Scotland North Coast 500 October 2016

   Left home at 3a.m. Wednesday morning, met Darren at junction 3 of the M25 at about 3:45 and headed North. We stopped at Peterborough services for breakfast, and then headed  for Hadrian's Wall as Darren had missed it on a previous trip due to his bike messing about. We followed the wall for about 30 miles, then headed up the M6 etc. until we got to Inverness 660 miles later. A campsite was soon found about 2 miles west of Inverness, and the tents were soon set up.

It was quite cold that night, probably about 1 degree above freezing, and as I had left my sleeping mat behind, a trip to Go Outdoors the next morning was in order. We also went looking for a cafe for breakfast, the first one was in a pedestrian precinct which was no good as we couldn't keep an eye on the bikes, the next "cafe" we found only did soups and vegetables, probably run by the "knit your own sandals" brigade, then found out there was a Morrissons nearby, so we soon got ourselves outside of a "full Scottish bigger breakfast".
   Next on the agenda was a visit to a motorcycle shop near the campsite, as I needed a new balaclava, and Darren came up with the great idea of photographing the map of the NC500 route they had hanging up (this was to prove very useful!).
   We then headed up the East coast, which was nicer than expected, and soon arrived at John O' Groats

Next we headed West looking for a campsite at Thurso, we couldn't find it, so headed back towards John O'Groats to one we had passed earlier, but it was closed, so headed back to Thurso, and 100 yards past where we had stopped looking, we found the campsite, but it seemed to be closed, and just as we were about to head off to look for another one, I spotted someone in the shop on site, and we were soon booked in..

Next morning the usual cafe hunt but there was nothing but coffee shops, so we gave up, packed up the tents and headed West and got to a place called Melvich, and the pub landlord said we would only have to wait a few minutes for the cook to arrive, and she would cook us breakfast, which turned out to be excellent.
  Later, we went past Dounreay nuclear power station on the way to Smoo cave and went on the boat trip

The pool of water in the cave has 4 foot long eels living there, but you can only see them when the sunlight hits the water from above (there is a hole in the roof).

  After a good look around, it was time to head further West, past the Cape Wrath ferry which was closed for the winter, and then South along the twisty roads, then found a nice picturesque harbour

and then found another campsite at Achmelvich which was also next to the sea

The coast had some lovely scenery, with some white sandy beaches

Next morning we headed onto the Applecross peninsula along some amazing roads, then headed down the "Pass of the Cattle" which is quite awesome

the best bit starts about 12 minutes into the video. Next we headed back towards Inverness on mostly main roads, and back to our original campsite for the last night.

   The next morning, we packed up the gear and headed back to Morrissons for breakfast, then headed home. The round trip was 1841 miles and the bikes were perfect for this trip. below is the picture of the map...

France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Poland trip 2016

I met up with Neil near Crawley, then met Pete at Clacket Lane, and finally Larry at Folkestone services. We had a large queue for the Channel tunnel, and realised someone had broken down in the queue ahead of us, so we sneaked across a pavement and saved ages. The trip across was smooth and we were soon arriving in France..

We were staying the first night in Osnabruck, but we had a lot of trouble finding the hotel, as the road it was on was closed both ends, so a bit more pavement riding was called for, and we eventually found it. I then headed off to find a campsite for the night, and found a really nice one under a massive tower.

Next morning we all met up and headed to Peenemunde, the weather was really hot, We found the hotel ok, but when they parked the bikes in the front of the hotel, they got a lot of abuse from some old fraulein, so I disappeared to find a camp site before she turned me into a frog!
   The campsite was just down the road, but the owner told me it was completely full, I walked in just as he was turning away some other people, but then he told me to wait, and he eventually found me a space as someone had just left early. He told me that all the campsites in the area were also full.

The next morning we went to have a look at the V2 rocket site

 Next on the list, after we had a look round the Peenemunde power station, we walked across the car park to look at a Russian Submarine...

