With friends in Augsburg

We’re in Augsburg and today will be our last in Western Europe for some time. Tomorrow we head off to Czech Republic and onto Poland. After Poland we finally start truly heading south and will continue south till we reach South Africa. I feel excited when I think about it – even though we have been on the road for 3 weeks and the novelty of travel should be getting a bit less novel. Western Europe has been the easy bit and a time to sort out our gear and get used to the bikes and generally being on the go constantly.

So far, here is our advice on the gear: the things we are really loving

Thermarest sleeping mats – we got the thin light-weight mats but they are brilliant. We have slept in what is practically a quarry and not felt a single rock.

Ortlieb roll bags – we have got more of these because they are just so handy, waterproof, strong and affordable . We use them to keep our jackets and shoes strapped to the boxes so we can easily change when we stop.

Metal Mule boxes – These are costly but really good boxes. They are very handy and easy to use. I dropped my bike (avoiding hitting a van) and the box just popped off as it’s supposed to do, so as to avoid damage, not even a small ding. Also protected my legs and the frame of the bike.

Camel pack water carriers – I strap it just behind myself so I can grab the hose and drink as soon as I feel slightly thirsty. We dehydrate very quickly in the heat.

Floating compass – We do have GPS that is useful and interesting to use but I really do find that a good map and a compass are just the ultimate navigation instruments. What is really handy is a floating compass that I can see while I’m driving.

Big groundsheet – We have a big groundsheet that fits under the tent and also gives us an area of about 1m to sit on just outside the tent. As we don’t have chairs or tables this is really comfortable and helps when cooking etc. When it rains, we can also turn the end up and cover our gear.

Pack Safe mesh net – What we do is stick all the valuables that could get snatched under the Pack Safe and lock it to the bike. This means we can get off, grab the tank bag and walk off for a coffee with out too much of a worry. When we are boiling and get off the bike we are able to quickly strip off our bike gear, chuck it into the Pack Safe, lock it to the bike, put up the tent and within 20 min we are ready to go again and don’t have to worry about it while we eat out in a restaurant.

Bungees and cargo nets.

Resealable bags – nearly everything is in a zippy bag to keep it from getting wet or drying out or leaking or lost…

Assortment of bags in various sizes to pack things into so each bag contains a set of items eg. The cooker, matches and fuel bottle.

In general, camping has its pluses and minuses. It’s not all easy but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than hotels. So far we have found European campsites easy to find, always have spaces available and the facilities are usually pretty good.

The upside is that we don’t have to lug our gear into a hotel room and we also have the bikes close by to check over and do any maintenance work right there.

The downside is that we have to set up and pack up every day. We also are rather scruffy. Having said that, we would be scruffy anyway because we would still be limited on wardrobe and laundry facilities. And we would still have to unpack the bikes when we stopped but then have to worry about safe parking as well.

So camping it is then!

We have been in Augsburg since Friday evening and it already feels like we live here. It’s really time to go! Paul is busy trying to fix the god-dam walkie-talkies. We desperately need communications on the bike. If our relationship is to survive, we need to be able to talk! It becomes a control struggle because we will be sharing the GPS and the good maps. The person at the front is usually completely focused on not getting lost which means they are stressed out but in control and have the maps and GPS. They tend to miss all the lovely little sights en route. The person at the back gets to follow which is frustrating if you want to stop to take a photo of one of those lovely sights you’ve seen and the leader has missed – but you don’t know where you are exactly and worry about getting left behind and lost. I’m a bit more laid back when at the back although I can have a ranting session but by the time we stop I’ve forgotten about it. Paul gets mad when I miss “perfect photos” and stays mad with me for the whole day. This is why we are in Augsburg and I don’t want to leave until those walkie-talkies get working.

