Motorbike trip to UK and Europe July/August 2018

Kms today = 0 Kms to date = 4,804 A lazy start to the day. Had breakfast in a small cafe off the square. After that I went searching for a new riding jacket and Colin headed for the Tourist information office.  I found three motorcycle dealers in Vichy but none of them had a jacket to fit me.. I met Colin back at the flat and we headed to our local cafe for lunch. It was serving food today as it was Tuesday. Again we had the Plat du Jour which consists of three course for Eur 14. After lunch we headed back to the Tourist office to catch a little train that does a tour of the sights of Vichy on the road. The commentary was in French so it stretched my language skills to the limit. Flowerbed in the park beside the lake. Napoleon III stayed here. After the tour Colin booked a massage at the hot springs which are a feature of Vichy. I went back to the flat to recover from the days exertions. Lakeside walk. In the evening we had dinner at a local restaurant and ...

Kms today = 465 Kms to date = 4,804 We were up at 7:00am, Cecile made our coffee, we had the light continental breakfast provided and headed off around 8:30am. Colin had planned a route across country to bypass the motorways and tollways except for a tollway near the beginning to get us on our way. We were prepared this time with plenty of change in our pockets and credit card to hand. The main zip on my riding jacket has disintegrated so I'll have to get a new jacket as soon as possible hopefully in Vichy. Meanwhile I am riding with my goretex jacket over the top to stop it flapping around. It worked well and the temperature was  quite comfortable as long as I kept moving. It was another 31C day. The back roads were very quiet traffic wise and the scenery of fields and forests  pleasant to ride through. We went down into a gorge and then back up again. There was a dam at the bottom on the Dordogne. It was built in 1945. The Dam and the Dordogne river. We had lunch ...

Kms today 19 Kms todate 4,339 Cecile prepared  us a continental breakfast and we had a quiet morning. We set of for St Emilion, the heart of the Bordeaux wine region. We found a nice restaurant for lunch and had an Entrecote steak to share. It was huge like 5 porterhouse steaks together. We chose a Grand Cru Cab Sav from the area and cheese for desert. By the time we finished the steak we had no room left for cheeses. The waiter would not let us take the left overs because we didn't have a cooler to keep them in! The lunch we couldn't finish!!! After lunch we had a look at the Cathedral, one of the largest of a Romanesque types in France. It had beautiful stain glass windows and remnants of the original frescos on the walls. Then we climbed the church tower which was built on top of a much earlier church carved out of solid limestone rock and used to be St Emilion's cave.  Then we climbed the Kings Tower, which was a lookout for marauding armies. Both towers gave us...

Kms today 372 Kms to date 4,320 I had planned a route over the Pyrenees, but rain was predicted in the mountains so we abandoned that idea and headed round the coast towards Biarritz. When we crossed the border with France there was a huge queue heading into Spain that was at least 5kms long. The borders were not as free as they make out! We took off on D roads through Mont de Marsan towards Bordeaux. The roads were great, through pretty countryside and villages with very little traffic. Then I made a mistake and we  had to revert to Mabel that soon had us on an Autoroute and stopping frequently for tolls - what a pain. Libourne is an old town with narrow streets and Cecile's house was on one of those streets. The house was delightful with art work displayed throughout the rooms and in the garden. Cecile had a boyfriend Ralph who lived at the end of the garden. The backyard at Cecile's place in Libourne. We walked into the centre of town for something to eat and soon a...

Kms today 0 Kms to date 3,948 We met Luis at our apartment at 10am. He lives out of town and took a bus. His wife Conchi was minding the grand kids so couldn't come.  Luis and Alan recognised each other even after 60 years. Luis speaks perfect English and has a degree in English Literature so conversation would be easy. He took us past his parents apartment where Alan stayed and then to the Hunters and Fishers club where they worked, which is now a bank. Then we did a long walk around La Concha, the main beach and he and Alan caught up all those years. The western end of La Concha beach. We saw the slipway where Alan slipped and cracked his head. Luis and Colin on the promenade at La Concha. Then it was back to town for lunch with a jazz trio. Luis and Alan catching up at lunch. We kept chatting and stopped for an appertif on the front at Zurriola. Luis left us at about 5 and we made our farewells on warm terms. We headed back into the old town for Rioja, Pintxos...

