Kiwi Dreams - Europe & Morocco 2014

Greetings from New Zealand fellow inmates.

Introductions first - we are Michael and Leanne (this shot taken in Bangladesh in 2012);


Our home town is New Plymouth in New Zealand, an awesome little town on the coast and in the shadow of Mount Taranaki;


Our province is home to some wonderful adventure riding routes with lots of gravel, back country tunnels etc


We do welcome visitors and you will find us listing in the Tent space listings if you are coming our way.

We have been planning a trip to Europe for some time but nearly came unstuck when my employer could not match the 8 weeks leave that Leanne had approved. So I have I resigned and am taking the opportunity to travel for 14 weeks.

Two weeks today I fly to London where our 990ADV is waiting for us. I then have two weeks to ride to Lisbon where Leanne is flying into. From there we have 8 weeks to travel to Morocco, across Spain into France, do some of the high Alpine passes, finishing up with some time off the bike in Italy prior to Leanne heading home from Rome.

"KT" left New Zealand in March


As some of you may have seen in the trip planning forum I then have 4 weeks to get back to London and plan to do that via Greece, Albania, Poland etc etc.

We have already arranged to meet, stay with and ride with some of you and hope to meet many more.

We will try and keep this thread up to date as we travel as we have many family members and friends keen to follow our adventures (and yes I will be looking for a job in August….).

Kiwi Mike

Subscribed Mike ... looking forward to some Kiwi bedtime reading

Best to you and Leanne for a great trip

Cheers Andi

Thanks a lot Mike, look forward to riding with you in Greece and Albania!

This is where we want to go. It is a guide only and if we find somewhere we really like we might stay longer. My route back through Germany is still work in progress. Appreciate any comments / tips etc

3 May Michael depart New Zealand UK
4 May Arrive London UK
5 May London UK
6 May London UK
7 May Bike pick up and depart via Euro tunnel and Dunkirk to Bailleul France (close to Ypres for Menin Gate ceremony)
8 May Bailleul to Le Havre France
9 May Le Mans via Normanby beaches & mont St Michel France
10 May Le Mans Museum, track and town to Tours France
11 May Tours to Saint Emilion (Libourne) France
12 May San Sebastian Spain
13 May San Sebastian (day off) Spain
14 May Covarrubias Spain
15 May Salamanca Spain
16 May Evora Portugal
17 May Lisbon (Leanne arrives from New Zealand) Portugal
18 May Lisbon Portugal
19 May Lisbon Portugal
20 May Lisbon Portugal
21 May Lisbon Portugal
22 May Seville Spain
23 May Seville (day off) Spain
24 May Tarifa Spain
25 May Fez Morocco
26 May Fez (day off - city tour) Morocco
27 May Fez (day off) Morocco
28 May Er Rachidia Morocco
29 May Merzouga Morocco
30 May Boulmalne Dades Morocco
31 May Ait Benhaddou Morocco
1 June Marrakesh (catch up?) Morocco
2 June Essaouira Morocco
3 June Essaouira
4 June Azemmour Morocco
5 June Asilah Morocco
6. June Granada (via Gibraltar) Spain
7. June Granada Spain
8. June Valencia Spain
9. June Valencia Spain
10 June Valencia Spain
11. June Valencia Spain
12. June Tarragon Spain
13. June Collioure France
14. June. Nimes France
15 June Nice France
16 June Nice spare day (bike service?) France
17 June Nice spare day France
18 June Barcelonnette France
19 June Alpe de Huez France
20 June Bourg Saint Maurice France
21 June Lausanne Switzerland
22 June Lauterbrunnen Switzerland
23 June Lauterbrunnen (day off - train trip) Switzerland
24 June Chur Switzerland (via KTM dealer for brake pads)
25 June Bolzano Italy
26 June Venice Italy
27 June Venice Italy
28 June Venice Italy
29 June Riomaggiore (Cinque de Terre) Italy
30 June Riomaggiore (Cinque de Terre) Italy
1 July Riomaggiore (Cinque de Terre) Italy
2 July Florence Italy via Ducati museum
3 July Florence Italy
4 July Florence Italy
5 July Florence Italy
6 July Rome Italy
7 July Rome Italy
8 July Rome Italy
9 July Rome Italy
10 July Leanne returns to New Zealand, Michael overnight ferry Bari / Igoumenitsa Greece
11 July Perama (via Meteora and Dodona) Greece
12 July iuoannina, Vikos Gorge, Monodendri, Kakavia, overnight Lake Butrint Albania
13 July Butrint, Vrine to Gjirokastra Albania
14 July Berat Albania
15 July Ohrid Macedonia
16 July Skopje (via National Park) Macedonia
17 July Peje (or Pec?) Kosova
18 July Petrovak Montenegro
19 July Dubrovnik (via Kotor) Croatia
20 July Dubrovnik (day off)
21 July Sarajevo Bosnia
22 July Split (via Mostar and Valley of River Cestina) Crostia
23 July Split (day off)
24 July Zagreb
25 July Zagreb Croatia
26 July Budapest via Lake Balatan Hungary
27 July Bratislava Slovakia
28 July Krakow Poland
29 July Krakow
30 July Wroclaw Poland
31 July Berlin Germany
1 August Berlin
2 August Munster
3 August Bruge Belgium
4 August Eurotunnel to England and Brighton
5 August Oxford UK
6 August Oxford UK (bike to shipping agent)
7 August Oxford
8 August Michael depart London UK
10 August Arrive home

