Attachment 18593Very sad to report that Wayne Thompson, aka The_gypsy here, Gypsy Easyriders on fb, rode to the other side last week, in England of a heart attack.

Wayne was one of life’s true characters and I was fortunate he came to my cabin in Chile early in 2013. He was en route, testing water supplies for different governments. He was due to return in the coming months.

Raised in Rhodesia, his wild stories of a wild life helped as I worked through a dark time. I’ve met many, many travellers and his stories beat most! It’s because of travelers like Wayne that this house and garden is what it is today, for myself and other travelers to enjoy. Grateful. Thank you Wayne, for helping dismantle the upstairs bathroom and for electrical work. May you continue to ride well and hard.

Lorraine

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That is really sad to hear. I only met Gypsy in August. RIP mate, Nev and Val

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Damn shame, I too only met Wayne this year but he was a unique individual and a pleasure to talk to.

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[ Tim | History - NW Italy/French Rivera, Swiss Alps, Morocco | 2016 - Greece > Albania > Macedonia > Kosovo > Montenegro > Bosnia > Slovenia > Austria ]

Thanks Loraine, I am pleased you had the opportunity to meet him....

Wayne parked his V-strom with us in Buenos Aires too many years ago to remember. He took a RO-RO (roll on - roll off) voyage from Europe to Buenos Aires and was bound and determined to do something meaningful in South America and increase his substantial fortunes in the process. He took up residence in our maid's quarters located in our classy apartment next to our parking garage.

He was delightful and came equipped with the latest gear - whether it be electronic or camping. He was the prodigy of landed gentry in Great Britain - he owned a country manor, he crashed his motorcycles frequently. He was a real man!

It was Wayne - the engineer who provided the needed electronics - for my now infamous boludometro - that has made friends and enemies across three continents. A boludometro measures the boludes in men and the beauty in women. Ask any Argentine - "what is a boludo?" and you will soon - after the laughter subsides, have a friend. Wayne and I had great fun testing the boludometro in and around Buenos Aires. It was a great pick up line - asking a beautiful Argentine woman - if we could measure her beauty with our boludometro ..... it worked as did everything Wayne touched.

I introduced the boludometro at Viedma, Argentina HUBB meeting about 10 years ago. Made a few enemies there - those who had no sense of humor.

Wayne hand crafted world class knives, bows and arrows that he often presented to the rich and famous, he was a soldier of fortune, an expert marksman - and was hired over and over to second many a world famous bow hunter as they took Africa's big five game animals. He seconded a famous Japanese bow hunter with a bow, not a rifle. The Japanese forbid any rifles... This is the kind of stuff Wayne did without the slightest hint - unless you asked.

And there was more, much more. He invented a simple method to extract arsenic from water - the arsenic introduced into the water tables by over zealous mining companies - that is what he was doing in Chile early on. Later, he had several large contracts to test water for various South American governments.

Rosa del desierto and I had the honor to work with Wayne through the years as he came and went through Buenos Aires. We parked his motorcycle for him for many years www.Xfiltrate.com - Professional Motorcycle Parking and we always looked forward to his visits.

He was physically attacked by henchmen sent by a mining company because he was exposing the arsenic levels in various South American countries water and naming the mining company as the guilty party. All his research and gear was stolen but he managed to beat off the attackers with his ever present cane. He was a expert in several martial arts - he and I used to try to "take each other down" after a few s.

He probably spied for M-!6 the British Foreign Spy service ("probably") and was actually more Bondish than Bond himself. He was an immaculate dresser and imported all his evening wear - I remember him calling me from London - and asking what dress suits/shoes etc he could buy in Buenos Aires - this was prior to his arrival. He was always thinking ahead. He was an expert diner and drinker. Never seemed to be drunk - no matter how much he drank.

Rhodesia was his home - early on - and when he fought there later on- he was a decorated hero - but as most reading here know - heroes are a relative lot. But he - he was a hero by anyone's standards. He was a trained killer.

