OverlandSphere » Motomonkey Adventures

Motomonkey Makes An Appearance On Sidestand Up

Motomonkey Adventures — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:47:00 +0000

This Tuesday night (EST) Im going to be featured on “Sidestand Up”.I will be catching the regular listeners up with what’s been happening to me from Sudan (where I last spoke with Tom) and talk about my latest engine disaster! You can listen to the show, which starts at 8pm (EST) to 9:30pm (EST) live through their website. Want to know what…

‘I helped MOTOMONKEY go forward’ t-shirt

Motomonkey Adventures — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:48:00 +0000

*Limited Edition*‘I helped MOTOMONKEY go forward’ t-shirt With the cost of a new crankshaft assembly and labour being my main problem, I thought it would be quite fitting, to make a limited edition t-shirt showing a hand drawn sketch of an exploded view of the crankshaft assembly, with the caption “I helped MOTOMONKEY go FWD” This is the design of…

Bring On Nai–Robbery!

Motomonkey Adventures — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:36:00 +0000

Long before we hit the outer city ring of Nairobi we were already crammed between hundreds of cars travelling at five kilometres per hour. This was going to be a killer for the bike. I could not only feel the temperature rising from under my motorcycle gear, I could feel the heat rising from beneath me. I wanted to look…

Until You Hit The Asphalt

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:56:00 +0000

I froze as I climbed out of my tent in the morning. Staring at my bike I was completely shocked into silence. My bike looks like shit. What happened? Oh yeah I was forced to load it onto an overloaded truck last night, and endure a 6 hour ride crammed in like sardines on top of sacks of cumin ready…

Not Paying For Fuel = Bad Karma

Motomonkey Adventures — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:45:00 +0000

For days now, I’d been wondering where the four Australian cyclists were, hoping I would get to pass them once again and have my dose of Australian humour. Just like last time, I met them on entering Moyle Township. Passing the two guys I’m travelling with I overtook the cyclists, laughing! A cheer erupts and we all pulled off the…

Exploding Spark Plugs

Motomonkey Adventures — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:42:00 +0000

We left fairly early the next morning. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea knowing from previous experience of German overlanders morning schedule. But on the other hand I was happy to be travelling with morning people. People who like to get up and get moving early – so we can either enjoy the sights along the way or stop in…

Spicy Food, Strange People

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:29:00 +0000

One must be careful when deciding who to travel with. For the last year and a half I have been mainly on my own. I do join other overlanders, but it’s always been because we have enjoyed each others company not because I have to. Until now. On my way down to Addis Ababa, I met two German motorcyclists who had informed…

Information, Visa and Insurances In Addis Ababa

Motomonkey Adventures — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:32:00 +0000

Dieter, Juliana and I left Lake Hayk together but we didn’t arrive into Addis Ababa together. It was a pity because with my lack of a GPS, I wouldn’t be able to find Wims Holland’s house, a typical overlanders camp ground in the heart of Ethiopia’s capital. Pulling out my printed guide book, I found yet another place that had been recommended. I lost Dieter…

Birds, Birds, Birds, sorry not the ones in bikinis!

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:04:00 +0000

After a morning service at Lalibella main stone church, Dieter and Juliana take the lead and chug their massive tank of a truck back down the mountain to the main road. Pulling this old super truck through the mountains ranges at an average of 2500m above sea level is quite difficult. At times Dieter would throw the old girl into…

Here Come the Stones

Motomonkey Adventures — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 07:46:00 +0000

Riding on a perfectly laid out gravel road and driving through traditional villages was truly the essence behind why I travel by motorcycle. Now, if I had been on a bus, I would be limited to taking the main highway and only stopping at the usual stops, being harassed by vendors selling overpriced bottles of coke to unsuspecting tourists. Instead…

The Icing On The Cake

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Have you ever come across a Gecko, that’s just forgotten to hold on? I think that’s what the scouts thought I was about to do, with one hand on my bottom and another grabbing my hand trying to drag me up the rock face. I stop mid climb with one foot jammed into a toe hole, the other mid step and my…

Tiny Little Savages!

Motomonkey Adventures — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Leaving behind the dust, we were once again back on solid asphalt, riding through open plains dotted with round wooden huts. On one side I could see the mountain range that separates the bitter tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea. On the other side there is rolling mountains and open plains. With Mitchell and Tanya leading, we followed the smooth black …

Suitcase Rummage Hits Brisbane!

Motomonkey Adventures — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:53:00 +0000

MEETS If you live in Brisbane well come down to meet Louise, the woman behind the scenes of our Motomonkey Adventures and Amidst Journeys collaboration. Suitcase Rummage is a mini scaled market with giant rewards; it promises to be everything that is a market without the hassle. Its about bringing a suitcase (or two!) filled to the brim with your goods and treats. Come…

Bellowing Clouds and Invisible Trucks

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:13:00 +0000

You always make a rough plan on where you are heading to and what you are seeing. While in Gondar I had laid out a route through the northern areas of Ethiopia, trying to cover most of the historical sites and hopefully driving through some of the beautiful mountain landscapes, a welcome change after being in the desert since Pakistan! Just when I thought I was…

Settling into Ethiopia

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:11:00 +0000

Children peer through the chicken wire mesh walled customs house, watching me eat my ‘Happy Cow’ cheese sandwich, sitting on a wooden plank waiting for the usual one hour Sudanese breakfast break at eleven in the morning to be over, before starting the customs paper work to export my bike out of Sudan. Eventually, I was told to head down…

