Wildlife Encounters of the Sunshine Coast. Vancouver and beyond.

There are just 2 small screws remaining when, after 90 minutes of squatting on the carpet in the baggage hall, our pile of cardboard, plastic and tape has magically transformed back into 2 touring bikes and luggage.
I wouldn’t care if it was an IKEA flat pack but the screws niggle at me as we finally push out of customs and into the bright sunshine of Vancouver airport arrivals.
After being on the move for nearly 24 hours it’s a relief that we and the bikes have made it. The start of 12 months of round the world travel here we come…. or maybe not as, switching on the garmins to pull up the route we realise that, of all the things on our long to do list, we may have forgotten to load the maps for North America. My screen shows an arrow amidst a bland sea of blue. Good start!

Getting In Tents

If Carlsberg did campsites they would look like this one. All marble walls, heated floors and lavender scented soap. The showers are, in fact, so nice I feel that I am too grubby to use them, a first in my entire camping life and a world away from the site we have just left.

Croissants and the City: Bournemouth to Nantes

Eleven days ago I was nervously staring at a small pile of panniers in the hallway wondering what on earth the next 15 months had in store? Now, just over a week later and I’m sat on a river bank eating a banana and watching a woman in overalls climb out of an elephant’s bottom.

Piles

Having known each other a little while now I feel it’s ok to share a little personal information. In the last few weeks, I seem to have developed piles.

A brief interlude of cows

If you’re a fan of any kind of countryside activities, walking, horse riding, mountain biking, there’s a strong chance you’ll have come into contact with cows. Having hugely increased my quota of cross country mountain biking over the last year, I’ve noticed that cows have come to occupy quite a niche in my regular rides and not always in a good way!