Perth. 5th. November 2013.

Jacaranda season.

A pair of kookaburras with two very young chicks have made themselves at home in our garden. The chicks are so young that they have not yet learned how to land.

 

Perth. 3rd. November 2013.

At the Bishop's See on St. Georges Terrace.

The W.A. Rowing Club.

 

Perth. 11th. October 2013.

Matilda Bay.

Point Walter.

 

Perth. 6th. October 2013.

                                  The French Car Festival at Perth Supreme Court Gardens.

Perth. 19th. Sept.2013

 

Enjoyed a guided tour of Kings Park.

Perth. 10th.September 2013

                                              The garden is starting to cheer up a bit.

Friday 13th September Perth, Western Australia.

It's really nice to be back in Perth. We have been very busy transferring all our furniture, etc. out of  storage and back into our house, as well as catching up with family, friends and neighbours. Perth is such a great place to cycle, with all the safe cycle paths.

When we finished our cycling in Amsterdam, we had done a total of 15300 km since we started out in Wellington in NZ two years ago. I think our total for this last European trip was about 4000km.

Tuesday. 25th. June. Vinkeveen to Schiphol return. 64km.

We went to the airport to make sure that they had plenty of bike boxes in stock (they do), and also to confirm check-in arrangements. We would be in all kinds of trouble if we were to arrive at the airport and find that there were no bike boxes available. We had to cross a canal by self-powered pontoon on our ride.

Monday. 24th. June. Utrecht to Vinkeveen. 40km.

It was a very pleasant, short ride through some lovely suburbs and expensive-looking homes. We went past the floating brothels again - they didn't look very busy. We are now just outside Amsterdam, and only 30km from Schiphol Airport. Stayed at Hotel Plashoeve.

Route: Utrecht - Maarsen - Baambrugge - Vinkeveen.

Sunday. 23rd. June. Wijk bij Duurstede to Utrecht. 44km.

Another lovely ride. We are feeling a little sad that our big three month ride is nearly over. We got a bit lost in central Utrecht, which is a really charming city. It's a bit like Amsterdam, but cleaner, less crowded and much more greenery. Stayed at Holiday Inn Express - very nice.

Route: Wijk bij Duurstede - Zeist - Utrecht.

Saturday. 22nd. June. Arnhem to Wijk bij Duurstede. 60km.

As we left Arnhem, we came across literally hundreds of cyclists on racing bikes, who seemed to be in some kind of death-defying race on a circuit which included part of our track. We were pleased to eventually part company with them. It was very windy today, which didn't bother us while we were riding through the forests, but the last 10km of our ride were into a 35kph headwind - really tough. Stayed at De Gouden Leeuw - nice.

Route: Arnhem - Oosterbeek - Heelsum - Rhenen - Amerongen - Wijk bij Duurstede.

Friday. 21st. June. Kerhum to Arnhem. 64km.

Windy today, sometimes in our favour and sometimes not. It was nice to be already familiar with the Dutch checkpoint number system. It's really easy to find your way. The Dutch people are as cheerful and friendly as always.

The Sonsbeek park in Arnhem is superb. We stayed at Antonius Bed & Breakfast - excellent.

Route: Kerhum - Appeldorn - Honnepel - Grieth - Duffelward - Millingen - Huissen - Arnhem.

Thursday. 20th. June. Orsay to Kehrum. 49km.

Tomorrow is the summer solstice in Europe, and tody we seemed to be riding through low-lying clouds for most of the time. I think that it was about 23 centigrade today, and it will be the same tomorrow, when we continue down the Rhine and into Holland. Our maps are a little out of date, because of the upgrades to the routes, so we had to rely a little on our smartphone to find our way to our hotel. We were delighted to find cycle paths alongside even the smallest back roads. Stayed at Landhaus Beckmann - very nice.

Route: Orsay - Rheinberg - Buderich - Xanten - Vynen - Marienbaum - Kehrum.

Wednesday. 19th. June. Dusseldorf to Orsay. 57km.

It was about 34 centigrade and humid today, and for once we didn't mind the minor northerly headwind as it helped to cool us off. The route today took us through Duisburg, which has a lot of industrial areas, so not so pretty, but still interesting. There were a few places where the cycle route signs were either missing or incorrectly placed, but we have become quite good at spotting anomalies straight away. We have found the German people to be very friendly and helpful.

Route: Dusseldorf - Wittlaer - Huttenheim - Duisburg - Baerl - Orsoy.

Tuesday 18th. June. Cologne to Dusseldorf. 57km.

DUSSELDORF IS QUITE A MODERN CITY.

What a difference in the weather! In the 2 weeks we've taken off in Vienna and Cologne the days have suddenly warmed up. We've had two and a half months of pleasantly cool weather, and today it was sunny and very warm, which meant that we had to ride a little slower than usual.

Before we left Cologne we went for another walk across the main bridge to look at all the "sweetheart" locks left on the railing.

The ride to Dusseldorf was pretty in places with some nice shady lanes, but not as picturesque as upriver from Cologne. Stayed at Hotel an der Oper, Dusseldorf. Very nice.

Route: Cologne - Merkenich - Leverkusen - Monheim - Himmelgeist - Dusseldorf.

Friday. 14th. June. Cologne.

We have enjoyed exploring Cologne and surrounds. Went to a lunchtime concert by the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra, and today cycled a 105 km return trip to Konigswinter (via Bonn), where the "castle alley" starts. The Rhine really is a beautiful river.

On our ride, I saw a 40 year old Mercedes 4-5 truck (in mint condition), similar to the ones we used to have in the army. So many of them were destroyed by landmines, such a waste of excellent engineering.

We came across a lovely field of poppies just outside of Bonn. There seems to be almost a carnival atmosphere in Cologne at the moment, maybe because the floods have receded and the sunny weather has returned.