The bikes have arrived...
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2006
1
6
41
Trip End
Oct 07, 2006
Lucens,
Switzerland
Friday, June 9, 2006
Getting off at Zurich Airport was a bit of a shock as the temperature was only 7 degrees. After all, weren't we supposed to be in late spring, beginning of summer?
Apparently not as the next few days continued to be cold with intermittent rain and even snow to 1000m.!
It was great to meet my sister, nieces, nephews' cousins and friends and their warm welcome was such that we soon forgot about the weather.
Mark and Mel were still travelling in the southern part of Switzerland and were due to meet me by the end of the week.
In the meantime I learnt that our bikes had arrived in Hamburg, however after such a disastrous delay, I was far from convinced
01 Eric and Denyse Unpacking Motorcycles
.In anticipation of my coming to Switzerland, a friend of mine, Fredy Rouge, had contacted the Management of "Pilatus", (a renown aircraft factory situated in Stans in the heart of Switzerland) to arrange a visit of the factory. During the time I worked there in 1956, the factory was manufacturing the De Havilland Venom. Over the years, I kept in touch with Fredy and Michel Sugnaux but lost contact with Marcel Gaille and Gerard Torches whom I had not seen for 50 years. All four of us were made welcome by a representative of Pilatus. The visit started by an audio visual presentation (with our names on the screen!) followed by a 3 hours tour of the factory which is divided for civil and military manufacture and another section for maintenance and overhaul. The PC12 is used by the Royal Australian Flying Doctor Service and the propjet trainer PC9 by the Australian Air force. I was amazed to see so much automation in the manufacturing of components. The assembly line was just as interesting and the quality of workmanship second to none.
On Monday 29 May, I was informed by the Shipping Agent that our motorbikes where now in Prateln near Basel, ready to be picked up.
On Tuesday, Mark and I went to pick up our bikes at the Depot. I must admit that we were surprised to find our bikes out of the crates and undamaged.
02 Readying the bikes
After reconnecting the batteries and refilling the fuel tanks, I found that my battery was still charged enough to start the motor. Mark's bike battery was dead as a dodo and had to be replaced.I leave it to Mark to tell you what happened next.
More news soon, Eric
Mark... Sometimes miracles do happen... the motorcycles have arrived! Not sure how they got here to Switzerland... the gods must be kind. We were told they had arrived Hamburg 23rd May and would arrive a week later in Basel. Well, they did. So with some trepidation (we weren't too sure what condition they would be in) we went to pick them up.
31st May 2006
9:30am - Bikes waiting for us in warehouse. Unpacked and ready to go... service! Cost us 50 Francs for them to dispose of crates. A good deal as it would have taken us 2 hours to unpack the bikes and drag those crates to the side of the road somewhere.
11:00am - Reconnected batteries on bikes, filled with petrol, and tried to start
03 Readying the Bikes
. Dad's bike (from now on called R - as in R1100R) started and sounded good. My bike (henceforth called GS - as in R1100GS) refused to start. The battery was dead.12:00am - Odered new battery for GS from BMW dealer. 200 Francs! Cost 140AUD (120 Francs) in Australia... go figure? Dad drove R home.
3:00pm - Picked up new battery.
4:00pm - Put new battery into GS and it started no problems. Today was really going to be a good day.
3:35pm - Dropped GS. Not sure how I did it? (Answer coming...) For all those AVON people who have a sweepstakes going as to when I will drop the bike... you can't count this time as we hadn't started our trip yet J Picked up GS ok. Got home with no more problems.
4:30pm - Received phone call from Shipping Agent in Basel. We owe them 600 Francs! Couldn't quite believe it as they had assured me (twice, on separate occasions) that there were no extra fees to pay
04 Numberplate
. Australian Shipping Agent and Switzerland Shipping Agent must be related due to lack of brains.3 days later...
4th June 2006
9:00am - Left Basel for Lucens for a family lunch. Strange intermittent "grinding" noises from GS.
12:00pm - Had lunch with all the relatives.
6:00pm - Went to meet a friend of Mel's in Lausanne on GS. Strange grinding noises got worse half way there. Pulled over and tried to return to Lucens. Grinding noises very bad. Left Mel on side of road (sorry baby!) and returned to Lucens at top speed of 40km/hour. Thought grinding noises might have been the tyre rubbing on exhaust? Left Dad and Jean-Paul to fix whilst Christian and I picked up Mel in car.
7:30pm - Fixed! Or so we thought. Started for Lausanne... same noises from GS. Noticed oil leaking from shaft drive onto tyre (probably why I dropped the bike a few days ago!). Time to speak to a mechanic...
5th June 2006 - Our original date of departure from Switzerland! Public Holiday of course. Nothing open, nobody stirring.
