MONDAY 29th JUNE 2009 (FERRY TICKETS & OTEL ZIRCA)

MONDAY 29th JUNE 2009

Big day today. We needed to get all documentation together in order to catch the ferry to Istanbul tonight. The ferry only sails once a week.

We had been given a sheet of information (in English) that told us the ferry office was in YELISAVETYNSKA Street which is on the northern end of the city fringe. YELISAVETYNSKA Street, by the way, is written in English for your benefit. The street signs themselves are written in Russian which posses another difficulty for us. I can read Russian but I am no quicker at it even after a months practice, but it does help in these situations! When we finally found the office (we did start early) we were told to go to the Port. That's funny, the Port gave us this address. And so, back to the Port it was... We did get to see many more street scenes as a result. The buildings are so old and often in decay. Grape vines grow up the walls and with the tree-lined streets and cobble-stoned roads it was all a picture.

Once there Paul lined up where ferry tickets are purchased but there were many people in front of him. Meanwhile I'd found an 'info buro' and discovered the customs offices were 2 floors down. We decided to investigate our motorcycle paperwork BEFORE purchasing ferry tickets.

We gave the customs officers all our relevant documentation and after much umm-ing and arrhh-ing, phone calls and looking puzzled we were told to wait. This was NOT unexpected...!!!

By now its lunch-time and I had to go back to our hotel and pack our bags as we were meant to be out of our room by midday. I was able to negotiate with the receptionist (via the computers translation program) to wait in our room till Paul returned, otherwise I'm sitting out on the street with the bike in the heat - something I wasn't looking forward to.

Paul stayed with customs and was eventually told that we DON'T have the correct paperwork to export the bike! First off, we need a 'Declaration to Export' (we knew that) and secondly, and more importantly we need some Government Department to advise as to the 'Historical Value and Cultural Significance' of the bike. WHAT...!!! You can all guess what Paul had to say about THAT...!!! But....we had to be nice...we don't have these documents - YET. And then we learn that it's a PUBLIC HOLIDAY and the relevant offices are closed. We are not sailing on tonight's boat! Bugger - it only sails once a week!

Paul returned at 2.30pm, a big frown on his face, we packed and left the hotel and then the search began for another place to stay. Where we had stayed was too expensive, the receptionist spoke no English (zilch) and we didn't like the feel of the place - it was absolutely beautiful, full of antiquities but sterile and without a human element. It would have been perfect for an old staid couple with no personality...!!! That's not us.

We were told of a hotel called ZIRCA and went in search. We were given the area but as usual, after parking up and Paul searching on foot, he eventually found it in a different location! I stayed with the bike while Paul went in to check it out. It looked okay on the outside and it was close to many things of interest. He came out laughing and said "we're in" but the next problem was finding a secure place for the bike. We've been advised not to leave it on the street but everyone here says "leave it on the street, it will be okay, this is Odessa". We'd rather the safer option, judging by the fact that EVERYONE lives behind tall fences and gates and everything is locked or security coded.

Paul went off in search and again I stayed with the bike and luggage. It seemed like hours before he returned, maybe because I was so tired I could hardly stay awake. The longer he was gone the more concerned I was that he was having a difficult time finding somewhere. He eventually returned and sat down beside me and didn't say a word. I never said anything either...!!!

After a good 10 minutes he eventually said..."I can't speak yet"! We sat longer and eventually he started to yak again. This is all a result of the humidity, tiredness, problems in finding anything, the language difficulties and the bureaucracy crap we have to deal with. Paul had something to eat and drink and soon felt on top of it all again and said he'd found a secure underground car-park. Good, that means we can now move our stuff into the room. We didn't want to pay and then discover there was no-where for the bike!

