Thursday 28 August 2014

Buzios - Moto Petrolhead Weekend

3rd annual rally being held at Buzios, looking like a good place to hang for a couple of days with fello Brasilian petrolheads.

Saying good bye to Paulo after spending 10 days relaxing and sorting out the valve issue we were sorted and set.

We also had our last night there with Daniel (Paulos Nephew), Sheldon and Eva enjoying a nice feed made by Eva, onya guys.

You know all us dodgy buggas, Daniel is wearing the big smile at the head of the table.



A cruzy ride on a nice day up the coast saw us arrive with plenty of time to spare, we needed it as the event had seen ALL the accommodation within a bulls roar already taken.

Arriving to Buzios to a hot fine day was great too.

We were looking to camp as Buzios is a gringo town and priced accordingly, finding the event Ellen asked about the rally and the camping, a great young fella took Ellen (but bought her back) and showed us the camping site, an under cover basket court ... alright, no ants, flat and a roof, saweet.



After the above photo was taken it packed out completely and the tents were wall to wall.

Set up and sorted we talked with the guys running the camp to pay them, nope, camping for motos and their crazy owners is free, well that sounded bloody good to me.

A quick walk around town and a visit back to the rally site to get grounded we left Maya parked there... then tried to leave to have a look around .... no way .....people flocked around to see the orange alien amidst cruisers, sports and adv bikes, Maya looking slightly odd in amongst the normal bikes.

The moment the stunters were on we managed to get a pic as everyone flocked to the street to watch them



We were given stickers, hugs, chats, photos and 99% in Portuguese and our version of Portugringolish ....and it worked. ... just add grog and a smiles .... fluent in 5

As night settled in so do the rock band, the lead singer a true blue sure bet hard core rocker dude with a hair do longer than a Bolivianos face.



The man in action



No drink driving tolerance here (although they all do it), so a decision was made to leave Maya safety guarded by thousands of Brasilians who knew of the bike and the loose nuts riding it and pretty much everyone said "we will keep an eye on her", the rally organiser meeting us and assuring us that it will be untouched.

I walked Ellen back to camp at about 10 pm and set too back at the site with more rum and guarana, eating greasy moto rally food and having fun, the band had finished and most people were leaving so I joined the masses but when leaving the exit gate I was summoned to the sideline with “are you going home”, me yes, “wait 1 minute” ... me OK.

1 minute late someones bike comes out with the same rider that took Ellen away (but bought her back) and he had a spare helmet, jump on I will take you home he says.

Well at about 3 something am with wobbly boots that seem to be out of balance (must get them checked) it was a great option.

Next day was a total rally and Buzios day, we had been invited to a bar b q at 1.00 pm just outa town which was cool.

Just on 9.00 am a big Harley dude the size of a dump truck came over and pointed to a gate and said breakfast is being served.... turns out that FREE breakfast is included with your FREE camping along with your FREE rally entry.... this is very different to what we are used to in New Zealand but were loving it as the rest of Brasil has been torturing our budget.....and will continue to.

The bar b q, it took a bit of finding cos the streets have no names but we found it eventually and enjoyed an afternoon of food and chats with the lads before heading back to the rally site.





Again back at the rally it was more chats photos, really neat meeting these guys, they are the same as Kiwis with their passion for motos.







We also had an interview with the guy who does all their video and TV stuff as he was interested in us, seems we were the only travellers there and we saw only one other KTM which was a white 990 adventure but was not at the rally itself, KTM here in Brasil has a very small following due to NO dealerships or parts so if something epic goes wrong with Maya we are fucked.

Back to it, see this vid at 21 seconds and at 7 minutes for TMK TV special, we will be signing T shirts and baptizing babies next time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etgmu0HNbqU

To finish this is the vid we made of our take on Buzios, all in all an epic weekend of coolness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVqky8JtSfA

A few misc pics, none really need explaining

Bloody Minimal Womans clothing



The cadillac bar



Some guys who need to learn how to ride



The food area, what a great setup



Corrected



Night Falcon, one for you mate!! ...put this into goooooogle translate



Cool motos



Drunken bums



More interesting motos





12 Tenere with a BMW beek .. looks good I reckon



This was common sight to the two obvious aliens, onya guys you made us feel very welcome, sorry for the sea scud on the lense

Thursday 21 August 2014

Itacoatiara - The Local Happenings And Coastal Ride

When the lads returned from their day out a bar b que was put on down at their local club which was cool, a few drinks and good feed with a relaxing chat to Paulos riding buddies ......good times.





A ride up the coast to Buzios with Paulo and Maya is running like a swiss clock again now that everything is set correctly we enjoyed a great day poking our noses in and out of bays, towns and beaches heading north and enjoying an easy ride sans cases and accom all sorted so a later arrival home not even a concern.

Our ride saw us get to Arriaial Do Cabo to the end of the spit before heading up to Buzios which is a very nice gringo town with some slightly large beautiful waterfront homes .... I could easily live there!!





The road started getting good but was not that long



Three trouble makers at the end





Lots of neat places and boas are big here



Heading home we took the secondary road which was still all paved and good nic, we arrived home just on dusk and geared off for a welcomed hot shower and relax with a rum and filter through the days happenings and photos.

Paulo also took us for a ticky tour around the area taking in local viewpoints and attractions part of which was the entrance protection and artillery, the stonework in this building beyond belief with the level of fit and finish.

A canon with the famous Jesus in Rio De Janeiro



Canon height adjustment



Many canon butts with stunning stone arches



The HUGE bridge over the harbour in the distance



The building



The famous sugarloaf in the distance



Three trouble makers san moto gear



To finish off the afternoon we took Paulo out for lunch to a seafood restaurant, the nicest food we have had in months.



All in all a fantastic stay here by accident and generosity which saw us relax, get the bike sorted and take in the beautiful surroundings of Rio De Janeiro, for me an absolute win getting Maya sorted out as there are no KTM dealers or shops here so finding the correct valve shims etc was just demon.

I would have to say Rio De Janeiro is probably the most beautiful city in world we have seen because of its abrupt surroundings so to have seen it first hand up close and personal was seriously cool, if you can't get to Rio just watch the movie Fast Five

http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/fast-five/

Finally, me, Ellen and Ev sitting on top of a rock at the bay just taking it in ... WOH HOH