Two Moto Kiwis Arctic To Antarctic May 2012...

[betitolara]

Keep doing what you are doing guys: NOT getting hurt that's the most important part besides having fun... the bikes have crash-bars (or crash-cases that can be repaired/replaced) The tough days will be the most memorable days ... the easy days will be easy to forget.

Ellen, this is good training for the off-roading you WILL do in South America... you'll have not choice but to do several hundreds (or thousands) of kilometres of dirt if you want to reach Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. You don't want to stick to paved-roads only down south (Peru/Bolivia/Chile/Argentina) or you'll be missing out BIG time IMHO.

Andi, the most times I was able to pick a fully loaded F8GS was 19 times in the Sonora Desert in Mexico ...on a sandy road on high 30Cs as well ... after that I had to take a 45 min nap in delirium...

Buena suerte amigos!

Alberto.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Monument Valley

What a gem, this was recommended by many and so well worth while, different scenery to Moab which still takes first place for coolness.

Upon leaving Moab we sent our POV camera back for repairs as the main unit would not acknowledge the camera head, pretty disappointing really as the camera has had very little use but VIO POV have said they will take care of it ... lets hope.

As soon as we had finished at the post shop mum nature dealt to us with a pretty good rain storm, the temperature wasn’t to bad tho which made it ok and the bike got a good wash from red Moab dust and any remnants of Salt from Bonneville (we had thoroughly rinsed the bikes down after the flats!!)

With Monument Valley in our sites we set to, hunkered down and got their as dust was looking like beating us, the campground was in our GPS so we were set ... or so we thought!

On arriving at the “camp” ground we found a fence and scrub, further up the road was some tables etc which turned out to be a camp ground, $25.00 plus tax they wanted ... no dunny, wet sand, no shelter, no way.

The guy in the park booth said the camp ground just up from us was under repair thus closed, ouwh man, dusk is beating us.

We turned around and headed back into town and went to an RV park and camp ground .... full ... again!!!! .. but the nice lady said if you don’t mind being up by the road then put the tent us there .. .saweet.

Hot showers, swimming pool r e a l l y slow Wifi and neat neighbours, we were good to go.

Sleeping temperature was great as it cooled of with the wet weather only spoiled by a dog that was practicing singing all night!!, dawn broke with semi clear skys with ominous clouds daunting the backdrops of Monument Valley, this didn’t detour Two Soggy Kiwis so off we set, they recommended we did not take our bikes .. I think cos they wanted to sell us a tour.

We made it round no problem even with a few lakes thrown in for good measure on the road with now way round, dirty water and ruts made for interesting riding.

Here are a few photos, we won't bore you to tears so if you want to see more go here http://s1263.photobucket.com/albums/...ment%20Valley/

Yay we were there!!







Coupla fossils in front of the Monuments



a-Klim-tised to the wetter weather.....



Ominous clouds building



We were chased out of the valley by rain but luckily it did not last too long.

On completion of the Valley we continued on to the Gand Canyon North Rim .. that comes in the next installment of Two Dodgy Kiwis.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Grand Canyon

Well what can we say it is HUGE.... I guess it is grand....

I had been there before but on the south rim so it was great to get to the north rim, weather was good but slightly breezy bringing a cold wee nip in the air but at that altitude it is no surprise.

A little hard to write about something that has been photographed and written to death so we will keep it short and to the highlights.

First highlight/WTF was arriving at the visitor, we asked at the office if we could leave pants, jackets and helmets there for safe keeping, the Ranger in charge first off said hmmmm where can we put it then the staff lady chimes on in and says “oh no we can’t do that Homeland Security won’t allow us to do that”

I ask what is the reason, well she went off on a tangent of safety, terrorism etc etc, so I said straight to her face we are not here to blow the place up we are here to visit and enjoy it, we are tourists, do we honesty look like bad people?, I am starting to get a complex about this now as it is heavily out of proportion and all weighed against the visitor!!

Come on Homeland Security USA lighten up a bit on normal people and you will save billions as well.

Grump over, we did several walks and really enjoyed taking the place in, sitting in the sun just looking, listening and learning, to sit on the edge of the rock is scary but also mind opening to realize how small and fragile people actually are.

Overall the Grand Canyon is just as grand now as I remember it from years ago and now Ellen has seen it too, nice to have shared that with her.

Again, only a few photos mainly of us because .. this is all about us , if you want to see heaps more go to our photobucket page and take a gork http://s1263.photobucket.com/albums/...rand%20Canyon/

Ok pics as promised, as I say only a few to enjoy so as not to bore you.



Some more groovy trees ex forest fire



We were hear



Big as



A beautiful sitting and looking out to the vista point, we spent about an hour just looking out taking it all in.



A local sunning him/her/itself



Ellen WOHHOH



On the way back to camp

[Ducatijim]

Until a wee airline disaster back in'11, most Americans were prepared to accept even 'towel heads' as normal people just getting on a plane........

Times have changes and they are a country 'at war'.

