It has been a while since last I posted an update, and with good reason !!
The last few weeks have been filled with both highs and lows; excitement and disappointment… At times I operated on high energy, and others, relatively “low voltage”…
I missed out on riding through Newfoundland and Labrador, but managed to ride the Cabot Trail and reach Madawaska in Northern Maine and thereby complete my visit to the “Four Corners of the USA”.
Madawaska – The final milestone on my journey…
My plans to ride down the St Lawrence River to Montreal and Toronto, and see the Niagara Falls, were dashed by Officialdom and red tape, when I was informed that I had only 10 days to leave the USA or fall foul of the US Immigration Authorities…
This resulted in a period of head-spinning anxiety and moodiness on my part, while I tried to find ways to prolong my stay and make my exit a more peaceful and well planned one. All to no avail…
With my exit deadline looming, I was forced to change my plans for the next few months, and make a last and long dash back to New Jersey to crate the Big Fella; find a suitable freight agent, and arrange to have the bike flown back to South Africa…
A bedraggled and disgruntled Big Fella, finds himself in a crate for the last time…
I had to bid family and friends a hastier than planned farewell, and hardest of all, leave Patricia behind to continue with the plans we had laid out for the following few months down in Georgia…
I slipped quietly back into a wintry South Africa yesterday, and am now awaiting the arrival of the Big Fella, who is currently languishing in a Customs warehouse at JFK Airport, New York. He is due here in a few days, and in the interim, I will endevour to bring my blog up to date, detailing the Canadian part of my ride, and my last few days in the USA.
Flight SAA 204 – The Airbus that would take me on the final flight of the Gypsy Biker World Tour.
This is also a time for me to reflect on the journey I began three and a half years ago; a time to remember the many amazing people I have met and befriended; the hundreds of special places I was able to visit; and, it is a time to be thankful that I have made it back “alive and kicking”, something that many thought I would not do !!
It is also of course, a time to consider the future and decide on the next chapter of my life, and this could well prove to be far more stressful than the last few years at times have been !!
Any advice on coping with “Major Wanderlust Withdrawal Symptoms” would come in handy right now !!
GB
Gauteng, South Africa
Welcome Home Ronnie…I await the book “Gypsy Rider” there will always be another ride and another adventure I am sure…as long as you live and breathe
Welcome Home Brother, its been far too long. We will be looking forward to seeing Big Fella on home soil too.
End of chapter n
Beginning of chapter n+1
(I’ll push the two beds together… waiting…)
So glad to have had a small share in the Gypsey Rider Tour. Look forward on some “filler inns” and to hear about future decisions.
Well done Brother!
Where you Ronaldo?
Call me boet…..
“Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you´re alive it isn’t.â€
― Richard Bach
Ronnie,
It’s sad you could not cover the last bit of the trip via Montreal and Toronto. There are many biking “SA’fricans” around here and a ride out to Niagara with you from here in Toronto would have been an awesome honor and and experience. You are welcome to call us up should you ever be in this neck of the woods again.
As for a “the end” of this EPIC trip I have nothing more to say than WOW! and Well Done! You accomplished what you set out to do in more ways than just getting around the world on a BMW 1200GS.
Congrats again.
Well done boet, well done. Like Mark said, I’m also very happy to have been able to follow and participate in a small bit of your epic voyage! It’s possibly fitting that I will soon be vacating the sea-can in the ‘toum where I spent so much time following your exploits and looking forward to the next instalment each morning. I think the only cure for MWWS is more wandering!! Yee-Haw!!!