Los Colectivos...

...back to the beginning

2009-10-05T18:12:00.007+08:00

42,000 km and 11 months of holiday later...last leg home from Sydney to Perth via Darwin and Broome...

Paso Del Jama into Argentina and back to Santiago...

2009-06-21T05:21:00.030+08:00

Time was running out to get to Santiago in time for the flight so we pushed on to cross in to Argentina so we could get back on Ruta 40 and head through the wine regions. We left from San Pedro de Atacama early in the morning an embarked on what would be one of the hardest days of riding we have had on the whole trip. Passing over Paso De Jama which sits at about 5400m above sea level we experienced freezing cold, drove through falling snow, had 100km/hr winds and sand storms. Once through all this though, on the other side in Argentina, the weather was warmer and sunnier and we had a great time travelling through the small towns.

Some highlights from Salta to Santiago include...
the many tasty steaks in Argentina, the road up to Catchi and then down to Cafayate, great Malbec and Temprenillo wines of the region, meeting another KLR650 rider on Ruta 40, Puente del Inca and the ride over Paso del Liberator into Chile, the relativly hassle free freighting of the motorbike back to Australia, getting a set of Metzeler tyres for about 200 ozzie bucks in Santiago, drinking lots of Kunstmann beer...the best in South America and getting spoilt by family freinds in Vitacura.

So after 30,500 kilometers over here its hasta luego to South America for now and looking forward to more adventures to continue back in Oz...

The Road from Cusco to San Pedro de Atacama...

2009-06-21T03:20:00.020+08:00

The Peruvians love striking and protesting so when we heard that there was a two day road strike we didn’t think too much of it when we decided to leave Cusco on the second day of the strike. So we set of with Trisha and Cholly towards Nasca hoping to make it pretty close to the 600kms. However to do a short 80kms of road took us all day as there was massive disruptions on the roads with trees, rocks, burning tyres and human blockades. We struggled throughout the day having to go off roads and on farming tracks, lift the bikes over the obstacles, create bridges and talk our way through at times mobs of people. The four of us where exhausted when we came across a very angry mob as it was getting late. The group of men had machetes, sticks and rocks and stood in front of our bikes demanding money which we happily gave to them to let us by, and whats 2 bucks to get through... Surprisingly this was the only angry group of people we met all day with most of the locals happily helping us or giving us directions. But once we got safely through this drama the rest of the way to Nasca was relatively uneventful… thankfully! but very beautiful with views of kilometer high sand dunes ect...

The Nasca lines are parallel and geometric figures as well as designs such as dogs and birds cut into the desert thought to be started around 900-200BC. These lines are a pretty amazing site and are best seen from the air so we took a light airplane trip over them. Despite feeling pretty green with the pilots flying technique it was a great and mind boggling trip as the lines we so accurate and it was amazing that they didn’t have a Dampi level… or perhaps they did.

After Nasca it was time to split up with Trisha and Cholly as they headed north to Lima to fly back to Europe and we started our south bound journey towards Santiago. The ride south was amazing with sand dunes and the driest desert we had ever seen. Not a thing survives except in the occasional valley where a small supply of water exists and people had set up olive trees and fruit trees somehow. The first stop was Arequipa, and with a new crack appearing on the rear rim of the motorbike we had to spend a very relaxing 3 days waiting to get it welded yet again. Once this was repaired we headed into Chile spending a night in Arica and then onto San Pedro de Atacama. We visited Valle del Luna but the weather we had there was incredible with + 80km/hr winds and sand storms making it very tricky on the bike. We were literally blown away by the landscape of the area and it can really seem at times like you could be on another planet.

Lake Titikaka to Machu Picchu...

2009-06-21T02:40:00.015+08:00

Leaving La Paz we headed for Lake Titikaka which sits between Bolivia and Peru. We spent the a couple of nights at Copacabana and caught a boat over to Isla del Sol with Simon and a lovely Oz/New Zealand couple, Trisha and Cholly touring on their very impressive BMW GS1200A. The full day hike we did from the north of the island to the south was absolutely stunning with amazing views over the lake. From here we headed to Puno for a night and saw the floating islands which are home to a number of people. Now days the people tend to use the islands as floating souvenir shops to supplement their traditional way of living but it was still enjoyable to be out on the lake.

We set of with Trisha and Cholly to Cusco early the next day and thoroughly enjoyed the scenic ride despite a few rocks getting pegged at us by local kids, the ride went by without a hitch. Cusco is truly beautiful city in the old center but like most of the towns we have been to, the outskirts leave a lot to be desired but once in the middle the good Ol’ Spanish had done a great job with the architecture. Throughout the center you find yourself surrounded with Inca walls, with ruins on just about every local street. Although pretty touristy and relatively expensive is a still a great town to spend a couple of days. Also in Cusco is Norton Rats tavern, a must go to place for motorbike travelers with a massive visitors book filled with stories of adventures. Most of the people we had met on bikes along the way had their mark somewhere on the pages of this famous book! Jeff the owner was more than happy to pass on lots of info and advice as well as entertain us with stories of his travels over the years. With great burgers and good beers, we spent a lot of time here with Trisha and Cholly.

From Cusco we headed to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, which includes beautiful scenery and Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Pisac and countless others. We spent the day rinding through the valley and ended up in Ollantaytambo for the night where we organized a train ticket to the final town of Aguas Callientes before Machu Piccu. With a 5am start the next day we went with every man and their dog to Macchu Picchu. Although crowed, expensive and very touristy you cannot get over the beauty and setting of the ruins as well as the amazing amount of work that would have gone into the buildings.

Sucre to Uyuni and La Paz...

2009-05-12T01:46:00.015+08:00

Simon decided to stay in Sucre for another week to take advantage of the cheap Spanish lessons on offer while the rest of us headed off to the salt flats via Potosi.

Potosi, only a couple hundred K’s away along some windy sealed roads is a very grey city, definitely no Sucre. We had been spoilt with Sucre and Samaipata before that. We opted for some 20 boliviano accommodation and got straight out of there the next morning. Most people head to Potosí to visit the old silver mines. This was not over appealing to any of us. Granted the conditions are pretty terrible and the small groups of co-operative miners are paid very little, but crawling around in a shitty mine 250m underground does not sound like too much fun. Good move Simon staying in Sucre!

Only another couple hundred K’s to Uyuni, this time on dirt roads with a never-ending amount of road works. It was another 10 hour ride and again all very scenic, very different from the 10 hour ride from La Higuera to Sucre. This area of the Andes is very dry with only a few little valleys with water running through them. You find large herds of alpacas and llamas in these areas all with their colorful ear tags.

Great view of the Salar and Uyuni from the mountains. It is a very vast and barren landscape. Upon closer inspection of Uyuni it looks like a bomb has hit it…it's not a very appealing town, grey, cold and our 20 BOB accommodation was like a little crack den, or at least it turned into one. Our first impressions were to get out on the salt flat ASAP and get out of the town and La Paz bound…only this was easier said than done.

We planned to go out onto the Salar for a two day one night trip on the bikes and camp at Isla de Pescado about 80km from the edge of the salt flat. All the prep was in place including lots of warm gear as it apparently gets as low as -25 degrees Celsius out on the salt. Unfortunately we all, apart from Kate, got a nasty stomach bug. So we spend three days doing stuff all except lots of games of Yaniff and eating ‘rice and flavor’.

We did eventually get out onto the salt, only for a day trip unfortunately but it was still spectacular nonetheless. We rode out to Isla Inkahuasi and back. It was great fun and a ‘must do’ place to see in Bolivia.

So after our troubles with Uyuni we pushed on towards Oruro, and then onto La Paz. The corrugated roads took a toll on Matteo’s bike and a massive crack appeared on the rim about half way thought he dirt section. After a road side coffee and a bit of araldite glue on the rim we proceeded at about 50kms/hr to try and get to the next town and put the bike on a truck for the rest of the way to La Paz. We pulled in to a town called Challapata as it was just getting dark, however although there was plenty of trucks that we could put the bike on for the last 300 or so K’s to La Paz, all the truck drivers appeared drunk as it was Saturday night. So this idea was quickly canned and we moved onto finding somewhere to stay. This town turned out to be one of the strangest places we had ever been in and every hotel in town refused to take us in. with all these troubles we decided to take off towards Oruro, in the freezing cold darkness. It is not recommended to drive at night in Bolivia and we soon found out why. We were forced off the road by trucks and scared shitless by drivers coming up behind us with no lights on. All the drivers appeared drunk or high… a truly frightful night. At about 12pm we pulled into Oruro and treated ourselves a very expensive hotel, glad to have survived.

The next morning after reassessing the rim we thought perhaps if we went slow we could make it all the way to La Paz, however 70kms out the crack was spreading so we pulled over a truck and loaded the bike on to get us to La Paz.

People from La Paz claim it to be the highest capital city in the world, with the airport sitting at 4000m above sea level. The result of this is severe breathlessness every time you climb a flight of stairs or the many hills around town. La Paz was the last destination for David, Kate and Matteo to travel to together. From here the journey separated with Dave booting ahead to get back to Santiago for his 25th of May flight out to Sydney and Kate and Matteo, having an extra month till 21st of June, continuing at a slower pace.

