Category General

Apr 4 2017

A wrinkle in the road….

Pickup time for our very first activity in London, the collection of the Mongolian visas is fast approaching and here I am lying on a bed in the busy A & E (Accident and Emergency) department of the Charing Cross hospital with a cannula in my right arm and a nasal tampon that seems about half a metre long up my left nostril! Our first wrinkle in this RTW adventure, so how did we get here?

My wake up call came early this morning, four a.m. to be precise. The feeling of warm blood running down one’s face works as a wake up call for me. Nose bleeds are something I have not experienced for many, many years, so this is a surprise. A little judicious nose squeezing and I was able to stop this one and the three subsequent nosebleeds before we left the hotel room looking like a murder crime scene without the body. I wonder if the cleaners called the police just in case. We travelled to the Mongolian Embassy in Knightsbridge where the day slowly degenerated following another nosebleed outside the visa section and I painted a nice vivid red pattern on the pavement but did stop the bleeding. Time to do something about this so off to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital A&E department, since this was the closest. A nice walk past Earls Court on a sunny London day. We did stop at a GP’s office to be told that a single visit would cost £120, about AUD$200!, keep walking..

As this was likely to be a lengthy process, as all A&E visits are, Anne carried on to her mother’s, and I would stay in London to collect the passports, with visas, at 4pm. An hour or so after seeing the triage nurse, I get to see an A&E registrar (doctor). It turns out that I am at the wrong hospital for my type of problem, not only are there now multiple capability levels of Hospital A&E in the U.K. but hospitals now specialise and ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) is handled at Charing Cross Hospital, which is nowhere near Charing Cross. The doctor at Chelsea and Westminster tells me they do not even have the equipment, a special camera, to look up my nose. It pays to check in advance, if you can, which hospitals have your injury/illness speciality. I am advised to try a special nasal antiseptic cream, but if the nose bleeds start again, go to Charing Cross A&E.

All is looking Ok, across the road to the pharmacy for the cream and I start to think about lunch, then whoosh….., it’s back on again and does not want to stop . Damm. Into a London black cab and off to Charing Cross A&E. In the cab we discussed the damage Uber is doing to the London transportation system, more on that in an another blog entry.

At Charing Cross A&E, I think I got priority due to dripping blood in various places – note to self, always carry some red cake colouring to get up the queue. Past the triage nurse and I am in the examination cubicle. Blood pressure taken, again, a cannula into the arm, and blood is drawn for testing. All very efficient. I then get introduced to a ‘nasal tampon’, which I had never heard of, advised to close my eyes and on the count of three..Ouch!!! This why, as a child, you should not put pencils up your nose.

Social media not at it’s best


8cm long, not funny.


Not comfortable, but it does stop the blood flow. It’s now about 2:30pm and I have visas to collect at 4pm, the clock is ticking. By 3:30pm, still waiting, I realise that I will not be collecting the visas today. Here we are on the first day of our journey and we are a heading for a day behind already. No wonder we are called the “2slowspeeds”.

My treatment cubicle in A&E is needed so I am ushered into a new waiting room adjacent to the A&E waiting room to wait for an ENT specialist to see me. I feel like I have come full circle waiting with others and as we swap stories, I find that we have all been taken care of, but there are long waiting periods with no contact or information that people find frustrating. As the hours tick by I hope that I can get out to catch a train to the hotel at a reasonable hour. As no one wants to miss their slot, meals are missed and patients get cranky. How does one bridge the information void between busy staff and waiting patients. If there was an easy answer, a solution would have been developed.

After a couple of hours, I am called in to see the ENT specialist. Now I imagine a quick examination, a possible cauterisation and I will be on my way. Errr NO… I am being admitted to stay overnight as the ‘nasal tampon’ needs to stay in place for 24 hours and it and I need to remain in the hospital! Definitely not what I was expecting. Due to OH&S, I am wheeled in a chair through a labyrinth of corridors to the far side of the hospital. Will I be able find my way back again?

Hospitals are serious places. They are not here for my amusement.


The next morning the nurses draw blood for the third time. I am sure if they see a cannula in the arm, they just draw blood as a matter of course. The ENT specialist too visits, removes the ‘nasal tampon’: it’s as much fun coming out as it was going in. A quick camera scan and some cauterisation and I am on the way to the Russian visa processing centre. My 24 hour detour is over and we are only 2 hours behind schedule, we are back on track. My thanks to all in the NHS that made this possible.

– Anthony

Mar 30 2017

“As one door closes another opens”

“As one door door closes another opens”. A phrase used by my paternal grandmother from time to time to help one deal with the challenges that life throws in our direction. I am using it in a more literal sense: we have closed the front door of our home for the last time as we get into the Uber, not taxi anymore, and head off on another adventure.

