SUNGRL

Euro Velo 6 – Week 6 – Vienna to Rackeve – 386km – cumulative 2,814km

Posted on September 13, 2023 by SUNGRL

Day 36 – Vienna to Bratislava – 71km

Well rested after our day off we were all happy to be back on our bikes – the cloudless blue sky certainly added a spring to our pedals.

Andy and Hilary expertly guided us out of Vienna in peak hour traffic – no mean feat in a city with a population of about 2 million. They do have a great network of cycle paths and lanes though. It was about 5km back to the route which resumed in the Prater Gardens.

Again the trail was amazing, following long straight flood dykes through the riparian wooded wetlands of the Donau-Auen National Park. Prior to getting to the National Park we spent some time on Donauinsel which is a 21km long, man made island between the Danube and Neue Donau rivers, which was created between 1972 and 1988 as part of the flood protection scheme.

The 93km square Donau-Auen national park was established in 1996 to protect the largest area of undeveloped wetland floodplain in Central Europe, after environmentalists had succeeded in blocking construction of a hydroelectric dam at Hainburg, that would have flooded the whole area. It is home to more than 30 species of mammals and 100 types of birds.

Just before Hainburg we struck a traffic jam on the suspension bridge – there was a large group of mainly Australian cyclists on a day trip in front of us. One of the woman in the group didn’t want to cycle so had got off her bike and was pushing it. Instead of squeezing over to let everyone pass she proceeded to walk, holding everyone up. Eventually one of her group got through to her and we got past. You can imagine the Aussie twang while they sorted themselves out

Hainburg occupies one of the most strategically important locations on the Danube, literally the point where east meets west as, for many centuries, it was the most easterly point of the Holy Roman Empire.

We crossed the Austrian-Slovak border or the old ‘Iron Curtain’ 62km from Vienna. There was an old border checkpoint and a blue gate on the track which is now permanently open. No signs or fanfare so if you weren’t aware of the blue gate you wouldn’t know you had crossed the border. We are now in country number five on our journey.

We passed an old Soviet isolated infantry casemate (bunker) B’S4 “Lany” which was built in 1937 as a part of the Czechoslovak border fortifications system, the most perfect European fortification system in the 30s of the 20th century.

Just before crossing the bridge into Bratislava we could see the Novy Most suspension bridge in Petrzalka where there is a viewing platform.

Bratislava was a revelation – soon after crossing the bridge we were in the old town with a gorgeous tree lined promenade with restaurants. I didn’t know what to expect but wow it is a vibrant and happening place. We found a restaurant serving traditional Slovakian food and settled in. I had sheep’s cheese gnocchi with bacon which I really enjoyed.

Bratislava has a population of 460,000 and was previously known as Pressburg (Germany) and before that as Pozsony (Hungarian). It has found a new purpose since the end of communism and the splitting of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia.

In 1919 the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up by the Trianon Treaty and the new country of Czechoslovakia was established. Pressburg, together with much of Hungary, north of the Danube became Czechoslovak; its name changed to Bratislava, the language of government changed to Czech and many of the Hungarian residents left. After the Second World War, the German speaking population were expelled, and Czechoslovakia came under Soviet control with a communist government. The old city became neglected and run down.

The end of communism in 1989 and Slovak independence in 1992 resulted in Bratislava becoming capital of the new country of Slovakia. Economic recovery was slow at first, but entry into the EU in 2004 and its close proximity to Western European markets attracted substantial investment in new industry. The city centre has been extensively renovated. In 2009, economic success led to Slovakia becoming the first ex Soviet block country to be admitted into the Euro currency zone.

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the old town. It was full of people and there are many bars and restaurants. The people are friendly and most in the hospitality sector speak good English.

Day 37 – Bratislava to Gyor – 80km

Another perfect day for cycling – not a cloud in the sky but a gentle breeze to keep us cool.

We left the beautiful old town of Bratislava and headed back across the bridge. Although the trails are still paved or asphalt, the quality has declined. The first 20 odd kilometres to the Hungarian border was uneventful. The guide book had said there was no demarcation of the border so Hilary kept an eye out on Google maps. In fact the border was well marked. There was an old bollard gate that we shut to give the effect, took the photos and realised later on that we didn’t even get it in the picture . Hungary is our sixth country on the Euro Velo 6.

Not long after crossing the border I was admiring the new Hungarian Euro Velo signs and went in a pothole. The impact threw one of my panniers off and broke the strap that holds it to the bike rack. JP and Graham to the rescue with a bungy cord.

The first village we passed through in Hungary was called Rajka. There was a new subdivision being built and the houses looked similar in style to what we have in NZ. The biggest difference was that they were all concrete. At times I felt like we could have been cycling through a suburb in small town NZ.

Our first stop was in Mosonmagyarovar which has a population of 32,500. It was weird to look at the road signs and signs in the shop fronts with not an ounce of recognition. In France, Germany and Austria we could decipher some words as they were more familiar and made sense. These signs really were in a foreign language.

Mosonmagyarovar was an important medieval trading route between Hungary and Austria. The reopening of trading links since the fall of communism has led to a boom in dentistry. With 350 practitioners, the town has the highest number of dentists per head in the world. Clients are not only from nearby Austria, where dental treatment is considerably more expensive than in Hungary, but also from worldwide, flying in via Vienna and Bratislava.

We found a traditional Hungarian restaurant for lunch and after a few lost in translation moments managed a lovely rapport with the staff who were very sweet. Hungarian goulash, dumplings and scrambled eggs and vegetable dumplings were enjoyed all round. Food and drink is a lot cheaper than in the previous countries. My latte was $3.25 versus about $7 previously.

On the bikes again for what was a relatively boring cycle compared to our previous days – we really have been so spoilt with the scenery. We passed a lot of crops and harvested paddocks but even they looked a bit drab. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than enjoying a blue sky day on my bike.

We arrived into Gyor (pronounced Gear) at about 2.30pm which is a beautiful town so our visual buds were back in their happy place.

Gyor has a population of 132,000 and sits on the confluence of the Mosoni Duna and Raba rivers and is the regional capital of north-west Hungary.

During the immediate post Second World War period with communists in power, many of the historic buildings were neglected. This changed in the 1970’s, so much so that in 1989 Gyor won a European award for its protection of historic monuments.

Post communist developments have seen Audi build a large car factory just east of the city, which produces two million car engines annually and assembles some Audi sports cars. Ninety percent of all Audi engines are made here, as well as some for Volkswagon and Lamborghini.

Day 38 – Gyor (Hungary) to Komarno (Slovakia) – 58km

After a lovely stay and breakfast at the Teatrum Hotel we navigated our way out of town and passed the vast Audi production site.

Today’s ride was much more interesting with gently rolling countryside. We had a mixture of field tracks, country roads and cycle tracks, with some stretches of main road without cycle lanes.

The guide book had us going through a village called Babolna but the Euro Velo signs bypassed it and there were no signs directing us there, which was a shame. A horse breeding and stud farm was established here in 1789, providing horses to the Hungarian army. In 1836 an Arabian stallion named Shagya was imported from Syria and this horse became the progenitor of a breed of thoroughbreds now recognised all over Europe.

In addition to the stud, a military riding academy was established and Bablona became a centre of equine activity. It is now the Hungarian National Stud with over 250 horses stabled there, including 19 breeding stallions.

It would have been great to see but we were 10km down the road before we realised we had missed it.

Andy clicked over 2000 kilometres today so we marked it out with some wild hemp plants found growing beside the track. Graham surprised Andy with a beer which was dutifully consumed We had to do a quick photoshoot as a car appeared on what we thought was the cycle track .

Not long after that we went through a village where we found a little kebab shop with a friendly man behind the counter. We all enjoyed a tasty chicken pita bread for lunch.

Just before entering Komarom we visited the Monostor fortress. Monostor, one of three military forts ringing Komarom, is the largest modern-era fortification in Central Europe, covering an area of over 70 hectares and possessing barracks for 8000 soldiers. Built between 1850 and 1871, during the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its main purpose was to control shipping on the Danube.

Despite its impressive system of walls, ditches and casements, the fortress never saw military action and was mainly used as a training garrison. During the Soviet period it was used as a secret arsenal to store large quantities of Russian weapons and ammunition.

We then got our first glimpse of the Danube again after two days, as we crossed the bridge back to Slovakia where we are staying in Komarno which is the sister city to Komarom in Hungary.

Both cities were part of the Hungarian community prior to the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919. From 1919 until 2007, customs and immigration checks slowed connections across the river, but since both Slovakia and Hungary signed the Schengen accord in 2007 all restrictions have been lifted. Even today, 60 percent of the population of Kormano are ethnically Hungarian.

Kormano’s main industry is shipbuilding, and it produces many of the vessels that ply the Danube.

We are staying in a gorgeous apartment on Europa square and enjoyed a lovely afternoon wandering around the village. Tonight, I had a traditional Hungarian dish called Paprikish Chicken with dumplings and cottage cheese. It was delicious. We were worried that the food in the Eastern European countries wouldn’t be up to much, but boy have we been wrong. It is definitely heavier, but the combinations and flavors are great.

Day 39 – Komarno (Slovakia) to Esztergom (Hungary) 57km

Another gorgeous day as we headed down the Danube.

The first village we came across had a loud speaker playing Berlin’s, Take my Breath Away, in Slovakian. JP did a little dance performance for the team. The song then stopped and a woman proceeded to speak. As we carried on through the village, new speakers kicked in. We were imagining these speakers spouting communist propaganda back in the day.

Not long after this we found the best coffee spot on our trip to date. A gorgeous little coffee and wine shop attached to a small hotel with a tasting room with full glass windows looking over the Danube. The girl in the shop told us that the speakers we had heard were broadcasting the news.

The next part of the ride was alongside the Danube where we weaved in and out of tree lined tracks. Although the water was glistening in the sunlight, we still thought it too murky to swim in. We had a paddle instead – our first in the Danube.

We climbed a lookout tower for an on high view up and down the Danube.

The last twenty odd kilometres weren’t as nice but we made it to Sturovo in time for lunch – we were still on the Slovakian side of the river.

After lunch we crossed the Maria Valeria bridge to Esztergom in Hungary, where we met our landlord for the night. We are staying in two gorgeous little apartments with a lovely courtyard and an underground wine cellar. There was great excitement as the cellar was stocked with local wines we could purchase so we made a plan to have dinner in the cellar.

JP and I biked off to the Tesco Hypermarket to get supplies. We enjoyed pre dinner drinks and nibbles in our courtyard before shifting to the cellar for dinner. The wines were delicious (bubbles, a white and two reds) and were from a vineyard 20 kilometres away. We left JP in the cellar with her glass of red and Spotify. She put on her own concert for one.

Meanwhile the rest of us attempted to watch the All Blacks v France game on YouTube but got blocked so ended up resorting to listening to it on Newstalk ZB. We all sat in Hilary and Graham’s bedroom – I imagine this is what it was like back in the day. Mum, Dad and the kids gathered around the wireless. One child had half an ear open, snoring intermittently, one was oblivious and singing to herself while the other was tuned in listening intently .

We didn’t get a lot of time to explore Esztergom as we wanted to enjoy our home for the night.

We couldn’t miss the basilica though which stands atop Castle Hill. It was built between 1822 and 1869 and is Hungary’s biggest church. Esztergom’s role as the seat of the Catholic primate and centre of the church in Hungary earned it the contrasting sobriquets “Hungary’s Rome”, from believers, and “city of reaction”, from communist authorities.

The city was badly damaged during the Second World War and the impressive Maria Valeria bridge, which connects Slovakia and Hungary, was destroyed. It remained in ruins until it was rebuilt and reopened in 2001.

Day 40 – Esztergom to Budapest – 71km

We got away at 8am this morning as we had a ferry to catch across the river 12km down the track at 8.50am. The point of the ferry was to avoid 12km on the main road. We got there about 8.30am and enjoyed some quiet time as we waited, and waited and waited…

No ferry so it was back up to the main road to Visegrád which turned out to be a very popular place with the local lycra brigade (mainly middle-aged men riding road bikes). We found a lovely cafe with a garden out the back. Hilary got chatting to a couple of the lycra brigade who were super friendly and gave us some good tips for our cycle to Budapest.

We stopped in Szentendre which is well known for its collection of craft workshops, studios and art galleries. The town was a centre of Serbian immigration into Hungary between the 17th and 19th centuries. They left Serbia to escape Turkish occupation. These Serbs bought Christian orthodox churches and colourful baroque merchant houses to Szentendre. After the Trianon Treaty most of Hungary’s Serbs immigrated to Yugoslavia and today there are less than 100 ethnic Serbs living in the town.

We enjoyed a Langos for lunch which is a traditional Hungarian dish made from deep-frying a yeasty dough. I had sour cream, sauerkraut and bacon bits on mine. The bread was delicious – the topping was a bit smokey for me. Traditionally they have a creamy garlic sauce topped with cheddar cheese.

We were then back on a cycle path headed for Budapest. Budapest has a population of about 1.8 million so it was pretty busy as we navigated our way to our central city AirBNB. First impressions is that it is a mix of modern and historical buildings with a busy tourism sector. We loved the vibe and will enjoy exploring more tomorrow on our day off.

After getting cleaned up, JP and I explored a little market she had been recommended. We also visited the synagogue which is the largest in Europe. The Jewish population had reached 250,000 pre the Second World War. The synagogue was severely damaged by Nazi supporters and many of its congregation died in concentration camps.

The synagogue was restored in the 1990s with a USD5 million donation from the Estée Lauder foundation and an Imre Varga sculpture of a weeping willow tree with the names of 400,000 Hungarian victims of the holocaust inscribed on its leaves.

We continued to explore and came across a lot of what we think are stag parties – groups of men roaming around drinking. We came across a group of men dressed in suits with pink flamingos on them so JP asked if she could take a photo.

We had a traditional dish of Letcho for dinner – Hungarian style ratatouille. JP had hers natural but I got mine with egg and sausage. It was delicious.

We are looking forward to exploring more of this interesting city tomorrow.

Day 41 – Budapest – 0km

Where do I even begin! We have had a fabulous day exploring, in what is, my new favorite city.

We treated ourselves to a yummy breakfast at a restaurant called TwentySix Degrees which was set in a tropical jungle setting.

Next up we did a Segway tour of the city. Our guide Argen, originally from Kyrgyzstan, was lovely. He explained the history of Budapest well and showed us the main sites. He has been here for two years studying media and communication and does the Segway tours on the side. He speaks four languages (Kyrgyzstan, Russian, German and English) but doesn’t speak Hungarian. He said this is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world.

Budapest was an imperial city with splendour to match that of Vienna. The catastrophe of the Second World War, followed by over 40 years of communism, left the city in a run down state, with many of its elegant buildings dirty and crumbling. Much work has been done since 1989 to bring the city’s architecture back to life, and the freshly cleaned honey-coloured Süttö limestone of Budapest’s principal buildings reflects a new optimism in the city.

The current city is a result of an amalgamation in 1872 of Óbuda and Buda – on a hillside west of the Danube – with Pest, on the flat floodplain to the east. Buda had developed as the Royal city, first of Hungarian kings and later of Hapsburg emperors.

We were staying on the Pest side and started our Segway tour there crossing over to the Buda side to admire St Matthias Church and Fishermen’s bastion on castle hill. There is a great view over Pest from up here. We also saw where the President of Hungary resides on the hill which is currently the first female President. The Prime Minister, Viktor Orban has been re-elected for his fourth term of four years. Argen said the results were dubious – the older generation adore him but the younger not so much. The younger generation want change but there is a lot of apathy when it comes to actually voting.

We also saw the 0 km statue which is the starting point for all distances from Budapest.

Buda is linked to Pest, the commercial and industrial heart of the city, by seven road bridges, all rebuilt after destruction in 1944 – 1945.

The oldest of these bridges, Széchenyi lanchid chain bridge (1849), originally built by British engineers, is a scaled up version of Marlow Bridge, which crosses the Thames in England. We were supposed to cross back over this bridge but it was closed for the Budapest marathon. We saw some of the front runners who were doing extremely well given it was about 30 degrees.

Instead we headed towards Margaret Bridge admiring the Hungarian parliament buildings (largest building in Hungary) across the river in Pest. These parliament buildings are the third largest in the world following Westminster in London and the Romanian parliamentary building in Bucharest.

We crossed back to Pest and went to visit the Shoes on the Danube which is a memorial erected on 16 April 2005. Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honour the Jews who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia belonging to the Arrow Cross Party in Budapest during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre), and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial represents their shoes left behind on the bank. It bought tears to my eyes thinking about the atrocities of war.

Our last stop was to view St Stephen’s Basilica which is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038).

A thoroughly enjoyable morning and such a great way to cover a lot of ground without breaking a sweat.

The afternoon was spent wandering around the city which is full of life. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at a restaurant that had been recommended to us by some locals JP got chatting too. We had a lot of laughs coming up with some appropriate hand signals to indicate if we needed help or were OK if we found ourselves a little way from each other and something happened. You’d think after 40 odd days we would have had this sussed .

Day 42 – Budapest to Ràckeve – 49km

It was very sad to say goodbye to the beautiful city of Budapest this morning.

We had read on the forum that it could take a bit of time to get out of the city but through some good navigation by Andy we made it to the outskirts in about 45 minutes.

It was another hot day in Hungary and not the most exciting of cycle trails or scenery. We are now following the lower Danube and unlike the well developed tourist infrastructure of Germany and Austria, after Budapest we have entered a region where tourism is still in its infancy.

South of Budapest, the Danube divides into two arms, with the 48km long Csepel-sziget island between them which is set between the western arm of the Danube and the smaller eastern Ráckevei-Duna arm. It varies in width between 3km and 8km.

Legend says it was originally settled by Arpad’s tribe of Magyars, the island being named after Arpad’s horse Cespel. Frequent floods caused issues for centuries but major hydrological works in the 20th century finally controlled the Danube. The Ráckevei-Duna arm is now a navigable side steam much valued for water sports and fishing.

We cycled along the island to reach Rackeve. There was a lot of building and renovation going on and we got the impression that a lot of these houses were holiday homes.

We had a little pit stop once we got on the island to enjoy the shade and refuel.

Just before Rackeve, Andy’s tyre started to go down and JP had a small issue with her bike. Mike’s Bikes and Bytes (he fixes both bikes and computers) to the rescue where both bikes have had an overnight stay.

Andy, Graham and I biked out to Aqua-Land and spent a few hours luxuriating in the various pools they had on offer. Some pools had these massage jets in them which worked wonders on our shoulders and backs.

We had dinner at one of the four restaurants in town, Cadran Pizzeria Pub, which was really nice. The house we are staying in has an underground cellar (no wine) where we played Cabo for the first time since Dole in France.

Posted in Hungary - EV6, Slovakia - EV6 | Tagged eurovelo6 | Leave a comment

Euro Velo 6 – Week 5 – Regensburg to Vienna – 494km – cumulative 2,427.6

Posted on September 8, 2023 by SUNGRL

Day 29 – Regensburg to Deggendorf – 89km

2,000 kilometres take two – due to an unexplained app malfunction we mistakenly thought we hit 2,000 kilometres yesterday. After whipping up a quick spreadsheet last night (3 out of 5 of us are accountants after all) we discovered we were 66 kilometres short.

