Bouldering session at Praia Forteleza - Ubatuba

Now thats a gas station! Brazilian Formula #1. ... even makes my bike look better! Notice the nice palm trees in back ground.

a 20 min walk along the beach then right side point... yap.. long approach!

Praia Forteleza

Just another secret beach along the way.


























A fun slab traverse over a slippery - scary - landing...



Leandro snapping a few last shots.

Better go before we get wet!

Walking along the Itamambuca River

Along the coast of Sao Paulo

I'm now 300 kms south of Rio de Janeiro along the beautiful green lush coast.

Praia Itamabuca



Near Sao Sebastiao

Beautiful birds of Brazil

Mysterious Gaurau... Breakdown...

Traveling by motorbike isn't like taking a bus to your next stop. Some towns or cities have not much for hostels or places to stay and can be very expensive.
So to make my cost of traveling more on a budget and great way to meet locals and get good info about Brazil, I've
been doing couch surfing - when possible! - It a great way to meet friends and share stories. Brazil is a huge country with many beautiful places to see that as a tourist, I wouldn't know. Off the tourist map but on my route. I found Camila that would host me for a few days and check out a beautiful area where I would normally have just past by.
When I arrived in Peruibe. Camila told me to go to her mom's house to wait for her to come back from Sao Paulo. Her mom invited me with open harms, cooked an awesome meal and exchanged conversations - practicing my portuguese since she didn't speak any english!
I spent a couple days at Camila's casa in a magical little area - Gaurau. The day I wanted to leave, bike all packed and ready to turn the key on... no power! My bike didn't start. Very strange. I spent all day looking all the options, wires, connections.... 2 other guys came to help and see if they could figure it out, we tested everything we could think of. They say Gaurau has an Energy in the air! that people who come here don't leave... well I was a victim. It was sunday, no mechanic shop was open so I had to wait until next day.
We push started my bike and I rode 6 kms to Peruibe to see a bike mechanic. He checked out the wires, cleaned some of the corrosion on some wires. It worked fine. I was happy so went back to Gaurau to pack my bike. Once again all packed - No power!!! What the F#%k...
I was convinced about the myth of Gaurau... I would never leave!! I was really confused and frustrated by the situation. I got a kid to help me push start my bike and decided to ride back to the mechanic with all my gear, if he couldn't fix it. I was going to ride anyways to Maresias, my next stop and see the problem there.
Mechanic guy was laughing when we saw me pull in again. I told him same thing was happening. For some weird reason, my bike worked fine!!! Even more confused but happy to have the problem solved, I hit the road towards Maresias, a popular surf town. I rode threw a couple big cities, Santos being one and not a place for break down. My bike worked all day. When I got to Maresias. I stopped to see the beach and waves from downtown. Chatted with a guy that was curious about my trip. He always dreamed of doing the same thing, riding and surfing along the coast. He pointed out a couple hostels where I could stay for the night. When I went to turn the key on.... Shit! No power... I couldn't believe I rode all the way here, threw Santos, I took a small ferry from Santos to Guaruja where I had to turn off my bike. Also twice at gas stations. The entire time my bike worked fine. Thank God! It would of been a nightmare to get someone to push me off the ferry!
And now... in Maresias, problem is back. The guy I was chatting with helped me with another push start. I went straight to the hostel.
It's off season now in southern Brazil, I was the only guest in the hostel. I decided to move on the next day towards Ubatuba. Got another guy in the morning to push start my bike and rode to Sao Sebastiao, a bigger town where I could find a mechanic to see what could be the problem. I might need a new battery...
I missed out on a few nice photo opportunity along the way. I didn't want to stop my bike and be stranded on the road with no one to push start! In Sao Sebastiao I went to see a mechanic, - He was Japanese!! YES my bike is Japanese!! I told him what was going on. Thinking maybe my battery had died. It took him 2 seconds to find out the positive wire on my battery was loose and was causing the problem! I couldn't believe, 4 guys looked at my bike including myself, looked at all the wire (obviously not the right ones!) and never found the mysterious problem. This was my first REAL breakdown in over 60 000 kms!!
Turned out to be nothing but a stupid loose wire.... NOT the myth of Gaurau
I sure learned something... check ALL wires next time, including the Positive!
And once again.... japanese are the Gods of mechanics and the creators of my Suzuki!!!

Thanks Camila and mom for their wonderful hospitality


My name is Bingo, I want to be your friend...


Brazil Mate ( pronounce - "Matchi" ) or chimarrão

I don't know what mammy is drinking, but doesn't look too good...


I'm ready for the world cup! got my Brazil Flag.... go Brazil!!!

Back on the road...

Leaving the comfort of a nice home is sometimes the hardest part. Repacking, getting back on the road.
It was time to leave my friend Tatiana's beautiful home and her wonderful 3 dogs. Her hospitality was more then we could ask for.
3 weeks have past by very quick, Harry was going back towards Uruguya and I was to continue north towards Rio de Janeiro.
There had been lots of rain these days so I knew I might be in for a wet ride. - Not fun especially on the Brazil highways.

I went back to Backpackers Sunset Hostel for a couple more nights to say goodbye to some friends. The morning I decided to leave, it started pissing rain, so I waited... 2 hours later it cleared so I went for it. It was early enough to make it to Curitiba. Riding out of Florianopolis was good, it felt great to be back in the saddle, back to unknown territory. The sun came out making it an enjoyable ride. Until 100 kms from Curitiba, threw mountain pass, rain started to come down hard. Then traffic slowed down. The good thing about riding a bike, you don't really get stuck in traffic, you just ride by. At one point traffic was stopped for almost 5 kms. When I finally got the a truck that had flipped upside down in the middle of the highway. I passed by 3 accidents in 300 kms. Not bad average for Brazil highways.
With heavy rain it was hard sometimes to see threw my scratched up plastic visor. And riding with a surfboard on my bike adds an extra challenge.
The rain stopped when I got close to Curitiba, thank god, I could dry off a little and made it easier to find my way around the city.
Brazilian cities are busy, fairly big in my Canadian standard. Curitiba only has 3 million people! Getting lost is not a good option. I stopped at a gas station to ask where I could find the hostel I was looking for. Luckily it happen to be 2 blocks away!
I rolled in Hotel Roma.
The next morning I was woken up by a group of about 50 kids that arrived in a bus. It was only 7am. I got an early start and got back on the road towards Peruibe where I was going to meet a friend to stay with from Couch Surfing. It was a long weekend so no one was out on the road. Good thing cause I still manage to get lost trying to get out of Curitiba. I was glad there was no cars on the road. Cloudy, cold but no rain. I was happy to leave the city and make my way back towards the coast.