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.