It was another rainy day and not a lot to take note of along the route, so we put our pedals to the metal and whipped out 50km by 11.15am.

We are now heading southeast along the Gauboden plain with the foothills of the Bayrischer Wald forest rising to the north. The Danube is really wide now and there is a lot more boat traffic.

Not far out of Regensburg we saw King Ludwig’s Walhalla which is a pantheon commemorating 195 ‘Germanic’ heroes.

It is a reproduction of the Athenian Parthenon and was commissioned by King Ludwig I as a pantheon for Germanic heroes. Leo von Klenze designed it, and it opened in 1842. Made of marble with 348 marble steps leading to the entrance, it contains 130 marble busts and 65 plaques commentating the great and good of Germanic speaking peoples – Beethoven, Bismarck, Goethe etc

The name Wahalla originated from the place where Wotan, leader of the gods in Nordic legend, welcomed new entrants into heaven.

We had an early lunch in Straubing in a lovely warm bakery / cafe. We lingered for quite a while before heading back out into the rain.

Sixteen kilometres after lunch we hit the 2,000 kilometre mark for real and marked it in our unique way.

We arrived into Deggendorf about 2.45pm where we are staying in a lovely hotel. It has a ‘spa’ which includes a sauna and roof top pool. The pool is supposedly 34 degrees but didn’t really feel it so I didn’t last long in there.

We had a wander around Deggendorf before dinner – it is quite a busy place with a population of 32,000. The town gained a place in infamy due to an anti -semitic program in 1337, when the entire Jewish community was destroyed by fire.

We are now two days out from Austria, so I warmed up with a Wiener schnitzel for dinner tonight

Day 30 – Deggendorf to Passau – 59km

The best breakfast on tour mantle previously awarded to Hotel Im Reid in Donauworth, has been passed to Gasthof Hotel Hoettl in Deggendorf. Meats, cheeses,make your own muesli, sausages, bacon, slice your own prosciutto, juice your own fruit & veges, alternative milks, vegan deserts, cakes, fruit, a huge selection of teas…..

We had a more leisurely start to the day and the rain had stopped with a shimmer of blue skies above. It still wasn’t particularly warm but no complaints after the last three days. We were dry!

The Danube was certainly showing the effects of the last two days of heavier rain as it was running very high. In some places you could see where it had come up and over the path. We had met a Dutch guy called Christian, along the route yesterday, who caught us up again this morning. Some parts of the track were flooded so he navigated us around them. He then proceeded to get a flat tyre which we helped him fix. It went flat again just as we reached Vilshofen for our coffee stop so he went in search of a bike shop. He was a lovely guy and very interesting to talk to.

We got to Passau at 2.30pm, couldn’t check in until 4pm so we went exploring.

Passau is dramatically positioned on a peninsula between the Danube and Inn rivers. As the river Ilz joins from the north at the same point, Passau is known as Dreiflussstadt (three river city) and the point at the tip of the peninsula where the rivers join as Dreiflusseeck (three river corner).

We went down to the peninsula to see this convergence but it was flooded. We came across sandbags and people cleaning up. Christian mentioned that it had been raining heavily for a few days in the Alps and that we would see the effects of that in Passau.

During our exploration we also came across a lone front bike wheel padlocked to a post. The lesson we took from this was, never just lock your front wheel to something as they can take the rest of your bike. JP and I have a system which has worked well so far but a good lesson all the same.

Most of the city’s architecture is in baroque style – the result of rebuilding following a devastating fire in 1662 that destroyed most of the old town.

The organ in the cathedral has five different manuals and nearly 18,000 pipes all played from one console, is the biggest in Europe.

We are staying north of the Danube at the Veste Oberhaus, formerly the bishops’ fortress and nowadays a youth hostel. It stands on a bluff overlooking the mouth of the Ilz. It was a bit of a climb up here I must say, but so worth it for the view.

The river Inn, at 517km long, is the greatest upper Danube tributary both in length and volume of water. Rising in the High Swiss Alps southwest of St. Moritz, it flows down through the Engadine valley into Austria. Turning north and away from the mountains into Germany, it reaches the Danube at Passau – where its contribution of water doubles the Danube’s flow. As much of this water originates in the High Alps, some from glacial meltwaters, it has a characteristic milky colour caused by dissolved limestone. We could see this from our vantage point at the youth hostel.

We had a lovely dinner overlooking the convergence of the rivers and even enjoyed a couple of beers – who even am I

Day 31 – Passau to Linz – 100km

We woke to a foggy morning from our accommodation on high, but it soon cleared to an overcast but dry day.

Four kilometres into our ride we crossed into Austria – our fourth country on the Euro Velo 6. The scenery seemed to change immediately as we crossed the border – we left what felt like an industrial landscape in Germany and crossed into a very green, rural and forested Austria.

We followed the very swollen and very brown Danube through a wooded gorge. At the twenty five kilometre mark in Engelhartszell, we were supposed to catch a ferry to the north side of the river but the ferry was not running due to the state of the river. The trail continues on the south side anyway so it wasn’t a major.

There was a very modern looking art gallery that JP was keen on visiting. We left her there and went in search of coffee. It was all looking a bit grim until we came across the cafe at the Trappist abbey.

Meanwhile JP was being shunned at the fancy art gallery for parking her bike out front. The chain grease on her fingers probably didn’t help either.

The abbey, founded in 1293 as a Cistercian abbey by the bishop of Passau, served as a summer residence for the Prince Bishop rulers of the city and as a refuge for travellers on this thinly populated part of the Danube, until its closure in 1786.

It reopened in 1925 as a monastic house for Trappist monks who had left German Alsace following its return to French control in 1919, becoming the only Trappist abbey in Austria.

Despite strict vows of silence and prayer and an ageing and declining brotherhood the monks found time to operate a small distillery and brewery, producing herbal liqueurs and strong beers. There were 73 Trappist monks there in 1939, 9 in 2009 and none now – the religious side of things was ordered to close in May 2023. The brewery and distillery continue to operate in modern facilities.

Not being able to catch the ferry meant we were able to check out the beers and spirits on offer. Andy, being the good bugger he is, took one for the team and had a beer at 11am (before having to ride another 60 odd kilometres). I purchased some little bottles which may come in handy when the going gets tough on the bike .

The riding after our coffee stop was fantastic – concrete paths with a slight downhill gradient right alongside the Danube with a forest backdrop on our right. Gorgeous.

We stopped just out of Aschach at a little Thai eatery for fried rice and chicken before heading to Ufer to catch a cable ferry across to Ottensheim on the north side of the river. The chain ferry is driven across the river by the strength of the current.

When the Ottensheim hydro-electric dam was built in the 1970’s, an old arm of the river became a backwater. This has been converted into an international standard 2km rowing lake, which held the World Rowing Championships in 2008.

We arrived into Linz about 4pm. Linz has a population of 191,000 and is Austria’s third largest city. It is a busy city with a mix of modern and old buildings, lots of tourists and some nice parks in the centre. We are going to explore the city a little more in the morning.

We are staying in our last youth hostel of the trip tonight. Unfortunately, they have not lived up to our expectations in terms of meeting and mingling with other cyclists. We thought they would be more like the backpacker hostels in NZ where it is a lot more communal with shared cooking facilities and spaces to hang out. You live and learn.

Day 32 – Linz to Grein – 73km

A little unexpected precipitation greeted us as we saddled up this morning to do a ride around Linz.

First stop was the Mariendom (new cathedral). Franz-Josef Rudigier was an ardent “brick and mortar” priest of the 19th century. He would proselytize by building. He laid plans for the largest church in Austria, then and now. Largest, but not the highest. By law it was not allowed to be taller then Saint Stephen’s Church in Vienna. The New Cathedral is a mere two meters shorter.

The cornerstone was laid in May, 1862 but was not officially finished and consecrated until 1904. The full name of the church was “Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.”

The plans were drawn by Master Builder Vincenz Statz of Cologne in the French High Gothic style. The Cathedral can seat up to 20,000 souls. It is 130 meters in length and it covers 5,170 square meters of area. The stained glass windows were impressive.

We got side tracked by a market selling local produce. We came across a Mohnkuchen or poppy seed cake which is a local specialty – a perfect accompaniment with our coffee. We also acquired some bread and goats cheese.

We then visited the Holy Trinity Column. The city of Linz had been lucky in dealing with the fates. It had neatly dodged the last great plague, the Turkish Wars of 1683 and the War of the Spanish Succession of 1704. Foreign invasions had fizzled out and in 1712, a major fire had done the same. The Emperor, the estates and the people were grateful.

The Holy Trinity Column was created by Salzburg stonemason Sebastian Stumpfegger as designed by Antonio Beduzzi. It is almost 66 feet (20 meters) high. It is in the Baroque style, made of white Untersberg marble.

Adolf Hitler regarded Linz as his home and had plans to make it both cultural capital of the Third Reich and an industrial powerhouse. Industrial development was encouraged along the Danube, dominated by Austria’s largest steelworks and chemical works. This was evident as we left Linz.

We visited the Mauthausen concentration camp, where many original buildings remain as a gruesome but sobering memorial to victims of Nazi atrocities. This camp operated from 1938 to 1945. Initially most of the inmates were political prisoners from Austria and Germany who were used as slave labour in granite quarries producing building materials for use in Linz and Numberg. Later, large numbers of prisoners arrived from other countries invaded by Nazis. Approximately 100,000 prisoners died here.

It was a very sobering experience, and we didn’t feel good about photographing the camp itself. We visited the many memorials from the countries affected like Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, the US, the UK of which some were quite confronting. We did take photos of these. Despite the gruesome history, they have done a good job of preserving what must never ever be repeated again.

The sun came out again to lift our spirits. The guide book said we should take a ferry to the south side of the river which we duly did. We got talking to the ferry captain enroute and once he realised where we were headed, told us the guide book was wrong and that the best route was to stay on the north side for another 15km and then cross to the south. We had a lovely little jaunt across and back again chatting to the captain and another Austrian couple we picked up across the river.

Again I was in biking heaven as we whipped along right next to the Danube. We crossed over where the captain had recommended and enjoyed the final 20 odd kilometres between gentle rolling hills and the fertile agricultural land of the Mostviertel (cider quarter) before coming alongside the Danube again. We knew what we would be sampling tonight.

Tonight we are staying in Grein which has a population of 3,100. It developed during medieval times, its importance coming from being positioned at the entrance to the Strudengau gorge. Here barges were unloaded to transport cargoes past the rapids and this attracted merchants, traders and river pilots.

We saw lots of river boat cruises today and enjoyed having a drink down by the river as they enjoyed their sunset journey upriver.

Day 33 – Grein to Rossatz – 83km

A beautiful bluebird day greeted us as we went down to the river to catch the ferry to Wiesen on the south side of the Danube. Again the paths alongside the river through the Strudengau gorge were amazing with a slight downhill gradient.

Our first stop of the day was in Ybbs where we visited the Fahrradmuseum or cycle museum. It had a large collection of bikes from the original dandy horse through to the racing bikes of today. It was interesting to see how the bike revolutionised people’s freedom.

In June 1894 Anna Kopchovsky aka Annie Londonderry decided to leave Boston behind and bicycle around the world with just one change of clothes and a pearl-handled pistol. Thanks to the newly invented and easily accessible “safety bikes” women began to literally elevate to higher gears. From 1880 onwards women started to celebrate their freedom cycling around dismissing etiquette and strict clothing rules.

To conclude, bikes were not just responsible for jolly weekends, firm legs and a well-balanced digestion – they also rolled around equality of the sexes and first steps of women’s emancipation. On a revolutionary note: women started to wear pants!

Next stop was Melk which is a very popular spot with the river boat tourists. There is a very large Benedictine abbey that sits on a rocky bluff 50m above the town – you can see this a few kilometres out as you bike down the Danube.

We stopped in Melk for lunch. While JP ordered I said I would try and find an ATM. I got as far as the apricot liqueur tasting shop next door – oops . We were about to enter the Wachau, which is extensively planted with orchards (predominantly apricot) and vineyards. The apricot baileys was devine but transportation by bike is getting tricky given I already have a good mini bar on board. I settled for a little sampler pack to add to said mini bar

The ride from Melk to Durnstein was amazing – orchard and vineyard after vineyard – a visual sensory overload.

We stopped in Willendorf to see a replica of the Willendorf Venus, an 11cm limestone effigy of a plump female figure, which was discovered in 1908 during excavations for a new railway line. It is believed to be a Palaeolithic (Stone Age) female fertility symbol, the most realistic object from this period discovered in Europe. The original is in a museum in Vienna but an oversized version stands on the site where it was discovered.

Next stop was to admire the Tausendeimerberg vineyard in Spitz which is said to produce 1000 buckets of wine in a good year – 50,000 bottles. The positioning of the vines on the hill means they are all picked by hand.

Weissenkirchen is the principal wine village of the Wachau. It is said to be the original home of the Riesling grape.

We came across a little cave filled with all sorts of wine and spirits which again were so tempting. You had to ring the bell for service but we resisted knowing that we would be easy targets for a good salesperson.

At Durnstein we had to cross the river by ferry to our home for the night in Rossatz – due to the levels of the Danube the ferry was restricted on how many bikes and people it could take. Hilary and Graham went on one, Andy on another and then JP and I on a separate trip. I decided to sample some of my purchases while waiting – Saturday night, a beautiful evening on the Danube, why not

We finally got to our accommodation about 6pm – a long, busy, beautiful day.

Next problem was dinner – Hilary and Andy went on a scoping mission and discovered a festival in the town square. A number of food and drink options – the drink options being the wine from the famous Wachau. It was a fundraising event for a number of community organisations. They had an Austrian brass band playing too. We couldn’t have picked it better. The locals welcomed us with open arms and were very friendly.

We ate a variety of local dishes which were all delicious. We also tried some Sturm which is a young wine that is basically fermented freshly pressed grape juice. And that’s exactly what it tastes and feels like you’re drinking – carbonated grape juice. So even though the alcohol content tends to be rather low, (beginning at 1%), you tend to drink more than you would a wine. It was delicious and I could easily have kept drinking it. Instead I moved onto the sparkling wine made with the Grüner Veltliner grape which accounts for 32% of Austria’s wine production. Along the Danube to the west of Vienna, in Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal, it grows with Riesling in terraces on slopes so steep they can barely retain any soil. The result is a very pure, mineral wine capable of long aging.

We were then joined by three brothers from the neighboring village – 2 were winemakers on a 9-hectare family vineyard and one was a chef. They spoke great English and were so interesting to talk to. They all played an instrument in a brass band too so were singing along to the traditional songs. An excellent night and the reason this post is a day late

Day 34 – Rossatz to Vienna – 90km

We decided to get away early today so we could get to Vienna at a reasonable hour – I was a little slow after such a big day yesterday and the festivities last night.

We planned to have breakfast enroute which proved a little tricky with very few villages to start with and it being a Sunday. We finally found a very welcome sight at the 36km mark near Zwentendorf – needless to say we were all pretty hungry.

The trail ran alongside the river and across the very flat Tullnerfeld plain. This area is the energy powerhouse of Austria, with hydroelectric, nuclear and thermal power stations along the route.

Zwentendorf, where we had breakfast, was planned to be Austria’s first nuclear power station. Work ceased in 1979 after a referendum voted against nuclear power so it remains abandoned.

Refuelled, we passed by the village of Tulln which was the site of a Roman cavalry camp.

We had a lunch stop in Klosterneuburg which was also once a Roman settlement.

We arrived into Vienna at 2.15pm – we had blitzed the 90km – it was an overcast day with only a few things to see.

We had a lovely salad for dinner prepared by JP before JP, Andy and I worked out the underground train system to go into town to the film festival. It was the last night of the festival. It wasn’t quite what we expected but we listened to some good live music beforehand.

Vienna is a visual feast with so many amazing buildings. We look forward to exploring on our day off the bikes

Day 35 – Vienna – 0km

Today was a rest day – our second in 35 days. I’m lucky enough to have been to Vienna a couple of times so I took the opportunity to do a bit of life admin (IYKYK).

Tonight, JP and I went to St Charles Church (Karlskirche) to listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concert. It was absolutely mesmerizing and I never appreciated how physical it is for the musicians. I was also surprised how young they were – so very talented. The Harmonia Ensemble Vienna performs Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with 5 Musicians, a solo Violinist and a String Quartet.

Karlskirche is one of the most important sacred buildings in Central Europe and a symbol of Vienna. It is the last great work of the eminent Baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Completed in 1739, it was built by virtue of a vow made by Emperor Charles VI during a plague. The church is dedicated to the Habsburg emperor’s namesake, St. Karl Borromäus. His life and works are depicted on the two giant columns (47 meters tall) next to the entrance portal. The lavish dome frescoes by Johannes Michael Rottmayr cover 1,250 m² of magnificent color.

The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua.

The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi’s works.

They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters’ and the prey’s point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, Vivaldi ranks amongst the greatest Baroque composers and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and programmatic music.

After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for royal support. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi’s arrival, and Vivaldi himself died in poverty less than a year later.

A fitting end to our visit to the city of music and culture.

Posted in Austria - EV6, Euro Velo 6, Germany - EV6 | Tagged eurovelo6 | Leave a comment

Euro Velo 6 – Week 4 – Laufenberg to Regensburg – 579km – cumulative 1,931.8km

Posted on August 29, 2023 by SUNGRL

Day 22 – Laufenburg to Radolfzell – 108km

We are currently experiencing a heatwave where we are so we were on our bikes at 7am to get some kilometres under our belts before it got too hot.

After a few kilometres along the still and misty Rhine we headed through an industrial landscape of factories separated by various crops. It all looked very tidy and orderly.

We also passed the Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant which is located near Leibstadt, canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on the Rhine River and close to the border to Germany. Commissioned in 1984, it is the youngest and most powerful of the country’s four operating reactors.

We then found ourselves back in Switzerland cycling through farms and villages. Again we criss crossed the German / Swiss border a number of times that we lost count and quite often didn’t know what country we were in.

Our first real stop of the day was at the Rhine Falls which are in Switzerland. The Rhine Falls is the most powerful waterfall in Europe. The falls are located on the High Rhine on the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen (SH) and Zürich (ZH). It was pretty busy with tourists but made a nice lunch spot.

We then spent most of the afternoon along the Rhine. It was so hot that we couldn’t wait to find a good swimming spot. In fact we had two swims before getting to Radolfzell where we are staying tonight.

Radolfzell am Bodensee is a town in Germany at the western end of Lake Constance.

It was a big day on the pedals, but the many drinking fountains and two swims kept us going. I drank about 5 litres of water / electrolytes today and still felt dehydrated.

Day 23 – Radolfzell to Fridingen – 68km

Today we were exclusively in Germany although the confusion levels are still high when it comes to greetings, thank you and coffee orders – bonjour, guten tag, Grüezi, merci, danke, cafe-o-lait and milchkaffee are all still coming out randomly in the wrong places .

