A Wrap !

With the team safely home its time to announce the European Adventure awards

Hardest working staff -

The chefs on board the MSC Cruise ship Divina who put out a staggering 20,000 meals a day

Most Belligerent -

Kylee & Monika who when riding at night through Central Paris took the tour leader literally when asked to ride authoratively when on road - K & M did a great job holding up most of the Paris bus and taxi system !

Most unusual fashion trend -

Noted doing the rounds in Europe young girls with long hair on one side of their head and short on the other - almost like my come over !

Most leading avert -

Marlboro smoking ad in shop window in Prague advocating youngsters to take the chance !

Best Shows -

The closing ceremony complete with lasers and fireworks in Euro Disney

The Michael Jackson tribute show on the MSC Divina

Best Gluttony Effort -

Team Litchy with an incredible high tea in London at the Athenaeum hotel that included sandwiches, scones cakes and a few gallons of tea

Best Impersonation of Siberia -

The UK during Spring wins hands down with low temperatures and freezing ice cold winds making for almost a record low Month in March !

Strangest Site

Team Litchy running down the up escalator at Gatwick airport after being unable to find the down escalator !

Most Beautiful & Tragic !

The lovely town of Dubrovnik on the coast in Croatia and the nearby trenches on the overlooking Mtn top marking the defence of this area by local forces during earby the Yugoslav war

Best wrong turn -

The short cut in Istanbul suggested by one TL that required an Olympic walking pace back to the ship before it sailed !

Person most it trouble -

Me after giving Monika the flu for her journey back to Australia - she's still off work sick !

Day 42 - Amsterdam The trip comes to an end

The weather signalled a beautiful farewell to Team Litchy`s European vacation with a cloudless day in Amsterdam

We journeyed into town taking a cruise though the beautiful canals with people sunning on benches and at outdoor cafes.
The remainder were still terrorizing pedestrians on the streets with Amsterdam having over 1.5 million bikes twice that of its population !

We had a late lunch at the Airport on our return and set about the arduous task of packing trying both to meet both Monika`s weight requirements and best fit for my bike

Monika returning home ends a great family journey and promises many memories through the thousands of photos taken.

Safe flight my dear !

For those interested in following Kev and Self's cycle adventure across Europe you can catch our trip at

Litchy761@blogspot.com

Day 41 - Amsterdam Where Bikes Rule !

Journeyed into sunny Amsterdam on the Schipol express to view first hand why they call the city a bikers paradise !

There were bikes everywhere, some fitting the category of being silent killers as they fly around corners often through traffic and pedestrians

Crossing the road became a real challenge looking out for trams, cars and killer bikes !

We took in Madame Tussards which had some interesting interactive displays and
had lunch in one of the quiet alleyways that make Amsterdam famous

Meaningless wandering become the aim of the day before a session in Amsterdam's ice bar a complete waste of time other than the 2 beers it provided.

Walking back to the station gave us a look at some of the beautiful circa 1750 buildings and the lovely canals that make up this pretty city

We got back to the hotel to receive a rather disheveled looking Kevin Henley my riding partner for the next 3 months - Kev had successfully endured the 24 hour flight across

Its only 1 full day left for Monika before she wings her way home to Australia !

Day 40 - Amsterdam

Another day another country.

Did some last minute packing trying to comply with airline on board carriage and weight limit with bike now part of the luggage.

Said a sad goodbye to Henny, Wilf, Rita and Anita no doubt hard for Monika with life now 12,000 miles away in Australia

Another beautiful day as we drove again in the direction of Bristol airport fueling up along the way.

The pre pack paid off with weigh limits being met although would have counted for nought as Monika forgetting she had packed the toiletry bag in her carry on had security staff going through her baggage like she was an All Quaeda leader ... come to think of it there was the time ....

Amsterdam was only a short 1 hour flight away and with bike stored at the airport it was baggage on the shuttle to our Hotel about 10 mins away

First impressions of Amsterdam include - lovely flowers beginning to bloom and a damned good chance of getting run over by a push bike at every corner !

Will spend tomorrow having a look around this beautiful city while waiting for my cycle partner in crime to arrive from Aus - he's on the way !

Fwd: Day 38 - Wales

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Day 38 - Wales
From: michael litchfield <m_litchfield@hotmail.com>
To: litchy1.kitty@blogspot.com
CC:


Was lucky to have survived the night after a few terrrifying nocturnal journeys (part prostrate part beer related) down the cottages steep internal spiral staircase !