Paul had been up to check out the rooms and laughed when he said he had a choice of two - one very small and one bigger. He checked out the small room and when he tried to open the door it would only open half way as it hit the bed - and that was the room, a bed between four walls. He then checked the 'bigger room' and found that to be okay. It was small but we had room for our gear, it had the all important fridge, it had air-conditioning and a bathroom. We didn't need any more than that. We were lucky, it also had a window. Most of the rooms are internal but after seeing some of them they had better 'views' than us because of the large palm-tree-beach scenes plastered on the walls!

We both immediately fell asleep and slept for about 2 hours. We then shifted the bike to the underground car-park which woke us up because we did what the locals do - we never wore our helmets. We only had to ride three blocks and then wander back - we didn't want to be carrying our bike gear. Paul was instructed NOT to go over one-mile-an-hour...!!! It is now dark, after 10pm and we wandered back in the warm evening breeze. We stopped in at an Italian Restaurant (of which there are hundreds) and enjoyed some pasta and salad. BUT, the evening was about to get a whole lot better when we found a little supermarket that sold MUESLI. Cereal seems to be non-existent here and we were missing our morning muesli immensely. The milk comes in little bags - for the life of me I can't work out the reasoning behind that. Once opened it is very hard to store. Everything else comes in plastic bottles or cartons - why doesn't milk?

Back to our room to work out the plan of attack for the coming days. We know documentation will take forever and we only have so many days left on our visa's - what would they do in the movies...???

UKRAINE loves us .... they don't want us to leave...!!!

SUNDAY 28th JUNE 2009 (IZMAIIL to ODESSA)

SUNDAY 28th JUNE 2009

We were on the road by 7.00am as had a l-o-n-g way to travel today (250 kilometers). Leaving Izmaiil we were amazed at the number of dogs roaming the streets, every street. We watched dog gangs running amuck last night but never expected to see lots more dogs at every corner.

'The HORS' has nearly done 1,300 kilometers now.

An hour up the road we just knew it was going to bucket rain - the clouds have a way of turning mid-morning into mid-night...!!! There was much lightning and thunder and the rain pelted down. An email from Bron (who's looking after our Wesley) reminded us of how much 'fun' we were having. I just kept repeating those words. We are having fun, we are having fun, we are having fun...!!!

We got drenched, even me who was hiding behind the torneau cover. Paul even considered pulling over as the lightning seemed to be coming down just in front off us. We soldiered on and eventually came out the other end and after some time even dried off.

Saw another stork nest, this time with three storks standing tall. Absolutely fascinated by them.

Paul stopped at a cafe-bar come auto-stop. We topped ourselves up and were finally able to check the tyre pressures. Tyre pressure hoses seem few and far between.






The interesting thing about our return journey is we had to ride through 7.5 kilometers of Moldova to get to Odessa. Funny (not) how they let us through this border crossing and not the far one. We learned that this section of Moldovian border is controlled by the Ukrainians and the Reni border is controlled by the Moldovans.

Further up the road Paul pulled into his favourite fuel station - WOG. He's been wanting to stop at one but we were always on the wrong side of the highway or not needing fuel when we saw one. Today was the day.

We arrived on the outskirts of Odessa at 1.00pm and at 1.05pm we were once again pulled over by the police - this time, with our new found knowledge, we were happy to stop (beats getting shot!) We just knew we'd be up for lots of money for one reason or another as there is still much confusion over the registration documents. And sure enough, the coppa reckons the bike is registered but not Paul. We do not understand the system here at all. It's been explained to us in many ways and each way makes things more confusing.

As luck would have it we got let off, with the second coppa sighing to the first (because we didn't understand what they wanted) and indicated to let us go. Who are we to argue? We had the bike fired up and we were out of there.

The bike ran okay today because most miles were done either in the wet or in cooler air. We know now that we can't ride the bike through Jordan and Egypt as it will melt the engine...!!!
We parked up in town and I was left to mind the gear while Paul went off in search of a place to stay. We needed to stay in the city centre as tomorrow we have urgent business trying to arrange tickets to Istanbul by ferry, sort registration and customs declaration to export the bike.