( oh and I do not appologise for being un-pc)

[Questor]

Hey!

Questor here.
I'm watching you guys.

Forget the small stuff.
Remember the good stuff.
Keep going.

I'm loving it!!!
Go!!!!


Peace to you both.
Q~

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by Ducatijim

Until a wee airline disaster back in'11, most Americans were prepared to accept even 'towel heads' as normal people just getting on a plane........

Times have changes and they are a country 'at war'.

Yeah just annoyed really how serious they are, a little lighter and smile would be much easier all round.

Originally Posted by Ducatijim

( oh and I do not appologise for being un-pc)

Fixed

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by Questor

Hey!

Questor here.
I'm watching you guys.

Forget the small stuff.
Remember the good stuff.
Keep going.

I'm loving it!!!
Go!!!!


Peace to you both.
Q~

Sorry dad!!!

.... hay....we know were you live too

Funny enough the bad or not so good stuff usually ends up for better pictures and discussion points so it is not a total loss.

Off through Death Valley today to cheat death ... two days ago officially named the hottest place on earth http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/17...lace-on-earth/

Just another Sunday morning ride for a coupla Kiwis

[JonS]

This one of the best photos of Monument Valley I have seen, and I live near there.
I am enjoying your ride report a lot. Thanks for putting it up.

[Vince]

So I settle down for a big read,fantastic report.I get to page 10 and read a Quantity Surveyor from Wanaka.And then the penny drops,didn't you used to post over at Speedzilla re your Halwood Replica Ducati.Good luck on the trip of a Lifetime.Best read in the net for a long while
Vince in Sydney

[marsrover]

Ellen - do you live next door to Andy & Graeme? You and Andy O. rode out to Hawea and stopped in for a cuppa at my place some years ago... it's funny who you stumble across on ADV. Enjoy your ride, and thanks for sharing it :) Dave (ex-Hawea)

Originally Posted by Vince

So I settle down for a big read,fantastic report.I get to page 10 and read a Quantity Surveyor from Wanaka.And then the penny drops,didn't you used to post over at Speedzilla re your Halwood Replica Ducati.Good luck on the trip of a Lifetime.Best read in the net for a long while
Vince in Sydney

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by JonS

This one of the best photos of Monument Valley I have seen, and I live near there.
I am enjoying your ride report a lot. Thanks for putting it up.

Thank you for your comments, very nice to read and yeap the change from clear to cloudy puts a whole different view on things.

Originally Posted by Vince

So I settle down for a big read,fantastic report.I get to page 10 and read a Quantity Surveyor from Wanaka.And then the penny drops,didn't you used to post over at Speedzilla re your Halwood Replica Ducati.Good luck on the trip of a Lifetime.Best read in the net for a long while
Vince in Sydney

Heya Vince, yeah small world mate, we haven't chatted for a while.

The MH900e is gone and I have Decatied, gone orange

Hope our wee adventure provide some good entertainment mate, we have another year and a half plus left anyway

Originally Posted by marsrover

Ellen - do you live next door to Andy & Graeme? You and Andy O. rode out to Hawea and stopped in for a cuppa at my place some years ago... it's funny who you stumble across on ADV. Enjoy your ride, and thanks for sharing it :) Dave (ex-Hawea)

Heya Dave, Ellen here.

Yes that is me and yes Andy and Graeme are in front of us in Wanaka, I skied with you guys at TC once, did not know you are an ADVer.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Ooops, forgot about this one and thundered on posting later stuff so this is a Dr.Who time machine step back in time.

Our day started out with an invitation to go to breakfast with a Chinese man, Xiao Pong, very nice guy we had met at camp the previous evening, a little unusual to see Chinese camping thus he caught Ellens interest.



We were there



Over breakfast we discussed the Arches park, Zion etc so he was a wealth of information, we trade info on where we had been too, on conclusion of breakfast we all headed on our travels all a little wiser and a little more prepared, something you can not buy off your GPS or map.

Only just north of Moab the Arches Park was well worth the ride and walk, we loved the place.

Only a small report with a few photos as the place is not big and the main event is The Delicate Arch which pretty much everyone knows about.



There are the twin arches and the windows too, all providing fascination to viewers including Ellen and I.







The rock formations and colours are seriously cool and nothing like we have in New Zealand, we were lucky enough to be there firstly when it was fine and got some groovy pics, secondly a thunderstorm came across and soaked the place in matter of minutes.

Due to the heavy rock base the water has nowhere to go accept along the ground thus only a few mm of rain and the place was running like a river and it totally transformed the colours into different place.

With nowhere to hide we got a bit wet from our shorts down, we had seen the ominous looking clouds from a distance so took our wet jackets with us, it wasn’t until we were at the end of the walk at the Arch that the rain fall was imminent, somewhat of a treat in the desert.

Upon returning to the carpark some Harley riders had been caught in the rain, seems as though the fingerless gloves and waterproof bandanna’s were not quite as waterproof as they though, they all looked a bit cold.

Back to camp and pack up to head on to Monument Valley which you have already read about, on the way we went through a town called Mexican Hat .. not sure why??