Quite the itinerary mate, I look forward to following along

We will be less than two weeks behind you for a one week tour out of Nice which is looking like a day trip in comparison. Takes me days just to plan that. Hats off. Looks like a fantastic adventure. Subscribed.

That's quite a bite you are taking. If you don't count the rest/sightseeing/shopping days with your better half - what's the average distance you have planned per day? E.g. Prague to Heidelberg is 500 km on the autobahn. Doable of course but fun on a bike??

cruising the Bangladesh Riviera?

Not quite.....

(In all honesty most probably a far more exciting place than the Riviera!)

Thanks Bavarian.

It is a guide only and I have tried to keep the kilometres down (I have a spreadsheet with each days kilometres listed. I think there are six days with 400 + kilometres, three of them we will be two up but on two of those days we have a day off the bike the following day and for the other there is a short day the following day and then a day off). It is going to be interesting at the end of the trip to see where we actually ended up!

To get between regions we will need to go on the autostradas / autobahns etc for a while.

I haven't really looked at distances too closely for the end of the trip as I do have a couple of spare days at the end so may stop somewhere else in Germany. 500 km on the autobahn won't be the most exciting (seeing fast cars going past might be!) but is doable

Kiwi Mike

Hi young1,

Living in Switzerland and I should be home on the 20-21st of June.

I'll keep an eye on this RR to see when you guys are around, would be nice to meet for a coffee/bier (depending on the time of the day )

Safe travels!

I'm in. I enjoy a ride report written with a Kiwi accent.

Hi Mike,

I wish you and Leanne safe travels as you set off from NZ this week. Look forward to meet you and ride with you 11th to 14th July in Greece / Albania.

Best regards,
Rob

Hi Mike

strong routes in your iternerary

I will follow you here in the RR

You should have some more days in Germany and visit me.

Best regards to Leanne and You

Andreas

Hi Mike,

I wish you a great trip and am looking forward to reading your adventures.

I see that you worked out the plan already but in case you still have some questions about Switzerland (and to a some extend about Poland, especially Krakow area), I will be glad to help.

Cheers mate!

Looks like quite a trip in store your you! Excellent! I greatly admire your decision to leave your job in order to make this dream come true. All the best --can't wait for the next installment!

Unfortunately so many places to visit and so little time....... But who knows

Would be good to see your town Andreas.

Kiwi Mike

He's off

Jacket, pants and boots for an airplane ride? Taking ATGATT a bit far Mike Safe travels

Boots and pants are with the bike in London, unfort no room for my jacket in the bag. By the way the tank bag makes a good carry on bag

Thanks Colin