9th June, Saturday, Saying our goodbyes to Carol we left Fairbanks and headed to Coldfoot, the day was warm, then cold, then very warm at Coldfoot. An uneventful trip was had, the deep shingle from road repairs being the biggest bully to Ellen however she mastered the art of staying on board and beat the bully.

One final test was presented to Ellen upon stopping at an uphill grade off camber at some roadworks ... FAIL, she put her right foot down to find nothing ... Ellen did a Wonderwoman dive off and Chiwi crashed to the ground again thus proving what a great engineer I am ... well everything stayed together is where I am going with this, I would have to say Ellens Barkbusters have stood up very very well and saved so many sets of levers, huge thank you to Barkbuster who have sponsored our BarkBuster Storms, essential equipment proven time and again.

We arrived at Coldfoot in the heat, proceeded to the visitors centre and found out about camping, we met Peggy who was very helpful to us, we ended up staying at the Marion Creek Camp which was very nice apart from the relentless mozzies.

At Coldfoot tanking up Hobbit and Chiwi



Peggy and Lonnie



Jack (Alcan Rider) suggested bear spray for the bears and a 12 gauge for the mozzies, I think the 12 gauge is a little on the lite side for the size of these buggas, a sawn off shoty with buck shot might slow some down but a canon would serve you better.

Ellen’s version of camping at Marion Creek Camp: we stopped at the camping ground, it was hot and we were dirty and sweaty. Mosquitos like light weight airplanes landing on us. Andi’s two layers of Icebreak won’t have a chance. He got grumpy because he got bitten and I had to wear my rain jacket and sweating underearth. Who’s dumb idea camping? The mozzies are so bad here, only deet can fight them off. Lots of people say deet is not good for you. But in our situation, you are either die from bitten by mozzies or by bad chemical, take your pick. I put deet on my face and hand, if I die, so be it. Sorry greenies, I like the idea of being health, but in life and death situation, I choose weapon which works. Anyway, take a cruise in Alaska sounds more appealing to me right now.



Stunning new hair do... does this mozzie net make my bum look big?



We soon came upon the Yukon River, that is a monster and the bridge a structure to be admired, lunch and photos were in order.



On arriving at the Arctic Circle we thought we would do what no other man has done before.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Deet on, mozzies nets on, guns loaded (and that was just for sleeping) we woke to a fine and warm morning, a brisk pack up and a quick getaway so we weren’t on the breakfast menu was in order, thus things flowed fairly quickly.

We stopped at several sets of road works, there is a lot of work being done to tidy the road up post winter, on approaching Attigan Pass mum nature decided yeap time for a another dip so she give us a good old fashioned heavy rain wash, this was short lived but it did make the road greasy with the Calcium Chloride they use on the road to keep the dust down....very handy in heavy rain.



Gabraith Lake soon came upon us which was our organised camp mid point to Prudhoe Bay, we have booked in for the 3pm tour the following day to go to the Arctic Ocean thus fulfilling part one of Arctic To Antarctic, part two will be Inuvik and Tuktayktuk .. can’t write about that as it hasn’t happened yet but I think we had good weather!!!!

Upon arrival at camp we had slightly dirty bikes, it looked like we had been racing motocross with house and contents on.









We settled in and set up dry, mum nature again decided time for a wash so we carried on and wrote our report while the temperature dropped like a stone.

There was good facilities here including bear proof food container, toilet, fire pit with wood etc so 5*



We wondered down to the lake to get some water as we were running low, the creek was brown and flowing because of the heavy rain so we picked on the ice shelf that looked clean with no yellow spots in it



This little walk itself netted some neat pics of caverns etc so pretty cool, out came the professional photographer and we spun off a few shots.







We found a we patch of flowers that Ellen thought was quite romantic so what was a professional photographer (well me anyway) meant to do ...



The weather crapped in again after spotting us half an evening to walk around and get water etc ... Hobbit and Chiwi sitting patiently in the rain :eek1



That concluded the day

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

As fast as you are putting these up, I'm reading them! Bloody brilliant bro!

