The final chapter

After ten weeks of catching up with friends, making some new friends, travelling with family, exploring new corners of Europe by foot, bike, car, ferry, bus, train and plane, I am back in Wellington.
About those planes - Simon took me out to Makara Peak this afternoon to put some trees in the ground. I'm not claiming it offsets profligate carbon emissions, but in lots of ways I'm trying to do my bit.

Some highlights:

• bike school in London
  
• that first fresh peach
• Bjork in concert
  
• sunset on the Mediterranean
• swimming in Swiss lakes
• staying in a grass-roofed trekkershut in Delft
• the 2 cent ferry near Delft
  
• meeting Corsican cousins and seeing wild boar
  
• walking in the Alps
• sweet Swiss bike trails
  
• scoffing icecream with a knife and fork with my sister
• cheap beer and good chocolate
• finding a sought-after retro cycle cap in Belgium
  
• Dutch cargo bikes
• generosity from friends and strangers
  

Lowlights:

• getting rained out of my tent at midnight in Somerset
• discovering I'm not a cycling god on the merciless slopes of Alpe d'Huez
• roaming phone bills
  
• Heathrow
  

Mintie moments:

• mixing up my laundry with little Patrick's and travelling with undies many sizes too small
• polite Dutch cops when you bike on the motorway
• Corsican geezer who hadn't heard of Nouvelle Zelande, l'Australie, and possibly the southern hemisphere
  

Thanks for all the feedback. See you next time!

Chasing ancestors

Corsicans built villages high above the sea to escape raids by Genoese, Berber pirates, Romans, and anyone else sailing by.

Here's Olgiastro, near the village from where my ancestor migrated to Wanganui 150 years ago.

Why did he leave? What was it like back then? What would growing up in Corsica be like?

Corsica, the scented isle

Ok, now we,re up to date.

Spent the night snoozing on the ferry from Marseille, now I,m hiding from the heat in Corte,s cybercafe.

Corsica was home to an ancestor, so here I am checking the place out, one cool mountain river at a time.

Stinking hot outside. 70 km beckons.

Recent pleasures: fresh peaches, tomatoes, sunset over the Med, sleeping under the stars.

Only 2 weeks left. Every day counts.

Thanks Malcolm for the great guidebook _ wish you were here.

Take me away to Marseille

Remember the old song?

32 degrees, so a good part of my day was here, dodging papparazzi.

World Cup Football comes to Belgium

Team Klein is tough opposition; here,s Keiran and Tomas warming up for the final. Thanks for the lesson, guys. And thanks Keith and Bea for hospitality.

Delft

Jenny is making sure I get on the right train _ what a great sister. We had a week to explore the flatlands of Alkmaar and Delft. Am trying to blend in by wearing orange. Unsuccessfully.

Biking Switzi

Here,s Craig racing the Swiss hausfrauen down to the market to top up on sausage, patisseries and beer.

The Swiss go to the top of my list for their superbly organised long distance bike paths.

We rode 4 days and our frequent saying was, Ït,s all good.

Zurich

Here,s Craig NOT eyeing up the Eurobabes at sunny Zurich. Did you know it had a beach?

Dreamland

Hi from the land of windmills, clogs, and where cheese is made backwards. No pic today but here is the weather: misty morning burning off by 10 for sunny day's riding.

Am in Alkmaar with Jenny, exploring the well-marked bike paths in search of the perfect stroopwafel. Fortunately this is an easy task.

Saw a man wearing clogs on bicycle riding over a dike - the 'perfect storm'.

Gonna jump on a train today and find fresh fields for adventures. The Dutch are lovely: polite and friendly.

cheers!
p.

German head protection

Fearless Müncheners stop for no-one.

Rain forecast, so am off to rediscover the Dürers and Van Goghs at the museums. This is a great city.

Thanks for all the feedback. Tschüss!

Postie bike, Munich

It´s great to be back after a 15 year absence. Love seeing trams, lots of adults on bikes, hearing German, Turkish, French, Croatian and who knows what. Cheaper and grittier than Switzerland.