Although we were still on the Euro Velo 6 route today, we have now connected into the Danube Cycleway. We said goodbye to the Rhine yesterday, went north today and connected with the Danube or Donau in Tuttlingen where we stopped for lunch.

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through much of Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects ten European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. We will visit all of these capitals on our journey.

Our first sighting of the Danube in Tuttlingen was very underwhelming but we are hoping for bigger and better the further down river we get.

Today was our biggest climbing day on the trip – 850m over 68km. It was also one of our hottest days – not a good combination with no river in sight for a cooling dip.

I actually enjoyed the change of scenery and the different forest areas we went through – the smell of pine trees reminded me of NZ.

We are staying in Fridingen tonight which is a very quaint little place with a population of 3.100.

Day 24 – Fridingen to Riedlingen – 75km

For me, this morning was heaven on earth bike riding . The backdrop is one of stunning karst scenery, following the Danube as it cuts the narrow Donautal gorge through the forested limestone hills of the Swabische Alp

There were a number of small villages along the floor of the gorge and castles perched on the cliffs above. The whole area is part of the Obere Donau Nature Park, which is home to a number of rare mammals including lynx and chamois inhabiting the hills and beaver in the river.

We did not see any of these rare mammals but we did see a squirrel, deer, horses and Jerusalem donkeys.

The bible says that Mary rode a donkey into Bethlehem before giving birth to the baby Jesus. Then, on Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the last time on a donkey. The religious significance of the donkey is expressed in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The King, riding the lowly donkey, is seen as a symbol of peace and salvation.

The legend of the Jerusalem donkey goes something like this – after he brought Jesus into Jerusalem the donkey was troubled because he knew what Jesus was about to go through with his trial, suffering and death on the cross. The donkey seeing the sad treatment of Jesus wished he had been able to carry the cross; after all, it was his job to carry man’s burdens. The donkey could not bear to watch and turned away but in his concern stayed nearby as Jesus endured his torture. God saw this and caused the shadow of the cross to fall across the little donkey’s back and he has carried the sign of the cross ever since as a symbol of God’s love.

Speaking of Jerusalem, my learned friend JP explained that the fields of small yellow daisy like flowers are Jerusalem artichokes.

Such a contrast in scenery from where we had come from and we were all loving it.

We stopped in Beuron which is the site of a major Benedictine abbey. Originally founded as an Augustinian abbey in 1077, it was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, then rebuilt, before being suppressed in 1802 during the Napoleonic Wars. The Benedictines took over in 1863 and today 60 monks live and work here. With over 400,000 books, the abbey holds the largest monastic library in Germany.

Andy stopped to talk to a guy from a forestry company who explained that they were there planning for future felling and planting. He said they are encouraging the building of more wooden houses and that they count their carbon credits by the number of wooden houses rather than the number of trees.

Our lunch stop was in Sigmaringen which is dominated by the huge Schloss Sigmaringen, the ancestral home (since 1535) to the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen – the junior branch of a family whose senior branch provided the kings of Prussia and the kaisers of Imperial Germany.

Our afternoon riding was not a patch on the mornings and the sun had come out with a vengeance. The trails were still fantastic and we made it to Riedlingen, our home for the night, just before 3pm.

Riedlingen has a population of 10,000 and is a medieval town dating back to 1247. It has many buildings from the 16th to 18th centuries. The most notable is Schone Steiger (1556) which now houses the town museum.

Interestingly we also came across a Maori tattoo and piercing studio – I couldn’t find any information about it on the internet so I was left wondering about the connection to NZ.

We enjoyed a nice dinner down on the Danube where we watched these young boys jumping off the bridge. This has given us hope for future swim spots which unfortunately didn’t make an appearance on our ride today – the river was pretty shallow along the trail.

Janine and I went to listen to a local band – the female vocalist was awesome. A thunderstorm had threatened while we were having dinner and made itself known while we walked home. Fortunately it didn’t unleash fully until we got back. It has stopped raining now but there is still lightening in the sky.

We have now done just over 1,600km’s so we are halfway to Belgrade, which is our finish point.

Day 25 – Riedlingen to Ulm – 82km

After last nights thunder and lightning we woke to a warm but overcast day – perfect cycling conditions. We did have a little bit of rain too but it didn’t amount to much.

The boys were very excited as our first planned stop of the day was in Ehingen which is known as the Bierkulturstadt or beer culture city. This is due to the existence of four independent breweries that produce 43 different beers. They even had their drinking shirts on but alas when we got there they were closed. Boys day has been postponed

Andy had clocked up his 1,000 kilometres this morning and was keen to celebrate with a beer. He settled for a sausage instead. We did toast him at dinner tonight though.

We left Ehingen and went up the Schmiech Valley to Blaubueren to visit the Blautopf blue water lagoon, source of the Blau River. The lagoon is 21 metres deep and is fed by water from a karst spring that runs blue due to natural chemical impurities in the water. It is one of Germany’s largest springs.

Tonight we are staying in Ulm – population 170,000. In 1377, construction of a huge cathedral began, financed by local traders and guilds rather than Catholic authorities. Due to economic conditions and wars, construction ceased from the 16th to the 18th century with the cathedral being completed in 1890.

The spire was originally planned to be shorter but it was later increased to 161.5 metres so as to be 4 metres taller than the Koln cathedral and become the tallest spire in the world.

Eighty percent of the medieval buildings in Ulm were destroyed by bombings in December 1944.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm in 1879.

We explored the city centre where the cathedral is, as well as the fisherman’s quarter which is a maze of cobbled streets and half wooden houses.

We also visited the “Schiefes Haus“, or crooked house, which is the most frequently photographed former town house in Ulm and dates all the way back to the year 1406. It has had some renovations over the years and is now a hotel.

We had a lovely dinner at Gaststätte Wilder Mann where they served some Bavarian dishes which were delicious. Ulm is made up of twin settlements, Ulm in Baden- Württemberg and Neu Elm across the Danube in Bavaria.

We are staying in our first youth hostel tonight – the idea was to connect with some fellow cyclists of which we have seen none!

Day 26 – Ulm to Donauworth – 94km

This morning we crossed from Baden-Württemberg into Barvaria. The morning’s cycling was nice and flat through long stretches of riparian forests. The weather has also cooled so we seem to be whizzing along.

Just prior to lunch we stopped to look at the restored remains of Apollo Grannus (god of healing), the largest Roman temple discovered north of the Alps.

We had a lunch stop in Lauingen on the Marktplatz which is overlooked by a 54m high Schimmelturm tower which was built in 1478.

The cycling after lunch was through a wide agricultural valley. We passed through Blindheim (Blenheim in English) where the nearby battle of Blindheim took place on the 13th August 1704.

This was a decisive battle during the war of the Spanish Succession (1701 to 1714). It was between 48,000 French and Bavarian troops commanded by the Duke of Tallard, who were marching east to attack Vienna, and 51,000 allied troops (English, Dutch, Prussian and Savoyard) commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy. The two armies met on the open plain north-west of Blindheim. The result was a conclusive victory for the Alliance and a rout for France, who lost 30,000 troops (killed, wounded, missing) as well as all their artillery and stores. 6,000 were killed and 6,500 wounded on the Alliance side.

At the end of the fighting there were over 20,000 bodies on the battlefield and, 300 years later, farmers still unearth remains. In England, a grateful Queen Anne rewarded Marlborough with a stately home, Blenheim palace, named after the battle.

We arrived into Donauworth at 3pm just before the heavens opened up. We were greeted by the most delightful receptionist. The hotel is in the centre of town. After getting sorted we had a drink at an Asian fusion restaurant and bar, before moving to the Indian restaurant for dinner.

The hotel we are staying in is owned by an Italian family and there is an Italian restaurant attached. We went and had a post dinner drink there and met a couple of locals who were up for a chat. It was really busy so it was fun watching the passionate Italian owner and staff dealing with each other and the customers.

Donauworth has a population of 18,250 and is situated at the confluence of the Danube and Wornitz rivers and was the point where the imperial road from Nuremberg to Augsburg crossed the Danube.

We are staying in the oldest part on Ried Island. Due to the rain we haven’t had a chance to explore yet.

Day 27 – Donauworth to Ingolstadt – 62km

The drought has been broken We woke to light rain which was forecast to stick around all day. We had a shorter day today so decided to spend a bit of time enjoying a lovely leisurely breakfast (best one on tour so far) and looking around Donauworth before heading off about 10.45am.

Donauwörth is a cool spot with lots of colourful buildings. We walked down to see the convergence of the Wornitz and Danube rivers. The Danube has got quite wide now and was flowing really fast.

Rain jackets on, and off we went. We started off by the main roads before undulating through the foothills of the Frankische Alb. Again the riding through the forests and along the river was great despite the rain.

Our first stop was in the renaissance town of Neuburg. Neuburg is dominated by the Italianite-style Residenzschloss palace. There is also the oldest Protestant church in Bavaria, Schlosskapelle (1543) which is nicknamed ‘the Bavarian Sistine’ – an illusion to its highly decorated ceiling frescoes, which are said to rival those in Rime’s Sistine chapel. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see inside the church.

After lunch it was head down, bum up for the last 20km as it was still raining.

We saw a number of maypoles in the villages we passed through today. On 1 May, a beautifully decorated tree trunk is raised in a prominent place in the community. The raising of the maypole is held in high esteem, especially in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Austria. The maypole itself is a proud, delimbed and debarked tree trunk, usually decorated with a top left green and a wreath, and especially in Bavaria it is often painted in the national colours of blue and white. This magnificent piece is often handcrafted and decorated with all kinds of symbols and signs that are typical of the respective region or municipality.

The tradition of raising the maypole dates back to pagan times, when the tree symbolized the power of spring and the return of life.

We are in another Youth Hostel tonight which has again failed to meet expectations – it is deathly quiet with no other cyclists in sight. The youth hostel itself is an old medieval fortress and very close to the historic centre of town.

JP had an incident in the shower tonight – the lock broke on the inside of her cubicle so she couldn’t get out the door. We got the manager who couldn’t sort it so JP had to do some climbing up the wall and over the top. We sent the manager away to get a ladder, which he did, but she still needed to hop onto Andy’s shoulders before being able to reach the ladder. She was fully clothed during these antics and there is no photographic evidence of her gymnastic abilities.

One of the locals last night told us of a beer festival going on in Ingolstadt this weekend so once again the boys got excited. We were all going to go and check it out but couldn’t get an Uber or taxi – so two boys wait….

Ingolstadt has a population of 127,000 and is one of Germany’s most dynamic and prosperous modern cities. It is a University city and the old school of anatomy within the university was chosen by Mary Shelley as the setting for her best selling novel Frankenstein.

The city’s modern prosperity arises from its two oil refineries as well as it being the headquarters of the car manufacturer Audi.

There are also four breweries, and local beer connoisseurs take pride in the fact that in 1516 a decree was issued in Ingolstadt that governed the purity of beer in Bavaria. This was eventually adopted by the whole of Germany and us still in force today.

Day 28 – Ingolstadt to Regensburg – 90km

Life is not all beer and skittles and our first 50km today was in the rain. It was also along a lot of limestone paths which had become a bit slushy with the rain, making it even harder work. Everyone went into head down, bum up mode and we got it done.

Our first stop was in Weltenburg where we had to catch a ferry 4.5km up the river. While was waited for the ferry we had a traditional Bavarian potato soup (vegan) and it was just perfect – we were cold and hungry. The much anticipated (by Graham in particular) Apfelstrudel was also on offer so some of the team also indulged in this – apparently it did not disappoint

In Weltenburg you will find a Kloster which was founded in AD 620 and is considered the oldest abbey in Bavaria. Its baroque cloisters surround St Georgenkirche church, a masterpiece built by the Assam brothers from 1716 to 1739. The abbeys first foundation was dissolved in 1803 during the Napoleonic War. It became a fully independent Benedictine abbey in 1913.

Within the abbey is a brewery that has operated since 1050, making it the oldest monastic brewery in the world. A range of beers is still produced, the best known being a dark beer called Kloster Barock dunkel.

Between Weltenburg and Kelheim the Danube flows through the Donaudurchbruch, a rugged gorge with neither roads nor tracks following the river. This is why we had to catch the ferry.

In the gorge the river is only 80 metres wide and depending on the water level up to 20 metres deep. This is the narrowest and deepest part of the Bavarian Danube. The flow velocity is at about 25 metres per second. The rocks are limestone going back to the Jurassic period. The course of the Danube was further north but over millions of years has worked its way through this limestone and the gorge came into being without human intervention or blasting – just through the forces of nature.

The ferry ride took about 25 minutes and when we disembarked the rain had cleared and we even had a glimmer of sunshine. This made the remaining 40km into Regensburg much nicer.

Six kilometres after leaving the ferry we hit the 2,000km mark on our journey and marked it in our own style.

Tonight we are in Regensburg which has a population of 127,000. We were pretty worn out after todays efforts. We cleaned the bikes (they were filthy), ourselves (equally filthy) and then did our washing. It was then an easy dinner before roaming around the supermarket – one of my favourite things in a foreign country – the simple things.

After posting the above I have discovered we have not reached our 2,000 kilometre mark – we are 68.2 kilometres short! We will sort that tomorrow.

Posted in Euro Velo 6, France - EV6, Germany - EV6, Switzerland - EV6 | Tagged eurovelo6 | Leave a comment

Euro Velo 6 – Week 3 – Charlon-sur-Saone to Laufenberg – 416km – cumulative 1,352.8km

Posted on August 23, 2023 by SUNGRL

Day 15 – Chalon-sur-Saone to Dole – 95km

The SUNGRL’s powers took a break this morning and we started our cycle in the rain . There was also some confusion as to how far we we had to go. Google maps by bike said 71km and Euro Velo 6 app said 95km – it was probably a no brainer that it was going to be 95km but we did a sweepstakes anyway and JP won.

We started off on the Saone and then switched to following the Doubs River which is a left bank tributary of the Saone.

Today is a public holiday in France – it is The Feast of the Assumption of Mary (L’Assomption de Marie) which celebrates the Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary’s spirit and body was assumed to heaven. It is an important occasion for village and church festivals. Forty seven percent of the country are catholic.

We stopped for a coffee and pastry in Abbeley and the weather was starting to clear up.

Today’s landscapes included lots of vast open fields planted with crops including corn, soy (edamame) and hemp. When we rode along the rivers they were just below the bike path level. It was definitely cooler today only getting to about 28 degrees.

We had another hike a bike experience after taking a shortcut through a paddock . We had a picnic lunch by the river before celebrating the 1,000km mark – we are just under a third of the way to Belgrade.

I was able to try out my new baguette holder today too.

We are staying in Dole tonight and there are no pineapples or bananas in sight .

Day 16 – Dole to Besancon – 66km

Due to our big day yesterday, getting in a bit later and staying out of the centre we decided to have breakfast in the city and do a little explore before heading off.

Finding a cafe in France that does anything resembling what we consider breakfast is impossible, so it was a pastry and sub par coffee at the boulangerie. When in France…

However, Dole would have to be the prettiest town we have come across. What a gem. It has a population of about 24,000 and one of its famous residents was Louis Pasteur.

Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the last of which was named after him. He is also regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory of diseases, which was a minor medical concept at the time. His many experiments showed that diseases could be prevented by killing or stopping germs, thereby directly supporting the germ theory and its application in clinical medicine. He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization.

We had a wander round and visited the house where Louis Pasteur grew up.

It was a blue sky day and the cycling today was magical – we spent a lot of it along the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. The landscapes have changed from rolling pastures, to high cliffs and bush along the rivers and canals. We are getting closer to the Swiss border now.

The Canal du Rhône au Rhin, built between 1784 and 1833, is a magnificently scenic route through the Jura, with wooded cliffs and blueish ranges of hills in the background. The two historic towns, Dole and Besançon, both have spectacular settings. It is used by large numbers of boats heading south from Germany and Switzerland to the Mediterranean, but it is also a cruising waterway in its own right, especially in the picturesque valley of the Doubs.

There was a lot of activity in the skies too with fighter jets flying backwards and forwards. We couldn’t always see them but there were jet streams all over the place.

We had a lunch stop at a makeshift beach spot where people paid EU4.50 to swim in the lake. It was super busy but not on our agenda to pay to go for a swim.

Tonight we are in Bescanon where we are staying for two nights – tomorrow we are having a rest day so everyone is looking forward to resting their derrière

Day 17 – Besancon – 0km

Today our bikes remained stationary but after a home cooked breakfast of poached eggs and avocado we walked into the city to explore.

Besancon has a population of about 120,000 and 280,000 in the wider area. It is the historical capital of watchmaking in France. This has led it to become a centre for innovative companies in the fields of microtechnology, micromechanics, and biomedical engineering. The University of Franche-Comté, founded in 1423, enrolls nearly 30,000 students each year, including around 4,000 trainees from all over the world within its Centre for Applied Linguistics (CLA). It is the greenest city in France.

After yesterday’s beautiful weather, the day started off grey with a few showers. This kept us cool as we climbed up to the citadel.

The Citadel of Besançon is a 17th-century fortress in Franche-Comté, France. It is one of the finest masterpieces of military architecture designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The Citadel occupies 11 hectares (27 acres) on Mount Saint-Etienne, one of the seven hills that protect Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté. Mount Saint-Etienne occupies the neck of an oxbow formed by the river Doubs, giving the site a strategic importance that Julius Caesar recognised as early as 58 BC. The Citadel overlooks the old quarter of the city, which is located within the oxbow, and has views of the city and its surroundings.

On 7 July 2008, UNESCO listed the Citadel, together with nearby Fort Griffon, as a World Heritage Site for its testimony to Vauban’s work and its influence in the design of military fortifications and strategy from the 17th through 20th centuries.

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban, later Marquis de Vauban (baptised 15 May 1633 – 30 March 1707), commonly referred to as Vauban, was a French military engineer and Marshal of France who worked under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the greatest engineer of his time, and one of the most important in European military history.

We came back down to the city for some lunch and a wander around before visiting the Musée du Temps (Museum of Time).

Measuring the passing of time involves identifying the rhythms and regularities in natural phenomena. Following the apparent movement of the heavenly bodies, of the sun, as well as the moon and stars, people marked out time on the basis of astronomy. The sundial divides up the days, the calendar fixes the rhythm of the years.

Time can we watched and can also be made. The birth of clockmaking from the Middle Ages led to the appearance of time created by man; mechanical time. “The sun lies, the clock tells the truth” became the watchmakers motto.

In the 1970’s, the arrival of quartz and outsourcing to Asia triggered a collapse of a large part of the regional industry, which is however still present in Besancon.

We climbed up to the palace tower to see the Foucault pendulum. It is 13 metres high and reproduces the experiment carried out by Leon Foucault at the Pantheon in Paris in 1851 to make the Earth’s rotation visible.

A little wander back through the streets before coming home to help prepare a delicious home cooked meal in the backyard.

Day 18 – Besancon to Montbeliard – 100km

We had a big day ahead so we left Besancon at 8am – clear blue skies. We cycled past the citadel and up the valley. We started off along the Doubs with cliffs and bush on both sides – it actually reminded us of home – a little bit like the Wanganui River.

