With Motorcycle to NORDKAP-Norway
Day-1 : 04 July 2016  Monday
from Istanbul to Ruse (BG)  >>>>Total distance : 620 km

I started to prepare my stuff days ago prior to my departure. As technical tools I also added tyre prepare kit (I wish not to need them at all during my trip).

I did put also my rain gear and also gloves which I had bought for my Silk Road trip to Uzbekistan. I finished all my preparation on the 3^rd of July.

This time, I decided not to make any hotel booking in advance. I will act according to my mood and the conditions at all. If I am happy and the roads are good to ride I will go further, otherwise I will stop somewhere on the way. For this trip I have also added one tent, one mat and sleeping bag. So I feel safer. It can give some unexpected things but I need to try this version, too.

I made a short breakfast at home and I departed around 07:30. I took the highway TEM from Istanbul in direction to Edirne. I followed the route up to Hamitabat and then I decide to use country roads in order to enjoy riding. I followed the instructions of the Garmin Zumo 660. It took me really through small villages in order to make the route shorter.

Around Kavaklı just before Kırklareli I took again the regular streets and the highway to reach to Edirne. From the peripheral roads I took the direction to the border “Hamzabey”.

Hamzabey is the name of one of the border passes between Turkey and Bulgaria. 

Before reaching to Hamzabey I filled my tank at Lalapaşa town.

It took only 15 minutes to complete the procedures at the Turkish side. Then I passed through the Bulgarian side which was also reasonable. The roads are good and well covered. The maps of Bulgaria were not downloaded in my Zumo 660. I have got only

The maps of the North-East Europe which does not cover Bulgaria and Rumania as well.

I asked some people at the border how to go to Ruse (with the Turkish name Rusçuk).

I followed the instructions and found my way very easily. After Hamzabey (Lesovo is the name of the town at the Bulgarian side) I followed: Elhovo, Yambol, Kotel, Omurtag, Targoviste, Razgrad and finally Ruse. This is a very nice road through the country side and with a few nice curves for motorcycles.

According to the suggestions I also stopped for lunch at the junction where the road deviates for Kotel-Omurtag. There is a popular barbecue restaurant at the road junction.

Chicken barbecue and salad with “ayran” (drink of yoghurt) is only 4.-Euro.

The weather was very nice. Just 200 meters before reaching the Hotel a heavy rain started in the city Ruse. I did not changed and I preferred to hurry to the hotel. I stayed at the Grand Riga Hotel. It is a tall building constructed many years ago and they have renovated it. It is also cheap in price. 78.-Leva is the price incl. breakfast and closed garage for the motorcycle. It is roughly 40.-USDs.

The map of the down town Ruse.

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River and the city

View from the Hotel Grand Riga:- Tuna River

View over the city Ruse.

 

The bank of the river Tuna.

Piers at the side of the river Dunav.

Piers at the side of the Dunav.

Floating Restaurants

One of the streets of Ruse down town.

 After the rain slowed down, I went out from the Hotel and walked down to the bank of the river Tuna. I enjoyed my walk there and took some pictures of the Tuna. Then I walked to the main square of the city Ruse. Svoboda is a big square and there are restaurants, cafés and bars around it. There are also some important government buildings like Court of Justice and the town hall. At one end there is a big hotel. There is “Monument to Freedom” in the middle of the square. I set down in a restaurant called “Happy Bar and Grill Black Mamma”. I ordered a beer a few sushi rolls and a fish with sauce. At the end I took a Crème Brule. Later on I walked through the streets and ended up my day in the Hotel Grand Riga.

Conclusion : Ruse is a Bulgarian city at the river Tuna and might be used as overnighting purpose from Turkey to the North. Hotel Grand Riga is offering closed garage and good prices. The location and the view from the hotel is very well.

26 March 2016 :- AUSTRALIA >>>Sydney (Last day of the journey)

AUSTRALIA :-  Sydney

21th Day: 26.03.2016

Practically this is my last day in Australia. I have my pre booked Sydney Opera House Tour at 12:00 and I have got also a ticket for the Requiem Concert at the Sydney Opera House. It is a day for relaxation and smooth activities.

After a fine sleep during the night I woke up around 08:00 and then I started to walk on the

Wattle Str. down to the Sydney Fish Market. It is approx. 1,2 km from the hotel where I am staying. On the left hand side of the street there is a big green park close to the Fish Market. Some people are doing sport at this nice weather.

As I came closer to the Fish market I wanted to take some pictures but I recognized that I have forgotten the memory card of the camera at the hotel. So I walked back to the hotel, took the memory card of the camera and then came again to the same place.

At the Sydney Fish Market

 

Mud Crabs, alive ready to buy
Anyway, I looked around in the fish market. The people have already opened their shops and benches for the new day. There are various sea products like shrimps, oysters, lobsters, fishes any kind all around. In some shops within the market there are also ready to eat sea food which were very attractive even in the morning. I tasted some sashimi and  similar small items.

Sydney Fish Market

After leaving the fish market I walked the Pyrmont Bridge Road and crossed the Pyrmont Bridge at the Darling Harbour.

