Thank you to the riders who took photos shown in the trip blog.
Lee and Phil in particular spent a lot of effort on recording what they saw. Phil's collection can be seen in full on his site.
http://www.ratichon2605.blogspot.com/
The trip is well and truly over. Yesterday we tucked 15 bikes into two
forty foot containers which will be shipped to Brisbane and the additional
two bikes went into a 20 foot container to go to New Zealand.
We came into Genoa on Sunday and Lang was able to organise the shipping
first up on Monday. On Tuesday everyone scrubbed their bikes until they
gleamed, getting rid of 6 weeks of road grime and oil leaks. They were
then put into a warehouse on the dock overnight. It only took a few hours
yesterday with a lot of grunting and groaning and only millimeters to
spare to pack them into the containers and the shipping agent had a crew
on hand to do all the tie down, before the doors were shut and sealed.
As always the end of a trip brings very mixed emotions.
And, as usual, this project has given Lang and me challenges we could never
have planned for in advance. Lang as always has the capacity to just keep
his focus on solutions and shut out all the negatives enabling things to
keep moving forward. This does not always please a few people, pushed beyond their comfort zone, but in the end there is only ever one way - forward.
In any group we have ever been involved with there is the handful of people
who perform above and beyond expectation. We had that handful as usual on this trip and to these people we owe an enormous debt of gratitude.
Hub Jones really stood out as the person who was entirely dependable
and forever a calm problem solver. Even today several riders don't appreciate it was Hub's tireless efforts that kept them going. His work ethic and practical skills make
him a giant amongst his peers.
Lang and I will have some down time before our trip home staying with our
good friends Sandro and Wilmy in Garlenda Italy and then we have a few
days with John and Nui Salter in Thailand.
As with all our trips I like to remind people the reason we undertake such
things:
In the ten countries we travelled through on this trip we made
connections with local people that have left an incredible impact and
reasurred me that mankind is basically good and caring.
Einstein also said about travelling,
All time is now
It takes you out of the everyday routine
The leaden weight of routine
The fetters of habit
The cloak of cares and
Slavery of home
It allows you to experience the here and now.
And finally Lang's favorite quote from Robert Louis Stevenson
"I travel not to go anywhere
But to go
I travel for travel's sake
The great affair is to move"
Bev