Again the trails were fantastic. We met a lady and a couple pushing their religious wares just before Baumé-les-Dames who pointed us in the direction of coffee and treats which happened to be in the Super U supermarket. The lady told me I was only the second person from NZ she had met. The coffee was on point – finally.

Our lunch stop today was in L’isle-sur-le-Doubs where we had a picnic by the river – my raisin baguette, goats cheese and honey was heavenly . We saw a family swimming in the river and we wanted a part of the action – it was pretty hot. It was so refreshing.

We cycled back through town after lunch and the temperature on the pharmacy sign said 40 degrees but we think it was only about 33 degrees – still very hot.

We were back along the Canal du Rhône au Rhin heading for Montbeliard. My Swiss friend, Karin, met us about 20km from Montbeliard. She had driven, biked, trained and biked again from her home near Lucerne.

We are staying in the centre of Montbeliard which is a very pretty city. It has a population of 26,000 and is only 13km from the Swiss border.

We got cleaned up and had a walk around. JP, Karin and I walked to the park which has gardens, sculptures and a maze.

We then met the others for dinner at Chez Marcus. Marcus, the owner appeared to be a one man band, taking orders, preparing drinks, cooking the food. He was hilarious and told us he spoke all sorts of languages – it just depended on what he was drinking at the time . When Hilary had gone to book us a table she used her best French – when she had finished, Marcus said ‘for a moment then I thought you were trying to speak French’

Another delicious dinner and lovely to have Karin as part of the crew for the next two days.

PS according to Hilary we only did 99.6km but all good accountants round up

Day 19 – Mountbeliard to Mulhouse – 59km

An easier day today. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel before visiting the Decathalon store for more supplies.

Another beautiful hot day mostly spent alongside the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. We came across the Staircase locks of Valdieu-Lutran. This is a succession of locks on the canal, in which at least one door is used for both upstream and down stream locks. There were about 12 of them and I think it would take all day to make your way up or down.

We had a lovely coffee stop in Dannemarie alongside the canal. There was a sign showing we had another 1,570km to Budapest . There was an interesting sign in the toilets at the cafe too – especially the last illustration

We came across the College Episcopal of Zillisheim. It hosted the first pupils on the 26th of October 1869. As an academic and Catholic institution it hosts boys and girls from the last year of primary school to the French baccalaureate. For 150 years it has been a real breeding-ground for the diocese: it has trained several generations of pupils including more than 1000 priests and bishops.

As we stopped to take a photo, a father and son were walking along. They stopped to chat and it turned out that the father had been the chef at the school for 19 years – cooking three meals a day for 700 students!

We arrived into Mulhouse at 2.30pm so parked up the bikes and went exploring.

Mulhouse has a population of about 110,000 and is famous for its many museums. The town’s development was stimulated first by the expansion of the textile industry and tanning, and subsequently by chemical and Engineering industries from the mid 18th century. Mulhouse was for a long time called the French Manchester. Consequently, the town has enduring links with Louisiana, from which it imported cotton, and also with the Levant.

In 1515 Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation, in 1798 it was under French rule, after the Franco Prussian war in 1870 – 1871 it became part of the German empire. After World War I ended in 1918, French troops entered Alsace, and Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles. After the Battle of France in 1940, it was occupied by German forces until its return to French control at the end of World War II in May 1945.

Tonight is our last night in France. This trip was dreamed up to celebrate my 50th birthday in July 2021 but had to be delayed. The team wanted to do a belated celebration and honoured my request for a picnic in the park with champagne. They even managed a little cake. Lovely to celebrate with a such a special group of friends in what has become a very special place to me. France you have exceeded all my expectations.

Day 20 – Mulhouse to Basel – 44km

One of our best days on tour yet. A gentle 44km from France to Germany to Switzerland along the Canal du Rhône au Rhin and out onto the Rhine River.

We said goodbye to France as we crossed the world’s longest pedestrian and cyclist suspension bridge that links Huningue in Alsace, France with the German town of Weil am Rhein in southern Baden. The Dreiländerbrücke (Three Countries Bridge) is 248 metres long.

We had breakfast in France and lunched in Germany just under the bridge at an Italian restaurant. We were covering all bases today. After lunch we biked 5 or so minutes to enter Switzerland.

A certain point in the Rhine marks the point where the three countries meet. While it is hard to get there without a boat, there is a landmark you can visit by bike.

The tri-border point, or Dreiländereck as it is called in German, marks the point where Germany, France, and Switzerland intersect. The marker itself is built to resemble a futuristic rocket, with one of the three country flags on each of the wings. It is located on a piece of Swiss land approximately 150 meters (495 feet) southeast of the actual point where the three borders intersect.

What makes this tri-border point rare compared to most is that there are no passports or visas needed to cross it, or any other border in that location, given that all three countries have a free travel agreement.

We took a number of photos here and made some videos of us riding around three countries in three seconds – if only.

We then headed into Basel. Basel is Switzerland’s third-most-populous city (after Zürich and Geneva), with 165,000 inhabitants within the city municipality limits. Basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and the city is famous for its many museums. The University of Basel, Switzerland’s oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city’s centuries-long commitment to humanism, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe.

It was 32 degrees and as we biked to our hotel we saw hundreds of people floating down the Rhine and that’s exactly where we wanted to be. After securing our bikes at the hotel we walked up river for 1.2km, jumped in and then floated down river. OMG it was so good and so much fun.

Karin then took us on a walking tour around Basel which is a beautiful and vibrant place. We got some refreshments at the supermarket and came back to the hotel for a picnic dinner in the garden.

It was then back to the Rhine for a sunset float back down the river. One of those special experiences hard to explain but captured in your mind and soul.

Unfortunately we said goodbye to Karin after our sunset float as she headed back home . She was an excellent tour guide and linguist helping us with our French and German. JP also left us this morning on her own little adventure to visit some friends in Germany. She’ll be back with us tomorrow night for our first night in Germany.

Day 21 – Basel to Laufenburg – 52km

We had a lovely cool nights sleep at Hotel Rochat last night, followed by an expensive but very nice latte before going in search of a wicklefisch.

A wicklefisch is a dry bag you can put your belongings in to take with you as you float down the river. It all began in the late 1980s, when a serious chemical accident turned the Rhine in Basel into a sewer.

In subsequent years, much work was undertaken to make the water clean once again and provide a habitat for fish. Some fantastic projects were launched, including Wickelfisch creator, Tilo Ahmels’s, idea to equip Basel’s swimmers with a swimming bag designed for use in the Rhine.

Together with local energy operator IWB, the idea for the first Wickelfisch bags was thus developed. They were carefully crafted from fabric and needed to be light yet tear-resistant. A distinctive design with a sealing system that also needed to be secure and absolutely waterproof – and quick and easy to use.

And so the Wickelfisch was born! An original Basel invention, and a registered trademark since 2010.

I bought one I can colour in, which will make it a one of a kind.

Not long after leaving Basel, we crossed into Germany. All in all today I crossed the border 4 times. The border being the middle of the Rhine.

It was quite an industrial landscape after we left Basel before getting into rural Germany. We spent quite a bit of time along the Rhine. It was a super hot day – 31 degrees but feeling like 34

We had lunch in Bad Säckingen, had a dip in the Rhine to cool off and then walked over the Holzbrücke Bad Säckingen (German name) or Säckingerbrücke (Swiss name) which is a bridge over the Rhine. It connects the German city of Bad Säckingen with the village Stein in Switzerland. The covered bridge spans 203.7 metres (668 ft) over the Hochrhein and is the longest roofed wooden bridge in Europe. The bridge is listed as a national registered monument in Switzerland.

The bridge was built in 1272 and was destroyed several times (1570, 1633, 1678). The current bridge was completed in 1700. Originally a road bridge, the bridge is now only open for pedestrians.

Ten kilometres on we reached Laufenburg, our home for the night. Laufenburg is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, part of the Waldshut district. It has approximately 4300 inhabitants. Laufenburg is separated from a Swiss city with the same name by the river Rhine.

Graham and I went for another swim in the river before dinner. It is still very hot and these temperatures are set to stick around until early next week .

After dinner, JP and I walked across the bridge to Laufenburg in Switzerland. The two sister towns that form Laufenburg are quite exceptional. Napoleon split the town in two over 200 years ago, but joint cross-border festivals are still an essential part of life in Laufenburg.

Posted in Euro Velo 6, France - EV6 | Tagged eurovelo6 | 1 Comment

Euro Velo 6 – Week 2 – Blois to Charlon-sur-Saone – 541km – cumulative 936.8km

Posted on August 16, 2023 by SUNGRL

Day 8 – Blois to Orleans – 80km

Another day of beautiful trails and the hottest day we’ve had so far at about 26 degrees. Definitely getting some great tan lines

First stop was the largest chateau on the Loire – Château de Chambord. The Chateau took 28 years to build (1519 to 1547) and was originally constructed as a hunting lodge for the King of France, Francis I. It has a very distinctive French Renaissance architecture, which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures.

We were nearing the 50km mark and we hadn’t seen a boulangerie so hunger and pain au chocolat withdrawal symptoms were kicking in. What we are learning is that the early bird catches the worm with the pain au chocolat so today was a fail. Never fear we did find some equally delicious treats to satisfy ourselves – this is the land of treats after all.

We had an after lunch coffee stop in Beaugency. When we told the waitress that we only wanted coffee and wouldn’t be eating she frowned then looked around the number of empty tables and then said ‘OK, yes this is possible’. We’re still getting our heads around acceptable French food and drink etiquette.

We went past the Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Station. Interestingly the water in the river got clearer after that or was I just imagining things?

Tonight we are in Orleans – city population 120,000 and wider metropolitan population about 450,000.

The city owes its development from antiquity to the commercial exchanges resulting from the river. An important river trade port, it was the headquarters of the community of merchants frequenting the Loire. It was the capital of the Kingdom of France during the Merovingian period and played an important role in the Hundred Years’ War, particularly known for the role of Joan of Arc during the siege of Orléans.

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was born in 1413. She heard voices from God which led to assist with the reclaiming of France during the 100 year war. In 1430 she was captured by the English and after a trial was burnt at the stake in 1431. Some believed she was a witch because she heard voices.

Joan of Arc was finally canonised in 1920 and proclaimed the second patron Saint of France in 1922 (the Blessed Virgin being the first, and Saint Teresa of the Child of Jesus being a secondary patroness alongside Joan of Arc).

The First World War had reconciled the French of all sides around the figure of Joan of Arc as a symbol of resistance to occupying forces.

After checking into our accommodation we wandered down to the centre of town to see the many tributes to Joan of Arc as well as the Cathedral of Orleans.

It was originally built from 1278 to 1329. It was partially destroyed in 1568 by the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion, but was rebuilt between 1601 and 1829. The edifice is in the Gothic architectural style.

During the Siege of Orléans, the cathedral was visited frequently by Joan of Arc. The cathedral’s stained glass windows now depict the story of Joan’s actions that contributed to the lifting of the siege.

Day 9 – Orleans to Sully-sur-Loire – 56km

Disclaimer – at the end of the day, we all go through our photos and share the good ones so I cannot take credit for all the photos that I am posting.

We cycled back through the historic centre of Orleans before getting back on the river trail. I cannot rave enough about how good the trails are.

JP stopped a couple of local ladies out for a walk who directed us into the village of Jargeau where we found a thriving village square. There was a constant queue outside the Boulangerie which we took as a good sign.

I got a cappuccino which looked better than it tasted but it was fun sitting there with the locals partaking in their morning routine.

We visited the marine museum in Chateauneuf-sur-Loire which was interesting. The Loire river is the longest river in France at 1,006km’s long. The Loire Valley has been called the “Garden of France” and is studded with over a thousand chateaux which were originally created as feudal strongholds, over centuries past, in the strategic divide between northern and southern France; now many are privately owned.

In 1700 the port of Nantes numbered more inland waterway craft than any other port in France. Navigation on the river was tricky due to the shallow draft and the railways rapidly killed off the traffic from the 1850’s. As of 2017 there are only 4 navigable sections of the river which equates to about 500km or half the length of the river.

We enjoyed a picnic by the river before the final 20km’s to our home for the night – Sully-sur-Loire.

Another day, another chateau. The chateau in Sully-sur-Loire is a chateau-fort, a true castle, built to control one of the few sites where the Loire can be forded. Forded meaning that the river could be crossed, hence the moat around the castle.

We finished off our day with a walk around the town, a home cooked meal by JP and a game of Cabo.

Day 10 – Sully-sur-Loire to Sancerre – 88km

They say time flys when you’re having fun – can’t believe we’re 10 days and over 500kms in on our adventure.

We set off a bit earlier today to get a head start on the heat. This morning’s cycling was heaven on earth – beautiful paths, scenery and conditions.

The second half of the day we did a lot of cycling along the canals which was a nice change. These canals were created to link up the various rivers.

Built in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, the canals represented a time when roads were primitive and a good day’s travel was measured in the tens of miles. These historic waterways were largely abandoned in the late 18th century when railroads became the primary means of transport, and lay almost forgotten until the 1960s when they were “discovered” by young British travel entrepreneurs. Since that time, the concept of barging has changed from carrying freight to welcoming passengers from around the world on modern vessels that could be more appropriately named “canal yachts.”

Although the barges now carry passengers, much has remained the same on these living antique waterways. They are still bisected by locks (which raises or lowers the barges between the different levels of land), and many old locks are still attended by lock keepers; passing through them is part of the experience.

We watched a couple of boats come across the canal bridge at Briare – this bridge of water crosses over the Loire.

Completed in 1624, the Canal de Briare served as the water route transporting wine and other important cargo to Paris. A two-hour drive south from the City of Light, the Canal de Briare is a desirable barging destination, with such close proximity to Paris.

After lunch it got really hot so we stopped to put our feet in the canal which was very refreshing. We timed our stop well as we watched a couple of boats come into the lock.

We then had an uphill climb into the village of Sancerre, home for the night. Well worth the climb. Sancerre is famous for its Sauvignon Blanc. Tomas our guide from Caves Ambacia said it is the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world followed by NZ. Apparently it has won 4 out of the last 5 years at the world wine awards with NZ winning the other year.

We had a great wander around, lots of little wine shops. Our 5th ‘pyscholist’, Andy has joined us tonight for dinner which was delicious

Day 11 – Sancerre to Chateau de Maucouvent, Challuy – 67km

A clear blue sky morning made the 4km descent down from Sancerre this morning just magical – the sun hitting the vines and sunflower fields just perfectly. An image that couldn’t be captured in a photo but captured vividly in our minds.

None of us slept particularly well last night so we were all a bit jaded after our big day yesterday. The scenery wasn’t as special after we left Sancerre as it had been, so it was pedals to the metal. We came across an irrigator that was watering more path than corn field so decided to have a bit of fun with that.

We had a couple of sustenance stops but nothing to write home about. We saw goats, horses, a wild deer and an escargot farm.

It got hotter and hotter as the day went on and we got back onto the canal paths which are so picturesque. We were all hoping for a spot to have a swim and just after our lunch stop we found it.

We all jumped in with our cycling clothes on – heaven. The last 8km to our accommodation in wet clothes kept us cool.

Tonight we are staying in a chateau called Chateau de Maucouvent which is about 5km from Nevers. It was built in 1875 and owned privately by a family for over a century. It was occupied by the Germans in World War II.

Our host, Natalie, said they bought the place in 2011 and did it up over Covid, doing most of the work themselves. It has three rooms so we have the place to ourselves.

We treated ourselves to a three course meal cooked by Natalie’s husband. Absolutely delicious.

Day 12 – Chateau de Maucouvent, Challuy to Bourbon Lancy – 86km

After a beautiful and traditional French breakfast at our chateau we headed back to the trail

We were back along the canals which were quite still, reflecting the trees and buildings beautifully.

We stopped in Decize to check out a bike shop that no longer existed. Instead we found a bar full of mostly French men cheering on the French women’s soccer team who were in a penalty shootout with our neighbour’s, the Matilda’s. It was a tricky decision as to who we should be supporting so we remained neutral. The emotions were running high for the French and it was great to watch. Unfortunately they fell short and the atmosphere in the bar went flat. That was a right time, right place moment.

We had a picnic lunch just before leaving the canals to go inland. The last 40km was on rural roads where we saw a lot of Charolais cattle (we had been served this for dinner at the Chateau).

The Charolais or Charolaise is a French breed of taurine beef cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the Charolais area surrounding Charolles, in the Saône-et-Loire department, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

They are raised for meat and are among the heaviest of cattle breeds: bulls weigh from 1000 to 1650 kg (2200 to 3600 lb), and cows from 700 to 1200 kg (1500 to 2600 lb). The coat ranges from white to cream-coloured; the nose is uniformly pink.

Andy took some very up close and personal photos of these animals

JP had the second bike malfunction of the trip with a flat back tyre and a slow leak in the front. This may or may not have happened when her and Graham go up close and personal with the blackberry bushes. There were loads of berries on the side of the roads which are delicious. JP gave us some good advice – never pick below the level of a peeing dog

We are in Bourbon-Lancy tonight which is a rural town on the river Loire with a walled medieval area on the dominant hill. It has an authentic medieval belfry, wooden frame houses and fortifications which date from 1495.

We didn’t find a good swimming spot today so we went to the local pools when we arrived to cool off and do our yoga stretches – we only got a few strange looks from the locals.

Tonight we wandered into the centre of town where we managed to get a table at one of the more popular spots. Again the French delivered

Day 13 – Bourbon-Lancy to Brandon – 92km

After our swim yesterday we were looking at our plans for today, only to discover that the accommodation we had booked was 50km off the Euro Velo 6 route – oops . We can’t quite work out how that happened but decided an adventure on the road less travelled can’t be all bad.

We spent the first 40km on the Euro Velo 6 route which was along the same canal we have been following for the past couple of days – Canal latéral à la Loire which translates to canal parallel to the Loire.

We then had to fire up Google maps to navigate our way to Brandon. It took us on all the D roads which are mainly rural. Graham was in charge of navigation and he did a great job.

We had a picnic lunch stop at Charolles and arrived just as all the locals were coming out of the church dressed in their Sunday best with the bells tolling.

We had a small hiccup at the end when the map took us under the highway through a disused underpass. It did the trick though and got us under the highway.

We were a little concerned that Brandon even existed as we only saw a sign to it about 6km out. By the time we reached Brandon we had all run out of water and were so hot it was a relief to finally be here.

Our accommodation – Bourgeoise @ Brandon, was a welcome sight and the pool an even better one.

Our host, Jonathan, is an absolute delight. He is English but before coming to Brandon 4 years ago, lived in Melbourne for 28 years. The Villa is beautiful and he has done a great job on the renovation.

He only put the pool in this year and we were very thankful. He had a cold beer for each of us – I don’t even drink beer but I made short work of it .

He has a menagerie of animals – 2 Great Danes (Freya and Skyla), 4 goats (Hansel, Gretel, Marie Antoinette and Louis) and 4 chickens (Barbara, Margaret, Mary and Victoria). There were 5 chickens but Elizabeth got eaten by a fox. All the animals are super friendly.

