roadtrip, travel, UK, vehicles

Ode to a Passat

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Well back home now after the nice thirty-odd hour trip from Sidcup to Pukekohe. Unfortunately, I had to return the trusty Passat to Hertz before I left. Considering I was expecting to pick up a Mondeo three weeks ago, it was pleasing to see the Passat sitting in the lot waiting for me (although my only other experience of one was my Uncle’s ’70s estate version that he had for years). For a 1.9L sedan I was somewhat astounded to see that the boot positively swallowed Mum & Dad’s two large suitcases, my grab, backpack, Dad’s wheeled cabin bag, a full-suspension mountain bike & all sorts of other bike paraphernalia. What’s more, this was the Bluemotion edition – apparently VW’s most eco-friendly & economical diesels. With a claimed combined consumption of 46 mpg (5.1 L / 100 km) it was always going to be easy on the fuel (my Galant runs at about 29 mpg & I think that is pretty good for an aging two litre sedan); but after more than 2000 miles of British motorways, congested cities, high mountain passes, skinny one way roads it came back with a staggering combined consumption of 57 mpg (4.1 L / 100 km)! Which was just as well as it cost about $200 to fill up. I sure will miss the cruise control – now to go outside & see if the trusty Galant will start after six weeks of sitting on the lawn & get itself to 300000 km.

(Back to work tonight, but should find some time somewhere to update last two weeks travels).

family, roadtrip, travel, UK

Iona, Staffa & puffins

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By now I was glad that amongst the suit, bike, summer clothes & bike clothes I had found some room for the trusty icebreakers – they were in full use now in the middle of the Scottish summer. Dad finally decided it was time to buy a jacket during our first afternoon in Oban – just as well there was a well stocked outdoor shop (these seem to pop up in the strangest little towns in Britain). Another cosy room in a pleasant guesthouse on the waterfront & it was up early for a day of ferries & bus rides. We were off to visit Iona & Staffa – as Mum & Dad had set this up I had little idea what was planned – but it was nice not to be driving for a change.

First it was a ferry ride over to Mull (an island off the west coast – not to be confused with Mull of Kintyre<, as some have done), a forty minute bus ride to the south west corner of Mull & then we boarded a much smaller boat (saw some bottlenose dolphins jumping around the boat) to Staffa – an small uninhabited island north of Iona. We had an hour there to explore parts of the island. Much of it is basalt & the rocks near where we handed were huge basalt columns – some of which were so long, thin, regular in shape & close together they looked like giant pieces of hexagonal spaghetti that had been forced through one of those spaghetti makers (I'm reminded of the old Play-doh ad – "making spaghetti"). The other highlight of the island was seeing the crazy little puffins flying off from the cliffs to go fishing then returning to their nests – they are so small & quick.

Off to Iona in time for lunch, the Atlantic swell had increased somewhat to make a more interesting ride – at least all the French who got suitably soaked thought so (Dad & I managed to find the correct side of the deck, more by chance than anything & Mum retreated inside, where it was bumpier). Got a good look around the abbey at Iona – much more austere than any of the previous religious buildings I had seen in the preceding weeks. Back on more ferries & boats – where we promptly fell asleep – probably just preparing ourselves for the great dinner that night at some random restaurant that foiled us in our previous bid to eat there – being closed doesn’t usually help matters.

bikes, city, friends, MTB, roadtrip, travel, UK

A decent ride, finally

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Have finally found some proper internet time to update this not very exhaustive account. As it was nearly two weeks since the last happenings were posted I’ll try my best to remember some of the many things we have been up to. Our full day in Edinburgh was much better weather wise & there was even some hope that we wouldn’t get wet on our ride.

Dad & I started off our day (Mum was off doing family history stuff) walking up to the top of Calton Hill & checking out the view – could just make out the bridges over the Firth. Then a bit of an explore around New Town – found a very shut Oxford bar (Rebus ties), it was Sunday morning after all. After our walking tiki tour found us at the bottom of the castle (even if we were on the wrong side to enter), we figured there was just enough time to squeeze in a rush tour before lunch. I remember quite enjoying Edinburgh Castle for the view & some of the history (unfortunately after two weeks it’s joined the historic-building-haze in my mind). Big rush back to the hostel to change for MTBing & meet Jamie (a uni friend).

