Hayu Overthere
Pack Dog
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2016
- Messages
- 55
- Reaction score
- 0
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
Wow! Great site you have going on here. I've been on ADV for a long time (StevetheLocal) but ended up here doing some research looking for interesting places to ride. You've got one of those! Of that I am convinced!
Long story short...I live in Canada's Gulf Islands, which are situated between Vancouver, BC and Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It is beautiful here and the riding is great, but it gets moist in the winter. Most people think of Canada as the land of snow and ice but south western BC are much warmer...and wetter. The moderating influence of the warm water streaming up from Hawaii leads to what they call locally here "The Pineapple Express", warm wet fronts that roll in regularly in the winter months and dump rain on the mountains of BC. Where I am is in the rain shadow of the mountains and we get 30-35 inches a year (70-80 cm?). The west coast of Vancouver Island however can get 200-250 inches a year...you do the math. (Canada is mostly metric but somethings have resisted...rainfall measurements seem to be one of them.)
We might get 2 or 3 days a year with snow on the ground? Some years it can stay for a week or two, some years nothing at all. I pretty much ride year 'round.
There's lots of riding to be done here but I'm wanting to see some more of the world before I get too creaky. I've managed to get home alive from The Yukon and Alaska, South America, Central America and the eastern US. as far south as Florida. Mexico is a favorite place to ride. Great food, cheap everything, wonderful friendly people, great riding...don't believe all that cut your head off stuff...but don't go looking to score any drugs either, or go to wild bars at midnight alone. Pretty basic stuff that I think should stand as good advice for ZA too? Do I need more than common sense to stay safe there...?
(I have winter hideout spot in the desert behind LA (Palm Springs...lots of Canadians hiding from the winter), and there are many places that I would not go to in LA after dark!)
Anyhow...my wife and I rode around Europe counterclockwise this summer...Flew the bikes to London, rode to Morocco, east to Turkey, north to Scandinavia, west to Ireland and back to London...5 months, 23,000 kms. Awesome trip!!! 127 days without rain. Spectacular! Never thought I would ever say that I'd seen too many Castles but after the first 50 they all start to look alike! :lol8:? My wife of 35 years buys into the "They'll Cut Your Head Off and Steal Your Bike" school of thought, so she shipped her bike back to BC. (Air Canada ships bikes very inexpensively as long as you book your perosnal flight with them too...awesome!) Mine is currently on a slow boat to Durban, (I had to come home to attend to business for 6 weeks), so time wasn't an issue and the cost was less, so I'm hoping that all goes well this time! (When I shipped the bike from LA to Valparaiso, Chile, last time the boat was 2 weeks delayed and I twiddled my thumbs in Chile and Argentina for two weeks (There could be world things to do, so you have to keep it all in perspective.)
So...to cut to the chase...I'll be in Durban on Nov. 23rd hoping to hop on my moto and bugger off in search of adventure (1200 GSA LC...I know, know...poseur right?) well...FU, I love that bike! :imaposer:
I ride alone mostly. I cant handle stopping because some ****** needs a smoke break. And I like to plan my trips to the N'th degree, or at least 15 minutes in advance. :ricky:
The plan for ZA is to grab the bike from Customs (could be interesting...using the deposit method rather than Carnet?
) look around a little head toward Lesotho 'cause I hear the Sani Pass is not to be missed and its beautiful there, then wander down the coast, sort of, to Cape Town, hang a Reginald and head up through the wine country (my profession?job?passion? over the past 30 years) until the signs say You're in Namibia, hang another Reginald until my feet get wet in the Indian Ocean (?), then hang a Larry and head north until things get dicey. I'm open to further refinements in my "plan" hence this post. duration? 2-3 months?
From there, I'm not sure. I want to ride India, but probably not on a big GSA, so maybe ship the GS further east and rent something small and cheap for the India adventure? The Missus says I have to throw in a five star resort in there somewhere so she can join me or don't bother coming home...all my good junk will have been in the driveway for months by then and ruined by the rain. :3some:.
So there you have it. I'm not adverse to a beer or a glass of wine along the way if you're about and flexible? Conversely...if you find yourself in BC or the California desert, I likely won't be home but the missus is a biker herself (albeit first world only thanks) and she understands how important a cold beer, fresh laundry, and fast internet is, so she said she'll leave the porch light on.