I soon became the subject of a photographer as I sat like an over-heated rag-doll in the side-car. My hair was everywhere, my face was red (travel weary) and I guess looked gorgeous as always. The specs were sitting down my nose as I continued reading my book. When the photographer got real close I gave him a big grin and he was wrapt. Probably the best photo of me ever taken and I'll never get to see it...!!!

We got a lovely apartment to stay in (thought we deserved it for one night), unpacked, Paul slept and I blogged. Late in the evening we wandered up the street to get something to eat and were amazed at the thousands of people wandering about. Odessa really is a fabulous city, stunning buildings, atmosphere plus, plus, plus and so much action. It's a full-on fashion parade 24/7. We even saw five stretched limo's cruising about town, each full of young women parading their goods through the sun-rooves. Then you would see the horse and carriage clip-clopping up the cobble-stoned roads reflecting a bygone era against a backdrop of ancient buildings. And all this at a constant temperature of high twenties. It was great to be back in Odessa and experience the city at night.

SATURDAY 27th JUNE 2009 (IZMAIIL to RENI and BACK)

SATURDAY 27th JUNE 2009

We left the truckies 'take-your-life-into-your-own-hands' overnight stop and were happy to be on our way early. The bike was running okay (meaning we weren't stranded 500 metres from the starting point) and life actually seemed good. We were leaving Ukraine today and were looking forward to the next set of challenges (a lie!). It was only 65 kilometers to the border yet that took us nearly three hours. Yes, the bike is still slow but the next problem to face seemed to be the road conditions. It was ROUGH which slowed us down even further. It seemed this whole section of land was the drainage pond for all the mountains in Moldova and Romania - mile after mile of wetlands. The road looked liked it was probably submerged a lot of the time. Today, though, it was dry - just terribly bumpy. Paul was fighting the side-car as he had to man-handle every corner. 'The HORS' struggled on regardless. We were aiming for RENI and once in the township followed the signs to the border. Sometimes these were only very small arrows nailed to a tree, sometimes there was nothing. Why this was a problem for us was because the road deteriorated to something like a goat track (complete with goats!). It was only the occasional large transport truck coming in the opposite direction that we guessed we were on the right track. Good to see the local council has our safety in mind though.....we were traveling at about 10 kph on the good sections because it was SO rough and then we'd find 'SPEED HUMPS'. Bloody hell - wonder what they were there for...??? And to think this was the main 'ring-road' around Reni! Very hard to photograph the huge holes as impossible to take photos and hang-on at the same time...!!! Have only managed to photograph the 'smooth' sections...!!!

And there it was....our ticket to the OTHER SIDE...the border. We had to purchase a green card (for insurance purposes) and with that done we decided to have something to eat before continuing on in to Romania. Who knows what lurks on THAT side...???

As we were allowed through one gate and head towards the other a 'REPUBLICA MOLDOVA' sign appeared. What's that doing at the Romanian border...???

With our passports and technical documents duly presented we were told to wait outside. Luckily for us there were seats and shelter from the sun. Even the bike was parked in the shade and thought the rest would do 'The HORS' good. We waited and waited. Then the customs bloke went to the quarantine bloke. This has to be a good sign. Then the words you don't want to hear echoed out LOUD and CLEAR....."There is a problem".

It turns out we weren't heading into Romania at all...!!! We were entering MOLDOVA. WHAT...!!! We had two maps and both showed this road leaving Ukraine and entering Romania. We took this route deliberately to avoid Moldova and here we are - right where we didn't want to be...!!! And it took two days to get here.

