200 DAY SUMMARY AUSTRALIA TO GERMANY OVERLAND

This entry serves as a summary for the first 200 days (7 months) of the trip... ie. The Oceania, Asia and Europe sections of the adventure. I’ve only included new photos (outtakes as you will) since I keep finding more and more that could’ve been used in previous blogs. Here’s the first 33,000 Km from Australia to Germany. I was never entirely sure I was going to make it and there were definitely plenty of challenges along the way but I pulled through and am even more excited for the next leg of the journey than before!

Major service, tender love and care for my donkey!

Australia... Perth to Darwin was 4500 Km and I undertook this with my friend Tom on his Harley. I was fresh, naive and had no idea what to expect. Temperatures ranged from 32 to 39 degrees C and it got progressively more humid the further North we got. Average speed was around 110 Km/h and with only a few hiccups we made very fast progress... I was loving it! I left home on the 10^th of January (2015) and exactly one month later I was in East Timor.

Day 1... saying farewell to family, I won't be seeing you guys for a while!

The friends that came to say goodbye... it meant a lot!

Tom and his Harley, what a laugh we had in those first few days!

The Aussie outback, still one of the coolest landscapes around in my opinion...

What she won't start!!!??? Fixing some electrical issues... it's all part of the fun in the sweltering heat!

Cooking with my petrol cooker which sadly broke in Iran... the chair also snapped later...

Messing around on Cable Beach, Broome.

The Harley was not a fan of water... a few minutes later she sprung back to life! This was getting close to Darwin and the roads were constantly flooded.

I was in Timor-Leste for 1 week waiting for my motorbike on the ship, it was a constant 30 degrees and the wet season was beginning... that meant rain every afternoon at 1 PM. Average speed 35 Km/h... Food from $3... Visa on arrival.

Sunsets and relaxation... it was tough here!

Indonesia... 7 weeks of stunning mountain roads coupled with volcanoes, all surrounded by crystal clear water! I covered over 5000 Km and took 7 ferries through the country. Average speed 19 Km/h... Food from $1... 30 day visa organised prior in Timor, took 3 working days to organise. Oh yeah AND it was hot and rainy!

One of the many ferries in Indonesia, I look back on these photos and wish I was there again!

Up in the mountains the fog became incredibly dense!

Top of kawa Igen, the volcano with the "blue fire"... truly spectacular from within.

Malaysia... 1 week waiting for my bike on the ‘onion’ boat organised by the famous Mr Lim. Average speed 100 Km/h... Food from $5... Visa on arrival. Also a nice place to relax and enjoy the great biker community!

Thailand... 15 days of relaxation! $1 Pad Thai, perfect temperatures and a holiday atmosphere. Average speed 90 Km/h... Visa on arrival for 15 days.

A-top the unfinished skyscraper in Bangkok, one of the coolest cities!

Exploring near Chiang Mai... Thailand just has that wonderful atmosphere.

Myanmar... 9 days with a guide and a group. This is a tricky country to cross with your own vehicle currently, as was the case with China you cannot cross alone (there have been exceptions to the rule). The guide cost $900 US per person and they did a great job! It was extremely hot with average temperatures around the 40 degrees... lucky the water festival was on! Average speed 75 Km/h... Food from $3... Visa arranged in Bangkok (2 working days). I was lucky and had an amazing group of seriously interesting people that I hope to share more stories with in the future!

The mountain roads weren't in the best condition...

This picture sums up most of Asia's public transportation systems...

It was nice having a guide for once, it meant for me a lot less "roughing" it...

India, everyone says you either love it or hate it. And it’s true, and every time you go back you can have a different experience in this diverse and ever-changing country. Average speed 45 Km/h... Food from 50 cents... 6 month visa I arranged in Australia (5 working days). Some of my most amazing stories came from my 3 weeks in this country, however I cannot recommend it for wild camping! Hustle and bustle!

Culture shock... 24/7 celebrity style attention, exhausting but really it's just friendly curiosity.

Up in the mountains waiting for a landslide to be cleared... time for a shower in the freezing snow melt river!

Trying to stay positive during the ridiculous traffic jams in the mountains...

Speaking of traffic jams... here is an example!

