A very long way down from London, via Iceland and NordKapp, Norway to CapeTown, South Africa
We began our ride at the Meridian in Greenwich on Sunday 29 May 2016
Our first farewell from Hamish and Melba.
Across the Tower Bridge
To the Ace Cafe in North London
To meet our friend and fellow round the world motorcyclist Fern Hume
Our second farewell...
To Folkestone our first riding day,
And to Calais on the Eurochunnel train.
First stop Belgium.
North to Hirtshals in Denmark
Ferry to Iceland
And return
North through the fjords of Norway
To our first milestone
NordKapp, as far north as you can ride in Europe
South through Finland
Ferry to Estonia, then Latvia, Lithuania
Poland, Czech, Austria, Switzerland, Italy...
Slovenia and Croatia.
Aaah... a rest with family
A trip home to NZ.
Back on the road eastward through the Balkans
Then Romania, Serbia and Turkey
East to Georgia, Armenia and Iran
Sharjah, Dubai...
A trip to NZ and back.
Egypt
A long wait for Orlanda to arrive
A long wait for customs clearance
A long wait for Sudanese visas...
... but wonderful places to visit,
People to meet
History to walk through.
Our fathers had been here before us in WW11.
Leon Reader, 2nd NZEF 23rd Battalion
Arthur Colin Hubbard
South through Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya
Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland
And South Africa
Our grandfathers had been in South Africa in 1899
The Anglo-Boer War
James Catto 1st Aberdeenshire Volunteers, Royal Engineers
Walter Hubbard and Percy Richard (Dick) Hubbard, NZ Mounted Rifles Contingent.
They brought their own horses, too...
They all went home but their horses did not return...
We rode to Cape Agulhas
Southernmost point of Africa on New Year's Eve 2016
And CapeTown on. New Year's Day 2017
36,279km
120 riding days
Average distance per day 302km/day
42 countries
Numerous border crossings.
Schengen in Europe is wonderful.
We rode in Four continents
Europe
America (Iceland straddles the European
And America continents)
Asia
Africa
We rode from 24° 10" W in Iceland to 56°26" E in Iran
From 71°10" N at NordKapp to 34°27" S at Cape Agulhas
Rest days -
Egypt 28 days
Croatia 7 days
Return to NZ twice for Diana and three times for Dick
Safari on the Serengeti
We had wonderful weather.
You can see the blue skies throughout the blog posts.
We only struck rain on the road a few times
in central Austria, Near Artvin in Turkey, Near Marsabit in Kenya, in Zambia and as we were riding into Swaziland.
We arrived to sleet in Iceland but it cleared.
The highlands in Ethiopia were a cool 11°C in places.
Everyone we encountered was friendly.
We ride with this in mind...
'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' Matthew 7:12
Friendly smiles and waves are always reciprocated...
In every country.
We have been truly blessed on this journey
Me - because I have an amazing husband who rides me around the world...
So that I can meet new, and old, friends...
Both of us because we have been kept safe by the grace of God
We have not been alone...
We treasure those who we met each day...
That moment of instant and deep heart-melting friendship...
Those who have prayed for us...
Those who encouraged us...
the people who said to me 'You are strong' Mama, when they heard where we had been...
And where we were going.
We know we can't be human all by ourselves.
A ride like this involves a great deal of trust, caring, sharing, respect, helpfulness, unselfishness
And awareness that we are part of a community
A global community
We are all God's children.
We all want the same things...
To Love...
and to be loved.
We departed from the Meridian at Greenwich on a sparkling clean motorcycle.
NordKapp, Norway.
It's a long way down to the sea...
Happy arrival at Cape Agulhas, southernmost point of Africa.
Ceremonial dropping of the pebble from NordKapp into the ocean.
Arriving in CapeTown...
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