Jonathan booked us a table at the only restaurant in the village – Moulin de Brandon. It is run by a Flemish couple, Sarah and Joeri. They only seat 16 people a night and it is just the two of them. Sarah is front of house and Joeri is the chef. He cooks on a vertical BBQ using vine wood.

Jonathan had mentioned we might get a thunderstorm due to how hot it had been. It was hard to believe but when we walked the kilometre down the road the sky in the distance was getting blacker and blacker and there was rolling thunder.

We got to the restaurant and Sarah and Joeri greeted us and said we could perhaps have a drink outside but should eat inside. We had only taken a sip when the rain came and we rushed inside. What followed was crazy – horizontal rain, huge hail stones that I thought were going to break the windows, lightening and more thunder. It went on for about half an hour and the tables and umbrellas got blown everywhere and were damaged. They said they have never experienced that before. The power then went out but they got it going again.

Meanwhile hail had come down the chimney putting the BBQ out. After the storm passed they proceeded to cook and serve us the most delicious meal in between dealing with a couple more power outages. I had quail to start, pork flambés and nougat Icecream. We loved the personal service and very homely atmosphere. A night we won’t forget in a hurry.

Just goes to show, every cloud has a silver lining (and a few hail stones).

Day 14 – Brandon to Charlon-sur-Saone – 72km

Jonathan provided a delicious and typical French breakfast of baguettes, pastries, cold meats and cheese accompanied by his lively banter and Freya and Skyla mooching about. Another spot that was hard to leave but cycle on we must.

The morning was very foggy and misty and the extent of last nights storm became more and more evident as we cycled on – lots of leaves and trees down.

Andy had our third bike malfunction with a puncture. Our tube supplies were getting low so our focus today was on finding a bike shop to replenish supplies.

I then got a bee sting on my neck which fortunately, after the initial fright and sting didn’t come to much.

Twelve kilometres from Brandon we stopped in Cluny to see the abbey which is a former Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Peter. It was established in 910 and disestablished in 1790.

The town of Cluny was born from the Abbey. In 910, according to the traditions, twelve monks from the Jura mountains settled in a Carolingian villa (rural estate), at the request of William the Pious, Duke of Aquatine. Their observance of the Benedictine rule set an example to be followed from Spain to Poland, from England to Italy and as far as Jerusalem. The number of Cluniac monks at the peak of the order, is estimated at more than 10,000.

Another silver lining today was that there is a rail trail from Cluny to Charlon-sur-Saone called the Voie Verte or the green line. Rail trails are never steep so it was a beautiful flat ride.

We set off from Cluny only to find numerous trees down across the track – some were a little more navigable than others. Twice we had to take our panniers off and form a chain gang to get them across the trees.

We stopped in Saint-Gengoux-le-National for lunch. The sun had broken through and it was pretty hot. Our after lunch treat was a banana split, JP style, a banana stuffed with dark chocolate. A real energy booster.

After lunch we came across a guy playing an electric guitar just off the track next to a corn field. At first we thought the music was coming from this little old lady coming towards us on her bike but when we looked up we saw this guy playing away. JP climbed up the bank to get a closer look, Hilary and I had a little boogie on the track. The sights you see.

We discovered that Charlon-sur-Saone had a Decathlon store (a sports store on steroids) so that was our first port of call to replenish some bike supplies. Luckily we don’t have a lot of space for shopping because it is the sort of shop you can spend hours in and come out with many things you potentially don’t need.

We then headed to our accommodation in the historic centre – a three level apartment. No bike storage unfortunately, but luckily a good amount of storage in the lounge which is on the ground floor. We also got our first glimpse of the Saone river – the second main river on the Euro Velo 6.

After a G & T, we had a little wander round town – the river is definitely its best feature. JP then whipped us up one of her famous salads washed down with a second G & T. We will definitely sleep well tonight, it has been an adventurous and hot couple of days. I am also developing some very interesting tan lines

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Euro Velo 6 – Week 1 – Saint Brevin to Blois – 395.8km

Posted on August 10, 2023 by SUNGRL

An idea dreamed up after completing the Tour Aotearoa in 2018 is finally coming to fruition. It was originally planned for 2021 as a 50th birthday adventure and delayed because the world went mad.

New Zealand to Thailand , Thailand to France we are finally here and ready to roll

I’m very grateful to some equally crazy friends (psycholists) who have agreed to come along for the ride.

Tomorrow we start the Euro Velo 6 from the Atlantic in St Nazzaire, France towards the Black Sea. We will cycle as far as Belgrade in Serbia, some 3,200km in about 60 days following 4 rivers and entering 9 countries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EV6_The_Rivers_Route

Day 1 – Saint-Brevin to Nante – 63.5km

Day 1 was a pretty special day that exceeded all our expectations. We took a train from Nantes to Saint-Nazaire and then a taxi to Saint-Brevin where the official start of the Euro Velo 6 is. The reason for the taxi was to safely cross the Saint-Nazaire Bridge which is 3.3km long and crosses the Loire river.

We were a bit stressed about the train as we were told we would only have 2 minutes to get on with our bikes but it was actually sitting on the platform about 20 minutes early. We did however have to take our bikes up and down an escalator – that was a first.

When we arrived in Saint-Breven, we went down to touch the Atlantic Ocean which was surprisingly warm and then took a photo of the official sign. We then proceeded to cycle round in circles working out which way we were supposed to be going . Once we worked it out we then discovered we had taken a picture of the finishing sign rather than the starting side of the sign. Not a good start

The signage along the trail is pretty good thankfully. We followed the river, went inland, along a canal and into a couple of villages. A cup of coffee was high on the priority list which we managed about 20km in.

The stone buildings and houses were a highlight. Absolutely loved the trail which was a mixture of light gravel paths and quiet country roads. We took a ferry back across the river at Indre – timed our ride perfectly as the ferry departed just after we got on and it was free.

Cycled back through the industrial outskirts of Nantes before Hilary took us on a cycle tour around the city. While her navigation skills are excellent, her regard for safety is questionable after nearly getting us run over on numerous occasions. The drivers here are very courteous to cyclists but I think Hilary took that for granted a little too much back in the city, especially with the buses. Plus we’re still getting used to which way to look as they drive on the other side of the road to what we are used to.

Nantes is a very cool city though and we enjoyed exploring it. We checked out Les Machines de l’ile or The Machines of the Island an exhibition and animation space. They have this mechanical elephant 12 meters high and 8 meters in width that walks around, makes noise and blows water out its trunk. It is a sight to behold.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantes

Day 2 – Nante to Montjean sur Loire – 69.5km

I forgot to mention yesterday that the heatwave in Europe is fake news – well it is in France anyway. It’s been about 22 degrees which is actually perfect for cycling. We did wake to pouring rain this morning but it was forecast to stop at 9am, which it did. We have also had a tail wind for the first two days . Today was the first day being fully loaded but we managed well.

The trails along the river were again amazing and with the tail wind we really whipped along. We did four crossings of the Loire today. It was so windy when we crossed one of the bridges we had to walk. Graham reckons it was blowing between 60 and 80km an hour – hold onto your helmet stuff.

We had a coffee stop in Mauve sur Loire where they had a lovely boulangerie (bakery) where some pain au chocolat were purchased and consumed (not by me – just saying). The church yard was some archeological site where they were excavating for bones

Lunch was in Ancenis. We’ve noticed a lot of snails on the trail which is probably fitting given escargot is a specialty here – Graham suggested collecting them up for dinner – that was a hard no from me.

There have also been a number of wild berries along the trails. There were some blueberry looking ones that JP found out were in fact not blueberries. She took one for the team and you’ll be pleased to know she’s still alive

The number of cyclists on the trail going both ways is amazing and they’re all loaded up so are obviously bike packing like us. Lots of families with kids either riding or being towed. Very cool to see.

Fortunately, JP is still alive as she is taking our end of ride yoga sessions every day . Watch this space.

Day 3 – Montjean sur Loire to Saumur – 95km

A big day on the pedals today and slightly longer than planned due to a detour that ended up being useful.

We had an early start today due to it being a big day and the forecast looking a little ominous from about 11am . Clearly the SUNGRL powers are still adjusting to the northern hemisphere.

The obligatory pain au chocolat was acquired in the village of Savennieres (not by me though ). We went through a lot more beautiful little villages today. You hardly ever see anyone though.

I then had an issue with my front derailer cable which our resident fix it man, Graham, couldn’t sort so we accidentally detoured to Angers which had a number of bike shops.

The guy at Art De Roue was fantastic and replaced the cable while we had lunch. JP went off and acquired a hip flask – we have driven her to drink after only 3 days. She tells us it’s for her oat milk which is nowhere to be found at the cafes we have been frequenting so she’s going to do BYO.

After leaving Angers we came across a cable ferry that we had to use to cross a small tributary called sur-l’ Authion. That was a first.

Unfortunately we had a bit of precipitation but not enough to be too painful. We had a stop in St-Mathurin sur Loire where we came across a photo exhibition, one of 13, showcasing 240 sports photos highlighting the work of 17 French and foreign photographers who have covered the greatest international sporting competitions. Front and centre was the All Blacks doing the haka at the 2011 World Cup final against France at Eden Park. JP couldn’t resist joining in.

We had 30km to go to Saumur and it was a bit of a slog. A nice hot shower, a glass of wine, some snacks and a game of Cabo has put us back on track. JP is now whipping us up a delicious pasta dinner – living our best life for sure

Day 4 – Saumur to Brehemont – 56.5km

After we had all showered last night we discovered we had used dishwash liquid instead of body wash – no wonder we were all squeaky clean (also proves how bad all our eyesight is).

We had an explore around Saumur this morning and checked out the Chateau de Saumur which was originally constructed as a castle in the 10th century. We are now in chateau and wine country.

The trail took us through the beautiful village of Souzay Champigny past lovely cream-colored stone buildings, typical of the region, and into a magical and mysterious medieval tunnel system carved out of the cliffs.

The tunnel system was originally created from quarrying the cream Tuffeau stone, used for the buildings and castles the Loire region is famous for. The quarried caverns provided an inexpensive framework for medieval living spaces and buildings, known as troglodyte houses.

We then came across a gourmet cafe / shop selling local specialties, wine and art. The wine cellar was set up with a picture of the Loire river running around the wall with wines from each area for sale underneath. It was too early for wine so JP and I tried a Nantes cake instead which is made with rum.

In the 18th century, the port of Nantes was enriched by the triangular trade and saw many goods from the Caribbean colonies such as cane sugar, dark rum, and vanilla; ingredients that were later used in the composition of the Nantes cake. It hit the spot nicely.

There are 4 nuclear power plants along the Loire so we decided to take a look at the Chinon one. It has 7 reactors but only 4 are operational. It produces 6% of France’s electricity.

From nuclear power to Sleeping Beauty – our next stop was Château d’Ussé which was built in the 11th century and was one of several that inspired Walt Disney in the creation of many of the Disney Castles.

It was then a further 8km into Brehemont where we are staying in a loft style apartment four stories up in an early 19th century building. There is no lift so our legs were not thanking us. Thankfully they had bike storage in a little cave at the bottom of the building.

We then discovered the only place to eat was at the campground whose restaurant was fully booked. We ended up having feu or fire bread for dinner at the campground bar. The feu came about when the bakers would pull off a little bit of dough the size of a small bun and put it in the oven to see if the fire was hot enough before putting the loaves in. Apparently, they are very common at the Christmas / specialty markets between Saumur and Tours (tomorrows destination). I was pretty happy with my warm feu with goats’ cheese and garlic butter.

Day 5 – Brehemont to Tours – 37.8km

We only had a short day today but we decided to get away early so we could enjoy our next destination – the city of Tours.

First stop was Chateau Villandry which was once owned by Napoleons brother. Its famous Renaissance gardens include a water garden, ornamental flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. The gardens are laid out in formal patterns created with low box hedges. In 1934, Château de Villandry was designated a Monument historique. Like all the other châteaux of the Loire Valley, it is a World Heritage Site.

Unfortunately it wasn’t the nicest day so we didn’t do the garden tour. We did, of course visit the boulangerie where the baguettes were fresh out of the oven.

We came across a quinoa crop which was interesting as I’ve never seen that before.

Over the last few days we have also seen a number of poplar plantations. Poplar is used to make both light and strong packaging in a process that is much less energy-consuming than that of the equivalent to make cardboard or plastic packaging. As a result, poplar as a raw material for packaging is much more sustainable than any other material.

Poplar’s remarkable hygienic qualities, naturally bactericidal, make it perfect for food packaging as it is moisture resistant, aiding in the proper conservation of fruits, vegetables, seafood and is always suitable for cheese and wine. Due to its resistance, poplar is also used to make industrial packaging, such as pallets.

Tours has a number of markets so we acquired some avocado, chèvre (goats cheese), tomatoes and a couple of baguettes for our picnic lunch.

Tours has a population of about 137,000 and is known as the garden city. The historic city is nicknamed “Le Petit Paris”. The city was greatly affected by the First World War. A force of 25,000 American soldiers arrived in 1917, setting up textile factories for the manufacture of uniforms, repair shops for military equipment, munitions dumps, an army post office and an American military hospital at Augustins. Tours was also marked by the Second World War as the city suffered massive destruction in 1940.

I finally found a half decent cafe o’alit today so had two to make up for the last 4 days.

After some confusion we found our AirBNB for the night which is very nice and spacious. Unfortunately the host misled us on bike storage so we had to improvise and take the front wheels off two of the bikes and carry them up two circular, narrow flights of stairs.

We had a wander around the city after we checked in. It is a really nice city with a good vibe. We had a drink down by the river and then went to Place Plumereau, the old medieval town, for dinner. The square has half-timbered houses from the 15th century, alongside the beautiful Romanesque and Renaissance façades, this square was the economic center of the city from the 13th to the 16th century.

Tonight, I had the best meal so far on tour – baked Camembert with honey, salad, potatoes, Parma ham, tomatoes – yum, yum, yum

Day 6 – Tours to Amboise – 30.5km

When you are carrying everything on your bike you don’t want to carry too much. Having limited clothes means having the ability to wash and dry our clothes overnight is quite important. We had a washing machine last night but no washing powder or drying rack. We used body wash and turned the place into a Chinese laundry, even utilising the wine rack for our smalls.

Today, being a Sunday, we thought we would take it easy with a short ride from Tours to Amboise (I can hear my other psycholist friends back in NZ giving me grief for that).

It was a beautiful ride along lovely paths and through vineyards. Definitely a highlight so far.

Amboise has a population of 13,000 and I think all of them were at the Sunday market. It was fantastic with all sorts of things from food to clothes to jewellery and even mattresses.

Being on a bike also limits your shopping ability which Stevie is very happy about.

After enjoying the market and the town which again was really busy we went and did a wine tour at Caves Ambacia. The reviews said it was fantastic and they were right.

Our guide, Tomas, was so good and extremely knowledgeable. The Caves have been around since 1463 and were once owned by Leonardo da Vinci. Up until 2017 they were owned by the same family for 13 generations or 600 years. From what we could understand, the taxes on passing from one generation to the other are very high which caused the family to sell – it might also have had something to do with it being the unlucky 13th generation.

The caves alone are owned by a master wine maker now who makes wine with grapes grown by various growers in the region.

In NZ, we define our wines by the grape variety. In France they define them by the region. There are very strict rules about what and how you grow and make the wine.

AOC is short for Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, and refers to standards set for wines made in France. There are 363 AOCs for wine and spirits in France which control everything from how the grapes are grown to what wine varieties are in the bottle.

The two grape varieties used at Caves Ambacia were Chenin from the Vouvray region for their whites and Cot (Cabernet Franc) from the Chinon region for their reds. To be honest it was all a bit confusing and the more wine we sampled the more confusing it got.

https://www.vinsvaldeloire.fr/en/wine/vouvray

https://www.vinsvaldeloire.fr/en/wine/chinon

Regardless the tour was fantastic and afterwards we enjoyed a glass of wine, escargot and a selection of cheeses. Janine had a 1990 Vouvary (chenin) and Hilary and I had a 1997 pétillant which is a sparkling chenin. Very good.

It was my first time having escargot and while they weren’t offensive I couldn’t quite get my head around them. Luckily my biking buddies loved them.

The other thing this area is famous for is goats cheese. The four goats cheeses, two cows milk cheese and one sheep milk cheese we tried all came within a 25km radius of the caves.

The Loire Valley is the largest producer of wine in France and we’re cycling the whole way through it .

Day 7 – Amboise to Blois – 43km

Our bed and breakfast hosts in Amboise, Christine and Philippe, were so lovely. Christine spoke really good English but Philippe didn’t – he asked Christine to tell us that he loves rugby and he thinks the French will beat us in the opening game.

He is an artist and paints these 3D images on flat board which were very clever. Christine did our washing for us yesterday and our breakfast this morning was very yummy with fresh baguettes and homemade jam.

Last night while we were sitting outside playing cards, three hot air balloons came over the house on a trip over the Loire.

Amboise is a real tourist town, made famous by the fact that Leonardo da Vinci lived in Chateau Du Clos Luce which is in Amboise from 1516 until his death in 1519 at the age of 67. You can visit the chateau, park and exhibition. In my ignorance I wasn’t that keen to visit but it turned out to be so interesting and I learnt a lot.

His work on the human anatomy was fascinating. One of the fore fathers he looked to was Hippocrates (father of medicine) who asserts that disease, far from being from divine origin, is linked to external factors.

Leonardo looked to the work on the soul by Aristotle who explains that the organic soul is the source of vital capacity through animal spirits. The vegetative soul is responsible for reproductive functions and for the growth of the body. The sensitive soul is the one that induces perception through the senses, physical movements and emotions. The intellective soul is the one that enables consciousness and reflection.

His diet recommendations were also interesting – photo attached.

In the park they had models of various machines and shapes that he had drawn. He was an artist, an engineer, an architect, an anatomist and scientist.

It was then back on the bikes for 23km to Chaumont-sur-Loire where we had lunch in the park – goats cheese, honey and roast tomatoes on a fresh baguette

JP and I then visited the garden festival at the Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire. The grounds comprise 34 hectares – permanent gardens, a plant collection and an annual exhibition. The annual exhibition this year is entitled Resilient Garden – being resilient is turning a challenge into a strength. There were about 30 gardens all showcasing how the designer used plants and the natural environment to combat the challenges the earth is facing.

After a couple of hours roaming about in there it was back on the bikes for 20km to Blois, home for tonight. We’re staying in the historic centre in a very cool apartment.

Blois has a population of 47,000 and during the Renaissance, Blois was the official residence of the King of France.

The Jacques-Gabriel Bridge (architect) spans the Loire River in Blois, since the beginning of the 18th century. With a total length of 283m, it is made up of 11 arches, and is the last arch bridge on the river that is pointed.