Drove with our friends to beautiful Tenby on the coast on a lovely sunny day. Tenby is a beaut walled town with Victorian style buildings dominating the cliff side esplanade providing for great views of the sea and its almost Australian like beach (take away the sub zero water temperatures)

After a lazy walk and some seafood we quickly visited the impressive castle town of Pembroke on the way back as well as the lovely cathedral city (more a village) of St Davids (smallest city in England) and its nostalgic ruins - glorious in such weather !

Back at the cottage with a beautiful setting sun we journeyed down through nearby fields to the coast to the Blue Lagoon a sea filled quarry where we were treated to teenagers in wet suits leaping some 30-40 feet from rocks into the uniquely coloured water - we wisely decided not to join in , not until after dinner !

It was a great night with good friends as Anna put together a lovely dinner & Jack & Geoff (two of the three stooges) regailed us with many a riotous story of our soccer clubs characters who provided for a colorful if not too successful history !

Day 39 - Honiton

Said goodbye to our friends and headed back 4 ± hours by motorway to Honiton

As is often the case with our UK holiday almost over the day provided the best weather so far with great views of the countries motorways and the belching stacks of the Welsh cities we drove through !

With all this motorway driving i have almost become accustomed to the F1 speeds in the outside lane which seems so out of whack with the structured over taking process ratther than the free for all back in Australia

With departure day looming the afternoon was catch up time with family and friends and most importantly checking that both my bike and Monika would fit in our hired car ..... would have been a tough choice if not !

Its a sad farewell to our UK family who we`ve both really enjoyed catching up with - they have shown the love that a close family can provide !

Its now time to have a couple of days in Amsterdam with Monika soon to head home and self about to embark with Hurricane Henley on another cycle epic so badly needed after all the weight gained on the cruise !

Day 36 - Wales Pembrokeshire !

It felt like groundhog day as we left Honiton once again for Bristol this time continuing across the huge Severn bridge into Wales for another 4 hours to meet friends at their rented cottage near St.Davids in Pembrokeshire.

Our friends Jack & Anna (Melbourne) Geoff and Jan (formerly Melbourne now Bournemouth UK) share a common background with the `boys` and self having all played soccer together in Melbourne for a perenial whipping team called Nth. Melbourne United where scoring a goal was reason enough for extensive celebration !

Having arrived at the cottage with our friends out Monika and i headed to nearby Porthgain a beautiful small harbor village with a historic quarrying history. A quick but nervous walk along the headland provided great views of many precipitous cliff side drops looking out towards Ireland.

Having made phone contact with Jack we caught up and dined in Porthgain at the 17c Sloop Inn. Meals were enormous and pints of ale free flowing as we reminisced of a past once shared and of journies since with Jack and Anna having recently completed the exact same Mediteranean cruise that we`d taken (if truth be told they in fact put us on to it!)

We returned to our nearby cottage a lovely character filled building with huge exposed timbers and 3 bedrooms with ours at the top of a steep spiral metal staircase meaning nocturnal visits to the toilet ( there was bound to be many after our drinking) were likely to be extremely hazardous !

A lovely night with good friends with sadly our time in the UK coming to an end but not before some exploring of this lovely area.

Day 36 - Bristol SS Great Britian

Made best use of our Hotel and took in a large buffet breakfast before adding another contribution to the UK economy by way of local car park charges !

It was a mild morning as we again walked down to the restored quayside area this time to partake in the excellent interactive experience that has the SS Great Britain as its central theme.

The GB is a magnificent and beautifully restored (170 years old) Brunel designed ship kept in a temperature controlled dry dock.

It saw over100 years service and covered 1 million nautical miles before laying as a wreck for 30 years in the Falkland Islands

Its design for its time was outstanding with a thin plated iron hull and the ability to operate under power or sail !

In 1970 a salvage company returned her from the Falklands to Bristol to the cheer of thousands of locals.

The ship itself took many immigrants to a new life in Australia and in particular serviced Melbourne during the gold rush of the 1850`s.

A tour through the ship showed the stark difference in passage type with first class afforded a degree of comfort while steerage class were jammed in confined areas and beds about 1/3 the width of today's beds

We spent quality time with Angela and Simon before departing back to Honiton for a Sunday dinner with the family and a big game of cards with this time Rita taking home a brick load of 2P pieces !

Thx Angela and Simon for organising the weekend - we Luv Yuz !

Day 35 - Bristol On fumes and a prayer !

