Hot on the heels of my round Australia duology - Brisbane to Broome and Broome to Brisbane, I have embarked on the big one - round the world.

Two years of planning including countless hours gleaning information from HU, I head off on my adventure. My trusty 2006 1200GSA - Ziggy, who (who?) taught me a thing or two about riding on the Australia trip, is primed and ready.

I flew Ziggy from Brisbane to LA where I'll be making my way across Arizona and New Mexico to visit some friends in Austin Texas. From there I'll head into Mexico where I'll spend two months before catching the Stahlratte to Cuba for three weeks. On my return to Mexico, there is nothing else organised, but the plan is to visit all Central American countries, head east across the top of Sth America through the Guyanas, down the coast of Brazil to Rio, then figure out the rest from there.

I plan to fly from Buenos Aires to Cape Town where I'll work out the route through Africa. Once in Europe, well I have to get home of course, so if I'm not sick of it yet, I'll be riding. But can I stop once I get back to Australia? I'm getting ahead of myself!

I have a blog (see the signature) where I'll be doing a longer version of the writing of the journey, and a Facebook page where I'll be posting stuff as well. I'll be posting photos here.

Follow me on my journey and make comments along the way. It makes a difference to know people are following.

A couple of photos of Joshua Tree National Park in California where I camped last night...bbbbrrrrrrrrrr

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

Congratulations for doing this - I ride the same bike so will be following along
Camping already - and looks like you are not carrying huge amounts of stuff - I'm afraid I am the opposite - alway want to take everything!
Good luck and have fun

Thanks Rob. The gear has taken a long time to work out. Started really heavy with everything, got it down to really minimal, then 'added a few bits' so not as lean as I would like, but see what does and doesn't get uses along the way and see if I can lighten up even more.

PN

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

G'day...enjoyed your Northern Australia write up. I lived north of Cairns 74-79 so brought back memories. Now that you are in the US, give some thought to Utah (HWY #12, Moab - Jeep week in late March is fun!, etc.) Also, have you ruled out coming north to Canada. You are a bit early for the hjigh alpine of the Great Divide route, but there's lots of adventure to be had thisaway! PM me if I can help with more info, place to stay etc....

Stephen
Red Deer Alberta

Thanks Stephen. You hit on one of the dilemmas of 'round the world' - which countries do you miss and still see as many countries as possible? One of my reference materials was Chris Scott's book Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, where he defines the 'Adventure Motorcycle Zone (AMZ)'. The zone excludes North America, Australia and Western Europe, mostly based on expense of travelling in those countries and probably a little to do with cultural differences and challenges in the other countries.

So in planning I have deliberately focused on the AMZ to enable my travels to last as long as possible. I can travel for twice as long in the AMZ. I happen to have friends living in the southern US so that's on the radar and is also an obvious take-off point to Mexico and beyond. So unfortunately Canada and further north into the US is ruled out at the moment.

Thanks for following!!

PN

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

Bear with me while I get a methodology happening for telling a story through photos. Travelling on your own makes it a bit of a challenge so there are a lot of selfies.

On arrival to LA, I pulled Ziggy out of the crate and rode into the first rain of the year in the dark.


So visited the usual suspects - Hollywood Boulevard





This really exists!


Of course, the sign


The view


Random Harley riders named Wayne


HU LA Community member Vincenzo

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

I have already posted photos of Joshua Tree National Park, but on the way I rode through Desert Hot Springs



Camping at Joshua Tree


Leaving Joshua Tree National Park


and heading to Phoenix, Arizona where I met up with other Aussies who were starting and finishing big trips. Bevan (riding) lives here and Glen in the sidecar has just finished a 14mth trip through Canada and the US and is heading back to Australia.


Glen and Leanne on their Triumph Tiger 800 prepping for USA/Canada/Alaska


The workshop


I stayed with these guys for a couple of nights and can't thank them enough for their hospitality.

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

Glen and Leanne and I went for a ride in the hills north of Phoenix to visit a couple of towns called Jerome and Sedona.

The road to Jerome wound into the mountains and was a brilliant ride of wide winding roads with switchbacks and sweeping curves against a backdrop of mountain views in the distance. There were few places to stop and photograph unfortunately






Jerome township






Sedona


At Sedona, Glen and Leanne took a turnoff to loop back to Phoenix and I continued on to Flagstaff, then to Williams where I stayed the night on Route 66 before heading to the Grand Canyon the following day.

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

I rode through Flagstaff that everyone had told me would be freezing, and it was 22 degrees C.


