SURFEIT - the collective noun for surfers

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Ahh, another of the biggest cities in the world and this is big...everything is big.....and its also pretty cool...We are at 22,000 and something kms and about day 150!...luckily guided in from the coast by Felipé with a bit of blue material sticking out the back of his car as its identical to 50 million other small black chevvies on this road...we pushed on from wherever we stopped in the last episode..its getting harder and harder to remember names of places...we play games with each other by asking..(and theres no parentheses on this keyboard!) :what was the name of the place we stayed 2 (or 3 or 4 or even 1) night ago?:..crazy..so many fantastic places here in Brasil, still knocked out by the friendliness of everyone...and the beauty of the scenery..boom boom.
We rode nearly all day down this perfect bit of coastline, spectacular rolling hills right down to nthe sea, glimpses of pretty little beaches, but most of the time concentrating on staying alive as it continued to pour monsoonally all the way, visor teary-eyed, water gushing across the road, shlippery bitumen, sharp curves, kamikaze drivers, speed bumps, potholes...no time to even contemplate worrying about the cops!....one of the hairier days...(just so you don´t think we´re doing it all too easily!)

So we found the Ripcurl office in Guaruja, about the only place that is pronounced like its spelt!...and thats some claim to fame here....Felipé, the marketing guy and longtime friend of Grant´s had us booked in to a hotel and with his girlfriend, Saskia (I hope I got that right)looked after us with such generous hospitality over the weekend it was hard to leave. Ah what can I say about such a fabulous appartment, the view....from the balcony we watched 4 cops busting some dope smokers over the rocks below us, we could see the guys trying to stash their stuff, the cops getting closer...real soapy drama before our eyes!...


Coming thru´a small town there was a donkey, firmly wedged and sound asleep between a tree and a fence, right on the footpath in the middle of the town!...back on the road, I´m coming up a long, steep slope...the rain has eased, about halfway up theres a slow moving truck and at the back, on one side is a hugely overloaded bicycle.....he´s got what looks like 3 mattresses, a couple of boxes, plastic bags hanging off, he may have a wife and 3 kids in this load...from out of the load, a skinny arm extends out and the white-knuckle grip of his hand is making an indent in the steel tray of the truck...this guy is not going to let go!

Somedays the bike feels like a sluggish, sullen, lifeless, stolid, overweight hunk of steel and plastic, unmanageable, I feel so unco, unable to control it, feeling very uncomfortable...other days, and this is 90 % of the days!..she is so good, so much a part of me, so responsive, obedient, my bestest friend, taking over control completely...I imagine horses are like this, its so much more than just a machine..
Theres lots of disabled access around the city and in many of the towns but unbelievably misplaced sometimes...like on a steep, rough cobbled street that you could barely drive a tank across ther´ll be a smooth ramp up to the footpath...I mean absolutely no way a wheelchair could get withing cooee of it!
Pull into a gas station partly to fill up but also get a break from the rain and try and convince the others to stop for a break...there´s a guy welding up above and showering the bowsers in a stream of sparks...yikes..and its amazing the number of guys who wander over to check out the bikes whenever we´re getting gas, with cigarettes dangling..(filthy habit)..
Despite the rain I was in good spirits and once I got the liners in the pants and the jacket on, and the helmet dry and clean I was a relatively happy camper!...exorably and resistably drawn towards the black hole, megopolis of São Paulo...so easy to turn off and go to Guaruja.
2 days off at the beach and then off to the big smoke, we are staying close to the Ripcurl shop in São Paulo, but the city is so big I´ve got no idea where we are....its like the whole of Melbournes metro area but all of it city buildings..it goes on forever...seems even bigger than Mexico City, and a lot more tall buildings...the domestic airport is in the city so big jets are constantly roaring overheas, the highest chopper ownership in the world, they say, and they are buzzing around, landing on rooftops..altho´I must say I thought there would have been more of them....maybe a quiet time...
Today we supported a presso at the Ripcurl shop, with a slideshow of our trip running throughout the store, the bikes parked outside and interviews and photo ops with various media outlets....we certainly have an interesting story...its evolved as we´ve travelled!!
And I just don´t seem to be able to get the camera plugged in but I will have to now as Ted´s off to Hawaii for work for a couple of weeks....maybe next time!

Tomorrow we have to try and find the way out of town after returning to the BMW dealer where we had limited joy on Monday...fortunately Andre the main BMW guy was at the store this arvo and he was straight on the phone and getting us sorted...I´m not sure whats going on but I´m having a problem with the fog lights and blowing fuses....I always feel uneasy when they have the tank off and the loom being stripped apart but....
Ahh ..there are just soo many fantastic sights around this city..I reckon you could spend months just checking it all out...thats if you could stand living in the city that long!...but the shops, the architecture..just incredible buildings..I´m sure there are treasures of arts and music and everything...
OK, I´m off...tomorrow the road to Iguacu and then to Buenos Aires in a few weeks....down to 1 min on the computer timer...don´t know where, don´t know when...etc etc...Chau

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