The phrase also sums up well, in my mind, the change that occurs when we depart from home base and take those first steps on our journey. Up until now, we have absorbed vast quantities of information from various sources as we strategised, organised and planned the trip We now move from the planning phase to the execution phase and this is a key step that some find difficult to undertake. Anne read recently of a group that planned for 10 years for a round Europe trip!

While there may be a series of logical reasons for undertaking such lengthy planning, in our experience one needs to understand that it will never be possible to develop the perfect plan. One can always refine and improve, early drafts can benefit from revisions brought about through greater or better knowledge, but at some point, one has to say “let the adventure begin” or it will remain just a theoretical exercise. One just tries to get the balance right.

In our case we have no visas as we depart – all this will take place on the road as our route and timing mean that we were too early to apply for Russian and Mongolian visas in Australia. We need to undertake this task in London. An example of forced post departure planning.

Leaving home for an extended period, one has to consider home security. Before departing I came up with a few planned security enhancements for our home. Firstly, we have installed intelligent lightbulbs. I recently had to get a replacement bulb and found that during our time away, they seem to have invented light emitting diode (LED) bulbs replacing the CFC ones we currently had. I knew nothing about them – shows the sheltered life I have led on the road. I also found you can get the Phillips Hue bulb system which can be programmed to come on a specific times in the evening to give the appearance the home is occupied. The system also has an Apple iOS interface, which means I can now talk to our light bulbs via Siri on the iPhone. This has led to me wandering the home saying “bedroom on 50%” with Siri turning the bulb on accordingly. Sad but true. Internet rumour suggests these LED bulbs could last up to 25 years. Have I brought my last lightbulb?

Second line of defence was to be old iPhones used as camera sensors, connected to the internet via a clever app, but the concern we both had was old phone batteries connected for months on end to the mains power. Seen too many Samsung YouTube videos so that was a non starter. Last line of defence was to be a bucket of scorpions scattered throughout the house, unfortunately I learnt at the last minute they can live without food or water for 12 months, not six months as I thought, which would have been perfect for our seven month planned absence. Anne forcefully opposed that one, so do not touch the lid of that bucket that I left somewhere around the back of our home as I could not get rid of them before departure.

Enough ramblings, you readers want adventure. We are off, an uneventful ride to the airport to start 24 hours of travel ahead on Etihad via Abu Dhabi. I am still amazed by this form of travel which whisks us from one side of the plant to the other, a journey that took us six months overland. Two flights later, we are in Europe, greeted by un-seasonably warm weather.

We had been debating the packing of (town) gloves in the hours before departure, now left behind as we have sunshine and a balmy, by European standards, weather – so unexpected. We are very lucky.

Anne indicated a desire to undertake some off-road riding, which I thought was commendable so early in the trip. I wanted to wait until we had Streak and Storm out of storage but Anne wanted to grab the throttle and get started. However I am not sure she is taking things seriously, this is not what I envisaged …

Anne starts her off road practice

So here we are, visa and bike process to start next week after the jet-lag has worn off, we will keep you posted.

– Anthony

Mar 16 2017

First Aid for Motorcyclists

There is one section of our upcoming trip that fills me with trepidation and excitement all at the same time. It is Mongolia. We are planning on crossing it from southern Siberia in the north to the west of the country back into Russia. That means a vast area no roads, just multiple tracks across the Mongolian steppe and many, many river crossings. The area we will travel is very remote in places with challenging terrain so we need to be self sufficient. It is important we are as prepared as we can be.

When we decided to embark on our RTW trip in 2014, we were not in our home country, we had no bikes, we had no equipment, we just had an idea and off we went.  This time it is different and we have had a few months to plan it. We now have an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, an EPIRB – the ResQLink model. If we are in absolute dire straits, we press the button which sends a message via satellite with our location coordinates and rescue arrives, eventually. We have better boots, which will provide more protection when the bike decides to take a nap – our new Sidi Adventure boots with hinged ankle for comfort, but no lateral movement for ankle protection. And finally, we went on a course last week end which we should ideally have attended before our round the world motorcycle trip in 2014. But considering that trip just happened, it is not too surprising. Better late than never!!…

We attended a First Aid for Motorcyclists course. It is not a full first aid course – that, we did separately a few years back. This one is more of an motorcycle trauma and accident scene management course which complements a standard first aid course. The training is designed to give us practical and relevant skills in trauma managenent first aid.   What should you do when you first arrive on the scene. When should you move the body. When should you do CPR. How do you remove a full face helmet. How do you move the person. How do you provide emergency first aid. So many tips, drilled into us several times over the course of the day, with many practical exercises. “Life over Limb” is drilled into us!

The course organisers got the idea of creating such a course after a traumatic personnal event: they were riding with a large group of motorcyclists when their best friend had an accident.  Everyone there had different opinions on what to do and especially on whether CPR was warranted. Nobody took control of the scene.  Eventually, CPR was given, but too late and their friend, while he survived, ended up with brain damage.

