Day 34 Thursday 01/05/08
May Day 2534.81 km
Dunakiltti Hungry
Three Countries One Day!
Well an excellent day,
Brought a map and
a bottle of water and realised that the Euro was no longer good to go! Looked at
the map and realised that the camp site I had missed by several miles, I could
see from where I was on the map there was a camp site not to far from where I
was perhaps 2hrs ride. So I went for that rather than go backwards. As I riding
along I was looking at the map thinking to myself that the county boundary on
the map was very thick, not the boundary being think that was me! The camp site
I was heading for was in Hungry, that pushed me on no end it had been a long day
Well today the world changed Hungry, the roads just seemed to fall apart,
they are in a bad way, the traffic had all but gone when I crossed the boarder
at Mosonmagyarovvar, yes that is a place! The boarder had long since closed down
and was kind of ghostly with the curtains flapping out of the broken windows.
Went to the first ATM I could fine and got some cash and then headed of to
the camp site feeling kind of pleased with myself, Camp site had a bar, hot
showers and, cost me 3 Euro for the night, and just a 1 Euro for a beer, four
beers later and 123kms I slept well.
Day 35 & 36 Tata
2696.78km
Longest day so far 161km
. Interesting day wonderful weather, went shopping at Tesco! No real
difference apart from the Carp still live in the too small tank, and the meat
counter had all manner of BITS for sale. Arrived in Gyor in good time and really
nice ride, have been disturbed by the amount of stray dogs saw one with a tumour
the size of a football hanging from its belly life is cheaper here so the dog
will just suffer till it dies.
Gyor turned out to be a real pain they show A
roads on the map some you can ride on some you cant from the map you cant tell
well I ended up taking a 30km detour to get myself around the A road problem.
Found myself In the Hungarian heart land of battery farming and it smells bad,
after a good 50Km of riding through such places I could never knowingly eat meat
from that sort of source, the smell and the noise that comes from such places is
inhuman.
As darkness fell I found myself 35kms from Tata and the next camp
site, after a 2hr ride, being buzzed by flying bugs the size of a small walnut
and these guys where armoured, I arrived tired but chuffed that I had found the
site in the dark, only to be told at 150kms they where closed! But there is
another site not 10kms from here, off I rode in to the darkness once more. Well
on I rode just about to give up and seek B&B when out of the darkness, there
it was, looked a terrible place, but I did not care, set the tent up called Jane
10PM pleased with myself. Cooked my dinner and settled down for the night at midnight, or
that's what I thought the local night club kicked in well that's what I thought
turned out to be a fun fare). So finally fell to sleep totally exhausted after
2AM.
Hole or not I decided I was staying or might have something to do with I am
still knackered from the last 2 days, but as it turns out when you see your
monsters in the day light they are not that bad and the camp site is very nice,
and the surrounding area very nice, overall like
Hungry.Day 37 & 38 Tata 22799.87km
Time to admit
I'm not 20 any more!
.Sunshine and rain was the
order for the day. The smell of wild garlic has been replaced by the scent of
lilac. it is everywhere on the road to Budapest, not a city I really liked. Every time
I pass a shrine along the way and they are often I say a little prayer and
request safe passage on my journey, today I stopped to mark up my map, just
before a junction and witnessed 2 cars crash, in about the time I would have
been at the crossing, coincidence? Maybe, but I always mark my map after the
junction and for some reason this time I stopped short.
Fairly hilly day,
nothing too hard but steady. Met a Belgian and a Dutch couple strangely I was
able to understand them.
Got the tools to fix my peddle from Tesco of course!
Had today off as I had to admit that the saddle has won, my legs are still like
jelly and no I'm not 20 any more:-(
It seems like its the UK has lost the
art that is all over Europe, coffee and cake, there are so many to choose from
and I am eating my way across Europe but I am running out of Europe quicker than
there are cakes to choose:-(
All in all I like Hungry some of the roads are
in a terrible state but I can live with that. Have had some stunning food and
some very average fair, beer is some of the best I have had and quite cheap, but
don't think the place is cheap its not then you get a camp site and its 3 Euro
and you think again, Its defiantly a country that is on the up, and with the
prices are rising too. Nice place still some off the old Soviet feel to it and
the terrible legacy of some of the buildings that where built during that epoch.
Thinking about going further east in a few days and heading off in to the
One thing I have noticed is the dogs they howl all night, and so far I have not had a data connection and have not found an internet cafe at a suitable time for me.