It´s also a good feeling to get around in a foreign tongue. If the train strike eventuates I may be stuck here a while - no complaints there.

But am keen to be reunited with my bike - left it in Lausanne while Alp-walking - and hit the road again.

Yum

A snack on the Grosse Scheidegg trail.

This was a long walk in the hot sun, along a path used by the Romany.

I finished the day near Meiringen - can any detectives out there deduce it´s relevance to English literature? Elementary!

Attack cow

A few days ago the local papers led with stories of a tramper set upon by a fierce cow. He was helicoptered off to hospital. Word: don´t look at them in the eye.

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Bachalpsee, Grindelwald

If this blog had sound you would hear those incessant cowbells, like a Gamelan orchestra on speed. Here´s a picnicking wanderweger tucking into biersticks, tomatoes and Swiss enrtgy drink ´Rivella´. Those pointy things are Shreckhorn and Finsterhorn, about 4000 m up. We are at 2100. Or maybe I faked them in PhotoShop. You decide.

Swiss National Day

1 August is the day all Swiss fly the flag. Here´s Nick and Felicia - on her first alpine adventure, saddling up and heading for the glacier walk. F loved the walk, especially the llamas and wildflowers.

A long walk

Looks like we walked further than expected.

Here´s Ed and Prisca high in the Swiss alps, near Griessalp, checking out the overflow accommodation once the chalets are full.

We had a couple of perfect days walking, followed by a wet one. Sensibly we limited the damage and turned back before the crap set in. Call me a softie but tramping in the rain, camping in the rain is not my cup of gluhwein.

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Here´s a polygraph of my brain after too much sugar.

Or possibly it´s the laser show during Björk´s gig at Paleo, an outdoor festival near Lausanne. Thanks Marion for sorting out the ticket!

Also tried the fondue and excellent local beer.

Lac Leman

A sweet day in Switzerland.

Switzerland resembles Legoland - everything just a little too perfect. I feel like Jim Carrey at the end of The Truman Show, waiting to find the backdrop at the end of the soundstage.

On the other hand, you gotta respect the Swiss for keeping it together for hundreds of years without getting invaded or colonised. They have built a beautiful country that works - at a price.

Bike path

They told me to bike on the right ... well, ok.

This fine bike lane is found near Grenoble.

London

Happiness is meeting your friends in London and having the best picnic ever in Hyde Park. Thanks Joany! Thanks Alan!

Here´s us in the Bayswater dungeon - address not to be shared lest countless colonials descend.

J is off to organise Commonwealth forum in Uganda while Alan tours Scotland with the opera.

L'Alpe d'Huez

Finally, an honest rider reaches the podium. Spong Bob soaks up the hills. Allez allez.

Biking France

I know you all want to see the new bike - here we are near Grenoble.

Petit dejeuner

Lac Leman, Lausanne

Switzerland - just like a postcard

Am laying up in Lausanne for a few days while I recover from biking the Alps.

Without the magic 'juice' my mortal legs get pretty tired. Stayed a few days at Bourg d'Oisans, at the foot of Le Tour's most famous climb, L'Alpe d'Huez. It consists of 21 switchbacks climbing 1000 metres in 14 km. A parade of Tour wannabes rides each day in summer, me included. Increasing frequent stops to catch my breath saw me drag my arse up there. No drug test for this grimpeur.

Heavy overnight rain flooded my tent so I sougt refuge in the eaves of the laundry. Ah the pleasures of camping.

Recovered to ride the Lauteret, another Tour perennial.

Shame about the Tour - they had years to sort it out. Hopefuly this scandal will trigger new and better testing.

With the Time Trial tomorrow the Australian Cadel Evans could still win.

Well, am relaxing in the Swiss lakeside town of Lausanne (thanks Melissa for the stylish accommodation), where the Swiss do not permit unseasonal rain. 26 degrees this evening.

Melissa's friend Marion found me a ticket to Paleo (www.paleo.com), an outdoor festival, where Bjork performed an excellent show. Also saw Clap your hands say Yeah, and tried fondue.

I wonder about the Swiss - how long can their affluence protect them from global changes? There is an air of business as usual. People are well-groomed and polite.