He was one of two engineers ever invited to join the Royal Academy of the Arts... the other was one of the inventors of the internet - no, it wasn't Al Gore!

I could go on and I will later, right now I stop to grieve. And, drink - a lot....Wayne was one of two men - I have met via our parking business - that I consider a true friend. He always had my back.

Gypsy - Wayne - we were never strangers - always true friends I am sure where ever you are now, you and your "band of brothers" are making it a better place for all...... thanks

xfiltrate

Devastated to hear this news, I spent a fine evening with him three months ago in September at the HU meeting in France, where he was a regular over the last few years. Always entertaining and helpful with the meeting, whether it was helping people or just keeping an eye on health and safety aspects. He never ate fruit or veg, just plate loads of any meat he could lay his hands on. He was not keen on having his photo taken, so it is great to see the above pics. A true eccentric in many ways, but also super intelligent and well read. We'll miss him at the meeting.

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Very sorry to see this sad news, I last saw Wayne at the HU France do in September. As others here and on Facebook have said, he was quite a character and full of stories. His presence will surely be missed.

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xfiltrate, you have some wonderful stories you've shared and yes, I was told a few of them! I've been asked by the family to remove the photos as per Wayne's wishes, so I'm working on that. Pongo wrote, he didn't like his picture taken. Hahaha, I suspect it was because he didn't want people in his past to catch up with him.Hehehe. As they say, you can't hit a moving target. ;-) If anyone would like me to send them these pictures, I would be happy to.

Lorraine

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http://igg.me/at/AWildLife

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www.facebook.com/lorraine.chittock

It`s truly a sad day to hear of the passing of a free spirit the likes of Wayne "The Gypsy" Thompson. It was my pleasure to have met Wayne twice, HU France 2014 and 2016. His tales of traveling and working in the water industry kept me amazed for hours. His knowledge of travel in South America was vast and he was always happy to share that knowledge. Two enduring memories of Wayne i have are that he lived on a diet of spicy sausage and nothing else and he slept in a hammock under a tarp while his computers and gadgets enjoyed the comfort of a warm dry tent. He was a fab bloke and will be missed. May his Horizons remain unlimited.

Gypsy's gone,when i get this message from Pongo this morning i couldn't trust it, then i took my breakfast and suddenly remained Wayne's breakfast in the HU meetings, a huge spirally Aveyronnaise sausage half meter long and two eggs on the top cooked on a BBQ. Last time i saw him, it was in Loupiac's HUM, i was going south Spain afterwards and when I asked him what was his project, he said, I'm going back to UK and then I'll go home, i asked him where was home for him if it wasn't England! Oh for me, he said, home is Argentina.
I hope you're back there in peace Gypsy, So long my friend, we will never forget you.
Roger.

Very Very sorry to hear this. It's folks like Wayne that made bumping into strangers interesting and fascinating. Wayne was never a stranger too long. He was better than most at welcoming the newcomers to the community, and took care of the little guy.

While we traveled by truck, and he by bike, he still offered to make us tea and coffee (and made a pretty good coffee too!).

Ride on.

Sorry to read this. RIP Wayne Thompson.

I met Wayne on the HU meeting in Viedma in 2013 and I have to say I enjoyed listening to him talk. He tested water for South American governments. I asked him a few questions and I was surprised that he knew more about water than I expected and that he would talk about it openly with a fellow bike traveler that he had just met. I still have his card and the link to his/a website selling fuel cats ... I never got around to order one, maybe I should now.

Only met Wayne for the two days of the meeting and of course dont know his life story. But I thought of him a couple of times after the meeting, but never had any contact with him anymore.

Xfiltrate wrote:

I would not call a trained killer or a soldier a hero, and it is hard for me to believe a person as bright as Wayne could be used by a government to kill other human beings. Maybe in his younger years, I dont know. But Wayne standing up against the mining companies and naming them for polluting made him a hero in my eyes, I still remember him today telling me this story.

RIP Wayne.

mika

Hi there - if anyone is interested in details about Wayne's memorial party taking place on June 3, please reach out to me - thomp749@gmail.com.