Cheers bloke,

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Well mum nature could have been nicer to us but at least our tent got a good wash, we set off for Pruhdoe Bay at 8.00 am and arrived at 12 noon for 140 miles, the road was a combo of very bad to very good, mud, bog, tar, shingle, potholes etc, lots and lots of roadworks.



The last 50 miles we had a very strong cross wind so we got to use up use a good portion of the right hand side of the tyre, is was very hard work for me let alone Ellen, full credit to her she is a wee machine as that would have been as hard as any Kiwibiker would have endured and still smiled.

Over the passes there was thick pea soup fog and freezing conditions, both our carbs iced up on numerous occasions so temperatures we were guessing were around zero or below.

The Prudhoe Bay tour left at 3.15pm from Deadhorse and took 2 hours, it is actually about 16 miles from Deadhorse to the Ocean, cost is $49.00 US per head, spendie but worth it.





For those of you who have not been to Prudhoe Bay it is no small operation, there are over 500 miles of roads by the oil companies purely at the bay, not including the access road in.

Big Drilling rig



Local Fox with three legs and some KFC



Sign at Prudhoe bay



Myriad off pipework, literally thousands of kilometers



Big machinery



Even a local forest which is green all year :lol3



Local grizzly and her cub



Photo of an Asian tourist taking a photo ... who woulda thought?



Some dodgy bugga with a big smile and literally on top of the world.



It was blowing quite hard, probably 45 - 50 mph wind



Here we are still in love



Vast is the only way to describe it eh



Evidence of the rock stolen from Prudhoe bay to be matched up with his Antarctic counterpart some miles away and the little (empty at this time) flask given to us by Frank and Simone to take with us to the top and bottom of America



My promise to you Frank I will take it to the bottom of the world to get Ushuaia sticker.



When one gets to Prudhoe and pays dearly to get there one must take advantage of the freezing conditions and chilly waters... so game on, when we lost the feeling in our feet it wasn't so bad :rofl



Bloody poser

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Heya Mate,

We didn't know it was so easy to put report on Horizons after having dinner with Susan and Grant last night. We are just copy and paste from other site, thanks Ellen for the transfer job. Keep in touch.

Cheers
Andi and Ellen

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

We left Deadhorse and headed back to camp at Galbraith Lake 140 miles away, we had tea and a shot of energy drink prior to leaving to aid with warmth and sharpness and believe me it was needed, the wind had increased to what turned out to be about 60 mph as when we headed up the Brooks range with the then tailwind I was doing 55 mph on my speedo and the leaves were overtaking me ... we need a bigger engine bro!!

Chiwi and Hobbit having a break



Local Caribou running away from me .. shouldn't have taken my helmet off.



This dude kept riding beside me, although every time I saw him up beside me I gassed it and held him at bay, sneaky !!:evil, he never took the challenge to overtake which is kinda cool cos that means my situation might have been slightly different.



Then came the takeover bid from the female biker ... time is around 9.00 pm thus the shadows, not sure if she is riding relaxed or just totally shagged after the big side wind.



On arriving back at camp at 11.00 pm we were greeted with fine ish weather which was nice, we were both pretty shagged but very happy with having such a great day and Deadhorse and Pruhdoe Bay.





I would have to say the Sargent seats saved our bums and are well well worth having so a huge thank you to Sargent for sponsoring the seats.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Frost ... nup, snow!

WTF we went to bed in a nice evening, I hopped up at some am for a wizz and it was still good so some time later in the early morning mum nature treated us to a small snow storm.

Too cool .. we are getting used to these now.

The tent



The guys ropes, they wouldn't be chick ropes cos a chick couldn't take the cold :ken :uhoh (..and that Your Honour is when the fight started )



The GPS is under there



We packed up with snow and ice on the tent and rode back out, weather was pretty crappy to start with but only a few km up the road WOH HOH ..sun!!

Still slightly cold somewhere well below freezing we stopped to take some pics, Ellens heated grips failed so that was not much fun for her.