We were unable to order a new rim as the earliest they said they could get the rim in was 30-40 days so we settled for the rim being welded and hoped for the best. It the meantime while the bike was in the shop, Matteo, Simon and Kate took a bus to Rurrenabaque to the Bolivian Amazon. We spent 5 days wildlife watching, swimming with the pink dolphins, piranha fishing, trekking through the jungle and taking boat rides. A truly worthwhile trip. As the bus ride was so traumatic for Kate and Matteo, used to their own transport, took a very easy flight back while Simon, braver than most persisted with the bus.

Before leaving La Paz, we did the ‘Death Road’, a 30kms mountainous track, only one lane width, considered the world’s most dangerous road. It used to be the main road from La Paz to Coroico before they built a new tarmac road and apparently about 200 people used to die on it every year, including several tourists. The road is actually one of the most beautiful roads we have done. With stunning drop offs , waterfalls on the sides of the mountains and spectacular views. However this road was done on a very wobbly rear rim on the bike as after the welding the tyre came back completely unbalanced and not so round.

Into Bolivia - Corumba to Sucre....

2009-04-30T06:45:00.026+08:00

We made it across the border from Brazil to Bolivia safely, saying goodbye to all the Brazilian paperwork but hello to the bribing culture of Bolivia! The border officer in Bolivia happily told us that the computer system would not work on saturday but with a small fee he would manage to turn the computer on the get our motorbike visas organised, so with that we were on our way to do the 525kms to Santa Cruz.

The first leg of the journey was on the best sealed roads we could ever dream of but this quickly changed about 12kms after a lovely old Jesuit Mission town called San Jose.

The dirt road offered every imaginable off road condition, from mud, rocks, sand and bull dust. About 100kms from Santa Cruz in the worst bull dust any of us had seen Dave unfortunately came off his bike. No injuries sustained to Dave luckily but the pannier frames took a hammering and needed some welding done in Santa Cruz.
The good thing that came as a result of this tough road was that Matteo finally came up with a name for his bike... ´Roberta´. Named after a tough old horse he had in Kenya growing up, and also cause she is tad like Roberta out of the Australian TV series Underbelly, tough and obnoxious...not a bad name for a KLR650.

All of us were tired and worn out as we finally completed the 350kms of road in 10 hours, and rolled into Santa Cruz in darkness, something none of us were comfortable with. Luckily a great guy, Juan, on an Africa Twin drove up to us and escorted us through all the hectic traffic. The kindness of people whilst we have been travelling has never ceased to amaze us.

We stayed at a hostel called Jodanga in Santa Cruz which was very accommodating of the bikes, and was a great place for R and R. We spent 4 nights in Santa Cruz whilst we saw the sights of the town and made the repairs needed to the bikes and some new tyres for Roberta. We were all amazed with the westernised items you can get in Bolivia as there is a very good importing culture, so the bikes were easily serviced with all the brands we wanted.

From Santa Cruz we went to a little town full of ex pats called Samaipata. It was a very scenic 120kms drive, however we joined a lot of traffic heading from Santa Cruz to the little town for the Easter weekend. Samiapata will be remembered for the great food, a fantastic animal refuge and a truly beautiful day hike in Amboro National Park.

We were recommended a road called 'Ruta del Che' to take to get to the capital of Bolivia Sucre (although this is hard to confirm as people from Sucre think it is the capital, and the people from La Paz think La Paz is the capital... strange to say the least )

The Ruta Del Che is in significant in the history of Che Guevara as it was the area where he and his men hid in the mountains and tried to start a revolution in Bolivia against the military dictator. Two towns along the mountainous passes are of great importance. Valle Grande where there is a small museum with some photos and his clothes and La Higuera were he was shot at the local school.

In the little town there is a small shop owned by a lady who claimed to have smuggled food to Che when he was hiding in the mountains. She made us a fantastic lunch and we had a great bottle of warm beer. We also spent the night at La Higuera at a beautiful posada called Casa de Telegrafista.

The next morning it was only 280km to Sucre but all of it was dirt bar 70kms but most of climbing and descending like the previous day. The scenery was amazing from dense greenery to cactus ridden, spaghetti western style landscape. We rolled into Sucre, once again in the dark and found a great hostel with safe parking for the bikes called Wasi Masi.

Sucre is a really beautiful center of town that is UNESCO world heritage listed. We spent 4 days relaxing and enjoying the sights of the town. The highlight has to be the mirrador cafe where we spent hours lazing in the sun, playing cards and eating amazing food. Not a bad way to spend some time. Motoservi, a really nice moto shop fabricated a 15mm aluminium spacer for Roberta's rear shock to stiffen it up a tad. They did a great job on the lathe. The next stop was Salar de Uyuni, the world’s highest salt flat.

Corumba and the Pantanal...

2009-04-14T00:53:00.010+08:00

Our final destination in Brazil before heading into the much anticipated Bolivia was the border town named Corumba. From here we where able to sort out a few last minute things with the bikes and also head out a night out into the Pantanal. The Pantanal is the largest wetland area in the world, and is home to a massive variety of flora and fauna which definitely spoilt us during our visit.

We all opted for the much cheaper option of sleeping in hammocks, rather than the air-conditioned hotel rooms during our stay in the Pantanal. Good meals where also included in the price as well as a variety of tours, with horse riding and jeep tours being our preference. Both where good fun and we where able to see a nice variety animals. One of the main highlights was a friendly Toucan which came and shared breakfast with us in the morning around the campsite.

Corumba itself wasn´t too exciting, so after getting the bikes all sorted we took of for the border and the nearby Bolivian town of Puerto Suárez. Here Simon and Blair would again split from us too catch the train to Santa Cruz and we hit the road with the aim of reaching Santa Cruz within a couple of days...depending on the road conditions...but at this stage we were all very excited about the prospect of a new country, with new cultures and the fact that we no longer had to worry about speaking Portuguese.

Bonito and the muddy road there...

2009-04-01T00:39:00.010+08:00

It took us three days to reach Bonito after leaving Brasilia. This was mostly due too a section of road about half way through our journey. The relentless rain fall this night before we hit the road had caused the dirt road to turn in to a nice slippery, muddy one. And seeing as though we were still running with our mostly road tyres on it made our task even harder. Dave had picked up his new set of more knobbly tyres two days earlier in Brasilia but was carrying them until the Bolivian border before putting them on (too get the most out of the existing tyres). But he soon found himself and the bike lying sideways on the mud twice in one hour, and both times braking off the panniers cam locks. Its quite frustrating seeing these nice off road tyres strapped to the bike when all you want is for them to be around the wheels. Good fun none the less.

Apart from the muddy road, we made it to Bonito too meet up with Simon and Blair without too many other hassles. Bonito is a lovely small town with one main commercial street. Very similar to other tourist town we have been too, meaning that there are lots of nice restaurants, bars, and Internet cafes. But what make Bonito so special is not the things found in the town is whats around that pulls in the points.

There are a number of freshwater rivers, with the clarity of a glass of mineral water in which you can snorkel. There are a huge number of fish which surround you as you drift effortlessly down stream. Such an amazing experience. It is so strange to think that we are in the middle of all this farming land and here we are going snorkeling in water which would rival that found somewhere like Fiji or Samoa.

Next stop is Corumba and the Bolivian frontier!

The Future City...

2009-03-31T23:14:00.012+08:00

Brazil´s capital, Brasilia is a city full of stunning architecture. The city itself is only 50 years old and was designed by the Brazilian architect Lucio Costa. The whole city is base on the layout of an aeroplane, with a main central spine and too sweeping wings, and every sector of the plan has is purpose. There is a sector for banking, one for electronics etc etc. There are no street names, instead a numbering system has been put in place..at times this does get rather confusing, but there is logic behind it.

On of the main reasons for us visiting Brasilia was to see the architecture, in particular the work done by the famous Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian modernist architect who turned 100 this year! His work is very monumental, at times puzzling, but many ideals that he has within his buildings are still influential with today's designers. The vast open spaces around his buildings and the futuristic designs make it seem like you are walking around a movie set for the next Star Wars film.

We were all looked after unbelievably well by Margi and Gerard Moss who put us up in there home for the 4 days we were there. I think that we all appreciated some home comforts, and some time to relax. Thanks again guys. Margi and Matteo´s mum Daphne when to school together back when they where living in Kenya and when she heard that we would be travelling through central Brazil Margi kindly offered to have us stay. Both Margi and Gerard have travelled all over the world and have visited over 100 countries, so they had some great travel stories and tips to give us for the rest of our travels. Margi and Gerard are no strangers to adventures, having travelled around the world together in a single engine plane, and Gerard until recently held the world record for the most economical flight around the world, done on a glider with a small single engine to use when needed.

Apart from seeing all the buildings that were on offer, we did have some time to do a bit of work on the bikes. After Dave picked up a new set of Tyres (50/50 tread ready for the ruff stuff in Bolivia) and both the bikes had an oil, oil filter, and spark plug change, we went over the bikes looking for any loose nuts and bolts..its surprising how often things can rattle loose.