I spent the night at a town called Williams, which was right on Route 66








The next day the motel owners daughter took a shining to Ziggy


In less than an hour I was on the south rim of the Grand Canyon










A nice place for lunch


Although it was 20C this day, it snowed just two weeks earlier




At the last stop I met Neil, cruising around on his 1200 Tenere

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

G'day Paul,

Wrapt to see you're on your way and obviously enjoying yourself :-)

When or if you get to Phoenix drop in and see Dillon and JB at Zen Moto, link below. I cant praise these guys enough for the hospitality and all their help in getting my KTM sorted. Dillon gave me bit's and pieces off his own bike to get me on the road rather than wait for ordered parts, in a word sensational.

Cheers Dave

Hey Dave good to hear from you. Bit late for Phoenix , I left there a couple of weeks ago now. Met some great people there, an Aussie couple Bevan and Clare, and a few other riders, all of us from Qld! Good people seem to gravitate there.

I was just reading a comment you made about Copper Canyon in Mexico. I'm planning a route through there now. Any must see places from when you were there? And where are you now mate, you get around like a in a mining town!!

PN

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

G'day Paul,

The getting round was going great until the tenant me over, I'm back home, all but skint with my bottom lip out!

Ok if you haven't already entered Mexico, you will need insurance

Don Smith Mexico Auto Insurance - Nogales, AZ

And a TVIP

Google Translate

Both available in Nogales.

The route de la Sierra from Hermosillo to Chihuahua Hwy # 16 is a damn fine ride. It will take you about 2 days, half way there's an awesome waterfall called Cascada Basaseachic I cant remember the name of the town it might be Basaseachic, it's where the road is at its worst because of the mining traffic. There's a nice little hotel on the main drag opposite the servo, where I stayed.

Before you get to Chihuahua turn south to Creel it 's also a days ride. Plenty of good cheap accommodation and things to see and do. Ask about the thermal pools and take a wild ride ;-) Out of creel 70 odd k's the dirt starts head to Urique and then on to Batopilas, (stay at Juanitas) and on to Guachochi each is a days ride and it will test you, get early starts and take plenty of water, 2700m passes on what can best be described as quarry roads, I loved every second of it and it was one of the best rides I've ever done :-)

From Guachochi head to Balleza, Parral then onto Durango, the road from Durango to Mazatlan, the road of 3000 curves is to be done!

Hope this helps with planning a route, Cheers Dave :-)

Thanks for the heads up mate. Bad news about the tenant, wasn't he a nephew or something?? I've read some other reports and I think I've got most of those spots covered but coming in from the east via Chihuahua. Really appreciate the links and hotel recommendations.

Sorry to hear the journey has ended for the moment but I'm sure you won't be stopped for long!

All the best Dave,

Paul

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

After leaving the Grand Canyon I stayed the night at Tuba City and met some interesting people in interesting vehicles, including a bike garage in an RV.


Not a lot of greenery to camp on


I headed out to Monument Valley the next day




It's hard to tell from the photos but the wind was so strong I was riding at 45 degrees for much of the road and I arrived later in the day, so didn't get to have a good look around. I eventually arrived back at Kayenta exhausted and picked the cheapest motel at $80 + tax!!



The next morning was cold


I rode towards Four Corners then down through Navajo country to Chinle, then visited the Canyon de Chelly





The road from Chinle to Gallup in New Mexico was very picturesque







I came across the only frozen lake you are likely to see in New Mexico. I think it is called Navajo Lake

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW

Arrived in Albuquerque and had a problem with my brake light staying on and occasionally my brake failure light on the dash indicating an issue. I went to the BMW dealer - Sandia BMW Motorcycles - and met John and the team who were awesome. John jumped on and starting checking and testing and eventually coerced the fault out of Ziggy. He wheeled the bike into the workshop, found the issue, had the part - a faulty switch - and replaced it in no time.
Meanwhile I was checking out the collection of bikes on the mezzanine floor



http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3a1d1221.jpg


The guys did a great job and were keen to learn all about the trip, so I ended up staying for a couple of hours meeting people. Another rider, John, was getting tyres on his brand new 1200GS Adventure water-cooled and offered me a ride to try it out! The first thing I did was over-rev it as I started, my throttle hand used to the millimeters of play on my 2006 model, but this was responsive from the first touch. I was a bit tentative finding the clutch engagement point, and with a new wet clutch in this model it felt different. Once moving though, the power was effortless, the brakes, clutch and handling were feather-light, and I immediately felt comfortable on the bike.


On my return I had a Cheshire grin, it was a beautiful bike to ride. But I had my trusty Ziggy who had proven herself over and over again, and I was happy to be on her for my world trip. Ziggy was ready when I arrived back, switch replaced and tested, and as I rode off with a few new Facebook friends, Ziggy felt like a bike with eight year old technology. I couldn’t be happier!

I found a hotel, again on Route 66 and spent the next few days discovering Albuquerque.

__________________
When you come to a fork in the road…take it!

BLOG: paulnomad.blogspot.com.au

FaceBook: www.facebook.com/PaulNomadRTW