37.jpg Now Maya seems to be running near perfectly again but given the crappy Basilian fuel loaded with additives it is running lean so we fueled it up a little with our flexijets which is great :clap |
Itacoatiara - The Local Happenings And Coastal Ride
When the lads returned from their day out a bar b que was put on down at their local club which was cool, a few drinks and good feed with a relaxing chat to Paulos riding buddies ......good times.
http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-39.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-40.jpg A ride up the coast to Buzios with Paulo and Maya is running like a swiss clock again now that everything is set correctly we enjoyed a great day poking our noses in and out of bays, towns and beaches heading north and enjoying an easy ride sans cases and accom all sorted so a later arrival home not even a concern. Our ride saw us get to Arriaial Do Cabo to the end of the spit before heading up to Buzios which is a very nice gringo town with some slightly large beautiful waterfront homes .... I could easily live there!! http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-71.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-74.jpg The road started getting good but was not that long http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-77.jpg Three trouble makers at the end :rofl:rofl http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-83.jpg Lots of neat places and boas are big here http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-80.jpg Heading home we took the secondary road which was still all paved and good nic, we arrived home just on dusk and geared off for a welcomed hot shower and relax with a rum and filter through the days happenings and photos. Paulo also took us for a ticky tour around the area taking in local viewpoints and attractions part of which was the entrance protection and artillery, the stonework in this building beyond belief with the level of fit and finish. A canon with the famous Jesus in Rio De Janeiro http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-63.jpg Canon height adjustment http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-61.jpg Many canon butts with stunning stone arches http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-59.jpg The HUGE bridge over the harbour in the distance http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-58.jpg The building http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-57.jpg The famous sugarloaf in the distance http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-53.jpg Three trouble makers san moto gear :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-50.jpg To finish off the afternoon we took Paulo out for lunch to a seafood restaurant, the nicest food we have had in months. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-66.jpg All in all a fantastic stay here by accident and generosity which saw us relax, get the bike sorted and take in the beautiful surroundings of Rio De Janeiro, for me an absolute win getting Maya sorted out as there are no KTM dealers or shops here so finding the correct valve shims etc was just demon. I would have to say Rio De Janeiro is probably the most beautiful city in world we have seen because of its abrupt surroundings so to have seen it first hand up close and personal was seriously cool, if you can't get to Rio just watch the movie Fast Five :clap:clap Fast Five on DVD | Trailers, bonus features, cast photos & more | Universal Studios Entertainment Portal Finally, me, Ellen and Ev sitting on top of a rock at the bay just taking it in ... WOH HOH http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-67.jpg |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Great to see the bike is now running properly ,great shots .You may be pleased to know mum is now home ,frustrated by how little she can manage ,but i hope in time she will walk unassisted again.anyhoo looks like you guys are in a happy place ,Until next time YDF Noel:D
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Great news about your mum :thumbup1: Yeap nice to have Maya running sweet again for. Now for some moto petrolheadism Brasilian style Cheers Andi |
Buzios - Moto Petrolhead Weekend
3rd annual rally being held at Buzios, looking like a good place to hang for a couple of days with fello Brasilian petrolheads.
Saying good bye to Paulo after spending 10 days relaxing and sorting out the valve issue we were sorted and set.:clap We also had our last night there with Daniel (Paulos Nephew), Sheldon and Eva enjoying a nice feed made by Eva, onya guys. :freaky You know all us dodgy buggas, Daniel is wearing the big smile at the head of the table. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ra/file-16.jpg A cruzy ride on a nice day up the coast saw us arrive with plenty of time to spare, we needed it as the event had seen ALL the accommodation within a bulls roar already taken.:eek1 Arriving to Buzios to a hot fine day was great too. We were looking to camp as Buzios is a gringo town and priced accordingly, finding the event Ellen asked about the rally and the camping, a great young fella took Ellen (but bought her back) :huh :evil and showed us the camping site, an under cover basket court ... alright, no ants, flat and a roof, saweet.:clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-36.jpg After the above photo was taken it packed out completely and the tents were wall to wall. Set up and sorted we talked with the guys running the camp to pay them, nope, camping for motos and their crazy owners is free, well that sounded bloody good to me.:clap A quick walk around town and a visit back to the rally site to get grounded we left Maya parked there... then tried to leave to have a look around .... no way .....people flocked around to see the orange alien amidst cruisers, sports and adv bikes, Maya looking slightly odd in amongst the normal bikes.:rofl The moment the stunters were on we managed to get a pic as everyone flocked to the street to watch them http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-13.jpg We were given stickers, hugs, chats, photos and 99% in Portuguese and our version of Portugringolish ....and it worked.:freaky ... just add grog and a smiles .... fluent in 5 :lol3 As night settled in so do the rock band, the lead singer a true blue sure bet hard core rocker dude with a hair do longer than a Bolivianos face. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-17.jpg The man in action http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ios/file-9.jpg No drink driving tolerance here (although they all do it), so a decision was made to leave Maya safety guarded by thousands of Brasilians who knew of the bike and the loose nuts riding it and pretty much everyone said "we will keep an eye on her", the rally organiser meeting us and assuring us that it will be untouched. I walked Ellen back to camp at about 10 pm and set too back at the site with more rum and guarana, eating greasy moto rally food and having fun, the band had finished and most people were leaving so I joined the masses but when leaving the exit gate I was summoned to the sideline with “are you going home”, me yes, “wait 1 minute” ... me OK. 1 minute late someones bike comes out with the same rider that took Ellen away (but bought her back) :huh :eek1 :wink: and he had a spare helmet, jump on I will take you home he says.:clap Well at about 3 something am with wobbly boots that seem to be out of balance (must get them checked) it was a great option. Next day was a total rally and Buzios day, we had been invited to a bar b q at 1.00 pm just outa town which was cool. Just on 9.00 am a big Harley dude the size of a dump truck came over and pointed to a gate and said breakfast is being served.... turns out that FREE breakfast is included with your FREE camping along with your FREE rally entry.... this is very different to what we are used to in New Zealand but were loving it as the rest of Brasil has been torturing our budget.....and will continue to. The bar b q, it took a bit of finding cos the streets have no names but we found it eventually and enjoyed an afternoon of food and chats with the lads before heading back to the rally site. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-38.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-39.jpg Again back at the rally it was more chats photos, really neat meeting these guys, they are the same as Kiwis with their passion for motos. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-16.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-22.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-26.jpg We also had an interview with the guy who does all their video and TV stuff as he was interested in us, seems we were the only travellers there and we saw only one other KTM which was a white 990 adventure but was not at the rally itself, KTM here in Brasil has a very small following due to NO dealerships or parts so if something epic goes wrong with Maya we are ****ed.:eek1 Back to it, see this vid at 21 seconds and at 7 minutes for TMK TV special, we will be signing T shirts and baptizing babies next time.:rofl <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/etgmu0HNbqU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> To finish this is the vid we made of our take on Buzios, all in all an epic weekend of coolness. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EVqky8JtSfA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> A few misc pics, none really need explaining Bloody Minimal Womans clothing http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ios/file-2.jpg The cadillac bar http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ios/file-4.jpg Some guys who need to learn how to ride http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ios/file-7.jpg The food area, what a great setup http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-12.jpg Corrected :D http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-15.jpg Night Falcon, one for you mate!! ...put this into goooooogle translate :clap http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-19.jpg Cool motos http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-21.jpg Drunken bums http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-24.jpg More interesting motos http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-41.jpg http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-42.jpg 12 Tenere with a BMW beek .. looks good I reckon http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-43.jpg This was common sight to the two obvious aliens, onya guys you made us feel very welcome, sorry for the sea scud on the lense http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...os/file-47.jpg After the rally we meet with Kamilla, a F800 GS riding Brasilian chickie ...:evil |
Looks brilliant ,so Brazil is expensive ? or just compared to other south American countries?anyhoo not much new here ,went to a car/bike show today some nice stuff there including a 1914 Triumph Junior .till next time YDF Noel:D
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Brazil is expensive, moving to European pricing, more expensive than the USA, a new KTM is $100,000.00 Reals so about $50,000.00 USD ... I think we might sell Maya here :innocent: :nono: BMW 12 LC $88,000.00 so about $44,000.00 USD. Across the board it is spendie so yeah a bit of a budget beater, also it is husge, 32 x teh size of NZ so everything is a long way. 1914 Triumph ... beautiful, love the old dolls. Cheers Andi |
Kamilla - Brasil Biker
Leaving Buzios after a cool moto petrol head weekend we headed to Kamillas mums place with a real bed, sheets and all the home comfys a tent does not offer … it was also quiet.:clap
Arriving at Kamillas we were welcomed in, set up and we unpacked the tent etc to dry out as we were given a superb afternoon. Kamilla has a F 800 GS in white which she was busy paying lots of needed attention too giving it a big wash and polish. Not just being able to stand around and watch I helped polish the bike too, nce to be able to help polish a bike that comes up nice, Maya does not have that redeeming feature and still looks a little more animal being used and dirty looking. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5584/...be4e79af_b.jpgIMG_1161 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I took the opportunity to do some minor cleaning and adjustments with a relaxing afternoon on the cards coupled with a bar b q and grog … perfect moto day. The following day we rodeo Kamilla house in Novo Friburgo stopping by a lake that locals know of (we would have ridden straight past not knowing) to have fresh fish lunch. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...c0d62fbd_b.jpgP1190379 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/...079f6e0f_b.jpgP1190385 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This was a 12 km dirt road in good mic other than some potholes, Kamilla had changed her springs out to lower her GS so this was the trial run which proved not so good with here forks bottoming out of some potholes and leaving the front suspension very doughy on the road. This shook her confidence a bit and she still had her original springs at home. Once at her place and sorted I set too and changed her fork springs back to the std ones which is what she wanted, no point in waiting for the mechanic and in 15 minutes they were changed and done, I could not do the shock spring as we did not have a spring compressor. Having our local tour guide on a shiny GS Kamilla took us on various back roads and small towns, her intention was to spend a few days riding north with us however a small family emergency finished that so we only had the one day to play. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/...e3e01886_b.jpgP1190405 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3921/...431cdf4e_b.jpgIMG_1178 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr She led us to Duas Barrias where we enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the valley, we than said goodbye to Kamilla and we stayed in town for the night, as she left the weather caved in and we were treated to a monty thunderstorm. At the lunch spot https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5577/...40bd84a0_b.jpgP1190454 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Kamilla and Ellen relaxing in the hammocks https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/...63a6b056_b.jpgP1190452 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Good day out cruising the back blocks, thanks you Kamilla :clap A small home movie we made <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/f9HLRFKg0DA?list=UUUWSEK72QNOA-Fi4yYzGIbA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe> |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Nice shots as always ,so good to have some local help ,i really try hard to welcome travelers to my place ,i'm sure i get more out of the visits than they do .My last visitor was Belinda Sinclair (Belle) very good mate of Tiffany Coates ,English also ,she has just done Australia on a postie ,she has ridden all over the world ,very interesting lady .Anyhoo until next time YDF Noel:D:D
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G,day Andy and Ellen, seems you guys having quite an adventure, you have taken some great photo,s since I visited this thread last. Andy, I enjoyed the pictures of the ladies, keep it up mate, How are you going with the KTM seems you had few issues with it, And has it been easier going two-up? Anyway keep safe Bro, Cheers, Roger.