A stop at Atigun Pass



See



Looking up Atigun Pass, just beautiful



Frost and snow STILL on the inside of the screen after 50 miles! :vardy :vardy the screens kept the direct chill of us so we were very pleased to be able to hide behind those, a shameless plug for Screens For Bikes Australia, well done Peter these are made incredibly well and the shape is mint for protection of the Two Softey Kiwis .... now we just need an extendable retractable inflatable colourful screen for when it is hot cold dark windy fine snowing and cold



Even Mr Garmin wasn't let off the hook with a wee stalactite hanging even after 50 miles of riding :eek1



We finally arrived at the Hot Spot Cafe and ordered a monster burger each which was a welcomed warm input, we set up camp with fine warm weather and enjoyed an evening of relaxing and watching mozzies on the OTHER side of the mesh ... suffer ... they could smell us but they couldn't have us .. a very satisfying feeling :clap

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Yay, we woke to a few spots off rain which soon retired and left us being able to pack up dry ... the down side to that is we were ON the breakfast menu with the mozzies, friendly bunch they are all wanting to kiss us all over! ... funny enough it is only the females that suck you dry ... seems to be an international thing not limited to mozzies :huh

We headed on out to the Yukon and filled up with the intention of heading into Manly hot springs, we went through a multitude of road works with the third world construction zone / mud pit for 5 miles being the worst only 5 minutes from the end of the James Dalton Highway.

This was the result :eek1



See the Calcium Chloride eating into the engine cases



End of the highway (well the beginning actually but the end for us)



Just as we finished taking pics and Ozzie couple rocked up and stopped so we had a chat and gave them the road conditions etc, great to catch them up for a chat, I let their front tyres down a little to aid with traction as they didn't have a tyre gauge, their bikes were beautifully clean but 2 more minutes was gonna change all that :evil hope all went well guys and we will catch you along the way.

Two Slimy Kiwis



N o i c e and clean cob!!



After saying goodbye we headed off to Manly hot springs only to get 9 miles before pulling the pin on that, deep slimy mud that was seeing both of us struggle, it was going to end up with one or both of us doing a tank slapper and binning so simply not worth it, the Calcium Chloride is nasty but provides a great binder.

With binning the hot pools idea we headed on back to Fairbanks to Adventure Cycle Works for a clean off and new rubbers.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

The end of the Dalton and basically our rear rubber, still a bit of life in them but too heavy to carry, we had Dan spoon the Heidendau K60 rear on, the machine making easy work of it.

Chiwi cocking her leg



Action man cleaning off the Dalton



We have a K60 front as well but will carry them until the front has died as they still have a bit of life in them yet, next day or so we spent in Fairbanks to gather thoughts, gather food, gather energy and catch our breath, not to mention writing up a monty report for family and friends to see just what we have been up to.

We are off to Denai Park tomorrow so the next write up will cover the Denali Park, Denali highway, Tok, D2D, Dempster, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk all of which we had fine weather

Love to family, friends and followers.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

We stayed behind today in Fairbanks to get all our Ride Reports up to date and some FU@$#N wanker flogged our ipad 2 literally from under our nose in the University Library.

Couldn't bloody believe it eh, the thing would not have been more than 2 metres from us :kboom :kboom

We have been to the Police and filled a report, they are going to get some footage from the surveillance camera but they are not very hopeful.

Can't believe the cheek of some lowlifes, if we find them they will pay with their lives.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Well exciting times having less to pack from Fairbanks with some lite fingered shithead flogging our ipad2, never mind it is only a material item.

When we were at the Nui with the Police we spotted this, to me this a great way not to pack :eek1



We stopped at Nenana for lunch and visit o the local museum etc, pretty cool place,



Wifi wasn't runnin real quick so we took a quick look ... :eek1



We arrived safe and sound at Denali National Park and set up camp at Riley Park Camp which has great facilities and a nice location.



