TRAVERSE 62
We continued along the coast line, until we were turned around by some officials as there was an area that they didn ' t want anyone entering, so we stopped at a nearby cafe for a break instead. Helen told us that the area on the coast had been full of houses, but with just 24 hours notice, the government demolished the lot as they ' d been built illegaly, and the little town was floored. The rubble was still there but not much else, other than the cafe we were sat in. Crazy!
We then headed back to the dunes, had a bit of a play, and then back towards the van. I ran out of fuel, but Jack managed to bring the bike back to life by giving it a big shake up. Essentially the fuel sat in each side but the intake was more central so the fuel needed to be splashed about a bit to get to the right place when running low. I managed to get a good way by shaking the bike side to side every so often. It felt
odd when trying to go straight on sand, but I managed a bit, up until the bike wouldn ' t go any further. There was still fuel visible but my efforts to shake the bike fell short, so I clambered on to Jack ' s exceedingly tall KTM 500 and he jumped on mine, managing to get it all the way back to the van with much more vigorous shaking. I passed Kelvin, who ' d also run out of fuel, but I had to keep going until I got to the van where Jack was ready to ' catch me '. Jack then went back to rescue Kelvin.
After a bit of time down on the beach, which some rather unsuccessful surfing efforts, we headed back to the house via another supermarket stop to restock the bar and snacks. I got off in town just before the house to get some food for us all, and sat there watching the people of Awrir go about their daily lives.
Our final riding day was back on the trails, now down to three
riders: me, Kelvin, and Helen. Jack had work to catch up on but had created us a track, so with me leading we headed off, via the petrol station, and back to the track we ' d attempted in the wet earlier in the week. Fortunately, this time, with the ground having dried out, it was much more successful and enjoyable. I was glad we ' d seen the same track in different conditions, and it was amazing just how different it was. We completed the same section in no time and then headed off on many more tracks.
There were a couple of sections that required a bit of a scout out ahead before attempting, and needed a little team work to all get through, but we managed well, and everyone remained rubber side down with big smiles. The scenery was truly magnificent, and as we made good time, Jack sent us an additional track to do on the way back. It was a really great add-on, especially the
TRAVERSE 62