[Two Moto Kiwis]

I feel like Max Headroom here talk..talk..talking to myself.!!!!





Ok back on the time machines we fast forward to Zion National Park.

On arriving at Zion it was clear the rock formations were very different to the others.

They consist of large waves of smooth rock, all the faces on various angles giving it quite an unusual moonscape.

Soon we disappeared into the 1 mile long tunnel only to pop out into a completely different world.

As we were running a little late in the day we decided to go to the camp ground first and set up, too late, FULL!!

We rode in anyway looking for a fello rider to share a site with, the camp host came over and asked us what we were doing so we explained to him, he said follow me I will take you over to a motorcycle which he did, we wrote a note and left it on his bike, we were going to head out of camp and leave our bikes with the host.

No sooner we decided to do that the neighbours (Steve and Roye) turned up on the other side, I went over to them and told them we chased a Squirrel out of their chilli bin only to find out it wasn’t theirs anyway.

So we got chatting, we ended up sharing their site that night and taking it over the following day when they left.

In between times we bought some red wine for a treat and they served up some tortilla chips and had some pre dinner chat and nibbles, very nice indeed, thank you to Steve and Roye for your welcoming hearts and hospitality, it was very nice for us.



Given they had been to New Zealand and even in Wanaka in March this year they new of where we lived which was really neat.

That following morning it was a bubble and squeek cook up of leftovers and need to finishes, this set us up nicely for the big day ahead of us that we had planned of stomping up a the Narrow River Canyon on the Virgin River and visiting the pools etc.

The day was stinking hot, up in the late 90’s or about 38 degrees C in normal language so it was really nice to get back to camp already set up, we spent the day canyoning and climbing, beautiful place.







Under a waterfall



Rock faces reaching to the sky that really stuff around with the human gyroscope








Next morning we packed up to the next leg of our Journey to to Henderson which is part of Vegas.

Stinking hot so we decided to go for a swim in Lake Mead, the water temperature was 84 degrees F ... not far off steaming!!! yay that is how I like it.

Off into Henderson to make an assault on the big city, Starbucks was calling for a Frapaccino and some food for travels.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

I went to Las Vegas about 18 years ago so was interested to see it again, Ellen never having been there was in two minds, we decided to jump onto couchsurfing to see if we could get a host for the night as it would have been very uncomfortable with the temperature in a tent.

We contacted a couchsurfer, Chinese guy called Dave and sent a request to him.

He replied promptly to us and it was when we were sitting in McDees loading our photos so the timing was perfect, he agreed to host which was cool.

We arrived at his place, whoa ... we went for 3rd world tenters to 1st world Vegas stars.

Dave has a very nice home to say the least and very generously offered to take us into town so we could see the strip from the safety and comfort of a local driver and an air cond car, a 550 Merc nothing less, we said ... o u w h OK.

No need to go to town to lose all ya money tho..



The Merc was twin turbo thus was not lazy in any aspect, Dave drove us around in to town and down the strip, we stopped at one Casinos and parked the car to go and watch the water display which was amazing to say the least.

Casino ceiling.... similar to our tent



Our host Dave, Ellen and I, actually I look like the odd one out



The water display in front of a casino .... o u t s t a n d i n g !!









While we were there two hot young lusties were getting their photos taken with all the guys, this is her, I had a little bit of trouble focusing on her face, something must be wrong with the camera but I don’t think I will get it fixed.



After the water display we went out for tea to a Chinese restaurant and the food was outstanding.



Mmmmm duck



We returned back to Daves and sat with a wine that we had bought for another treat (two in a row) and had a chat about life for a while.

Dave was flying out the following morning so we all peeled off to bed not too late, Dave thanks for hosting us you made our stay in Vega very memorable, we will catch up again for sure.

In the morning breaky was had, some photo instructions were given on how to use our camera and we were on our way to cheat Death Valley.

Death Valley was HOT, also the lowest point on our GPS read -264 ft, we stopped for lunch at -7 feet and 45 degrees C, the thermometer went to 50 degrees C then hit the stops ... Whoa, we were just dripping.



Hard to photograph sand and make it look cool .. at least with our gear





I should have stopped at -264 ft below see level but I failed .. so -7 will have to do.



Lunch was a little on the warm side, be fair to say we were Two Toasted Kiwis with a half side of roasted Chinese



Having made it through and cheated Death Valley we carried on towards Sequoia National Park taking a small back road to a cool camping spot 6000 feet above stress level.



Nice camping spot that we had to ourselves





A fire was had, tea was eaten then off to bed to recharge our batteries.

[RoninMoto]

I wish I would have known you were going to be in Death Valley. There is an amazing ride out of death valley on rocky/gravel roads and there is a cabin in the middle of nowhere that you can sleep in for free.

https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=35.9....panoramio.all

Although it is pretty close to where they found Manson... And you probably don't want to ride through Trona.

I hope you 2 are doing Big Sur on HWY 1. It is pretty epic.