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Yeh local help is essential mate, you can go all sorts of place to find out you could have had better places so local knowledge is kingpin. We are the same in New Zealand, drag moto travller and pushbikers off the street and always results in good times. Postie bike.... I had one but probably would not choose it for RTW travel but people still do it even on steppies. Cheers Andi |
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Thanks for your props on the photos, just want to record our trip the best we can with the gear we have and it is working ok. The ladies ... I didn't like them either .. to hard on the mind and imagination doh:clap: The KTM, well it would seem like a lot of issues but more to the point the problems were exacerbated by the introduction of "professional" Bolivians etc. Every time we have taken our bike to a stealership I have ended up mopping up the mess down the track, now I am insistent on doing the work myself and it will not be in a KTM stealership where this is not allowed, I have grown a huge distrust to anyone who wants to touch the bike. Two up is easy enough on the SE, long wheelbase, torquey engine and great suspension means back roads and some off road is not a big issue, sandpits are still a prob just because of weight etc, at least I don't have to watch my mirrors all day for Ellen too. Cheers Andi |
Page Shortening Post
Hopefully one :innocent:
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Ok, 2 ..sorry
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Alright, 3, this time!!!
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Duas Barrias To Ouro Preto To Diamantina …The Estrada Real
Ok, f i n a l l y wifi worthy of photo support.
We were going to take the back roads and stay off the main drag but mum natures radical display of thunder, lightning and heavy rain that night finished that, Brasil has red clay which in Kamillas terms is “like riding on wet soap”, she is right it is slippery as. Backtracking slightly we met a great guy in Rio De Janeiro, Raf Kiss, turns out he knows some other dodgy advers as well, we got an updated tracksource map of Brasil and many pointers on where to go up this neck of the woods, onya Raf, great information which has made our trip better. You can find his website here 9 days on Brazil's Estrada Real - A mix of History, Culture and Natural Beauty (Part 1)Brazil Road Trips and if you want great info on Brasil then this is for you. Relegated to the tar seal saw us riding in full wets, it was very wet and very cold … something we were not used to given the previous temperatures we had been experiencing. Yes these clouds did do nasty things :D https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3892/...c747d9a7_b.jpgP1190467 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our task for the day was to make it north to Ouro Preto (Black Gold), a very nice and very old town and being 420 km away was huge day for team TMK. The odd section of road and bridge being rebuilt just to keep us on our toes https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/...59d872c0_b.jpgP1190473 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Ouro Preto was an easy day it turned out being 100 % great quality tar for the most, we were threatened with ominous clouds later in the day as well but they only frowned at us luckily, we found a hotel which was made in 1740 …. cool place with great wifi and parking for Maya.:clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5583/...c7dab251_b.jpgIMG_1183 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr There was a concert on as well while we there, we did get up to see the talent to find it wasn’t quite what we thought it would be, good all the same. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/...8a334941_b.jpgIMG_1272 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Spending the day in Ouro Preto we took the place in with its stunning architecture of hundreds of year back so the depth of history being a major player in the place. The sun did come and out and shout us an outstanding sunset across the town https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3888/...ab6940b7_b.jpgIMG_1188 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A waiter in a restaurant, beautiful buildings here. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5589/...11eb610b_b.jpgIMG_1259 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Leaving Ouro Preto in the wet again (we are getting used to this) we continued on the Estrada Real, mostly on the tar but the first “shortcut” on the old trail, this section only 8 km long so the work level skyrocket for me and Maya slipped and slid around on the damp paste, lucky not many other vehicle had been on it or it would have ended in tears. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3922/...ed940d21_b.jpgP1190494 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We stepped off the main road and followed some of the original trails, for the most of it they are narrow dirt roads with a few signs explaining the locality and the happenings … all in Portuguese of course. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5556/...bc691a37_b.jpgP1190542 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Some of these roads are 100% red Brasilian clay and so red they almost look fake, the red dust coats the close by trees and anything else) with a very red tinge. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5580/...6d0edfec_b.jpgP1190599 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The easy day on mostly tar again saw us arrive in plenty of time to Diamantina, that next. |
Diamantina
Diamantina, a similar town to Ouro Preto but felt nicer for us, some places you just gel with easier and this was one of them.:clap
Ellen did the usual go find a hostel, hotel or dumpster bin to sleep in, while she was away I managed to attract the attention of a local bar owner, the bar called “Gringos”, now he saw me sitting and waiting in the heat and bought over bottle of water gratis and gave it to me, onya mate really appreciated that!! ….also attracted the attention of the Police who simply asked if I needed help, at the same time Eduardo came up and was photographing Maya and he speaks English so with his help we explained we were just looking for a place to stay. :clap The town, beautiful and well kept https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/...f0b51845_b.jpgIMG_1292 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We did get sorted, the courtyard a little tight with Maya filling up a good bit of it. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3891/...ce700214_b.jpgIMG_1294 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Eduardo was there on his Honda Varadero 1000, very nice guy so we caught up with him that night taking a bottle of rum and fizz to chat over, we also joined him in a sightseeing tour the following morning, good times. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3911/...4c63050d_b.jpgIMG_1274 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/...c9c14e93_b.jpgIMG_1277 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr While walking around in Diamantina I spotted a hot Asian chick so took her photo :evil https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/...945c6003_b.jpgIMG_1303 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We had been struggling to keep water in the header tank in Maya so decided something wasn’t right, there were a few options, blown head gasket :huh :cry, cracked head :huh :huh :cry :cry or failing water pump. The water pump had 60000 km on it so was a contender and as that is what we could fix easily having a spare on board that was the first option, the others expense wise would be a show stopper for us. Our hostel man pointed us to a moto shop, turned out to be a Yamaha shop. On the Monday morning we went in and politely asked (via our Goooogle translate and big smiles) if we could use their workshop to do a waterpump job and we would buy 4 liters of oil, 2 liters of antifreeze and grease etc from them, we needed a hammer and circlip pliers, everything else we have to do the job.:clap They agreed welcoming us in, they were keen to help and very good to us (the theme of Brasil) so I set too ripping Maya to pieces to sort it out, Ellen went to the shop and bought them some guarana fizz drink which they appreciated too.:clap:clap Many faces came and went during the day looking at the monster on the bike lift and the gringo getting greasy fixing her. :D The shop is Edvel Motos in Diamantina, Diamantina : Edvel Motos (Yamaha) these guys were seriously helpful to us allowing us some space in their workshop, they have a good selection of parts etc too, if in the town or close and needing something these guys rock.:clap:clap Although the water pump shaft looked plus or minus ok we successfully fixed the it with a new kit complete. The crew https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3870/...2d2a9592_b.jpgP1190621 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Maya on the surgical table https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3856/...8ddc2b9a_b.jpgP1190617 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The waterpump, although the shaft looked +/- ok we replaced the lot being that far in. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5582/...7932502f_b.jpgP1190619 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A huge thanks to Edvel Motos, yet again saved by a Brasilian Yamaha shop :rofl To finish this section of the Estrada Real a small vid we made, not hell exciting Red Bull stuff but its what we did. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/f0QThxtMTCQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> |
G'day Andi and Ellen
Brazil looks amazing ,and very friendly too by the look of things .so what do you think the water pump was doing? is there water in the sump?surly there would be a leak out of the tell tale hole on the water pump? Not giving you a hard time just interested .Nice pic's as always .one week and a bit till i have a break away ,going to HU Brisbane (on my Varadero) ( Beaudesert ) about 1000km for me can not wait ,then Rhonda and i will do a trip to the south(4x4) and up the great ocean road to Adelaide through the outback and home .anyhoo until next time YDF Noel:D
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Yeap Brasilians right up there with Colombians for friendly and helpful, seriously nice change after Bolivia. Waterpump was the seal, both sealing edges were rounded thus not doing the full seal, the other bearing had a small amount of movement, not sure if that was cause or result tho. There will have been water in the oil but the oil was still well coloured and felt good, nonetheless we changed it out anyway, it actually takes less than 1 % of water in the oil to turn it milky so it tells you how much there wasn't in the oil which is cool co yes I do worry about shit like that too :thumbdown: On the 950 SE or LC8 engines there is no tell tale hole unfortunately, that would make it real easy, the water instead goes through the seal, through the pump bearings and into the engine, sometime if a seal lets go quickly the oil and water emulsify and you end up with white gooey oil and a latte mix around the clutch being the biggest stirrer in there. Me being anal about everything I notice changes early and look for the reason, I am a kind of a mechanical nutta but I love it, this incredible attribute I have (apart from being extremely good looking :innocent:) saved the day from more damage :D Great stuff going to the HU meeting and a nice distance, easy as on the Varadero, funny this, today we are meeting up with a guy that we met 2000 km north of Rio De Janeiro and he has a Varadero as well ... but he is a nice guy :smartass: And the 4 wheelin, love that too, miss that from travelling on a moto, in NZ we have some 4x4 buds for playing in the mud. Ok, time to hoon now so we can catch up with our man. Catch up next time Noel, be safe and keep the rubber side down mate :clap: Cheers Andi |
Diamantina Done And Dusted, Itaobim Here We Come