Since the last blog…

Italy is full of scooters. Normally I think scooters are cute and convenient transport but in Italy, they are more like swarms of wasps dressed in Gucci and Prada. All cloned in the same stores and drive equally badly. I would hear the buzzing and then any amount of scooters would blast past in a winding, swerving, erratic fashion – exactly like a swarm of pradagoochies. No protective gear, flip-flops, bikinis and those popular big sunglasses…

24 July we went to Pompeii

En route to Pompeii we drove around the Amalfi coast. This is a beautiful coastal route with windy roads, hair pin turns, steep dropping cliffs and deep, blue ocean dotted with yachts and rich-man’s boats. As much as it was beautiful, it was hair-raising too. The roads are small with a lot of traffic. The traffic is manic. Tail gaiting, over taking anywhere with no view of on coming traffic, swerving all over the road… and this is when I dropped my bike trying to avoid a van. I think they swerved to avoid hitting Paul and then over compensated to get around the very tight corner. But I was there unfortunately, and leaning right over into the corner and so when I grabbed the breaks to avoid an accident the bike dropped over. I was so mad. I don’t doubt that those guys had no problem at all understanding exactly what I was saying. The two beefy contents of the van jumped out and tried to lift the bike. I could tell they didn’t expect the bike to weigh as much as it did. I shouted something along the lines of, “You see, it’s not a f>$%ing scooter, you w@*&^ers.” They were very apologetic and left me at the side of the road in an absolutely steaming mood. A kind American who was driving behind me drove to alert Paul I was off and then even came back to check I was fine. Besides being unable to put a sentence together that didn’t contain mostly expletives, I was fine. The bike sustained no damage. All in all we were fine but THAT WAS IT. I didn’t want to see any more of Italy!

I screamed at passers by, cars, vans and Paul a few times before we got to Pompeii. We (no I) decided that we would just camp right there as I wasn’t doing any more driving for the day. It was a good decision as we got to walk about the city of Pompeii at our leisure. Again, this is something worth experiencing and I can’t truly take you there. All the documentary films I’d seen helped but I was still amazed by the sheer size of the place. Unfortunately a lot of the artefacts, furniture, bodies of people and animals are all in a museum in Naples. Leaving replicas in situ would be a lot nicer but it was still utterly amazing. (There was no hope in hell I’d drive into Naples). That evening we had a little run in with some dodgy scam guys – we got out fine but Paul didn’t lock his Pack Safe up so his trousers fell on the road and when he went back to find them, they had already been nicked.

We were checking into the campsite as I heard a familiar sound as a Dakar version of the F650GS burst into view. The fellow gave a huge smile and then came over to chat as we were setting our tent up. We were literally in the site of ancient Rome and had met a genuine, real archaeologist. He was a fit as could be and because I never asked his name, I remember him as the original Indianna Jones. We chatted as he watched us with all our gear, clearly amused. He said he travelled light… and had only two shirts. It was my turn to be amused because clearly it must be the swooning first year archaeology students keeping his two shirts so spotlessly white. When we said goodbye in the morning he said he was envious of us having each other as travel companions. He was going to take it easy but we chuckled as his wheels left the ground as he cleared the speed bumps… and I was envious of his super stream-line luggage.

Putting the day before behind us we took to the motorways avoided cities and headed north. We camped at Lake Garda. Pleased to say it was uneventful and pleasant. Then we stopped at Assisi and were relieve to find it significantly more peaceful. But we were not to be disappointed by the Italian tourist rip-off mentality even in this idyllic setting that inspired Saint Francis to be a saint… You could use the pool – included in the camping fee – but when we got to the pool we both observed that the people wearing funny caps were swimming but everyone else was watching. So we wondered if there was a game on – No. The deal was: you had to buy a silly hat in order to swim but it cost 5 Euro. So why was the pool free then?! I ask you. On principle we were not going to pay and we were going to swim so we got our buffs out (tubular material neck protector) and tied a knot in the end and wore those. Well. It was great. We swam and laughed and laughed. The polite people tried not to stare too much but we didn’t care.


27 July – Austria

Austria was welcome as were the good roads and calm drivers. We did the Brenner Pass that is supposed to be really a tough bit of mountain road with no hassles at all. Not even breaking into a little sweat. I could feel myself starting to relax again and even hum along to my ipod.

