Off and Racing!
As you will probably guess we are writing this post slightly in advance, but considering that most of you are in Australia and are 11 hours ahead of us, it is sort of the correct day. There will also be no photos yet as you need to pretend that this is all happening in the future, and we have just finished our first day of cycling.
Bridgette arrived back in London after a week in Vancouver for exams and study on Friday morning, which considering how long it took her to get over the jet-jag last time may or may not have been such a good idea.
We had a great farewell party on Friday night at the Crown & Sceptre, with many friends that we have met in the UK arriving and having a farewell drink. After the FA cup weekend, I was very cautious not to make to big a night of it as my last hang-over was a killer!
Saturday saw my new engaged brother (congratulations Dave & Adele) come around and stake his claim in our belongings, which saw him take my city bike, some plates and a few other random items. Emily came around a bit later on and collected the remaining items, which we helped her take back to her place on one last journey to Hackney! We also took our stuff that has to be sent to either Hobart or Barcelona later in the year around, as she has kindly offered to baby sit a few bags until I start my Masters and Bridgette’s parents arrive in London o take the other stuff back to Tassie.
Also recently returned to the UK, Sarah arrived in the after noon, and then things started to get exciting. The beginning of our journey was only 18 hours away, and everything was falling into place.
A quiet diner is in store for Saturday night with a small group (Adrian, Pri, Dave, Adele, Emily and Sarah) for one last hurrah before we get a goods night sleep and pray that the met office forecast is wrong, and we don’t get 7 degrees and rain on the first day of our trip. I guess if London is London, it probably will, at least the weather can only get better from here on!
On leaving London I’ve had a few days since finishing work on Wednesday to have a think about our time here. There have definitely been some ups and downs while living here, but you sort of expect that living in a big, big city. When you think about it London is 4 times bigger, and a whole lot dirtier, than my previous largest city which was Melbourne, so I was always in for a bit of a shock.
At the end of the day, we had a fairly good time here and it’s a shame that now we have done the 6 month induction into a new city; meeting great people, learning to navigate the city, finding the best food stores, where the best coffee comes from and which art house cinemas have £5 nights and when they are, we are now leaving.
The one thing that frustrated us about London, more than anything else, wasn’t the fact that it’s expensive, dirty, busy, has a great public transport system that is always stupidly hot and never running properly or the fact that as a city it has so much to offer that you often find yourself struggling to decided what to do, or how to find it. No, the one thing that frustrated us was the lack of ability to be able to do what we love doing, on a regular basis …… enjoying the great outdoors, in any way shape or form. It takes so long to get out of London, that by the time you get to where you want it is almost time to turn around and come back.
Don’t worry though, today saw the first wet 80 Kms of the trip of our lift time that will ensure our appreciation for the things we love will only become stronger. There are going to be punctures, sunrises, sun sets, tears, heart breaking mountains, plenty of smooth black road, as much dirt road as we can find, a bit of study, some work in Australia, more Kms than I ever though I would ride, and that’s all before we get to Turkey. After that it is a bit more unknown, but that is another post in another year!
Thanks again to all the people that have supported us so far, it means the world to us that our friends and family believe in what we do. Who knows, we may even reach our fundraising target for Oxfam Australia, which would be the icing on the cake.
See you on the road
Pete + Bridgette