Completing Diamantina we headed to Itaobim, the road in various states of repair, disrepair and dirt compete with few sandpits.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3877/...3e056d3d_b.jpgP1190640 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3845/...aa461a25_b.jpgP1190646 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The day was Foooookin hot and the temperature around 45 deg C, Maya was sitting at 5 bars out of 7 most of the day, Ellen and I also feeling it and drinking 90% of our 4 liters on board. :eek1 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/...2b6ab367_b.jpgP1190649 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Arriving at Itaobim we found a hostel straight away which was easy, as we seem to be in fix everything mode at present we spotted a small moto shop, needing some brake hose copper washers we had tried many places but nothing, these guys, yeap!!!:clap We established they were all part of the hostel, restaurant, moto parts and moto repair shop family. Fabio was very keen to help us given we were staying at his families hostel so we set too, changed the washers and bleed the brake successfully which was cool.:clap:clap On completion my day was undone as I realized we had a back flat, 99040 km without a flat wasn’t bad, it had to happen some time, because all the air was at the top I just turned it around but all the air went back to the top, it was clear we needed to buy a tin of heavier air. I pulled the wheel out then using a vice we broke the bead and proceeded to remove the tire and found the offender, a small nail through the top of the tire and a corresponding hole in the tube. This is my not impressed look :D https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/...3f9f0586_b.jpgP1190650 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Let the wrestling match begin :rofl https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3848/...3b633ddb_b.jpgP1190652 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The little bastid which ruined my day https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5593/...bb08cf82_b.jpgP1190654 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Fabio quick as a flash prepped the tire and tub, patched the tube and we stuck it all back together, 15 minutes and we had her done, no need to buy a tin of heavier air. :rofl Came to pay the bill, they said no charge, we had paid for the washers and oil etc prior and I think they felt sorry for us so gratis was the word, the following morning we bought a 2.5 liter cold Coca Cola and gave it to the lads, they were very appreciative of that as the place is foookin hot, hand shakes and well wishes we headed to Barra Da Estiva just short of the national park. Now for the upside of getting a flatty .. yes it is true it was a good thing. When I removed the wheel I found the seal had chopped out and the right hand side bearing was pretty unhappy, as it turned out the bearing cage was just coming apart so we caught it at the 11th hour and 59th minute, we still had 60 seconds left so plenty !!! :evil With no bearings in this town we stuffed it full of grease and rode quietly on, only 12 km up the road there was an auto shop and bingo, we changed it there and then. This is the difference ... not much as you can see :rofl https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/...0ca4b04e_b.jpgP1190661 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Good luck or bad luck, for me both, we found a potential issue before it held us up ... good luck, we did 99040 without a flat ....bad luck ....would have been nice to have cracked 100k :lol3 |
Barra Da Estiva To Chapada Diamantina National Park
Escaping Barra Da Estiva (nothing to show) we headed for the park along the big straights then we took a shortcut gravel road that turned into single track sand at one point, serious bright red dirt again in patches then back to sand as quick as that and the sand changed from bright yellows to dull browns, although it was not a hard road it made for interesting travelling because of the vast changes in colour.
From this https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/...1c593988_b.jpgP1190687 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr To this https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3865/...1918c7ca_b.jpgP1190703 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We did however have two minor tank slappers in the sandpits which filled the gruds, this part testing my skills :eek1 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5563/...33c6c92f_b.jpgP1190716 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr More sandpits https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/...105abff0_b.jpgP1190717 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5571/...32ceb678_b.jpgP1190721 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3843/...3a96547b_b.jpgP1190731 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Crossing an array of dry riverbeds, small bridges and sandpits (as above) we made it to Caete Acu or Vale do Capão (lots of places here in Brasil have different names, makes it harder to find on the map), soon to be home for three nights as we enjoyed the national parks offerings, as luck would have it in true tradition of us going to a tourist place the weather caved in.:cry Home for 3 nights, private bathroom and a kitchen to cook, undercover parking for the Mayan https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3853/...6c17c09b_b.jpgIMG_1314 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We did a walk to the worlds 2nd highest waterfall (yes …another one!!!!) called Trilha Da Fumuça. The weather was shit, cold and foggy, given the day before was 45 degrees C we left in shorts and t shirts only to find when we got to the plato at the top the rain was coming in sideways propelled by the wind which was cool enough. We made it to the waterfall but no epic views as it was foggy and raining, the waterfall not doing much either from the previous dry spell, can’t win them all unfortunately, the highlight talking with a dude from Salvador (the town) who owns a BMW 1200 GS which was parked at the bottom of the hill. See down in the pic the waterfall https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3891/...b4ef4c2d_b.jpgIMG_1319 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This is what we should have seen https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3911/...4f9d82e6_b.jpgFumaça by twomotokiwis, on Flickr It did not feel scary cos we could not see over the side so it was safe :huh :D https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/...41f7850a_b.jpgIMG_1322 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Coming back into town some,linemen were cutting trees away from the powerlines and they had some Jackfruit from the trees cut, they cut a chunk off with a machete and gave us some, I love the stuff but it has a very latex style glue inside which a lot of people can't be bothered with. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...500acfc5_b.jpgIMG_1334 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Spider man Kiwi style :evil https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5557/...ea5a819e_b.jpgIMG_1336 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Trying our luck the next day Maya took us 6 km to the head of the valley which lead us to two waterfalls, not very big but very nice place to sit and relax in the sun/cloud and a very popular spot indeed. Ellen snuck in a quick skinny dip (called Purificaçao waterfall ) just before the masses arrived, hereya Trevor Ellen topless for you mate!!! :rofl https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5555/...09a57fb3_b.jpgIMG_1341 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/...f78b562e_b.jpgIMG_1356 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Some of the abrupt valley walls, mind boggling standing there feeling very insignificant https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5580/...d13cc073_b.jpgIMG_1363 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr With this side of the park done what we wanted to see our next move was to Lencios, only 11 km as the crow flies, 76 km by moto. |
Lencios - Chapada Diamantina National Park
Lencois
Finishing at Capão we rode around the corner (76km) via dirt, sand and tar to arrive in Lencois, a little more touristy but a very nice place all the same. A symbol along the road section https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5592/...7949ebc4_b.jpgP1190776 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We were looking for an economic hostal when three men passed by … and talked English, they asked do you need help, we said well yeah we need a hostel or Pousada, turns out one guy owned a Pousada and said come have a look. Well it was slightly out of town (3 minutes walk), very quiet, moto parking, so so wifi and the price was right, we were in. We had only just settled in and were sitting checks e’s after being wfiless for a few days when I heard a sound, an odd sound for that area, I was sure it was a V twin. Curiosity got the better of me and I checked it out, poking my head out the gate and down the road there was an 1190 KTM Adventure R parked on the road. Time to check it out, so I met the owner and we discussed his bike etc before saying we were next door on our SE. He came and checked out our hostel as the parking was way easier, he ended up taking a room there as he is kicking around fr another month or so …because there is a woman involved … typical. Martin Leonhardt is his name and he has been on the road for 11 months so far. The first day in Lencios was market day so a huge fruit market, perfect timing for us so we made the most of it. Armed and dangerous with bananas we rode out to the blue pools, the afternoon clearing up in fine fashion presenting us with a cave all to ourselves for about an hour, stunning, peaceful, cool and a nice place to sit and observe the color changes within the water and limestone walls, these days you know you are alive. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5581/...d784ced8_b.jpgIMG_1379 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Just stunning, I was stuck for words watching this unfold in front of us https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3908/...e0cab8c1_b.jpgIMG_1401 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3861/...15ed5c73_b.jpgIMG_1387 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A couple from northern Brasil came to the cave, she was beautiful with colourful clothing which made a quite a statement and with the contrast of the cave colours and backround ...well here she is, I love this photo. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/...e8254813_b.jpgIMG_1460 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr On the way back we took a shortcut to be nosy, it was anything but a shortcut and yet again I have not learned to stay on tarmac. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/...204c6cd9_b.jpgIMG_1477 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr To finish a pleasant and sunny avo we sat at the base of a long waterfall ( name Poço do Diabo : Devio’s pool) and pond which Ellen made the most of. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5561/...2360076c_b.jpgIMG_1504 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Sossego Falls, that was the plan for the next day, mum nature turned on a fantastic day, the walk 7 km along an easy track with some rock hopping at the last 3/4 km to the end. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/...989270b6_b.jpgIMG_1549 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3836/...64df3993_b.jpgIMG_1553 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The reward was water to swim in and sun to sit under, what a treat another reminder we are alive and well. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5558/...7e017008_b.jpgIMG_1524 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr There was some other people there this time so not quite having it to ourselves but the scenery was nice to look at so ….not too bad eh. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/...f7a72bcd_b.jpgIMG_1541 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Now purely by accident from the shot above .... anyway you get the picture (if you look harder) ... you can see the natural grain of the branches ...was that a lucky shot or what https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3887/...3fb6c30f_b.jpgIMG_1541 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Back to the programme Ellen enjoyed here swim and climb behind the waterfall https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3879/...f5abba3a_b.jpgIMG_1540 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A nice walk back into town and a quick visit to the waterfalls or more like a huge natural slide called Ribieroa do Mieo at the end of our street where again Ellen went for a dunk and I utilized the sun to recharge my solar panel. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/...dc415c41_b.jpgIMG_1565 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr All in all Lencois a fantastic place to visit and well worth the stop, in fact the whole Chapada Diamantina National Park is excellent. Itacaré next, gone coastal again. |
Lencois The Town
Just some local town photos and with Martin and his 1190 keeping Maya company.