Kms to day 200 Kms to day 3,948 After brekkie we headed for the world famous Guggenheim museum. I had seen it before, so while Alan visited it I planned to find the Biskaiko Zubia, the first example of a pontoon suspension bridge in the world and one of the few still operating. I had a bit of difficulty finding it having to navigate from memory. The bridge was built to support a section of road that was moved from side to side suspended on cables. This is the section of road suspended by cables. This was needed because the docks were inland from the bridge. I did a bridge walk over to the other side and back. There were photos showing what the view was back in the day. The way it used to be. I found my way back and met Alan where he had parked his bike. He enjoyed the Guggenheim which had an exhibition by Joana Vasconcelos that included a giant pair of high-heels made from saucepans and a chandelier made of tampons! We set off for San Sebastian. Mabel didn't have the l...

Kms today 83 Kms to date 3,748  (plus 1,200 kms on the boat) The voyage was calm thank God as I have been known to get seasick. Alan has a cast iron stomach. The ferry was well appointed with continental standard meals not the usual British fare. We had WiFi but I lost connection and Catherine was trying desperately to get in touch because the heating had gone off back in Melbourne and the Airbnb guests were getting cold. She eventually got through on Alan's phone and I called her and we sorted it out. We had a berth so retired for a good nights sleep with only gentle rocking from the boat. The next day was spent eating, reading, playing cards and staring out at the Bay of Biscay. The Latte set and Alan. Perfect weather for the trip across the Bay of Biscay. The boat had been an hour late leaving so arrived an hour late. We made our way to Bilbao just down the coast and found our hotel which included secure underground parking. We failed to secure an Airbnb booking ...

Kms today = 426 Kms to date = 3,665 We were up at 6:30am, the early sunrise gets us every time. Judy made a great breakfast and we were on our way and heading for BMW in Chester by 8:30am. They had the part .... £36!!! for a piece of plastic with an LED!!! Colin and I tried to fit it but we didn't have the tools so one of their mechanics took pity on us and did the job in 2 minutes. We were on our way by 9:30am heading to Portsmouth to catch the ferry to Santander. Colin had planned some backroads so he lead. We must have hit every roadworks in England so it was quite slow in places. Luckily I received a text saying the boat was an hour late which gave us more time to get there. We made it by 4pm and were on board by 5pm. Here we are jammed up the pointy end of the boat. Who's this good looking bloke with a gut??? Our  cabin wasn't ready so we had to wait 30 minutes to get in and again get our sweaty riding gear off. As soon as we were installed we headed for ...

Kms today = 149 Kms to date =3,239 Up at 6am to get the 8am ferry from Dublin to Holyhead. Ireland decided to give us a traditional send off so it rained. Struggled into wet weather gear and said goobye to David James and Sheila. As usual they were great hosts and treated us royally. The ferry left on time. It was pretty basic but we managed to get the full Irish breakfast to line our stomachs. The crossing was flat calm and misty with drizzling rain. Apart from that it was perfect!!!! We arrived at Holyhead on time at 11.15am. There was still a bit of fog and drizzle around. As we headed east the weather cleared and by the time we reached Dave and Judy's place at 1pm it was clear and sunny. I had forgotten how rough the track was to their place. It reminded me of the Tanami!! After we changed out of our sweat soaked riding gear we had a light lunch and chat. Then Dave drove us all to a local beauty spot lookout. We could see Snowdon and Caeder Idris (a mountain I climbed in ...