Posted in Euro Velo 6, France - EV6 | Tagged eurovelo6 | 4 Comments

Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail – Northland, New Zealand

Posted on April 6, 2020 by SUNGRL

On Friday the 13th March we headed to Horeke on the Hokianga Harbour. There were 22 of us descending on this little settlement to cycle the Twin Coast Cycle Trail. We had decided to base ourselves in Horeke and to do the cycle trail over two days, being shuttled to the middle of the trail in Kaikohe each morning.

Our base was to be the Horeke Hotel which is the oldest surviving pub in New Zealand. The Hotel is located on the waterfront of the Hokianga Harbour in the Far North District. The oldest parts of the building date back to 1833. It may not have had a liquor licence back in 1833, but that did not stop it serving beer to the many ship builders working in the first commercial shipbuilding yard in New Zealand.

Horeke is the oldest settlement in the Hokianga and the second oldest European settlement in New Zealand after Russell which is on the opposite coast.

Because we were such a big group we were split into three groups for accommodation purposes – one group stayed at the Hotel, one group stayed in the House on the Water and one group stayed at The Riverhead Guesthouse. The House on the Water was originally built in 1924 and the front part of the house sits over the water on stilts – it has been fully refurbished inside and it is lovely. The Riverhead Guesthouse is up on the hill overlooking the harbour and is a beautiful old style Kauri villa. It was originally built in Kaiwaka in 1871 and moved to Horeke in 1979 where it was restored.

By 6pm everyone had arrived and after settling into their respective accommodation spots we converged in the Hotel bar. It was great to have the team back together, many of whom have done various cycling trips together over the years. We met Peter & Laurel, the owners of the Hotel and Mike the barman and all round organiser of all things food and beverage.

While eating our dinner (which was delicious), Peter gave us a history lesson on Horeke and surrounding areas. Horeke was originally called Deptford after the Royal Navy shipyard in England. David Ramsay and Gordon Davies Brown came from Sydney to set up a trading post and shipbuilding settlement in 1826. Three ships were built – a 40 ton schooner called Enterprise, a 140 ton brigantine called New Zealander, and the 394 ton barque Sir George Murray, but the firm went bankrupt in 1830.

New Zealand’s first murder trial took place at the nearby Methodist Mission. In 1838 a Maori ferry man murdered a pakeha passenger in an argument over a fare. The man, a mere slave, was tried at Mangungu with the assent of Maori chiefs, and was executed and buried on the low mangrove island opposite Horeke. This was New Zealand’s first murder trial. Yet the court had no legal jurisdiction at all. Both, Maori and pakeha put increasing pressure on Britain to formally claim New Zealand, so British law could apply.

By 1825, the Hokianga Harbour had its first white settler. Jack Marmon, known as Cannibal Jack, was the son of a Sydney stonemason. He jumped ship, married a Maori woman and settled near Horeke, across the river at Marmon’s Point. There was no white man nearer than the missionaries at Kerikeri. A man of slight build, aggressive manner and quick mind, he lived as a Maori joining in their intertribal fights. He was popularly believed to have ‘joined the Maoris in their cannibal feasts’. He died in 1880 and was buried at Marmon’s point after a drunken Irish wake.

After a good nights sleep we met at the Hotel for breakfast which was plentiful. Peter and Laurel had started loading up our bikes onto the trailer ready to transport them and us to Kaikohe for the first of two days cycling.

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The Twin Coast Cycle Trail is 87 kilometers long and goes from Opua in the Bay of Islands to Horeke in the Hokianga Harbour. You can ride it in either direction. We did it over two days and went from Kaikohe which is effectively the centre of the trail to Opua (45km) on day one and from Kaikohe back to Horeke (42km) on day two.

Kaikohe is Northland’s largest inland town and mainly services the mid-north’s farming, horticulture and forestry industries. Kaikohe is steeped in Maori history and owes it’s pioneering growth to the kauri gum trade. The town also boasts the largest grass airfield in the southern hemisphere – the Kaikohe Aerodrome was built in 1942 as a US Marines bomber base. It is now used for general aviation.

The Kaikohe district endured several conflicts during the 19th century land wars. The famous chief Hone Heke (1807 – 1850) settled in Kaikohe at the end of the land wars and died here in 1850. The first Maori Member of Parliament was his nephew who was named after him.

In 1914 the rail link between Auckland and Kaikohe was opened which was a major development as travel to Auckland had been a major expedition by land and sea with freight being hauled on mud roads by bullock trains and horse carts. Kaikohe peaked as a trading centre in the 1950’s when the train station hosted six north bound and six south bound trains a week carrying both passengers and freight.

It was a lovely day – earlier in the week the weekend forecast did not look good. My SUNGRL powers were on point. A couple of friends from Auckland, Jo & Torry, joined us on day one and they also bought along our Scottish friends, Geraldine and Ross. Geraldine and Ross lived in Auckland for twenty years before returning to Scotland to live – it was a real treat to be able to catch up with them both.

Everyone set off at their own pace. The trail has been well built and goes through a lot of farmland. We passed through the rural settlement of Otiria which is the northernmost operational point of the national railway network – it is the terminus of the North Auckland line.

Everyone stopped in Kawakawa for lunch and there were some good offerings to be had. My SUNGRL powers had waned a little during the first 34km (I was probably talking too much and not concentrating) and we got a light shower of rain. We had just made it to Kawakawa when there was a heavier downpour – good timing.

Kawakawa is famous for it’s fancy public toilets, otherwise known as the Hundertwasser toilets. They have golden orbs, mosaic tiles, copper handwork, sculptures and cobblestone floors. They were designed by Austrian architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who was a resident of the town from 1975 until his death in 2000.

Kawakawa is also famous for The Bay of Islands Vintage railway. The railway, which runs down the middle of the main street, was re-established in the late 1980’s (after its early life hauling coal from nearby mines). It now operates a scenic tourist railway between Kawakawa and Taumarere Station. It is unique as it is the only working railway in New Zealand where the trains travel down the middle of a State Highway.

We were just finishing our lunch when the train went down the main street. We rode alongside the railway line as we left Kawakawa and got to the Taumarere station just as the scenic train was heading back to Kawakawa. Taumarere had a population of 1,500 in the mid 1800’s when coal was discovered. The coal mine opened in 1867, and coal was initially hauled by horse-drawn carts on a wooden tramway to the deep-water access at Taumarere, loaded onto barges and then taken to Opua to be reloaded onto ocean going ships.

The tramway was replaced in 1867, making it the first railway line to be opened in the North Island. The first engine was called Puffing Billy, although he ran out of steam within a year and was replaced. The line first carried passengers in 1871 and was the first passenger train in the North Island.

The coal mine closed in 1912 but the railway continued to service the carrying of meat and butter from nearby Moerewa until the 1980’s after which it was used occasionally for freight and tourists. The last NZ Railway train ran in 1971 and the line was closed in 2000. The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust has reopened the historic line to Taumarere as a flourishing tourist venture. They eventually want to restore the line through to Opua.

We rode across the railway bridge after the train had gone and then followed the estuary all the way to Opua where Peter and Laurel were waiting with the vans, trailers and cold beers. Opua is a bustling commercial port with a large marina and boatyard. It is the first port for overseas yachts arriving in NZ after crossing the Pacific Ocean. There is also a car ferry that takes you across to Russell which is the oldest European settlement in NZ.

All aboard the vans to our next stop – Ngawha Springs. It was actually quite hot so the thought of hoping into a hot pool was not so appealing.

Te Waiariki Ngawha Springs are natural geothermal healing waters that come directly from the earth. There are 16 mineral baths each with unique nutrient and temperature characteristics, used for centuries for relaxation as well as their therapeutic qualities and healing properties. They are culturally significant and have a rich social, environmental and political history. The Parahirahi Ngawha Waiariki Trust as kaitiaki has a responsibility to ensure that the springs are maintained and developed so that future generations can enjoy their healing waters.

The pools have a variety of temperatures and bubble from the ground into large wooden tubs. The hot springs arising in this area are slightly acidic and are rich in ammonia, bicarbonate, boron and mercury, which is not typical of other springs in New Zealand. Tests have shown that the pools contain in varying amounts also boric acid, bromide, calcium chloride, caesium, carbon dioxide, magnesium, iodine, fluoride, lithium, sodium, ammonium, rubidium sulphate, silica, potassium and some other minerals.

All pools have personal names. Amazingly they have different colours and different temperatures even though they are in close proximity of each other. So, while Bulldog has black water and a temperature between 41-48 degrees, a small pool located about 3 meters away from it has white water and a cool temperature.

Every pool has its own individual spring, each with its own temperature. The difference in the colour of each pool is an indication of the variation in mineral composition and individual underground source. The spring waters are presented in their natural state and are not in any way processed.

We opted for the cooler pool first before venturing into the hotter ones. Surprisingly the hotter ones weren’t too bad. In the last pool we went into, a local lady hopped in and proceeded to put her head under. Our understanding was that you couldn’t put your head under in thermal or mineral pools so we asked her about it. She told us that this was the only pool you could do it in and that it was noted on the information board. She had been coming to the pools for years and she told us some stories of how the healing properties in the pools had helped various people that had serious illnesses.

She told us that the pool we were in had a high concentration of boric acid and magnesium and that it was good for eye health and arthritis. We decided to put our heads under to absorb as much of the goodness as possible. I’m still needing to wear glasses so it was not a miracle pool!

After our healing experience we headed back to Horeke to enjoy some liquid refreshments before dinner. Our Swiss and Thai friends were travelling in this area and had arranged to call in for a drink with us. It was a beautiful evening which made it so nice to sit out on the deck and watch the sun go down. Our friends went back to their camperan to cook dinner while we enjoyed another delicious meal at the Hotel.

The tradition on our annual bike trips is to have a court session at night where anyone that has done something silly during the day gets fined. Normally I am the judge, jury and executioner but this year Steve Thomas and Rachel Darlington had relieved me of such duties. I had given then strict instructions of course – I don’t let go easily.

Steve, Rachel Darlington and myself then joined our Swiss and Thai friends for a little after dinner party in their campervan. There was no way they were driving anywhere after that so luckily Peter had said they could park up outside the hotel. I did, however, drive us back up to the Riverside when possibly I should not have. I got a fine for this the next night despite having the fine master and his sidekick in the car with me.

On Sunday morning there was thick fog not just in my brain but also blanketing the Harbour – it was quite eerie. We headed to the Hotel for breakfast before again setting off to Kaikohe in the vans. Today we were cycling back to Horeke which was about 42 kilometres.

The trail between Kaikohe and Okaihau follows a disused railway corridor and climbs gently to the highest point of the trail at 280 metres above sea level. The first part of the trail was mainly through bush or old forestry areas.

We came across an old rail tunnel that was built in 1915 – it was 80 metres long with a slight curve in it so you couldn’t quite see the light at the end of it. I decided to ride through it with no light on but as I got inside I thought some light would be good. As I fossicked around trying to turn my light on I lost my orientation and headed a bit far left and before I could unclip my left shoe I was having an involuntary lie down inside the tunnel – I am getting a very bad reputation for these. Luckily Kaz came back to find me with her light on as my light battery was dead and my phone flew out of the holder as I hit the ground. A little bit of blood never hurt anyone and of course a fine at the evening’s court session!

Just before Lake Omapere came into view we came across Margaret, Graeme and Trish fixing a flat tyre. We all had a go at pumping up Margaret’s tyre while Kaz took some questionable photos!

The tranquil waters of lake Omapere are the ancestral home of indigenous tuna or eel that provide a bountiful food source for the local people. Tuna, during the months from February to April set off on an epic journey from the lake, down the Utakura River and through the Hokianga Harbour, swimming thousands of miles to their spawning grounds in the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Tonga and Fiji. Their offspring, after floating on the southern current back to New Zealand coastline, scale enormous obstacles back upstream to make it back home. It is during this migration that local people have traditionally set nets on the river to harvest this rich bounty of the sea.

The plan was to grab some lunch in Okaihau – Peter had said that one of the two cafes may be open? As we passed through Okaihau there was no sign of anything open so we carried on conjuring up plans as to what we could do once we got back to Horeke.

When Okaihau was settled in the 1880’s, British builders Charles & Walter Rowsell established four sawmills in the mid north region. We passed one of the mills that transformed kauri, kahikatea and totara from the surrounding hills into weatherboards, flooring, furniture, fenceposts and spars to supply the growing community. Many houses in the area were also built by the Rowsells.

Not long after Okaihau we came across a beautiful big Puriri tree. “He’s as tough as an old Puriri post” is a saying testament to the durability and strength of the stately Puriri tree, endemic to New Zealand and synonymous with the landscape of the Far North. Many of the Puriri fence posts we were passing on the trail are over 100 years old and still standing straight and strong.

Early settlers prized the plentiful, rot-proof wood but were daunted by it’s stubbornness. They discovered that most nails would simply bounce off the surface and had to invent a special fence staple to penetrate the grain. They also learned that even when a Puriri is felled and milled into posts it will continue to grow. An incident recorded by New Zealand Geographic tells of a farmer who cut down a Puriri, quartered it and used the posts to build a hay barn. Three of the posts sprouted.

For Maori, who also called the tree kauere, the Puriri provided many resources. The leaves were used for making an infusion for bathing muscle aches and sprains; a useful laxative, a salve for sore throats and ulcers and the bark for dying flax. The wood was used to fashion gardening tools, paddles, weapons and hinaki (eel traps) because it was one of the few timbers that would sink. The grubs of the Puriri moth that burrowed deep into the truck made good eating.

After leaving the trail beside the road we started riding through farmland again and had some great views down the Utakura Valley. We descended down some pretty cool switchbacks before coming around the corner by the Utakura River where we found a lot of the group having a picnic lunch. Tony had decided to buy a loaf of bread and some potato chips so we could all make potato chip sandwhiches – that was a blast from the past – I haven’t had a chip sandwhich for years. I was pretty hungry (nothing new there) so they went down a treat.

Riding alongside the Utakura River was beautiful – it was another sunny day. We had a pit stop at Snows Farm where we saw all these old tractors and some quaint accommodation. There was also a tap for us to fill up our water bottles. This part of the trail was definitely my favorite.

Not far from Horeke you ride along a 1 kilometre boardwalk through the Mangrove Estuary to Hokianga Harbour. It was a great way to end the ride.

We all had showers to freshen up and then relaxed on the balcony taking in the beautiful vista. Mike the barman then arrived with hot pizza – that went down a real treat!

At 4pm we had organised a cruise on the Hokianga Harbour. Craig the skipper of the Ranui pulled up at the wharf outside the Hotel and on we got. It was a beautiful evening and so calm out on the water. It was a BYO scenario so we had purchased a few liquid refreshments to enjoy while we cruised.

We went past the Mangungu Mission House nestled up on the hill just past Horeke. Māngungu was established on the shore of the spectacular Hokianga Harbour in 1828 as a Wesleyan Mission station. It was built in 1838-1839 for the Reverend Nathaniel Turner.

Following lengthy discussions, the largest signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in the country took place here, with over 70 chiefs adding their assent before a crowd of up to 3,000 people. The event is remembered each year on 12 February.

Honey bees were introduced at Māngungu, providing a major contribution to the success of pastoral farming in New Zealand.

From 1840, the mission house was occupied by the Reverend John Hobbs and his family. Hobbs had drawn the plans for the house – a single-storey structure in a symmetrical, Georgian style – and supervised its construction from local kauri.

The family left Māngungu for Auckland in 1855 and the house was moved to Onehunga where it was used as a Methodist parsonage and then sold to private owners. The mission house was returned to the Māngungu site in the 1970s, restored on behalf of Heritage New Zealand, and opened to visitors in 1977.

Next to the Mangungu Mission House stands the little chapel looking over the shore of the tranquil and picturesque harbour. The original church, which could take 800 people, was demolished in the late 1800 to build mill workers’ cottages in Kohukohu.

The present chapel is the disused Methodist church from Kohukohu which was shifted across the water to Mangungu and re-sited nearby the mission house.

We then cruised up one arm of the Hokianga and saw a shag colony before returning to the Harbour.

12,000 years ago, the Hokianga was a river valley flanked by steep bush-clad hills. As the last ice age regressed, the dramatic rise in sea level slowly flooded the valley turning it into a tidal saltwater harbour with abundant sheltered deep water anchorages. This was the harbour that the explorer Kupe left from, and in 1822 it was home to the first European timber entrepreneurs. Southern right whales possibly frequented the bay historically, prior to significant depletion of the species caused by commercial and illegal hunting. Today, large whales are rarely seen in the bay, although the harbour is a well-regarded area in which to watch smaller dolphins and killer whales.

The area around the harbour is divided in three by the estuary. To the south are the settlements of Waimamaku, Omapere, Opononi, Pakanae, Koutu, Whirinaki, Rawene, Waima, and Taheke; to the north are Broadwood, Pawarenga, Panguru, Mitimiti, and Rangi Point; and at the top of the harbour upstream from the narrows are Horeke, Kohukohu, and Mangamuka.

We then headed to Kohukohu where we went ashore to have a look around and enjoy a beer at the pub. I was expecting the pub to be in a historic building or have some history but it wasn’t and it was a bit underwhelming. The town, however, was very cool and had some quirky and quaint buildings.

The first recorded European to enter the Hokianga Harbour arrived in 1819 and by the 1830s, Kohukohu was the heart of New Zealand’s timber industry. The country’s first Catholic mass was celebrated 8 kilometres north of Kohukohu at Totara Point in 1838.

For nearly one hundred years Kohukohu was an important timber milling town and the largest commercial centre on the north of the harbour. In 1900, the township had a population of almost 2,000 people. Today, Kohukohu is a community of 150 people who live within the village and approximately 350 who live in the surrounding area.

It was then time to return to Horeke for another yummy dinner and of course the daily court session. I was fined for falling off my bike but I was not alone.

We enjoyed breakfast together on Monday morning before we all set off on our journey’s home. The Covid-19 pandemic was making headlines daily but at this stage we were probably all a bit blase about it. We were certainly not practicing social distancing or contemplating what was to come ten days later. We have now been in level 4 lockdown for 12 days and although we are getting used to it this is not how we like to live our lives.

I am very grateful that we got to spend that weekend on the Hokianga Harbour. It was fantastic – great accommodation, great cycling, great food and great friends. The cycle trail exceeded my expectations – it was in good condition and there was a good variety of scenery along the way. The area has a lot of history and some untouched natural beauty. The cycling is not hard and the way we did it was very enjoyable and achievable for all.

Thanks to the team for helping create some more special memories – Margaret & Graeme, Trish, Hilary & Graham, Karen & Danny, Kaz & Pete, Peter & Lynette, Debs, Rachel D, Di & Mike, Cheryl & Ross, Kaye & Tony, Stevie and of course our honorary Kiwi, Andrea.

Thanks also to Peter, Laurel and Mike at the Horeke Hotel for transporting us around, feeding and watering us and providing a lovely place to stay. Also, a big thanks to Ollie for helping out with the bikes each day – you were a star.