Martin with Ellen, Martins webpage Freiheitenwelt › Martin Leonhardt || Fotografie | Outdoor | Abenteuer | https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/...6f4397d1_b.jpgP1190783 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Local music groups playing in town https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...72a90ef4_b.jpgIMG_1568 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Any alleyway with bars, pubs and restaurants, very nice place. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5553/...47c9247b_b.jpgIMG_1570 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We were there on a full moon and a clear night, lucky!! https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3870/...00cc24f4_b.jpgIMG_1370 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
Can't believe you guys are still living life on the road, great pics, like the branch grain! I've been back to work 9 months now, time to start planning again, keep living the dream:scooter:
Gino |
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Yes we are still slaving away ...its awful :innocent: ... yes branch grain was nice bier Will keep going although the end is in sight for us, we head home around next May and back to work :thumbdown: Cheers Andi |
Chapada Diamantina To Itacare .... A Trip In Itself
Leaving the National Park happy campers after being served up mum natures best eye candy caves, waterfalls ... and tree branches we hit it to Itacare.:clap
The plan was to ride the road from Lencios south beside the park, we started out with the road turning into a dirt track as expected and as we progressed in got narrower into a 4 x 4 only width with sandpits and obstacles. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3905/...296cd012_b.jpgP1190789 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5553/...3cc9f757_b.jpgP1190825 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Approaching a river it was clear it was getting a little harder, a digger was busy making the crossing easier but that was no use to us. and we took an alternate crossing which was easier but still sloppy with slimy stuff so crossing it was hard wok as my original chosen line was taken out of my hands pretty quick. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3843/...f54e8a4d_b.jpgP1190791 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3876/...75e662d1_b.jpgP1190796 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The exit was sandy and very very soft making it interesting. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/...b676c200_b.jpgP1190823 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr More small creeks with grease to make it interesting https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/...7384c8b1_b.jpgP1190800 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Having completed that we continued on and it progressively got worse, after a section of about 300 meters of sandpits we dropped into a sandy creek bed and were confronted with what appeared to be more soft sand. I took an investigatory look to find out how soft it was, there was also lots of it, actually for as far as I could see which would have been 300 - 400 meters easy….hmmm degree of difficulty getting beyond fun. (Metal Jockey sand two up) A stone stepped section which was welcome traction .... amazing what you think is great when things get bad :rofl https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...7f846ce2_b.jpgP1190818 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3873/...eb29c388_b.jpgP1190819 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/...261baa76_b.jpgP1190817 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr After thinking it was improving it started to get a little soft :eek1 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3918/...e39a59b1_b.jpgP1190804 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Then the deal breaker https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2944/...bc4897e6_b.jpgP1190810 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Making a trackside executive decision to turn back at this point and wanting to make some ground today this track was not going to cut it. Stinking hot, we were wet with sweat and the weather was turning bad so time to put tail between legs and turn around 8-( … you don’t want to be caught mid track on the red clay as it is like riding on soap.:eek1 Suddenly this looked like a motorway and we were happy to be on it :rofl https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...e925258e_b.jpgP1190812 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Retracing our steps back to town we nearly made it back to cobbled street before the rain struck and it came down in buckets, all through town and to the petrol station we got washed. Tanking up we continued head on into heavy rain, the good thing here is it comes in fast and usually goes away fast, today was similar but it did hang round a bit longer washing Maya and us, at least it was not cold. Deciding to bust our near 500 km ride to Itacare into two days we took the back way away from the truck laden main drag, of the 350 km we did that day nearly 200 km was on clay roads and sandy tracks and very harsh rock surfaces … a little more than we wanted but we had time up our sleeve so no worries. Anyway lost some potholes cos we found em :lol3 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3841/...732d05ca_b.jpgP1190827 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Then a couple hundred km of this, https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3859/...73564cd0_b.jpgP1190830 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...662f1b65_b.jpgP1190846 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr ..and this, sandpits now and then to keep us awake :evil https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/...2b8df305_b.jpgP1190851 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The following day was the leg down to Itacare to meet up with Gail again, easy ride down on tar until we took a shortcut on a neat wee dirt road. When we started on that section it was sunny and hot, 15 km into the 30 km road it got dark then the clouds popped … this time we were mid ship on a red clay track …. our worst nightmare. Dropping the pace on the paste was in order and Maya was squirreling around and a handful to keep upright, continuing on slowly we made steady progress in and out of pot holes, and water flowing across the road, it actually became easier with the heavy rain turning the road to slush rather than hard top clay with a greasy surface (Soap). Eventually we made it back to the BR101 and tar which was a relief having made it without dumping us or the bike, a quick scoot down the 101 and out to Itacare to find Gail. :clap Itacare next, very nice place and a catchup with fello hooligan and RTW traveler Gail :clap |
Painting the picture.
Thankyou for the fabulous posts and pics, I see that KTM knew you were coming, they appear to have painted the roads for you:-))
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You are welcome my friend, yes pretty cool getting personalized roads :clap: ...we would have to be careful where we park the bike or we may not se it again :smartass: Cheers Andi |
Itacare
Mission was to find Gail, this time Mrs.Garmin was correct to the mm. Easy parking, easy to find, easy to our room.....the perfect landing which does not happen often.:clap
Arriving early in the day meant we could use the rest of it for sight seeing and beach time talking travel, bikes and beach scenery. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3898/...9eabff93_b.jpgIMG_1604 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Check out this little dude https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/...b633e625_b.jpgIMG_1590 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The late afternoon sun with background cloud creating some spotlights to highlight the view, pretty neat really. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/...4724ebfa_b.jpgIMG_1596 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Gail was still suffering an ankle injury from a small binning in Bolivia so an easy slow walk was in order and Gail enjoying being able to start and exercise it again after seeing a witch doctor / janitor / local surgeon / someone who nodded and said nothing broken....all in silence or Portuguese...the same really for us :rofl Hitting beaches was cool, very relaxed place with a great feel to it and surfers making to most of the waves from the southern breeze whipping up a serving of fun for them. Ellen busy taking photos again of young six packers relaxing https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...c537d82b_b.jpgIMG_1575 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Discussing places to go etc saw Gail heading north to Lencios and us heading south to Arraial d' ajuda, for both of us a hoon down the tar. There are guys on the beach with little coal fires from which you can buy grilled cheese etc, pretty neat https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3851/...4604cb4e_b.jpgIMG_1644 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr It is a very tranquil place to sit, relax and take in the surrounding, we were not the only ones take a moment or two to appreciate our surrounding, also Ellen likes this tatoo https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/...bdacfe3c_b.jpgIMG_1637 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr As dusk unfolded so do the change light of the day with the added guest of a small rainbow lining the sky. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3849/...2ae03bb0_b.jpgIMG_1630 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The sunset finishing a great day of chats, drinks and amigos.:clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5594/...eee8c5e6_b.jpgIMG_1616 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
Itacare To Rio De Janeiro
Leaving Gali and Itacare were set to down the tar, we met up with Adriana who we had met at the Buzios Rally and stayed 3 days there again taking in some beach time.
On arrival Mrs.Garmin had sent us astray with 3 streets having the same name and both we had in were incorrect, we parked behind a white F800gs and the owner came out to greet us with enthusiasm which was cool, he contacted Adriana for us and few minutes later she arrived on her NX400 Honda to lead us back to her place. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3917/...4d988f3f_b.jpgIMG_1707 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5594/...c682ef1e_b.jpgIMG_1699 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Ellen out on the reef https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3908/...6bf4630e_b.jpgIMG_1652 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The port area to Porto Seguro https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...eaa9eba5_b.jpgIMG_1669 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr From Adrianas we again set off south down the BoRing 101, this unfortunately is a truck infested toll road however we needed to make some ground, our lower steering head bearing needed some work with the bottom bearing suffering 66000 km of hard work and starting to show signs of wear with a notch in the center so heading back to Rio to MotoBiu's to buy some bearings and seals from him as he had helped us prior, nice to support those that have supported us.:clap:clap We decided to do front wheel, back wheel and steering bearings all at the same time and be done so this will see us to the finish of our trip. (that is awful to say :cry) Vitoria, a moto bar b q was on and we tried to find it but with no luck, the waterfront is huge so it was like trying to find a KTM in Brasil :rofl, giving up on that we took our turn inland via another national park which was a back road treat after the 101, we really wanted to turn right heading deeper into the park but we were sitting on the edge of a big rain and in the middle of a red clay soap road on 90% spent "tireds" ... most of the black bits that stick out already gone so we opted out to the main road for a short stint. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5565/...9bcb935c_b.jpgP1190932 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I think there might be an election coming :eek1 :huh https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2943/...e6cc1c6b_b.jpgP1190938 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Again turning off we hit a very nice wee back road through to Nova Friburgo to Lumiar which was our destination, we wanted to catch up with Kamilla as well on our way through but she was sway so timing did not permit. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3891/...884e8112_b.jpgP1190872 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr In Lumiar we stayed at a hostal and the dude rode a Harley so was very welcoming, pictured here is Ellen and his good lady, nice people. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...4960c854_b.jpgIMG_1712 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Leaving Lumiar our destination was back to Paulos and Moto Biu to do the bearing job, as usual we could only get 90% of what we needed so had to order two bearings in to complete the order, no biggy, all off the shelf bearings so easy to get. Getting sorted ... that next :clap |
Itacoataiara .... Getting Maya Sorted And The Final Visit
Friday night we left to head into Rio proper and meet some of Paulos frined and go out for Pizza:clap ...alright!!!