Kms to day 385 Km to date 2,859 We got up extra early and were ready to leave at 7, about an hour earlier than we told David. He must have thought we were leaving without saying goodbye. He did come down and see us off and we hope to see him again in Australia next Christmas. We had brekkie on the road and  made such good time we decided to go the the  Faugheen 50 road race before lunch. We had arranged a lunch date with Ian Hunter in Carrick-on-Suir, so we contacted him and put it back an hour. We found the circuit by following other bikes and took up a viewing  position just after a left hand bend, outside a churchyard.  There was a long delay  because the ambulance  was needed to take a local patient to the hoispital. The warm up laps  started at 11:45 and first race at 12. It was a mixed field of Superbikes and Supersport so there were two packs. The course was pretty quick as it was basically a triangle.  Races were 5 laps preceded by 2 s...

Kms to day 0 Kms to date 2,474 David drove us to a great lookout over Bantry Bay. The weather was sunny and clear. Colin and David blocking the view over Bantry Bay. The view over Bantry Bay. After taking in the view we headed for Guagan Barra a lake set in a beautiful valley. David in the shade by the lake at Guagan Barra. I visited it with Jacki and Gerry in 2012. We went for a walk through the woods to the lake and back. David taking a breather in the shade. The view up the valley at Guagan Barra. After our walk we headed for the hotel for a cold beer and a read of the week-end Irish Times. At 6pm we headed for the dining room and a slap up feed as we hadn't eaten all day. The food was good even if the portions were small. Dinner in the hotel at Guagan Barra. After dinner we headed to Bessie's (our second cousin) for a cup of tea and cake. She lives on her son's dairy farm near Bandon. Her son, Ivor was away for a few days in Wales attend...

Kms today = 21 Kms to date = 2,462 Colin discovered a nail in his back tyre so we rode/drove to David's favourite tyre man outside Ross Carberry who fixed it in five minutes for Eur 5, Now that's service! We went back to the house to drop Colin's bike off and head to the markets in Clonakilty. Same old ripoffs but David was happy. David get ripped off at the "markets" Colin and I had coffee and a sandwich before we headed to the local church to check out some Bateman headstones. Bateman headstone in Clonakilty. David knew the detailed history of most of them. That was thirsty work so we had a cold beer in the  local hotel and went back to David's place to drop off the shopping and have a nanna nap. Later we did the "Bateman Walk". This is a trail from Rathbarry to the rowing club on the lake that David had been maintaining for years but had handed over to the council. He was very impressed with the way they had been looking after it. ...

Kms today 83 Kms to date 2,391 We woke to find that David was not feeling well and had had a bad night. We thought it might have been the Monkfish he had at Mary Anns the previous day. Alan and I decided to leave him in peace and ride to Baltimore and get the ferry to Cape Clear ourselves. We got to Baltimore in good time for the 10:30 ferry and found a parking spot. The ferry was pretty full but we found a seat.  The ferry went east of Sherkin Island which was different to how I remembered and the  first thing I saw was the lighthouse and telegraph station. The harbour at Cape Clear. We were soon in the the north harbour and walking up the hill to Paddy Burkes now long closed as he died in 1997. We headed off on a marked walk past the youth hostel and the Ceili hall towards the mouth of the south harbour. There was a natural arch (the bridge) I remembered and we saw it looking back as we walked down the southern hill line towards the lighthouse. The "Brid...

Kms to day 0 but David drove around. Kms to date 2,308 We had pullet eggs for breakfast and set off for Lis Ard at 10:30. Lis Ard was a grand country house which is now a function centre and hotel. Lis Ard House. During WW2 it was bought by the Swiss government as a bolt hole in  case Germany invaded. David wanted to show us the Sky Garden, a very special space inside a high earth dyke and accessed through a concrete tunnel. The "Three Stooges" at the entrance to the Sky Garden. Sacrificial nerds enjoying the Sky Garden. In the middle were two stone "beds" that you could lie flat on feet to feet and have an uninterrupted view of the sky. Very ethereal. David said "let there be light"!! We left Lis Ard to have lunch in Mary Ann's and had an interesting conversation afterwards on the wharf with a guy from Portugal who built the special Castletownsend sailing boats unique to the area. Then it was off to Baltimore where I used to c...