Travel Blog
Kia Ora!
Welcome to the travel blog of Sarah and Robert. We are both currently in New Zealand, though in hectic preparations for a 9 month journey across 3 continents on a BMW R100GS PD...we hope you'll read the adventures as we prepare, (no doubt stress) and live the dream.
4 Weeks
Date: 30 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
Christmas week.
The last day at work for this week, actually just half a day. Time seems to be slowing down. Christmas day came with rain, long, persistent, but warm. Drove up to Norbert and Heike, the new GPS guiding me all the way. What a great toy - easy to use, brilliant display and so many useful features. It even comes with a speedo and a fuel gauge! And the speedo confirms what I always suspected, that the one on the bike has always gone too fast - 15km/h to be exact. With Norbert’s and Erwin’s help we bend the carrier around and adjust it properly. The panniers make the bike very wide now, wider than the handlebars. Will be difficult in traffic, but is a huge advantage offroad as it gives additional protection.
Spent days making myself familiar with all our new toys. GPS to start, then the bluetooth intercom for the helmets, the GPS travel recorder and the helmet camera. Discovered too that the USB cable for the GPS is missing. They forgot to put it in the box. Bugger. Problem is there are not many retailers around who sell Garmin, and that unit in particular. Lets see if I can organise it from somewhere.
Finally found some time to thoroughly study the manual for the Nikon, quite an amazing camera, actually. Still need to buy new shoes, my good old Meindl are getting a bit old and wont survive the trip. Same quality shoes are very expensive, though. Every outdoor shop has a sale on, but the one I need are still $280. I cant compromise here, the shoes are too important, they are the one I am going to wear for over six months, every day. One pair of shoes has to do for the whole trip. Still, couldnt get myself buying them right now, too many other expenditures are scheduled, they have to wait.
Ordered complete set of seals for the oil, gearbox and shaft drainage screws, plus new fork seals. The fork is fine, but if it leaks, at least we have the right seals with us. They are small and light to carry anyway, so its no issue packing-wise. Only moneywise, another $100 dissapearing.
Still no parcel from Touratech Australia. Ray got news from WP that everything was shipped last week, but we dont know whether it is in the country already or not. Its not a good time of the year to wait for things to arrive, thats for sure, with more holidays and people finishing work at midday coming up.
Everything is going to be last minute, thats for sure. Honestly, I am already making myself familiar with the thought that I might have to do some work on the bike in Singapore.
Merry Christmas.
5 Weeks
Date: 26 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
A slow week by comparison.
Final Dentist appointment on Monday, all good. Brought the bike to BMW on Tuesday. New alarm to be fitted, GPS cable, steel brake cables, check horn and brake light (both work only sometimes and I cant find the reason for it). Bad luck, though. Michael, the chief mecanic, had to go away to a funeral, so the whole timetable is out of the window and my appointment pointless. I leave the bike anyway, maybe they can get something done. They do, but it will be Sat 1pm before the brakes are done. So we still have all the electric stuff and the clutch to do, which will now be done in the new year, on one day (fingers crossed).
After weeks of waiting, things are finally happening at other fronts: the parts from Siebenrock are on their way; Ray got news that WP has shipped the shock and springs, which might already be in the country; and the equipment from Touratech Australia is also sent. Good feeling.
BBQ at Chris place on Saturday. We invite people to have their comments about our trip filmed, which is quite some fun. Better if we could have the camera running all the time to capture the original spontaneous reactions, but dunno how we could do that (how did Ewan & Charlie do it, I wonder).
Fitting of the new carrier on Sunday. As usual, it takes much longer then expected. Cant get the right side fitted at the passengers footpeg, the holes dont line up. Bending is impossible, that thing is too strong.
Mhmm. I will leave it and get a second opinion when I am at Norbert’s on Christmas.
Christmas. Shit. Its already there, which means the year is almost over. Scary.
The Best Insurance
Date: 18 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
One aspect one should never forget – and always does – is that you cant take things for granted when you have to get things done on time. Even things you have done a thousand times before change all of a sudden when you rely on them, when you simply trust them to work at the 1000- and-one's time exactly the same as the time before. I have encountered that so many times in my life before, I wonder why I still make the same mistake all over again every time.
Take my new tyre for example.
I knew that I needed one as the old one was many years old, hard as a piece of wood and shaped like a table leg. But as it is the easiest thing in the world to go into a shop and buy one, I didn't think any of it and decided just recently to get one before Christmas.
I knew which one and I knew the size, so I rang and ordered. No problem, is on stock in Auckland, Size, well two versions might fit, so we try the bigger one. That happened Friday. The tyre came in Tuesday. We agreed to have it fitted Wednesday. When I arrived, we found that it wouldn't fit, ie that we needed the smaller one, No problem, we get it in tomorrow amd fit it on Friday. I went in Friday and uh, problem, cant do it on the spot. Maybe Monday? We finally agreed on Saturday and the bike got ready in time for our weekend trip.