Some highlights: French pastries, stinky cheese, great weather, trying out my French, bike lanes.
Lowlights: overcooking it on the Alp, wet tent.

Sorry no pics today, more to come. Each one just like a postcard.
A bientot.

Ken paints London

London mayor Ken Livingstone has made solving London's traffic schlerosis his mission. Congestion charge of £8 per day to drive in the city is funding new buses, Tube upgrades, bike lanes and subsidised cycle training. The results: buses are much more efficient, the Tube less unreliable, and the number of bike commuters is up 84% in 2 years.

You can pay £8 for the pleasures of driving for a day, or the same £8 pays for a cycling lesson with a lifetime of benefits.

Cycling has become a symbolic solution to a host of issues: sustainability, congestion, health, liveable communities and a remade, saner world. Mainstream newspapers run columns and features; there's a heap of new books; and cycling is no longer just for lycra-clad road warriors. The new cycling tribes include fixies, fakengers (wannabe bike messengers), old skool vintage riders, cargo bikers, recyclers and even suits on folders.

Vive le Velo!

Boy heaven

No, boy heaven is not a swinging London nightspot, it's this toystore at Camden Lock markets. Here's Patrick, 4, wondering how many stars he'll need to earn before he gets a treat. You earn stars by eating dinner, getting dressed and having teeth brushed by your dad.
Patrick's interests include Star Wars, lego, and Star Wars lego. If you don't make up the Imperial Shuttle exactly right he will put you right.

Meanwhile, I have been exploring charity shops, where you can buy a perfectly good t-shirt for 99p and help a needy pet at the same time. Why buy new?

Other discoveries:
- biking is quicker and less smelly than the Tube.
- what a 'window licker' is
- You can make a belt from used bike tyres (www.velo-re.com)
- these guys are the best bike instructors: www.cycletraining.co.uk. Now I am a provisionally qualified instructorI will be keen to share my new skills with anyone looking to upskill.

Am off to France tomorrow with the famously reliable budget airline RyanAir. Will seek some big Alps to test my new dream bike and new bike skills. Zut alors!

Big thanks to Alan and family for sharing the posh mansion in West Hampstead. I plan to recreate the Death Star in 1:1 scale from lego before I leave.

High cost of housing

After years of price inflation, young people are forced to seek new housing solutions. Here, new migrants create a living room on the south bank of the Thames. This property recently changed hands for £4 million. Their lease runs for 11 hours between high tides. They remodel the lounge after each tide.

Canfield Gardens

Nuclear family sets off on expedition to Star Wars convention.

More bike school

Pretty soon we'd moved onto the advanced stuff.

Bike School

All those years I wasted in regular school when I could have been in bike school ...

Here's David teaching 'absolute beginner' Desmond to ride. Desmond pedals, David steers.

How to beat high parking fees

Taunton to Bridgwater canal, Somerset

Next I went to the west country, Somerset, to pick up my dream bike. Rode it along canal paths and quiet country lanes in the Quantock hills. Got rained out - need a better tent. But the bike rides well.
Got into a waterfight with youths on the train.

Bank

Here's Jenny and me waiting for the Tour to come past. We're outside the Bank of England, basking in the English sunshine.

Tour de France prologue

Tour de France prologue

Here's some dude racing his brains out in the 7.9 km time trial around Hyde Park. The winner completed the course in under 9 minutes. Traffic has never moved faster in London.

Cycle magic

Hyde Park bikers

Tour de France in London

Goodies: I joined some biking buddies - cheers Ben and Martin - on this 1907 triple. Its owner, Peter, rode with us on a tandem. He rode the triple from UK to Greece in 1962.

Singapore on the cheap

Almost made it throughwithout reaching for my wallet, but a headache meant I needed some pills. They hide the supermarket at Changi well.
Hint for travellers: don't engage fellow passengers in air miles discussion, unless you want a frosty trip. There's a bunch of trees with my name on them going into the ground this year.
13 and a half hours to London ...

Pedalling dreams

The plan: ride my bike in France. Tres simple, n'est-ce pas?

Join me on some adventures and meet my new friends along the way.