25 May 2025


Good evening.

7.30pm on a Sunday night.

This time next week Julia and I will be sitting in Auckland with Sue and Ned.  Sue has been a close friend to me forever and Ned is the lucky man who captured Sue's heart many years ago.  They are a great couple and it's always good to catch up with them.  Sue is kind enough to be picking us up from Auckland domestic terminal on Sunday, a week from today and the following morning will drop us at the International terminal for a 1.30pm flight to Doha (17 hours) 

Flying was always exciting and enjoyable many years ago, but now I dread the long haul flights.  We both realise that we could take a stopover somewhere, but when you're lugging around two 23kg bike boxes, Ju and I just want to reach our destination and set off on our journey.

The other downside for me is that I don't sleep well, definitely not on a plane, so my eyes are usually hanging out by the end of the journey. 

This past week has seen the bikes put in for a service, including four new tyres and two new chains.  Following that was a ride to Lepperton, to test them out...all running well and to meet Shaz for a coffee.  Two further rides of a shorter distance rounded off the week.  Julia loaded all the maps on our phones so we can access them offline and came up with this visual picture of our intended route (below).


We picked up two bike boxes ready for departure from the guys at EVO Cycles and we've also got all the gear we need to pack, stacked in two piles in our bedroom, ready for a practice pack.  Always a fun time seeing if we can cram our bikes into bike boxes along with our tent, sleeping mats and sleeping bags, helmets and bottles and not exceed the 23kg weight limit. 

We take one pannier each for our 7kg cabin luggage which we cram our clothes, wet weather gear and toiletries into as well as our kitchen.  It's always down to the last kg.

Brody and Aimee arrived back yesterday after a week's holiday in their new van, before they take on the task of looking after our clients in the gym for the next few months.

And that was the week that was !

Comments

  1. DotdenMay 30, 2025 at 2:57 PM

    Have a fantastic time! Look forward to your blogs. Take care x

    ReplyDelete

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