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Welcome to the Compass Expeditions Blog where we share our most unforgettable experiences from the road. Relive some of the most exhilarating moments that we’ve had out on tour. Read stories from past European motorcycle tours, adventure riding in Australia, motorcycle tours through Tasmania, African Safaris, and more! Feel the vibrations from our on-road and off-road motorbikes blazing through the most rugged and wild terrain on earth!
Cairo to Cape Town 2017 – Malawi and Mozambique – Crew Report
Relaxed and ready to roll, once again we made our way out of the traffic of Arusha and headed south. Unfortunately Mount Kilimanjaro would not show its snowy peak through the high cloud cover this time around. We passed the days on easy roads winding our way beyond Dodoma, stopping at sights like the Ismalia …
Cairo to Cape Town 2017 – Tanzania – Crew Report
The Compass Expeditions Cairo to Cape Town Expedition continues South towards it’s destination at the very tip of Africa. The riders have had a chance to take a few days off the bikes, take a safari and spend some beach time as they make their way through Tanzania. Farewelling Brendan, we welcomed Bayne on to …
Mongolian Magic Motorcycle Tour
Mongolian Magic Motorcycle Tour www.compassexpeditions.com 15 March 2017 Compass Expeditions is excited to announce our latest unique riding destination, Mongolia. “This is definitely one of the most exciting, remote and rarely visited regions left on earth, its true last frontier stuff”, says Compass Expeditions director Mick McDonald, “Mongolia is always a standout highlight for …
South America 360 Expedition – Justin Reports#2
South America 360 Arrival into Ushuaia, Argentina Justin reports Riding through more of Patagonia today, with luck, not such wild winds today, as they are most of the time. We made it to Cerro Sombrero, Chile. It was bit chilly, rainy and foggy, but the winds left us alone. The bikes and new Sprinter van are all …
South America 360 Expedition – Justin Reports#1
2017 SOUTH AMERICA 360 THE LONGEST TOUR IN THE WORLD* Justin reports Let me introduce our group on this adventure of a lifetime: Ted, at 70 years solid, riding a BMW GS 1200. (check out his tour blog at Ted’s Big Ride). Bob and Donna, riding two up, also on a BMW GS 1200, married now …
Cairo to Cape Town 2017 – Kenya – Crew Report
Our border crossing day today out of Ethiopia and into Kenya went pretty smoothly once the chaos of the Ethiopian side was behind us. The new roads in the harsh inhospitable north of Kenya made travelling a breeze and we completed our 450 km plus a border crossing in good time to set up our …
South America 360 2017 – Ted’s Big Ride!
Ted Baird is one of our riders on the Epic South America 360 Expedition. It is an incredible 128 Day ride, (Almost) circumnavigating the south American continent. Our riders and crew departed Santiago, Chille last week and are heading counter clockwise, south, towards Patagonia at the moment. Ted is blogging about his experiences on the …
Compass Expeditions Reunion Weekend 2017
It’s time again for the Compass Expeditions Reunion. This year the date will be 25th -26th of March and we are returning to the beautiful Victorian High Country for a ride in the hills, good company and great tucker. Lunch will be 1pm on the Saturday and afterwards we will take in some of the …
Cairo to Cape Town Expeditions 2017 – Sudan to Ethiopia – Crew Report
After our first camp night over the border into Sudan we started heading south through an ever changing desert landscape, along busy and rough roads to Karima. Here we visited the less famous pyramids of Jebel Barkal. These were walking distance from our hotel and just by the side of the road. It was refreshing …
Cairo To Cape Town 2017 – Ethiopia to Kenya – Crew Report
Ethiopia – Crossing the border from Sudan to Ethiopia took quite some time, but was relatively painless which was surprising given the ramshackle conditions of the border facilities in both countries. I think we were all a little bit sad to be leaving the hospitality of the Sudanese, but excited to be in a new country …
Compass Expeditions and Jo Rust team up for a Peruvian Adventure
Compass Expeditions and Jo Rust Adventures are pleased to announce that Jo will be leading an incredible 16-day tour through the motorcycling paradise of Peru. The 2017 Jo Rust’s Peruvian Adventure is set to depart from the lakeside city of Puno on the 25th of August and travels via a hit-list of breathtaking highlights through …
Gearlock to the rescue!