Day 39 Dunaföldvar 2893.81km
Well a good day found it strange that there are prostitutes plying there trade along the road side. Dunafoldvar is a nice town on the river, got talking to a couple of locals and they told me to be very careful if I go to
Day 40 Kiskoros 2937.36km
Health Spa, I was the youngest person there
Was able to get on the internet for the first time in days. Up loaded the web pages and photos to for ever, was chuffed with my work and left the internet cafe, called Jane and she told me that the pages I had uploaded were not displaying correctly. So went back in to the cafe to be told it was 5 to 12 and they close till 1 for lunch, so I went and had dinner myself, went back for just after 1 but 1:30 I got back and sorted the problem, Had missed some tags of the end of the page IE displayed the pages with no problem, but fire fox did not display the page.
So at about
Day 41 Palic
SERBIA! Country number 9 and 3000Km
Had a good ride
through the last of hungry all old orchards and vineyards, but really a bit
boring. Crossed the boarder into
Nice day started with morning coffee with my hosts, not Nescafe they told me proper coffee.
The people wave at you here when you cycle past, very friendly and interested in what you are doing there. The young all seem to speak English which is very different from Hungry.
The towns are very strange you ride up to them all the side streets are dirt tracks and give the appearance of a backward place, but look closer and you will see that there are some lovely homes down these tracks. But it is by following the sign to the town centre that some real treasures are to be found. Tree lined avenues and street cafes and bars, parks and fountains, and some lovely buildings.
While I was in
Had my lunch from the bakers in Bac Topola, I had a sort of cheese pie made with filo pastry and filled I think with goats cheese, lovely sort of a warm sweet and sour flan very oily from the cheese but nice and at less than an euro for a slice big enough for one hungry cyclist, or a small family. I stopped in a nice camp site 3 euro a night, so I will put up with the ants. Going over to the restaurant for my tea to try something Serbian for tea and the owner wants me to try Raki, the local snaps. The locals are all gearing up for the elections here, its a hard call for them, go one way and embrace Europe, but if they do that they have to except that they lose what they class as part of there country. So far I have felt very safe and have been made welcome here, and defiantly like the place so far, and the prices have dropped if you eat the local fare and not at the McDonald’s! The roads are still bad but better than in Hungry, however spent about an hour today on a concrete road, so there was the join in the surface every 30 meters or so! Not Pleasant on the saddle area.-
Day 43 Beograd 3241.33km
Big day weather warm again, campsite I wanted was to close the one I had to go for a bit to far but here we are. Locals are very friendly, but was a bit upset when I was going to buy some lace for Jane, I was asked for about 30 euro more than was on the price tag a bit naughty so she got none.
Have touched on the euro cycle route 6 again and bumped in to a German cyclist who was on his way to
Saw a street seller on the side of the road selling Honey, like anything sweet so thought I would have some nice sweet local honey, I would have had a shock I was informed that the delicious looking substance was in fact meth for fire lighting!
Ended up riding the last bit of the day in the dark to get to the camp site and got there just as they where locking up. It has been a hard day as from Novi Sad it starts to get hilly 14% climb not uncommon
Made myself that classic dish of sausage Thai green curry and rice, and some nice plonk to wash it down with.
As it seems with all capital cities you pay more to camp and by Serb standards no exception. Sometimes I feel I am being ripped off then work the price out and am embarrassed that I thought that. Gromit performing faultlessly very tired sure will sleep well tonight.
Day 44 Grocka 3280.28km
Day started off very well sunny went t and paid my bill and had a coffee and 2 Serbs talked to me, this was when my day changed and everything went a bit Cyrillic and not just the road signs. The conversation started of very friendly but quickly became more sinister, England and America was brought up and the bombing of Serbia, decide this was not a good place to be, but before I had the chance to go they were telling me that we were like brothers with the US, and why can I not speak Serb, the questioning was direct and with intent. They then started whispering to each other in Serb, made me feel very uneasy, I hoped they would be leaving today and went and did what I do on my rest days.
They seemed to have gone and later in the day I sat having a couple of beers and plotting where next on the map, when I saw them again, they where not in the camp site but the flop house next to it, they were followed by 2 more lads and I was pointed out to them. They then came in to the camp site the owner questioned where they were going, he was told to go away and multiply by the look on his face and they came in to the site and had a good look round my tent and bike etc. they then left the site, this left me with a really bad feeling, sure that they had just cased the joint to come back later and share some time with me!
