Motorcycle Tour Ireland to Romania Ep 17 THE FINALE - SPECIAL BUCKET LIST TRIP TICKED. TIME FOR HOME

Motorcycle Tour Ireland to Romania Ep 17 The FINALE
Kurnach.
In this final episode, we left our hotel in Kurnach Germany and knew that we had another transit day, as we were due to get our ferry from Ijmuiden in Holland, to Newcastle, so just got our heads down and travelled along some motorway miles, until we got to ride along side the beautiful river Rhine, watching the vineyards on the roadsides etc and enjoyed the scenery along the way. We finally made the border with Holland and carried on until we got to VENRAY Holland, and booked into a hotel for our last night. We luckily got a lovely hotel that was in a picturesque town and they also recommended a bar, that had some music etc. We walked along, found it and enjoyed the range of beers, fun with the staff who eventually joined us and it was a 3.00am when we left them for the hotel home. Lovely breakfast, served by our waitress, who was a biker and toured Europe with her husband. We were having a great chat, learning about new places that they recommended us to visit on our next trip.
We went back to bed for a while and then set off for the 115 mile trip to Ijmuiden and our overnight ferry to Newcastle which was a smooth sailing. Great chatting with the bikers in the queues to get on the ferry particularly, finding out where they had been or where they were going to on their trip just starting.
We arrived in Newcastle and eventually got the sat nav to give us a route out of the city, as it was having an off day again. We travelled straight through England, stopping for petrol, coffee, snacks as we had to get to Stranraer the same day, for our ferry back to Larne in N. Ireland.
We were tired boys getting on the ferry, so took advantage of the time to doze off, before starting our 70 odd mile trip to Ballygawley Park & Ride - our "departure lounge", before heading our own ways home.

I can honestly say, this was a huge Bucket List trip for us and after 4557 miles completed door to door, one that we were all so very fortunate to be able to try to do, never mind actually complete with out too much hassle - apart from being stopped at the Hungary / Romania border, finding out that Interpol were now involved and that we then contacted the Embassy staff, the PSNI ( Police Service N. Ireland ) etc, so lost one day sitting the the border, but its all part of the experience.
Pretty much in the same vein, was why we had never heard about there being bears, until a few days before we rode the Transfargarasan Pass - " What to do if you come across BEARS" gave quite a few scenarios via Google in the days before we got there and having my phone freak out when I pulled over to change a battery in my Go Pro, that I received the text, which with amazing accuracy, did in fact warn of there being bears in my area - of course there were lots of bears, but it's an impressive use of technology nevertheless.
Riding the TransAlpina pass, was for me every bit as good as the fun on riding the Transfargarasan - just different, but there's something about riding roads alongside a river, that gives you the mix of buzz, scenery and immersion in the whole experience - I love it.
Just naming the Grossglockner Pass, still feels a bit like it's got to be visited again, to really enjoy the road as the weather had gone completely against us, but better that, than in Romania.
The range of experiences we had along the way were amazing - including the people, the scenery and twisty roads we experienced along with the different foods & drinks, along with the practicalities of buying replacement sleep mats, eating fresh figs just picked from the bike shop owner's garden behind the shop, struggling to find places to stay while trying to avoid riding at night, especially avoiding having to wild camp in Bosnia Herzegovina, but then the relief of getting a place, following the music to find the hotel in the Bay,m that was hosting a family night with a live band, who played music that we had not heard before, but obviously from strong ethnic influences - I loved it.
If you ever get the chance to visit any of these places - JUST DO IT !!

BACKGROUND
Bucket List Trip to Transfargarasan Pass leaving via Ballygawley in Co Tyrone Ireland ( our meeting point ) to our ferries - Belfast / Cairnryan then Newcastle / Ijmuiden.

We set off to ride from Ireland to ride the Tranfargarasan Pass in Romania - a road recommended by BBC Top Gear as one of the best roads, so we travelled through 15 countries, travelled 4558 miles door to door, saw fantastic sights, roads, BEARS !! Met loads of interesting people and experienced a trip of a life time / bucket list stuff- just fantastic.

A mix of camping and hotels, but such a bit of craic along the way. Very lucky men and thanks to all who held the fort at home when we were away !!

I hope the trip footage helps inspire you to maybe take the plunge and try riding to some of your bucket list places etc - if we can do it, hopefully, so can you.

Cheers. T