OverlandSphere » Gypsy Biker

The Last Leg…??

Gypsy Biker — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 15:16:46 +0000

So….it’s a quiet Sunday afternoon here in Jozi, and I’ve been fiddling with “Mapsource”, the program that took me around the world and allowed me to plot my routes in such a civilized manner. Try opening a 6 foot Michelin map on the open plains of windswept Patagonia and you will know exactly what I mean… But I digress… I…

Seasons Greetings to All, Rounding up 2012…

Gypsy Biker — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:37:15 +0000

To all my friends and family and the many wonderful people I have met around the world over the past three years, I wish you all a spectacular and successful 2013, and trust that you had a restful and peaceful festive season… I managed to “down tools” for a few days and spent time with my parents and sister down…

Tomorrow’s the day…!!

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:37:22 +0000

I have spent the last few evenings sorting through the many files on my laptop in order to save stuff I wanted, and delete the stuff I no longer felt I needed… After so many years on the road, I have accumulated reams of notes about things I either wrote about or places I had visited, or wanted to remind…

A Busy Boy and Message from Pennsylvania…!!

Gypsy Biker — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 14:52:22 +0000

Getting settled into Johannesburg has not been all that easy…!! I stayed in four different homes in the first two weeks after arriving here… I am finally in a place that I can hopefully call “home” for the next few months, although the house that I am in, is on the market, and if a [...]…

1000 days ago today…

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:48:50 +0000

…I left Johannesburg in South Africa, to ride my bike around the world… After 997 days of traveling, visiting 102 countries on 6 continents; reaching the most northern and southern tip of 5 of those continents; and covering over 200 000 km by bike, boat and air, I have arrived back in my old haunts… I have spent the last…

The Rescue of, and Goodbye to, the Big Fella…!!

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 22:48:57 +0000

My good friends Doug McIllwain and Kevin duly arrived in Freehold to collect the me, and then drove to Monmouth Beach to collect the Big Fella… Kevin’s trailer was by far the fanciest that the Big Fella had ever been in…!! Doug McIllwain and Kevin to the rescue…!! The Big Fella is readied for the ride to Port Carbon, Pennsylvania……

Back in the USA…

Gypsy Biker — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:26:47 +0000

After a short but emotional farewell, I boarded the boat that would take me to Provo, to catch my direct flight to Newark in New Jersey… The fact that Patricia and I would be separated for the next four months did not sit well with us, and telling ourselves that this was “just a moment [...] After a short but…

Last Day on the Cay…

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:30:52 +0000

After a number of postponements, tomorrow I will finally begin my journey back to South Africa… The enormous disruption and devastation to the Jersey shoreline caused by Hurricane Sandy, has not only left us astounded and numb, but also delayed my plans to fly to New Jersey to make a few final arrangements before the long haul across the Atlantic……

The Tide is High….

Gypsy Biker — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 13:43:54 +0000

…but we’re holding on…!! A call from Patricia to tell me to get my camera and go take a look at the main beach, piqued my interest enough to get me off my backside and onto a bicycle to go and see what she was on about… The tides here on Parrot Cay have been unusually high for the past…

News from Paradise…

Gypsy Biker — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:40:40 +0000

There is not a heck of a lot to do on Parrot Cay if you are not working… I guess that is one of the reasons why many of the hotel’s guests come here…!! They are able to relax and momentarily forget the stresses they endure in their normal working lives… For employees, it is a different situation… After 6…

The Wrong Way Round….!!

Gypsy Biker — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:42:51 +0000

From the time I set foot back on Parrot Cay, I had resolved to try and get into better shape… The long hours of sitting in one position on the bike, and many other hours hunched over my laptop for a good deal of the past three years, had not been kind to my joints, and while making some muscles…

Stress: Looking Back…and Ahead…!!

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:43:03 +0000

In recent times, I have been in what we refer to back in South Africa, as a “flat spin”…!! It is a term coined to describe people who don’t quite know whether they are “coming or going”; people who seem to be living in a dream world, while trying to deal with reality… To be honest, I was definitely in…

Return to Paradise…and “Home”…

Gypsy Biker — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:13:38 +0000

After our whirlwind tour of South Africa, we are back on Parrot Cay, and the place that I guess will be my home for the foreseeable future… We arrived with far more luggage than we had set out with…!! Patricia could not wait to get a “decent” cup of coffee, after the long flight…!! We arrived in New York early…

Last days in Africa…(for the time being anyway…!!)

Gypsy Biker — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 14:00:16 +0000

On the way back to Johannesburg for the last few days we would spend in South Africa before we jetted back to the Caribbean, we stopped to visit with Charlotte’s sisters on their farm, Oakland’s… Front view of the main house at Oakland’s Country Manor… Click on the link above to see more… The Oakland’s Country Manor is situated about…

My Spanish Connection…

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:48:11 +0000

Just before we left my parents home in Uvongo, my mother presented Patricia with a laminated copy of our family’s Coat of Arms, which just added another little twist to my already complicated heritage…!! “This is to prove to you that you have married into nobility…!!” my father said with a wide grin… Patricia was relatively unfazed by this latest…

Home, Sweet Home…!!

