Sunday, May 18, 2014

Motorcycle -

The concept was good; it was just the wet muddy roads that were the issue.  So there is this place on the other side of Hiva Oa that has Tikis from long ago. The only way there is by 4x4. All we have is a 2-stroke 100cc motorcycle, so off we went. The first 3rd of the trip was easy and on a nice paved road. 

When the road turned to gravel, I actually turned the motorcycle around, but Shannon flashed her puppy eyes at me and said something to the effect of "I really wanted to see the Tikis". So I turned the bike around and off we went up the gravel road. When we came to a super steep portion of the road it was paved!  Perfect, they pave the steep parts. As we are going down the road the bike stalls, and will not re-start.  Not to worry though, we will start it at the bottom of the hill. After we get to the bottom of the hill, we are able to motor for ten minutes at a time, and then push the bike for ten minutes.  The quality of the road goes from bad to worse, and the rain starts to fall harder and harder. On the real steep muddy hill the motorcycle just slides out from under us. Shannon walks down the hill taking pictures while I surf the bike down the hill with my feet dragging in the mud. This strange nagging thought keeps going through my mind "how are we going to get back up these muddy hills?"  After making it to the Tikis we realize it took us over 4 hours to make it and we only have about 3 hours of sunlight to get back home.  Not the best situation!

As we go back the stalling problem keeps plaguing us, and the hills are so steep that the motorcycle can't start with the both of us. So Shannon walks ahead trying to find a semi-flat place where I can pick her up again. As we fight our way up the hills I have to lean over the handle bars with Shannon climbing up my back just to keep the motorcycle from flipping over backwards. It is first gear all the way. Finally the motorcycle just won't start. We coast and push it most the rest of the way home, but finally a truck passes us, and we flag it down, and Shannon jumps in the back to let the family know that we are ok. I continue with the pushing, and finally get it running.

This is a trip that we will not forget! What an adventure.
Now if we could only fix the stalling problem!

Courage

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