I might have been wrong but I went with my feelings cooked my tea, packed up and left. I new it would not be possible to reach the next camp site so I found myself a nice little spot at the edge of an Orchard, did not mention Beograd because from what I saw that is all it warrants.
Now this may have just been paranoia, I have found the Serbs a lovely friendly people, but there is also real poverty here and they don't like the bombing of there country by the
Day 45 Veliko Gradiste 3375.25km
Woke early, cold and damp start but it soon got hot, planned to be at the next site for 12, but it was no longer there, that has been a real pain with this country along with you need to know where the camp sites are as they are not marked, so my light day was a normal 100km day, some very sharp climbs today well in to the 14% mark. Met up with what you could call a cyclist, he was a 7 day Adventist from Romania we must have looked a strange pair him in his suit and me in my cycling gear, the best way to describe him was think of the film The Great Escape and the bloke who rode the bike to the boat and you have him and the bike is about right to, but total respect for the man he had been riding for many months spreading the word.
I have found the food difficult here its sort of feast of famine, the local Crispy sells a very limited fair and they are the norm, and then in the most unlikely little town there will be a full blown super market that sells everything. The men drink beer here all day long I have not found a time when they don't yet.
This will sound strange but this is a dangerous place to drive a car I would be unhappy driving here, not so bad on a bike. They die young here and mostly thanks to the car or motor bike, the shines to the dead work out about every kilometre and it is sad to see all the kids that don't make 20! They must do something soon or they will lose a generation as the cars get faster and the roads get worse
the further east you get the closer the cars get!
Day 46 Brnjica 3419.94km
Possible the best day yet, I knew it would be a short day so I got up late and in slow time, went to the local town and the ride in was quite something, the town its self was just ok but managed to have coffee go shopping and post some postcards, ended up with 0.5 of cooked meat but never mind. well moved on and it just got better and better, the temp is 25 degrees and a slight breeze so plenty of sun cream, entered the Djerdap National Park, which looks across in to Romania and its just magnificent. Over hanging cliffs gentle climbs and not much traffic this is due to the castle at Golubac that has tunnels and bridges that will not allow anything to big to pass. Had my lunch there its just a wonderful location.
Just a perfect day thought it could not get any better, but still I prayed for decent toilets and I got them and the most amassing location to camp. The only thing that could make it more perfect is having Jane and the boys here with me. But I guess I can't have everything, but it feels quite close. A noise that I have found I like on this trip is that of the boats on the rivers, it is a very heavy sort of thud, thud, thud and distant, a slow methodical beat, by which they must live there, lives. I am looking forward to
Day 47
For the first time in the trip today I wanted to just give it all up and go home. might have been just an average but it followed an awesome day, which kind of left me empty. It has left me working really hard for motivation, nearly as hard as the hills made me work.
Lost count how many times I was chased by dogs, and 5 times by some nasty beasts. Know I am not sleeping well the howling dogs are getting to me.
The road maps are rubbish, they list camp sites that are not there and missing B roads, but I just put it down to me missing them or something, but I have missed A road T-Junctions, is to much to be leave on a bike.
Cycled with a French couple for a few miles before I headed of over the hills to the first of the missing camp sites along the missing roads!! So I ended up in Bor, its not a place to be on a tour its a mining town and not a nice one. Well I could not tell if I was on the right road so I asked a local and he confirmed it, but I had to wait for 2 minutes while he fetched his daughter to translate, very helpful told me I was 15km away from the lake and it was mostly up hill, oh joy! He had not lied, tried for a B&B on the way but they were full so again I was on lights to the camp site, Arrived just after 9 to be told that young men on there own not allowed, I nearly cried, I think that's when they had a change of heart, so they then asked me to come and have coffee when I had put my tent up, I really was not in the mood but knew they would be upset if I said no, so tired as I was I went and had some Serb coffee very strong, followed by some apple and peach whisky, glad I went the Serbs are very friendly and helpful people.
The cheapest camp site so far at 1 Euro for the night, I was happy with the very old tired facilities but clean would have been nice.
Day 48 Bulgaria
Rakovica 3635.81km
Thursday 15 May 2008
Well the day had a start of 12km down hill as I had to back track
to pick up my route this morning, no wonder I felt like hanging myself last
night, the down hill put a smile on my face, but it was soon removed with the
terrain there after. Got ripped of at the Serb / Bulgarian boarder with the
exchange rate, but I was just happy to be moving on so smiled and accepted it. I
failed to notice the 681 meter spot height by the boarder so it was a good climb
up to the crossing point.