A must see destination recommended by Margi and Gerard was a small town called Bonito, and after having a look at a few of their pictures we all soon agreed that that was to be our next port of call.

Itacaré...

2009-03-29T04:49:00.023+08:00

Earlier in the trip we had, at many times, thought that coming this far north was going to be too far out of the way. But thankfully our willingness for adventure came through in the end. We had heard from many people that Itacare was one of the must see destinations in Brazil, and after spending a week there I´m sure that we would now argue that same point.

The two bikes rolled into town in the dark, after riding a solid 600km day. Weaving our way down the main, recently paved cobble stone street, we luckily ran into Blair and Simon who where having dinner street side (an Arabic style restaurant which was so good that we ended up eating there on three of the nights). The boys had arrived earlier that day and had organised a place for us to stay. ´The Billabong´ Pousada (owned by an Aussie chap, Paul) was to be our home for the next few days. Happy to see another fellow Australian, Paul kindly offered to have us around to his place for a local style BBQ, which in Brazil is called a Corrasco. Seriously good feed might I add, which also included 24 long necks of the fine local brew, Skol.

On an other occasion Paul, his wife and his sister in-law took us all out for a night of dancing, at a place called ´Papaguis´. The evening was a good chance for everyone to embarrass themselves. But it was a fun night out.

Now to the main reason Itacare is so great...the beaches. There are four main beaches in close proximity to the main town center, all of which are surrounded by palm trees and have decent waves rolling in to please the many surfers, including Simon who has been carrying his board since Ferrugem in the south of Brazil. Although the close beaches are nice, we took a small trek to reach another bay about 45 minutes away. This beach was a winner for everyone..perhaps it was because there weren´t as near the numbers on the other beaches. Bloody fantastic. Clear turquoise water with clean squeaky sand and nice big waves.

One day was spent out fishing, although we didn´t even get a bite. A good chance to sink a couple of cans anyway. We went out with three other travelers we had meet in the town, Leo, Emily, and Juan (Italian, Australia, Argentinian) all good people who we ended out hanging out with on a couple different nights.

Another was spent riding 50km north up the coast with Paul´s son in-law and his girlfriend. We rode along some nice road, as well as the beach to reach a small unspoilt town called Barra Grande, which had water which was dead flat and about 25 degrees warm! Swimming was like taking a hot bath. But that whole stretch of coast north and south was truly stunning...a place we would definitely be returning to some day.

On our last night at Itacare we all decided to camp. The reason we gave up our air conditioned room for a spot under the stars was really quite simple. How often to you get to camp right on the Brazilian coast and basically have your own private beach at your door step. Definitely on of the best camping spots that we have had on the trip so far.

Next stop Brasilia...

Buzios to Itaunus...

2009-03-23T01:34:00.017+09:00

A really nice town set on the Atlantic about 200km due east of Rio, Buzios is a place well worth visiting. Known for its timeless cobblestone streets and its amazing beaches the once old fishing village is now a holiday hot spot for most living in Rio.

Buzio is quite unique as it is set on a peninsular which shelters the northern beaches, offering calm water for swimming and boating and on the southern side the surf still rolls in for anyone keen for a paddle. One let down was the snorkeling. We had been told that various beaches around Buzios were good for this, but all that you could really see where a few fish and a sandy sea bed. Not to bother we found a number of other ways to pass the days.

Along with the beaches the true charm of Buzios shines through in the town center. Consisting of about 4 streets, the area is packed full of shops, bars, and restaurants and the fact that the street turns into a pedestrian zone in the evenings adds a lot to the character. Most nights people where treated to a display of capoeira performed in the streets to the beat of load drums and singing. This Brazilian martial art is a mix of dancing and fighting and is quite astonishing to watch.

The six of us staying there all shared an apartment which worked out quite well in terms of our budget. The reason being was that the place had only 3 beds, which meant that we had to do a nightly rotation to provide some relief from the hard floor..but no one could complain.

After a couple of days we decided to pack up and head further north up the coast to a place called Itaunas. We were taking a chance on this place, as we hadn't meet anyone how had traveled there or read much about it. After two days of riding, with the rain switching on and off, we set up camp in a some what average campsite, with the only upside being that we were the only people there. We soon decided that Itaunas wasn't a place to spend more than two nights and we set our minds on heading 1000km further north to the much talked about Itacare. But not to be too harsh to Itaunas, the place did have a lovely beach lined with some pretty spectacular dunes.

Rio...

2009-03-02T08:15:00.010+09:00

Rio de Janeiro! We made it...another great milestone in our journey around South America. Here we where about to meet up with a bunch of our friends to celebrate Carnival. The biggest party for all Brazilians on their calendar year. Everyone was staying in Copacobana, spread over 3 apartments...so our first challenge was to find them!

We rode in to Rio from the south. Here there was another main route which could take us to Copacobana without taking us through the city center. To our delight, not only was the route well sign posted, guiding us easily to our aprtments, it also wove us along the southern beaches of Rio directing us left and right, up and down and through a number of hill headlands which seemed to dive into the depths of the Atlantic. Yes the racing trafficand the ruff stone cut tunnels made us feel as though we we part of a F1 racing in Monaco.

Meeting up with everyone and unpacking at the apartment was a nice feeling knowing that once again we could unwind for a good couple of days. Having arrived on we had a few days to hangout on the beach before the real Carnival parties started on Friday. Both Copacobana and Ipanema beaches are great for to relax at for a couple of hours. For R$6 you coupld grab an umbrella and a deck chair and the with an endless amount of peopel walking by offering cold beers, what more coupld you want!

Amoungst the many parties that were held all aound town, one of the highlights for everyone was heading out top the sambodrome to see an evening of the big parade. The amount of effort the was obviously put into the show was unbelievable. The night was enjoyed be all. Other nights out at various bars, clubs, resturants, both at the beach and in the city center also offered great entertainment.

Along with all of the night time entertainment Rio is a city which provides its visitors with the opportunity to do some great sight seeing, and with 7 of us working in the architecture related field we where spoiled with the vast array of modernist architecture on display.

With the Carnival period coming to a close we had to switch our attention to matters more serious. Our personal visas and the visas for the bikes were due to expire on the 6th of March. As we were still planning to spend to spend another month traveling up the coast and then over to Bolivia, we had to orgainise getting an extension..and as we soon found out was not the most simple of tasks. After many, many trips too and from the airport, to the city center, to one office, to another, from one chap, to the next. All in all the whole process was quite annoying and not one that we would like to go through again. In the end we got everything sorted and were able to kick on for another month.

All up our Rio experience was a fantastic one. It was truely a great city to travel in. The setting, the beaches and the people have definately spoiled us. In fact on our last night there, we were invited around to Latish's (thanks Blair) house where we were treated to some fantastic food and lovely hospitality.

Next stop Buzios 200km east from Rio. Clam beaches and clear water awaits!

The Emerald Coast...

2009-02-26T07:33:00.005+09:00

Everyone else had booked on an overnight bus to Rio on the 17th, but if we too where going to make it to Rio by the 18th for the start of Carnival we had to leave the house on the 16th to ensure we could make it on time.

Our aim on the first day was to get as close to the ´Emerald Coast´(the stretch of coast between Santos and Rio) as possible, as we had been told the this coastal highway was one of the most picturesque in the world. After riding in the pouring rain for most of the day we almost made it, but pulled up about 150km south of Santos at a small coastal town called Peruibe. Earlier in the day we had meet up with another couple traveling on motorbikes. Pierre and Celine had ridden their BMW GS1200´s down from Quebec, Canada to Ushuaia and where now on their way home. Piere and Celine where also on their way to Rio, so we agreed that it would be fun to head up there together as a bit of a convoy.

The following day the sun was shinning which set the mood for a great days riding. A quick stop in the old colonial town of Paraty and the endless sweeping bends up and down the Emerald Coast ensured that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on our approach to Rio!

Jungle House...

2009-02-26T07:17:00.008+09:00

The house in Ferrugem was a fantastic place to chill out at for a couple of days. The house was situated half way up one of the hills in the area, which gave us a beautiful view down across a near by lake. From the house we could easily walk to the beach, shops, restaurants, and bars, which was ideal. It was nice to have a bit of a break from the bikes.

Alex left us after a few days to head back to London. Soon after the arrival of Livi G, Liv Mac, and Simon saw the house full again. It was really good having a bunch of mates around to lounge about with...drinking beers on the terrace. Long days where spent at the beach swimming, surfing, drinking and playing ´tuk tuk´, a popular game in South America with wooden paddles and a small rubber ball.

The near by fishing town named Garopaba was only a quick bus ride from where we were staying. Here everyone was able to do a bit more shopping both for themselves and for family and friends back home. The beach at Garopaba did not have the waves that where back at Ferrugem, instead the calm water offered visitors the chance to go skiing, sailing or do other boating activities. The eastern end of the beach was lined with wooded boat sheds, and some small houses. It was quite amazing how close to the waters edge they were built!

Time spent down at the Ferrugem house was a nice a relaxing time, and was a great intro to the Brazilian coast, as we got ready to head up to Rio de Janerio for Carnival!