The course was quite confronting at times, with real life images and situations. The memory of Anthony’s accident back in December 2012 came back and hit me like I hadn’t expected. Luckily for Anthony, he still has no recollection of his accident. My eyes start welling up, my throat in a knot, my stomach churning, I feel sick, doubts creep into my mind. What are we about to embark on?! Anthony and I glance at each other – the same thoughts enter our minds. The course is very practical, raw at times. More practice, more emphasis, more examples.

But by the end of the day, I feel calm and confident. No more doubts. But peace of mind.

We highly recommend this course for anyone riding a motorcycle, whether rider or pillion. Here’s a link to Tracy and Roger’s courses in Australia https://www.firstaidformotorcyclists.com.au/

– Anne

Mar 4 2017

The other way around?

March already! While we have been busy planning, drawing up schedules, checking websites, reviewing visa requirements and generally getting more organised, we are get closer to departing from Australia, under four weeks to go and I can hear the ‘tick’ ‘toc’ ‘tick’ ‘toc’ of the clock getting louder. Anne is ahead on the packing front, ready to depart now and I have a vague mental pile of what I need to take. The action list seems to be like the tide, it appears to be retreating, then rushes back in again, higher than before as we identify new tasks. All this activity has been focused on heading out across Europe, through Iran and the ‘Stans’ and onwards to Mongolia. However………

A week ago we suddenly realised that we would be in Iran and the ‘Stans’ during Ramadan which is from the end of May to the end of June this year. The main reason we are returning to this region is to spend time with friends, which would be more difficult for them during Ramadan (when eating and drinking during day light hours is not allowed). We have been so focused on weather, visa and associated timing issues, we missed this additional dimension. At the same time, I had been discussing airfreight options with Air Canada both to and from Canada ahead of the release of their 2017 ‘Fly your Bike’ program.

As we walked last Saturday, for our usual morning constitutional, we both realised that all the issues we had been considering, Ramadan, air freight options, ferry capacity from Vladivostok to South Korea in July, crossing Europe during upcoming elections etc, could be ameliorated by a change of direction!

We are now going round the world (RTW) from East to West instead! Unwinding our previous trip in a directional sense. No more sunrises in our eyes, just sunsets.

So we will ship the motorcycles back to Montreal, where we completed our 2014/15 RTW trip, with Air Canada in mid April. We will then head west across North America to the west coast and then ship Streak and Storm to South Korea, take the ferry to Vladivostok and overland back to Europe via Mongolia, the ‘Stans’ and Iran. All in the same timeframe we hope. The flight to Montreal is booked for the 13th of April and we need to wait until 30 days before departure to book Streak and Storm, a normal air cargo procedure.

It may seem a little strange, so close to our departure to turn everything around, but the ball of visa spaghetti that Anne has so eloquently drawn and written about can be untangled in many different ways one strand at a time.

We have always said that it is easier being on the road dealing with the challenges: visas, shipping, routes etc as they occur than tackling the sometimes overwhelming task list we seem to build before departure. Our change in direction really only affects our sequencing of visas, we will now do more of them on the road. (Pity we had already paid for and obtained our Letters of Introduction for our Iranian visas which are now obsolete due to the change of dates.) The other advantage we have is that having undertaken a similar trip before, we are comfortable in making this decision based on the experience we have already.

We also had my annual medical heart checkup this week. I felt like the proverbial hamster in the wheel while on the treadmill doing the stress test, fast running out of puff as the speed and angle of attack were increased, seems the gradual rate of increase approach of the past has been changed. The good news is that I did not collapse and get flung off the back to become another stain on the wall and the specialist saw no changes that would require action or an adjustment in my medication. A clean bill of health and good for another 12 months. He wished us a good trip and I will see him again next year. Excellent news, always good to tick another box.

How will it all turn out? You will need to stay tuned for further instalments over the next seven months.

– Anthony

Feb 20 2017

Two steps forward…

In January 2016, the US congress introduced a new law, effectively immediately, requiring anyone who had visited either Syria, Sudan, Iraq or Iran since 2011 to apply for a special visa to enter the US. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) was no longer relevant, whether you had obtained it prior to this new law or not and we could no longer enter the US under the visa waiver program. As we had travelled through Iran in 2014, this applied to us. Having first responded to their 9 page questionnaire, with 156 fields to complete including whether we were terrorists or going to the US for the purposes of prostitution, we booked an appointment at the US Consulate in Sydney and had our interview last week. The security check, requiring us to leave everything behind except our wallet took the longest amount time, especially as I had a tiny pen in my wallet. The security lady was not happy with me, especially when I couldn’t think what metal object I hadn’t taken out! Anyway, the whole process including the actual interview took 40′. A breeze. The interview itself entailed just 2 questions and we learned about the guy’s father’s passion for restoring old Triumph motorcycles!!

