!5 July The Rhine

They say perseverance pays. Well I left the hotel of 4 days only to have 1 wee problem. I paid in cash on day two, day three and lo and behold there was no record of day three. So pay again. Silly me. So back to my mission, away I went to the nearest ADAC office about an hour away in Germany. They knew about me.......and good thing too. After waiting 40 minutes a direction came through "give him a green card and this is the only one" ! Thank you ADAC. I knew it was a good omen as they say when I rode away from the ADAC office and a Policeman on a bike waved to me ! That was a problem. A policeman (traffic cop) showing signs of being human, after the mindless moronic fine chasers I contend with in NZ. The day or two before I left I got a ticket while driving down a state highway at 85k for not having my seatbelt buckled. That is why the Police have computers in NZ so they can target people that pay their fines. For someone that does more miles on a bike than in a car, I can only reflect what a bloody nasty system ! Its not about the safety stupid its the money ! AAh now where was I ? Yes, off I went toward the Rhine. At last. It is a hard river to get alongside. Houses most of the way but here I am in a Hotel courtesy of a conversation in the street a mile or two back, and whooopeee. Forget Google (it does work) but try talking to people it is more fun ! Beer and wurst for dinner and a room overlooking the river. But it costs of course, what the hell I read the book Die Broke and while I like the idea, I will have to start living cheaper or shorter ! Anyway Mr Chamberlain and Herr Hitler met here before they commenced hostilities. And now me. Germany is one hell of a pretty country. Beautiful tree lined roads and in between huge power producing kilns, huge, smoking like a bush fire... you know those massive chimneys sitting on top of the ground, sort of depressing really ......there must be something evil in there somewhere. But Germany is rich. Guess who got Greece into debt with Mercedes Benz and BMW and all sorts of other luxuries they did not need and could not afford (guess who else is doing it ?) .....and they get supplied with credit courtesy of Germany to pay for it all. But that is smart. Wish I thought of it. I see China just purchased the biggest computer chip maker in the USA. Life is changing and will never be the same again ! This part of Germany is pretty and attractive, the river the lifestyle and the garden bar with one non german ( by colour) serving in the BBQ. No not prejudice it just struck me this is the first day I dave been in a facility (bar) with only white people. It is pretty good sitting here by the river with the small rowing boats with 4 or 5 people working hard upstream and going like hell downstream and every two or three minutes a huuuge barge. And they are big. This is why I came to see the river. This has been spilling water into the North Sea for so long it doesn't matter and it is still doing it. I may have to go up river on a barge in order to actually see the river and its environs. Difficult by road. The houses were here before the rules about where the Council will let you build. So tomorrow I will be on the road or on a barge.....lets see. But it is what I came for. The History, the seeing it and being in it.

Still in Holland 14 July

Amazing. After so many days it comes down to some risk averse plonker behind a desk in Luxembourge that decides on who get a Green card. Green cards are compulsory. Whenever I was here last I walked into the office of ADAC (the German AA) and they just wrote it out. It took 30 minutes at most, now it takes 3 days. The world has become far more dangerous so the system gets tighter to prevent freedom of activity. I have the same view of screening at airports. It is hard to believe those incompetents ever stopped anything, and they can not produce any evidence to support that their intrusion actually achieves anything at all. No matter who I ask it all comes back to the same desk it seems. I hope I am wrong. The ADAC, the biking tour companies, the internet, everyone I can find... all roads lead to Luxembourg. What a pathetic system. I cannot insure the bike in NZ (it is not in NZ), I cannot insure it up here ( I do not live here), I need 3rd party cover and they ask for my insurance in NZ ! Why, well it clearly makes the bastards more money. I hate feeling like this but insurance is a legal obligation and a rort, but not an excuse to persecute people surely ? Mind you I am a menace. I could be carrying 300 immigrants on a sinking motorbike and need the Navy to save me, yeah right. Like the queue of people at the Calais Tunnel, they no doubt are all carrying insurance at 10 Euro a day. Oh well I will prevail I am sure. But it is driving me nuts. As pleasant as it is to sit in a small Hotel in Veghel in Holland it is not why I am here. Not a lot more to say really.

