My work here is done

I had imagined a moment where i crested the brow of a hill to see a sign saying "Welcome to Cape Town", with a panoramic view of the city and Table Mountain laid out below me, basking in in the crisp winter sun. But no. The final kilometers of this 6 month trip were reminiscent of the fist few. Layered up in every piece of warm clothing i had with waterproofs over the top of my riding gear. The elation of finally arriving was overridden by by the now familiar confusion of arriving in a strange city and trying to find a place to stay.

It was the 11th August. The 29,000km trip (this is an approximation as the speedo/odometer broke in the Congo) had taken 1 day less than 6 months. The next day was a scorcher so i headed down to the Cape of Good Hope for the obligatory photo by the sign and gave the bike its final long run on African soil.

The road to Cape Town as the weather starts to turn






riding the big bird.





During my 6 days in Jeffrys Bay with all the surf "dudes" i caught a surf movie where the stars headed off the coast to go and ride ostriches. I decided that i must do it too. I managed to stay on for about 30 seconds as the bird ran around the enclosure trying to shake me off. Probably a little cruel but funny as hell.


Tomorrow the bike flies back to Heathrow on South African Airways and I follow on BA on Tuesday. My work here is done.

So close, yet...

The Makgadigkadi Salt Pans, Botswana. This was just before

i realised that i was in the wrong place

Only 700km from Cape Town and my trusty stead is in bits in a mechanics workshop for 4 days.

The engine had been under performing and vibrating excessively for a couple of weeks but when i got here to Jeffrys Bay, it became difficult start, wouldn't tick-over and sounded dreadful. The excellent mechanics here quickly had the engine out and dismantled. Verdict: Broken piston ring causing piston seizure and damaged cylinder, or in the words of one Queensland mechanic- 'the fucking fuckers fucked'.

Its not all bad though. New parts will be delivered on Monday and the guys here will re bore and rebuild the engine on Tuesday/ Wednesday and all for snip of what i would pay in England. Estimated cost is 2000 rand (about 130 quid).

Ive also learnt that its not possible to sell the bike in South Africa 'legally'. I would have had to complete the paper work before arriving to do so.

The bike is travelling on a Carnet de Passage which is like a passport for the vehicle which allows me to temporarily or permanently import it, in line with the the country's laws and tax regs. To ensure the owner of the Carnet (me) complies with such laws, the issuing body (in my case the RAC) holds a deposit based on the value of the vehicle (1200 quid for me) which they will release when the Carnet document is returned in order and correctly stamped by customs. So i flog the bike- i lose my dosh.

On the plus side South African Airways will fly the bike back for a reasonable sum, AND i can ride it to the airport leave petrol in the tank and that's it. I don't need to drain the fluids and crate it up which is what i was expecting to have to do. If all goes well I will ride it home from Heathrow the day i arrive back, though flights are yet to be booked. A job for tomorrow.

So I'm stuck in Jeffreys Bay, an international surf mecca, for 5 days. It could be much worse. If this happened in Angola it probably would have ended the trip!

A clever chap here has managed to recover the deleted photos off my camera so Ive dropped in a few in from Botswana.

Heading into the pans, shortly before my tumble

piss stop

Baobab Tree, Botswana

I spent most of last week in the beautifully wild Transkei, walking, riding the bike and even riding an old nag of a horse. There were loads of whales off the coast too.