Real bikers were back on the road. They were driving real bikes and wearing protective gear. They used indicators and didn’t drive head on into on coming traffic. I loved them all.

The mountains were truly beautiful and the setting for “The Sound of Music”. I wish I could sing because I would have at least given the hills are alive with the sound of music a bash. Paul was distraught that I might try.

31 July and we are still in Augsburg

The nicest thing about Augsburg is Susanne. I used to work for a German company and so Susanne came over to gain work experience and learn English. I was kind of her “manager” and she was very supportive while I suffered at work (it was a lousy work environment) and we have continued to be friends. She helped tremendously by ordering the fuel pump that was leaking. BMW will always take a number of days to order a part and get complicated about it too which makes it very awkward when you are on the road. I finally was able to fit the new pump and so far so good - will really test it and my mechanical skills tomorrow. Actually, it’s not that hard doing mechanical work but I’m pleased I did a mechanics course and I think my tutor would be proud of me. The manual is brilliant but you have to buy a copy off the internet because BMW doesn’t supply such useful stuff. Let’s face it; I bet even rocket science is doable with a good manual.

Augsburg is one of the oldest cities in the area. It’s an old Roman city and dates back over 2000 years. It doesn’t look that ancient but apparently it’s near impossible to build in the old city area because as soon as someone digs up foundations they find archaeological ruins and building is halted. Paul and I have really enjoyed this little bit of our trip because we’ve got to go out with friends and really enjoy where we are and Weiss beer every day. We’ve been to Ammersee (a freshwater lake) and to a medieval festival but mostly we have enjoyed the company of Susanne, Gabby and Yannick.

Last night I had a dream that I was really missing my friends so much so that I cried, so please will all my friends out there send me emails and photos. I do miss you all. I wish you could all fit on the back of my bike because we’d have so much fun.

In conclusion, Italy has a lot of Roman ancient history worth seeing, but not worth doing it on a motorbike. If what you are doing most of the time is driving a bike, you want to enjoy driving. It’s like going to the beach to laze in the sun and then it rains all the time. Disappointing. I’ll be making future trips to see the bits I wanted to see but didn’t want to drive through. I’ll fly in and out and stay in a nicely packaged hotel (plus I’ll get myself some blinged out Gucci big sunglasses so I can fit in and get better customer service).

Paul has just got back from a bike shop that does stock the walkie-talkie system we need but only tomorrow at 9am. So tomorrow 9am we will be there. And then off to Eastern Europe.

Writing from Rome

Getting all our various gadgets charged is quite a problem. We can only charge while the bikes are driving and as the ipod and camera batteries seem to be used more often on a daily basis, the poor laptop sits in the pannier unused. However, we are in Camp Roma, an urban campsite setting just outside of Rome, and I’m able to actually plug in.

Since my last blog, we have been to Spain, back through the South of France, into Italy and are now heading down South Italy.

Here are a few notes for other people planning such a trip:

Pack in the order you will pack and unpack.

Always try to have extra food for when you drive late and can’t do a restaurant or find a shop.

And keep the first aid kit at the top of your packing.

Spain: 12 - 14 July 2006

France had been typically rural farmlands and gentle undulating hills with fields of corn, sunflowers and rolls of hay, all in perfect order. On the map, the pass to Spain went over the Pyrenees Mountains but as we discovered, maps never show all the hairpin turns, rather just a small wiggle which actually indicates most severe windy roads over steep mountain passes. It got wet and cold as we climbed over 2000m over the mountains. The views were stunning but mostly I kept my eye on the road – it took all of my concentration to keep going.

Over the mountains we entered Spain and dry heat. The landscape dramatically changed into wide open vistas in shades of brown with rocky outcrops and formations. We arrived in Pamplona to catch the tail end of the St Fermien festival or more commonly know as the “running of the bulls”. We arrived late in the evening; it was clear the festivities were still going on and so we went wild and booked into a hotel close to the centre of the city.