Drove 1& 1/2 hours towards Bristol to meet our good UK friends Angela & Simon from Reading at the restored National Trust property of Tynetesfield a magnificently restored manor estate near Bristol.

A missed motorway turn off, a non functioning gps and a flashing low fuel light provided some early drama before we finally found the estate.

Manor estates are amazing properties, historically most being fiefdoms as the large land and buildings would be serviced by loyal families who often worked for small return.

The traditional owners of this property the Gibbs, made their fortune on the back of the sea trade including the passage of people immigrating to Australia in the mid 1800`s.

After walking the property and being amazed by the sense of grandeur (e.g. elaborate heating pipes under the billiard table to keep the slate from reacting to the cold) and by the knowledge of the volunteers who provided behind the scenes info, we headed 6 miles towards central Bristol and our Hotel for the night with Angela & Simon.

Monika and i remember cycling through Bristol on our end to end journey in 2011 enduring a complex navigational exercise this time made no easier by the fact that on fumes we were in a desperate search for fuel !

Following Simon`s best efforts it was like comedy capers as we`d approach turnoffs in the middle of two lanes not sure whether we were going to turn left or right. At one stage we were forced to overtake a non suspecting Simon and then had to watch desparately our rear view mirror to see what turn we were taking !

Thankfully we finally found fuel, checked in and headed down to the restored Bristol quayside area once a major transiting area for imported slaves.

The area now similar to Southbank in Melbourne, is a magnet for evening revelry and the growing UK tradition of costumed ` hens` party nights !

Sighted in chilly conditions were scantily clad girls dressed as sailors, pirates, bumble bees (yes ..! ) and in one case a group of what i thought were attractive things in mini skirts with a 1960`s look until a couple of them turned revealing wigs, cigarettes hanging from their mouths and an age that indicated that most would likely have been adults during the 60`s ...uuuggghhhh !

The night was a great catch up and reminisce of journeys taken and families with our friendship in Angela`s case stretching back some 35 years to when she and Monika both worked together in Honiton as young teenagers !!

Day 34 - Honiton `Durdle Door` !

Took to the road this time heading Nth East into lovely Dorset driving past the huge ancient earth fort at Dorchester and the delightfully named Puddletown to Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck.

This lovely town & Castle bore seige to forces of Oliver Cromwell and now does similar to the crowds of tourists who make the daily journey here ..... interestingly both with Cannons of one type or another !

Heading cross country to the coast took me though the Lulworth military firing range where big artillery sighting numbers sit ominously close to the road as well as warning signs suggesting that you should give way to tanks ..... no argument from me !

Arrival Lulworth and nearby Durdle Door in sunny but chilly conditions treated the visual senses to a moment of awe with spectacular white chalk cliffs and the ancient rock formation of Durdle Door looking like dazzling gems in the sun providing a stunning contrast to the emerald green fields and meditteranean blue coloured waters... WOW !

The return home was as expected a bit of a mix with slow winding roads lending themselves to occasional small sections of dual carriageway ... I think a form of escapism for budding F1 drivers ! It seems that due to the principles of democracy that the Brits hold so dear the speed limit on such is really just a `nice to do if you`re up to it` without any form of compulsion !

The drive back though did provide another visual gem with the late afternoon sun casting a beautiful mauve haze over a rich tapestry of patchwork quilt fields ... one eye closed (not advisable when driving) and it would have looked like a Monet painting !

A beautifully scenic day !

Arrived home in time to join (Monika) at the kerbside queue in town for the fish and chips before spending an enjoyable family night of cards where the winner (Adam) got to take home a barrowfull of almost next to useless 1 & 2 P pieces ! Fun none the less !

Day 33 - Honiton `Flaming Tar Barrels`!

Had forgotten it was ANZAC day back in OZ until we`d checked in by Skype with the family and been advised of such and of Essendon`s big triumph over Collingwood !

With Monika out walking the Country lanes with Rita i took the car for a run around the local area and taking in the village scenery at Gittisham and Ottery St Mary.

Gittisham is a petite village of thatch but Ottery looks like it is straight out of the 40`s with dull buildings and an incredibly convoluted traffic system that winds its way around its narrow streets.

Ottery`s only savings are its fine church and as I found out in the late 70` ( pre OH&S) , its yearly festival which includes the amazing sight of men with gloves carrying & rolling flaming tarred barrels around the town. The practice has some historic significance and usually results in the treating of persons be they spectators or participants, for burns each year !

Day 33 - Honiton The deck chairs are out !