Crossing the Pyrmont Bridge, at the Darling Harbour.

It is very nice to walk in the city in the Saturday morning. The George Str took me to the Rocks. The Rocks is a historical part of Sydney. It is the oldest convict settlement in Australia.

Street Markets at The Rocks

The Rocks markets (=shopping huts) are open every Saturday and Sunday as well. I stopped at the Guylian Café and took a macchiato. Walking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal I saw the big cruiser still there. The passengers of it where spread out enjoying nice weather of Sydney City.

Sunny day at Sydney Cove, the big cruise ship in the background.

I walked to the other tip of the Sydney Cove where there is the Sydney Opera House located. I had to get my tickets at the ticket box. After having them I came to the meeting point of our tour group. A nice tour guide took us into the various sections within the building. She explained technical facts and history of the building.

From Wikipedia :

“ The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia, identified as one of the 20th century's most distinctive buildings.^[3]

Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973^[4] after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier,Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation.^[5]

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Though its name suggests a single venue, the building comprises multiple performance venues which together are among the busiest of performing arts centres – hosting well over 1,500 performances annually, attended by more than 1.2 million people.^[6] A wide range of performances is presented in the venues, by numerous performing arts producers, including four key resident companies: Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular visitor attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site each year, with around 350,000 visitors annually taking a guided tour of the building.^[7] The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government.

On 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^{[8] “}

This is the design philosophy behind the Sydney Opera House :- Sails of a ship

One of the performance halls of Sydney Opera House

Tiles of the roof have been manufactured in Sweden

Precasted concrete modules are holding the building together

Perfect symmetry is everywhere in the building

Percasted beams of special cross-section of the Sydney Opera House

Our nice guide at the entrance of the Utzon Room-Utzon is the Arcitect of the Sydney Opera House

In the Utzon Room
In my opinion, those who are studying architecture and/or civil engineering must see this building. It pumps the enthusiasm and creativity.

After finishing the tour roughly in one hour we met with Lilette in front of the box office.

She had also bought ticket for the same concert as me. We walked into the concert hall.

It is fantastic and really big space inside. Occasionally, without knowing each other’s seats we had bought almost neighbored seats at the same row. We had only two seats between us.

Audience of the "Requiem" at Sydney Opera House

Orchestra

Orchestra

The concert “Requiem” of Mozart was fantastic. It was finished around 16:00 o’clock. When we came out we walked to the Rocks where we met Hakan, son of Lilette. He was waiting for us there. We sat with him at the Bavarian Bierhaus and ordered two beers.

Meanwhile, Lilette wanted to make shopping within the Rocks’ shops. Later on, after buying some souvenir she came to our table and we continued to chat altogether.

Hakan found a Japanese Restaurant to dine. It is Sushi Yachiyo in 1/13 Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst (Tel.02 9331 8107). Then we walked to the restaurant. It was a long walk from the Rocks. It is a little restaurant with cozy ambiance. We sat around a small table and the food was wonderful.

After the dinner Hakan called Uber Taxi and we all drove to our Hotels. They first left me at my Hotel. It was around 22:30 when I came to my room. Tonight I am going to have short nap because my flight to Dubai departs at 06:00. I have already ordered through the reception a taxi which will pick me up at 03:30 from the hotel.

I packed all my stuff and started to sleep the last night of the Australia+NZ journey. Tomorrow will be a long day on the way to Istanbul.

25 March 2016:- Australia:- Sydney

AUSTRALIA :-  Sydney

20th Day: 25.03.2016 

We will have a kind of reunion today. Mrs Lilette who is a friend of mine from Istanbul and her son Hakan who is living in Brisbane will fly this morning from Brisbane and they will come directly to my Hotel Vulcan. On the other hand our friend Erhan Izmir and his lovely wife Gul will pick up all of us from the hotel and we will enjoy the day altogether.

The meeting time at the hotel is 10.00. Gul and Erhan came first and we waited a little bit for Lilette and Hakan at the breakfast hall. They came directly from the airport. Then we jumped into the Erhan ‘s car and he took us to many places in/around Sydney which we couldn ‘t cover by ourselves. Gul and Erhan have been living in Sydney for more then 20 years.

We, first, made a sight-seeing tour with the car on the south Sydney. After seing the down town of Sydney we drove to Rose Bay and Voucluse and headed to the South Head. After walking a while altogether we made a coffee break in Watsons Bay.

Sydney from South Head

Suicide point at the South Head

Erhan,Hakan, Gul, Lilette and me

 

South Head -Background North Sydney

Cem, Erhan, Hakan with umbrella, Gul and Lilette

Then we started to drive and this time Erhan took us to Bondi Beach on the east coast of the south Sydney. Bondi Beach is a well-known and even it is autumn there are a lot of people surfing and laying in the beach. The weather was cloudy. We drank some beer and ate some short stuff here. After that we departed and we took Bondi Road and Oxford Str.

headed the Harbour Bridge. After crossing the bridge we stopped shortly at the Milsons Point and took some pictures.

