Tuesday June 10, 2014

It rained during the night, but had brightened up by morning.  Again, as it is British summer time, it is starting to get light at 4:30 am.  I woke up at about 4:45 and then again at my usual time of 6:00 ish.  Out of the tent and washed up by 6:30, breakfast done and tent down by 7:45, on the road by 8:00 am.  Back into our routine of being on the road and camping.

Quite a nice ride out of Newquay to Wadebridge, although I did have a headache and not feeling 100%.  We spotted this Spitfire in this garden.

Ralf googled the info on it and it turns out that the guy built a replica Spitfire 1/1.  Recently repainted, Mr. Wallond’s ‘model’ represents a Spitfire Mk.IXC in the markings of ZF-Z of a Polish unit.  In my opinion that is taking model aircraft modeling a bit far. The garden is located adjacent to Newquay Airport, formerly RAF St. Mawgan.

We were again on an A road with lots of traffic and impatient drivers.  I am not noticing the drivers as much as Ralf as he is behind me and they have already maneuvered around him, so therefore are giving me more space.  The roads are two-lane but quite narrow.  The B roads are even narrower, but generally less traffic.

The weather was a little cool, I wore my windbreaker jacket until Wadebridge. We stopped briefly in Wadebridge to inquire about taking the Camel Trail – from Wadebridge it leads to Bodmin, which is not where we were headed.

We carried on the A39 to Camelford.  As we were leaving Wadebridge, it started to rain, then it poured and I mean really poured the rain was bouncing of the road. It was already quite a cool day (Wadebridge 11 degrees – Camelford 8 degrees!) add the cold rain and we were very cold.

We stopped at the first caravan park closest to Camelford, to inquire about staying in a caravan as they had no tent sites.  An odd thing about England, they may have sites available for caravans, but will not allow a tent to be pitched – possibly due to no shower blocks.  The other odd thing about caravan parks – they may have caravans or cabins to rent but will have a minimum stay of 3 days, and will not rent for one night even if they have availability.  Fortunately, the lady in charge was very kind and called around the area to see where we could stay.  We had very limited options.  A B&B who were not answering the phone, so we didn’t know if they had vacancies or not or the Bowood Hotel and Golf Course.

We eventually decided to break the budget and are staying at a very nice hotel at an exclusive golf course.  We turned up sopping wet, and shivering with cold, the General Manager was incredibly nice, checked us in really quickly, we had a hot shower and we very quickly turned this nice room into a laundry, with wet clothes hanging everywhere.

Bowood Park is set in 230 acres of what was the oldest deer park in the West Country.  The estate dates to the 13^th Century and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

Tomorrow should be nice weather.

Monday June 9, 2014

We started the day with a good breakfast which was worn off pretty quickly with the steep hill out of St.Ives.  Straight up.  We cycled to Hayle on the A3074 and then joined the A30 to Blackwater – dual carriageway most of the way.  It was a busy and fast road, but we did have a narrow shoulder on the A30. We crossed over a couple of stunning bridges, but unfortunately could not stop to take photos.  The road was too busy.

We took the A3075 off the A30 all the way into Newquay.  This was also a fairly busy road but narrow.  The cars were impatient and most exceeded the speed limit.  Ralf said they gave us more room on the A30 than they did on the side roads.

It was another fairly hilly day today, but nothing we couldn’t handle.  It is so good to be on the road again, although Ralf took that literally.  He came close to the hedgerows and caught his front pannier and went down with a clatter.  He has a big owee on his elbow – two big eggs, poor guy.  The bike is o.k. though.

We arrived in Newquay before noon and was settled into the camp site, showered and ready to investigate Newquay by 1:15.  We walked the ten minutes into town and discovered it to be a very ugly town (sorry Newquay).

It had one nice beach with colorful beach huts.  Not all Cornish Towns are picturesque.

The Communities in Bloom Committee need to come to Barrie to learn from our excellent gardeners.  This is so sad.

Our camp site is typical of English campsites, not at all like New Zealand and Australia.  They generally have a grassy pitch, shower and toilet block and a place to wash dishes.  No kitchen facilities, no power and no place to sit or talk with other campers, pretty boring really.  Everyone tends to keep themselves to themselves.  If we stay at campsites, we will have to work out how we can get power, as we have our cycle computers to plug in and the computer so that I can update the blog.  I have internet because of my dongle but limited to the power usage on my laptop.   I can power two garmins and update the blog two times with 100% power on the laptop, it then reduces my laptop to about 15% power.

Of course the first time we decide to camp in weeks, it rains.  Hopefully it will be clear and dry by the morning.  I was hoping to have a view of the night sky tonight, but it is cloudy and it is cool.  It is 9:45pm and still quite light outside.

Sunday June 8, 2014

Today is the start of the third leg of the Grand Adventure.  Lands End to John O’Groats (LeJog) approximately 1,500 kms.  We left the Backpackers, in Penzance at 8:00 to cycle to Lands End the start of LeJog, a distance of 15.5 kms before we even start Lejog.

It was quite sunny when we left Penzance, and when we arrived in Lands End, which isn\’t a village just a place.  By the time we got to the Visitors Centre it was quite chilly.  We had to put our jackets on.