The morning papers were boasting of an expected heatwave like 22 C temperature in London .... with cooler mist like conditions it would be lucky to reach half that in Honiton !

Todays journey took me down to nearby Branscombe, a pretty village in a narrow glacial valley leading to the sea, traversing more of those damned narrow lanes ! So small in fact that cottages built alongside these lanes require you to look out your window before opening your front door for fear that you'll either step straight in front of a car or have one drive through your hallway and out through your kitchen !

Branscombe has a unique feel to it, the village because of the valley shape feeds itself gradually down to the sea with the towns church strangely the furtherest away from the sea apparently as a result of the regular plundering of this area by Erik and his roaming vikings !

How appropriate then when in 2007 the 62,000 ton freighter Napoli came to grief in these waters causing many of its 2,400 containers to float to shore. Treasure hunters (thieves) came from all over the UK to grab what they could with TV footage at the time showing some walking away with brand new Mercedes Motorcycles !

This area is also part of the UNESCO listed Jurassic coast region, an area of coastline whose rocks have revealed geological secrets going back millions of years to the Dinosaurs and when the land changed from desert , to swamp to sea and back to land!

My 10km walk started with a stiff climb from the seafront to the towering headland with great views of ocean and beaches below if you can call rock covered sand such !

The walk eventually took me down into the tiny sea front village of Beer which is obviously packed during the warmer tourist season judging by the hundreds of empty deck chairs placed on the beach sea front.

Beer was a delightful place to just simply watch the world go by sitting on one of the many donated benches.

The return journey was a bit more challenging taking a precipitous path down the cliff face back to the Branscombe river mouth but not nearly as scary as the return journey to Honiton down those Hamster sized lanes !

Day 32 - Honiton A Barnofi Ice Cream !

Hers -

Taking advantage also of the UK sun Monika and Rita took off for the seaside town of Seaton renowned for its narrow gauge tramline and trams and apparently according to Monika its Barnofi Ice Cream !

In a press release of few words Monika indicated both were enjoyed !

Day 32 - Honiton Kingston by the Sea !

His -

Took counsel from the Walks in Devon book and headed south 1&1/2 hours towards Plymouth and the picturesque thatched cottage village of Kingston.

It was my first encounter this trip with the famed narrow country lanes of Devon designed originally I think to accommodate two passing goats and not much else !

Driving these lanes requires 1 of 2 different driving techniques - 1) Drive with one hand mainly covering eyes anticipating a crash at every bend by screaming or 2} Drive with one wheel half way up hedge and hope the other driver is doing similar !

I`d noticed I'd started developing a maniacal type laugh on these lanes particularly when approaching a road sign indicating that your impossibly narrow lane was about too narrow even further... you're kidding !!!

Some how I made it Kingston in one piece and was quickly in chill zone when this fabulous marked walk took me through fields and forests down to a character filled coastal estuary complete with ruined bridge, a drivable causeway only accessible for 1 hour a day between tides and a pill box to stop those pesky Germans sneaking ashore ... Soon to be Bulgarians and Romanians "

The coastal walk following took in superb views as it roller coasted from one headland peak to another on this beautiful sunny day .. I know I take back all I've said about UK weather !

Back at Kingston after 10 tiring kms I noted what I'd seen at the start of my walk - a 16 c pub by the same name as the pub I first worked at when living in the UK and this familiar nameplate on one of the few houses in town ... Its a small world isn't it !

Day 30 - Honiton It`s raining !

The outstanding run of good weather (2 & a bit days) came to an abrupt end with dreary conditions prevailing limiting options to a choice of watching episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away (so popular over here) or a day of shopping in Exeter with Monika, her sisters Rita & Anita and mum Henny ..... not even a close contest !

Only 16 miles away Exeter is Devon`s vibrant hub. Its history of Roman walls, 15th C pubs and a beautiful cathedral & close is hidden amidst shops and cafes many built following extensive damage received during WW2.

Exeter, a university city, is also a city of some employment unlike rural Devon which over the years has been hit by the gradual collapse of industry & jobs resulting in high rates of local unemployment and in some cases generations of families that have never worked!

In this part of the world the difficulty is in not only getting a job but getting one that pays ! Austerity measures, high unemployment and an increase in service level work has meant min wage income earners (many) are barely earning $9 an hour - less than what a teenager would get for working at McDonald's back home !

The girls nevertheless did their bit to boost the flagging economy and we returned home in time to watch Man Utd with its players on 250,000 pounds a week take out the English Premiership for 2013 !!!