Bike collected and hit the road

Well the big day arrived – how would the Gray Ghost be after her long sea journey. Connected the battery and she fired first hit of the button. Good girl. All of the bikes had lost significant tyre pressure on the journey so a trip to the garage for fuel and air was warranted. A planned trip in the afternoon up to Norfolk was cancelled when the weather set in – a relaxed lunch with a few brews was a far more civilised way to pass the time.

Set off Tuesday to do battle with the greater London traffic on our way down to the South West. We had to keep reminding ourselves that it was late spring even though the temperature was still in single digit C. Our first night on the road was in a beautiful listed (historic) village pub in East Coker outside Yeovil. A highlight on the road was passing Stonehenge – just sitting beside the road like a selection of kids building blocks. We had visited this fascinating site on our previous trip so just admired it from a distance this time. We had heard that England was suffering its worst drought in many decades but the green rolling hills belied this – it is certainly a green drought very unlike what we suffer in Australia.

We left the quiet villages for a run down the motorway to Cornwall with an uninspiring look into Plymouth on the way. Home for a couple of nights is the ‘surfing capital of England’ at Newquay.  It really is a very pretty section of coast with steep cliffs leading down to a proper sand beach and a blue sea. The waves aren’t impressive and the surfers have full wet suits but it is still surfing. The bike is running smoothly. Fuel is about one pound forty pence a litre for super so that’s a bit over $2 in AUD so not too bad.

England Early Days

After 22 hours on a Jumbo Jet to Singapore and an A380 Airbus we safely arrived at Heathrow on time at 6am London time. Despite dire warnings about Customs delays we were through in the blink of an eye. Our first of many trips on the Underground system took us to Katrina & James place which was to be home for the next three days.

London weather was kind and we spent our few days playing tourist and getting our bodies back into sync. Highlights on this, our second trip to London, included the London Eye, Greenwich Village, Royal Observatory and parklands, Tate Modern Gallery, British Museum, St Pancras Station and  St Paul's Cathedral. It is impossible to ignore that London is to play host to the Olympic Games. The countdown clock at Greenwich showed 77 days to go and the city is abuzz with construction activity to have everything in readiness.

Sunday was our travel day after bidding farewell to our wonderful hosts and departing London for the sea port of Felixstowe.