Delhi - Goodbye Dakar, Hello Australia. 26th July - 4th August.
Our next job was to get back to Dehli and get the bike sent back off to the UK. We packed, set off and got to Dehli in one day. The ride was ok but the traffic, heat and driving in Dehli were predictably bad and I was really was pleased to get to our Hotel.
Initially we checked into our ‘normal’ Hotel, the Ar(m)pit with a semi-discounted rate of 2000 Rupies based on an 8 night stay. We stayed one night and had to contend with the ‘normal’ banging noises late in the day and early in the morning from a project happening to an adjoining building. Overall I wasn’t that happy with our deal as the rest of India was nowhere near this expensive, and we had to contend with the banging.. The following evening we were passing a reasonable looking hotel no more than 500m from ours and I decided to check out their rooms & prices. For 7 nights they offered us a nicer room than we currently had for only 1000 Rupies per night. We confirmed and moved out of our Hotel as soon as we could.
Our Hotel were shocked to learn we were leaving and reduced their price to 1500 Rupies. I wasn’t very happy as we’d already asked for their best rate and here I was being offered a further 25% discount. However I chose to keep it pleasant, and thanked them for their offer but pointed out that they were still 50% dearer than the other Hotel. As we left a number of staff asked why we were leaving as they’d got to know us a little, on this, our third visit. We told them.
The next 3-4 days had us discussing the requirements and charges with the Brokers for sending the bike back to the UK, and finally watching over it being crated up. Whilst this way happening in the foreground, I was removing the GPS & Autocom units for transferral and generally preparing the bike in the background. Whilst I was doing this, Sylvia was scrubbing the panniers spotlessly clean. I also had to decide how many, if any, tools I was going to keep to take to Australia with us. We’d managed to borrow some scales to ensure we were under the baggage allowance for this flight as I’d got hit for around 270 pounds excess when flying from England to Mumbai, and most tools would add kg’s quite quickly. In the end I kept a few small screwdrivers and a magnetic retrieval tool for any dropped bolts around the bike or anywhere else. The rest were packed onto the Dakar along with the spare spares that John & I hadn’t used, and the tank bag & panniers.
On the day of the bike being crated up I had to follow Sudhir, our broker, to the packing place. The ride was horrible and tested my patience and reactions to the full. By the time we got to the packers I was stressed and tired-the journey lasted 30 mins !! I was grateful that I’d survived India and was please that Sylvia & I had chosen Australia as our next destination. The requirements for shipping seemed flexible as Sudhir was adament that most of the fuel had to be drained and the battery disconnceted and removed. I accepted the minimal fuel ruling but didn’t understand why the battery had to be removed. The owner of the packing company chirped in and said it didn’t and with which Sudhir changed his opinion to the same. We stayed until we were all satisfied that the bike was going to be properly transported and Sudhir returned us to our Hotel.
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The packing/crating company.
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The view across the road-not particulalry inspiring.
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Preparing the bike for it's journey home-couldn't help wondering if I'd regret the decision at the time.
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My last sighting of the map and logo which had become synonomous for John and I as our adventure 'business'.
I’d asked Sudhir a few times for an itemised pro-former invoice but he had been reluctant to write one up saying that he’d told me the price already. I thought about it and wasn’t satisfied and finally insisted that I had a professionally typed up Pro-former even if the net result was going to cost me….It did, a further 4,000 Rupies. However I was content as I could see where the costs were going. I paid Sudhir and we agreed to meet on Sylvia & I’s last night in India.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678392.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A few last memories of Dehli & India.
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After that Sylvia and I spent our time organising various things in and for Australia. I’d decided to buy a laptop as the absence of Johns was badly impacting our web-site updates and I couldn’t manage the Ipod & photographs properly. I looked at a Compaq in India but was worried about Warantey issues should there be a problem once we hit Australia. In the end I learnt that a friend of mine had bought one and had a hard drive failure. That was it-I committed to Dell with the plan to take delivery of it in Australia. We bought a couple of large bags to carry all our gear, packed and weighed them, worried as we were approximately 6-8kg overweight on our basic laundry scales, and started to think more relaxedly about Australia.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678339.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
How many kilos can we take ? Sylvia puts a brave face on our packing nightmare.