Posted in Northland, Uncategorized | Tagged horeke, twincoastcycletrail | Leave a comment

Kopiko Aotearoa – New Zealand

Posted on March 29, 2020 by SUNGRL

After completing the Tour Aotearoa in 2018, we were keen to see what the next adventure courtesy of the Kennett Brothers was going to be. Let me introduce you to Kopiko Aotearoa – a 1,000 odd kilometre brevet from Cape Egmont to East Cape. Lambers and Crammers were on tour again.

Kopiko means ‘to go alternately in opposite directions, meander, wander, ramble’. With Crammers involved there was to be no meandering but there was a lot of rambling 🤔. We managed to talk and laugh our way across the country.

You could have taken this journey in either direction. We chose to go from West to East as we heard that we were more likely to encounter a tail wind that way 😉. Don’t beleive everything you hear – we had to wait until we were nearly at the East Cape lighthouse before we encountered a tail wind!

We had heard that there were going to be a lot of hills and that rumour proved to be true – my rides up Te Mata Peak definitely helped my preparation. The plan was to complete the trip in 10 days which we did. According to Crammers Strava stats we pedalled 1,075km, climbed 19,995 metres and spent 75 hours on our bike seats. We think the metres climbed were a little overstated after seeing other people’s statistics but whatever it was it was a lot!

As with the Tour the highlight was the people we met along the way – the comradery between the riders is fantastic. We also got to reconnect with some of the people we had met on the Tour which was the icing on the cake. It was also great to go to places that we have never been to before and will possibly never go to again. The highlight for me would have to be Lake Waikaremoana – it was a stunning day and to come up over the hill to see the Lake in all her glory was special.

I am collating this blog as I am on day four of the covid-19 lockdown – it is hard to believe that it was less than a month ago we were on this biking adventure. I love bike packing due to it’s simplistic nature – you are generally carrying all that you need on a daily basis – your bike, food and a place to sleep. I believe one of the positives of this lockdown process is that some people will also get back to appreciating the simple things in life.

Be safe, be kind and Kia Kaha New Zealand.

Sunday 23rd February 2020

Day 1 – Cape Egmont Lighthouse to Purangi – 114km – 1,450m climbing

If you want to break a drought then organise a cycle trip! Driving out to the Lighthouse was wet and it was rather cool while I was setting my bike up.

We soon warmed up but the tail winds we were promised proved elusive. We’ve renamed them multi directional head winds 💨🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️.

The cycle through Pukeiti was beautiful and Founders Cafe had opened specifically for us so it would have been rude not to stop.

There had been a few gentle climbs to Parihaka and then Pukeiti which proved a good warm up for what was to come.

With our first coffee under our belt we headed for New Plymouth where we had organised lunch with friends and family. It was James (Crammers son) 18th Birthday. Two coffees down and we were farewelled by the troops.

Just past Lepperton we came across a winery selling French wine and coffee. The lure of coffee was too much so in we popped. It turns out the winery sells non alcoholic French wine – Sur Le Mur has the exclusive rights to this particular wine. It was really interesting but we stuck to the coffee and the owner spoiled us with a number of sweet French treats. After doing the sniff test I succumbed to a small taster of the bubbles – very drinkable.

We met a local couple down by the Bertrand Road Suspension Bridge who had bought their goat 🐐 Honey down to eat the grass as they were short at home.

We then had a fairly good climb just before Purangi where the gravel road started. Laurel from Purangi Orchard (our accommodation for the night) had said there was 15km of gravel before their place. I was really hoping she had got confused and thought we were coming from the east because my butt wasn’t up to another 15km and definitely not 15km of gravel. Thankfully 😅 I was right and the Purangi Orchard appeared like an oasis just around the corner 😊.

We were staying in an old school house. Our roomies for the night were Shirley and Marcus so it was lots of fun sharing stories – they had also done Tour Aotearoa in 2018 when we did it.

Our hosts, Laurel & Ian were so hospitable and invited us down for dessert and coffee after dinner. That was a nice treat. They were lovely people and we enjoyed chatting with them.

Crammers was quite miffed at the end of the day because we had cycled all this way and we were still in the Naki. As the crow flies he was probably only 50km from home. We’d spent all day going around in a circle around the mountain 🏔 😂.

Monday 24th February 2020

Day 2 – Purangi to Ohura – 95km – 1,550m climbing

We woke very refreshed after a snuggly night in the schoolhouse – Marcus was guilty of snoring but we were all rather weary so it wasn’t a problem 😉.

It was a beautiful blue sky day although a little chilly when we set off. The 15km of gravel road with a few climbs meant it didn’t take long to warm up. It also didn’t take long for me to have my first involuntary lie down 🤦‍♀️ oops 😬

After removing a number of prickles from my butt we did three good climbs before descending into the Republic of Whangamomona. The scenery was fantastic.

In 1989 regional council boundaries were redrawn, with an emphasis on connected catchments. These revised maps made Whangamomona part of the then-Manawatu-Wanganui Region. Residents objected, as they wanted to continue being part of the Taranaki Region, and on 1 November 1989, they responded by declaring themselves the “Republic of Whangamomona” at the first Republic Day. Though the move began as a pointed protest, the town continued to hold a celebratory Republic Day once a year, during which a vote for President was held. The day has become a local festival day, and attracts visitors from throughout the North Island. In 2001, the celebration became biennial, held in January to take advantage of the summer weather.

We couldn’t have got a better day to come through here ☀️😎. We had a coffee stop at the pub – it was going to be the only one of the day.

We then headed towards Ohura through a lovely valley. We had a great view to Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngurahoe.

We came across some interesting signage on a property – clearly they have not been swept up in Jacindamania 🤔

Our photo control point today was the Moki Tunnel which was built between 1935 and 1936. About two decades ago, a witty traveller nailed up a sign re-naming the Moki Tunnel as the “Hobbit Hole”. This nickname is still used today.

We then had a long descent down the Tangarakau Gorge which was a gravel road. It looked like we were descending but it definitely didn’t feel like that!

We met a Dutch couple at our lunch stop who kindly refilled my water bottles in their campervan. It was lucky they did as it was really hot and I would have run out prior to Ohura.

We had a few more climbs and some awesome descents before we got to Ohura. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of “place which is uncovered” for Ōhura. Ohura was the centre for coal mining in the region, operating through to circa 1965, where previously the mines, railway network and farming had been major parts of the local industry.

In 2013 it had a population of 129 but from what we could see that may have declined.

Surprisingly there is a Mexican food caravan in town run by a fantastic lady called Michelle. In fact it appears that Michelle runs the town – we organised our accommodation through her and even got the key to the school swimming pool from her.

We had spotted the pool as we rode in and thought it looked very inviting. We were right – it was so refreshing and a great relief for the aching knees.

Michelle then whipped us up a delicious Mexican meal which we ate while the sun went down. There are at least 15 cyclists in town tonight so lots of good chat and laughs.

Crammers is relieved to have left the Naki finally 😂. We are now in the Ruapehu District.

Tuesday 25th February 2020

Day 3 – Ohura to the middle of the Timber Trail – 95km – 1,580 metres climbing

After a communal breakfast in the house we shared with some fellow riders we went to farewell Michelle at the Mexican food cart who was hard at work again feeding the cyclists.

It was a foggy morning but you could see the blue sky in the distance so we knew we were in for another hot one.

The first 35km was generally on tarseal with a fairly decent climb over the Okahukura Saddle. There was a pinch climb at the top so we stopped to catch our breath and have a snack. We then heard a siren and an ambulance 🚑 came racing up the other side. We were hoping it wasn’t for a fellow cyclist behind us. We started our very fast descent and towards the bottom and came across a fire engine 🚒 coming the other way. Around the next blind corner was another one which nearly collected Crammers as he got a bit close to the centre line 🙈.

We then had about 15km on gravel into Ongarue. We stopped there to see if there was any coffee on offer to no avail. A cold drink, a water refill and a lie down had to suffice. That hammock was so comfy – I was a bit worried I was going to do myself an injury getting back out 😂.

Next up was the Timber Trail – we have ridden this Trail a number of times but always in the other direction. The last time we rode it was in 2018 and they had a lot of rain so the track wasn’t in good shape. They’ve done and are doing some work on it so it rolled pretty well. There were also a lot more descents than we remembered in reverse so that was cool.

We were playing Russian roulette going this way though as the East to Westers were coming in the opposite direction along with those doing the Tour Aotearoa. It wasn’t too bad and it was nice to chat to the Tour Aotearoa riders having done it two years ago.

We met the first rider coming from the East – he had ridden about 800km in four days. The lovely thing was that he stopped to have a quick chat – what a machine. About 15 minutes behind him were three other East to Westers but they weren’t stopping – obviously trying to catch the first guy.

Crammers got a jet boil for Christmas so we decided if he was carrying it we better use it. It was luxury having a cuppa on the Trail.

We made it to the Timber Trail Lodge at 5pm – we really are exceeding all expectations with our timing on this trip. Dinner was being served at 7pm but we were offered complimentary pizza 🍕which was yum.

Had an interesting chat to these seasoned riders from Christchurch who are doing the Kopiko with us. They have some matching riding outfits – one of which they wear to dinner 😉.

Another outstanding dinner tonight which went down a treat. We’re currently sitting on the deck enjoying a spectacular night sky.

A big tick ✔️ today for no involuntary lie downs and no wind 💨.

Wednesday 26th February 2020

Day 4 – Timber Trail Lodge to Whakamaru- 85km – 1,625 metres climbing

As we sit down to do our homework tonight I can officially say it was a tough day in the office. We averaged 11.8km an hour and spent most of the day on gravel.

We started the day well with a rather large breakfast at the lodge. We then had the usual sun blocking and butt blocking to do before setting off about 8am. It was to be another day playing Russian roulette with the TA riders and the East to Westers.

We had about a 500 metre climb for the first 23km so those coming the other way were going reasonably quickly which resulted in a few near misses and eventually with me upside down 🤦‍♀️. Crammers wasn’t quick enough with his camera today so there was no photographic evidence 😉 so did it really happen!

We then decided that Crammers should take the lead with the Queen Mary (his tank of a bike) so he could stop them in their tracks. Things quietened down a bit as we approached the highest point.

The boys from Christchurch then caught up with us and Kamikaze Kevin took the lead on the 13km downhill. Man that was fun – the track is in great condition.

We stopped off at the Historic Tractor site and had a chat with this young German guy who was touring around NZ on his bike. He really was carrying everything but the kitchen sink!

In fact today was a very social day. Those who know us well, know we love a good yarn so we did have a lot of chit chats with our fellow riders going the other way. We’ve been trying to gain some insight into the days we have ahead of us because tomorrow we enter unchartered territory. So far it is not sounding good so maybe we’re better off not knowing 🤔.

After getting off the Timber Trail it was onto the forestry roads towards the geographic centre of the North Island. We saw our fellow riders, Grant & Alison who told us about a good water source just around the corner. Down the bank Crammers went to fill up our bottles which we didn’t end up drinking as we did have enough as it turned out. We love carrying additional weight 😬.

Next excitement was the Arataki swingbridge – it is a right balancing act and my aero bars kept whacking me on the head. When we did the TA, Crammers kindly took my bike across but this time I was determined to do it myself 😊.

Not long after this our butts got a reprieve as we hit the tar seal again for a few kilometres. We met this guy who has come all the way from the UK to do the TA and he was moaning about how much road riding there was – he said he should have stayed home and gone for a jog. Maybe he should have done his research before coming all the way down here 🤔.

We then got onto the Waikato River Trail towards Whakamaru. We are convinced that the people who built these trails were saddists – the pinch climbs are nasty 🤢, especially after a long, slow day.

We then arrived into the Republic of Whakamaru. They have set up a staging post for us here at Maggie & Gary Bruntons. Maggie is doing the TA next week but they have set up a little oasis for us – shower with towels, charging station, washing machine & dryer, ice bath and we can camp in their orchard. Absolutely outstanding. Gary welcomed us with our entry visas to the Republic of Whakamaru 😂.

Our clothes are pretty much walking around on there own so after 4 days they’ve finally been tamed 😅.

We are now enjoying a meal at Russmans across the road. A lovely end to a challenging day. We have now hit the 400km mark and have done over 6,000 metres of climbing.

Thursday 27th February 2020

Day 5 – Whakamaru to Murupara – 121km – 1,500 metres climbing

Our first night using the tents went pretty well and it was remarkably warm. There was quite a bit of road noise with a lot of trucks going through most of the night. I woke at 5am but must have gone back into a deep sleep because the next thing I know Crammers is knocking on my tent and it was 6.40am. We had planned on leaving at 7am but that didn’t quite work out.

First up we had 25km on the Waikato River Trail which took us to the southern end of it. It turned out to be reasonably pleasant as we rolled up and down along the river. There were a few “Jenny Craig” gates as Crammers calls them to get through. The bags on our bikes usually slow us down going through them.

Today’s instalment of Russian roulette was bought to us in the form of State Highway One – so many trucks who show us cyclists very little mercy 😳.

Thankfully we only had a short time on State Highway One before quite a bit of back country gravel roads with a bit of tar seal thrown in to give our butts a reprieve. We didn’t have a lot of breakfast so had to have a few snack stops today.

Our first cafe stop was at the 68km mark at the Waikite Valley Thermal Park which we got to at 3pm so it was a late lunch. The three wise men from Christchurch were there so we swapped a few stories. It was so hot the thermal pools didn’t tempt us at all.

We had a very big climb out of Waikite and then we were up and down to the Waiotapu Tavern. Our photo control point today was at the Waiotapu Thermal Mud Pools.

We met this guy walking along the road and he said he was looking for a place to swim – Crammers had mentioned this thermal spring you could swim in so I was thinking it was one in the same. I gave him instructions to where we were going but when we got there I realised this was no swimming spot – not at 100 degrees Celsius – oops 🙊. We saw this guy again as we biked out and I told him he couldn’t swim there – he was flying high I think and was muttering away. We cycled on.

Waiotapu means sacred water and there are many geothermal wonders to see here. The mud pools were originally the site of a large mud volcano which was destroyed through erosion in the 1920’s. They are quite amazing bubbling away.

We had a couple of kilometres on the highway before ducking back into the Bush to do a bit more of the Te Ara Ahi Trail before popping back out on to state highway 38. It was about 5pm so the usual logging truck traffic had dispersed so we didn’t have to play Russian roulette with them thank goodness. The last 13 kilometres into Murupara is all down hill so we got some pretty good speeds up coming into town.

The heat of the day combined with sitting on a bike seat for long periods of time is cause for a very hot ass and as Crammers says we could probably fry an egg on it.

We’re staying in a cabin at the campground and had dinner at the only cafe in town. We bumped into a couple of guys we did the TA with in 2018 who are going East to West. It was great to see them and catch up on the news as well as get some insight into what we have coming up – the theme is lots of hill climbing 🙈.

Friday 28th February 2020

Day 6 – Murupara to Lake Waikaremoana – 99km – 2,918 metres climbed

It was an interesting night at the Murupara Motor Camp with some jam fest going on in the vicinity until after 2am 😳. I was a little worse for wear when the alarm went off at 6am.

Fortunately today exceeded all our expectations in terms of riding, scenery and socialising.

We left Murupara at 7.15am and it didn’t take long until we were climbing our way into the hills. You could see the ranges in front of you so it was pretty obvious we were going up. The tar seal lasted longer than we expected so that was a bonus.

We enjoyed doing a bit of cycling with Lisa and Brenda from Blenheim. Lisa’s husband is going from East to West while her parents look after their kids.

Our photo control point today was the Maori Pou statues.

We had a big climb back up after this before a lovely descent into a valley which went alongside the river where we saw a few of the infamous wild horses of Urewera.

Today we also went past the halfway point at the Okahu Road turnoff – apparently this point is equidistance between Cape Egmont and East Cape. It will be interesting to see if it is once we finish because we calculated we were at the halfway point in Murupara.

Our one and only cafe stop today was at the 50km mark at Ruatahuna. It is a very new and modern set up servicing the remote communities on State Highway 38.

We were lucky enough to get there while Jonathan Kennett was there. Jonathan and his wife are riding a tandem from the East – that must be a serious test of their marriage 😳.

Jonathan and his brothers are legends in the cycling fraternity in NZ having pioneered many events and trails. They organised the Tour Aotearoa and now the Kopiko.

We had a nice lunch at the cafe along with about 20 other cyclists most of whom had come from the East. The chicken burger, two coffees and a slice of chocolate cake were just what the doctor ordered 😉.

We were also lucky enough to catch up with Gill, another one of our cycling buddies from the TA. We ended up having a two hour lunch break 🙈 – we are slipping back into our old habits 😂.

It was probably quite good as our big lunch had time to settle before we settled in for a 13km climb. The sun had come out but we were in the bush a lot of the time so it was a perfect temperature. The scenery was just stunning – an amazing part of NZ.

With 15km to go we got our first glimpse of Lake Waikaremoana – it was a big WOW 😮 moment. We then undulated around the edge of the lake slowly descending down to the holiday park where we have set up camp for the night. It is a Friday night so the place is pretty busy so our only option was to put the tents up.

The guy running the camp re opened the shop up for us as we had got in after it closed at 5.30pm. We needed some breakfast and lunch supplies for tomorrow. We also decided a treat was in order after 6 days 🍫.

Our campsite is right next to the lake and we are currently sitting at the picnic table admiring the many stars above. With minimal light pollution it is pretty spectacular.

Crammers whipped up a couple of honey & soy dehydrated meals which were delicious. I’ve even managed two cups of tea and of course a few bits of chocolate 😋.

With no trucks roaring by and no jam fest it should be a fairly peaceful night 🤞.

Saturday 29th February 2020

Day 7 – Lake Waikaremoana to Donneraille Park (10km on from Tiniroto) – 109km – 2,650 metres climbed

Just as we settled into our tents for a peaceful night a couple of Moreporks decided to have a pow wow in the trees above our tents. The ducks then put their 2 cents worth in 😂. Fortunately it didn’t take long for them to go to sleep too 🦆 😴.

The wind 💨 then got up and caused a bit of a stir every now and then. I was trying to work out if it was going to be a headwind 😳. By the time we got up at 6am it was completely calm 👍🏼.

I had to wake Crammers this morning – he was out for the count 😴.

We then went to a new low – Mince and Cheese pies for breakfast 😚. We had run out of breakfast foods and that’s all the camp shop had on offer.

We had about a 15km ride to Tuai first up. We had looked to stay at Tuai but it didn’t pan out. After biking through it we were very pleased about that – I mean it has a street named Rotten Row 🤔.

We meandered along on a mixture of gravel and tarseal before turning off at Ohuka. After a quick snack we then started climbing up a value add hill – it just kept on giving. It was then up and down with a few more value add hills. The descents were pretty awesome though.

We did have a little wind moment in amongst it all when we were nearly blown off our bikes. A little bit of hike your bike was in order until we got out of the wind and could hop back on.

We stopped at some shearer’s quarters who had a sign out welcoming us in. They had little mince pies and tea and coffee – it was a 1 and a bit Pie day 😋.

Amazingly we were on tarseal all the way to the Tiniroto Tavern. The East to Westers had put the living fear into us telling us how hard we were going to find it. To be honest, although our climbing stats are up it was no harder than any other day.