It is still sunny at this time.

The last time I was at Lands End (about 30 years ago) it was a run down hotel with a booth with people who took photos of you at the sign.  It is now a complete visitors centre with small retail outlets, the hotel has been spruced up and there is information on End to Enders, plus games to entertain kids.  One of the guys in the End to Enders asked if we had registered.  We said no, so he directed us to the reception of the hotel where we picked up a form to register our End to End journey.  Along the way, we get campsites or hotels to sign that we have stayed there to prove that we are actually cycling LeJog and at the end we get a Certificate of Completion.  Not that we really need it, but it is fun.

When we arrived we saw more touring cyclists, than we have seen in the last 6 months in New Zealand and Australia put together.  There was a group of 17 from the Alfreton Cycling Club.  They have a van supporting them and another group of about 12 all ready to do Lejog. Some of them do it for charity, raising money for various causes, others do it as a challenge for themselves.

We took the obligatory sign post photos and headed up the north coast of Cornwall to St. Ives via the quiet country lanes.  The other two groups headed up the A30.  I don’t suppose we will see any of them again, as we have decided to take the scenic route.

The route we took was quite hilly, as most scenic routes are! But it was a good route.  We passed an old tin mine where I had visited with my Mum, Dad and Joy when I was about 13.  The old mine went out under the sea for about a mile.

The Black and White flag flown along side the British flag is the Cornish flag, there are rumours that they want independence from England.

We stopped at this ruined tin mine, it had a path down to a lookout, but it was still quite chilly and windy and we didn\’t want to leave our bikes unattended.

I had forgotten how rugged Cornwall was.

We crossed over a cattle grid – very carefully if you remember me telling you about falling of my bike in New Zealand crossing a cattle grid.  Then we came across these lovely looking cows.  Very curious.

We arrived in St. Ives at just after 12 noon.  We asked at the Information Centre for a camp ground but it was back up the hill that we had just come down.  We decided to stay at the backpackers in Town.  We have had excellent service from Info centres in NZ and Aus, they always had free maps of their Town\’s to give us.  Not in England, the map would have cost one pound – I wrote down the directions to the campsite and backpackers.

The afternoon was spent wandering around St. Ives.  A very scenic town, very touristy and busy.

We had our first ice-cream of the Lejog (not the last).  It was lovely made from Devon cream.  Ralf found a new lady friend and is now learning how to talk like a pirate – aargh matey, shiver my timbers.

We watched a lady create some lovely glass jewelery, in the store behind the pirate.  If it wasn\’t so delicate I would have loved to have bought some.

Saturday June 7, 2014

We returned the hire van and then walked around Penzance.  It is quite a large Town with some very old Cornish stone buildings. It has some very narrow streets.

We had a Cornish pasty for lunch – not as good as I remembered them.  At about 2:00 the weather was warm and we had completed our walk around Penzance.

We decided to go for a short ride to Mousehole pronounced Mousall.  It is a quaint village with narrow streets and stone built houses.  It has a pretty harbor and is very popular with walkers, who like to wander all over the place, including into the narrow streets regardless of the traffic.

Tomorrow is the start of the third leg of the Grand Adventure – Lands End to John O’Groats.

Sunday June 1, 2014

The sun is out.  We checked out the new tent that Big Agnes sent us and it looks great.  It is slightly different from the old tent that we had – extra pockets on the inside and the ends are the same colour, whereas the old tent had different coloured ends.  We marked one end so that we knew which is the head-end of the tent.  Millie thought it was a lovely little tent, but a bit warm inside.

Millie:  Is this your home? So this is where you live now?

Jacky: Yes this is where we sleep for the next two years.

Millie:  hmmm.

I don\’t think Millie was impressed with our \’house\’!

After we put the tent away, we got a bag packed for our trip to see Joy (my younger sister). Lindsey took us to the train station and John (my brother-in-law) picked us up.  We arrived in Kemble at 6:22 p.m. On the way to Joy and John\’s house we stopped in Malmesbury to pick up pizza for dinner.

Joy has lost a lot of weight, in fact she weighs less than me – the first time ever.  We chatted for a while after dinner, but she gets very tired and was in bed by 9:00p.m.  This last dose of chemo has really taken it out of her.

Monday June 2, 2014 – Bath

Joy had an oncology appointment today, we went with her.  John dropped us of at the park and ride and we went into Bath, while they went to her appointment.

Bath is a beautiful Roman City.  Ralf said he is really looking forward to cycling through the UK because of all the history. I am a little concerned about the very narrow roads.

On the way back from the hospital we stopped in a lovely little cafe for lunch and surprisingly Joy managed to eat most of her Eggs Benedict.

When we got back to their house, Joy went upstairs and I joined her, we spent the afternoon talking.  She had a little nap while we prepared dinner and then I went and spent the evening with her.  We talked about her cancer and she told me she was scared, we had a hug and I told her I was scared too.

We talked about our trip and where we were going next.  We got a road atlas out and “planned” a route from Penzance to John O’Groats and then to Ireland and back through the UK to Portsmouth.  We will stop in to see Joy and John on the way back from Ireland.  Joy said she has loved following the blog, it gives her something to look forward to, even if her geography is lousy and she couldn\’t work out where we were going in Europe.