We figured we'd be able to get around it somehow. Romania was 9 kilometers up the road. A nine kilometer stretch of road was between us and the rest of our trip/misadventure...!!! We waited and waited, tried more smiling, tried bluffing our way through....."come on mate, it's only 9 kays..." But to no avail. It seems the customs people weren't happy as we didn't have the correct 'Customs Declaration to Export' and neither did we have an entry Visa. That's because we weren't going to Moldova. SHIT. We waited and waited to no avail. We ended up chatting with a uniformed fellow from Portugal who was there on some kind of 'mission'. He spoke reasonable English and explained if we were from any other country, then probably no worries, something could be arranged. Because we were from Australia there were no reciprocal arrangements between the two countries to help numbskulls from Sandfly in such situations!

We didn't believe him (well we did but didn't want to) and continued to 'harass' the customs officer. Then we heard an American accent and gravitated to it like bees to honey. It was great to speak even one sentence to someone who understood EVERYTHING we said and vice-versa. He suggested we try bribing the officer - he reckons it usually works. It'll either work or we'll rot in a dirty Moldovan gaol for the next 20 years! For the sake of nine kilometers we decided to try it. We saw the officers face soften and thought this just might work, but then he shook his head and it was a definite 'NO'. There was no misinterpreting the message.

When my camera was brought out the guards got agitated and were right on to me to put it away. No photographs allowed. I only wanted to photograph a farmer tossing his hay on to a cart in the field behind Passport Control. I then managed to get the photo through the toilet window. THIS IS MOLDOVA...
There are many horse and carts in this area and much farm and crop work is manually done. We often saw many people in the fields with their hoes taking care of the weeds between the crop.


There was nothing for it than to head back to Izmaiil. Shit, it's only 60 kilometers but it may as well have been 600...!!! The customs bloke reckoned we had to go back to Odessa to get correct papers. The next thing we had to face was we were in 'no-mans land' between Ukraine and Moldova. We only had ONE entry visa to Ukraine and used that flying in to Kyiv. Will they let us back in...??? Turns out - no problem.

We trudged the rough road back to Izmaiil stopping half-way along to rest the bike - and ourselves. This is where it's lucky I don't have to write a chapter on 'how the side-car broke off the bike and speared off into the wheat field coming to rest against an abandoned cart left in the paddock...!!!' Paul did his regular nut-and-bolt check and found the sidecar bolts quite loose - the split pins hadn't been put back in. That was duly attended too...!!! We sat on our little stools and enjoyed the surrounds and worked through what our choices were. One plan that came to mind was to sneak across the Romanian border illegally on the fishing boats and continue our trip but after making enquiries it seems this practice has stopped. Maybe just as well - with our luck to date any number of things could've gone wrong. Would've been good to stick it up the border guards though!

Once back in Izmaiil we rode into the city centre and was pleasantly surprised with what we found. Quite a nice city with churches, statues, gardens, fountains, a large port area and huge entertainment-community areas. I found another stork nest with three young storks sitting atop. Not as spectacular as others I've seen with adult birds standing tall in massively huge nests balanced beautifully on top of power poles.

We found some accommodation with the all-important out-of-sight parking for the bike. After the truckies stop last night this was like heaven. We walked up the road to get a pizza for tea. Pizza shops are everywhere over here but that suits us okay. We ate then back to our lodging. We need to get away early tomorrow (back to Odessa) to beat the heat - or prevent the fuel from boiling too early in the trip...!!!

FRIDAY 26th JUNE 2009 (ODESSA to IZMAIIL)

FRIDAY 26th JUNE 2009


We're both raring to go. Yesterday's rest did us the world of good. A twenty-four hour period of being relatively stress-free...!!!



We left DOM's at 10.30am with the aim of getting to the Romanian border. The bike now has 925 kms on the clock. It ran so well two nights ago that we felt 'almost' confident of making some miles.


However.....NINE kilometers up the road the bike was seriously popping, banging and surging (hey Henzell, these are technical words!) which meant parking up on the footpath yet again. Geez, we're not even half-way out of Odessa! The same problem we've always had reared its head again. What on earth is going on...??? Being an intermittent problem makes it difficult to find.