We took the 92.6 mile trip by bus as you are only allowed private vehicles so far, we had stunning weather on the way in right to the end then thunderstorms and lightning on the way out so the best of both worlds ... but lightening does not flash backwards here Kiwis ... it’s just the same as ours except bigger.



Mt Denali standing at 20327 ft still played hard to get as it creates its own weather system due to its shear size, amazing that it has such an effect on surrounding areas.







Mount Denali is hidden under there somewhere



Wonder lake with approaching thunderstorm



Arty stuff



This did not stop the grizzlies, Caribou and various assortments from putting on a show tho, Two Photo Kiwis took advantage of this and we hope you enjoy these from the safety of your arm chair. (not that it was that bad for us either to be honest).

Grizzlies





Moose with decent set of trees on top







Kiwi Moose with large appendages



They even had exotic Asian Moose



They call these Sheep over here, we in New Zealand would call them a roast



A real Caribou with big sticks



My new girlfriend, she was absolutely beautiful

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Today June 18th was a relax day, we went to the Visitors centre and watched a vid of Denali National Park, this was o u t s t a n d i n g to say the least.

After that we went to the Dog Sled set up which was well cool, a live demo was done and everybody clapped or they were trying to smack the mozzies....not sure.







On conclusion of that we headed in the roaring metropolis of Denail township to get some food for the trip we had planned to Savage River, I thought Ellen was very optimistic with her time schedule and it turned out that I was very right ... although she wouldn’t admit it.

This changed the game plan somewhat since we missed our bus so we walked up to a very flash Hotel, we went in and checked out the view which was pretty good.









A large Viaduct that could be seen from up there



Ellen was totally amazed by the Hotel so bein a romantic kinda guy I thought what the hell we have been doing it hard so I took her back for another walk passed the hotel... she is one lucky gal.

From there we walked back to the camp and got stuck into tea, nice relaxing day with a few exercise km’s under the belt to keep a reasonable level of fitness.

Padders ... this hat good enough?



Tomorrow we set off to Denali Highway and beyond... more then, chur dudes and dudesses.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Tuesday 19th June, we left Denali National Park and turned on to the Denali Highway. This road was the only one before Parks Highway to connect Denali National Park. It closes in winter, only open in summer - which means three weeks ago.

The weather was beautiful, blue sky with sun shining. We can almost see the whole of Mt Denali in the distance.



The road is pretty much like the one to McCarthy, the only different is - 200km of pot holes instead of 100ks. The scenery is beautiful though. We sat in the middle of the road had our lunch. Maybe we haven’t mentioned the variety of camping food you can buy in US yet , they are very tasty and full of chunky vegetables and meat. What you only need to do is to open the package, pour hot water in and it is done. They are not cheap, around $6-7 each, but for a full hot meal in the middle of nowhere, that is great value. We have been eating lots of them while we are camping especially when it is cold.





There was two cyclists that had stopped as all the air in his tyre had gone to the top so we stopped and offered help or parts however they were all kitted and on the job.

Chiwi decided to have another rest, yet again Barkbusters earning their keep.





This is one of a nice bridge along the way.



It didn’t take too long for us to get to the end of the gravel road. We found a camping ground in Tangle Lake. Just as we set up our tent, a mummy moose with her two calves were grazing nearby, that was a very nice welcoming.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Wednesday morning, we carried on to Tok to meet our friend Dicon and Leslie going to Dawson together. From Paxson to Delta junction was beautiful, the road was windy and smooth.

We stopped at Delta junction and fill up - both us and the bikes. The first 50k from Delta junction to Tok was unbelievably boring - it was straight (my first thought was this is gonna hurt - thinking of my bum), not a single up and down, you can’t see the end. I was hoping some road works can keep me awake, finally, there was a bit gravel, Yah, at least can keep me concentrating. That’s how you can change your perspective so quickly, unwanted gravel could be like a treat in different situations!

It didn’t take us long to find CJ who is famous for being in the Long Way Round and he had just come back from France. He is working in a RV repair shop which is a full workshop. We took the advantage to change oil for Chiwi and Hobbit. They have done 4000 miles now (which is 6400ks)



Just as we arrived in the workshop, a thunder storm came down hard with hale and very heavy rain. Under the full cover of the workshop we were totally dry and happy.