Gypsy Biker — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 16:11:34 +0000

After an all day drive from Swaziland, we arrived in the seaside town of Uvongo, on the south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal for a reunion that I had been dreaming about for a very long time… Once we passed Durban, I lapsed into an emotional silence, my vision blurring occasionally as I thought about my parents who I had last…

Another Special Homecoming…and another “Wedding”…!!

Gypsy Biker — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:41:04 +0000

After an amazing few days at Lion Sands, we headed back to White River to spend the night at Guy’s beautiful home and to get re-aquainted with his three delightful children, Thomas, Catherine and James… I had always had a special relationship with these kids and was amazed at how much they had grown in the time I had been…

First Days Back in Africa…

Gypsy Biker — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:19:46 +0000

Our first two days back in South Africa have been a little surreal… At first I felt a little disconnected by it all; the arrival at O.R. Tambo airport, the emotion of meeting my sister again; the drive through hectic traffic; meeting my business partner for just a few minutes; and then the long drive out to the Lowveld in…

Ronnie and Patricia’s Wedding Photos…

Gypsy Biker — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 19:57:55 +0000

Patricia and I have been inundated with messages of congratulations and goodwill, for all of which we are sincerely grateful… We have decided to share an assortment of our wedding day photos with the many thousands of people who have followed my exploits over the past three years, and who have given me so much [...] Patricia and I have…

Do We Look Nervous…??

Gypsy Biker — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:32:05 +0000

With just two hours to go, here are a few photos of us this morning…. My two dear friends, who unwittingly set in motion a meeting that culminates in a wedding today, Trevor and Chenty…. After a walk on the beach, Patricia gets down and does a bit of yoga…. Yes…Even on a day like today…!! Then it was into…

The Day Has Dawned….

Gypsy Biker — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:03:15 +0000

I was up early this morning to greet this new and auspicious day… I stood on the beach watching the sun come up and making wishes that were carried away on the early morning breeze that was coming off the Atlantic Ocean… Sunrise over the Atlantic… A wonderful start to this very important day…. When I set out to ride…

Tides on Emotion…

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:15:08 +0000

The last week has been more than a little hectic… I have been swamped at times by tides of emotion that have had me upbeat one moment and down the next…!! I have been trying to deal with the fact that my long journey around the world is almost at an end and that a new and exciting journey with…

A Day in D.C…

Gypsy Biker — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:53:25 +0000

My departure from Parrot Cay was made in rather a big hurry…!! My morning was taken up with a round of acupuncture on my right ankle, and many other parts of my body that I did not realise would be treated by the therapist… I counted no less than 40 needles sticking out of me [...] My departure from Parrot…

A Quickening of the Pulses…!!

Gypsy Biker — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:17:34 +0000

September has finally arrived…!! And with it the confirmation that this month has and always will be, a very special one for me… Passing the main Beach at Parrot Cay, on our way to snorkel on one of the outer reefs…. A few Conch were brought on board the boat and the crew prepared to remove them from their shells……

Kicking Back on the Cay….

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:17:40 +0000

The week I have already spent here, seems to have passed by in a flash…!! This photo, taken with a cell phone, shows a water-spout spinning just offshore from the hotel, during the Tropical Storm Isaac… My best intentions of using the time here on Parrot Cay to write the many posts missing from my recent exploits, have been blown…

Into D.C. and out to P.C. …!!

Gypsy Biker — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:58:13 +0000

I did not figure on taking over seven hours to cover a little over 500 kms between Hillsville in south-western Virginia, to the nation’s capital of Washington DC… The final two rides of my North American tour… In Yellow my ride to Washington, and in Purple, the one I will make to New Jersey on the 6th of September… I…

D.C. in my Sights…!!

Gypsy Biker — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 02:14:53 +0000

Tonight we find ourselves in Wytheville, Virginia, after a long and technical ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway… Not only did we shake the Tail of the Dragon, and end up on the cover of a motorcycle internet magazine in the process, but mist and rain made the last few hundred kilometres more than the test this stretch of road…

Filling in the Gaps…!!

Gypsy Biker — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:15:18 +0000

There are literally dozens of posts that I still need to complete, or make a start on…!! Most of them are from my arrival in Canada, through to our epic ride to Alaska and back… I will use this post to begin filling in the gaps, and once the post is written, will link the title to the story in…

Seven States, Two Days…!!

Gypsy Biker — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 02:44:20 +0000

There is not a heck of a lot to see in the mid-west, until you want to take in an agricultural museum in every small town you pass through…!! I have covered just over 1 800 km in the last two days, riding in or through seven states… Seven states in two days….!! Going like a Boeing…!! Heavy rain and…

Halfway there…!!

Gypsy Biker — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 03:51:21 +0000

We have covered a little over 2 500 km since leaving Cochrane and the last four days have been amazing…!! I am busy with a detailed post about today’s ride from Keystone in South Dakota, to Ainsworth in Nebraska…!! The Big Fella and I popped in to see Mount Rushmore… The hammer and chisel I was carrying was confiscated by…