Why do I say all this? This is a not a complaint, to the contrary, it all worked out fine and I am very happy with it. It just goes to show that even a simple operation such as ordering a new tyre from a specialised BMW dealer in New Zealand (or in Germany, for that matter) can easily take a week, in my case a week and a day to be completed.
So. Now, this is New Zealand (or Germany), with phones, faxes, and a very good infrastructure in place. The dealer is a professional and experienced and knows his stuff. Still, it took a week to sort it out. Can you even start to imagine what it will take and require to do something similar in a third-world country when you are travelling? When you are required to stay in a shoddy hotel or hostel with only one public phone in the lobby because there is no other accomodation around? Where the dealer has never seen a BMW before and operates at the other end of town? When its not about a tyre, instead about a special spare part? When the bike is undriveable without that spare part, like a horse with a broken hoof, and parked in a dingy garage and the next big town is 1000km away? Can you imagine how stranded you would feel?
Well, I can and having been through that kind of thing, I have no problems spending hundreds of dollars to get the bike to the best condition it can be in at its age and mileage. And to spend hours and hours figuring out what best to take in order to be able to fix the bike on the way when things go wrong. And to not get stranded like that.
Drafting detailed equipment lists down to the last spare screw and washer looks pedantic and silly sometimes, but when you are out there, in a foreign country, when the heat is unbearable and no one knows your name and you are completely on your own, nothing what you have done as preparation before feels silly anymore. It only feels sooo good.
Trust me on that.
6 Weeks
Date: 18 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
In the course of the preparation of a trip such as ours, there are certain things you simply take for granted, ie you dont expect any problems with them. For example, you know that you have to get a visa for a country. That is not really a a problem as you just go to the embassy and apply for one.The only factor you dont know is how long it might take for them to process. Or, in the case of buying equipment, you normally know the shop and you just go there and buy it. Then there are the things you anticipate to be very difficult, i.e you dont know whether you will be able to solve them in time or at all. For example, there is this country where only a few people have travelled to and it looks like that they wont let you in because you have that big motorbike and they dont like big motorbikes. Or, more commonly, you anticipate that you wont have enough money to buy that important piece of equipment.
Funny enough, in my experience, it never works out that way. Problems you perceive as difficult or unsolvable suddenly dissapear and matters, which you thought would be straightforward, turn out to be a complicated affair. Take the visa, in our case the one for Iran. After we had finally got our passports ready (which got delayed due to me having to apply for two, a temporary and a final, one and having to get de-registered in Germany), got the forms filled out, fees set aside, I went to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington. And was told that we cant apply as our arrival is 6 months away. The earliest we can apply is 3 months prior. No exceptions. That means, we have to apply on the way, at an Iranian embassy somewhere. Which is not difficult, its just that there they might take weeks to process our visa and we will be stuck whereever the embassy happens to be. Which should now better be a nice place so that we can chill out while waiting for the visa to come through.
On the other hand, we had the problem with Vietnam and the information which said that we cant get in because our bike is too big. The embassy in Vietnam, however, told us its no problem at all. Same with the Vietnamese Tourism Board. Plus we are now also kindly invited by the University of Cantho to visit them and meet with staff and students. So all of a sudden we are able to travel to Vietnam, which for weeks seemed to be impossible. Equipment wise, same thing. We had long ago said goodbye to the idea of travelling with a GPS system and had been worried about the costs for a new suspension for the bike. That’s all been solved almost without our own doing. Garmin, courtesy of POLO, will provide us with a brand-new, state-of-the-art ZUMO GPS, and the thanks to Ray’s persistence WP will sponsor us with the suspension.
I find that kind of reverse-problem development fascinating. And nerve-racking.
First Aid Course with Wellington Free Ambulance on Monday and Tuesday, all day. Boring and only partly interesting, too much theory, too little practise. Waste of time and money. UPS advised that the parcels from POLO had arrived. We got our last map, two-third of the trip route is covered now. Tickets to Singapore had to be paid, another hole in our finances. The bike got a new tyre and feels very different, handier, more agile now. No wonder, the old one was hard as wood and many years old….
Picked up the final four parcels from POLO at UPS and had them transported home via taxi. It felt like Christmas the next day, unpacking the parcels, and piling up the heaps of stuff which they had sent over. It was so much, it made you feel dizzy. But dizzy in an euphorical sense - for the first time the trip had become real, with all the new gear in front of us, the jackets, trousers, helmets, gloves, tent, cooker, panniers, carrier, GPS, travel recorder, video-cam….so exciting. Now we have to get it out there and use it.
