Words and Images by Mick McDonald. Mongolia, the very word conjures up images of wild horseman galloping across and ancient empty steppe landscape, with bow & arrow in hand, which today, isn’t that far from reality in what is the most sparsely populated country on earth and where the locals still practice the three “manly” […]
Kyrgyzstan Explorers
Words and images by Craig Jackson. I am sitting in a stone hut, 6 x 3 foot, it is steaming hot and an old bloke is stoking a fire to heat it from the small room outside. I am at 3200 mt and the small room has four other sweaty people in it. It is […]
The Compass Expeditions Reunion Weekend and 5-day Ride-out
How do we follow this year’s amazing Compass Expeditions Reunion weekend and week-long ride-out? We move it further up the coast and do it all again – That’s how! The 2019 Reunion will be held over the weekend of March the 23rd and 24th and based in the lovely coastal town of Port Macquarie, NSW. […]
The 2018 Compass Expeditions Road Of Bones Expeditions Image Gallery
With thanks for the images from all of the expedition participants and crew.
Merimbula Days By Alan Toney
Merimbula Days an extract from Postcards from the Edge of a Sunburnt Country by Alan Toney The Compass Expeditions Reunion Weekend was a blast. Riders came from far and wide, from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Brisbane and from many small towns in between. We numbered seventy-five, all having ridden with Compass sometime, somewhere in the […]
London to Magadan – On the road with the Road of Bones Expedition 2018 #4 – by Allana Goldsworthy
Vonderful Volgograd 14 June 2018 Story by Allana Goldsworthy Images – Allana Goldsworthy, Azar Farahmand, Hugo Penasco, Bayne Morison and Dennis Grothues. Well we are now in Russia – and there are a few things we have noticed. 1. Whilst less people smoke here than in Turkey or Georgia – it is still the case […]
London to Magadan – On the road with the Road of Bones Expedition 2018 #5 – by Allana Goldsworthy
Chapter Four – Moscow Awaits Story by Allana Goldsworthy Images – Allana Goldsworthy, Azar Farahmand, Hugo Penasco, Bayne Morison and Dennis Grothues. Well here was a surprise. Tambov. Where? Who? What? This was a 515 km ride – a long day. And the ride was not inspiring – We had a lot of kms to eat […]
Magic Mongolia Blog – July 2018 – By Peter Grace – Part #5
Wednesday 27 June Day 11 We have ended the tour safely, but I’ll send updates for the missing days. A rest day so we had a slow start but went for a short ride to explore a local volcanic lava field. The eruptions happened just 8000 years ago, and the lava dammed the rivers to […]
London to Magadan – On the road with the Road of Bones Expedition 2018 #3 – by Allana Goldsworthy
ROAD OF BONES 2018 A Long Day’s Journey into Night Story by Allana Goldsworthy Images – Allana Goldsworthy, Azar Farahmand, Hugo Penasco, Bayne Morison and Dennis Grothues. CHAPTER THREE VLADIVAVKAZ TO ELISTA I am working hard to keep on top of these posts otherwise they will still dribbling though as you are opening your Christmas presents! […]
London to Magadan – On the road with the Road of Bones Expedition 2018 #2 – by Allana Goldsworthy
Road of Bones – 2018 CHAPTER TWO Story by Allana Goldsworthy Images – Allana Goldsworthy, Azar Farahmand, Hugo Penasco, Bayne Morison and Dennis Grothues. Our time in Tblisi, Georgia, passed all too quickly – we enjoyed our couple of nights in our comfortable hotel, in this quirky capital. Massive thunderstorms rolling over Tblisi in the evening […]
Magic Mongolia Blog – July 2018 – By Peter Grace – Part #4
Sunday 24 June Day 8 Saturday was a rest day and we needed it. I went for a horse ride and the had a siesta., Sunday, we retraced our path away from the lake on a dry and dusty road (it had been muddy and puddled on Friday). I had another problem when my bash […]
Magic Mongolia Blog – July 2018 – By Peter Grace – Part #3
Wednesday 20 June Day 4 It’s now Saturday, but I’m writing about Wednesday. We retraced our path down the main road of Darkham and the turned right (west) onto dirt tracks. Nice easy riding and lovely wide valleys with herds of animals roaming free. There are no fences, so the animals go where they like. […]
The Inaugural Compass Expeditions Mongolian Magic Tour – Mick’s Blog – Part #1
Story and photos by Mick McDonald. Part #1 For the first time in nearly 3 weeks in Mongolia it’s raining, and raining hard, of course it’s our first day of our first ever 14-day Mongolian Magic tour. We struggle out of the capital Ulaan Baatar though a maelstrom of water filled potholes with manic bus […]
Magic Mongolia Blog – July 2018 – By Peter Grace – Part #2
Day 2 Mongolia It was a full-on day. New bikes had been delivered, old bikes fixed, and the weather was cool but sunny. We left at 8.00am and got back to the hotel at 7.45pm. We started by visiting the Genghis Khan statue. It was enormous – the biggest horse in the world apparently. We […]
Magic Mongolia Blog – July 2018 – By Peter Grace – Part #1
Peter Grace and his brother Dave have joined us on our inaugural Magical Mongolia motorcycle tour and Peter has kindly allowed us to follow along with their journey via his daily updates. I reproduce it here for you word for word without amendment. Many thanks Pete. Enjoy! Craig Compass Expeditions. First day in Mongolia […]
London to Magadan – On the road with the Road of Bones Expedition 2018 #1 – by Allana Goldsworthy
CHAPTER ONE ISTANBUL Story by Allana Goldsworthy Images – Allana Goldsworthy, Azar Farahmand, Hugo Penasco, Bayne Morison and Dennis Grothues. This is the first of what will probably be a semi regular posting! Dependent upon WiFi access, computer skills, battery life and inclination! We are embarking on a trip that will take us through 16 […]
Spain, Portugal & Morocco – The Research Trip
We often get told “we are living the dream” and its times like these that we can only wholeheartedly agree that yes “we are living the dream”. Words and images by Mick McDonald Following is the ramblings of Veronica and Mick as we conduct a research trip for our new 20 day Spain / Portugal […]
Born to Ride – Asian Overland Story.