Tuesday June 3, 2014 – Back to Long Eaton

We left Joy and John’s place around 11:00 a.m.  Joy was waiting for a call from the hospital to tell her what time she could go back into hospital for more treatment – she has an infection which requires intravenous antibiotics.  She will have another CT Scan to see if the tumor has reduced at all.

While we waited for the connecting train in Gloucester we had a very interesting chat with the customer service rep on the platform. I had asked him about booking the bikes on the train.  He told me to book them as early as possible as they only allow two bikes on the train and make sure that I have them booked all the way through from Nottingham to Long Eaton.  We discussed about the fact that there was no longer a baggage car on trains as they wanted bums on seats.

We got into Long Eaton at 3:00 p.m. and tried to book our tickets to Penzance at the station.  We could not book our bikes on the train for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, actually for the foreseeable future.  He suggested I call Cross Country directly and check with them.  I did and they suggested I turn up with the bikes – not a good idea, as they could refuse one or both bikes.

Plan B, we rented a van to got to Penzance with on Friday.  It will be a long drive 335 miles, but at least we will get there.  I have booked us into a backpackers for two nights.  Might as well get a good nights sleep before the long ride.

Millie asked Ralf to play badminton with her.  He was incredibly patient and showed her how to serve and return the shuttle cock.  Later she wanted to play again, this time with me, only a few minutes playing with me she wanted Uncle Ralf to play with her because Aunty Jacky hits the shuttle cock too hard.  Lindsey laughed and said what she means is Aunty Jacky won’t let her win.  I can\’t help being competitive, it is in my nature – of course when you are playing against an 8 year old you should really try to be patient.

Wednesday June 4 2014 – Nottingham

Today we took the bus into Nottingham. Nottingham hasn’t changed very much but Beeston has.  It is one very large construction zone.  They are constructing a tram track from Nottingham to Toton via Beeston – it is supposed to be ready for December – I don’t think so.

I bought Ralf his birthday present, the Garmin 1000.  What this thing cannot do is not worth doing.  You can ask it to plan a route for 50 kms for example, you can ask it to be a circular route and it can plan a route for you.  Of course it will take a month of Sundays to read the manual so that Ralf knows how to do all this.

Thursday June 5, 2014

Final day before we leave for Cornwall.  We spent it packing our panniers and we went for a drink with my Dad at his local.  We were all in good spirits as Joy called and told us that the results from the CT Scan were good and the tumor is shrinking, so they will continue with the chemo.  They had considered stopping treatment if the chemo wasn’t working.

 Friday June 6, 2014 – Heading to Penzance

We picked up the hire van and drove the 335 miles to Penzance.

It took us about 7.5 hours, there were a lot of road works on the M5 so there were a lot of slowdowns.  We settled into the Backpackers, it is a nice clean place close to the downtown area of Penzance.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be cold and wet, if it is we will stay around Penzance, if it isn’t we will go for a wander around and may be a bike ride.

Saturday May 31, 2014

It is overcast but not too cool.

Awake early again, but I had bought a book yesterday (And the Mountains Echoed – Khaled Hosseini) so I read for a while until the rest of the family woke up.  Two books for 7.00 pounds, ($14.00), I love it.  Ralf had arranged to go for a bike ride with Nick (Lindsey’s hubby).  A twenty mile trail ride through Attenborough Nature Reserve into Nottingham.  Ralf used one of Nick’s old Mountain bikes.  They were back in two hours, Nick looking a little tired, Ralf looking refreshed because he had been for a bike ride. I can’t wait to get the bikes back so that we can get on the road again.

I updated the blog and chatted to Lindsey and Millie.

Today we got the phone sorted out – new sim card and data package for 30.00 pounds for 3 months texting, data and calls – not bad. We could not get a data stick (they are called dongles here).  We will have to get the data stick in Nottingham when we get back from Joy’s.  Ralf is now getting used to being connected via text msg with everyone.

Friday May 30, 2014

It is overcast and drizzly.  We are in England during British summer time which means it doesn’t get dark until 9:30 p.m. and is light by 4:30 a.m.  Consequently, I was awake the first time at 4:45 and then again at 6:00 a.m.  After breakfast, we walked over to my Dad’s place and carried our bikes to the bike shop and then had a little wander around Long Eaton.  We spent another couple of hours with Dad and were back at Lindsey and Nick’s place for dinner.

It is Ralf’s birthday today (Friday).  I hadn’t got the time to get him a card, but Lindsey had a boxful of them, so I picked one.  I am hoping to buy him a new Garmin as his birthday present.  Lindsey, Millie and I sang him a happy birthday, which he really enjoyed.  We all have beautiful voices.  Lindsey also got him a lovely chocolate cake with candles.

We arranged to go to see Joy on Sunday, and stay until Tuesday.  I booked tickets on-line again and got a good deal with the return fare paying only 1 pound.  We will be arriving at Joy and John’s place at 18:30.

Ralf is suffering with jetlag. I am not doing too bad although, I am sleepy by 9:30 p.m.