Still in Holland wating

I hate the thought of dying in a Hotel in Holland waiting for an Insurance certificate, called a Green Card. But wait I do. The Police are as they are everywhere else it seems, just looking for an excuse to give you a fine and I have no desire to contribute. So I sit on the computer which works when it suits and emails when it cares to and I exchange frustrations with people who sell service, apparently. Not unlike trying to communicate with Xtra or Telecom or whatever their new name is. Log on and wait. I have no new pictures nothing new to report other than some advice, do not do what you always did, because whatever it was may not now do what it used to do. Nothing actually works. There is a site called Adventures Unlimited or similar. It is for travellers to exchange information, but it is all out of date. It seems the way we communicate now is different. The people that provide information are not looking for contribution but recognition. "I am going to ride to Iceland, does anyone know where the road is ?" That sort of help is not helpful so I emailed the "author" and he said they are so busy but here is a contact. That sums it up really. What I needed was not there but he knew about it. So back to Google. Speaking os which it seems the providers of services are dividing themselves into camps. Those that like Google and the rest of the world. Not unusual to get a message use another provider Google not supported........The face of US commerce, seems the plan for google or Microsoft is to buy the companies that are compatible and set up division in the market place. So if you o Google you get Google companies......and thats it. Maybe I am a little early but it is here in Europe now. Oh yes you Garmin users, my Zumo has been returned for repair, again. Till later and soon I hope I can file a report that I have actually been somewhere.

Monday in Holland 13 July.

Time is passing and the muddling continues. Today they went back to work so the hunt for Insurance goes on. It is compulsory. It is an EU declaration, 3rd party insurance is compulsory now. I got two months cover last time up here (big fines in Spain for no insurance back then) and cost 110 Euro, now the same guy wants 190 Euro for 30 days. Now it is compulsory guess what ? Pay up sucker. I tried the German AA. No luck but keep on trying. Tried the local office here , no must be resident of Holland Tried the UK RACV and no I must be resident there also. Contacted the NZ AA well I have used them for a Carnet ( a duty free bike travel document) and that was a nightmare, the good old bloke doing retired and was replaced by a person that was responsible for "world safety" I do Mr Morgans Carnet you know !!! Well I didn't and as he is the only person you can get it from no surprise. But it made getting through a US border easy. That is something you may consider, fly to Frankfurt or somewhere in Germany they are good to deal with, but you still have to pass the gestapo in the UK ! (That is a contradiction !) So I wait on the AA. Great. As I said before, passing through Belgium and seeing the graves, really terrible and we fought for Britain against Germany. The Germans could not be easier to deal with and the Poms think we are trying to get in illegally ! Whaaat ? Anyway it is raining. It rained yesterday as well so I did not ride to the forest park as planned. I walked 5 km and was better for it. The mussells for dinner were good, little Dutch ones. Darn tasty, never thought I would do that coming from the home of the Green lipped mussell. Gutendag I did take some pictures of Veghel. It is a tidy place with very similar architecture and tidy gardens . They ride bikes and lead an orderly life.

