Florianópolis, Brazil / Maria Robinson / Motorcycling around South America / More bike problems and stroke of luck!

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More bike problems and stroke of luck!

Text written in: English

We left Paraty on Saturday. We had a good days riding, not too hot, cloudy but without rain. However my knee is killing me. I have been suffering with it for some time now but it is getting worse! Whether I'm walking or sitting on the bike, I am in a lot of pain!

We make good progress that day and as the road follows the coast we ride through beautiful beaches and stunning scenery up and down steep hills.With 8000 kms of beaches, Brazil has a lot to offer!We stopped for the night in a small coastal town, deserted at this time of the year. We found a hotel in front of the beach. The town must be buzzing with tourists from nearby Sao Paulo at summer time, but for now it is really quite, hardly anyone in this huge (several miles long !) beach.The next day we left a bit late. I am still in a lot of pain with my knee despite taking a lot of Ibuprofen, and we made slow progress getting through busy roads and industrial towns. We couldn't make it in one day to Florianopolis so had to stop for the night in a depressing industrial zone of Curitiba, in a hotel by the motorway, next to a petrol station. A big contrast with the previous night! We had a small snack for dinner at the petrol station as there was nothing else anywhere near the hotel. We left early the next morning and made good progress. It was quite cold and it started raining very hard. As usual now, my left boot fills quickly with water! We stopped to put some waterproofs on, as the waterproof lining goes on the inside of Alistair's trousers he had to do an impromptu strip in front of a café (the toilets were only for customers) to the amusement of the woman who worked behind the counter.

We finally arrived at our destination by mid-afternoon and crossed the bridge that takes you to the Island of Santa Catarina. We turned a bit in the main town Florianopolis before deciding to go to one of the villages.

Arriving at the village we selected, a car stops next to me, while Alistair was checking out a Pousada (family type of hotel). The guy in the car runs a youth hostal and ask if we are interested. At 60 Reais I tell him it's too much. The price started dropping and we decided to check out the place. He took us close to the beach, in a completely empty Pousada. The room was small but it had a big kitchen next to it. A nice little studio. By then the price was down to 40 reais. A bargain! We decided to take it for 4 nights as we needed to stop for few days to do some chores, and it was a nice place for that.

It is nice to have our own kitchen, we can finally eat healthy breakfasts of cereals and fruit (tired of ham/cheese/bread they give you in most places here in Brazil!). That evening I cooked a huge pot of lentils with vegs and chicken and bacon! I still have a mix of some spices and herbs I brought with me from England. The pot was big enough to last for 3 dinners! The next day was cloudy. We did some laundry and chores and checked on my bike. The battery is dead again and the bike won't start! So once again we remove the roll bag, the top box, open the tail in order to unlock the seat, remove the seat, then unscrew the 16 screws we must remove in order to remove windshield and front panels - just to reach the battery! Don't we love that job, thanks BMW!The water level was down again so we filled it with distilled water. I had a walk around the village and managed to find a bicycle/tyre workshop. They had a charger so we left the battery for the night. Time now to do some investigations on the trusted F650.com website. We also needed to find the address of the nearest BMW dealer, just in case.So off we go to the local internet café! Now, you must know that Brazil is almost as big as the US. That's a BIG country. There are 4 towns in the entire country where you can find a BMW /motorbike dealer, among them Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre and Curitiba. So what would be the probability that we would have one, say 15 miles from where we are? I can hear you saying ''no way!''! Well, when I checked on the Brazilian BMW website I certainly felt very lucky as there is one in Florianopolis! I should play the lottery again! So the next day we picked up the battery and fitted it in the bike. Unfortunately the battery was completely dead! Well no worries! We decided to jump start my bike and ride to the dealer in town. As long as I don't stall the bike, it will be ok. So we get ready and put on the home made cables (made in Puno when Alistair's bike wouldn't start due to the altitude). My bike started straight away. 30 minutes later we arrived without any problem at the BMW dealer. We found it completely by chance as our map was very vague! One of the mechanics there spoke good english and we explained the problem. We suspected the voltage regulator had fried the battery so we ask him to check it and told him that the battery definitely needed to be replaced. We left the bike there and went back to the studio for lunch.

First thing in the afternoon the bike was ready. The charging system is OK we are told. The problem was only the battery! So 100 dollars later I'm back at the Pousada with a new battery and a sparkling clean bike! They washed it and lubricated the chain as well! The bike has not been that clean for a long time! Parked in the workshop, covered in mud, sand and dirt, next to the others spotlessly clean BMW bikes, it was quite a contrast! I bet most of these motorbikes never see even a drop of rain! Just for posing on on a sunny Sunday afternoon (just like in the UK then)! The workshop itself was also spotlessly clean. The mechanics wore lab coats rather than overalls!

So another day has gone by and we haven't had time yet to enjoy the beach! We need to have our James Bond / Pussy Galore moment before we leave Brazil. Alistair even bought Daniel Craig'esqe, skimpy Speedo's and me a tiny bikini (they don't do any other sort in Brazil) especially for the occasion.Mind you, it hasn't exactly been sunny - would you believe it! Maybe tomorrow! Definitely tomorrow! The bike is sorted, the laundry done, all the chores done, what can possibly go wrong?