Our friends at Born to Ride Magazine have ran this great story featuring our new 104 day major expedition, The Asian Overland – Darwin to Beijing. The Asian Overland is a great long distance adventure that does not require you to have any off road riding experience as over 95% of the route is on […]
INNOVV C5 Motorcycle Camera System – Road Test Review
The INNOVV C5 is a WiFi, Full HD, Remote Lens, Motorcycle Camera System. Compass Expeditions was asked to test and review the INNOVV C5 Camera system on a couple of bikes in our motorcycle tour fleet. We sent one to our crew in South America and fitted the others two to our […]
Kyrgyz where?? – Adventure Rider Story
Kyrgyzstan at the very forefront of the “last frontier” when it comes to motorcycle touring, a place so new to tourism that Lonely Planet doesn’t have a guide book on it, yet! Deep within Central Asia this incredible country offers bikers an unparalleled diversity of towering snow-capped peaks, stunning alpine valleys, fast flowing glacial rivers, […]
It’s time to start planning for the 2018 Compass Expeditions Reunion.
Next year the dates will be 14th – 15th of April and will be visiting the wonderful NSW South Coast region, around Merimbula, wonderfully located halfway between Sydney & Melbourne, for some incredible riding, good company and great tucker. This reunion is open only to past Compass clients family & friends Lunch will be at […]
Happy 10th Anniversary Compass Expeditions!
Most thought we wouldn’t last a year, to be honest either did we!! Compass Expeditions was started more so that we could help raise funds for Friedreichs Ataxia Network, a support group close to our heart, than getting others to pay for us to ride around the world each year. It is exactly 10 years […]
INNOVV C5 Motorcycle Camera System Install
We recently received two INNOVV C5 cameras to test on our fleet off tour and rental Motorcycles in Australia. Our first impressions of the C5 units when we opened the boxes were that they are very solid and compact units. There is a camera, a recorder unit and a wiring harness along with mounting hardware […]
Charley Boorman – Cape Town To Victoria Falls – African Adventure 2017
Charley Boorman, Billy Ward and a great group of adventurous riders and pillions departed Cape Town in overcast conditions on the 29th of August. They were headed for warmer weather and an amazing and challenging African experience. Providing logistical and mechanical support was the founder of Compass Expeditions, Mick McDonald, and our regular tour medic, […]
2017 Australia Encompassed – Part 1
One of the highlights for me leading tours, is meeting and riding with a diverse group of riders from all over the world and sharing great roads and attractions along the way. Our Australia Encompassed tour 2017 is no exception. Introducing the group we have Rafael from Spain, Miguel from Portugal, Paul from Norfolk Island, […]
True North: Alaska – The Research Run Gallery
Bayne, one of our trusted Compass Expeditions all rounders has just completed the research trip for our new True North: Alaska motorcycle tour. We had him hit the road following routes that we thought would be perfect for an amazing ride through this staggeringly beautiful landscape. Sometimes we were spot on other times Bayne was […]
Kyrgyzstan Explorer – The view from the support truck – Week Two
Click Here to read about WEEK ONE of the tour Story by Ryan Heath Images by Mick McDonald The next day we are off the bikes but the adventure does not stop. Early in the morning we board two former Russian army trucks that transport us to the stunning alpine valley of Altyn Arashan. […]
Kyrgyzstan Explorer – The view from the support truck – Week One
Story by Ryan Heath Images by Mick McDonald It is fair to say that when I told people I was travelling to Kyrgyzstan the most common reaction was, “you’re going where?” I think there was an assumption that any place that ended with “stan” was not a travel destination of choice. People seemed […]
South America 360 Expedition – The finale!
Back into Argentina form Bolivia, to Santiago, Chile, and then the 360 is done. Tupiza, Bolivia into Humahuaca, Argentina. A generally difficult border went very well, much quicker than anticipated. The twisty mountain roads of Bolivia turn to flat and straight again in Argentina, but not for long. We soon hit the beautiful hills and […]
South America 360 Expedition – Welcome to Bolivia!
Welcome to Bolivia! In this instalment of the South America 360 blog, we cross the border from Peru into Bolivia and head towards La Paz. La Paz to Uyuni, a long day, with a lot of kilometers. We left very early because of a predicted protest. They locals had just finished 3 days of celebrations […]