Magnetic South

2009 - 11months backpacking from Argentina to Colombia can change you.

Living the beach life in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney Australia was never gonna be the same.

This is the start of my trip 3years later.

Im finally back in Latin America.

This is a photo of my headlight... it happened the very first night we arrived when i hit a ditch riding in the dark up a dusty dirt road.

We ended up crossing the border a bit late after it took a few hours trying to find out information to where i could get an exit stamp for the USA - (you can't)
We spotted a coupla other riders with bikes at a taco stand as we stopped in Ensenada 2hrs south of the border.
They had ridden from Alaska and were also running late after being sent on a wild goose chase to find the immigration office in TJ.
Our original plan was to stay in Ensenada for a night and head for the coastal beaches further south the following day,
they were going to the same place and seem to know where they were going how to get there, so we ended up following them..

Me and and my buddy Daniel had no idea how far it was we just followed and i think we all over estimated how long it would take to get there, and what time the sun would stop shining so we ended up riding in the dark through the windy valley from the hwy down to the dirt roads of the small fishing village of Erendira.


As we started to climb the steep hill in the black of the night i recall seeing the imperfection in the road in my headlights but it was already too late to slow down or try to avoid it.
The front tyre hit and swerved to the left and right before coming down hard with my knee and right shoulder impacting first, i saw the dust in the headlights and felt the side of my head slap into the rocky dirt track as the engine cut out and i lay for a moment in the still of the night..

I remember thinking , woahh .... thats how it feels, my first 'proper' fall at last...
I lift myself up from under the bike and brush off the dust.
It was like in the movies where your favourite super hero will get up out of the rubble after crashing through a brick walll ...
I felt fine. It was kinda cool.


Welcome to Mexico.

Ok, I'm in, waiting for more...

Glad your ok from the super hero brick wall thing...

Helluva start!

[QUOTE
It was like in the movies where your favourite super hero will get up out of the rubble after crashing through a brick walll ...
i felt fine . it was kinda cool.

[/QUOTE]

Noooooo! Not that gorgeous headlight!!!

Did you break the lamp itself or just add character to the housing and mess up the custom speedo?

The the lamp is fine, now its just like tecate (headlight con carácter) i just cracked the the speedo glass and broke the dial off.

No worries then, you needed one in kilos anyway!

Ready for the next update !!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I'm preety hopless at keeping up...

If your interested in reading the background info and Prep for this trip its on this thread..

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=791120

The next day i awoke feeling a little sore, but i was more anxious to find out what damage i had done to the bike..

It wasn't too bad, i got away with a cracked speedo glass, crooked handlebars, broken brake lever, and a bent stand.
I was just happy we were able to sort everything out with a hammer and a bit of tape.

We headed out for a ride later that afternoon..





coyote tracks

Off to a gnarly start . . . . . . :eek1 can only get . . . . . . better ?

More sand makes things better right ?




tell that to Daniel






learning to kickstart with my left leg.


The beach seemed so close but thats a steep cliff separating us.


thats me dropping it.. not as painful but sure is hard work.






Daniel's rear didn't have as much tread so it was pretty hard on him.
I was lucky i had my new shinko's on otherwise i think i would still be out there.
This was really only the 4th day i had ever been off road.






Feeling contento i made it back in one piece.

So the racks held up to the first get off, right?

They survived but actually the racks are gonna need some work. I only really realised when i left LA that with my load and an extra gallon of water and a gallon of extra fuel, It made the bike preety unbalanced and rear heavy, i dont think it did me any favours when i hit the ditch in the middle of the night. I think it needs to move a little forward on top of the wheel axle.

Thank you again for your help with them, it got me past the border at the least

The following day i woke up feeling preety rough, My left hand side neck muscles were really strained no doubt as a result of the whiplash when i hit the side of my head on the ground, my right side shoulder and knee felt bruised, and my ankle was still cursing at me like a nagging wife demanding more attention.

As per prescribed i applied liquor liberally..







Here's a pic of the hostel we were staying at - Coyote Cals owned by Rick an expat and his 'Ta' his lovely wife.


It was coming up to a full moon and the tides were really high so that meant a good time for the locals to collect these giant muscles... They told us to help ourselves.