Hungry? :evil https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...1ef707df_b.jpgIMG_1719 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Rio was cool with cloud cover making it temperate to walk and sight see, Paulo and Elizabeth taking us around the waterfront on a nice walk finishing off with a very nice lunch which we took them out for in appreciation of all their help.:clap:clap https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...a11fe22e_b.jpgIMG_1736 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I local bird along the way https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/...356a0909_b.jpgIMG_1728 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr They love their paddle boards here https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2944/...e1867446_b.jpgIMG_1738 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The Saturday night weather caved in setting it up for a very wet and windy Sunday no incentive to drag Maya out for a cruze...in fact it rained cats and dogs :eek1 some landing on the couch beside Ellen :D https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3923/...5a75228e_b.jpgIMG_1752 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr So one of the cats took fascination with our camera strap smooching around for some cuddles ...good times!! https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...c0f40b5e_b.jpgIMG_1760 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This is what friendship looks like :clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/...6ebbbe81_b.jpgIMG_1770 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The view of the storm fed day across Rio De Janeiro https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3908/...f9552fd6_b.jpgIMG_1773 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr An opening in the weather ... the famous Cristo (Christ) https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...c185c9fc_b.jpgIMG_1779 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Rio is a beautifil city with the abrupt rock surroundings, it was great to see it in sun and storms both having different aspects of beauty to add. |
Maya ... Craving Some Attention
So she got it, the bottom headset bearing a little rusty and beaten from 66000 enjoyable km.
I love wearing stuff out as that means new faces, places and fun!!:clap:clap Having accesss to Moto Bius workshop was outstanding, we bought everything from him given he had supported us ... comes around goes around :clap Although the front bearings were ok as was most of the rear we took the opportunity to do the lot while we had access to the equipment and space to make the job easy. We replaced the front and rear wheel bearings, cush drive bearings and the headset bearings ....so nice to turn without a notch off the middle ... WOHOH ... welcome back young lady. The brown colour is less than ideal, a little bit of rust from water and muck https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3850/...dc872a9a_b.jpgP1190940 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Up the stearing stem https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...f6f07da6_b.jpgP1190941 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Men at work .... (sorry Fiona no pump .. only greasy bits) :rofl Biu checking out her top while I looked up her skirt :eek1 :D https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3918/...0fcb5002_b.jpgP1190947 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The bottom outer cup with a few rail tracks, not too bad but enough to make it grotty off the middle when steering https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...84ca89a7_b.jpgP1190961 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr So easy when you have the correct gear, Biu making very very easy work of it https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2943/...19d10bc3_b.jpgP1190962 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Hooking out the front seals to gain access to the bearings, new bearings, cleaned hub and regraesed everything ....million bucks :clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...1f240989_b.jpgP1190963 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We did the same for the back wheel which missed out on the photography session, we could not get a new seal here so put it back together nicely greased till we could get our new seal ... that later. Pheww all this dirty talk and romance has made me thirsty .... time for a Rum or 10.:evil A huge thank you to Biu for getting us the parts and helping us change some and lending some space, Biu your blood is worth bottling mate. Needing aprts in this part of the world? ... MotoBiu Racing Finishing up after Maya was complete was the final time to say goodbye to Paulo, Daniel and Elizabeth, again thank you guys for your hospitality, local knowledge and treatment of total stranger now great friends. Nossa casa é sua casa (Our house is your house), please come to New Zealand so we can reciprocate the warmth and welcoming. |
thanks for taking us along
Great ride report, wonderful photos, enjoying it all. You always make the repairs seem so easy. Do you ever regret going to one bike?
Mac |
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Thanks mate really appreciate your kind words, easy to take nice photos when you are in a nice place :thumbup1: Repairs, they are easy, KTM is just a man size meccano set and are actually very simple, 99% of the bearings, seals etc are all off the shelf which is a moto god send when travelling, specialty parts are expensive and unavailable. Going to one bike has +/-, the plus is I don't have to watch my mirrors all day with Ellen behind, in Peru this would have simply been a nightmare. The negative is weight, two humans (well one human and a Kiwi) plus our gear, we have skinned it down to what we need but camping stuff does add extra weight so yeah sometimes it would be great to be lighter but in all honesty with the HP and handling of the SE 99% of the time it is not an issue, our only real enemy is the soft sand and red cay Brasilain roads when they get wet. Cheers Andi |
Intermission From Riding
Time to release the thoughts of my mind, having had nearly 2.5 years to enjoy my No 1 & No 2 passion in life I have had the chance to think long and hard .. that is with the coming of age thinking long is hard.:rofl
I now reflect back on a few simple things, to set up a free account you need to buy a computer, a cellphone and various other bits and pieces to take advantage of your free account….then you need everything app wise that you never needed before. :huh I saw a hot young lusty on the beach the other day, Ellen agreed she was hot and we carried on walking, Ellen asked if I liked her, I replied well I would but I don’t have a “Like” button so how can I like her? We thought long and hard (again) and decided the poor girl would have to go on her merry way unliked and I felt sorry for her. Also world records seem to be a forefront of lots of peoples minds, who has achieved the longest, fastest, shortest … the most countries, the most continents or the most mileage. While this is kinda cool I spose one does have to wonder the merits of some of these incredible everyday world records. I say this because I know I am the first guy ever from Wanaka in New Zealand to travel with a Chinese wife on a 950 Super Enduro through Central and South America so everyday we turn the key we are indeed setting a worlds first and a world record ….. hmmmmm Ok.:clap:eek1 Then we have the “Fail” comparison of why are you riding a KTM down the world and how many times has it crapped out and left you standing on the side of the road, well the answer is not once in 66000km.:clap What has ACTUALLY crapped out in 66000 km is 1 waterpump and 1 stator, are both just a result of wear, tear, time and good times?…..i.e. maintenance or are these epic failures making it an unreliable bike? … good question I think as nothing lasts forever and everything will by design fail at some stage with time, use and mileage….ouwh and good times. It is good to have deep thoughts now and then … but not too many cos thinking long is hard.:lol3 So if an orange is called an orange why isn’t a lemon called a yello or a Ducati … runs for cover now.:hide As computers slowly make people easier to use we note what can only be described as a endemic phenomena, although not new it is spreading quicker than a serious disease, it will be the undoing of the human race and communication as we once knew it, the culprit is smart phones, seemingly much smarter than their users which are totally smitten with the use of such devices at the expense of their real friends. http://i1263.photobucket.com/albums/...dad/file-8.jpg It would seem that Faceplant and What sup are consuming the world with restaurant table loads of users all on their phones, no longer restaurants are raucous with laugher but under a vale of near silence as everyone communicates with their “friends“ in front of their friends. I know we are still having a good time as I goooooogled it and we still fit in that criteria according to the computer so I am pleased about that, I could probably even like it. :huh I also wonder the merits of being sick, so some people on Faceplant say OMG I am so ill and I am chundering my guts out :puke1…..and what happens on Faceplant … people like it…WTF …so are they liking the fact you are sick or are they sick liking it … you decide.? While technology has a great place is technology overfullfilling our daily lives?, I am not looking forward to have a machine ride my bike for me and do all the safe stuff to keep me safe from myself just in case I want to ….. heaven forbid….enjoy myself. In the moto circles all the “toys” the new bikes are coming out with are turning riders in steerers and removing common sense everyday, this is why I believe common sense is not that common because we are allowing ourselves to be overly digitally enhanced and at the handlebars the switchgear is nearly bigger than a cylinder head. So don’t get me wrong we do love a certain level of technology and we have been traveling without a phone quite successfully until we got a phone card from Claro in Brasil, firstly they did not load our credit, $15 lost, we then paid additional $15 only to have in the very small Portuguese fine print that it was valid for not even one month so when we went to use it we have no credit because they made it expire ….WTF… now no more phone, it was easier. Little money but big problems, no more phone use for us as we had more success without it. Also, whatever you ride, however long you take, wherever you go to you will be setting a worlds first as no one can ever do for you what you are about to do.… My advice, download a riding app then it will save you riding, use a smart phone to talk to your friends so you don’t have to see them or have a coffee with them, hit the like button instead of the starter button that way you will not have to enjoy any of lives true adventures and what mum nature offers you for free, mind food beyond belief…..try it you will be surprised. For me at least having had time time reflect, consider and assess I feel sorry that humans need to overload themselves with all of the above and this is a major cause of stress across the world, I am so glad I am not human. OK, back to the program. |
jesus mate! get off the keyboard on get back on that crappy orange bike for crikey's sake!
aside from that, dead on the balls accurate. cheers |
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I was sitting on that crappy orange bike while thinking bout this stuff .... too much tar seal time was the cause I think, now rectified :thumbup1: Correct, maybe, just my thoughts and observations, not wrong, not right but somewhere in the middle. We need to discuss this further over a Pino Noir or 10 I feel, I know a nice place in New Zealand!! :rofl::rofl: Cheers Andi |
Visconde De Mauá
With Maya totally sorted with bearings etc our next destination was Visconde De Mauá in the National Park Itaiaia.
Mrs.Garmin decided it was a long (300km) away but local knowledge said 3.5 hours and leaving at midday so we had to crack a pace. We took the BR116 which seemed more like a truck race for the most of it, for us it was like a video game of weaving in and out of the masses and avoiding being hit :eek1 Staying safe we got to our turnoff which was a pleasant and instantly relaxing change in pace ...as we headed off towards the mountain my head and heart were alive again with the thoughts of being in a tranquil setting out of the rat race. Our first mission was the twisty climb to the top some 20 km which was tighter sweeping bends to 1st gears jobs. Visconde De Mauá, don't blink or you will miss it, today is the 24th September which means that tomorrow on the 25th I get olda and hit 48, that aside we found our self a home for two nights in a nice Pousada. Maya watching guard https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/...c85b1197_b.jpgIMG_1884 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The following morning was get older day which started with a nice breaky, omelet, bread, coffee ...awesome :clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/...a94ed0bd_b.jpgIMG_1805 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The day was to set out for a cruze around the park to take in waterfalls, moto museum etc and generally relax, we squidded it with the riding gear as everything was close and it was very hot so shorts and Tee the order of the day....yeah a rebel without a cause (how tuff eh :rofl) https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2945/...40ec28f1_b.jpgIMG_1809 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Various locations around the park https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/...e7bb7c2a_b.jpgIMG_1832 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr These guys were swimming in here, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a Brass Monkey https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2943/...1944f6ae_b.jpgIMG_1824 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Some cool old ex army trucks they take tours in https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2945/...855b3b9c_b.jpgIMG_1834 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr All in all a great day out for the youngold fello, Visconde De Mauá a very nice quiet place to be and a mice setting in the evening for drinking some deep chilled local Banana liqueur. Next up ... Campinas to meet Carlos and family... ADVer and orange brethren :clap |
loving the photos it seems you are on the up after some of your troubles, you really seem to have captured some of the magnificient views espically the curves and plunging valleys!!!!