Pakistan... probably the most adventurous thing I have ever done. Over 2000 Km with military escorts, my 10 days here were tremendously "interesting" and an experience I won’t forget. The temperatures peaked around 45 degrees and the landscape was ridiculously stunning. Average speed 65 Km/h... Food from $2... 30 day visa organised in Australia (10 working days).

The landscape looked like it was straight out of the latest news story... freaky!

One of the funniest pictures in my opinion... Anti-Terror Force wearing 'kicks' and casually slung AK's whilst one guy takes a photo of me with his iphone! ... Not to mention we're in the middle of nowhere.

I spent a whole day and 700 Km with this escort, absolutely no English but they made it totally enjoyable!

The coolest place I'll ever take a l**k!

One of the many checkpoints crossing the desert in-between Pakistan and Iran...

Iran... don’t let the media fool you, this country is ready to be explored and the people want you here! Except US and British citizens... it’s a bit difficult with the visa situation right now, haha but soon. 5200 Km zig-zag through the country, from the Persian gulf at 60 degrees C down to cold snowy temperatures in the mountains... landscape wise this country has everything to offer. 28 days in the country and only 240 USD spent... insane! Food was not as cheap as India, fuel costs nothing though (try 20 cents per litre) and you can go as fast as you want (I averaged 80 Km/h but that’s because the bike is slow!). I organised my 30 day visa in Delhi (India) and it took 3 working days (get the authorisation code a few weeks in advance). Not the cheapest visa in the world...

First checkpoint in Iran... military tech had gone through the roof, but their organisation was a major fail.

Shahdad desert near Kerman... gorgeous but hot!

Qeshm island off the Persian Gulf...

Did I ever mention in the blog that I love camels??? And this was so cute.

Another mud sliding picture... I think I have about 20 of these on my hard-drive!

Mmm E-T, sometimes even in the middle of nowhere Whatsapp managed to connect me with home!

The last night camping in Iran, ridiculous how great this country is for setting up a tent anywhere!

Urmia salt lake... still the last night!

From Turkey on-wards I switched to my European passport and didn’t have to worry about visas or expiry dates anymore (yay for dual-citizenship!) From here on the road was relatively easy and well known. I had some shoes stolen and my very first accident but the “hard” part was over...

Successfully crossed in to Europe!

With border controls I could pretty much always count on it taking at least 4 hours... but the bike's panniers weren't opened once in over 15 countries!!! The plan is now to spend the next few months (rest of Summer and Autumn) in Europe backpacking around a bit until I meet the bike again in Chile or Argentina, November (2015)... then it’s the long road up through Central America all the way to Alaska!

Time to "chill" out, re-charge and then find some even more crazy adventures! ... Notice the two dudes taking a sneaky photo of me!

I guess I should include the map of the route my gps plotted... 1/2 way round!

BULGARIA - SERBIA - CROATIA - SLOVENIA - ITALY - AUSTRIA - GERMANY

My track since the last blog... well over 30,000 KM in total now.

After five nights in the only city in the world that straddles two continents it was time to leave... Istanbul was rich with culture and had an atmosphere that is indescribable... From here I rode to the Gallipoli Peninsula and spent two days exploring the hills, beaches and various monuments built after the war. Obviously this place had a strong impact and I did a lot of reflecting here.

The kitty in the bar under our apartment, always relaxing!

Istanbul's location is pretty fantastic!

The plaque at ANZAC Cove...

Walking along the beach and more monuments pop up...

Another famous speech by Ataturk in 1934.

Camping on Lone Pine hill overlooking the cove...

The list of countries has almost doubled since then, just after I'd started writing them down.

In Greece the banks had closed and ATM’s were reportedly out of cash, so I rode straight into Bulgaria... the easiest border yet, like an airport for cars! I spent three nights in the capitol Sofia and even met another RTW rider Shane from NZ that rode the same route as me on the exact same bike! The cherry on top was when we realised that we both spent time in the EXACT same hospital on Flores, Indonesia. That was truly amazing!

Signs in Bulgaria leading to Greece or Russia!

One of the workers made the babies penis "GOLD" out of protest for not being paid... he was fired, but it remains that way today!

What a coincidence, Shane arrived as I was leaving!