Ta, made a thai salsa for us and we ended up throwing them on the fire that evening mmmmm


Unfortunately for my ankle the next day Daniel had to head back to the US, he promised his girlfriend that he was gonna be back for Halloween. Luckily i had successfully been able to kickstart with my left foot and i agreed to ride with him back to Ensenada so i could get my immigration papers for me and the bike.

The ride was preety and it was nice to see in the light of day..










We got to Ensenada and Daniel had his last mexican meal and headed back North



mmm fish tacos.



I went to visit the immigration but they told me the bank closed early and i would have to come back next week.

The 2hr ride back was a little tiring but still preety awesome nonetheless.

The next few days were mostly filled with my feet up and me licking my wounds.. My neck strain and ankle were not impressed with me and insisted i stay off the wheels.

I woke up to this view from my room every morning.


And the day usually ended up looking like this.


With my stomach being treated with a selection of fresh these.


If anyone has ever stayed at Coyote Cals before, they should agree its a preety sweet setup.
Funny thing was it was virtually empty every night.
It was kind of weird that the place wasnt buzzing with people.. There were many signs which told another story from even just the size of the carpark to the fully equipted bar with its assortment of tequila and mescal, there photos on the walls all sorts of decorations filled the shelves with stuff.. puzzles and board games,children's toys, and other parafanalia.
There was a healthy dvd collection, and a games room a pool table and ping pong table an
d even a candy vending machine
The info book with its things to do list and places to visit was packed from cover to cover..
The place has different types of rooms and a designated camping area and palm trees to set up a hammock, If anything the view would be enough to keep any weary traveller or family happy to stay for a while.












According to Rick the owner, he said it had been getting slower and slower over the past 6 years, with all the news of corrupt police, narco traffickers, kidnappings, hold ups and murders people were afraid to come to mexico.
Younger travellers, and Backpackers stopped coming. Nobody would want to bring their families and even the surfers forgot about this place.
The stories were true back then, there was same bad sh*t going down south of the border but things have changed.
Baja is a much safer place now.

Events such as the Baja 500 and 1000 saw more people coming through but It was a trickle of mostly americans on enduro/mx motorcycles and quads that kept the place alive now,
The odd 'straggler' like me was the exception.

After a couple of quiet days on my own, 3 guys on touring bikes arrived and these 2 brothers rolled in later one night looking the part.


riding their awesome BMW 800's

It was nice to talk to other bikers at last.
The only other people since we crossed the border were the couple of guys from Alaska who we me in Ensenada and rode down with on the night we arrived but they left before the sun was up the following day.

I need to find where i wrote their names down but one of them was an ADV member
Rick and Ta made them all a delicious Thai Fish curry feast then and they washed it all down with cervesas over a fire.
I explained why i was limping on a crutch travelling alone with a semi broken bike and we talked about where they rode from, bikes stuff, tools, gps's, gadgets, equiptment, luggage, racks, modifications, matte black paint and more bike stuff.
They suggested i should ride with them the next day for a bit.
They had rode 800miles of mostly dirt in the last few days .
With my limited off road experience, strained neck and buckled ankle I kindly declined.

I was a little concerned about that, I was hoping that with clever loading it wouldn't be so bad.


I guess if you find that girl that needs a ride now she'll just have to sit on your lap instead.

Next few days i would sleep in, eat fish, lay in the hammock, read a book then go for an afternoon explore..
There are loads of empty beaches, dirt roads and tracks just outside the door...



mmm fish tacos














I came across this amazing beach with perfect 4ft righthand unridden waves..
Mental note : next trip - surf












This hill just kept going up with very loose rocks.





couldnt resist a rest.



As a newbie I could get used to this offroading stuff... Sure beats the paved stuff.

The following day i rode back to that beach i was overlooking.










Riding a motorcycle on an empty beach is just awesome!






Getting back up, not so easy...

Of course i dropped it!









Some surfers came to the rescue.



They were camping out in the dunes and invited me to join them for a beer..





The day before Dia de las Brujas, I helped Rick with his halloween decorations.






We put up walls and made it like a haunted house for the local kids.














With a smoke machine and 5 of us dressed up like the living dead we scared the be-jeesus out anyone that stepped inside

I dont think Rick will get many kids coming back next year...
All i remember is a lot of screaming and crying kids...
those locals trick or treating left with a bag of lollies and a lifetime of trauma..!

oser