Iguazu to Florianopolis...

2009-02-25T06:31:00.005+09:00

We left Argentina with a bit of a sore head from the previous night. After dropping Kobi off at the Brazilian Embassy we slipped through the border without too much trouble. At this stage Kate and Alex would be just out from Florianopolis, having caught the bus the day before. Alex, one of Kate´s mates from school, had flown into South America from London. This was her last week here, so Kate gave up her spot on the bike to spend more time with her.

Foz do Iguacu (on the Brazilian side), is a small modern city, with a population of over 300,000 and is much larger than it´s Argentine neighbour. Just to the north of the city is the Itaipu Dam. The dam is the single largest power station in the world and was built jointly by Brazil and Paraguay. A truly impressive feat. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to take a tour around the dam, as we still had around 1000km to cover in just two days.

After catching some much needed rest at our half way point, a town called Gurabuava, we took off early with the aim of reaching Ilha de Santa Catarina (Flori) sometime before dark. The early morning fog threw up some terrible visability and the handful for trucks that pop out of the fog without lights on, certainly kept us on edge. We both agreed that we have never seen so many trucks on the road..Brazil is full of them! None the less we arrived in Florianopolis without too many issues.

The following morning we meet up with Blair and Ned who had come to the end of their travels from Perth. 70 hours or so in transit is a mean task for anyone, and the boys certainly looked like they needed a few cold beers. Ned had arranged to have us all stay at his cousins house in a beautiful little surf town called Ferrugem, which is around 80km south of Flori. So that arvo everyone jumped on the local bus and we got on the bikes to set off for what was to be our ´Jungle´ house for the next 10 days!

The Road to Iguazu...

2009-02-01T06:10:00.024+09:00

On the road early and just 18km up he road passed Salta you cross Rio Uruguay and back into Argentina. You cross the river via a massive hydro dam which must be shard by both countries as there are massive power lines shooting off into the countryside on both sides.

Once on road passed Concordia on Ruta 14 some cops stopped us at one of the many Police check points. They asked us to get off the bikes and sent us in to the station with our papers for some reason we did not understand. Sitting in one of the offices was his copper who started to try and ell us ha we had overtaken on double yellow lines in front of a patrol car about 5Km back and he wanted to slap us with a Pesos $360 fine! We responded wih lots of "Que?", "No entiendo" and "Que significa doble linea?" ect...basically denied having a clue what he was on about as the main problem was that we had no Argentinian money on us. After a bit more of "No, No possible donde es evidencia?" (thats not even spanish) the copper left the room in a huff, and slightly worrying that he took our passports which was a bad move from us as you are apparently not obligged to give Police your passport, only Customs/Aduana...anyway we know for next time as we have heard of stories of Police holding your passport untill you pay them off. Luck was on our side and a few minutes later another officer told us we could go...Kew Kew!

Pretty soon after this little ordeal which was our first run in with the cops, we left Ruta 14 behind us for the moment and headed for Mercedes to fuel up and stock up for Colonia Carlos Pelligrini as there is no fuel out at this tiny town. If you rock up in a country town between 12pm and 5 pm there is nothing open expect the petrol stations, therefore we have spent a fair bit of time at them and eating alot of average Empanada lunches at YPF petrol stations.

The Rest of Uruguay...

2009-02-01T05:49:00.009+09:00

Uruguay served up a couple of unforgettable spots, the first was Punta Del Diablo on the east coast, then it was Colonia Del Sacramento which was only a short 190km dash from Montevideo. Colonia is a town lined with cobblestone streets and beautiful old buildings that are remnants of the Portugese colonial days. Although we were there during peak holiday season, you dont notice the crowds in this little town. You somehow feel like you have the place to youself and that you have sumbled across a little gem. In reality it is very busy with lots of holiday makers coming over from Buenos Aires as it is only a couple hours by ferrry or from Montevideo.

Birthday celebrations for Matteo were in Colonia…it was well timed as the town was meant to be throwing its Carnaval through the streets on same day. Unfortunately it pisssed with rain and it was abit of a wash out…only a hand full of drummers rocked up and two women who were a tad rough around the edges in tiny bikinis trying to get the massive crowd of about 50 unimpressed spectators (including us) going. We did however end up having a good boozy dinner in good company and hit up the local club untill about 5am.

Alter a recovery day we set off through the guts off Uruguay to check out a couple of spots that had been recomendad to us by a ´character´ that we met at the hostel in Colonia. We didnt make Tacuarembo on the first day, instead ended up camping in picturesque spot on Rio Negro with its sandy beach and thick Eucalypt forrest just down river from Lago Rincón Del Bonete, which is a massive artificial lake surrounded by some great country side that often has you thinking that you are back in Oz. If it isn´t the vast flat and very dry grazing country it is the never ending gum trees lining the side of the roads with the odd emu like bird bolting away from the bikes.

Tucuarembo wasn´t quite worth the 400km detour to the border until we picked a little secondary road that runs 225km through Gaucho territory to Salto. In the last couple of weeks we had started to pine for the twisting undulating roads of south west Argentina and the Carretrra Austral in Chile, as since leaving Ushuaia the roads had not exactly been of those that are fun on a bike…dead straight and flat. This little stretch was just what we needed to get rid of the flat spot on our tires.

Just out of Salto is the little town of Termas del Dayman…´The termal bath capital of Uruguay.´ It could be great in winter, i´m guessing the crowds could be worse but it just wasn´t what you felt like doing when the outside air temperature hovers around 38 degrees celsius.

Two nights camping on baked dry ground and dead grass would surfice…next stop back in Argentina and en route to Iguazu Falls.

Buenos Aires to Montevideo...

2009-01-16T02:10:00.004+09:00

Leaving BA marked the start of Livi´s time on the back of Dave´s bike which was fantastic. We were all super stoked to have her join us for this leg of the trip, especially Dave. It was so good that Liv could be apart of the Los Colective team for awhile!

In many ways Uruguay is not unlike Australia, with the big blue open skies and undulating farm land. We crossed into Urugauy from Argentina at a town called Paysandu. In the day past we had tried to cross futher south at Fray Bentos, but where turned around due to a long running dispute between the towns on either side of the border. This didn´t bother us too much as we found a great little campsite on a river bank just out side of the Argentine town Gualeguaychu. A riverside beach offered some relief from the 39 degree day.

Leaving Paysandu we took off south down Ruta 3 bound for the Atlantic coast. A night spent camping along Rio Negro broke the trip up and after pushing through 400km the next day we reached Punta del Este. Punta del Este is known to many as being the ´Monaco´of South America, and our thoughts didn´t disagree. The eastern edge of the beach was riddled with luxury yatch´s and lush apartments. Everything was a little out of our budget, but we were keen to a day off riding and to relax at the beach. The day spent at the beach was fantastic, and offer a chance to catch some colour before hitting up the brazilian coast.

Punta del Este although great, was a bit over run for our liking, so we took off east to Punta del Diablo for a taste of the ´unspoiled´Uruguaian coast. We weren´t disapointed. Punta del Diablo is a small fishing town with a hippy feel and a timeless charm. Here we took shelter in one of the many beach houses that are avalible for rent. We all agreed that is has a feel similar to Rotto, back home, with the sandy roads and ramshackled accommodation. Truely a great place to spend a few days before heading back to Montevideo to see Liv off at the airport.

B.A. final days...

2009-01-16T01:08:00.005+09:00

An eventful few days... visit to colourful La Boca and the antique/bohemian markets of San Telmo where we enjoyed some tango in the streets and a good cheap Italian food.

We also managed to see all of the trucks, cars, and bikes of the Dakar Rally which kicked off from BA on the 3rd of Jan. The exhibition put on in town during the days leading up to the race gave us a great opptortunity to get up close to the crazyness that comes with such a race. Some day....maybe we´ll be lining our bikes up! ha....

Delays with the Brazilian visas meant that we had to stay an extra day, as well as this Matteo managed to get his camera stolen at gunpoint in Palermo...he was taking some nightshots of buildings at about 1am on his own so not so surprising. The budding young ganster grabbed the tripod with camera attached with one hand while pointing the gun at his head with the other. Matteo then chased him briefly until the fella turned and shouted something in spanish...most probably along the lines of "What the hell are you doing gringo...i have a F**king gun!" so Matteo stopped and went home feeling a tad stupid and and sad after loosing some good shots.

The last night was back at Tango Backpackers in good company and eating lots of Choripan (chorizo sausage in a bun with lots of joy salsas), some last minute shopping on El Salvador for the girls and filing police reports.

All in all BA was tuns of fun and i think all of us will be going back one day...next stop Uruguay and hopefully some beautiful beaches.

Mar del Plata to Buenos Aires...

2008-12-30T03:57:00.011+09:00

Mar del Plata, a true beachside city, was a great place to spend a few days before heading up to Buenos Aires. The many beaches that ran up this strip of atlantic coast, where lined with tall apartment buildings and packed with people throughout the day. We stayed at small hotel in the city center, which meant that we could easily walk to the beach and the surounding shopping areas. We were all now starting to get a taste of the beach life in South America and now can`t wait until we hit up the other coastal hot spots in Uruguay and Brazil!