6th June 2006 -Took GS to a BMW dealer close by. At 40km/hour it was a slow trip. Mechanic soon had shaft drive apart to confirm worst fears. Bearings have gooooone! Means new shaft drive and several days more waiting. Also means BIG Francs... after all this waiting in Switzerland they are now charging us for the privilege of a few more days wait! Today was a bad day.
3 days later...
10th June 2006 - ETD from Switzerland.
Comments
Head spinning
Your luck is going up and down like a yo yo. Makes a great story though... and you haven't even started. If you like we'll buy a spare GS for you here (road side service membership paid up) and ship it via Maersk line to India. I predict your GS will have fallen apart completely by then and you can start a new tale of trouble then.
At least sounds like you are having a lot of time with relo's and friends in addition to supporting the Swiss economy. Good for you on both counts.
Good luck for tomorrow and make a special detour to Germany to cheer on the socceroos as you drive past the Australia Vs. Japan match on Monday.
Cheers
Pete and Jack
Oh Dear....
Sounds like you guys are having a bit of a bumpy ride over there. Mark, try not to leave my sister on the side of the road too much. Someone might steal her. Ha Ha Ha Ha!
I'm actually trying to work out how the hell my user name came to be HOKITIKA. That was supposed to be my password. Everytime I try to log onto this site I have to get my password retrieved cos I forget it everytime.
Hows the weather on your travels. Its FREEZING here in Melb. I have been walking to the train station at 6:15 in the morn and can't see for the fog at the moment...have started looking for a friendly abode. Hope all is well with you.
P.S. Soccor fever has hit over here which is a great deal more interesting than that silly AFL aerial ping pong they play over here.....
Bula
Mark & Mele, 'Go you Guys'Whatever happens God is Good. Let you know I am updating family at home wherever you are and our prayers will be with you.
God Bless.
Apo
Updates from Clareville
You realise that you guys are sitting on a goldmine. This would have to make the best travel story. So who are you going to sell the rights to. Of course no-one would believe it. But if you look on the bright side. What more could possibly go wrong.
As i wrote earlier I said I would keep you uptodate on the normal day to day happenings in Clareville,just to keep you grounded. The good news is that Alex got her licence and a job. She will be staying with Simon and I at least until the end of the year and whilst here doing her university course by distance (correspondence). Paige is doing well in Year 11 and got some fantastic results for her half yearlies. As you would expect they are both beautiful and it goes without saying but I am very proud of them.
Simon's eldest daughter is getting married at the end of the year. I am sure I am too young to be the stepmother of a bride.
Speaking of which Mark and Mel are your we4dding plans still on track or are they going to be delayed. (Only joking) Really looking forward to the big event.
Our business is going well. Plenty of tours happening. Simon and I are both playing lawn bowls. ( i know, I know its an old peoples game) Wrong its the only game where you get dressed up to get drunk. Have met some great people, made lots of new friends and I am really enjoying it.
Lovely to be able to view photos. Had a few tears in my eyes when I saw the photo of Mark Eric and Denyse out the front of Denyse's home. Brought back lots of wonderful memories. If you are still in Basel when you receive this please give her a big hug and a kiss and our love.
Anyway better get back to the more mundane things in life, like earning a living. Take good care of each other and may your God go with you and keep you safe.
All our love
Peta Simon Alex and Paige.
Hi from Clear Island Waters
We are sitting here, Mum, Jack, Noah, Kai, Poppy and I and reading everyone's messages and checking out the photos. Looks great, especially the weather.
Mum says come back (only joking), she really says don't come back, see you in three months. She says her arm is getting better, the swelling came down a bit so am quite happy about this. She won't know until she sees the surgeon again around 4 July 2006. Dr Bishop wanted another opinion by the surgeon, Dr Staibler.
Kai - hope the bikes go better. I hope you have fun on your trip. Can't wait until you get back. We might have a little party. Where are you going next? We are following your trip on the map Grandper gave us.
Jack - stop at Germany for me for the World Cup - Australia play Brazil tomorrow morning at 2.00am which Dad might let me get up for (Pete - dream on Jack). Things have been great in Australia and going well in soccer. We have won every game this year. Check out our scores at www.goldcoastsoccer.com.au - go to fixtures and then division 13/2.
Noah - we won our first game of soccer last weekend (and Oma gave me $5 dollars but Mum lost it). Now Mum owes me $10. I'm going to save up because its my birthday soon, in 10 days.
Poppy - Its my birthday on September and I go to pre-school. I've got a violin and I'm going to learn to play it. I can play it different ways. I do stuff at pre-school. I read books and paint pictures (Poppy made a beautiful card for Oma for her broken arm and they all wrote on her cast) and I made a bunny rabbit.
Pete - great reading your stories, great photos. Keep up the good work and plenty more photos please. Have you got the bikes over 250km/hour yet? Actually on second thoughts Mark you better stick to 100 and nurse the old girl along.
Love
Family