It feels strange writing this... but entering Serbia was now again the easiest border by far... I didn’t even have to remove my helmet! I spent another three nights in Belgrade (the capitol) and even went to Wonderland (a music festival) which Paula amazingly gave me a ticket to! Serbia and the rest of the Balkans in general had a rich history of wars, mafias and a mysterious dark side... which was all very interesting!

Funny positioning... great views over 'new' Belgrade from up on the old Fort.

Nicola Tesla on their bills, finally someone I know on the currency!

Bad-ass architecture all around the city!

With cute and quirky pubs all around as well...

Wonderland... if you're into that kind of music!

Leaving Belgrade a motorcyclist at the traffic lights invited to have some vodka shots with him... at 9 AM! Unfortunately I didn’t take him up on it and headed for Croatia... Here I spent the night on a hill overlooking the Adriatic Sea... that night I was woken by a wolf around midnight as he was growling next to my tent. I grabbed a rock the size of my head and brought it into the tent with me, I was seriously shitting bricks! Luckily I survived the night without any further dramas.

Arrival in Croatia!

Getting a closer look at the tankers cruising past...

Some wicked cookies I found that day!

Old Roman structure in the sea side city Pula!

Camp set-up on an old military lookout! (And no the 10 second timer was not long enough to get up the tree!)

From here I rode from Croatia into Slovenia, the Que at the border was over 7 KM long with everyone heading back into Europe. Luckily with the bike I could skip the line and made it to the front, they didn’t even open the passport and just waved me through... now that was definitely the EASIEST border ever!

SLOVENIA! Far out that's beautiful...

And shortly after I was already in Italy... but soon I'd be back in Slovenia!

Strange sign... just act cool.

But I couldn't resist!

Slovenia, Italy, Slovenia, Italy, Austria in that order... here in the Alps everything looked perfect, with impeccable organisation... Utopia! Green fields with clear rivers and a mountainous backdrop with pleasant temperatures. But it was very difficult to find a wild campsite, everything was too organised with trails and fenced off forests.

Back in Slovenia again, the road winding along the border!

And here we have an Austrian Autobahn that I was trying to avoid all day!

B-roads through the Alps, brilliant!

Riding through Austria I had set the GPS to avoid TOLL roads as they had been very expensive through Croatia ($45 to cross the country)... but now I’d reached the Alps and the GPS kept taking me back to a train. This was supposed to take me through a tunnel to the other side without a toll, but obviously you need a ticket! Not to mention missing out on more amazing roads. So I back-tracked and found a campsite for the night thinking I’d find a road in the morning that lead over the top...

Illegal (but tolerated) free camping in the forest, it's a shame because the country has so much camping potential!

The following morning I made my way along the base of the Alps and then began the climb. I soon found out that almost every road over the top is a toll road, so be it. I bit the bullet (a 38 dollar bullet) and rode over the top. Sure it was beautiful and the road was well maintained... but GEEZ it was way too expensive! That night I found another nice spot to camp at... too bad it was next to the Autobahn where cars are driving past at INFINITY KM/H, a river which I couldn’t even hear over the cars... and directly under the flight path for the Munich airport... but I didn’t care, tomorrow I was going to arrive at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s!

Winding my way up Gross-glockener pass road in the Austrian Alps!

Enjoying the view, for the $$$ I better savour it!

Not sure if it's condoned... but I took some detours to explore the other peaks.

Back on the road, entering one of the many tunnels!

Snow all year round, entering Italy it had been 37 degrees C... a day later up in the snow!

Off-track again, a very beautiful area!

The summit at 2,500 m...

So many bikers were riding these roads... and every single one overtook me!

Down we go... EEEEH!

Another bit of off-road before getting down to warmer temps!

That nights "lovely" campsite... too bad about the noise!

Just outside Munich the following day the bikes engine gave out again, luckily I know my donkey quite well now and after only a few minutes of tinkering with the CARB she was running like a champ again! My bike was not built for the Autobahn but she made it... 

Now time to visit family and friends before the next leg of the journey! ... OH and it’s now been exactly ½ a year since I left home, perfect timing or what!

The bike literally stopped running 5 metres from this sign... time for a bit of a service and a clean in Germany!

From here the plan is to bring the bike back up to SPEC and travel around Europe a bit, in the mean time a ship is also being organised for the journey down to South America!