At the Phillip Island Motorcycle Classics a few weeks ago, I found myself in a dilemma that has plagued me on a number of occasions. I had ridden my old BMW to the event, appropriately attired in my favourite, old school leather jacket (you have to look the part, right?). It’s a beautiful day down …
Rocky Creek’s Pocket Pump does the job on the road from Cairo To Cape Town!
Compass Expeditions is testing out some of the great products from the Rocky Creek Designs range on our 80-Day, 16,500km, Cairo to Cape Town Expedition. One inevitable thing when you are riding the length of Africa is sand! Many motorcyclists dread riding in sand, but with a bit of planning it can be made a …
Cairo To Cape Town – Images
Back hear at Compass Expeditions HQ……..We await news from the C2C road with anticipation. When it comes it is even better when there are pictures! Here are a selection of the shots that have come in so far.
Cairo To Cape Town 2017 – Crew Report #2
Our C2C riders are now all on the road and heading South towards their ultimate goal – Cape Town, South Africa! It took longer than expected to extract all of the bikes from the customs authorities but once that was achieved it was off to see the sights. Ride Leader Andrew takes up the tale: …
Cairo To Cape Town 2017 – Pre Departure
The Compass Expeditions Crew have been in Cairo and Alexandria for the past couple of weeks dealing with the local authorities, customs and shipping agents to have all off the red tape sorted out to be able to unload the bikes and “Truckantular”, our custom built support vehicle, released from the port and on the …
Compass Expeditions and Rocky Creek Designs – A Quality Partnership
Compass Expeditions and Rocky Creek Designs – A Quality Partnership Our tour bikes and support vehicles do some pretty hard yards in Australia and across the globe. Flat tires and exhausted batteries are things that inevitably happen and are frustrating and time consuming for us when on tour or conducting our research trips. That is …
Tour and Expedition Travel Insurance
Tour and Expedition Travel Insurance At Compass Expeditions we work hard to make sure that your motorcycle tour runs smoothly and safely. Your welfare is of primary concern to us and we know that we cannot control every situation on the road or while you are travelling. Accidents happen, luggage is lost and tour or …
Cairo to Cape Town – Into Cape Town
It’s difficult to imagine that 3 months ago, 20 complete strangers met for the first time in Cairo to commence an adventure that will change their lives. We were about to ride our motorbikes across the length of Africa, over 18,000 kilometres, through 12 countries and now, 3 months later, we are in Cape Town, …
Cairo to Cape Town – Botswana & Namibia
Our border crossing from Botswana into Namibia was the easiest and quickest of our entire journey so far. All 16 bikes, 4WD truck, trailer and 20 people passed through within an hour. It was such a contrast to the start of our ride two and a half months ago where border crossings could take all …
Cairo to Cape Town – Malawi to Botswana
The Malawian people made our time in their country extremely enjoyable (the great riding roads helped as well). Although Malawi is among the poorest in the world, they have a richness in both culture and humanity that we could all learn from. It has been a great experience. But it’s time to move forward on …
Cairo to Cape Town – Tanzania and Malawi
13 November 2015 We rode from Kenya into Tanzania on the day of the Tanzanian federal election and had been told there could be some unrest between rival supporters. We didn’t know what to expect, but from our perspective, things seemed calm enough. In the town of Arusha, it was interesting to see cues of …
Cairo to Cape town Expedition – Tanzania
It was only a half day ride from Naivasha to Nairobi and we’d been warned to expect heavy traffic entering Nairobi, so we were prepared. But to our delight, the predictions were wrong. It was actually a very easy ride, made easier by the fact our hotel was on the outskirts of the city. …
Cairo to Cape town Expedition – Kenya
4 November 2015 Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, gave us a chance to stock up on supplies, get bikes washed, celebrate a birthday and generally relax before heading off to Kenya. Riding out of Addis the following day was absolute mayhem, true African style so it was good to eventually see some …