The night before we left we’d requested an alarm call, some tea & a taxi from our Hotel manager. The following morning we woke up at 05:10 with no tea until I rang the duty manager. The taxi was a farce as the driver we think was supposed to take us was asleep in his car across the road from the Hotel, didn’t notify anybody that he was there so the Hotel arranged a further Taxi. When he arrived there was a big debate as to how we would fit us and our luggage in his car. I was pulling my hair out and so oponed the boot to show them where our bags could go…only to see and LPG cylinder there. I said we can just put the bags in with us, yes it would be tight BUT we had a plane to catch. We took off with me fuming. What a rubbish morning at the beginning of what should have been straight forward day.
It was quite hot in the Taxi and so about 10 mins from the airport(and 30 from our Hotel), I asked him to put the a/c on which he dutifully did. When we got to the airport he asked for a further 200Irs for the a/c. I said, ’look, you’ve only had it on for 10 mins-you can have 100 but not 200’ - he wasn’t happy but he was pushing his luck and tried to insist on it. I said no and gave the extra 100 Irs and told him that was enough. He accepted it, got back in his taxi and drove off.
We checked in and my passport drew some amusement as the expiry date for my visa was today’s date.
We bought a few gifts for Sally and her friend Bronwyn, ate some dried biscuits and drank some coffee and waited for our plane. One of the companies staff came and found us and urged us to go through customs etc now. We were still drinking our coffee but assured him we would soon.
Finally with all the formailities complete we were on the plane.
If the flight was cheap, the quality of the cabin crew & food weren’t. First class, professional & friendly. Breakfast was delightful with a mixture of cheese, fruit & a cooked breakfast. All very nicely prepared. In flight entertainment with each person being able to be personally select what entertainment they wanted. We had a lovely flight to Singapore.
We had about 4 hours to kill at Singapore before our next flight and so we checked our hand baggage in to a short-stay storage facility and then went in search of some Singaporean Dollars and a hamburger. 6 Months without beef is a long time and we had some serious munching to catch up with. Burger King was soon found and a couple of Woppa’s disappeared before you could say Wendies ! >8;O) The gime went very quickly and soon we were boarding a Quantas plane for the second half of our journey.
Quantas was very average, even taking account of the unusually excellent flight we’d just enjoyed. In fact we had to wait for an additional hour or so in Singapore as they had to change our flight route and drain off fuel as one of their pilots was unfit to fly. It was never properly explained why but all we knew was that we had to change some of the flight crew at Darwin.
We got to Darwin at about 3-4 am in the morning and all had to get off the plane for a security check, wait an hour, get back on the plane and take off at around 5:30. I asked as to why we had to get off and the cabin crew didn’t know why!?!
As we took off the sunrise was staggeringly beautiful and powerfully bright. I’d seen pictures of these sunrises before but this was the first time I’d experienced one and it really was more amazing than any I’d seen elsewhere.
For the rest of the flight Sylvia & I just felt groggy and didn’t enjoy it a all, with the exception of surveying how huge and beautiful the Australian outback is.
We finally landed in Brisbane and generally found our entry into Australia very pleasant. We could see all the work going on to stop the illegal importation of drugs and foods but it wasn’t conducted with arrogance or rudeness as it is done in America, and soon found ourselves the right side of imigration & customs.
Sally, an old friend of mine, & Bronwyn, Sally’s friend, were there to greet and collect us. Brisbane had bright blue sky & sunshine. It was very fresh and reminded me of my experiences in South Africa. It was a great welcome to Australia.
Mike.
