Wed .27th Feb. London

We bumped into Franklin Rooseveld and Winston Churchill, so Les sat down and with them and had a natter.

The world's first jet powered car, a 1958 Rover which was converted as an experiment. It proved to be impractical, because it was too powerful to handle normal traffic conditions.

We cycled from London Liverpool Street Station to our Hotel in Sussex Gardens in Bayswater. The recommended cycle routes take you along the back streets and quiet lanes which make it very easy and most enjoyable.

As you can see from the billboard, the government is making it very easy to buy a home here. Actually, on the TV news last night they reported that at last new home sales are increasing and the big building companies are reporting profits for the first time in a while.

We've visited the National Art Gallery, the Science Museum and the Victoria And Albert Museum. You would need at least a month here to do them justice.

Sat. 23rd Feb. Amsterdam.

It has become progressively colder every day since we arrived ( 6 C on our first day to 2 C yesterday). We can see thin layers of ice forming on the waterways of Vondel Park. The canals are not showing any sign of ice , so it can't be that cold.

We have cycled all around Amsterdam and enjoyed seeing all the sights again. We visited The Hermitage, which had a special exhibition of Vincent Van Goghs paintings and the story of his life and times. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Today we leave for Hook of Holland and on to London.

Wed. 20th Feb. 2013 Amsterdam.

Our flight was delayed for an hour in Dubai, so we only got clear of the Amsterdam airport at 4 pm on our freshly re-assembled bikes. The ride into the city was easy and pleasant, and we are pleased with the Hem Hotel.

Amsterdam is still very charming and not too cold.

Wednesday 13th February 2013 Perth, Western Australia

We've enjoyed cycling around Perth which is the best city in Australia for cycle paths and scenery. It's been very hot, but we have still managed to do abou 1800kms up and down the river and the beautiful coast.

On Monday (18th) we fly out to Amsterdam to start our next big European cycle ride (England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.)