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will be winging over to wanaka once you and your better half are done with this boring ride of yours... give her my best and heya from my better half! |
lean mean orange machine ....
Hiii Andy, Ellen. Super big happy birfday Andy ... :happybday: oke a wee bit late :oops2:
Loved the rant & rave post 'bout the techno thing :helpsmilie: I tend to use as much of it as I can. Makes travel a load easier. Lets face it : ATMs instead of carrying loads of dosh & or travellers checks, :gun_bandana: Mob. smart phone to phone ahead to check room availability & to book cheap hostel, saves loads of time making the rounds, tired, thirsty, sweated out, grumpy:taz: Laptop to plan routes, latest info, e-mails etc. :online2long: E-reader to store loads of loony planets full of useless info, nitpickers guide to the universe etc .... to while away the boring bits :bored: MP3 player to drown out the noise of snoring, braking wind, partying wildlife whilst you are trying to get a bit of shut eye in the middle of the jungle :walkman: If it's there use it & if you lose it thank the stars & then back to basics :D Glad to see that you both doing well & the lean mean orange maya machine coming out tops. :scooter: Andy have a nice one, keep the rubber side down Take care Vince yep am still lurking in the back ground:thumbup1: |
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Great to hear from you mate. No worries bout the bifday .... just an excuse ta eat nice food and drink really jeiger Yes agree with techno thing, certainly has its uses for sure but a lot of people are overusing it just because and at the expense of real people type friends, we still use FB etc but minimally compared to many. Yeap Maya going well, we had difficulty with rubber side down for teh hit and run but will post about that later. All else is good on the front with Brasil (for the most of it) being outstanding. Cheers Andi |
Back To The Usual Programme - Visconde De Mauá To Campinas
Completing a successful birthday Campinas was on our list, Carlos a fello ADVer lives there and kindly invited us to meet up with him and his family.
Taking various back-roads we had an easy and nice ride, about 100 km away we called Carlos to let him know where we were, he said to be very careful with the roads which was nice of him, we thought he is a very caring person, I didn't ask him why as I thought he was just being a nice fello moto rider.:clap (which he is) At about 70km away it turned black. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3841/...c1360c6c_b.jpgP1190973 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The sky lit up like a soccer stadium on fire and all hell broke loose, at about 60 km from Carlos house we were down to 25 - 30 km/hr with torrential rain, thunder and lightening and flood waters rolling along beside us....well...that made it interesting to say the least.:rofl https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3873/...372861b3_b.jpgP1190989 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Undeterred we soldiered on to Carlos house with sleeves full of rain water and helmet cheek pads full and dripping down my front, at one point we rode down a hill into a gully and a car coming the other way drowned us under a tidal wave of stormwater and yes my visor was open...it was quite refreshing to be honest but I felt fresh enough prior to that :lol3 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2950/...13fa2916_b.jpgP1190983 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/...dd775676_b.jpgP1190985 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr On arrival at Carlos house the gates were opened, our wet gear removed and hot shower to go as Ellen was freezing cold, me not so bad having a 950 cc heater underneath and heated grips :clap https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2949/...53f74854_b.jpgP1190994 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Hot coffee to compliment our hot shower we regained some body warmth with Ellen turning from blue back to yello,....me..my cheeks rosy red after being battered by heavy rain and cold wind, I am guessing Carlos wondered what he had let himself in for at this point.:evil So Carlos being brethren in KTM we had lots to chat about, he has a 990 adventure in white with orange crash bars etc so a striking looking machine :clap As luck would have it the Spanish MotoGP was on so with a good strong coffee we enthusiastically watched on with a wet race unfolding, Carlos and I giving all the riders good advice from our armchairs :lol3 There was some interesting decisions made by the riders during the race which ended in tears for some and saw Jorge Lorenzo win, I still like him as he is butter smooth to watch, Valentino suffering a big off and a trip to the vet with concussion.:eek1 If Carlos is a good boy he is allowed to go for a ride (same for me :D), so socks up, no swearing and being well manoured Carlos took us for a small round the block ride on local back-roads, some gravel roads etc around to a Dutch restaurant, we did 250 km for the day so had an awesome look around and nice ride:clap Bear crate box seating at a cafe :clap https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2944/...06c6b64b_b.jpgP1190998 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Our fearless leader https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...943f4a0a_b.jpgP1200025 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The ladz https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3843/...5ff64d50_b.jpgP1200037 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Dunno how these two dodgy louts managed to pick up these two hot lusties :lol3 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...292a0d17_b.jpgP1200039 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The Holland territory ... https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3918/...5f4ce85b_b.jpgP1200053 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The lunch table view ... Carlos KTM playing hide and seek in the trees https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/...001b735d_b.jpgIMG_1941 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Coffee.....allowing men to stupid shit much quicker.....:eek1 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3882/...9c7ae987_b.jpgIMG_1942 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A nice and rear sight in Brasil, two KTMS :clap:clap, Carlos bike looking sharp with orange bars and wheel pin stripping ... I like it!! https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3851/...d3a1ba2c_b.jpgIMG_1948 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr An old farm house now flash restaurant https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3923/...5e0c28b6_b.jpgP1200074 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Ellen also treated us to a sushi feed with Tais (Carlos good lady) being no 1 apprentice and doing a great job, an instant expert:clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3911/...0bc66567_b.jpgIMG_1935 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...0066e77b_b.jpgIMG_6952 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A quick team photo before we set too https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3851/...39f3e57d_b.jpgIMG_6951 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Carlos also picked up a hub seal that we wanted to get for Maya so we changed that out in 15 minutes, perfecto. With the weekend over we headed for the coast to Canania, a huge thank you to Carlos, Tais and the girls for putting up with us, we really enjoyed our stay and hope we can reciprocate back in New Zealand.:clap |
Campinas to Canania
Campinas to Canania....started off a nice day but as we got closer to the sea the weather started caving in, first thick fog then thick fog laden with heavy water.....again, as luck would have it we found a building in the middle of nowhere to have some lunch and being able to park Maya under the verandah and out of the wet.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/...781816d1_b.jpgIMG_1958 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr More rain https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3931/...590738dd_b.jpgP1200102 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Onwards to Canania the weather improved bit by bit and we arrived at the ferry boat with time spare, mum nature decided we needed another wash ....and another but we had a roof to hide under so no worries :clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/...6dcd880e_b.jpgIMG_1962 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Todays entertainment provided by a rat which Ellen hates, a small shreak from Ellen as she watched it go towards her, I came over and it was so busy watching Ellen it did not see me, the rat hit its head on my boot 3 times and died much to Ellens delight, I then played soccer with it kicking it into the sea for fish food.... wife meltdown emergency averted :D While waiting for the ferry a local on a XT250. Tenere turned up, nice guy we had a sortof chat with him, he kindly took us to a Pousada (hostel), it was a nice place, clean quiet and under cover parking, perfect. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2945/...b9c58606_b.jpgP1200105 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Being seaside and having a fish market right there we bought fresh fish and squid and made a curry which was beautiful, we made enough for two nights as we planned to stick around at the beach the following day. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...13e2c2cd_b.jpgIMG_1967 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...45775355_b.jpgIMG_1975 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The beach is another ferry ride, gratis to passengers, vehicles pay, not wanting to take Maya as we were wanting to do some walking it suited us down to the ground, a 2 km walk across the island and there was the beach ....empty being a school day. We just crazy frogged it on foot :clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/...02743730_b.jpgIMG_1988 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/...db1ecd65_b.jpgIMG_2003 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The asian fish went for a swim, on the way back we spotted some KTMushrooms pretty cool I thought. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2941/...2f4dff30_b.jpgIMG_1989 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The paving in Canania has little lovehearts imprinted .....ouwh :evil https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2949/...1dc5a688_b.jpgIMG_2009 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Finishing our seaside jaunt we headed inland to Curitiba with a local tip off of being able to find good tires, yes another thank you to local knowledge from Carlos, this type of information not obtainable from maps or gps, onya Carlos your blood is worth bottling.:clap When it is tight and blind tho ladies and gentlemen you need to slow down and take it easier or you will find a big truck at the wrong moment like this guy did. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/...724d6003_b.jpgP1200139 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Again more local knowledge sending us down a nice twisty road with views along the way saw an enjoyable ride, Ellen had organised a couchsurf in the big smoke with Jarques and Gloria, we found them no worries with Mrs.Garmin being a good girl today. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3927/...1d97a2be_b.jpgP1200133 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/...1fbdc500_b.jpgP1200165 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2943/...ab278369_b.jpgP1200136 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Taking Carlos good advice we found Jarva racing who are the importers for Mitas tires, Carlos has them on his 990 and loves them, I also have one on my DR650 at home and like it, the shop was only 1km away from where we were staying too so everything was falling into place quite nicely, they had the sizes we wanted in stock and they gave a good deal on the price for a cash purchase, all in all successful and a great stay. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...7b8f6a2f_b.jpgP1200198 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Next up Curitiba ...the civilian tour :clap |
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Curitiba
Couchsurf In Curitiba, more photos that Andichatta, picha worf a fousand word ...so here you have it.... a big writeup!!:D
Jarques, Gloria, Ellen and I with the local Brasil Rider https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...1a65a145_b.jpgP1200188 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We stayed three nights taking in an excellent city tour with Jarques, we also did our own walkabout to a Polish settlement and also a spectacular museum which is a feat of engineering. The Polish settlement, Ewa ...one for you!!! https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3932/...25258a30_b.jpgIMG_2099 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/...9571cec9_b.jpgIMG_2100 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Check this out, stunning piece of engineering https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2946/...411818ef_b.jpgIMG_2109 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5601/...8abb4ba2_b.jpgIMG_2112 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Curved exit worthy of MotoGP status https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/...58f50076_b.jpgIMG_2115 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Huge timber cones laying about as art https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5600/...92448bce_b.jpgIMG_2105 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Curitiba has a beauty that other cities can only wish for with fountains nearly more popular than cars. Some more local art and a some dodgy people .... ruff area I think :D https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2950/...15679bf8_b.jpgIMG_2094 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2947/...899c1cac_b.jpgIMG_2092 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Looking up a stairwell inside a building built by the Dutch https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2944/...aa5a7dd9_b.jpgIMG_2085 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Some misc stuff https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3934/...1c075714_b.jpgIMG_2064 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr An open market with a beautifully made steel structure with curved members very pleasing to an engineering eye. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5600/...a0d819a2_b.jpgIMG_2041 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr A van with interesting graphics https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...2d24d43e_b.jpgIMG_2043 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr For the rest of Curitiba you will have to go there and yes for a city it is worth going :clap A huge thanks to Jarque and Gloria for hosting us and showing us the city |
Hit And Run ... Not What We Needed
Arriving at Tibagi our day came to a screaming halt as we were the victim of a hit and run, the guy came around the corner too wide and looking backwards then T boned us then fled the scene.