As is our luck within a couple of minutes Nicolai SUPRUGA rocked in on his 1949 ISH Planeta. He did a double-take when he saw us parked on the footpath and came to investigate. Not a word of English could he speak but before we could blink Paul somehow ended up on the back of his bike and they were off to some kind of market to get something that you pour in the tank, then shake and then he gesticulated madly which we took to mean it would lubricate the valves. Possibly upper cylinder lubricant which Paul had wanted to get. I did laugh at the two of them riding off. The little 'Planeta' had no passenger seat but I found our small blanket and Paul sat on that.


When they returned Paul said they rode up several back lane-ways until they came to a 'hidden' auto-mart with everything from CRC to 60mm spanners. Exactly what Paul had been looking for but had no hope of finding.


With our bike fired up Nicolai offered to show us the way out of Odessa - we appreciated that as signage is BAD, almost non-existent. It is now 1.15pm - so much for our reasonably early start!


Twenty kilometers out of Odessa the bike was playing up again - do we go back to Odessa where we know someone who can 'help' or do we persevere? Then, all of a sudden, Paul whooped as he discovered the problem. The fuel was boiling on the right cylinder before entering the head. With a tickle of the carb the bike picked up and away she went again. This is the side with the ammo box restricting the air flow around the cylinder.

Another 60 kilometers up the road Paul pulled into a servo to check the bike. It had a little shade and sold petrol but that was all. Paul proceeded to make a gasket for the tappet cover as the one made at the GOBLIN Rally leaked like a sieve. There was oil over the whole right side of the bike. The only thing we could find was some rubber tubing so that was cut to shape and inserted. There was a rubber gasket in situ originally.










On the road again, this time we are progressing along reasonably well at 50 kph with me tickling the carby very regularly! We knew we couldn't make the border tonight but were hoping at least to get to ISMAIIL. As we got closer and closer we felt a little more confident that the bike would actually be capable of carrying us through some interesting country over the next week or two.



That is until a funny noise was heard and Paul pulled over quick-smart as the letters S-E-I-Z-E-D ricocheted between our bulging eyes. And there we sat....

















Paul would kick the bike periodically to prevent the piston from being stuck in the bore and all we could do is wait till she cooled down. The sky was threatening BIG TIME and we just hoped that we were on the road again before it bucketed down on us. What am I talking about....we just hoped we'd be back on the road! We only had 20 kms to go before we reached Ismaiil.


And, like a good girl, the bike sprang into life and it was ridden ever-so-carefully the next 20 kms. And it DID bucket down on us - so much that we had to pull over - couldn't see a thing and the road became worse than a river.

















The first sign we saw was a 'bed' symbol and so we pulled up the side road to find ourselves at a truckies stop! It was pretty crappy but the chances of finding something in Ismaiil proper were slim too. Crappy or not, this is where we are staying as the next lot of threatening black clouds were looming FAST. We no sooner got our gear inside and down she came, heavier than the first deluge. We didn't care that our home for the night was less-than-ordinary. If we had gone on we would've been wet through. The night turned out a hoot. One of the truckies explained to us, using much waving around of arms, that to shower we must pull out the power lead that was heating the water, go and shower, come back, dry your hands very well and plug the lead back in - otherwise you will get ELECTROCUTED and DIE. No regard to OH&S but at least we were aware of the dangers!



The rain passed and we walked up the road a little way to a cafe-bar where we enjoyed an encounter with some of the locals. They'd never seen a foreigner before. Again, no verbal understanding arose between us but one of the fellows ordered us a bowl of SOLYANKA. We wondered what we would get and out came the most beautiful soup with vegies, meat, olives and lemon (among other ingredients). Gee it was good.


It was during the meal that Paul quietly announced that he's come up with a name for the bike - HORS (Heap Of Russian Shit). And so "The HORS" it is...