We got a very hospitable welcome at the Tiniroto Tavern where we were joined by a few of our riding crew. Warm water just doesn’t cut the mustard in the afternoon so a ice cold lemon, lime & bitters hit the spot.

We had another 14km to our accommodation for the night which is a converted shearer’s quarters – Mahaanui Quarters. It is very cool – $100 for the whole place and it sleeps 6. Brenda, Lisa and Tony have joined us for the night. Crammers & I whipped up steak, mash, broccoli and cheesy courgettes 😋. Our hostess, Sally is awesome – she’s even taken our washing home to dry in her drier. Our second lot of washing in 7 days 🌸.

The day started out a bit overcast and we had a few spots of rain at one stage but eventually the sun came out and it was business as usual. It was another very scenic ride – lots of high country beef and sheep farms. So cool to be experiencing a new part of our beautiful country.

Sunday 1st March 2020

Day 8 – Donneraille Park (10km on from Tiniroto) to Matawai – 125km – 2,471 metres climbed

Sally from Mahaanui Farmstay kindly took us and our bikes back to the main road 😅 – we had detoured 4km off the track for the night and the climb back out of there was hideous.

We made really good time on the first 50km today but it was a game of two halves. I managed to hit the deck again and this time Crammers was there to capture the Kodak moment 😂.

I also thought I saw a big stag on the side of the road but it turned out to be an oversized goat with horns. Hallucinations don’t usually start so early in the day – it was a sign that this was going to be a long day 😂.

The other thing we have seen a lot of over this side of the island are Turkeys 🦃 running wild and as Crammers says ‘us turkeys on bikes are fitting right on in.’

We had decided we were going to eat our homemade ham and cheese sandwiches at the Rere Rockslide which was at 75km but it was a real push to get there.

The Rere Rockslide is a natural rock formation that you can slide down into on some sort of floatation device and there is a small lake at the end. The most successful thing to use is a boogie board but we saw people on an air mattress and a unicorn. The unicorn 🦄 started going down OK before turning around so the people hit the water backwards. Very amusing.

The landscapes today consisted mainly of sheep and beef farms and we had a lot of gravel roads to contend with 😳.

After lunch it really was a hard slog – both of our legs had had enough and we had 50 kilometres to go 🙈. The sun wasn’t out in force but it was very hot. We had to go and commandeer more water supplies from a sheep stations water tank.

Fortunately the last 14km was on tarseal and Matawai was a sight for sore eyes. Our friends Steve & Sue from Opotoki were also a sight for sore eyes as they surprised us in Matawai with homemade shepherds pie, banana & date loaf and breakfast supplies 😋. Our first Trail Angels of the KA 😇 and we’ve just hit the 850km mark.

We demolished the shepherds pie and shared the loaf with some of our riding buddies for dessert. We’re very popular now 😉.

We are staying in a cute cabin at the Matawai campground. It feels a lot cooler than where we’ve come from but they tell us the heat should be back with us as we hit the coast 👍🏼. Looking forward to finally seeing the East Coast 🌊 tomorrow.

Monday 2nd March 2020

Day 9 – Matawai to Te Kaha – 128km – 2,827 metres climbed

Our Trail Angels had left us Vogel’s and avocado 🥑 for breakfast so that was a right treat. The camp store also opened at 6am especially for us so we treated ourselves to a coffee.

Crammers tried to charge his bike at the EV charging station before we set off. Our fellow rider, Fiona, took a photo and was going to post it to the Kopiko Facebook page so he would get disqualified 😂.

Next stop was Motu township which at about 8am is fairly quiet. We came across the three wise men from Christchurch winding their way up the Motu Rd. They had stayed in the Motu community centre for the night.

The Motu Road was the first properly formed crossing of Eastland, opened 15 years before the Waioeka Gorge road that is now State Highway 2.

The first full trip over the Motu Rd by motorcar was in 1914. The driver commented, “it was the most dangerous trip in New Zealand, and he would not take it on again, except in case of urgent business”. Even before the two ends of the Motu Rd were connected, they were bicycled, linked by a horse track that was first cut through in the 1870s.

The Motu Rd is 48km long with a high point of 780 metres above sea level. There are three climbs but they were very pleasant. The bush and views down the valley are stunning although it was a bit overcast this morning.

Just before we reached the coastline about 1pm our Trail Angel, Steve, appeared again with hot coffee and home made sandwiches 👍🏼.

We got our first glimpse of the East Coast just after lunch – we were quite excited to be finally seeing the other coast after 900km on the pedals.

The road up the coast (State Highway 35), meanders up and down and inland along the coast. We did have visions of riding right alongside the coast all the way but unfortunately that is not the case.

The landscape and properties remind us of those in the far north – wild and rustic. There are a lot of “No Trespassing”, “Keep Out”, and “Private Property” signs up which gives it a bit of a hostile feel.

To start with the beaches look a bit unkept with drift wood scattered along the shoreline. The further up we went the sandier they have become.

We have pulled a bit of a swifty tonight and have been transported back to Opotoki for the night. Our spot tracker is having a sleepover in a tree about 5km past Te Kaha 😉.

We have been spoilt by our Trail Angels again with a roast dinner and trifle.

The washing is done, lunches made and bikes sorted ready to go back to be reunited with our spot tracker in the morning. We are looking forward to the final push to the East Cape tomorrow – we have 108 kilometres to go – yahoo 👏🏻🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️☀️😎

Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Day 10 – Te Kaha to East Cape – 110km – 1,445 metres climbed

Today was the grand finale – the end of another epic Lambers & Crammers adventure – we finally made it all the way to the East Cape after 10 days on the pedals.

According to Crammers Strava stats we pedalled 1,075km, climbed 19,995 metres and spent 75 hours on our bike seats. No wonder our bodies are feeling a little weary tonight.

After our luxurious night in Opotoki we were on the road at 6am back to where our spot tracker was having a sleepover. Crammers located the spot tracker only to discover the little plastic bag it was stored in had been nibbled by some nocturnal creature 😳. It was still flashing so onto the back of the bike it went for the final time.

We got away on our bikes at 7.30am. We hadn’t seen our cycling buddies that had stayed in Te Kaha so we thought they’d got the jump on us and we’d be playing catch up.

The terrain was lovely – gently rolling hills. We had knocked out 52km by about 11am and along came our Trail Angel, Steve, with our thermos of hot coffee 👍🏼. We also learnt that all our riding buddies were about 10 kilometres behind us – that gave us a bit of a boost – we had finally shaken our dilly dally status 😉.

We came across this road sign showing a cow on what looked like a skateboard – we were looking forward to seeing them hoofing along on there boards 😂.

The beaches were definitely nicer the further north you went. Didn’t see so many hostile signs today.

Our Trail Angel and his trusty dog then met us in Te Araroa for lunch. It was quite breezy but it was looking like we might finally get that tail wind we had ridden over 1,000 kilometres to find 👍🏼.

We had been told that the last 22km to the lighthouse was all on gravel. Again those Easties had misinformed us – about 8km was tarseal – you beauty. The other 14km was shake your chamois stuff.

Our first glimpse of the lighthouse confirmed we had a little hike to do once we finally finished pedalling.

Today was the best riding day – not too much climbing, lots of sweeping downhills, tarseal, sunshine, a tail wind around to the lighthouse and a big dose of adrenaline.

Steve cheered us over the finish line before we ditched our bikes to hike up the 700 odd steps to the lighthouse. We took a bottle of beer and a small bottle of bubbles to celebrate at the top.

The lighthouse was relocated to it’s current position from East Island in 1922. It was fully automated in 1985 and is controlled by Maritime NZ in Wellington.

We met some of our riding buddies on our way back down so it was good to be able to high five them in person.

It was then back into the car for the 3 hour trip back to Opotoki with a detour to Waihau Bay for a milkshake and some chips 😋.

Steve Thomas and Sue had whipped us up a yummy meal to complete a great day.

Thanks to my riding buddy Crammers – we managed to talk and laugh our way across the country. Top job on the bike maintenance – we had no misdemeanours 👍🏼.

Once again we met some great people and reconnected with some of our fellow TA riders. Crammers has renamed all us mad buggers – we’re now known as ‘psycho lists’ 😂

Posted in New Zealand | Tagged kennettbrothers, kopikoaotearoa, lambers&crammers | 2 Comments

Bali – Indonesia

Posted on March 27, 2020 by SUNGRL

We travelled to Bali on the way home from Thailand on the 5th October 2019 for a week. I had been ‘influenced’ by the Gram so decided we should go and check the place out. I specifically wanted to stay in an area called Canggu which had all these amazing cafes, restaurants and bars. The other thing I wanted to do was learn to surf.

Bali is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Located east of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest, after Makassar, in Eastern Indonesia. Bali is the only Hindu-majority province in Indonesia, with 83.5% of the population adhering to Balinese Hinduism.

Bali is Indonesia’s main tourist destination, with a significant rise in tourism since the 1980s. The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while also significant in the other parts of the island. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), Ubud towards the centre of the island, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran and the newer developments of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.

Bali’s tourism economy survived the Islamists terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. China tops the list of tourists visiting the island followed by Australia, India and Japan.

Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species especially fish and turtles. In this area alone, over 500 reef-building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about seven times as many as in the entire Caribbean.

We arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport about 2pm and that’s where the fun began! It took us about two hours to get our bags before we set off to find our driver, Putu. We then got our first taste of Bali traffic – we had been told it was bad and it was. We took an hour to go about 1 kilometre and didn’t get to our accommodation until after 6pm, so all up it was two hours to go 16 kilometres!

We were staying at Villa Sally which is in the heart of Canggu. The staff that greeted us were so lovely – another thing we had heard is that the Balinese people are some of the nicest people in the world. The villa was awesome with an open plan and open air kitchen and lounge. We also had our own private pool so our week in Bali was shaping up well.

Villa Sally Canggu

We were pretty hungry after all that travel so walked around the corner to Milk & Madu for our first taste of all the good food that I had been seeing on the Gram. It didn’t disappoint. We had been up since 3am so it was an early night.

Milk & Madu

I had my first surf lesson booked for 9am Saturday so after a leisurely breakfast I was picked up by my surf instructor Jack. We drive to Batu Bolong beach which is the spot for beginners. I had my one and only surf lesson in February 2019 at Curio Bay in the Catlins so I am very much a beginner.

Jack went through the basics on the beach before we headed out into the surf. The tide was coming in and I must say I felt a bit sea sick with all the rocking and rolling out there. I managed to get up a couple of times but spent a lot of time arsing off and having to paddle back out – this surfing lark is a great workout but very tiring. The lesson went for two hours and afterwards Jack bought me a very strong coffee before dropping me back at the Villa.

After a bit of chill time we walked to Cinta Café for lunch. The café, as with a lot of the eating establishments overlooked the rice paddy fields. I enjoyed a yummy Quinoa salad and cinnamon smoothie. Steve had the burger and Bintang for $11. We then took a walk to Berawa beach which is about 1.5 kilometres from Villa Sally. On the way back we checked out Synkonah Bar which had ocean views from the rooftop terrace. We had dinner at Silk Road which was so tastefully decorated and the food was even tastier!

Cinta Cafe

Synkonah

Sunday was a chill day – no surfing so I decided to have a massage – blissful! We went in search of a place to watch the rugby – the All Blacks were playing Namibia in their third round pool match at the Rugby World Cup 2019. Not far up the road we came across a sports bar called Salvador – they had a big screen, cold Bintangs and yummy food – a great find. And as expected, the boys in black romped home 71-9.

We called in at Healthy Tribes on the way back for a coffee and a cinnamon scroll. You can probably tell this trip is all about the food and visiting as many places that I have drooled over on the Gram!

Sunday afternoon called for more chilling by the pool before venturing out for yet more food. This time we went to The Greenhouse where I had a yummy buckwheat bowl and a mint blast cocktail. The cocktail was not the best choice – it was made with Crème de Menthe and was so strong.

Monday morning I was back into the surfing – Jack had handed me over to his friend Ramli – not sure what I should have read into that but it was all good. Ramli was lovely and picked me up at 6am on his scooter – I insisted on wearing a helmet so he gave me his and went without. Apparently it is illegal not to wear a helmet in Bali and to be honest I didn’t see a lot of people flouting the law.

The surf was quite messy and I didn’t feel I did too well although managed a few rides. My feet are getting ripped up through hitting the board as I jump up and the body is feeling a bit sore – definitely getting a good workout!

Steve and I took a taxi to the Beach Walk Mall in Kuta – not really worth it but we wanted to check it out. We taxied back to The Common in Batu Bolong for lunch. I then thought we could walk back to our villa only to discover that would involve walking along the infamous Canggu shortcut. The shortcut is 800 metres long and cuts through the evergreen rice paddy fields between Batu Bolong and Berawa. While it might seem nice and serene to drive between rice paddy fields the chances of falling into them are high. The road is narrow, badly cobbled with a drop off. It can take between 5 to 15 minutes to navigate it, depending on traffic.

Plan B – call a Grab – Asia’s equivalent to Uber.

The Common Bali

That night we went to Sista which is a restaurant specialising in dumplings that has a Chinese – French fusion vibe. All the places we have been have a cool ambience and generally overlook the rice fields. Another yummy meal – we haven’t been disappointed yet!

Ramli picked me up at 6am again on Tuesday morning for my third surfing lesson. The waves were smaller today and I felt I made a lot more progress. I got taken out a few times getting back out into the surf so Ramli showed me how to do the ‘turtle’. The ‘turtle’ is when you roll onto your back with the surfboard on top of you. The other option is throwing the board to the side and diving underneath the wave. This is quite effective, although depending on the force of the wave, your ankle that has the cord attached to it can feel like it is about to be amputated.

We had lunch at District Canngu and chilled out on the beanbags at the back of the restaurant.

District Canggu

I then went exploring in Berawa to check out some of the places I had seen on the Gram. I follow GuGuide on the Gram – GuGuide aka Lani is an expat Australian living in Canggu. She knows all the best places to check out and where all the deals are. I had to call into Sprout Bali which is a wholefoods café based around a nutrition conscious, holistic approach and focused on fresh, wholesome food, impeccable coffee and sustainability. They have a childcare facility attached to the café called The Garden Kids Club which is also based around the same principles. I enjoyed a raw peanut butter and chocolate cookie and an impeccable coffee while watching all the little sprouts coming and going next door.

The Gu Guide

Sprout Bali

6am on Wednesday morning I was off to Batu Bolong again on the back of Ramli’s scooter. I advanced to a lighter board, one made of fibreglass rather than polystyrene. It also only had one fin versus three on the bigger board. It took a little bit to get used to from a balance perspective – you had to get your body position right as you lay on the board or it tended to wobble. The surf conditions were the best yet and I had some great rides. My feet had been getting rather battered and bruised dragging them up onto the board, so I resorted to wearing little booties. These helped but the damage was done!

I had earned the gigantic sub that I had for lunch at The Greenhouse – so yummy and I ate it all! We walked to Berawa beach to watch the sunset – a must do when you are in Bali. The waves were quite big so only more accomplished surfers were out in them – it was so cool to watch. The beach and the beach bars are a hive of activity at this time of the evening so it was great to be amongst it. On our way back we stopped at Synkonah for dinner. Synkonah specialises in Mediterranean cuisine and doubles as a gin bar – they had quite a selection so I enjoyed a Tangerine Tom Collins – gin, lime, lemon, orange, pea flower tea and soda – so good. Well actually I enjoyed two as it was happy hour.

On Thursday I had my final surf lesson with Ramli. He let me stick with the lighter board so that must have meant I had progressed. I had so many good rides it was awesome. Ramli’s friend had come out to take some photos of me in action so I had a memento of my time spent learning to surf at Batu Bolong. My feet were in serious need of attention though – I would be wearing jandals for a while to come.

That evening we took a taxi to Seminyak to meet Mel & Cam for dinner. We had worked out earlier in the year that we were both going to be there on this one night so we organised to meet up at a restaurant that we had been recommended called Sarong. It was a fairly up market restaurant with a great ambience and it was busy. The food was Indian and Asian fusion and was so yummy. Some things were a little spicy for me but I battled through them. The dessert menu was the best I have ever seen – I could have eaten everything on it. We got the Snickers bar creation to share and ended up ordering another one it was so good!

We were heading home to NZ on Friday afternoon so it was only right I got one last massage in. We also went and had another yummy lunch at The Greenhouse – this time we shared a sub – I hadn’t done the hard yards in the surf that morning so couldn’t justify a whole one. I then had to pop back to District Canggu for the best chocolate shake ever – oats, yoghurt, milled flaxseed, dates, raw cacao, cinnamon, maca, coconut milk and ice.

It was back to reality – my food and surf odyssey was over. This was our first trip to Bali and to be honest it had never been on my radar – I had heard too many horror stories about the traffic, chaos and of course the terrorist bombings in earlier years. I then started following some ex pat Kiwis who lived in Canggu in particular and was inspired by all the innovative, healthy food options. Canggu definitely lived up to expectation in the food stakes and I loved learning to surf. The traffic is chaos and like many of these Asian countries there are infrastructure issues where the country cannot keep up with the increasing demands put on these places by tourists. I am writing this blog whilst in lockdown due to Covid-19. This virus is having an impact the world over. It is, however, also allowing some places to take a well earned break and there have been some positives on the environment front.

I have included links to some of the yummy places we frequented – my only hope is that these places can weather the Covid-19 storm and come out the other side. Kia Kaha from New Zealand.

Posted in Bali | Tagged #canggu #guguide #bali | Leave a comment

Angkor Golf Resort – Siem Reap, Cambodia

Posted on September 23, 2019 by SUNGRL

There are two golf courses of note in Siem Reap – the Siem Reap Booyoung Country Club and the Angkor Golf Resort.

As with all things golf, Steve did his research and decided that the Angkor Golf Resort was the better of the two so after negotiating a good rate we booked four rounds in during the ten days we were in Siem Reap.

Angkor Golf Resort opened in December 2008 and was designed by British Golfer and former world number 1, Sir Nick Faldo. Built on former rice paddies, Faldo created subtle undulations, water hazard and aggressive bunkering to create a challenge but also a fair test for all levels of golfer.

Angkor Golf Resort hosted the 2012 Handa Faldo Cambodian Classic, a professional tournament on the Asian Tour and is the host venue in Asia for the Ladies European Tour LallaAicha Qualifying School. Other annual tournaments include the Faldo Series Asia Cambodian Qualifier, Angkor Amateur Open and Angkor Fourball championship.

We really enjoyed the course – it was well maintained and picturesque with a fair bit of water to avoid. It was a fun course and we had two good caddies who added to the entertainment. They were very excited when they knew we were playing four rounds as the golf course was pretty quiet so they hadn’t had much work. One of them bought me sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves that her Mum had made one morning – so yummy.

We observed that all the green keeping staff got around the golf course on bicycles. In Thailand they all get around on motorbikes.

We caught a TukuTuk to the golf course and back to the hotel which was a new experience – great natural air conditioning after the round 😉.

Posted in Cambodia, Uncategorized | Tagged Angkor golf resort, Cambodia, Siem Reap | Leave a comment

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