the bike

I've always wanted a motorcycle. I guess it's the sense of freedom that one experiences whilst riding. I either couldn't afford it, or knew that I wasn't going to stay in a city long enough to purchase one. I finally broke down and bought my first bike, it was a 2005 Honda CBR 600RR; a sport bike. Doing 200 km's per hour and more on a straight-away was no problem for this bad boy.

A year later, going to my first ever bike show, and seeing the BMW F650GS, I knew that this was the bike for me. Doing some research over the next few months, I stumbled on now my two favourite websites www.f650.com and www.advrider.com I knew that the F650GS was going to be my next bike. I also had a little inspiration by reading Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon, reading and watching the DVD (numerous times) of The Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, watching Charley Boorman in the Race to Dakar, again numerous times. Given, they had alot of support and help along the way; however if I had the money, I would do that too. Riding around the world is a test of one's character and soul and not for everyone. Now I'm keeping my eyes peeled as both Ewan and Charley do The Long Way Down from Scotland to Cape Town. So it was inevitable that I was going to sell my Honda and had to patiently wait 3 months for my BMW to arrive.

The night before I could pick her up, I was honestly like a little kid on Christmas eve. I was so excited and decided to name her "BlackBeast". It's a 2007 F650GS and came with ABS, heated hand grips, centre stand, BMW hand guards, BMW brush plate and engine guard. No, the modifications and accessories didn't stop there.

"hyperfarkosis"
This is a somewhat rare condition, experienced by mainly adventure motorcycle enthusiasts. It is the constant need to research, source, modify and add accessories and protective equipment to ones bike. I think I may have a little problem.
I also want to thank or blame Bill and Madeleine Towner for kindly agreeing to have most of this shipped directly to them. The modifications so far:-

• Touratech 35L panniers
• Dakar tinted windshield
• Cee-Bailey's protective headlight guard
• Piaa 510's driving lights
• Wolfman Denali tankbag
• Touratech locking GPS mount
• Ram mounting accessories
• Garmin GPS60CSX with City Navigator V.8
• Wunderlich Ergo high seat
• AGM maintenance free battery
• Touratech fairing guards
• Touratech radiator protector
• Touratech hand guard spoilers
• Whale tail luggage carrier
• Wolfman tail bag
• Kidala centre stand skid plate
• Kidala mudguard extension
• Touratech front sprocket cover
• Touratech chain protector
• Touratech rear master cylinder cover
• Touratech carrier bracket for MSR fuel bottles
• Pivotpegz
• Sheepskin buttpad (for those long riding days)
• Gerbings heated jacket
• Rally 2 Pro jacket and riding pants
• BMW rain suit
• Arai XD helmet
• Rev'it winter gloves
• Alpinestars gortex motorcycle boots
• Reflective stickers - lots of them...

Did I mention that I was incurable!

life in canada

So a new chapter begins. I moved to Toronto initially and stayed there for about a year. Moving from London to Toronto was an anti-climax, just another big city. Definitely doesn't compare to London though in terms of arts & culture and the English "pub" culture. I can't really describe it, but those that have experienced it know what I'm talking about.

Whilst in Toronto, I met my girlfriend (Angela) at the time. We decided to buy a minivan and travel across Canada. The plan was to leave mid June 2002 and take the summer off to camp, hike & mountain bike as we went along. Wow, what an amazing country. We spent a week just between Jasper and Banff. Loved the turquoise lakes and the snow capped mountains, even in mid-summer.

We finally arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia and settle down and expand our family. That's Echo, our Golden Retriver.

We buy our first home together in 2004 and get married in May 2005. The plan was to go to Peru for our honeymoon the following year. Yes, not your typical honeymoon, but we were planning to backpack across the country and do a 4 day hike to Machu Picchu.

Peru was my fist experience to South America and I want to go back. I hadn't travelled since coming to Canada and I guess once you get the "bug" it doesn't leave. I'll let some pics express the beauty of this ancient country.

background info...

The primary purpose of this blog was to give both my family & the friends that I have met along the way through my travels an opportunity of sharing the odyssey ahead. And yes, one day this will be to ride around the world on my motorcycle.

I'm not there yet; however this is my story of where I've come from, the places I've been fortunate to travel to & whatever the future holds...

The norm for any South African was to complete high school & go to university; so that's what I did. Graduated with a teaching degree initially, however had no intention of actually teaching so I completed a post-graduate degree in Exercise Physiology. Whilst at university, I started to work part-time at the local health club & slowly starting moving up the corporate ladder and moved into a full-time position. It was a fun environment to be in, I put in the hours, worked my ass off; and was able to get involved in project management by opening & setting up new health clubs. A few years later, they gave me an opportunity, which now when I look back was the turning point in both my career & my life.

The company I worked for sent me to Israel to do a Business Management programme which I later completed back in South Africa. I spent 3 months in Israel & had the opportunity to travel throughout the war torn country. It was an eye opener for me as this was my first international travel experience. I realised how fortunate I was and that there was so much the world had to offer and I wasn't content on working & living the mundane life that my friends found themselves in.

I decided to start to travel. Like everyone else, there is always the money thing, so my plan was to take 6 weeks off work & travel to Europe. When I left, I was scared, nervous, yet excited about what I was about to see & learn. I flew into Heathrow, spent some time seeing the sights in London (London Bridge).

Then traveled to France (Eiffel Tower).



Then went on to Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Netherlands and back to England & Scotland to see Loch Ness. Unfortunately she wasn't available.
I made some wonderful friends, but it was time to go back home. Many of them were staying in England to find work & travel. How I envied them.

Back to South Africa for another year. I decided to save up for another year & take another 6 week trip across the US the following year. I flew into Los Angeles & travelled across the US and flew back home out of New York. It was amazing, everything is bigger & outrageous. By this time, working in SA had it's downfalls and I realised that I had reached a level where I wasn't going to move ahead because of the colour of my skin. So I decided to pack up everything; everything that I worked so hard in achieving & gave it all up. I sold most of my possessions and flew back to London where I lived and worked for a while. This was an amazing opportunity for me to grow as a person and appreciate the smaller things in life. I was able to travel to Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia. I wouldn't have had those opportunities to experience all the different cultures and interact with so many people along the way.

The Arctic Circle

Norway - land of the midnight sun

Moscow - Red Square

All good things have to come to an end & so too was my stay in London. It was time to leave & I had to decide on where I wanted to go. I had the opportunity to move to New Zealand with my girlfriend at the time; however we both decided to continue our travels and travel through Africa. We flew into Kenya & travelled down the East & then Central Africa visiting Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia till we finally arrived in South Africa. This was the most humbling of my travel experiences. People had absolutely nothing and they were the happiest & friendliest people I've ever come across.

And so the journey continues on to Canada...