Entering
With all the reading I have done I was still surprised
just how quite
Friday 16 May 2008
Yet another interesting day got up at 6am and realised I had puncture number 3, my fault in my search for the perfect spot to camp I dragged Gromit through the worlds biggest bed of thorns, I was lucky to get only one puncture. Hard mornings ride getting through the villages, seems that the villages are at the bottom of the hill by the river so it was very up and down. Stopped and had coffee in one little village and had to resist the temptation to take pictures of the in side of the place it was like a cross between a very trendy country kitchen cottage style and the Duckworth’s front room complete with ducks on the wall!
Rode on to the equivalent of a mini Arizona quite stunning, this is where I met Boris and his friends, I was invited to a party for the evening, looking around the town I thought that I might stay, so I started looking for a hotel, and like Mr Ben up turned Boris, said he would show me the local hotel, so I followed him to the hotel, which was closed, he assured me that it was ok, the view from the hotel was stunning, but I was not happy with the thought of staying in a closed hotel, I was then informed that we could not stay there, but I could leave my bike and collect it later it would be better, I thought about this and with other things that had been said I decided to leave, I had my map looked at closely and a route that would be best shown to me. I left with no intention of following his route but gave myself an alternate route that I did not mention. I left and followed the given route for the first 20km or so as it was a share route, during this time I saw Boris twice more. With what I had been told and with what I saw I smelt bulls**t. I left the town a little sad but I think I made the right choice. Managed to by a local map and found a lovely little hotel 10 euro a night and I am having 2 nights here bike safe in the garage food is good as is the beer. I know that I am going to sleep so well to night I fell very happy with my lot.
Slept for 12 hours and it was good, had ham and eggs for breakfast with toast, spent the day just being still and resting, I intend to be in Istanbul in the next 5 days which will be a real task.
one of the most useful skills I have is the ability to speak a reasonable amount of German, it has been useful I think the Germans have been coming this way for a long time. I have just been stung buy a wasp that was not nice, but on the plus side I have just been given a plate of cheese, I am guessing it is a sort of cheddar but soft so not had any time to mature, just long enough to stop looking like feta, but similar, and just going soft and rubbery, quite lovely I was told it was a mezza so I am hoping that I am in for a treat.
Day 51 Country Number 11
Corabia Romania
3861.53km
Sunday 18 May 2008
Its
getting really hot, 35 degree C today, struggling to take enough fluid. It was
around
But the only
trouble I had on the way to Corabia was a gipsy trying to stop me for money,
lucky for me he was driving the latest model of the donkey and cart and I was
able to out ride his speeding mount! Dogs are a complete pain after dark and it
goes without saying I provided them with some good training in their favourite
sport the pursuit.
some of the places I have been are best seen in the dark
as it hides the poverty and the neon provides the place with a different sense
of wealth that you do not see in the light. But there is no neon here, in fact
in the villages and some towns there are no lights, in many of the houses, so
they all sit out on benches on the street talking, smoking and drinking
beer
3949.95km
Monday 19 May 2008
Today I woke feeling so down, and feel like I have had enough, and decided I wanted to go home!
Well within 20km I met up with 3 English lads, George, George and Josh. This lifted my spirits more than you can imagine, I had not realised that this was the first time I had spoke to English people since leaving the
After that the lads rode on for another 40kms and I stopped in Zimnicea, with my French friends, and went out for dinner while we waited for the water pressure to build up enough to take a bath in the bath that had long since lost its enamel. Eating out in Romania is not easy, there is no choice and there may be 2 places in a large town where it is possible, Jean Paul made an interesting observation that the Romanians are never seen eating, lots of them in bars drinking beer and smoking lots but never eating, and he was right.
Day 52
Ruse Bulgaria
4000km
4031.51km
Tuesday 20 May 2008
As I rode from Zimnicea this morning I realised that something quite magical had happened, I have been charmed and have fallen in love with the simplicity that is Romania, I had heard so many bad things about the place, that it put me off camping there, why I don't know because not for one moment did I feel threatened, on the contrary I felt nothing but warmth, the city is different, but that is the same everywhere, but when you are rural it is so friendly and you are met with waves and O la! and many other ways of saying hello, but always friendly, and the man you see with his horse drawn plough and the women working in the fields with the hoe, the waves and smiles are from hard working people that are genuine. It has been a very humbling couple of days from the shop keeper that went and cleaned his toilet for me before I used it, even though it was the most basic toilet you can have he showed me great respect before he allowed me to use it.