‘Tomorrow Inshalla’

Motomonkey Adventures — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:09:00 +0000

‘Tomorrow Inshalla’, ‘Tomorrow Inshalla’, ‘Tomorrow Inshalla’, I think I had about five days of tomorrow inshalla. But still nothing was happening, I just walked three kilometres to the port, just to hear them say ‘Tomorrow Inshalla’. Most international ports around the world work seven days a week and some 24 hours depending on how big it is. This tiny port in this…

Unpredictable Barges Throws Planning Out The Window

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:07:00 +0000

The drivers of four camper vans and two trucks with their partners plus me, consuming all the chairs and couches, even some had to stand and listen, crammed through the door of Mr Salah’s office on Saturday morning, listening to the news we all dreaded. ‘I’m sorry, but the barge isn’t going this week, its still in Wadi Halfa with…

Time Out in The Valley of the Kings

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:19:00 +0000

It’s extremely hot and stuffy down here. I’m standing next to an oversize stone tomb 500 meters below the earth surface and I am starting to feel small and insecure about myself and what I will leave behind when I pass on into the next world. These kings didn’t mess around. They pre-thought everything tiny detail before they died. Valley…

Disaster on the Western Desert Highway

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:29:00 +0000

My small petrol tank has been on my mind for many months as I can only travel 220km before I hit reserve. I actually managed to get a slightly larger tank before I left Australia, but for Africa, where the distance between petrol stations is growing, my slightly larger tank isn’t going to work. The Western Desert Highway was my…

Lost In Cairo

Motomonkey Adventures — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000

At every intersection, one is stopped and asked ‘where am I’m going?’ ‘where have I come from?’, ‘where am I from?’ by the Egyptian army or police. It was getting pretty tire ing but at least I didn’t have to get off my motorcycle and fill in a ripped up registration book like I had too in Pakistan. Despite, the…

Stumbling To A Great View

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:17:00 +0000

Dru was poorly prepared to spend the night in his one man tent. He didn’t have a sleeping mat and he couldn’t even find his sleeping bag and when he finally found it, I took one looked at the tiny thing and said ‘is that it?’ Taking it from his hand I realise it was only a silk sleeping bag…

Full Toilets Leads To VIP Room

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:32:00 +0000

My front light dimly lights up the road. I hug the rear shoulder of the Dutch campervan ahead to try and get out of the glare of the red tail lights but piggy back on their front lights. We drove down to the ferry terminal, arriving in good time to start the customs procedure. Just like entering Jordan, it was…

Its All Laid Out For Me In Jordan

Motomonkey Adventures — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:08:00 +0000

Looking about me as I rode into Amman, Jordan’s capital, I realised the reason why I had been stared at constantly for the past 150 kilometre stretch since the border. It suddenly dawned on me as I navigated my way to a hotel that I rode alone amongst the hundreds of cars about me. I almost missed the usually annoying…

A Sweaty Border Crossing

Motomonkey Adventures — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

I was sweating, but it wasn’t because I was wearing a pair of woollen socks given to me by a friend’s mother, motorcycle socks, thick thermal-ish tights from Turkey, pants, knee protectors, motorcycle pants, motorcycle boots, a bra, merino top, merino jersey, one pink jacket given to me in Iran, amour jacket, black water/wind proof jacket, motorcycle jacket and the…

Will Syria Let Me In? Back Up Plan Needed

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Syria has become a bigger issue as the days slipped past. I hung around Pakistan in the hope it would have blown over by the time I reached Syria but that hasn’t been the case. It just seems to keep on escalating to the point that civil war is predicted. Now, if Syria was located anywhere else in the world…

There Are Beautiful People In This World

Motomonkey Adventures — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:18:00 +0000

The sun is setting, where should I camp? Come on Danielle, I have about 15 more minutes before the sun hits the horizon. I need to find a good spot before then. But this is crazy, it’s only 3:30 in the afternoon! What the hell am I going to do after I pitch my tent, it’s not like I have…

Is Iraq Really That Sketchy? I Think Not!

Motomonkey Adventures — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Looking out the window on the fourth floor of Tararom’s family house , I could barely see the remains of Sanandaj poking out from underneath the grey, stormy clouds. Boy, this was going to be a cold, wet ride. Susan tried to encourage me to stay another day longer, but I was trying to keep a couple of days up my…

Being A Kurdish Princess

Motomonkey Adventures — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:37:00 +0000

To completely contradict the start of my Iranian visit, it ended it on such a high note, with a family in Sanadaj. Sanadaj is in the heart of Kurdistan, Iran, where the traditions, clothing and culture were entirely different to the rest of Iran. People had told me Tehran was pretty liberal, but here in Sanadaj I hardly saw a woman…

Let the Syria Battle Rage On!

Motomonkey Adventures — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 08:10:00 +0000

Twenty two million people would scare anyone, when driving into the heart of Tehran and the majority of them are all on the road all at the same time, trying to elbowing themselves to the head of the queue at every traffic light. I had been warned by many people about how manic and dangerous this traffic was going to be. Dread set…

Can You Always Trust the Police?

Motomonkey Adventures — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:41:00 +0000

I wasn’t quick enough trying to crank my head around to get a second glance at the sign post, nope I definitely missed it. Did it really tell me to turn right? I better turn around and check it out again. Just as I was about to drive off, a banged up pickup truck pulled up next to me, with the…