So we left Santiago on Thursday with a group of Chilenean motorbikers. The plan was to get to the Argentinean border before nightfall where the rally dakar participants would enter into Chile the next morning. So far so good - unfortunately, one of the bikes suffered a puncture and we lost more than 1.5hours fixing it, with the result that it got mighty by the time we reached the foot of the Andes. An amazing view! I had tears of joy in my eyes seeing this gigantic mountains almost raising vertically in front of us.
 
Riding a motorbike is not much fun, particular in Chile! So we stopped 20km short of our planned destination for the day and stayed the night in an utility hangar that was used to store salt for the winter season. It was a pretty cold and windy night I tell you.
 
Anyway, next mornign we went all the way up to the border. The Authorities even set up a separate border check-point for the Dakar. Good for us, so we had a very close look at the participants and all of them had to drive past us!
 
We then followed the rally towards Valpairiso, but what we experienced was someting I couldnt have even imagined in my wildest dreams. Both sides of the road were lined with crounds of people - all yelling, singing and swinging Chilenian flags... When we came to Los Andes the traffic grinded to a halt so people came up to us to take pictures of us, tap us on the shoulder and cheering! Ok, I admit it was like cheating, because they thought that we were rally participants, too, but who cares. King for a day! The best rock star feeling ever.
 
In Valpariso we stayed in the student flat of one of the bikers - they call him the Black Panther... Remember the toilet from ¨Trainspotting¨? That was exactly how the bathroom looked like!!! Serious! But hey, it was a night´s accomodation for free and I you are on the road that means you can spend your cash on other things - like Pisco Sour! Not sure what it is, but the Chilenians drink it like water. Yummy. Anyway, the town is amazing - a little bit like Wellington - just way much larger. Great seafood and cool architecture.
 
Oh, for the wind team at Connell Wagner - I was very surprised that there are not any wind turbines around here! Super windy, nicely coming from the west. Not so much fun on the bike when you riding north or south though! Would make a nice site visit, too ;-)
 
Our next stop was Illapo - a pretty uneventful place frankly speaking and one of the local told us that the Dakar was the most exciting thing around here since 100 years or so... Hence people going mad and having the biggest fiesta!!! We got up at 5am just to be there in time to see the rally take off. These guys are just crazy! they drive and ride on dirt roads as if it would be a German Motorway. Incredible. Swallowed a lot of dust, but it was so worth it.
 
Now I got the first South-American 1000km under my belt. Not as bad as I thought. Well, I am still alive! Only one near miss so far ;-) In comparison the American lady we were riding with came off her bike twice! Poor Anne. Luck that she didnt get hurt. Now lets how that my rear tyre lasts until Bunos Aires! At the moment I am back in Santiago and trying to plan the next step of my trip. I am hoping to stich together another group of riders to go down south with to Patagonia. There are a number of options - rinding with a Canadian, Chilenean or Israely. Will keep you posted...
 
 
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in short: all ok, me in Illapo at the moment (3hrs north of Santiago)... rinding with 3 chileneans and one american lady...
 
went to the Rally Dakar today... totally cool. these guys are incredible. they are riding on dirt as if it would be a German Autobahn.
 
scenery is breathtaking... super dry. cacteens everywhere and other funny vegetation i´ve never seen before.
 
bike is going well, no problems... the general idea now is to go south now towards Patagonia as planned.
 
will write more and post pictures when there is propper internet somewhere...
 
 
 
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Went for a stroll through town today. Feels like being in Spain in a way - just everything looks a little tired. Nevertheless, I found some cool looking buildings. And you can actually get your shoes polished at every other corner - finding a supermarket to buy some water, however, is rather a mission!
 
Tonight, we met up with some local motorbikers from Santiago. Very nice guys. I just wish my spanish would be a little bit better. But drinking beer seems to break the ice in every culture - even works in Chile. Tomorrow we start our trip. Can wait.
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First pictures taken today... 30 degrees, but super dry climate - perfect weather with sunshine, no cloads (but smog). Oh, and very friendly staff at the local caffee... Also found high-tech DJ gear... will post more tonight...
 
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landed safely and the bike was here as well as anticipated. roberto was waiting at the airport as promised, but getting the bike through customs was a little harder... after a while i just stopped calculating how much money i was dishing out... didnt matter anyway, at least we got the bike. had to put the front wheel back in, attacht the wind shield and mirrors - but then i figgured that I took way too much stuff than i could carry! silly me - what was I thinking? just the spare parts allone take heaps of space. ended up tieing the tent and sleeping bag on top of everthing... must have looked very silly. must go through everything and repack!
 
then I followed Roberto through crazy Chilenian traffin - but was not much worse than Berlin or Auckland in rush hour! anyway, he dropped me off at the hotel that I booked the day before just to learn that the room has not been confirmed and thats why there was no room for me. Already seeing myself sleeping on a bench in the park, this hotel lady organised another room for me in a different hotel for the same price... pjuhhh!
 
Anyway, even got safe storage for the bike over night and I went for a stroll throught he city I met this really cool dude - Juan - and he helped me getting my mobile phone organised and we went for dinner and a beer afterwards.
 
Oh, and Roberto has also asked me if I want to join their tour in 2 days - they will ride in a big group (5 or so) to see the Dakar Ralley - so I said yes - at least I will go with them until Valparaiso.
 
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Final check at Jenners Worldwide - the shipping agent in charge of flying the bike over to Chile. Let's keep fingers crossed that she will be there on Tuesday! (Walking is NOT an option here!)

With the help of the Motorad Dealer in Wellington (special thanks to Brandon, Michael and Ben) the bike got all boxed up nicely to be transported to Auckland on Friday. Then it has to go through the 'Dangerous Goods Certification' in order to be airlifted and through customs. Keep fingers crossed, she will be on the plane on 5 January and arrive in Chile just one day before me.
 
Now it really hits me - its all happening! Two more weeks to go... Still heaps to do...

Once you start spending money on bike upgrades there seems to be no end and terms like "bottomless hole" pop into mind. Anyway, thought its better to be safe than sorry, so I added the following items:

• new chain
• new sprockets (front and rear)
• new brake pads (front and rear)
• Continental TKC80 tyres (21" front and 17" rear)
• Touratech radiator protector
  
• Touratech Handlebar Raisers
• Touratech hand protectors
• Touratech rear suspension protector
• Scott oiler

Not much else I could think of, really. Hope it will do the trick!

Once you get into the whole discussion of 'useful bike upgrades' you'll find that there are tons of websites with suggestions on what to modify and what not. But basically it comes down to how deep your pockets are - the sky is the limit! There are some companies (most of them are German - funny that) that specialise on motorbike equipment for adventure rides - such as Touratech, Wuedo and Wunderlich.

I ended up opting for a centre stand  (makes it so much easier changing a tyre), some decent crash bars (just in case), a good old New Zealand sheep skin (with 15,000km in front of me maybe a good idea, no?), and some larger foot pegs (to make it more comfortable when riding in a standing position on gravel and dirt tracks).

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to do a  number of 'practice runs' over the last couple of months or so. I took the bike out for a spin whenever possible. After one of these I noticed some green liquid dripping down the front of the bike! There was a pin hole in the radiator. At closer inspection of the radiator it turned out that it was pretty bend (see photo) and suffered some irreparable damage.  (Wasn't me!). A small part with a big price tag! Believe it or not, but they cost more than NZ$500 at your friendly BMW dealer! But hey, the good thing is that it happened now here in New Zealand and not somewhere in Patagonia with no BMW dealer for the next 2,500km or so.