We both hit the ground pretty hard as well as Maya and more to the point the Jesse luggage had taken beating of epic proportions. As the car sped away onlookers who saw it all unfold rushed over to help us pick up Maya cos she was spilling petrol from an almost full tank. A quick assessment of Ellen and I we were both ok, my right shoulder took a hit but my gear did a lot to stop injury. A quick inspection of Maya was not so good, the left hand Jesse case had taken the brunt of the hit tearing and shattering the bottom support out and the case parallelograming itself from the impact and tearing in the corners. The left hand side Jesse rack also twisted and folded in, the rear latch damaged badly as well. After all the good in Brasil we have been let down by a hit and run and the Police at first were not helpful until anger stepped into the equation. We finally left the scene of the accident with the Police saying we will look for the car …. sure. As we headed off to our Pousada you would not believe it the car was parked on the side of the road in full view … unbelievable, Ellen took photos of the car, the house and calmly waited as dusk fell and I went to get the Police again saying we found the car, it was an epic mission to mobilize anyone with language barriers and lack of interest from the Police, again I insisted and stuck to them like shit to a blanket until we got action. We went and found Ellen and came back to the Police station, the Police then went back to the house and the car was gone, we then went back, found out who he is and wear he lives so that was the next thing in line to go to his house, surprise surprise he was not there either, the lady saying he was at church. I guess after leaving the scene of a hit and run accident you can go to church and wash it off :thumbdown:, he had already left from the church...quick wash!!:cry We then went to his work and he was not there either so we went back to the Police station at which point the prosecutors said we will have to schedule a time to see him, at that point he Fabio (The wanker who left us for dead) turned up at the police station. To say I was angry was an understatement but I had to kept my cool, we sat down in a meeting and he confessed to the accident, he DID NOT look at either of us in the face the whole time, no apology or anything, ****en arsehole. We won't see anything from this and we would have $2000.00 in damage, not to mention the frustration of spending hours in the police station and the shit of a mission I am faced with tomorrow to to and straighten everything on a Sunday, election day in Brasil. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2948/...6b7b67d8_b.jpgP1200208 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3936/...0e1f35b4_b.jpgP1200212 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5601/...6691edcd_b.jpgP1200218 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/...63578e18_b.jpgP1200219 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr |
The Temporary Repair To Get Mobile
I think Klim need a huge thanks, my jacket is virtually unmarked and there is no doubt the armour took a lot of impact out of it for my ol body, this gear rocks :clap:clap
And yes, the Jesse case took a hell of hit, as said above the bark buster strong frame is bent 10 -12 mm so it shows the force at which it went down, I did not notice it until today when we rode and I started eying things up. I am astounded how well we have managed to get the case back into shape after being torsionally twisted, dented and parallelogramed out of shape, the lid now closees pretty good, we have RTVed the cracks up. So it when from this https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3936/...0e1f35b4_b.jpgP1200212 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5601/...6691edcd_b.jpgP1200218 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3927/...14deb838_b.jpgP1200227 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/...0fec0185_b.jpgP1200233 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr To this :clap:clap:clap:clap:clap https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/...be948e3b_b.jpgP1200261 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Al Jesse design and engineering at its best :clap |
ouch
Real sorry to hear of the accident. Praise the Lord you two were not hurt. Looks like once again you have done a great job with repairs. So the police wont make the scum bag pay for damages? I have had two such problems here in Kyrgyzstan. I was hit by a drunk, he chased me all the way off my side of the road and still creamed me. Did $3000.00 worth of damage and ended up paying $2000.00. then not long ago my son was riding with his wife and was hit, they were fine but the bike took $1200.00 to fix it and I have not see a dime. It shames the people here, so far I have not found a man among them!
I had never road with all the safety gear before. Just a helmet, jeans, and a jean jacket. Not that I did not like nor wanted them but could not afford it. My sons had just bought me a jacket and I had invested in a new helmet too. Had ridden about 100 km before the drunk hit me. I believe the jacket saved me a lot of hurt. My forearm had hit the windshield post and it was broken, but so slightly that if it were not for the knot on my arm I would not had gotten an x-ray. Praise God for the safety gear! Keep on riding and we will keep on praying. Looking forward to more of the great R\R... Mac |
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Sorry for the late reply mate. Yeah could done without bein hit and yeah the moto gods were on our side for sure, we can't understand how Ellens leg did not get hit. Repairs took a bit for sure the Jesses are made extremely well and they actually came up ok, good enough to get home until I can deal to them and finish them to my standard. We found the guy the Police tried to make him pay but he just said I don't have any money... that is the end of it for us so we said press charges, they are pressing criminal charge for Hit and Run although we will not see a penny he will get dragged through the shit for his road talent. Yes agree with the gear, mate it saved me big time from more scuffs although I felt twisted for the next few days, had I not been wearing the gear I would have lost a lot of bark off my right shoulder and arm. All good mate, rubber side down and yes the adventure continues Cheers Andi |
Glad you are both OK after that w&@ker clobbered Maya, poor girl she takes yet another beating. The panniers straighten up pretty good, testament to Jessie's work. Hope the driver gets whats coming to him for driving away, he needs a slap or 10, anyway could have been a heap worse than bruises, so have to look on the positive side I guess.
Hugs to you both, me and Lisa XX |
So good that you both survived that idiot's negligence.