Okay bring it on. I love abuse!
Cheers,
Hayu
Long story short...I live in Canada's Gulf Islands, which are situated between Vancouver, BC and Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It is beautiful here and the riding is great, but it gets moist in the winter. Most people think of Canada as the land of snow and ice but south western BC are much warmer...and wetter. The moderating influence of the warm water streaming up from Hawaii leads to what they call locally here "The Pineapple Express", warm wet fronts that roll in regularly in the winter months and dump rain on the mountains of BC. Where I am is in the rain shadow of the mountains and we get 30-35 inches a year (70-80 cm?). The west coast of Vancouver Island however can get 200-250 inches a year...you do the math. (Canada is mostly metric but somethings have resisted...rainfall measurements seem to be one of them.)
We might get 2 or 3 days a year with snow on the ground? Some years it can stay for a week or two, some years nothing at all. I pretty much ride year 'round.
There's lots of riding to be done here but I'm wanting to see some more of the world before I get too creaky. I've managed to get home alive from The Yukon and Alaska, South America, Central America and the eastern US. as far south as Florida. Mexico is a favorite place to ride. Great food, cheap everything, wonderful friendly people, great riding...don't believe all that cut your head off stuff...but don't go looking to score any drugs either, or go to wild bars at midnight alone. Pretty basic stuff that I think should stand as good advice for ZA too? Do I need more than common sense to stay safe there...?
(I have winter hideout spot in the desert behind LA (Palm Springs...lots of Canadians hiding from the winter), and there are many places that I would not go to in LA after dark!)
Anyhow...my wife and I rode around Europe counterclockwise this summer...Flew the bikes to London, rode to Morocco, east to Turkey, north to Scandinavia, west to Ireland and back to London...5 months, 23,000 kms. Awesome trip!!! 127 days without rain. Spectacular! Never thought I would ever say that I'd seen too many Castles but after the first 50 they all start to look alike! :lol8:? My wife of 35 years buys into the "They'll Cut Your Head Off and Steal Your Bike" school of thought, so she shipped her bike back to BC. (Air Canada ships bikes very inexpensively as long as you book your perosnal flight with them too...awesome!) Mine is currently on a slow boat to Durban, (I had to come home to attend to business for 6 weeks), so time wasn't an issue and the cost was less, so I'm hoping that all goes well this time! (When I shipped the bike from LA to Valparaiso, Chile, last time the boat was 2 weeks delayed and I twiddled my thumbs in Chile and Argentina for two weeks (There could be world things to do, so you have to keep it all in perspective.)
So...to cut to the chase...I'll be in Durban on Nov. 23rd hoping to hop on my moto and bugger off in search of adventure (1200 GSA LC...I know, know...poseur right?) well...FU, I love that bike! :imaposer:
I ride alone mostly. I cant handle stopping because some ****** needs a smoke break. And I like to plan my trips to the N'th degree, or at least 15 minutes in advance. :ricky:
The plan for ZA is to grab the bike from Customs (could be interesting...using the deposit method rather than Carnet?
) look around a little head toward Lesotho 'cause I hear the Sani Pass is not to be missed and its beautiful there, then wander down the coast, sort of, to Cape Town, hang a Reginald and head up through the wine country (my profession?job?passion? over the past 30 years) until the signs say You're in Namibia, hang another Reginald until my feet get wet in the Indian Ocean (?), then hang a Larry and head north until things get dicey. I'm open to further refinements in my "plan" hence this post. duration? 2-3 months?From there, I'm not sure. I want to ride India, but probably not on a big GSA, so maybe ship the GS further east and rent something small and cheap for the India adventure? The Missus says I have to throw in a five star resort in there somewhere so she can join me or don't bother coming home...all my good junk will have been in the driveway for months by then and ruined by the rain. :3some:.
So there you have it. I'm not adverse to a beer or a glass of wine along the way if you're about and flexible? Conversely...if you find yourself in BC or the California desert, I likely won't be home but the missus is a biker herself (albeit first world only thanks) and she understands how important a cold beer, fresh laundry, and fast internet is, so she said she'll leave the porch light on.
Okay bring it on. I love abuse!
Cheers,
Hayu