Dicon and Leslie found us later at CJ’s and we all went out for a big feed of burgers in a restaurant, the carpark is full of motorcyclists who are going to the same Dawson City the next day.

Huge thanks to CJ for his help with the workshop, perfect timing for us. We stayed at CJ’s home on Wednesday night, got up had eggs and salami on toast for breakfast then headed off to Dawson.

The man himself



Some Alaska pipeline info for you.



At mid point there is a place called Chicken .... yeap Chicken, it is the last town before we cross the boarder. It was very hot, might be 25 -30 degrees C. There is a fact sheet displayed on a shop door, you can have a read, I won’t repeat it here again.









You gotta see this place to believe it



As you all know Alaska is FULL of trees... so the local dog comes along and pisses on MY wheel .. thankfully the thunderstorm just up the road took care of that







There is a funny fact, every time we ride with Dicon, it rained. Dicon and Leslie were ahead of us before we got to Chicken, they waited for us there and we went together. It was sunny and hot before Chicken too, then it all turned to shit again. We had a thunder storm again and this time, lighting too. After the boarder crossing, we said to them if they want to go ahead, we will take some photos, so we slowed down a bit.

As they went away, the Sun came out we were riding in blue sky again. The top of the world highway was partly paved, it is built on the ridge, so you can see both sides of the mountains and big open areas, beautiful road.The Canadians are not very tourist oriented so unfortunately there was no pull over area for us to take a good picture on the Top of the World. But we did see some lighting strike that caused a bush fire, couple of airplanes dumping fire retardants on it.



As we continued towards Dawson City we entered Canada which was our first official border crossing on land .. no hitches, they asked us to take off our helmets and asked if we are carrying any alcohol or guns, cause we didn’t. Then we set off to the top of the world highway destination Dawson.





There was only 127k from the boarder to Dawson, by 5pm we were at the river. There is no bridge on the river, so we have to use the ferry, it’s free but you have to wait. The staff are very motor bike friendly, the ask us to come forward and get on first. One tourist bus wasn’t happy, we saw him waiting for two rounds and still kept waiting..... we are finally here at D2D 2012.

Upon crossing the Yukon river, we got to Dawson City, saw lots of people we meet in Anchorage. We set up our camp, had some thing to eat, then set off to town for a look around.















There was only 127k from the boarder to Dawson, by 5pm we were at the river. There is no bridge on the river, so we have to use the ferry, it’s free but you have to wait. The staff are very motor bike friendly, the ask us to come forward and get on first. One tourist bus wasn’t happy, we saw him waiting for two rounds and still kept waiting.

Upon crossing the Yukon river, we got to Dawson City, saw lots of people we meet in Anchorage. We set up our camp, had some thing to eat, then set off to town for a look around.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Dawson is a old gold mine town, it has lots of old buildings, looks like Granity on the West Coast of New Zealand. The pub in town sell “sour toe” cocktail. A toe from old miner’s dead body has removed and put in a cocktail, you can drink it.



How gross!

We sat at Midnight Sun Hotel for a drink, the waitress said we can buy a bottle of wine with off sale price, but still drink in the pub. We believed her, it turned out the off sale price was $11 and we paid $27, what a ripe off for naive Kiwis.

The rest of the evening was enjoying street shenanigans on motorcycles, skill event with slow races, slalom, blindfold ride :eek1 and eat the sausage.





Ellen wasn't used to something so small so she failed :evil

Street games ... blindfolded







Hobbit and Chiwi in the main street









Here is a bunch of Dawson City town photos, to see more go to our photobucket album so we don't bore you to tears :cry .. .this town is a good energy town and very very cool, even tho we are only borrowing energy and we return it to earth when we die there is plenty of good karma and a nice feeling with the place, dirt roads and all :clap :clap













We also met up with some other RTW bikers www.2tmoto.com

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere