It’s been a long long time since we posted here…..it’s been a year since my son, Kyle, died on his motorbike….and time for me to rejoin the living!  

The past few weeks I’ve felt a pull to try and learn to ride for myself again…this time with a more suited bike and a better instructor/shadow….my husband! If I can’t do it this time, then I shall have to accept it really is that I’m just not a rider. But Vince assures me I can do it….absolute beginner and baby steps….and you know me, I’ll give it my best shot! Who knows BABYCAKES may just make it to South America for our next big trip (date unknown due to money and time at the moment).

I bought him on 21.2.2017 but he had to be lowered, due to me being vertically challenged, so we collected him yesterday. He is a little 2015 Kawasaki Z250SL, only 7 months on the road with 2900k on the clock…and in pristine condition, a steal at just $3900 plus $150 for the lowering links (New is $6099). He looks brand new and I have no intention of dropping him and messing up his beautiful Candy Burnt Orange paintwork!

Vince rode him down the road to our friends, Tam and Zander, at Overlander Adventure Equipment, as I wanted to see if he could be kitted out for long distance travel, and of course he can be! But that’s down the track, I have to crawl before I walk before I run. But Vince did buy me the little tank bag to start off….and who knows I have a birthday next month….Hmmmmm. LOL

I had told the ANIMAL about her little brother before we left to collect him, like most siblings, she didn’t seem too impressed and was strangely quiet. But later in the day, at my first lesson in the school carpark, when she saw her Mummy struggling and scared, she softened and has taken her little brother under her wing now! It was a bit of a harrowing experience, but I managed to stay upright, not drop the bike and to ride it the length of the car park and stop. And so the adventure begins..

If I do get my license, it doesn’t mean that I won’t still ride two up on the ANIMAL, her pillion seat is mine alone and always calls me! She will always be our first born, the realisation of our dreams, our home for 10 months on the road and even my ambulance in Thailand when I broke my arm. Our big girl will always be our baby too!

What a fantastic weekend of old friends, new friends and inspirational overland travellers. I now can’t wait to get back on the road again asap…..South America here we come…….well maybe in a little bit!

I am always impressed and amazed at the wonderful camaraderie between bikers and overland travellers…it is a beautiful community Vince and I are privileged to be part of.

Many thanks to the organisers for all their dedication and handwork in putting together this excellent meeting.

A very special thanks to the incredible generosity of a number of sponsors who provided both major and door prizes – so many that all 110 in attendance received something. These included an all expense paid trip to the Philippines by “Bikes Abroad”, a Trek II Sleeping bag from Tam and Xander from “Overland Adventure Equipment”, Backpacks filled with merchandise by Aaron Zinsli from “South Pacific Motorcycle Tours (NZ)”, Coffee Table books from “Steve Fraser Photography” (National Geo and Ducati), 2 First Aid Course places by Janine from “Rider Down”, a Handmade African Mat from Alfa of “Africa on Two Wheels”, other sponsors included “Horizons Unlimited”, “Nevermind Tours” and “Overland Adventure Equipment”. Sorry, if I have missed anyone….thanks to ALL the generous sponsors.

It was a great opportunity for Vince and I to finally share some of our 10 month overseas trip with others and I dedicated my presentation to my son, Kyle, who I know will continue to ride with us in Spirit wherever we go.

Sorry…..It’s been a long time since we visited…but as many of you would know it’s been a really tragic year for our family…..first my son Kyle died abruptly ending our travels, then back home in Australia, both our fathers (John in Perth and Jock in Darwin) have been gravely ill (mine in ICU on life support after falling through a roof). Vince’s Mother, Christine, died quite suddenly and whilst he was with her in Perth I was with my Father in Darwin. As if all that was not enough, my daughter, Christina, also had an ectopic pregnancy and my deceased son’s baby, Cash, arrived…..so I’m sure you will understand when I say we have been otherwise occupied!
But we wanted to let you (our loyal blog and website followers) know that we are finally starting to work on our trip “stuff” and will both be presenting at the Horizons Unlimited Perth Western Australia Meeting next month…..we hope to see you all there……please come up and say hello as we would love to catch up.

Karen and Vince
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/perth-2016

http://earth-roamers.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/vince-and-karen-real-riders.html?m=1

Our friends Aad and Mike have posted on their website about us … Check it out!