Managed to meet up ok, but the first problem was the bike Jamie had borrowed off his wife, Rachel, had not met quick-release & neither of us had the cumbersome tools required to remove the wheels. Nevermind, eventually by turning the handlebars on the stem the trusty Passat saloon (which deserves a posting of its own) swallowed the bike whole & mine fitted on top it & the boot even closed. The drive south to Peebles was uneventful, except for my introduction to Tescos for a lunch on the run – actually, that doesn’t really qualify as an event. By now the sun was even out & shining. (I should have savoured that moment for much longer.)

Arriving at Glentress, it was a record time for assembling my bike from its travel bag & we were off in to the forest. A better description would be off up in to the forest – as we pretty much rode up hill for an hour (I hadn’t done any exercise of the sort since the first N-Duro in Rotorua some four weeks ago – at least it felt like it). It must be said that the climb was punctuated by a neat little downhill skills section where I perfected my backflip (have watched too much of the Collective’s Seasons this week) and also a nice little bit of singletrack. Having made it to the top (Jamie having told me on the way up he used to race nationals) it was time to rip in to some strangely varied singletrack. The first big difference to my normal riding was due to the Scottish rainfall – all the tracks were hard packed gravel so that they are still rideable after big rain. This made for a lot more tyre noise than I was used to. There were some sweet berms & lots of decent sized rocks placed in nice places in the track to keep me on my toes. I was just glad that I didn’t have the pogo-forks that Jamie had… A great ride, thanks to the guide.

Back in to the city to meet up with Rachel & Nicola (yet another uni mate over here working) for dinner. They had been up north half way to Aberdeen meeting Dan (you guessed it – uni) & got stuck half way back when the train developed some fault. Never mind, it was great to catch up eventually, get some tips for what to see & have a good meal – haggis wasn’t even too bad.

The next morning before leaving, I dragged Mum & Dad up Arthur’s Seat for the view (mind you, we could see most of the cloud from sea level) – well worth it. Then off to Oban for two nights; we managed to drive past T in the Park without too many traffic worries – although I was disappointed to learn I had missed R.E.M. playing there during the weekend. Once over the Firth, the weather closed in nicely & we would get used to the sight of low cloud.

family, roadtrip, travel, UK

Yorkshire Dales

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Up early again on Wednesday for the drive up to Gainsborough to meet Mum & Dad staying at Mum’s cousin’s place.  Managed the 200-odd miles by nine o’clock & was pleasantly surprised to see Mum’s elderly Uncle & Aunt had made the trip up to see us (I haven’t seen them since I was four).  Great to catch up with every one & get out of the city.  After lunch it was off to York (270 doesn’t sound far to drive when you are used to kilometres, but miles is a different story) for a look around the Jorvik Viking museum – it was under ground on the site where they had a big archaeological dig in the ’80s & found all sorts of Viking artefacts from over 1200 years ago.  Quite interesting (Mum of course found it very interesting).  York was really nice – especially with its large pedestrian precinct & cobbled streets & lovely old buildings (I’m not quite over old buildings yet – which is just as well as we are in Edinburgh now).

Driving north we found Thirsk (James Herriot country in North Yorkshire) & Mardeby Hall down a nice winding lane to Felixkirk (there are some great English place names).  We were staying with some farming contacts/investors of Dad’s on their farm.  The farmhouse was probably young at 400 years old & had a heap of character & interesting curios – also so good NZ scenes on the wall thanks to their yearly trips to NZ. Best of all I could even understand the Yorkshire accents.  A tour around the (cropping) farm revealed all sorts wheat, potatoes, rapeseed & most disturbingly a lot of pheasants that had been released for the next hunting season.

By now weather was quite the contrast to Italy – close cloud if not raining & only in the mid teens; this made our time back in York a bit of a mad dash between the minster, the Castle Museum the very large National Railway Museum & the buses.  Dad even managed a round of golf (& didn’t lose) before we had a dinner party back at the house – altogether a bit unusual for me, but very enjoyable & I was quite impressed when one of the couples turned up in a new soft-top Bentley Continental.  I managed a drive up through Suttonunderwhitestonecliff (apparently longest village name in England) to have a look at the moors – unfortunately ran out of time to get right out amongst them & the weather wasn’t good enough to persuade me to put my bike together & check out some of the local MTB tracks (of which there appear to be plenty).

Have driven north to Edinburgh & after reading so many Rebus novels, I’m loving it – I can see why people would live here, except it’s the middle of summer & I think there will be better weather at home when I get back to winter.  Should manage a ride tomorrow at a big MTB park a bit south of the city.

Biking to go places, going places to bike.