The upside of the hotel is that we had clean toilet facilities, the downside is that we had to lug all our gear upstairs. I became acutely aware of how dirty I was already and how really rough we looked.

The festivities were brilliant. Absolutely everyone was wearing white with red scarves and in a really jolly mood. Given the amount of booze being consumed and the heightened emotions, the event was really peaceful and jolly. I didn’t see a single incident of aggression and every body was having a good time, babies and grannies included.

The next morning we did a 5.30am start so we could get into the city by 6am to get a good viewing spot to watch the bulls run at 8am. A long but amusing wait as clearly there were a lot of people just making their way out of their drinking holes. 8am promptly a shot was fired and a small heard of bulls galloped down the small road. The spectacle lasted all of about 5 seconds but was thrilling. We ran round the back streets to the arena at the end of the bull-run and climbed to the upper level to watch. The bulls were allowed one at a time to leap into the arena (over a crowd of crazies who crouched beneath the bull’s leaping path) and chase the enthusiastic bull runners about. It was quite exciting to watch. I kept thinking – mad mother fuckers. When the bulls got tired they brought in a big trained bull with a bell to collect the knackered bull. It followed the big bull back as meekly as a little cow. I didn’t think that bull fighting would be my cup of tea. I’m a bit icky with pain and suffering and besides, I’d more than got my kicks from the general bull-and-man running.


That afternoon we headed off into the heat and lunar landscape. I could so clearly see some of the landscape that had inspired Gaudi.

About the time we were both baked to death and dehydrated, I saw a big storm ahead and told Paul we had to look for camping rather than face the storm. We turned off the main road and followed signs to camping that took us through some of the most picturesque landscape imaginable. We camped up for 2 nights at camp Noguera near St Lorenzo. Noguera was like an oasis for two dirty tired bikers who hadn’t sat on a toilet for days nor lingered in a shower. It was heaven. We ate, slept and dunked in and out of a cool swimming pool.


So a day later we got back on the bikes and did a scenic route of 70 miles that took the best part of 4 hours to do. What a wonderful diversion. I simply can’t describe the beautiful scenery in a way that would give it justice but there were lakes and mountains and windy roads with little villages…

Andorra: 15 July

And then before we knew it we arrived in Andorra. Andorra is like one big duty free high street from the one end to the other. Again, mountains and extraordinary beauty but off set against high-rise buildings and commercial mahem. We choked at the cost of camping right on the outskirts of the centre of the town… But it was clean and ok after all.

The next day was a dull as dishwater day as we trudged the mega high street up and down trying to find walkie-talkies and various other odds n sods. We bought mesh off road jackets and posted a sizeable box home. Still too much stuff and will dump more luxuries before we do serious off road. Paul and I now look like action-man toys.

South France: 17 July

More mountain passes and rain and more rain before we were back in France and getting really hot again. We camped in Limoux. Not a massively eventful day but you do want to keep all you precious bits in zippy plastic bags.

Next day, we went to Carcassone which is a fairy-tale castle and tourist hell-hole. Also the film set of Cosner’s “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves”. I enjoyed it even though we were not really dressed to do tourist stuff. This is the problem with bike gear. Very thankful we have packsafe meshes to keep our stuff safe, and can also tie the helmet and boots up. We made holes in the back of our boots so we can attach them the bike – and a very useful bit of advice we took!

Another pleasant surprise was arriving in Avignon where an arts festival was taking place. It was really busy and campsites jammed with tents. I believe there are hundreds of shows a day, probably all in French. Again, a lovely atmosphere. It reminded me of a dear friend of mine and a conversation we’d once had about how he’d rather suffer to express himself as an actor than take on a real job and comforts. I’m thankful I have a sound commercial mind and no great desire to be an artiste! So much suffering for art but I really do respect these people’s desire to express and communicate.