For me, it was a COP! that put me down. Near Avon Downs police station (NT), he pulled me over for a breath test. dfair enough, that's his job. But he stepped in front of me (did he think that I was goingto do a runner?) and I had to pull onto the gravel. Down I went. Right foot trapped under the pannier. Fortunately, it was a soft throwover bag by AndiStraps. Bruised but not broken. And here is the point, I suppose. If I had had your strong Jesse boxes, I might have not been so lucky. On the other hand.... If I had been hit by a car as you were, my Andi bags would given me much less protection that your Jesse bags. Guess that we were both lucky. Rob Hall |
Tibagi To Cascavel
When shit happens you wonder to yourself …”Well How The **** Is This Going To Unfold And Come Right”
At this point you can pack a sad and withdraw from society and be a miserable bugger or you can step up and say well shit this stuff needs straightening cos we have a trip to carry on with.:clap Add to this mix Brasil Riders and soon enough the offers of help are coming through quicker than a flash flood, this is the great side of Facebook and useful.:clap Brasil Riders rock, period, Brasil drivers suck … well one does, still better than Peru.:rofl Sandro contacted us and said he has a friend who lives in Telemarco Borba about 45 km north of where we were and was happy to help as he could. We duly accepted given we had straightened things out to near useable, my biggest concern was losing the case and seeing it catapult down the road and hit someone as the bottom mount had been shattered, even with Al Jesses excellent engineering it could not withstand the impact that it did….no surprise whatsoever. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/...63578e18_b.jpgP1200219 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We strapped the case tightly onto the rack at took it pretty quietly avoiding bumps where we could. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2948/...f73fcf22_b.jpgP1200238 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr I had time to sit back and observe the bike and established the hit was kingpin enough to bend the bark buster strong back frame in 10 - 12 mm …. that is a LOT of energy.… you ever tried to bend one in a vice??? its hard work.:huh I was feeling second hand from the hit, nothing broken but lots stretched and squashed bits so 45 km proved to be a big day...not so good :cry Arriving at Telemarco Borba Neto (Sandros friend) met us and took us back to his home, our knight on a shining F800GS. Netos wife spoke good English which made communication easier as well, it just gets better.:clap:clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5601/...1f9deab8_b.jpgP1200256 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr We had a clothing change to human gear then an invitation for lunch at Netos friends place. The bar b q was on and all bad vibes pushed to one side to enjoy Brasil and the people.:freaky At the conclusion of lunch and tummies full it was workshop time and how to rescue our luggage system from certain death if the mountings were left without a temporary fix at minimum. With a small workshop, some tools, a piece of alloy angle and some Kiwi and Honourary Kiwi ingenuity we cut, ground and fabbed our way to new brackets to temporarily hold the case until our new parts arrive via Norbert and Greti Airways Canada Division. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3945/...8ccec352_b.jpgP1200241 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr With some swift hits of a hammer and some checking of straightening, some new brackets made from the alloy angle we were soon back in business and things actually started to fit. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5604/...84d73d95_b.jpgP1200245 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3955/...8b1f3754_b.jpgP1200249 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3929/...db91af1b_b.jpgP1200358 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Not being happy I decided to do one more go, this was an aggressive attempt that could end in tears or make the day, thankfully the moto gods were still on my side and the last hit was the winner, at that point it was a good time to quit it and leave it with everything fitting +/- ok. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5607/...2d682b33_b.jpgP1200367 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5600/...62ba8200_b.jpgP1200363 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The front of the case looking a heap better than it used too, the paint marks a reminder of how lucky we were Ellens leg was not hit https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5609/...40e90d76_b.jpgP1200360 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr See where her legs fits :eek1 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/...b9d09a5d_b.jpgP1200236 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Having lent garage space to Kevin and Karin from Guzzioverland Guzzi Overland and many others when in New Zealand and receiving extreme “thank yous” etc I found myself in the same boat being extremely grateful for a small thing but to fix a major problem, for Neto (I think) he enjoyed it and offered up good ideas and suggestion leading to the successful repair. Done and dusted, sorted and straightened we were mobile enough and knew the case was not going to bail off which was comforting. Saying goodbye we farewelled our new friends again and set off towards Foz do Iguacu turnimg this into a two day trip given we had turned right to Telemarco Borba for the repair. Making it to Campo Mourão via nice secondary roads through farmland we settled in for the night, at nearly 300 km I was feeling considerably secondhand realizing the full impact of our off. I was now sporting bruises on the inside of my left arm and had a saw elbow so I must smacked it on exit of the bike, funny shit happens in accidents. Next day was a nice easy cruse to Cascaval, we had organized to meet Sandro at 1.00pm but we arrived at 12.30 ….it was lunchtime and we were kindly invited in for lunch at their family restaurant. :clap |
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Yeah he hurt my bike so hes gonna pay!!!... bastid insulting Maya. Everything came up ok and we have new mountings on the way so not too bad, the racks will break but I can deal with them back in NZ in my own man cave. Police are charging him with a criminal offense of Hit and Run, so he with probably end up doing 10 hours community service ... the Brasilian system!!!:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown: ... we will see nothing. Yes we are pretty well ok, how Ellen leg was not hit is a mystery but a good one, I took more of a hit than I realized at first ... add some old age and yeap we don't bounce like we used too!! ... all good now tho mate.:thumbup1: Hug and kisses to you guys to (well man hug to you) Cheers A |
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We have thought long and hard, talked to many and had the discussions about hard and soft. If it were me by myself I would got soft, for the two of us then hard is good (in more ways than one :innocent:) With the Jesses the angled front takes the anger out of a 90 deg point so that has helped but yes in our case, this time, on this incident the hard cases I believe saved Ellens leg, my torso took the impact from the eventual stop not from the flight or the fling. Soft or hard depends on the crash, both offering protection or damage depending on the crash.:thumbup1: Cheers Andi |
Cascavel ... Round 1
Cascavel
Settled in after a good lunch Sandro took us for city tour in his car, rounding the central lake area then doing back via the man in drag we passed a few moto shops catching glimpses of new 12 Tenerës and some Kawasaki’s The last shop was Star News BMW, we stopped here as Sandro needed to get some stuff done. We walked into the shop and there in front of me was a R nine T retro cafe racer, having only ever seen them in picture I was like a kid in a candy shop, it was also surrounded buy around 10 - 12 F800 GS which is one of the most popular bigger bikes here in Brasil as the are now locally assembled in Manaus …. good move for BMW as KTM stuffed things up completely and there is little to no support at all in Brasil. Back to the little hottie, I stood well clear and I didn’t have hanky or a bib as I thought I would get told off for making a mess, this “wee” bike has the 1200 boxer crammed into to a short chassis, has normal forks and the usual shaft drive. :clap This classy little piece of kit is beautifully made all over, it is Alberto’s the shop manager and he came over and chatted with us ….and let me sit on the machine :eek1. After straddling Maya on tippy toes two up house and contents for the last two years I slung my leg over to find that even sitting there in squid gear shorts, tee shirt and Keen shoes I could pretty much touch the ground nearly flat footed ….. it was a nice feeling.:clap https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2950/...825251d4_b.jpgIMG_2131 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The best bit was to come, after having this sexy wee supermodel between my legs, Alberto says bring your riding gear tomorrow and take her out for a spin ….., for a minute there I thought I was allowed to ride it so cautiously I clarified the situation interpreting Potuegringlish to find out that yes I was being handed BMWs Halle Berry and told to do rude things to her …. tomorrow could NOT come quick enough …. sorta like your first date (you young fellow remember that) :evil :rofl We continued our city tour seeing a church that was and engineering marvel and various cool parts of Cascaval. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3938/...aab1a073_b.jpgIMG_2136 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The city center waterfall https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2945/...557fe356_b.jpgIMG_2141 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr That night a dinner had been organized at Sandros with Marcos (Sandros good friend) and Sandro family joining us, the Brasilians know how to have a great time and make the most of the food with Sandros mum preparing a dish called which looked like a pasta eel….good times :clap:clap https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5608/...7e2f262c_b.jpgIMG_2162 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3928/...9a983bb9_b.jpgIMG_2163 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr This is what good time looks like Cascavael style, very homely and welcoming. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3946/...fef56b20_b.jpgIMG_2166 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Yes tomorrow finally came (So did I .. nearly:rofl) and off to BMW we went, Sandro on his Triumph Tiger 1050 and me a on Halle Berry. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2948/...91a9cd53_b.jpgIMG_2171 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5597/...cc3f9274_b.jpgIMG_2172 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2946/...5e7b1f3c_b.jpgIMG_2175 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Sandro having local knowledge I followed him out of town with my mind going overtime taking in the bike and how it all works. Once out of town we stepped it up a bit, this “wee” bike can get up and boogie, it has no shortage of power and phenomenal torque, a quick twist of the wrist seeing me propelled to lose license speed extremely quickly, this has more grunt than a paddle full of pigs!!! Sandro on his 1050 Tiger and me on Halle Berry https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3947/...bd56a3ba_b.jpgIMG_2182 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3944/...a70be65a_b.jpgIMG_2188 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Finally taking it back and begrudgingly handing it back to its rightful owner I had a grin on my face wider an american freeway after not only seeing this bike but getting to ride it too, thanks to Alberto, you made my day(s).:freaky:clap Not to sit back too long a local TV station wanted to do an interview about our travels so it was back to the restaurant and discuss what we have been up too, the TV is a very local TV so we ere certainly not national news but it was cool they were interested in the time we have spent in Brasil specifically, South and Central America. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3949/...274dcf97_b.jpgIMG_2190 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Sandro also took us through the kitchen to see how their family restaurant dishes are made, they have a great setup and a great team making it work, I felt out of my depth here but really enjoyed seeing the heart of the place. The restaurant is called Santa Felicidade and it is the Fadanellis family Italian Restaurant, their food is simply outstanding to say the least and highly recommended.:clap Visiting a friend of his who has an automated grain plant on a farm we were given a tour of how it all works, talk about technology at its best right at farm level with an extremely advanced plant, the dude also had a 700 Yamy quad, he also said take it for a ride (what is it with people in this area giving away their bikes) so I resisted for 10 seconds before taking it for a squirt around the yard, once around the yard I gave it back cos the evil kid was starting to come out again, safest to give it back while I am ahead of the game!!! https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5614/...6b8853a4_b.jpgIMG_2209 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr The plant https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3927/...4ba6afd6_b.jpgIMG_2201 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr After being treated like Kings and Queens and welcomed in (a very nice change after the Hit And Run) we said goodbye with Foz do Iguacu in sight, the three border corner with Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil and the famous water falls. With only 140 km to get there is was a simple ride down a tar road and Sandro had organized for us to stay at a fello Brasil Riders home. Foz do Iuacu next...just a little creek with a small drop :D |
Foz do Iguacu
The town being much much bigger than I thought with high rises and all, I pictured a quieter border town … no way.:eek1
Finding Sampaio’s place Mrs.Garmin wasn’t quite on target, we spotting some local Policia sitting in their air conditioned car so Ellen went over to them and asked, they took this on and drove around looking for the address having local knowledge, it wasn’t two minutes and they gave us the big thumbs up.:clap All was good and we were welcomed in. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5610/...2ef92ae8_b.jpgP1200370 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr That night as it turned out was their club night and yes we were invited for food and drinks, it was a Chinese style dish cooked beautifully, this night the celebrated by giving this man a lifetime membership so it was cool to be there for that, next up was a very warm welcoming t the travellers, this is the norm fro Brasil Riders, and outstanding mob. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/...d930b5ec_b.jpgFoz Iguacu clube 2 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr They have members from Paraguay too and we were invited to another bar b q at km 11, thee is a free zone area within Paraguay so we could enter to the shopping zone however it will be pushing it to the bar b q ….no worries. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5607/...4fdc133b_b.jpgIMG_2333 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3951/...37d8bdfb_b.jpgIMG_2328 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Hovering around in Foz do Iguacu we took the place in, taking the bus across the bridge into Paraguay saw us go into the shopping zone, we had a small list of things if we could find them but nothing specific so a crazy day in another country, Ellen did however buy a new bra…..I got two new seals for the front wheel as we not replaced these prior. :clap The Paraguay side in and around the shopping area is simply a busy industrial noisy dirty shithole with no attraction other than picking up something cheaper....sorry Paraguay. Once out of the hub of town things improve as you get more into the residential zone. We took some time to relax at Itaipu Lake, very nice place. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3948/...0126c8c3_b.jpgIMG_2342 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Ellen made her famous dumplings and Chinese pies, you can how that was received https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3953/...1915dfa7_b.jpgP1200339 by twomotokiwis, on Flickr Foz do Iguacu the fall next, not going to do much talking in that one as the pics can easily explain themselves. Cheers Andi |
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Two I think :innocent:
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Last one:confused1:
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Look like one more....
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