THURSDAY 25th JUNE 2009 (DOM PAVLOVIC's)

THURSDAY 25th JUNE 2009


With the intention of heading off and making some miles we woke up with less energy than a dead cat. It wasn't a hard decision to stay one more day and go no-where. Just stay put. Only downside is the place we are staying has no internet access and it would've been a good chance to catch up on blogging. On the other hand, it allowed us to rest.


Paul did a little tinkering on the bike (can't help himself). He wanted to balance the carbies and check nuts and bolts etc.


I spent well over an hour photographing the statues in the apartment grounds. There are also several goldfish ponds, turtles, swans and several dozen stray cats. Cats are everywhere in Ukraine. They've either just had kittens or just about to so I can't see a solution to the cat problem in the near future. Even the owners of cats have never heard of de-sexing...!!!










We had been staying at DOM PAVLOVIC's for nearly a week and never eaten in the open-air restuarant so decided we should do that. What made the night enjoyable was a Ukrainian Folk Group singing for their supper. No music, just vocals. They were great. What made the evening difficult was the fact that we could not read one thing on the menu - we asked the waiter what he recommended and he said shaslik was his favourite...and so shaslik it was.

We checked our bags and got everything packed ready for a not-so-early get-away in the morning - we wanted to wait till the traffic lessened.

WEDNESDAY 24th JUNE 2009 (LEGS)

WEDNESDAY 24th JUNE 2009


A day of hanging about until we could collect our bike at 6.00pm. Caught the trolley-bus into the city to wander the streets and see some 'more' sights. 'More' can refer to the magnificent architecture, the grand public spaces and gardens or the many long legs and stiletto's seen at every turn of the head.


My Russian phrase book makes more sense now. There is nothing that says..."How do you ask for help when your Dnepr has broken down in the middle of a busy multi-lane intersection with no lines and the rider has no idea where he's going...???" BUT....it does have a chapter on where to get your stiletto's fixed...!!! And no wonder as half the streets are cobble-stoned and I imagine very hard to walk on!















The gardens, squares, fountains and esplanades are just beautiful. But what was really nice was the fact that no cars are allowed in some of the streets in the city centre. It is very quiet, peaceful and wondering about the shops can be quite pleasant. There are dozens and dozens of street cafe's (al fresco of course) and several places where bands delighted us with their renditions of a classical 'this-or-that'.



A taxi to Oleg's and we arrived with an evening meal already set out in their outdoor eating area. Oleg & Laura really are special people and we can't thank them enough for their hospitality. Our translator was absent but we still managed to converse between puzzled looks and laughter.


When the time came to leave we were very happy to accept Oleg's offer of leading us back to where we were staying. We would never have found our way into the city but once past that all was familiar - just follow the trolley-bus tracks! YAY - home before midnight!


















This is Laura, Oleg and Oleg's mother Sveta. Thanks for everything.

TUESDAY 23rd JUNE 2009 (VODKA NIGHT)

TUESDAY 23rd JUNE 2009

After the stress of yesterday (late nights and police arrests - almost) a lazy morning was in order.

Back to the police arrest: Paul was pulled over randomly and once it was discovered he didn't have the appropriate 'technical passport' with him (he took the rego and ownership papers) then they got 'angry'. They babbled something at Paul which he had no idea about. When Vadym returned he explained very simply...."make the wind". WHAT...??? "Make the wind". God damn, don't you Australian's understand anything...!!! 'Make the wind' turned out to be the Ukrainian breathalyser - you blow into the policeman's face...!!! This is when we found out that Ukraine has a zero alcohol tolerance when driving. Bloody hell...!!!

We also found out that if Paul didn't pull over the police have the right to shoot him...!!! Double bloody hell...!!! And to think we rode through three police blocks only days earlier ignorantly congratulating ourselves on the money we saved...!!! Lots of police corruption with part of the fine going into State coffers, the other, probably larger bit, going into the policeman's pocket.