Our next job was to get back to Dehli and get the bike sent back off to the UK. We packed, set off and got to Dehli in one day. The ride was ok but the traffic, heat and driving in Dehli were predictably bad and I was really was pleased to get to our Hotel.
Initially we checked into our ‘normal’ Hotel, the Ar(m)pit with a semi-discounted rate of 2000 Rupies based on an 8 night stay. We stayed one night and had to contend with the ‘normal’ banging noises late in the day and early in the morning from a project happening to an adjoining building. Overall I wasn’t that happy with our deal as the rest of India was nowhere near this expensive, and we had to contend with the banging.. The following evening we were passing a reasonable looking hotel no more than 500m from ours and I decided to check out their rooms & prices. For 7 nights they offered us a nicer room than we currently had for only 1000 Rupies per night. We confirmed and moved out of our Hotel as soon as we could.
Our Hotel were shocked to learn we were leaving and reduced their price to 1500 Rupies. I wasn’t very happy as we’d already asked for their best rate and here I was being offered a further 25% discount. However I chose to keep it pleasant, and thanked them for their offer but pointed out that they were still 50% dearer than the other Hotel. As we left a number of staff asked why we were leaving as they’d got to know us a little, on this, our third visit. We told them.
The next 3-4 days had us discussing the requirements and charges with the Brokers for sending the bike back to the UK, and finally watching over it being crated up. Whilst this way happening in the foreground, I was removing the GPS & Autocom units for transferral and generally preparing the bike in the background. Whilst I was doing this, Sylvia was scrubbing the panniers spotlessly clean. I also had to decide how many, if any, tools I was going to keep to take to Australia with us. We’d managed to borrow some scales to ensure we were under the baggage allowance for this flight as I’d got hit for around 270 pounds excess when flying from England to Mumbai, and most tools would add kg’s quite quickly. In the end I kept a few small screwdrivers and a magnetic retrieval tool for any dropped bolts around the bike or anywhere else. The rest were packed onto the Dakar along with the spare spares that John & I hadn’t used, and the tank bag & panniers.
On the day of the bike being crated up I had to follow Sudhir, our broker, to the packing place. The ride was horrible and tested my patience and reactions to the full. By the time we got to the packers I was stressed and tired-the journey lasted 30 mins !! I was grateful that I’d survived India and was please that Sylvia & I had chosen Australia as our next destination. The requirements for shipping seemed flexible as Sudhir was adament that most of the fuel had to be drained and the battery disconnceted and removed. I accepted the minimal fuel ruling but didn’t understand why the battery had to be removed. The owner of the packing company chirped in and said it didn’t and with which Sudhir changed his opinion to the same. We stayed until we were all satisfied that the bike was going to be properly transported and Sudhir returned us to our Hotel.
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The packing/crating company.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678345.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
The view across the road-not particulalry inspiring.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678377.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
Preparing the bike for it's journey home-couldn't help wondering if I'd regret the decision at the time.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678368.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678363.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
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My last sighting of the map and logo which had become synonomous for John and I as our adventure 'business'.
I’d asked Sudhir a few times for an itemised pro-former invoice but he had been reluctant to write one up saying that he’d told me the price already. I thought about it and wasn’t satisfied and finally insisted that I had a professionally typed up Pro-former even if the net result was going to cost me….It did, a further 4,000 Rupies. However I was content as I could see where the costs were going. I paid Sudhir and we agreed to meet on Sylvia & I’s last night in India.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678392.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
A few last memories of Dehli & India.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678386.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678335.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678331.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678326.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
After that Sylvia and I spent our time organising various things in and for Australia. I’d decided to buy a laptop as the absence of Johns was badly impacting our web-site updates and I couldn’t manage the Ipod & photographs properly. I looked at a Compaq in India but was worried about Warantey issues should there be a problem once we hit Australia. In the end I learnt that a friend of mine had bought one and had a hard drive failure. That was it-I committed to Dell with the plan to take delivery of it in Australia. We bought a couple of large bags to carry all our gear, packed and weighed them, worried as we were approximately 6-8kg overweight on our basic laundry scales, and started to think more relaxedly about Australia.