Saturday 11th

Frustration day. Was in Aachen for a bike part, which I got, and thankfully also met a really helpful man at the Mororrad shop Tom Nick thankyou Tom. We had a usual frustrating time with Garmin, and I do not know why BMW Motorrad do not apply more pressure on Garmin to improve their product and their service. I think the comment Garmin are "only there to make money" is the true. Like a US Banker, "just give us your money" ! So why do I complain. The Unit for bikes is a Zumo. You get one location map with each Zumo. If outside that geographic area you either need another Zumo ($750 US) or an SD card which is pure hell to download maps to, and then to make work on the Zumo. Slow and dangerous when on a new road with no directions until the turnoff you seek has been passed. The Zumo lack "memory" so routes (trips taken or planned) are limited by space. The ability to upgrade maps is severely restricted by a password process that is mostly incomprehensible but there solely to stop someone else getting a $190 map for free, as if they would want their maps, which are usually out of date before you get them. You cannot "correct: their mistakes...by uploading from your routes taken, like roads closures, they stay there for all users to take that road which is closed. Then there is the "home" system where a user must "log on" to a big computer somewhere in the mountains of Colorado. That is a real pain and slow and has a password wall round it like the Pentagon, but for what ? The result is to solely frustrate bona fide users from getting what they already paid for. I spent 6 hours on the help desk phone before I left NZ and yesterday another hour in the BMW showroom with my friend Tom and still I can not access either of two map updates that I paid for. Well that is after the unit "froze" twice needing two reboots, then would not update the operating system, then it did but would not update the map of Europe. I now have two Zumo, why ? easy, because one will often not work effectively. So why do people buy them simple, most bikers are in the US and they never leave their own state. If the do they never leave the country. Same in Australia, or UK. So why would Garmin go to the trouble when 90% of users never travel anyway ? Well because they actually say that you can. It is sold and promoted as a world wide product, BOLLOCKS ! I have met engineers that can make them work sort of, with a lot of inside knowledge (there is no effective manual no training but there is a on line chat which is where frustrated users talk to other frustrated users). I guess that is the way Garmin try to avoid a massive law suit from people actually trying to follow a Garmin route and being involved in an accident. Then the good news. I returned to de Hobbyist in Hunsel. Kaspar is one of lifes gentlemen. Helpful courteous and knowledgeable. IF anyone has a BMW an older model mostly, and needs a part there is just one place to go, de Hobbyist in Hunsel.(info@hobbyist.nl) Kaspar was busy helping me while his granddaughters waited for "ompa" to finish work on Saturday afternoon that was after taking me home for lunch. He not only restored communications between the helmet and my GPS but also his son made some repairs to the bike (oil leak), and all the while running the business and smiling. Then he found me a Hotel to stay at for Euro50 which is a good price too. The Hotel is in Veghel which is 5km up the road from where the World BMX championships are being held today and my friend and once an employee Sara is there with her Son competing for New Zealand. I hope the rain does not impact on the races as it has been hot and dry like 30C plus which is pretty hot in a town where it gets to -10 and even -20 in winter. Great vegetable growing area here, and on the canal waterways, so many barges and cruising boats. I sat in the main street last night amongst "locals" and was able to have small conversations. The small lady on the large Harley that parked (with some difficulty) does not ride a lot she says because she runs the Art Gallery down the street. Then the lady having breakfast here this morning lives in Holland, and has an eventing horse that is here for training for a month while she and her husband are boating in Split (Croatia). I get the impression Holland is doing pretty well just now. It is full of people and seemingly all busy. The state of cleanliness is to be admired. The houses and the town are all clean and tidy, and perhaps immaculate may be a better description. No untidy cars, no untidy houses, and in the street many people riding bicycles. Not many hoons in cars in Holland and all the better for it. I have to observe that Belgium was not the same. Not much to pictorially record today. Oh and a footnote. So I am the unhappy owner of 4 Garmin Zumo Motorcycle GPS system.....(more fool me); Zumo 1 Had developed an unreadable screen on the Dakar after riding the Americas, it was fixed in Holland and is now in NZ. Zumo 2 which was on the R1200 after crossing Russia, was stolen in Belgium at the BMW Dealership, registered to me but Garmin say sorry if it "turns up" we will tell you. Zumo 3 I purchased while riding in France when the screen on " Zumo 1" failed. It still works but because it will not upgrade to memory it runs EU map on an SD that I had to buy after purchasing a download that would not install because a lack of memory. It is slow and inefficient and is a menace because it is so slow. It has limited memory, runs on a card and cannot store routes or logs. Zumo 4 purchased in Holland, failed, returned for repair, failed again, Ton Nick at Motorrad rebooted it twice. I tried to upload new maps that had been purchased for it but will not load. Garmin and Google are at war (their war but we are the casualties), so another operating system is needed. The Net here does not like Apple Mail so will not send mail. Will not download 'drivers" on to apple either. So Garmin say use Microsoft (not apple) and do not use Google or you will have numerous problems. So I have a Zumo that will not start, would not upload updated "lifetime" maps (paid for), so thank you Garmin and your stupid restrictions on commerce. Of course Garmin systems are now in motor cars where they stay in one place and do not need to upgrade because the car gets sold, someone elses problem ! New phrase in commerce, when it comes to GPS..... BIKER BEWARE !