Today's plan was to go to Oleg's at 6.00pm so we decided to catch the trolley-bus into the city and post a parcel home (even that took one hour) and try and blog-on but time got away. We were STARVING so had a snack and before we knew it, it was time to get our taxi to Olegs. No blogging today.

We got to Oleg's and was greeted with the news that 'all was fixed with the bike'. Amazing how one's mood can lift with those 6 simple words! We arrived to a purring motorcycle. Oleg did lots of pointing, Vadym translated and we nodded and grinned as it was explained that the points backing plate, points, condenser and the odd wire or two were changed.

Oleg also had his 1952 Dnepr outfit in the drive-way - the two together looked great. Oleg's machine guns were brought out and we were shown how they were fitted. Paul took the bike up the road for a short test ride and all seemed to be in order.

We weren't allowed to take the bike as it is Ukrainian tradition to celebrate a success. There goes our plan for a quick getaway in the morning! The only thing Paul remembers is Oleg saying....Paul, drink...!!! A large bottle of NEMIROFF Vodka came out and it soon became apparent that we weren't going home until it was finished. Only Paul and Oleg were drinking! Paul, drink...!!! A bit of Russian whisky was thrown in for good measure but after Paul nearly needed resuscitating it was back to the vodka. Paul, drink...!!!

Drinking the Ukrainian way comprised a shot of Vodka followed by half a glass of water and then some food. Guaranteed no hangover in the morning. Laura provided a great spread of food, what we thought was far too much, but then we weren't wise in the ways of Vodka drinking! Amazing how Oleg's English comprehension and speech improved dramatically after a bottle of Nemiroff...!!!

But wait....the show is not over until Oleg has performed a karaoke session by singing a Russian bike song to us at a volume louder than an AC/DC concert.

Another late night taxi ride home.

MONDAY 22nd JUNE 2009 (OLEG PASSAITA & POLICE)

MONDAY 22nd JUNE 2009


Paul left by taxi into the BIG city to find a battery. The army fella's last night indicated a shop called VOSXOD can supply batteries. No-one in administration had heard of the street or shop but a taxi was called and Paul was on his way!


Not long after he left the 'military man' (Oleg) arrived with three friends and began pulling things apart on our bike. He seemed to know what he was doing, obviously well versed with these machines. Paul was soon back with a battery, but no electrolyte....that, apparently was too hard...!!! He did get a surprise to see Oleg. Nothing was said last night but apparently Oleg went home and decided to help us as there was probably no-one else in this city who would work on such a bike. LUCKY US.


Nothing apparent showed itself on the bike and so it was decided that the bike would be taken to Oleg's at 6.00pm . A young fellow called Vadym came to show Paul the way. They lent us a battery to get the bike from A to B. I decided to stay at the apartment and catch up on some writing (which didn't happen).


Enroute Paul was pulled over by the angry Ukrainian Police and just as they wanted to put him in gaol, Vadym returned as did Velodislav (who we'd met the night before). Does everyone in this city know us...??? The Police would not buckle, they were about to put the motorcycle under arrest when Velodislav negotiated a cash deal (quite substantial) so we could be on our way. Unbeknown to us, Velodislav turned out to be a doctor as well as a political cabinet minister.




Paul got to Oleg's LATE and STRESSED. He rang me and I caught a taxi to Oleg's which was on the other side of the city. When I arrived I found the head and barrel removed from the right side as the original barrel had corroded out and was leaking oil everywhere. Ignition coil, distributor, carbies, valve clearances, spark plugs and caps were all tested. The bike was assembled, started and still ran shit-house. At one o'clock in the morning we knocked off and it was decided that maybe the engine needs to be dismantled tomorrow...!!!







We caught a taxi home. We were numb and wishing we weren't here.

Thankyou Oleg and Vadym. Also thanks to Laura (Oleg's wife) and Julia (Oleg's daughter) for their hospitality.