Test ride the next day to Waiarapa, Greytown, to visit Bob and Virginia. Over the Rimutaka which separates the windy Wellington region from the calm winelands. The new jackets are great, comfy, well padded, lots of pockets, air-vents – just brilliant. Same with the new Schuberth helmets. Brandnew, they still sit so tight that theres no need for earplugs and are very quiet. My trousers are also a perfect fit, but Sarah’s will need some changes. Am looking forward to next weekend to get the new carrier on and to check the Hepco & Becker panniers out.
7 Weeks
Date: 9 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
Its so close to Christmas, its not funny anymore.
I finally got my temporary passport organised, so there shouldnt be any problems re visa anymore, right? Wrong. We need to apply for the Iranian visa before we go as otherwise we have to do a stopover in Islamabad which we dont want to. The Iranian visa will take around 2 weeks to process. My final passport wont arrive before end of January, ie in all likelihood not before our departure at all. According to the visa application form the passport must be valid for at least 6 months... we will enter Iran around July next year... and my temporary passport expires in December next year... you can see where this is going. I will soon find out if we have to plan for a stopover in Islamabad or not.
The bike got a new camchain and runs much much smoother now. Gone the harsh vibrations when firing it up and its quieter too. There is more to be done, though, in two weeks it gets a new clutch, alarm and new brake cables. The new shocks and springs are ordered, I still cant believe that we are getting a complete new suspension from WP. And boy, what a suspension its gonna be. I so much look forward to it, it will transform the performance of the bike completely when under load. Which will be most of the time.
Got my last JE-shot and last check up by my dermatologist. Dentist is next and then I am done with all medicals.
We have also started enquiring for a Libyan visa and requirements for entry and been in touch with the Vietnamese embassy and the University of Can Tho. And POLO has mailed us four packages of equipment, due to arrive here by next weekend. Exciting.
Entertainment highlight this week: watching Ewan McGregor & Charlie Borman in "The long way down". A sequel to their first Long Way Round DVD, it features both of them going from Scotland down to Cape Town. The interesting bits for us are them crossing Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, so watching it has also some research-value for us. But seeing their preparation, the whole organisation and team behind them – producers, cameramen, researchers, survial experts, border fixers, you name it – plus their mountain of top-notch equipment, makes you feel dizzy. All they have to do is ride their bikes, really. The team does the rest.
Wish we could hand over some of our stuff to someone else too. Could you please finish the website for us, translate it and launch all the sponsor logos? And we need the Iranian and Libyan visa sorted. And while you are at it, please follow up with the Vietnamese embassy, will you. Then build us a case for our tripod, organise some storage for our furniture and personal stuff, organise a crate for the bike, and get our health insurance sorted, please. Dont forget the new laptop. It has to be small, light, sturdy and with a big hard drive, but cant be too expensive. And work on some drafts for an intro for the motorcycle magazines and complete the script for our preparation video, get some software and start editing. Thank you.
Gosh, that would be so nice.
8 Weeks
Date: 2 December 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
The flights are booked and the final day for New Zealand is set. I am leaving 28th January, Sarah a week before. We will meet in Sydney on 29th and continue from there to Singapore. Hopefully the bike is there too.
Travel insurance is still a headache. The quotes we got are very high. But a good and comprehensive insurance is important. Lots of things can happen and if we get serioulsy injured somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we are stuffed without insurance. Forget any cover for the bike, thats pointless as it is neither enforceable nor are you ever able to prove what happened. But your health is something different. Still, we dont know yet with which insurance to go.
Also still, no idea where and how to store all my stuff, ie furniture, clothes, computer, books, you name it. I could pack and ship it somewhere, but where to? I dont know where I will end up, if I stay in Europe or come back. So its best to pack it shipping-ready, but again, how do I do that? And who would ship it for me when I am not here?
Small problems came up with our equipment too. What laptop to take. How to charge it on the way. How to store data. External harddrives? Cheap, small, lots of space, but not very shock resistant. Also, how to secure the laptop when we leave it somewhere, eg in a hotelroom? How do we transmit or transfer footage to the website? The files are enormously big, as we found out on a couple of test-drives and shooting with our new small Panasonic Lumix.
We advertised our place too, on TradeMe, looking for new tenants to take over. And the phone doesnt stop ringing, its incredible. Well, at least one thing we dont need to worry about then.
9 Weeks
Date: 25 November 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Stressed
Another week over.
Not much has happened since. My passport came back from NZ immigration, with the new indefinite returning residents visa. That means, I can now apply for a new temporary passport at the German Embassy and we can finally go ahead and apply for the visa for Iran.
Booked the bike in at BMW for the upgrade on the brakes and the camchain repair. Got my glasses back too. Good feeling, the new lenses make quite a difference. Great news on Friday with POLO confirming that we will get new panniers and that the rest of the equipment will be shipped end of next week. Still no news from WP in The Netherlands, so we are hoping and waiting. And still no dates for a first aid course in January. It looks like that these courses are only ever offered as mid-week courses, no matter which organisation we checked out, there were no weekend courses available. So we have to take two days off to do it. Two days less of annual leave, crap.
The Vitenamese embassy responded to our query whether it is possible to cross into Vietnam at certain bordes with a motorbike of 1000cc. We have read many traveller reports that Vietnam doesnt allow motorbikes over and above 125cc into the country. According to the Embassy, its not a problem at all, just a matter of filling out some forms at the border. Hm. Sounds too easy for me. Either there is nothing behind all these traveller reports, or the Embassy has no idea whats actually going on at the borders. Will make some additional enquiries with the Vietnames Toursim Department and see what they say.
Worked on the bike on the weekend, sorted tools and spareparts. Tried again to get that new digital bike speedo installed, but gave up. There is no way to get sender and receiver as close together at the wheel as the manual requires. Unless I put a big chunky piece of whatever on the fork to close the gap. Which will then probably ripped off anyway on the first dirt track by some rocks or branches.
Lets see what next week brings.
10 Weeks
Date: 18 November 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Less stressed
Another busy week has passed and again, it was a week with little sleep. We had a number of late night phone calls to potential sponsors in Germany.
The parcel with the missing spare parts from Germany arrived out of the blue as well. Stamped 20th September in Germany it took almost two months to arrive here. Unbelievable. As I had ordered all parts again weeks ago, the whole shipment is of no use anymore, so I mailed everything back to the sender and manufacturers respectively and asked for a refund.
The bike got back on the road too. First to BMW for a checkup as part of a possible support from the local BMW dealer. Michael, the chief-mecanic, couldnt find anything troublesome and suggested to upgrade the suspension and the brakes - which is in the pipeline already. He checked the heated grips too, which are broken and unfixable. I had put the hazard lights in on the weekend before and Michael also connected the missing cables, so thats finally working. New WOF and Rego were done too.
The application for the Carnet went out to my Dad, who suggested we should ask the ADAC too whether they are interested to come on board. Great idea, we will do that.
Another telephone discussion with POLO about additional equipment. The panniers are okayed, brilliant. Plus they would like us to test a GPS travel recorder and are trying to get us a GPS too. Their support for us is just awesome, we still cant believe our luck. We had already taken a GPS off our equipment list as its not in the budget anymore and intended to rely on old-fashioned maps and compass... if that would work out, we would be over the moon...
The weather cleared up finally on the weekend and on Saturday we purchased our new camera equipment. Exciting to carry all the new stuff home and play with it for the first time. Two brand new Nikon's with three lenses, a Panasonic compact, filters, bags, a solid Manfroto tripod. The best camera equipment I ever had. No idea how all that is gonna fit on the bike, though.
The sun got us out on Sunday, a ride out to Plimmerton with Sarah testing the video function on the Panasonic. Very nice footage due to an excellent wide-angle. Can see that working very effectively as clip-material for our site.
Good. We are getting there.
11 Weeks
Date: 10 November 2007 | Posted by: Robert | Mood: Relieved
Support and assistance has come from unexpected sources. We are still looking for a sponsor regarding the bike, ie components, service, parts etc. The most important necessary upgrade is the suspension, rear shock absorber and springs. As the bike is already equipped with WP suspension back and front, we approached WP headquarters Germany and their distributor in New Zealand. And the latter turned out to be a great help, forwarded our brochure immediately to HQ in The Netherlands and will follow up for us after the main contact persons are back from the bike-show in Milan. Fantastic.
Michael, my uncle in Germany, has also come on board. Having been informed about our trip only a few weeks ago, he more or less immediately rung us and offered to approach some companies in Mannheim for a potential sponsorship. We emailed him our brochures and cross our fingers. Lets wait and see.
The last prints of our brochures are also done, the last set being just silly ones to friends and family. Same layout, but with slight funny changes in text. Still trying to get hold of other local sponsors, which proved to be difficult. The big corporations are all out, as expected. The trekking shops are also out, which is a pity. Good news with our favourite photoshop, though, which has made us a very good offer for a new digital camera equipment and which we are more than happy to accept.
And the first shipment with outdoor gear and tools from POLO has arrived. Christmas feelings in November and another worry: how to store all that on the bike? Especially the sleeping bags and matraces are so big, that they fill one luggage roll already.
End of the month, when all gear has arrived, we are in for some suprises when it comes to the test-packing, thats for sure.
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