Italy: 19 - 23 July

We decided to take to the toll roads and get ourselves into Italy. We couldn’t really afford to stay along the very pretentious and beautiful south coast and so a toll road blast was in order. The only thing was, it was mental. The coast line is mountainous and steep. This means, the road is pretty much drilled through the mountain and over the valleys with bridges. There are two lanes, no hard shoulder, minimal barriers, dismal lighting, hardly a warning for off or on ramps and finally, manic drivers who tail gait and drive far too fast.

I was thankful to arrive in Genoa. I was thankful to be alive.

The campsite was extortionate and situated on the mountainside in a series of terraces cut into the side. I was too tired to appreciate anything.

The next day we went on the coastal road which was delightful (though still full of really bad drivers). We parked up at about 1pm and relaxed swam in the sea until 3pm. While I was gearing up I could smell petrol and then realised that the same problem I had, that BMW had “fixed” had clearly not been fixed at all. I had fuel leading out from under my seat again. This put a spanner in the works…

Off we went to the nearest town to find a BMW dealer and see if we could find the problem and order new parts. We did. But driving was hell. We were hot and frazzled and my nerves were shaken. We found out the problem and then found the nearest campsite – we’d done a whole 66 miles that day.

Great campsite but seriously strange people ran the place. The young fellow oozed arrogance in a very sad and nasty way. He had big sunglasses that made him look like a pimp. The woman hanging about there also had a strange way about here. She kind of sauntered and spoke in the kind of way I’d expect from a hooker. So there these characters were, running a campsite when they would have been more in situ on the corner of one of the posh but sleazy parts of south coast.

The cost had now gone up to 39 Euros. Having paid a whole 8 Euros in France, this was just ridiculous.

On the upside, the sea was beautiful and the toilets clean.

The other great thing was meeting Vince and his family. Vince is a vibrant character from Sicily originally and has live in London for a long time and then moved about a lot ever since. I just enjoyed talking to him. He has the same view on life: that it’s most important to be happy no matter what you are doing, and do what makes you happy. It annoys him as much as it annoys me to see people walk about with faces like smacked bottoms who feel hard done by because they hate their lives or don’t have things the way they want it, but don’t make the effort to change.

The next day, I was waiting for Paul to get back from the bank. And you know the idle minds adage, well, I decide to make a hole in my tank bag to hook something thorough it. It was just at the exact moment I thought how stupid it was to be shoving a very sharp knife in the bag so near my hand when the blade shot through and right into my finger. I didn’t feel anything at first. By time Paul got back the pain set in and I thought I’d pass out. I’d stuck the knife about 3/4mm into my finger, into the bone, and it hurt like hell.

Another lesson learnt. I’m an idiot.

The next lesson, is keep your first aid kits on the top of your entire luggage. It’s a pain having it there but you don’t know when you will have an accident and when you are in a lot of pain, it’s very hard to figure basic things out. If you were relying on a stranger to help you, you wouldn’t want to be explaining it’s at the bottom of the left pannier, under the red took box near the inner tube.

A few painkillers, medical superglue, a few strong sweet coffees and an hour later we were on the road. We took the toll road again as it was straight and I wouldn’t have to use the clutch so much. And then we arrived in Rome.

I must be really honest. I don’t like Italy as much as I’d hoped I would. It’s not the place. It’s the people. I find people very rude. It doesn’t cost you time or money to be polite. Anyway. Rome is a beautiful city. Worth visiting. Lovely and all. Just glad to be leaving today. We are cutting our time in Italy short because the traffic is so unpleasant as are the people. We’ll go to Pompeii later today and then turn about again and head straight to Germany.

First few days on the road

I’m finally doing it – sitting in a camp site with my laptop balanced on my metal box, next to my tent and writing up my blog while I worry about my battery lasting and not much else. This is finally the dream come true. It’s brilliant. A Wednesday evening and I’m in a cute French wooded area listening to children play and bugs in the trees.

