LAST RACE DAY 8th JUNE 2024

The race was postponed three times and finally got going at 1pm, only two laps, but the track is 37.7 miles long.

LOCH NESS TO SHIELDAIG 451km. DAY 10

Finally got to see some mountains, and even went over the Bealach Pass which is the highest in the UK, but not really high at all.

Did the Isle of Skye which everyone raves about, it was interesting and scenery is getting better slowly and hopefully there is a wow moment on the NC 500. The roads in this region are mainly one track for most of it and a lot of bikers on the road and they always greet you with a wave or a head nod.

TRIP MILAGE BY COUNTRY AND UPDATE ON NEXT LEG FROM MUNICH TO CAPE TOWN.

This is how I kept my mileage, at each border while I waited I had time to log it. Old school.

BELOW ARE THE KILOMETERS I DID IN EACH COUNTRY. I ONLY STARTED DOING IT HALF WAY UP AFRICA.

TANZANIA      925

BURUNDI         621

RWANDA         779

UGANDA       2115

KENYA           2515

OMAN            3135

UAE                2025

SAUDI              148

QATAR             261

SAUDI              330

BAHRAIN        246

SAUDI             343  

KUWAIT          333

SAUDI           1967

EGYPT          1821

ISRAEL          2719

JORDAN        1117

IRAQ              1281

TURKIYE       4719

BULGARIA      700

ROMANIA     1338

UKRAINE       1167

MOLDOVIA      434

ROMANIA        852

SERBIA            548

KOSOVO          172

N. MACEDONIA  284

GREECE             3111

ALBANIA             731

MONTENEGRO  1116

BOSNIA                516

CROATIA              926

SLOVENIA            534

ITALY                   1791

FRANCE                690

MONACO                38

ITALY                     485

SWITZERLAND    304

LICHTENSTEIN      22

AUSTRIA                35

GERMANY            362

FRANCE                736

BELGIUM                92

NETHERLANDS   359

GERMANY            778

351 DAYS 

55 740 KM.

42 COUNTRIES

IN TURKIYE I DID ANOTHER 3200km TOURING AROUND IN A CAR WHICH IS  A TOTAL OF  7 919 km IN TURKIYE.

UAE IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THAT HAS  ANOTHER COUNTRY IN IT, JORDAN AND THEN IN THAT UAE AGAIN.

SO YOU LEAVE UAE ENTER  JORDAN THEN EXIT IT AND ENTER UAE WHICH IS WITHIN THE UAE THAT IS WITHIN JORDAN. ALL WITHIN THE COUNTRY OF UAE.

FINAL DAY AND SUMMARY. working on it come back later. REFER TO POST ABOVE FOR UPDATE.

MUNICH DAY 320 to 324 778km.

I bid Martin good bye as he went to work and I headed to Munich ,feeling a little under the weather. It was a long day doing 778km and arriving at dusk after eight hours on the bike.

Really my last day of the trip. Found a nice Wyndham hotel for only €53 a night.

DAY  321   2nd November 2023

Caught underground train to Munich. Walked around and ended up at the Hofbrauhaus.

DAY   322

Went back to Munich and wondered around and ended up at the Hofbrauhas.

DAY  323.     BIKE TO STORAGE IN AUGSBURG. 89km

First clear blue sky day forever it seems and bloody cold. Had to ride to Augsburg to store my bike at a giys place I met in Namibia  eigjteen months ago. Met his wife and I put it in the garage and then she took me to the station and got the high speed train back to Munich and then went for the final time to Hofbrauhaus.

HOLLAND AMERSFOORT DAY 319 232km.

My chain and sprocket are totally work out and was lucky to make it to Holland, but I still had to go 224km to the BMW dealer in Amersfoort which I was fortunate to do. They had all the parts in stock thankfully and what a difference a new chain makes ! ( €565 ) 

     Farewell at Eddie's workshop.

While riding on the highway a pick up pulled alongside me and the guy and his wife waved and gave me a fist pump and went nuts, don't know why. Then I was behind him at the one and only toll and he yelled greetings at me and then he paid my toll for me. I caught up to him and thanked him with my lightsand  hand gestures , must have been a SouthAfrican or something but the generosity has been like that throughout my trip, total strangers paying for my fuel or meal , putting me up in their home. 

Stayed with Martin who happens to live in Amersfoort and who arranged the shipping of our bikes from Oman and we bumped into each other a number of times in the Middle East, so was fun to catch up over a meal.

PARIS TO HOLLAND DAY 318 367km.

Departed Paris in a slight drizzle for about an hour and then was just cold and cloudy for the rest of the way on the highway. Passed through Belgium and then was in Holland , you just see a small sign if you lucky of the country and then you see the changes in the roads and buildings. Was meant to take 3.5 hours but took me an additinal hour because of navigational problems that made me go back to France and back into Belgium in a big circle I believe. 

Finally got to Willems house where he was outside with his Dutch flag. Seemed like a long ride and was great to be with some friends again. I do the Dakar with Will and Eddie for the last four years doing about 7K km each trip which is hectic and a lot of fun.

They took me to a fancy restaurant where I got the full treatment and where many stories were shared.

PARIS. WORLD CUP RUGBY DAY 314 -317 510km

FESTEIT TO PARIS   510km  7 hours.

Rode for three hours in the rain, my rain suite worked for about twenty minutes so made for a long day.

Kinda dried out a little for the remainder of the four hours. Hotel is on the Seine but on the outskirts of Paris near the stadium, the rooms have been recently update thankfully. 

Eat dinner in the hotel and it has a lot of South Africans but none had any spare tickets for me.

DAY 315.         27 October 23 

Went into Paris to the Oz Bar where someone said I may get a ticket there but that was a waste of time, but had dinner at an Irish bar and then went back to my hotel.

DAY 316 

The one Dutch couple I met here who's cousin is here for the rugby has a ticket for me, so that was a pleasant surprise, five hours before the game. (€350) 

Went and walked around Arc de Triumph down the Champs Elysee then along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. 

Met Ron and Eddie and paid for my ticket and at 6pm we got the tour bus to the stadium where everyone was mostly New Zealand supporters in a festive spirit.

Then had to walk in the rain about 1.5km to the stadium with police and military everywhere armed to the teeth.

My seat was up there, not quite the nose bleed section but was okay and it was an amazing experience  and the Springboks won by one point, there third game in a row where they have won by one point.

Tomorrow will head to a friend in Holland and then visit a few more there and then head to Munich by Thursday to store my bike on Saturday  and fly home on Sunday 5th November 23.