From Milsons Point

Harbour Bridge from Milsons Point

 

Neutral Bay and Mosman Bay are the places we passed on the way to Spit Bridge. We are now on the North Sydney and it is still nice. The area is in intimate touch with the sea and this makes the city lovely in my opinion. Right after crossing the Spit Bridge Erhan took us to the big green field at the Arabanoo Lookout. He had used to play football here.

From the Arabanoo Lookout

As our final destination we came to Manly. We walked shortly at Manly Beach and then

we –except Erhan and Gul- took the ferry from Manly to Sydney. To use the public transportation someone must have Opal Card which is sold at every “Convenience Stores”. I had bought one yesterday and I have used it at the ferry.

Manly Beach

Heading to Sydney on the ferry from Manly

After we landed at the Sydney City, we took a taxi and Lilette and Hakan dropped me at my Hotel and I gave their two pieces of luggage from my room. We agreed to meet at a restaurant for dinner and I have rested a little bit in my room.

Around 19:00 o’clock I went out and walked to the down town. Meanwhile I have received a message from Hakan to go to the restaurant in Darlinghurst where he found a restaurant

popular with pasta and sauces. We met there and ate some fine pasta and drank two bottles of tasty red wine of Australian Origin. Late in the night, around 23:00 we drove back to our hotels.

Good Night .

24 March 2016:-AUSTRALIA:- Yulara>>Sydney

AUSTRALIA :-  Yulara >>>Sydney

19th Day: 24.03.2016 

Today is my last day in Ayers Rock or Yulara. I have a scheduled short tour starting early in the morning to catch the sun rise. SEIT Tour guide picks me up at 05:30. The name of the tour is “Uluru Highlights”. Our guide, Rolano, with the Chilean origin is a friendly guy with good experience about the Aboriginal Culture in Yulara. We collected some more guests from different hotels and altogether 5 people we drove to Uluru.

Rolano stopped approx. on the southwest side of the Uluru (the big massive stone) with a distance of around 2 km to the stone. We got out from our minivan and waited for the rising sun. Meanwhile our guide prepared a breakfast at the rear of the car. Coffee, bread, honey, almond cake and some fruit was ready for self-service. The sun rise was at 06:21 and we caught a lot of pictures under the first rays of the sun.

After the sun rise we departed from this point at 07:00 and drove closer to the Uluru. We started to walk to the water sink. There is a cave made by nature and we saw on the walls of the cave some primitive paintings done by the Aboriginal people.

At the top of the cave there was a big stone with the shape similar to a snake head. Snake is a sacred animal for the Aboriginal people. They believe that the snake laid eggs at Uluru and therefore the stone Uluru is respectfully treated by themselves.

The land going closer to the water sink is in a shape of a bottleneck. This part is also a natural trap for the wild animals. As per the explanations of our guide the Aboriginal people

had used to hunt here easily. The hole on the cave wall looking to this area was also serving to the children to peep outside where the men were hunting and learn hunting skills of their fathers.

After the water sink we walked back to the minivan and we drove to the east side of the Uluru. This part of the Uluru is not for photography. The native people are living here somewhere and there is no permission to take picture. The tribe, called “Anulu” is living here according to their traditions and rules and there is a kind of consensus for a reserved living. They have obtained their rights during late nineteen eighties and since then they live

here as before. There is a believed set of rule among themselves which describes their daily relations and similar traditional rituals etc.

As per our guide we understand that almost half of the year is allocated for the ceremonies, traditional rituals. We drove further to the north side of the Uluru. We saw that a few people were climbing the stone. The people are not encouraged for climbing because of two main reasons: Security, respect to the Aboriginal people believes,

On rainy and windy days it is not safe to climb the stone.

Just before 09:00 o’clock we returned to the Hotel. I bought some souvenirs from the shop at the entrance of the Hotel and then went to my dormitory room and packed my luggage.

The scheduled AAT Kings bus is at 10:30 and this one is adequate for my Virgin Australia flight at 12:35 to Sydney. Our plane took off at 12:35 and after a 3 hours flight we landed at Sydney Airport.

The local time was 17:10 when we landed at Sydney airport. I took the Redy2Go shuttle service from the Airport and our driver dropped me at the Vulcan Hotel, 500 Wattle Str, Ultimo, around 19:15. It is very reasonable price: 22.-AUD only. It took more or less one and half hours from the airport to the hotel during the rush hour.

My hotel has a good location. I walked to the China Town and took seat outside at the table on the pavement of a Chinese restaurant and ordered some Chinese food with some steamed rice and drank a bottle of Chinese beer, Tsingtao.

Night view at the Darling Harbour, Sydney.

After the late dinner, I walked to the Darling Harbour. It is a touristic zone and there are a lot of cafés, bars and restaurants there. The lights of the city was very colorful and attractive. After spending some time at the Darling Harbour, I walked all along the Harris Street to my Hotel. I arrived at the hotel around 23:00. I felt happy while thinking that this is my last stop on this long Australia+NZ journey and I am going to sleep three nights at the same hotel.

Tomorrow I am going to meet with some friends and we are going to make sight-seeing in Sydney together.