When things are going smoothly while traveling, and it looks like it is going to be an easy day, BEWARE !!!! it is going to change suddenly and slap you in the face. We woke up early as usual, some with an alarm clock and Pie and Rocky waking up the Cockerel to start crowing. We 1st went to the fuel station as we were up loooooong before breakfast. Then we returned to sit down to a huge treat, or not. We each got a sachet of coffee powder and were pointed in the direction of the Boiling Water. Then followed the spread, consisting of 2 slices of warm bread, (never made it to Toast.) With this Smorgasbord we each got 1 slice of cheese and one slice of salami. The happiness on their faces tells a different story.
Then we went to stand in line for the ferry, which was fully booked. There were 33 bikes when I took this photo and many more arrived.
Our ferry looked a little rusty, and it was not berthed (eat your heart out grade 12 English Teacher!!!) in the most scenic area you have ever seen.
Many cars and a bus and then this Over-Lander pulled in and my heart skipped a beat, I saw my future after the KTM Tour of The World ends next year, I can see myself and lovely wife touring through Australia and New Zealand with something like this, but, I still need to discuss this with her, so please dont tell her.
Some bikes in the line had owners with soft bum’s:
Some Ferry Photos:
We sailed for 4 hours and had “lunch” onboard, another great feast:
The clouds obviously did not play along and was hiding all the Volcanos we heard we were going to see. It was at this stage that I should have known that the storm clouds were gathering, the “easy day” was bound to bite us in the bum.
But there was this photo, and I know Tex took a few later, but due to our little “situation” we find ourselves in tonight, he has not had Wi-Fi to send them, or, might have sent them but my phone went flat a while ago, also due to our little situation, will post them tomorrow.
I decided to step up as the Group leader who was fired but still does all the work but no recognition, (apart from Peens who is Minister of Navigation, Pie, Tex and Millsy who are the technical guys and Rocky who runs out finances.) So I went onto Booking.com and tried to find us a Cabana for tonight, but what a disaster as the address on BOOKING.COM leads to monthly houses, the owner never looks at her phone and communication, when it happens is in Spanish, but more of this later.
After the 1st ferry docked, we had a 14km ride to the next ferry. The bikes were released after the trucks and cars and we raced off on a good tar road, chasing then cars, hoping to get to the next ferry before them, and we did. But, the Man In Charge of the Line obviously had a bad experience with bikers in the past, (we suspect his daughter might have dated a Biker and that the relationship ended in tears,) as he let the cars, bus and overland trucks board before us, and then that ferry was full, in spite of us winning the Sprint to the ferry. So we had to wait for the ferry to go and drop off the people, then return for us, 1,5 hours later. So peens went fishing and Millsy went to sleep.
And the rest of us waited and chatted to the other bikers. We caused quite a stir as we had obviously been the most traveled Bikers in the ferry line. Most guys were from Argentina and Brazil, they had a hand full of stickers on their bikes, we had 45 countries stickers on our panniers. But while talking to them they kept on looking down at our boots, or Pie’s Helmet (full of duck tape to cover the hole left when the mouth-vent-piece rattled off 4 gravel roads ago. My dusty dirty smelly jacket was also a talking point. All of the other 45 bikes had new clean fresh crisp Riding Gear, we looked like Hobos, (and the smell was also not too far off.)
And then my Angel stirred the water and we could race on to the ferry.
It was only a half an hours ferry ride, but we were getting a little “Gatvol” by now. So we eat chocolates.
We saw that we had a gravel road ahead when we docked, of 44km, and we decided the wise thing to do as older, more experienced, bikers is to wait once we have disembarked, buy some water and wait for the dust could to settle.
But as the ferry’s door opened Peens thought that there was a Cash Prize for the winner to the town and he bolted like a horse in heat, followed by the rest, except Millsy and I who stopped for water. BIG MISTAKE. While we stocked up on water the other cars and trucks were released and got going down the gravel road. The only others who waited were the very slow and inexperienced riders. Millsy and myself felt like Dakar Riders as we caught the slow riders, ahead of us,, a few fell, and their friends had to turn around to help them.
But then we caught 5 cars who had caught a truck, who had caught the bus and we ate some serious dust!!!!. I eventually stopped, no way I could safely pass them. I took some photos, then rode again until I caught the convoy, stop again, until we got to the tar road. We knew some guys had fallen hard and got injured as 2 ambulances came past us from the front.
We eventually all reunited at a restaurant and had a beer while I went to look for the accommodation that I paid for. How hard can it be? Well, the address and Directions as on Booking.com took me to a little house, hardly the 5 bedroom house I paid for.
The neighbour told me these houses are no longer for rent and should have been removed from Booking.com.
I went back to the restaurant to find my “friend” sucking beer and Pie telling me he has a crisis as his wife wants him to authorize some Salary Payments and he needed me to fetch my laptop and jump onto the Wifi so he could do the payments. I explained that I was also having a crises as the address did not work and I think I had been scammed. He was not very sympathetic to my little problem and decided to help, so he ordered “snacks” (which might be there when I return from finding accommodation.)
)
But the Minister of Navigation took over (as my phone’s battery had died,) and he went to track the owner down who had responded with a message, which we translated thanks to the waitress, and eventually she sent us a pin location that actually lead to a real address.
Tomorrow we have some “Bad gravel” of 56km and then it becomes tar, we are told. But no doubt my blog tomorrow will have some twists and turns as nothing goes according to plan when you are an Adventure Biker on tour in a foreign country. I see some rain will also add some twist on Wednesday????
I will also post some photos that my friends took today that I will receive before Midnight, I hope.
Signing Off
Fleisch
Pappa se engeltjie werk oortyd!