SUNDAY 21st JUNE 2009 (ODESSA SIGHTSEEING & MEETING OLEG at GOBLIN)

SUNDAY 21st JUNE 2009

The day started with Deep Purple playing at full volume. The music doesn't seem to stop day or night.

We spent a lot of the morning with Bodya and we decided to see him off as he was riding back to Cherkassy today (for him, 7 hours on his 1953 M-72). He is such a nice fella and we appreciated his company and conversation - even though we both had difficulties with translation.

We then caught a trolley-bus into the city centre to explore and see some sights. It is a beautiful city with ancient buildings, beautiful architecture and manicured gardens. Horse and carriages were carrying people about the city, we had views out over the Black Sea and we could view the workings of the local port.

We didn't get back to the campground till well after dark (10.30pm) and immediately tried to find our Russian mates but they had packed up and left. Oh well, we are on our own again. On our way back to the room we couldn't believe our eyes when in the dim light we spotted a military M-72 outfit complete with machine gun. The rider and pillion were in full military regalia. Looked fantastic. Of course they didn't speak any English but we got the message across that we had a bike similar and were having troubles with it.

The rider (Oleg) and his friend who spoke a little English came to have a look. After a few kicks, and scratching his chin the bikes battery went totally dead and they left.

Now we have a bike that wont go and finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than finding a battery in Odessa...!!! And we still have the original, unsourced problem!

SATURDAY 20th JUNE 2009 (150 KILOMETERS to GOBLIN)

SATURDAY 20th JUNE 2009


Fingers duly crossed Paul kicked the bike and she started. We were so grateful. Maybe there is still a chance we could get to the GOBLIN show....but it's still 150 km away. That's a whole day's ride for us....on a good day...!!!

Away we went, slowly and hour by hour the bike continued to plod along. We reached the outskirts of Odessa at midday and decided to follow the bikes - we had no idea where the rally was, only that it was along the beach somewhere. Odessa is a city with 3 million people but we made our way in okay, even managed to get all the green lights. The city centre is so beautiful but Paul was more concerned that the bike was getting hot. We pulled over to rest under a tree and let the bike cool down. Little did we know we were only 2 kilometers from the rally site! Paul not feeling very well at all by now - tummy troubles!

Back on the bike, along the road and before we knew it Lera (who helped us on the highway yesterday) jumped across the trolley-bus tracks to greet us while we were stationary in the traffic. And to think we could sneak into Odessa unnoticed...!!!


We were very happy to turn into the gates of GOBLIN Motorcycle Rally. A strange set up on an oval with a large beach resort immediately behind. Everyone walked through this area to the beach which was within 20 meters of the campsite. We began to wander about and get our bearings and the first people we saw were the Ruskies who helped us yesterday. It was so nice to be known and recognized. Our stress levels have been fairly high.











Paul by now needed a toilet and so with fear and trepidation went inside a brick block that looked dreadful on the outside. His initiation to Odessa consisted of baring his all in a toilet block with no doors or walls and several holes in the ground and suffering the squirts while everyone walked past. He was not a happy camper!

It was hot, he was tired and the camp ground didn't look that inviting. The music was SO LOUD, Ukrainian punk-rock (not our favourite). We wandered through the resort area to see where the beach was. There were hundreds of motorcycles parked in this area but we decided to try our luck and get a room. When we are at our lowest ebb, something good always happens and we were able to get a nice room with shower and 'clean' toilet AND bed and still be part of the rally. The best of both worlds.




The afternoon was spent with Paul and the bike at the mechanics tent where they removed the sidecar and proceeded to fix oil leaks (a service provided by the rally organisers). The bike created much interest. Should you let Vodka fuelled Ukrainian/Ruskies work on old dunga's? We wondered about this but the experience wasn't a bad one.






The bike was eventually taken to outside our room and then we could unload and enjoy the rally, with Paul making the occasional dash to our room! Much of the evening was spent with our new-found Russian friends and we were happy to catch up with Bodya, our friend from Cherkassy.