Saturday 8th July
We spent the day with Stand up for Africa at the Rise Festival in Finsbury Park. I hope we managed to raise some money towards the Uganda project. It’s very hard to tell when there was the expense of the event and all I saw was small change being tossed into rather large buckets that remained fairly empty. To my knowledge, there is still no corporate sponsor and still not a peep out of BMW. I do honestly understand the corporate side of things as I was, after all, a marketing manager myself. It doesn’t change the fact; I really want this project to happen.

We had our bikes on the SUFA stand and so got to speak to many people. I really enjoyed meeting so many people and talking about motorbikes and the trip. It was the first time I got to say “Tomorrow” to the question, “When are you leaving?” and it felt great. Must admit that there were a few responses to our little adventure that made me realise that what had become such a normal idea to us, was actually quite an extraordinary event – but no nerves at all – not yet!

Sunday 9th July
Our departure day finally arrived. Paul had been up most of the night but I fell asleep while trying to load music onto the laptop and so gave up and went to bed. I figured, what wasn’t done by then, was really too late. We woke up at 6am and rushed about in a sleepy kind of rush. Anything that wasn’t sorted out either got stuffed onto the bike or just binned. It felt like hours of trying to get the stuff to fit and all the time I worried about getting to the ferry on time.

Fortunately saying goodbye to Paul’s folks was really quick. I felt really sad for them and Paul as we said rushed goodbyes. I know they will miss Paul a lot but, we are only a phone call away and we will visit in due time. My parents had called a few times, and I know how excited they are to have me moving closer to them. It’s a toughie.

We finally set off with huge bundles precariously bungeed on behind us. Our bikes are so heavy and we aren’t used to the extra weight so most manoeuvring is very difficult and we wobble all over. Paul’s bike has a really bad wobble at high speeds and my bike’s mountain on the back was catching side winds.

We arrived at Dover with time to collect our money – just. The best rates were with Travelex and bought online. You need to collect from an airport or port.

That is when the trip really began! We watched the white cliffs of Dover get smaller and the coast of France get closer. It rained and was windy – typical UK weather to set us on our way. We were too excited to be tired but I could feel the exhaustion of the last few weeks. When I’m really tired I have a very short temper and so when I got mad because I couldn’t find lippy – that was fatigue talking.

Well! France! The little maps SUFA made for us are great. From day one we had bikers pull over to look at our maps and wave us on. It’s a brilliant idea and speaks all languages – and explains the state of us and the bikes. I don’t speak a word of French so have really appreciated the smiles and nods of French people who figure out what we are doing. I lie, by now I do speak a few words of French. I can say cow, hello, dog and thank you.

Monday 10th July
The dodgy weather seemed to be behind us. We had blazing hot sun and by 10am we were melting. My headlight had gone which required taking the indicators and front of the bike apart. This added on at least an hour. We then unpacked and packed again until 1pm when we decided to just go. I mean, we needed to get more organised but we also just needed to get going. We had only done 100 miles the day before and I didn’t think we would get much further if we spent the whole day playing with gear.

The countryside was beautiful. We stuck to the A roads and avoided cities and motorways. The cities tended to be a bit busy, rushed and when we had the idyllic country to pootle through, why not?

The full biking gear was hot and I mean it HOT. We were really sweating underneath which meant stopping was avoided completely. That in many ways defeated the point of travel! We were really thankful for our zip-off dragging jeans and camelpacks.

Tuesday 11th July
We made an early start – 10am on the road. This was much cooler and we made good progress. We did the 300 miles we thought would be possible to do daily. Possible yes but with one aching butt for sure. Because we’re on the A roads, it’s slower, so longer in the saddle. On the up side, we get to drive at a speed we can really look at the scenery and notice things.

Bordeaux region is just so pretty. We found a wooded campsite in St. Symphorien. I got off my bike, staggering a bit like a bowlegged cowboy wearing Robocop boots and finally the holiday mode set in. I said to Paul, “Is there any where we need to be? Let’s start enjoying where we are right now and stop rushing.” And so with that, we decided to have a rest day.

And so here we are. I’m flicking bugs off my laptop and Paul is still fiddling with the walkie-talkie system that refuses to work. This is what it is all about and we’re loving it.