Anyway, the interview took place at 8am Wednesday and exactly 2 days later, our passports with new US visas were hand delivered to us at home. We opted for a 5 year visa, valid 90 days per entry. Fantastic.

The other win we had since our last blog was getting our 2nd Australian passports, valid for the maximum 3 years allowed for 2nd passports. That will make getting our visas a little easier.

So how’s the visa spagetti going? This is what it looks like:

Untangling visa spagetti

Untangling visa spagetti

Uzbekistan, which had announced abolishing visas as of 1st April 2017, decided to defer this until 2021, so we now need a visa again.

The rules about obtaining a Carnet de Passage (CDP) from the UK have also changed: The RAC in the UK had stopped providing the service, so we started liaising with ADAC in Germany, and looking into another one, TCS, in Switzerland, but I found out last week that a new organisation in the UK is providing CDPs so we can no longer use ADAC. This time, we only need a CDP for Iran and the prices involved in obtaining a CDP are quite steep. With the cost of the LOI, the visa, the trips to the consulate and the CDP, is it reasonable we wondered, for such a brief visit? Our time frame, to make it to Vladivostok before the cold weather comes, means that we can only spend a few days in Tehran to visit several friends – no time for too much sightseeing like last time. So I started liaising with someone well known and recommended by motorcyclist travellers in Iran, Hossein who can provide a CDP at the border for you at a cheaper rate. But the duration of the CDP and cost depend on which border you enter Iran from… We had planned on entering from Turkey, but the CDP through Hossein is only valid one week – way too short to cross the entire country and spend time visiting friends. So via Armenia it will be.

In the meantime, I started the process of getting a Letter of Introduction (LOI) for Iran – the first step in getting a visa for that part of the world. This is a piece of paper provided by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a tour agency working on your behalf, for a fee of course. The problem I encountered this week was Australian government regulations preventing financial institutions sending money to Iran or for matters relating to Iran… Another thing to work around…

So have we got our route worked out? No more than we had a month ago as all still depends on Turkmenistan and whether they’ll grant us a transit visa. Before we can apply for that, we must have the visas for Iran and Uzbekistan ones. But if we don’t get, it will mean we can’t go to Iran, so that visa will be a waste. See what I mean about this spagetti?!

Route options with closed borders

Route options with closed borders


And just to add a bit of excitement, my service provider in the US has migrated my business site and emails to another server and I have been tearing my hair out with that for weeks now. ‘Nugh said on that.

Some excitement of a different kind. I know we will faced with many opportunities of eating mare’s products such as mare’s cheese, mare’s yogurt and milk in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Mongolia’s traditional beverage is airag, fermented mare’s milk. How will I survive with my bad lactose intolerance. Time for some research. I found out that the reason I can eat plain yogurt is because the enzymes in yogurt break down the lactose for me. Maybe I’ll be ok with airag then I wonder, if am ok with yogurt?!?! I decide to try over-the-counter lactase. If it works, I can take that while in Mongolia especially. So I gave it a try at home. I start with a lovely creamy chocolate mousse, taking 2 lactase tablets just before eating my desert as per the instructions. I was totally fine, up to 10.5 hours later – normally I react 8 hours later. Then it was touch and go, but I did manage to keep it down. I am very happy and keen to try the next test. I give my body a week to recover. A week later, time for something usually lethal for me. Something with cream and lemon. I decide to take the tablets 10’ before the ‘test’. I lasted 7 hours before being horribly sick. It took me 36 hours to recover. That was a complete failure. Rats… Another reason to perfect my Russian and Mongolian. I have prepared 2 A4 pages of various words and expressions in Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Russian and Mongolian to help me out.

We are slowly ticking items off our list of things to do. A very exciting one was to find new boots – I did not fancy going through rain or crossing rivers and having wet feet as I did on our last RTW trip. After much research and trying several different models, I settled on a pair of Sidi Adventure 2 goretex boots. So comfortable!! And with much better support than the old boots.

Sidi Adventure 2 boots

Sidi Adventure 2 boots

Our pre-trip fitness regime includes a couple of walks a day and a weekly trip to the Gold Coast’s Main Beach for some boogy boarding – a fun way of getting your arms and legs a bit of a work out.

Happy times at Main Beach

Happy times at Main Beach

Suddenly, we have just 5 weeks before we leave. Still so much to do, most importantly Anthony’s annual heart check up – it is 8 years today that he had his heart attack while riding a motorcycle in Bhutan. We will forever be grateful we rode our motorcycles around the temple 3 times to cleanse our sins – a clean sheet, so only got a small zap from upstairs… followed by a quadruple bypass that was life changing.

Anne