After spending the few days in Mar de Plata we had to take off to get upto Buenos Aires to meet Dave`s family who where arriving on the 22nd Dec. We rolled into Buenos Aires after riding 400km in the pouring rain. Yes the ride up from Mar de Plata was far less than ideal...wet, cold and oh yeah wet! On the brightside of things we where now in the one of the worlds most exciting cities. I think we were all ready for a bit of inner city hustle and bustle and of course some decent nights out on the town. Although would have to seriously get into the Argentinian siesta lifestyle to ensure that we could kick through until the early mornings!

The first night in BA was spent at the Tango Hostel. The hostel was in Parlemo which was great as this is the area in which we would have the house with Dave`s family for the next few weeks. Kobi, one of Kate`s good friend from back in Perth has been living and working here in BA for the past 3 months, so it has been great meeting up with her and getting some much needed advice on the spots to be in BA.

Shop, Eat, Drink...Shop, Eat, Drink! Palermo is the place to stay in BA, great resturants, fantastic shopping & nice houses. The house that Dave´s parents orgainsed was fantastic, a three storey town house with a big back yard and comfy beds. A great break from camping.
Kate needed a tight leash to curb her spending on clothes - unfortunately for her there was no extra room on the bike.

The food in BA was great too, and we managed to sample a number of different parillas (grill houses). Cabana Las Lilas had to top the list, perhaps it was the fact that the resturant breed their own cattle just for you dinner plate...seriously good meat! La Cabrea was another great feed. We had some great nights out with Kate´s friend from back home, Kobi and her room mate Tiffany.

Christmas and New Years Eve were great times spent at the house, with a huge spread of food and drink on offer on both occasions. Dave´s excellent choice in fireworks was a highlight as we saw in the new year joining in with all the locals as the sky errupted in colour!

Ushuaia to Bahia Blanca...

2008-12-19T07:03:00.003+09:00

In a way we were happy to be leaving Ushuaia...I think the relentless wind and cold weather was starting to become somewhat of a nuisance and the prospect of getting to some warmer temperatures up the coast was high on everyone´s priorities.

After spending some time at Hostel Argentino in Rio Grande we took off north with the aim of reaching Buenos Aires within 8 days...this meant that we had to harden up our behinds and pump out some serious long days of riding. We split from two of the other bikes who had be riding with us over the past 2 weeks, Alex and Stuart, who were heading up on the west coast, but spent the next two days heading up Ruta 3 (major route up the east coast) with Helmut, Martin and Lauren before heading off further north on our own again. The time spent traveling with the other bikes has definately been one of the highlights on the trip so far...who knows purhaps we´ll meet some others as we continue up through Brazil, Boliva and Peru.

Estancia Paloma

The long days on the road tested both the riders and the bikes, but both seemed to handle the conditions quite well. New tires where fitted in Trelew, as well as a suspension lift for Matteo and Kate´s bike which was the first big purchase for the Kawa´s but I think everyone was happy with the effort the old Dunlops had put in! The shop that sorted us out for all this was a called Adventura Motos. We would all recommend swinging in here if you need any work done in this area, the crew was very helpful and the prices quite reasonable.

Adventura Motors crew

10mm shorter swingarm link...35mm extra clearance

Puerto Madryn and the near by Peninsula Valdes/ Puerto Piramides was a great resting spot for a couple of days before continuing north. Long hot days, beaches, and cold beers was bliss after coming from Tierra Del Fuego. A day spent riding around the Peninsula was definitely a highlight with large numbers of penguins, sea lions, elephant seals and fur seals around for viewing...we even caught a glimps of some passing orcas. In this area, they are known to beach themselves on shore to capture sea lions and elephant seals...unfortunately we weren´t so lucky to seen this.

Puerto Madryn

Puerto Piramides - Penninsula Valdez

Leaving Peninsula Valdes we put in a solid 720km days riding to reach Bahia Blanca, a town of 300.000 people. We pulled up in a small hotel here to rest for a few days and soak in some of the Argentine city lifestyle. From here the next stop is Mar del Plata, a popular sea side holiday spot for locals, before heading up to BA to meet up with Dave´s family for christmas.

Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire)

2008-12-08T03:56:00.003+09:00

The ferry ride from across the Strait of Magellan took around 3 hours. The ship was old and packed with passangers, trucks, cars, cargo and of course the bike. The conditions didn´t end up being a bad as most had expected, which was a good out come as a couple off us were expecting to spend a decent amount of the trip hanging over the side rails. I think we all enjoyed having some time off the bikes and kicked our feet up and took in the great surroundings of the Magellan...unfortuately we didn´t catch a view of any whales.

The western side of this, the largest island off the extreme south of South America, belongs to Chile and the eastern side to Argentina. Here the Andes codillera runs from west to east, so that the north of the island is flat, covered with vast sheep farms, while the south has moutains, glaciars, lakes and forests. This distant island off the southern tip of South America seemed so far away at the start of our journey, to finally reach it provides a great sense of achivement.

Given the title of the land of fire, this area is everything but. We all agree that a more suited name would be the land of wind! Wind speeds here exceed 100km which provided us with a few days of interesting riding, with the bikes being pushed all over the road. Matteo and Kate even switched off their bike and stilled managed to move along at 30km/h with a strong tail wind.

Arriving at the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia was a true highlight, and was something everyone had been looking forward to. Ushuaia is postitioned on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel, which is named after the ship in which Darwin sailed here in 1852. The town itself is a little overpriced and the weather very unpredictable, with alot of rain...this wasn´t ideal for us as we had all decided to camp!...Anyway we are about to head north now which will see us hitting some less windy and much warmer areas...we can´t wait!

El Calafate to Torres Del Paine...

2008-12-08T03:32:00.017+09:00

El Calafate was a great spot for us to rest up after a couple long days riding down Ruta 40 along the eastern edge of the Andes. We stayed at a campsite along the river Arroyo Calafate just on the way into town. The facilites here where great and gave us a chance to get a bit of washing done..which was much needed.

The main reason people travel to El Calafate is to visit the Glaciar Perito Moreno which is situated at the western end of Lago Argentina (80km from El Calafate). The Glaciar is one of the few glaciars in the world which is moving. It decends to the surface of the water over a 5km frontage and the height of about 60 meters. The vivid blue hues of the ice, with the roar as pieces break off and float away as icebergs from the snout are spectacular. This Stunning scene is a must see for anyone traveling in Argentina.

We left El Calafate en route to Torres del Paine in Chile. This route took us across a bleak area of Patagonian Steppe...an enjoyable ride none the less which was great to share with the other bikers we had meet in the days past. Axel, Stuart, Martin, Lauren, and Helmet became apart of Los Colectivos for this section of the trip which was fantastic. We had been looking forward to meeting up with other riders and it has been very interesting listening to everyones stories. We had agreed to head south down to Ushuaia together before heading our separate ways.

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine was one of the destinations we had most been looking forward to, and our expectations where not let down. Blessed with beautiful weather and decent campgrounds we where set for a couple of spectacular days in the world renowned park. Nothing really prepares you for the stunning sites on offer. The glaciar-topped granite massif Macizo Paine, from which rise the vertical pink granite Torres (towers) del Paine was easily one of the best sites we had seen on our journey so far. A 20km trek into the centre of the park was really enjoyable. This was the first exercise we had done for a while...it was great to get off the bikes for a day and walk around for a change.

After three nights in the park we all took off south again for Puerto Natales. We spent one night here at a campground in the middle of the town. Puerto Natales is a decent little town, but it was only a stopover point for us to get some rest before heading down to Punta Arenas. We reach Punta Arenas late the following afternoon and managed to get a spot on the 5:00 ferry across to Tierra del Fuego!

Perito Moreno to El Calafate...

2008-11-28T03:24:00.009+09:00

We arrived back in Argentina and the first stop was the supermarket to pick up some steak for dinner…only A$15 for 1kg fillet! while there we met a couple Martin and Lauren from South Africa tha had been on the road for 8 months. We had been looking forward to meeting some other bikers and it was great to hear about their travels and pick up some tips. We were all heading south so planned to meet up down the road.

Ruta 40 highway south was a spectacular ride and really enjoyble to share with some other bikers. Most of it is a decent dirt road but the never ending side wind makes for a fairly tiring ride.

The first stop was El Chalten, a rapidly growing tourist town at the northern end of the ice fields. We enjoyed some free camping to help get the budgets back on track. We did a short hike to check out one of the glaciers and were lucky enough to see a massive chunk of ice break off and crash down the mountain side…we were luckily well out of the way.

More of Ruta 40 to El Calafate and more bikers in the group that we met through Martin and Lauren…big cook up and a couple of days rest are in store.

Coyahique to Perito Moreno...Back into Argentina

2008-11-28T02:43:00.008+09:00

After the accident David needed a couple of days to recover so we stayed at a hostel just out of town in a pine forrest called Las Salamadas. David managed to get an X-Ray done in Coyhaique on his foot that luckly showed no bone fractures just bruising. The bike also had its recovery time we managed to do the final repaires on David´s bike to stitch together the front fender and get some welding done on the pannier frames. The bike finally looked pretty again.