Friday 10 July Day 10

I got to St Omer last night Not the place I was expecting so today it was press on. France, Belgium, Holland and now in Germany. Aachen to be precise. At the Ibis and went down the road for dinner. Very German. The guy at the next table to me was alone and I thought nothing of it until I got back to the Hotel and he walked in behind me. We spoke, he is Daniel and is a Doctor from Brazil a helluva nice guy, renting a bike to ride with a group of 10 through Scandanavia. (How do you spell that ?) Anyway he is most excited and well he should be. Norway was one of the best riding countries I have ridden. Good roads dramatic scenery and little traffic. He will have fun I am sure. So I am here in Aachen to get some spares for the bike that were unavailable in the UK. No parts, no mechanics, no service, unless you get very lucky and expensive. How do they survive. Cross the Channell and halve the costs (well almost). But the ride thru from France was pretty special. Always is. I noticed the cemeteries this time. I was given to thinking the Poms died here by the truckload poor buggers and what thanks does France give.....Kiwi's died also fighting to defend the Poms and what thanks do they get. Go to the UK and find you are not really welcome there ! The Border Police are opposed. The local Poms however are great, but having said that I got more toots and thumbs up today than I did in a week in England. They all looked but here they support. The bike is pretty obviously not from here, covered in flags the first question a Poms asks is have you really been there ? However for riding the French and Belgium countryside is great but I have to say the Belgium drivers are more like NZ. Idiots. I got more car attacks in half a day today than in the last 10 days. And the road signs and German roundabouts oh hell I went round more than one more than once ! Changing lanes like Belgian ! However a cracker day about 24 C. I actually came to a place in south Holland called Hunsel. I met a chap with a bike parts shop de Hobyist. He is such a good bloke. Sent me to Aachen where the parts are cheaper and to come back in the morning and I will fit the parts for you. He also knows a guy that might be able to fix the flat spot on my front wheel. The road to stardom has some potholes ! All in all the bike has done great service, but unless you are going to ride across the US or Russia, or even to Ushuaia then get a smaller bike that is easier to handle in tight situations. My new friend the Doctor from Brail ride an BMW 800 for that reason. He is on a KTM 1190 (as I recall) so he is in for some fun. I watched one go through an intersection today on the rear wheel (in Belgium !). So what is my sort of riding like. Get a decent start if possible and a decent breakfast and make a general plan of where to and what to see. Today I know that I can go past the battle of Waterloo site and that way I miss Brussels ( I did not take that precaution one and spent an hour in wall to wall bumper to bumper traffic in the hot son. Pretty city lots of pretty significant buildings but if you would rather be somewhere else its not good, anyway, about mid afternoon it is time to think what else to see and where to tonight. If you get in too late its hard to find food (especially if staying B and B) and even harder to get the socks and jocks washed and dried for tomorrow. To write the Blog, first download the pictures, get out the 100metres of wire and the plugs and adaptors ( the clever person that sorts that mess out will make a lot of money) to charge all the tools, the GPS, the phone, the computer, the helmet, the camera's and so on. Write the diary, so much on the road gets forgotten. I rode through a village today and knew exactly where I had lunch many years ago. I had hoped that technology would have caught up so the GPS and the Camera would know where I was match the locations and produce a track with pictures. Well I do use Garmin ! Harmin are an American Company that get someone to make GPS monitors for them. They actually do not give a stuff about who uses their gear and what for as long as they get paid. They care not that they cause more frustration than happy experiences. Why would they you have already paid. I have thousands of miles of roads that I have travelled that should make their maps about 50% more accurate, but why bother. The software is rubbish, so use Tom Tom who maybe soon will develop a waterproof GPS for a bike, and until then shut up and put up with it. My rotations round roundabouts are due to the inadequacy of Garmin. Not hard to get directions properly recorded. So by this time it is late so finally I get to bed, usually with a head full of wonderful memories and experiences. So today we see a carriage of bikers on the Chunnell. A view of one of the many canals in France and beyond. The Waterloo memorial in France. The Brits do not have one like that in Hastings where the French kicked their ass !

Today is Belgium so it must be the day after yesterday The 9th of July Day 9

I started the day in a Country Hotel. I was looking for a Pub. Couldn't find one so ended up in a pretentious English hotel. What a load of "B". Pub ordinary. Service ordinary, Style, non existent. Cooking, from book, and the price as usual meteoric, after all it is England. So I attempted to go to Canterbury but the Police had roads all over closed because some illegal had died in the Chunnel. I am not anti people I am anti law breakers, whether it is an African in France or a QC in Auckland I despise dishonesty and law breaking and that is why I am on the road. The corruption is a sickness. Politicians annoy resist it, Lawyers love it becuas sit means fees...and the social services department ( whatever that means ) totally justifies their existence, giving away money that someone else earned. The Chunnell was a joke. Police everywhere and no one knew where to go because they had no communication capability. We did leave late and arrived in France. I hate growing old. There was a time when I rode off the very or the train and just went down the road. Now I have to think right side.... right side, and actually think about it. I had a favourite Hotel near the Ferry and now I can not find it. Bugger. Good to be out of England though. Today I went to see the Cathedral, the real one in Canterbury. There is no adequate word that can describe it. Majestic, awesome, and so on. The thing about it is there is no way it could be built today. It is a monument to what Britain was. Craftsmen, technicians, planners, visionaries, tradesmen. workers and labourers and none of them exist today. They are either Lawyers or unemployed, or if in hospitality or retail not born here ! all clipping someone else's ticket. met acid in a car park, off the Labour exchange, they said get a job or we will cut you benefit. He had a job for 5 years in a garage, says he is a "mechanic", and unemployable. Sad really. Talk about white flight the most common communication is "we wanted to go to NZ but too old".....I am a qualified "whatever" but I am 46 ! Good on you John Key import some more African refugees. Working people that have our values and want to work, not live as a welfare dependant have no place wanting to live in New Zealand. But after all the strikes and delays I got to Calais. Warmer and happier....or maybe not ? But I found a Pub with great beer (belgium) and poor food. Really poor food. So tomorrow I go......somewhere. Lets see. So Canterbury !