Ka Pai Kiwis

The day is cloudy and drizzly, so we decided to punch out the nearly 400 km to Avignon. The roads are a lot busier today being a Monday. So many trucks. Got to Avignon around 1pm and checked into our quite nice hotel in a beautiful tree lined boulevard which is with an easy walk to main tourist area. Got to park the bike in the hotel basement so its very snug and secure. The weather has changed for the better, lovely sunshine and temp in the low 20's, hooray. Strolled up to the main tourist area, the main attraction is le Palais des Papes which is very impressive. The Papal Palace was the seat of the Christian world in the 14th century and was home to 9 Popes. A world heritage site and we had an awesome little IPad thingy which showed what each room was decorated like back in the day. Surprise bonus was discount for the over 60's, I knew there would be advantages to aging.

Awoke to drizzle and a bit cold. First bit of bike maintenance, the mirror took a knock so re-tightened it. If thats the worst of it then sweet* First issue of the day was getting out of the hotel carpark, steep ramp up to the automatic door, except it wasn't automatic for bikes was it! Very soon a car came up behind me but still no action, car reversed and then I reversed which kind of looked like a crab walking backwards, in the meantime I was getting hot and my bloody glasses steamed up. Car drove up to the door and Abracadabra the door opened. Very low and mist temperature got down to 10 which was a bit chilly at 130Kph. Even the hot flushes couldn’t keep up. First stop Troyes, very pretty little place where we had a wander around and a stretch. On to Dijon which has a very impressive old town which we wandered around and grabbed a bit of lunch. Lots of people about, almost all local tourists I suspect. Bed for the night is Beaune. The bedroom isn...

Great to be on the road at last. Emotional farewell to the Chelmsford crew, they have been absolutely brilliant to us and I hope we can repay the hospitality shown to us when they next visit NZ. We left around 8:30 and blasted down the motorway to Folkstone and Le Tunnel. Super well organised and efficient, we arrived early so they offered us an earlier departure, so we made up for 1 hour time difference between England and France.  We hit the motorway as the B roads near Paris are notoriously crowded and slow. We turned off after about 20 minutes and sampled our first French pastry Ooh La La. Back on motorway with bike sitting nicely at 130Kph. Pulled off for gas about 80km north of Reims and had another pastry and booked our accommodation for the night. The rolling country here is very pretty and the countless towns with their castles and church spires are very picturesque. I have adapted (early days) to riding on the wrong side of the road with no hiccups al...

Today we picked up the bike from Gravesend. We pick up our visa for China tomorrow and on Saturday we head off on our adventure. We’ve been so lucky to have been able to stay with Chris and Karen, Callum, Matthew and Nathan. They have put up with us for longer than expected and have been fun to stay with. The big challenge now is to fit all our gear onto the bike. Mark is very calm about it, I am a little nervous that I have squeezed in just a few too many essential items. The weather forecast for the next few days is showers, so I guess we will be testing how effective our gear is. Nice ride back to Chelmsford only took one wrong turn!

Arrived safe and sound. Got over our jet lag. Have spent the last few days shopping for bits and pieces and catching up nieces and nephews. Robyn has been really excited wandering around the local auto parts shop looking for chain lube and octane boost. Karen and Chris are kindly putting us up. We have a China visa appointment on Wednesday and can collect the Tiger on Thursday. We have walked and walked and walked so hopefully this will add to our fitness for what is to come. The weather has been average but the coming week looks good. It is cool to be back in London with so much happening and just an alive feel about the place. I’m not getting lost as much as I used to, thanks to google. How we ever survived without it I don’t know. 

I can’t think of a more appropriate toast to begin this adventure than Shackleton’s whisky. Cheers everyone

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