Matteo and Kate went on a day long horse trek into the mountains to look at the views over the valley. The horse riding place had a fantastic show jumping ring, and at the end of the day Kate managed to do a quick round on the poor tired western horse in all its western sadderly... a tough ask!

With David feeling better it was time to leave as the hostel was costing us more the we should be spending. So we hit the road again… this time slower than before the accident and headed for the secod largest lake in South America that sits between Chile and Argentina, Lago General Carrera. We had the best ride any of us had ever experienced as we rode around this amazing lake from a little town called Tranquillo to Chile Chico. We liked it so much that when David realised he had lost his wallet none of us complained as we rode 100km back to Tranquillo to see if the wallet we left at the fuel station. We crossed into Argentina at Los Antiguos and camped at Perito Moreno were we meet a South African/Swiss couple on an Africa Twin motorbike.

Bariloche to Coyahique Chile..Falling and Rising

2008-11-17T08:28:00.020+09:00

The road out of Bariloche was spectacular with twisting roads, lakes, mountains and everything we had hoped for when we were planning this trip. It was amazing how the scenery could change so quickly... the Argentinian side of the Andes was so different to the Chilian side with the rain shadow creating a dry dust bowl along some parts of Ruta 40. It was a long ride with plenty of k´s to cover as we were keen to get back into Chile. We were lucky to make it across the Argentinia border, rocking up just 20mins before it closed and then having to rush to the Chilian border with only 5 mins to spare... its great that the borders between these 2 countries are efficient and easy to deal with.

We rode into Futalafu just as it was getting dark and found this little camping place in the front yard of an old lady who baked us wood fired bread the morning.. nil complaints from us having a little mama looking after us! the recent volcanic activity of Chiten which is about 100kms away meant that 1 foot of ash had fallen in the are... all our gear ended up grey and has stayed that way since!

Leaving Futalafu we set off south for the Carratera Austral (Route 7) which is the main highway running through the southern end of Chile. This amazing dirt road offers so much traveling on a motorcycle. The 4 to 6 meter wide gravel strip winds its way through along the edge of the Andes most beautiful region and produces views worthy of a top notch postcard as each new bend unwinds. The road although beautiful is riddled with potholes and wondering livestock and on the ride out of Futalafu Dave hit a darting sheep which sent him down hard at 80km/h. Fortunatly he escaped without too much injury, however the bike wasn´t so lucky and a large number of zip ties and duct tape had to be used to make sure the bike could continue on its journey. The farmers didn´t seem to mind too much, as we think they were hanging out for a good lamb dinner. But they where more than helpful helping getting the bike ready for the remaining 70km we had to travel to reach the next town - La Junta.

After a night in a nice hotel in La Junta we had to figure out what to do as Dave´s foot was in bad shape and we needed to get some xrays. The issue was that the Coyahique was the closest town with a hospital, but it was 360km away. Amazingly a Jeep load of Aussie boys pulled into the hotel that day for lunch and offered Dave a spot in the car to Coyahique. Two of the guys took turns riding the bashed KLR down to meet us. I think they were quite happy to get out of the car and have a bit of fun on the dirt. This crash was the first of the trip...and hopefully the last!

Chile to Argentina....Crossing # 1

2008-11-12T07:12:00.007+09:00

We rode south from Pucon with the aim of hunting out some decent dirt roads. We were not let down managing to hook up to an amazing road south through the lakes district. The dust was kicking up and the view was spectacular. We pulled off the road a couple of times to really soak in the serentity, I think the reality of this epic adventure was definately starting to come to light.

The night was spent in a lush camp site just before the Chile / Argentine border. The fact that it had been raining in the days passed made the area seem like a tropical rainforest! Our persistant efforts to get the fire going from the avalible wet wood paid off as the cold night set in. We have been throughly impressed with the camping facilities on offer in Chile.

After the morning cuppa we took off for the border. The sun was out as we set off for what we later agreed was our best day of riding yet. The time spent at both the Chile and Argentina check points was brief and effortless. This was a pleasent surprise to us as we would be doing this a few times in the near future. With the paper work out of the way we focused on getting to Bariloche. The roads were unbelievable with hair pin after hair pin as we weaved up and down the Andes. The expansive lakes and snow capped peaks set the scene for a thourougly enjoyble day of riding.

Bariloche is another vibrant tourist town with much on offer. We were told that the steak here was to die for and we had to try one. We sort out the best steak house in the town ´El Boliche de Alberto´and took a seat in front of a half kilo slab. Its true what they say about the beef in Argentina.....bloody fantastic!

Check Out More Photos!

2008-11-09T11:14:00.001+09:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/loscolectivos/show/

Pucon adventures...

2008-11-09T04:01:00.007+09:00

Pucon is one of the main tourist towns of Chile and most of the activities are centered around the volcano, mountains and lakes that surround the town. Pucon strangely looks like something out of Switzerland with log and stone buildings everywhere. There is heaps of adventure activites to do around the town. But with bad weather for the whole week we were there we were pretty upset not be able to climb up to the volcano but we still managed to stay entertained! We went horse riding to a beautiful waterfall, sat in thermal baths for hours and a went down white water rapids with boogie boards... or what the tour operators call hydrospeed! All good fun... next stop Argentina.

Valparaiso to Pucon...

2008-11-09T03:46:00.010+09:00

We left Valparasio with our minds now clearly set on getting down to the famous Lakes Disrict at the foot of the Andes in southern Chile. Everyone who we have spoken to has had only good things to say about this area, so hopefuly we wouldn´t be let down.

We took a slight detour north to quickly visit Vina Del Mar which is a vibrant coastal town about 10km north of Valparaiso. Here the long beach front is riddled with large apartment blocks which we´re sure would be packed to the rafters during summer. We hear that its the place to be during the hotter months. ¿ Perhaps another time?

A breif stop off at San Fernando Del Mar to see the worlds largest swimming pool broke up our morning ride, although attemps to enter the resort failed leaving us slightly disapointed. We didn´t mind too much after all we had so much excitement ahead of us. An amazing site none the less.

We picked up some extra spanish with some help of two chilean couples who were at the same campsite as us on the Embalse Rapel lake. Its amazing how much more you seem to learn after downing a couple of drinks.

A couple of fanatastic nights camping off the beaten track at the Reserva Nacional Altos De Lircay...only problem was the road there gave our bikes a bit of a beating and we had to do some road side repairs to Dave´s bike - going to be taking it a bit easier on the dirt roads from now on in!

Oil and filter change at local Kawa dealer in Temuco where the bike of choice is definitely green!

Santiago to Valparaiso...30th - 31st Oct

2008-11-05T23:30:00.005+09:00

We decided to leave Santiago and get started on our rugged adventure. We needed to get a good road map of Chile so we caught the metro to Providencia to the Organization Automovil Club of Chile. For 5000 pesos we picked up a through map with all the camping spots and detailed roads. we then went to the tourist information center and picked up camping guides of Chile- very handy tools. After a nice lunch we packed the bikes up and took off through the streets of Santiago.

The first stop was Valparaiso and a B&B called LaNona. It was only a short ride there but it was great to get out on the open roads and see the country side. Valparaiso used to be a bustling port before the opening of the Panama Canel in the 1920`s which ment the shipping slowed to the city. the town is still busy but for the tourists to see the historic architecture. Valparaiso, as we were told by our host rene has 15 universities and approximetly 30% unemployment-so they relayed heavily on the tourist trade. This also ment that we were keen to lock our bikes up safely at night. Our hosts at La Nonas we really helpful here and found us a local guy who had an art gallery in his basement so we could leave our bikes there for the weekend.

Valparaiso has some really great restaurants in the old destrict and we enjoyed some great tapas, local wines and woodfired pizza`s... really good considering the dodgy camping food we will be eating soon! The town has some great graffeti works done by local artists (perhaps done by some of the unemployed university students!) and you can walk around and enjoy these. We left Valparaiso wanting to see more so we promised Rene at La Nona`s we would drop in o our way back to Santiago for another look at the town. If anyone is looking for somewhere good to stay in the town we would highly recommend La Nonas as the local knowledge and information about what is good to see in Chile is extremly helpful. After the great weekend we were keen to hit the road and head down to the much talked about lakes distict and see what other amazing sites Chile had to offer!

The Airport ... 28th Oct 2008 - 29th Oct 2008

2008-11-05T22:40:00.008+09:00

We were excited by the final trip to the airport after preparing to leave for the past year! However this excitement quickly passed when we arrived early at the LAN check in desk to be told that the flight would be delyed for 6 hours. Since we arrived so early, eager to leave, this ment sitting at the airport doing nothing but watching the clock. However we did get $80 worth of food vouvhers out on LAN for our troubles! Needless to say we were pretty full by the time we boarded the Air NZ flight to Aukland. The first led of the trip was great- good movies and comfy seats but when we were transferred the the LAN plane it was a pretty uncomfortable 10 hours. We are pretty sure they turned off the airconditioning when everyone was sleeping to save fuel!.

