We've used Icebreaker apparel on all our previous expedition rides. It's indispensable for us given the minimum amount of space it takes up when packed and its great properties of being able to be worn for days on end without your mates avoiding you. This trip will be as demanding on gear as any of the others �" our route takes us from the searing heat of the Peruvian deserts all the way down to the sub-Antarctic climes of Tierra del Fuego. And in-between, we’ll encounter some rain forest in the weeks of getting drenched in southern Chile. Icebreaker handles all of these extremes. For the times we're off-bike, we need clothing that is easy maintenance, warm but breathable, but doesn't make you sweat. When people ask us what it is, we tell them it’s made from the lightest, finest merino from the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Just like Icebreaker, we think Albert Einstein was on to something when he said: “Look deep into nature, and you will understand everything better.” www.icebreaker.com

Satellite Tracking

When we head out on these adventures we never know what we are going to encounter. We visit some pretty remote places so it’s good to know that with spidertracks on board, someone can always see where we are. It’s basically a safety system that uses tracking. The spider device knows where we are based on our GPS position and sends that position, in real time via the Iridium network, to the spidertracks website where it is laid down like a bread crumb trail over topographical maps. So you can follow our progress, in real time, on our website. And if something was to go wrong, our exact location is known based on our last reported position.

We’ve used spidertracks on a couple of journeys now, and while it was developed for aircraft we’ve found it works just fine on the bikes �" we even get emails from people who’re following us online and they ask why we stopped somewhere or what we’re looking at! www.spidertracks.com

Insurance

Ever tried to insure a motorbike for a spin across the Amazon? Harder than stopping NZ’s slide down the OECD league tables. It is just impossible, or so we thought. The spectre of being put in the klink because one of our bikes just happened to scrape the Merc of the local big noter was not one we were too happy with. Try as we might, directly approaching insurers just didn’t seem to solve these risks for us. So we got local brokers Crombie and Lockwood on to the case and they’re jacked up full marine transit insurance to and from South America, comprehensive motorcycle coverage for all bikes while we’re travelling through the various South American countries, carnet insurance should we have issues, and motorcycle liability insurance (should we run someone over and damage them or their property). Getting this sorted for a number of unstable countries is no mean feat. So well done to the team at Crombie Lockwood, you made it all just happen, and saved us the administrative nightmare of getting it all together. www.crombielockwood.co.nz

Motorcycles

Critical to the success of a motorbike tour are the bikes and rider gear. This year we’re riding the new BMW F800 GS

The bike sports a parallel twin engine which is a totally different experience to that we’ve had from the ever reliable F650 Dakar and F650 GS that have reliably carried us around the world so far. So it’s on the one hand pretty exciting to have the new experience and on the other we anticipate it with some trepidation given we came to know the Dakars so well and familiarity in that case certainly bred no contempt. It was a great bike for the purpose. To John Glaswell and the team at BMW New Zealand we extend our sincere thanks for once again providing us support and liaison during over this leg of our worldbybike adventure. www.bmwmotorrad.co.nz