But Riding here on a sunny day you get to see the place in its full simple glory, I will never forget the hard working people, the wild flowers growing with the barley, and the warmth of the greeting of the poorest of people. As the day wore on I found myself not wanting to leave
Crossing back into Bulgaria was a surreal experience. All day long I had been surrounded buy horse and carts sometimes roads with no surface, like riding down a pebble beach, and people working in the fields, old communist buildings falling apart with derelict power stations long since out of service. Cross Donau and that bridge and you are thrust almost violently back in to the 21st Century, found a cheap hotel, worried me a little that the police were taking statements from the owners as I arrived, but I have know idea what that was about, so did not let it trouble me.
Went and got something to eat, menu totally in Bulgarian no hope of telling what it said. I pointed to the white bait I saw someone eating and as the waitress spoke not one word of English I pointed at what I guessed to be a main course and hoped for the best, I got a lovely offal stew is the best way to explain. It defiantly would be hard here for a veggie! But really enjoyed my tea and I could not but help thinking about Jean Paul and his wife, with the grizzly meal I knew they would be having
Day 54
Shumen
4146.08km
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Dull day just pushing the KM not much to see. A real sadness came on me today, as much as I hate the wild dogs I have a real loathing for the sort of person that I saw dump one today. Car pulled up window opened threw the dog out the window and sped off, dog chased the car for a short while and then returned to where it had been dumped not understanding I guess and waiting to be collected by his owner, now just another stray on the streets. But I guess what up set me most was as they drove off they were laughing at the dog’s barks and obvious distress.
Well found my self somewhere to stay I have noticed the rooms are getting posher and the money no more. As I checked in I met an English couple and had dinner with them, had a nice time with them, The Bulgaria they had seen to me was a very different place, it is a country of great contrast, and if you stay in the tourist areas you would never realise.
Day 55
Along the Black Sea
Priselci
4258.03km
Thursday 22 May 2008
Nice day, but I have nothing left in me the food is all protein and no carbs, so I ended up walking most of the hills and my but continues to suffer at times from the saddle. Arrived in Varna and caught a glimpse of the Black sea and then it was gone found myself on a very fast road not as fast as later!) and pushed past all the hotels, guessed that on the other side of the town there would be hotels too, wrong! so headed south for the camp site that was marked on my map. What I had not planned on was my first 8km on a motorway very frightening on a bicycle!
It seems that all the camp sites here have given way to the much more profitable hotels that are being built everywhere. Well I stopped and asked at a shop and in perfect English there was a house that rented rooms about 150 metres away so I gave e it a go, well I scored big time cost me 25 Euro and it was lovely, and had everything you need and if I could of used wired internet I could have used that to. The owner took me to the local restaurant and I was stunned all the people in there eating were Brits! But everywhere here they are selling holiday homes so no surprise really. I made the most of the washing machine and put my clothes on an oil filled radiator to dry and went and watched some TV, little while later I smelt a sort of burnt smell went out to the hall to find that the radiator had no thermostat and that I now have a towel with tiger strip holes burnt in, it was getting close to flames!!
Day 56, 57 & 58
Obzor resort on the Black sea
4302.28km
Friday 23 May 2008
Pleasant day warm but Humid had a breakfast of stale bread and cheese sandwich with coffee then set off over the hills, very busy road with very fast cars. Got a couple of glimpses of the sea but that was it. Road surface is ace, but some long climbs, still some long descents to make up for all your effort. My knees are really causing me problems and by the end of the day they are sometimes swollen and I am reduce to walking some of the hills I be able to ride, I have altered my saddle position in the hope that it is that, causing the problem. If this does not solve the problem I am worried that I can not complete this trip, which is a depressing thought. I have decided to have a short day followed by a rest day and see how we get on. Just before I reached the resort of Obzor the heavens opened and I was in the middle of a deluge. The water ran down the street in rivers, so I stopped in a cafe just short of the town and took refugee and used the opportunity to have some spicy meat balls and chips, meat balls lovely chips here are terrible. Within 20 minutes of the rain stopping it was dry!