It was very cramped inside, worse than the U995 we were due to visit the next day.                      
 After a good look round, we decided to go for a Hot-Dog in Poland

That evening Neil very kindly offered me space in their hotel and I was then able to go out with them for an evening meal.That evening, Neil went for a swim in the baltic, Larry had a paddle, and me and Pete dipped our fingers in the sea. The next day we headed for Laboe, and it absolutely pissed down, and I discovered my waterproofs leak. Apart from Larry with his cheap plastic waterproofs, we all ended up with soggy nadgers. It dried out by the time we got to Laboe, and we had a look at the sub

Next,we went into the Marine Ehrenmal which is next to the sub, it is just under 300 foot tall, and is hollow inside, and built between the first and second world war

As you can see, the tower is quite high, 

Me, Larry and Neil walked down the inside of the tower, while Pete opted for the lift. It is quite awe inspiring, and as Neil doesn't like heights, he didn't look down at all!. Will have to finish this blog later as I have to go and do a night shift...

....Continued.

After a good look round, we decided to split up as they were staying in kiel, and I was camping. I found a nice campsite about half  a mile from the sub, and put up my wet tent.Next morning, I went to Kiel and met the others for the ride to Arnhem. I led the way, with Pete second, his sat nav was working, and I was expecting problems, he didn't disappoint. I stayed at about 70, then 65, I could see his headlight flickering behind me, and the slower I went, the further behind he dropped. At one point I was doing about 55mph for around 6 miles, and he still didn't catch up!

At this point I gave up and got back up to 70ish. I stopped at around the 120 mile mark, filled the bike up and had a nice meal, and was just about to head off when they caught me up. His sat nav had died again, so Neil had taken over the lead. We eventually set off again, with Larry behind me, but on the way to Arnhem, Pete dropped back again. The 3 of us visited Neil's dad's friends grave, then had a look at the Airborne museum - very interesting.Neil texted Pete to say where we were, and that we would be visiting the museum, but he texted back that he was going to the hotel. I then headed off to find yet another campsite.

   The next day we headed for home, All went well, until just before the passport control, Larry's bike wouldn't start, so I pushed him and his beast up the queue, then walked back to get my bike. I rode back up to Larry, who had by now gotten his bike going.That was the  end of the adventure, just a matter of going through the tunnel and home.

   Really enjoyed myself. The bikes were -  Charlie GS500

                                                                      Neil Triumph 900

                                                                      Larry Goldwing 1800

                                                                      Pete Kawasaki 900

Couple more video's of Iceland

Strokur going off

Found a runway in the highlands

Iceland part 2

Continued...

I eventually got to the end of the Kjoler route, and after about 180km of second and third gear, it was nice to get into 6th. I headed to Varmahlid to get some fuel. as I was on reserve, and camped the night there, where a Dutchman shared some single malt whiskey with me.
  The next morning, I headed to a place on Route 1 called Hammstangi then turned onto F578, a track only suitable for modified 4x4's. I didn't realise the track was still closed, and after about 6 hours of taking my time enjoying the scenery, I was overtaken by a 4x4. A bit later on, I met him coming back the other way, and he told me the river crossing was impassable so I went to have a look. I had to be careful, as I was unable to get breakdown cover for this trip as the bike is too old, so if I drowned the bike I would be in serious trouble. As it happened, there is some very soft black sand under the water, so I chickened out!

It meant I had to go back the way I had come, and then spent the night camping in Hammstangi.
   The next morning I went to a place called Reykholt, and got on the F550 route across the desert which was very nice between the glaciers

this route I did on my reserve tank, as I wanted to empty my plastic fuel can into the main tank ready for shipping back to England a few days later
I then made my way back to Thingvellir to camp the night

I also camped a night in Reykjavik so It would be easy to get the bike to the docks for Monday morning. All told, I did 970km mostly on dirt tracks and had a really good time!

                                                                   

Iceland

I have been planning to do this trip for a while. and I wanted to use my XT225 for exploring the Highlands. A week before the trip, I decided to replace the rear tire on the bike. When I took the old one off, I discovered the wheel was badly corroded, I did have a picture, but the scumbags at photobucket want to charge me 400 dollars to view it!

After a bit of a bodge, the bike was ready to go on the back of the car to Immingham, ready to be shipped to Iceland. I flew out there to meet it, although I had to wait a day for Customs to clear it, so I stayed in the "Galaxy Pod Hostel

which was a bit of an unusual experience

When the bike eventually cleared, I rode out to Thingvelir

Then I went to Geysir and got a shot of Strokkur going off

Next on the list was Gullfoss

Then away from civilisation on the Kjolur Route across the Highlands

I then found a nice remote wild campsite 11km down an unnamed track

Then more travelling along the Kjoler route

Its great being in the middle of nowhere on a 26 year old motorcycle

where the road stretches as far as the eye can see

To be continued...