I am staying at Sergio's in Ischia, just off Naples in Italy.

It's lovely to be back in Europe.

Tomorrow I'm booked on a ferry to Sardinia. I've never been there before and it's sort of in the right direction.

From there it's another ferry to Corsica and then Nice.

Home is getting a bit close so I am thinking of a few detours.....

Ethiopia is very different to East Africa. The Ethiopians do not consider themselves African.

They are Ethiopians.

Frustratingly a new tyre I brought with me that should have lasted at least 6,000km broke after only 200km.

I now have to wait for a new rear tyre to arrive from Nairobi.

Next destination: Lalibela and Gonder.

A huge thank you to David and Andy for helping me change my tyres for the Moyale road.

Er, actually a huge thank you to David who did all the work.

'The fastest tyre changer in Africa'.

It took him half an hour for both tyres and would have taken me all day. Michelin Deserts are the hardest tyres of all to change.

Three people are telling me to buy a new bike because I spend so much time (and money) fixing Fred:

Steve in Joburg, Chris and Marcus in Nairobi.

I can't sell him because I am emotionally attached (and he's on a carnet which would lead to big tax and duty liabilities).

Would you sell your favourite toy?

Last week the local KTM dealer broke a bearing trying to remove it. The method used was completely wrong.

Huge force was used instead of heat and more 'gentle' persuasion.

One third of Fred's faults have been created by dealer errors.

I have added a page rating the dealer's mechanical (in)competence.

Next destination: the Northern Circuit of Ethiopia.

I've never experienced anything like riding through Burundi before.

I always ride through villages with my visor up so people can see my face.

Many times a crowd would leap to thier feet shouting, smiling and waving at me with pure joy beaming from thier faces.

They were so happy to see a white tourist so they knew the war was over and things were really getting better.

The gorillas in the Virungas NP, Rwanda were even better than the chimps in Gombe.

I am now in Nairobi getting visas, servicing Fred and eating chocolate.

Next destination: the Northern Circuit of Ethiopia.

The chimps in Gombe were amazing.

One came and just lay down only two metres from us. He stayed there for about ten minutes just chilling out.

I'm now contemplating a visit to Mahale National Park to see some more.

Next destination: perhaps Mahale, then the gorillas in Rwanda.

Thanks P and Kev for, er, my third stay chez Clemos.

Amazingly, after trying for many months, Kev suddenly agreed to buy a new pc, even one with a groovy new lcd screen.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to buy Kev the World War 2 Spitfire game - even though it's fun for all the family.

I have a new tracking device on my bike. So you can see I really have left Cape Town and not just downloading photos from the internet.

Next destination: Lake Tanganika, ferry to Kigoma in Tanzania to visit the chimps in Gombe National Park, followed by the gorillas in Rwanda.

'On the road again,
I'm going to sniff some arseholes with my friends'.

I couldn't stop this fragrant song going round and round in my head as I went north through Mozambique. I didn't know any more lines.

Thanks Kev and Ozzie Rodney Rude.

Well, I was on the road again, that is until the clutch started dragging and I discovered I'd left my camera chargers in a hostal in SA.

What to do?

Spend ten days waiting for the parts in Malawi or fly back to Cape Town again?

Easy.

Surprisingly Fred was not ready and waiting to go when I returned from Madagascar.

I've been delayed by:
- Clayton Enslin's unreliability,
- my Swazi shakedown identifying more things to fix.
- me faffing about a bit.

Hopefully, everything is almost done so I really might be leaving SA soon.

I'm so glad I came to Madagascar, even though it is not exactly on the way back to London.

Now I think I know why Hilary Brandt has been here so many times.

It has the nicest people, the strangest plants and animals and the most varied scenery of any country I've ever been to.

Mad is also the poorest country I have visited. Perhaps those who have less give more.

I should be back in Joburg tomorrow. I hope Fred is waiting, ready to head north.

Now I understand why the guidebook author Hilary Bradt has been to Madagascar 27 times.

The Malagasy are the friendliest people I have ever met and the flora and fauna are also unlike anything I have ever seen before.

Instead of returning to Joburg I'm now going to ride north and fly 'Le Heap' back to Tana again. There is no need for a crate, the bike is simply slid into the cargo hold on it's side.

Fred and I have been chilling out in Cape Town with my sister Philippa, nephew Nick and niece Abby for the last two months.

Whilst in a bookshop I saw the new Bradt guide to Madagascar. Hilary Bradt has now been there 27 times. Either it is an amazing place or she has a very bad memory.

It is so close it seems silly not to go there and see it for myself.

Naturally, I'd take Fred, but not for a $3,000 one way flight, so I'm going to hire one there instead.

Touratech have just sent a new satellite tracking unit which I hope arrives soon.

I am still in Cape Town and picked up Fred yesterday. .

I went to SA Cargo's bay to pick him up and recognised Hilton immediately. He helped me uncrate my bike when I first rode north from Cape Town in 2002.

All I have to do now is decide where to go.

Cape Town is definitely one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Even though it is winter, every day has been sunny and warm (so far).

The mountains are so welcoming I've bought another Santa Cruz bicycle. This time I will definitely send it home rather than try to take it on my bike.

Fred is in Perth waiting for a few more suspension bits before I decide where I am going next.

I'm now in Perth where it's cold and has been raining a lot.

Perhaps it's because it is winter.

Due to my complete lack of planning I now know I came to Oz at the wrong time of year and took the wrong route west.

I should have gone north from Sydney rather than south from Cairns.

Oh well, older and wiser again.

I hope to be at my sister's in Cape Town by the end of next week.

When I eventually got the new Toshiba disks (via Connecticut, Auckland and Sydney) Toshiba had sent the wrong disks.

Brilliant.

Just to get going again I bought a set of the wrong spec disks in Sydney, but hey, it works! (at the moment).

Oz is big. Very, very big. It is about the same size as the USA or the whole of Europe.

I've added these pages using an internet cafe in Auckland.

I hope to be leaving for Oz late next week.

Hopefully I'll have the new Toshiba disks before I leave.....

I've had a bit of an upset caused by a meltdown in the IT Department.

Firstly, the hard drive died, but that was ok because I have a spare cloned drive.

Secondly, the cloned drive caught a virus when I was updating the anti-virus software, but that was ok because I had the original set up cd's.

Thirdly, after two hours, the reinstallation failed because the cd was scratched, but that was ok because I could order new cd's from Toshiba NZ.

Fourthly, neither Toshiba NZ nor Oz would send me cd's because I have a US machine, but that as ok because I could get them from the USA .

Fifthly, Toshiba USA wouldn't send them abroad (obviously far too dangerous) only anywhere within the USA , but that was ok as I'd get them sent to my friends in Connecticut .

Sixthly, my friends posted them via ordinary airmail not a courier.

They may not have arrived before I leave NZ.

Unfortunately Fred got bumped off the Monday flight from Santiago by three pallets of strawberries.

However, he made the next one and I've just returned to Auckland after a small northern circuit.

New Zealand is a beautiful country.

I hope to be heading south soon.