Obzor is a lovely not finished resort, I passed all the 4* hotels and went in search of cheaper accommodation, I found a very nice family run 2* for 10 Euro s a night, I have a great room with sea view, and have been made very welcome, now looking forward to dinner. Food here is defiantly local but has been cooked to cater for the tourist; this part of
Perfect rest day I have done nothing. But look at my maps and plan
Can recommended this as a weight loss program I have lost 5 kg and that has put me at my lightest weight in many years and I can eat as much as I want, but the sun tan is not so good, my finger tips look like I smoke 60 a day, then my hands are white from the mitts and then the sun tan starts again to the tee shirt line and then I have a short line and apart from my face everything else is still un-tanned! thankfully I don't have to show it in public
Day 59
Ahelaj
4348.94km
Monday 26 May 2008
Made my way from Obozor, uphill for 15km, so had to walk most of that after just 4 km my knees feel as bad as they did before 3 days off. On the plus side the down hill was great fun! If I had not used my brakes not sure what speed I would have reached decided that 60kph was quick enough on a loaded bike. The XTR brakes and the carbide rims are an excellent choice unreal stopping power.
I have noticed the closer I get to
Day 60
Istanbul Turkey
Country Number 12
4398.51km
Tuesday 27 May 2008
Rode to Burgas a really nice city on
the black sea, it was a real emotional roll a coaster, I will be
catching a bus to Istanbul from there as the traffic in Istanbul is not a good
place to be on a bike, and I have had to tell you that I will be
flying back to New Zealand from there. I have realised that I am not going
to be able to continue on any further at this point. Two months seems to be
as much as my knees will take, which is a real shame as I thought that a few
rest days would be enough. Sadly this has not proved to be the case and I need
to spend more time to rest up than would be sensible away from home.
So I
have decided to split this trip and return here either later this year or early
next year, and continue and do the trip in two month
chunks
Beyond the Baklava
The bus ride to
Arrived in Istanbul bus station at
21.30 bike in bits and lots of bags of kit, took a taxi to the
hotel which of course was miles away, so by the time I got there I did
not have time to choose and was not impressed by the 90 USD room, so in the
morning I moved hotel, the manager tried to give me a reduced rate for the
next two nights, told him to stick it! Don't like it when people take advantage
so was not paying him for a cheaper room rate, after he had ripped me off. My
new hotel backed on to my old hotel and was 50 USD for 3 nights! But I had to
buy breakfast, but food in Turkey is cheap so still a good deal.
Spent my time walking
round the tourist areas, Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque etc.
The Blue Mosque is
quite awesome inside, I was very pissed of to see people being
disrespectful of the mosque, not that I am a Muslim, just it is a holy
place to some, and should be respected by all, whatever your faith, I
think that because it is open to the public people seem to think it is just
another tourist attraction and not a place of worship. Inside the building it is
so cool and calm a real sanctuary from the heat and the bustle that is
What surprised me the most was that as I walked up to
the Grand Bazaar I remember it form my visit 20 years ago.
The food in
Istanbul I like a lot and I ate a lot but you need to try beyond the Baklava and
Kebabs good as they are, there are some real treats to be had, my advice as
always is move out your comfort zone and just try something new, some will be
rank but some will be so different to what you have tried before and delicious
and with the cost of the food so cheap if you make a mistake you can try
something else.
Things change and move on and Istanbul is no different, there
seemed to be less traffic or maybe the roads are wider, but I did not see so
many trucks and there were no busses with the spikes sticking out from the
wheels like Ben Hurr chariots. its a city that I like and am looking forward to
coming back, and it will not be another 20 years but you can still see the
poverty it is still there just below the surface, dig a little and you will soon
find it.
Packed my bike up and went to the airport, was upset by the fact
that Emirates do not count a bike as sports equipment and after I had paid 400
euros in excess baggage I was asked at the check in to go and pay another 5 euro
to have my bike film wrapped, then, asked why I had paid for it as an excess I
could have screamed. So I was not impressed
Day
65
Temuka New Zealand
Home for Now!
Sunday 1st June 2008
A day of sadness and joy, home with Jane and
the boys but knowing that the trip is over for now!!!
I guess I will have to
get a job for a few months to cover the extra flight costs as they were not
included in the original budget.
But the plotting and planning for
I am not
looking at it as giving up, just adding some down time in the middle, yes I
would love to have done it in one leap but it was not to be, Jane is fully
behind me returning in a few months, I have realised that I must finish this now
I have started, its now a part of my life that I like, so the next
step is to work on my knees some and to see some of NZ before I set off for
Turkey, and Iran.
Overall in the year since I have restarted cycling I have
lost 13 kilos in weight and covered 10,000Km so quite a good return for my
efforts
Will let you know the restart date when I have worked it out
myself
Rhine and Danube
Minarets and Mountains