Touching down in Chile was fantastic, we were all happy to have arrived finally in South America. We caught a taxi to La Casa Roja in the old colonial district of Santiago- near the center of town. Dispite the smog, grafitti and rubbish, Satiago could be a beauitful city with the Andes surrounding it. La Casa Roja is a very busy backpackers which has the capacity of approx 100 people. We shared a 8 person dorm for 7000 pesos each. We had a pretty boozy night to celebrate our arrival drinking with another Aussie chap Will (who was on our same flight over from Sydney) until 3am.

The next morning the boys woke up at 8.30am looking worse for wear and then went to spend the day at customs to get the bikes which had apparently arrived on the Monday! Matteo and Dave caught a taxi into town to an area with lots of automotive dealers, and managed to pick up two batteries for the bikes, chain lube, and oil for 75,000 pesos (¿ ripped off ?) after somehow explaining to the taxi driver we needed to go to the customs office for cargo - we were happily surprised to see our 2 bikes waiting in the warehouse. The first step was getting the original Airway Bill from the FastAir warehouse office. It cost us $30US to get the original Airway Bill then we varified the bike VIN numbers with Customs to get a temporary registration number and stamp on the Airway Bill.

The office shut between which gave us an opportunity to walk to the near by petrol station to pick up a couple of litres of fuel so we could ride the bikes out of there. The next step was going back to the FastAir warehouse office to pay the storage bill of 60,000 pesos. We were then able to finally get the bikes out the crates, put the new batteries in and ride away. The funny thing was we forgot to bring our rear-view mirrors... not the best way to start drivig on the wrong side of the road in a foriegn country! 12 hours later we were back at the hostel. Jet lagged, still hungover and ready for bed.

Our KLR Mods...

2008-10-24T09:42:00.009+08:00

The bikes we bought, though being our pick for the trip they are not perfect and definitely can do with some add-ons and mods to make them a whole lot more rugged. The good thing about the KLR is that there is every possible mod or add-on available on the net. Here are the ones we did…

SW-Motech Centre Stand from Twisted Throttle – bound to make maintenance a whole lot easier.

Superbrace Fork Brace - just felt like buying it. Have since discovered that it makes cleaning the fork seals a pain in the ass as you need to remove the fork brace every time you want to give the seals a good clean…only a 5 min. job though.

SW-Motech Crash Bars from Twisted Throttle – first day out on some dirt with the bikes Matteo dropped his bike and cracked the front fairing…they are definitely not designed to take the weight of the bike so crash bars are a must if you are going off-road. This mod also upgrades the sub-frame and foot peg mount bolts.

Barkbuster VPS Handguards from Twisted Throttle (…it is cheaper to buy them from the States than from any dealer here in Aus, this was back with $0.97 exchange rate) peace of mind not needing to carry spare levers.

Protaper SE ATV High Bar Handlebars – cheap, much like the original handlebars in shape and less likely to bend than the originals. The Barkbusters also work well with the Barkbusters as there are no clearance issues with the fairings – handlebar risers would be nice though.

AMHP Headlight Protectors – at $50 it is a whole lot cheaper than having to replace the headlight lens.

SW Motech Highway Pegs from Twisted Throttle – bolt straight on to the crash bars.

Sheep Skin seat cover is a good idea for the long rides in the saddle.

Caribou Cases as our panniers. David has the 35L Pelican Case System and Matteo has the 36L Hardigg Case System. These cases are very strong, secure, waterproof and dustproof as well as having a bit of flex in them. These cases are really easy to install too as they come with custom bolt on frames.

Wolfman Enduro Tank bag.

Metal Footpegs from KLR650.com – the stock ones are rubbish when you get some mud on them.

12V Socket from Twisted Throttle.

SW-Motech Handle bar Camera Mount.

Staintune Exhaust – the stock bikes sound like a 4HP lawn mower so the Staintunes are a must to transform the bikes into respectable thumpers.

Freight …

2008-10-24T07:06:00.000+08:00

Organising transport for our bikes from Sydney to Santiago (Chile) was a major step in our trip. Air freight seemed like the best options as the sea freight would take up to 60 days to get to our destination in Santiago. The only draw back with the air freight being the cost at A$2115 per bike. However this meant that we could ride our bikes over from Perth as well as getting it straight up once we arrive at the other end…a small price to pay for the trip of a life time.

A company call Freightnet International who is based out of Sydney helped organise all the fine details and we would recommend using them if anyone else is considering a similar trip.

Sydney…

2008-10-24T06:50:00.014+08:00

We rode in through the southern suburbs on route to Dave’s parents (Peter & Bernie) place in Hunters Hill, on the northern side of the harbour. We were immediately hit by the traffic and got our first taste of inner city pressure. I’m certain we’ll experience similar navigation difficulties over in some of the larger cities in South America…which to be perfectly honest I think we’re looking forward to. After all it’s an adventure right!

The day after we arrived we took of down the harbour with Peter and Bernie on their new Fleming 55 pulling up in Sugarloaf Bay for a couple nights…pure luxury after two weeks on the road. We had a few weeks in Sydney now which was a great opportunity to catch up with some friends who had moved here from back home. A weekend visit from Liv was a highlight for Dave, as was the arrival of Kate for Matteo. Kate would now join us on our journey on the back of Matteo’s bike.

Along with relaxing, Sydney was our last chance to get the final bits and pieces organised before we took off at the end of the month. The biggest thing of course was getting our KLR’s fit and ready to fight. And this was going to take a bit more effort with one of the bikes! Over the 4700km from Perth Matteo’s bike worked through 1L of oil which raised some concern. We soon found out that new a piston head and rings were required, but due to the lack of parts and time our options were running short. The only parts we could get our hands on in time were a larger piston head (first oversize +0.5mm), which meant reboring the engine! Not the most ideal scenario one week before we jump on the plane to Chile. But thankfully the chaps at Sydney City Motorcycles managed to sort out the bike with minimal fuss. Luckily the warranty sorted this cost out for Matteo. Now we just have to see if the bike holds up!

There rest of the work and preparation for the flight was done by a mob called Northside Motorcycles who were very helpful. They sorted us out with a lot of our spare parts and a thorough final service before the bikes get on the plane. They also hooked us up with two old aluminium Triumph crates to put our bikes in for the flight over. Our next major service will be in Buenos Aires…so hopefully nothing goes wrong in between. Our next report will be from somewhere in South America! We can’t wait!

The Architecture…

2008-10-16T11:50:00.003+08:00

Since commencing our studies of architecture in 2003, it has been a desire of ours to travel overseas together on completion of our course. We were always drawn to the idea of travelling to South America due to the sense of adventure which it posed. Not only is it a continent of many cultures but also one rich in history. As we have learnt though this course, architecture is an integral part of the understanding of cultures and their history.

Our desire to travel to this region of the world was further fuelled through studies that introduced us to the work of Oscar Niemeyer, in particular some of his earlier projects which were greatly influenced by the work of Le Corbusier. In recent years we developed a keen interest in the contemporary architecture which has been produced in South America. We feel that there are many architectural ideals that can be drawn from much of the work in South America, as it is a continent with many similarities to ours, in particular its geographic location and size. Being such a large continent in the southern hemisphere it offers a large range of climatic conditions, most of which are very similar to those found in Australia.

Through this experience we hope to gain a greater insight into the various architectural ideals which are implemented in this continent, and document any innovative technologies which could apply to similar climatic regions back in Australia. Being a continent rich in history and one which holds so many strong individual characteristics, we believe that there are many architectural ideals which could be added to those found in Australia. We hope this experience will benefit us in our careers as architects in future years.

One of the primary reasons why we have chosen to do the trip on motorcycles is the independence and sense of adventure it offers. The independence which comes from travelling on motorcycle will allow us to explore and search out the numerous architectural gems which are spread across this large continent. Unlike the traditional tourist who is greatly restricted to more common regions and mainstream transport systems, we will grab the chance to take the road less travelled with both hands.

Week Two…

2008-10-16T11:34:00.002+08:00

After hoping off the two and a half hour ferry ride to Wallaroo we set our sites on getting to Yarrawonga as quickly as possible so that we could then enjoy the ride from there to the coast via the Snowy Mountains.

We put the Southern Ocean behind us and we were soon riding through the Barossa Valley and managed to hunt out some dirt roads through the region.

The last couple of hours of riding were in the dark and we pitched the tents on the Murray River in Waikerie.

The following day was spent eating kilometres for breakfast and lunch was had in Mildura where we had one of our best value meals so far…steak/chips/salad and a schooner for $13 – just what we needed.

A day later we pulled into Yarrawonga and made our way to John and Marilyn’s farm Yallambee for a good chat, a home cooked meal and the comfiest sleep in a while. We also managed to get some stickers made for ourselves by our friend James Warner at Stickemon Signs and visit the Boscombe’s in Finley.

The road to the Snowy’s and then across the mountains was simply amazing. Between Khancoban and Jindabyne the Alpine Way serves up every sort of riding condition you could want, we were in heaven. There were heaps of bikers heading in the opposite direction en route to Phillip Island for the MotoGP. We got through all the twisties unscathed, the only casualty being Matteo’s speedo cable breaking.