<IMG SRC="http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL784/4062504/18180195/285678339.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com">
How many kilos can we take ? Sylvia puts a brave face on our packing nightmare.
The night before we left we’d requested an alarm call, some tea & a taxi from our Hotel manager. The following morning we woke up at 05:10 with no tea until I rang the duty manager. The taxi was a farce as the driver we think was supposed to take us was asleep in his car across the road from the Hotel, didn’t notify anybody that he was there so the Hotel arranged a further Taxi. When he arrived there was a big debate as to how we would fit us and our luggage in his car. I was pulling my hair out and so oponed the boot to show them where our bags could go…only to see and LPG cylinder there. I said we can just put the bags in with us, yes it would be tight BUT we had a plane to catch. We took off with me fuming. What a rubbish morning at the beginning of what should have been straight forward day.
It was quite hot in the Taxi and so about 10 mins from the airport(and 30 from our Hotel), I asked him to put the a/c on which he dutifully did. When we got to the airport he asked for a further 200Irs for the a/c. I said, ’look, you’ve only had it on for 10 mins-you can have 100 but not 200’ - he wasn’t happy but he was pushing his luck and tried to insist on it. I said no and gave the extra 100 Irs and told him that was enough. He accepted it, got back in his taxi and drove off.
We checked in and my passport drew some amusement as the expiry date for my visa was today’s date.
We bought a few gifts for Sally and her friend Bronwyn, ate some dried biscuits and drank some coffee and waited for our plane. One of the companies staff came and found us and urged us to go through customs etc now. We were still drinking our coffee but assured him we would soon.
Finally with all the formailities complete we were on the plane.
If the flight was cheap, the quality of the cabin crew & food weren’t. First class, professional & friendly. Breakfast was delightful with a mixture of cheese, fruit & a cooked breakfast. All very nicely prepared. In flight entertainment with each person being able to be personally select what entertainment they wanted. We had a lovely flight to Singapore.
We had about 4 hours to kill at Singapore before our next flight and so we checked our hand baggage in to a short-stay storage facility and then went in search of some Singaporean Dollars and a hamburger. 6 Months without beef is a long time and we had some serious munching to catch up with. Burger King was soon found and a couple of Woppa’s disappeared before you could say Wendies ! >8;O) The gime went very quickly and soon we were boarding a Quantas plane for the second half of our journey.
Quantas was very average, even taking account of the unusually excellent flight we’d just enjoyed. In fact we had to wait for an additional hour or so in Singapore as they had to change our flight route and drain off fuel as one of their pilots was unfit to fly. It was never properly explained why but all we knew was that we had to change some of the flight crew at Darwin.
We got to Darwin at about 3-4 am in the morning and all had to get off the plane for a security check, wait an hour, get back on the plane and take off at around 5:30. I asked as to why we had to get off and the cabin crew didn’t know why!?!
As we took off the sunrise was staggeringly beautiful and powerfully bright. I’d seen pictures of these sunrises before but this was the first time I’d experienced one and it really was more amazing than any I’d seen elsewhere.
For the rest of the flight Sylvia & I just felt groggy and didn’t enjoy it a all, with the exception of surveying how huge and beautiful the Australian outback is.
We finally landed in Brisbane and generally found our entry into Australia very pleasant. We could see all the work going on to stop the illegal importation of drugs and foods but it wasn’t conducted with arrogance or rudeness as it is done in America, and soon found ourselves the right side of imigration & customs.
Sally, an old friend of mine, & Bronwyn, Sally’s friend, were there to greet and collect us. Brisbane had bright blue sky & sunshine. It was very fresh and reminded me of my experiences in South Africa. It was a great welcome to Australia.
Mike.