We had a lovely evening last night at the Currambine Bar and Bistro with about 30 of our riding buddies from the Perth Motorbike and Sidecar Meetup Group. Vince originally founded this group on 9 Feb 2013 and has grown to 682 members! Awesome friends who make us feel very special, supported and loved ….. they share in our passion for motorcycle travel and encourage and inspire us each time we see them. They are the “family” we choose for ourselves and have even organised a welcome home ride for us in 2016. Many will be following our travels closely and perhaps living a little vicariously through us ….so we have to make sure we have the time of our lives….and theirs!  Stay tuned guys – watch out world here we come…..

Post on Meetup from Karen Herriott Partridge

At our family Farewell Dinner one of our daughters and her family gave us a very unexpected and beautiful gift – some BOOT PLATES. The company usually makes inspirational statements for people in the fitness industry such as runners, athletes etc. She contacted them and told them about our plans and they made these specially for us – we are the first “motorbike” ones they have produced – Woo Hoo, we are trail blazers!

It’s ALL STATIONS GO in the Partridge house these days, we are busy packing up our “normal life” into boxes, selling off the extras or donating them to good causes (so we don’t have to store too much). We have listed our house to rent out and people are coming through looking to lease it for the 12 months we are away. We have organised with a friend to care for our dog on her farm whilst we are away … I think he knows Mummy and Daddy are leaving him behind for a while! I am in my last two weeks at work (where I have been for the last 16 years) handing over to my replacement and Vince still has a further two after that….. we are busy catching up with friends and family as best we can and trying to see as much as possible of people before we leave… we are going to miss them. We are booked into a photography course this weekend to sharpen our skills to take those HERO shots to share with you all from our world travels…..they will be AWESOME! I go from being super super excited to scared shi@#less….. but my friends say that’s normal given the circumstances ….I can’t wait! ……something tells me our lives will never be the same again…..BRING IT ON….Here comes ADVENTURE GIRL!

As part of sharing our adventure with others we had a logo designed (by Kiri from Clockwork in Perth) based on our simple design and working to provide constructive feedback. There was a lot of backwards and forwards emails as they didn’t seem to get just how ANIMAL our bike is (initially drawings looked like a scooter!). We eventually went in and met with the graphic designer and things moved forward quickly from there. Once we were happy with the logo and font we moved into having some stickers made (with Steph and John), and within a couple of weeks they finally arrived today! Awesome! We can now share these with our friends in Perth and those we will meet on the road along the way!

 

The ANIMAL was shipped from Fremantle, Western Australia by Bikes Abroad on board the Margaret River Bridge. The ship docked at NQ8 on the morning of 29th Jan and left in the evening of 30th. Karen and Vince went down to Freo to sneak some pictures through the fence as they were not permitted on the actual wharf! Bye Bye baby – see you in the UK.

20th Jan – crating the bike.

	OMG…..It’s really happening…. Vince took the day off work to sort out the bike at Auto Classic BMW – where Aaron had arranged for young Shane to assist us – at a price of course ($268). Karen was at work until the early afternoon and drove the panniers and soft bags in the car. It was not without a little drama … at around 11.00am Vince discovered the the Registration paper engine number didn’t match the purchase paper numbers – a 4 was missing from the front! DISASTER! The bike needed to be inspected by MVR and new papers issued. Team work with Karen organising the booking of the inspection and Vince going out of his way to get it done all worked out!
Our baby all ready to be boxed up, we were able to fit both panniers (filled), both soft bags (filled) and Vince’ motocross boots. We were hoping to also include the top box but that was pushing it! The front wheel had to come off and next would be removal of the windscreen and mirrors and then lowering of the handlebars! Our baby was ravaged!
	Vince’s workmate, Glenda, gave us a blue ribbon to send off our bike with! So here is Karen doing her best game show hostess moves!  Glenda will also be looking after our other baby – Cebar (after a Honda CBR 1000) for the 12 months we are gone …. but that’s a different story!
We set off from BMW and Vince remembered in all the confusion that he forgot to take of the old number plate from the bike – we needed it to exchange for our personalised plate (2UP ADV) when it came. A frantic phone call to Aaron and we were too late – the bike was sealed….but a bit of sweet talking and he agreed to open it up again and sort it. Karen called past on her way to work the next morning to pick up the plate and drop off  a small thank you for both Aaron and Shane – they were impressed!
	It also gave her the opportunity to say a final good by to the ANIMAL and have a picture taken with the crate ….. see you in the UK baby!