On the other side of Jindabyne it was then time to enjoy the ride down Brown Mountain into the lush Bega valley. This was another memorable ride under a thick rainforest canopy that dappled the sun onto the road loaded with sweeping bends and hairpin corners. We then make our way south along the coast to Merimbula. This place has a great RSL and mini golf course.

Before we knew it we were in Sydney, we had ridden a solid 4800 kilometres and we were ready to lap up the luxury for a couple of weeks. Yeeeeeeeeeew!!

Week one…

2008-10-10T13:07:00.013+08:00

The next day was the first of many Mondays waking up realising that we didn’t have to head off to work. The up coming months were ours and we could do with them what we pleased. The feeling that comes with the freedom of motorcycle travel was starting to sink in. We decided that each day we would just play it as it comes and have no fixed schedule to keep to. This newly adopted attitude meant that we never had to stress over anything. Our only concerns from now on would involve fuel, food, sleeping, and where we could grab our next cold can!

Road to Kalgoorlie - Ipod tragedy

We left Cunderdin bound for Kalgoorlie after a solid breaky and complimentary coffee from Lynn at the Pitstop dinner. We where on our way again and our sprits where high, however the good morning soon turned bad after Dave’s ipod slipped out of his tank bag at 120km and smashed over the Great Eastern Highway. Dave now faced the prospect of a Nullarbor crossing without music and wasn’t too impressed. On arrival in Kalgoorlie we managed to grab a disc man for a cheap price which would see us both sorted for the trip across.

Balladonia, start of the Nullabor and the mental kangaroo...

We soon hit the Nullarbor and the longest straight road in Australia. The 146.6km undulating strip of tarmac was the true gateway into our trip. The howling cross winds tested both our bikes and our nerves on a drag down a section of the road designated for emergencies for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. We were now in barren territory and we were loving it.

The Bight - SA

The prospect of what was to come was the most exciting thing of all, and the next couple of days didn’t disappoint. The Head of the Bight, a renowned whale breeding location and prominent viewing spot lived up to its reputation and we were lucky enough to spot a dozen just drifting of the shores.

Cactus Beach, home to what is said to be Australia’s best wave was one of the other highlights on the leg over. Located just out of Penong meant that it wasn’t too much of a detour, and if you get a chance to swing in there don’t hesitate. The owner Ronnie was more than helpful and for $8.50 a night he’ll let you pitch your tent where you like and he’ll drop off plenty of wood to keep the fire going in the evening. A swim in the morning was a great way to freshen up after a couple long days on the Nullarbor, although we didn’t venture out too far as this strip of coast is also famous for being home to a large number of White Pointers.

The road to Cactus Beach - SA

Having left the Nullarbor we decided to head down through the Eyre Peninsula and ride across the rolling hills deep in the wheat regions of South Australia. We stopped at the tranquil town of Streaky Bay for a good seafood lunch and were approached by a friendly chap named Mike, who was heading across to Philip Island to watch the GP. He told us this was his 5th time he had done the ride. Mike was travelling on an ‘86 Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000.

Eyre Peninsula - SA

We were planning to head up to not so exciting Port Augusta but Mike suggested we cut across the Peninsula along via a couple nice dirt tracks to the coastal fishing town of Cowell. From here we could catch a ferry across the Spencer Gulf to Wallaroo which sits about 150km north of Adelaide. The ferry ride was a nice break and we joined be a number of other bikers heading over from Perth. It was interesting listening to everyone’s stories. A Phillip Island run is a must do trip one day…anyone keen?

Mike and that Guzzi

Matteo with the bikes on the ferry across the Spencer Gulf

The Mules…

2008-10-09T15:52:00.003+08:00

One of the first obstacles to cross when deciding to do a motorcycle trip is of course choosing a bike and this is normally driven by the intended use and budget.

One of the main goals of our trip was always to get off the beaten track as much as possible and we also wanted to get the trip underway as quick as we could. The two main prerequisites for the bike choice were therefore to be cheap and able to take a beating.

So where to start? Chris Scott’s Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, the Horizons Unlimited website and Advrider forum all offer a wealth of information to get you on your way.

Most of the bikes we considered were too expensive when new and a bit passed their used by dates with our budgets. The Kawasaki KLR650 seemed like the perfect combination…it is essentially a very simple bike that handles both on and off road conditions without any worries and doesn’t have many of the fancy frills of other adventure tourers. The bike is relatively easy to maintain and fix, it is more off road orientated than most of its competitors and it is apparently a popular bike for people touring around South America so parts and general knowledge on the bikes should be readily available. Above all it is a lot cheaper than most other bikes that can do the same job…at $8000 on the road we figured we could kit the bikes out with everything we need and throw in our airfares to and from Santiago and still be spending less than if we bought a new Honda Transalp or a BMW 650 Dakar…well as it turns out maybe not less but not much more.

Hasta Luego!

2008-10-08T19:10:00.007+08:00

We thought we had managed to pick a fine day for our departure. The sun was out for our send off breaky at Livi’s house (Dave’s better half) and a handful of our close family and friends where there to join us, wishing us well with champagne in hand. However our ideal send off soon cut short by a sudden turn in the sky and within a couple of minutes of loading our gear onto the bikes the down pour began. This wasn’t going to stop us, plus someone once told me that it was good luck to leave on a rainy day! With our helmets on and everyone else jammed into the old corrugated garage we were set. The two bikes sat in line with the front tires poised over a strip of masking tape laid on the road earlier. With the rain now pelting our helmets at 45 degrees and the wind threatening we took off, only having to return minutes later after realising that we had left some gear behind. Not the best start, but a start none the less!

Los Suenos...

2008-10-08T18:47:00.007+08:00

Los Suenous / The Dream of setting off on a motorcycle adventure of some kind had been in the back of our minds for a number of years, although none of us had ever expected it to eventuate into something this large! A 7-9 month expedition across our great southern land, across the pacific and around what is still considered by many to be one of the most exciting continents to explore – South America.

The initial idea of a motorcycle adventure involved travelling from South Africa to Kenya, East Africa in a group with Matteo’s cousin who wanted to buy a BMW 1250GS in South Africa and ride up them back up the coast to Kenya. This trip would have taken a month or so, and we soon realised that would of cost too much to justify only a month of travel. Why couldn’t we just keep going to London? For some novice bikers, a trans African bike ride seemed to be like jumping straight into the deep end without knowing how to swim. We did do a lot of research into this trip but the high costs and the risk involved was enough of a deterrent for us to rethink our destination. Perhaps another day Africa!

Our minds where then set on South America, and before we knew it we were handing over our cheques to pick up our new 2008 Kawasaki KLR650’s. Since buying the bikes in January we have been spending nearly every weekend getting the gear organised for our departure from Perth on September 21st 2008. The whole process of organising such an in depth journey has been one of the most exciting things that we have undertaken since finishing our Masters in Architecture at the end of last year. Our excitement was building along with our levels of anxiousness as each new delivery in the mail meant that we were one step closer to heading east across the Nullarbor towards Sydney.

A little taste of locations to come...

2008-08-26T20:34:00.001+08:00

Wheatbelt Wondering

2008-06-29T21:55:00.005+08:00

With a little over 3 months until we planned to head off we already had most of our gear sorted and we were itching to get some miles under our belts. A long weekend in June offered just that.

Saturday morning we loaded up the bikes with everything we planned to take to South America regardless of whether we needed it or not and headed east along the route we were to take in October riding into York for a quick stop just as the rain eased off. York is a great little town with a couple of well serviced pubs and is generally over run with bikers on the weekends. Next stop, Hyden a few hundred K's east of Perth and home to the extraordinary wave rock...10 minutes there is all you'll need but plenty of good camping spots in the bush.

If you want to experience the very best of the Wheatbelt then autumn is definately a great time to do it. The ride from Kondinin south west to Dwellingup through Kulin, Wickepin, Narrogin and Williams was as good as it gets and the cops dont even mind if you dont have a licence...just remember that dont expect to get any fuel in Wickepin too easily. Just ask at the pub and they will soon sort you out if you happen to run out of fuel...we had slight false expectations of the range we would get with our bikes...

Dwellingup is always beautiful and if you manage to find a quiet spot it is just idyllic. One night there is just not enough but it is only an hour and a half from Perth so it will definitely be a regular destination, but we needed to head back to the office. So we rolled back into the burbs monday arvo after covering just over 950k's and very happy with how the bikes had handled being fully loaded up and very glad we had organised those sheepskin seat covers!.

This video is all time

2008-06-29T17:35:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihCbVT637aM&feature=related

light my wall

2008-06-29T17:21:00.000+08:00

effishi set

2008-06-29T17:16:00.000+08:00

2008-06-29T17:09:00.000+08:00

poster

2008-06-29T16:55:00.000+08:00

digby grapplebum

2008-06-29T16:39:00.000+08:00

romulus raggenbum and constable doogenstiddle

2008-06-29T16:26:00.000+08:00

tower lantern concept

2008-06-29T16:20:00.000+08:00