Today I had my first swim in the North Sea. The temperature was a lot warmer than the last time I swam at Avoca, although it was quite windy and the surf was messy.

We then headed off to Kinderdijk which was about 1.5 hrs south of Noordwijk. DB drove really well on the fast roads with lots of traffic. On our arrival at Kinderjijk we hired 2 bikes to ride the cycleway along the canals. The bikes were quite different to ride than our mountain bikes. You sit on them quite upright, but once I got used to the different posture we cruised along nicely. The touristy thing of this area was the windmills which dated back to 1740 and were used to pump water from the flooded land. There are 19 windmills in total, 2 of them museums that you can go in and the rest were working windmills and were peoples homes. The inside of the windmills are very compact, with beds in cupboards and an outhouse kitchen. The yards were all setup as they were in the early days, depicting life in the1800s. We road along the canal for about 3 hours. It was a very pleasant day. The return trip we took through the countryside as opposed to freeway driving. It was very pretty.

Ten more competitors arrived today with the remainder coming from London tomorrow.

After getting organised we had breakfast and then headed to Nice train station for our train ride to Montpellier. The 1^st class compartment is comfortable. With communication now sorted we are enjoying the relaxing train ride. Views of the beach and countryside on the way.

Arrived at Montpellier about 3pm, had lunch at MacDonalds due to speed and ease. They have an ordering system like an ATM which made it easy except I thought goat was cheese and almost ordered a goat (charde) wrap instead of a chicken (poullet) wrap but was saved by DB’s translation app on his phone.

Whilst in the taxi queue, some Aussies heading to the carnival were waiting as well and asked to share our taxi which was great because our share was 40 euro. We arrived in time for a short rest before the organised dinner with North Avoca. It was a great social night between the 2 clubs. We had a nice 3 course dinner for 19 euro but unfortunately at 2am I was in for a bad night with food poisoning.

We arrived in Dubai early at about 4.50am. After a 4.5 hour stopover in Dubai airport which is huge we boarded again for Nice. Another 6.5 hour trip. Food has been plentiful even though I am not sure what time it is and whether I should be eating or not. The gluten attack has started and so have the croissants. I think we have had 1 dinner, two lunches and 2 breakfasts in the 30hrs we have been travelling. Let’s hope we can regulate the food once we know if it is day or night, breakfast or dinner time otherwise blimp here I come.

We took the bus from the airport to Nice city centre to out hotel. My first interaction with minimal French and plenty of English to locate the bus station and purchase tickets went well We successfully navigated our bus stop for our hotel.

After a short rest we headed down to the beach at about 4pm. We thought it best to try and stay up until dinner time to change time zones. The beach doesn’t have sand, it is smooth pebbles all the way to the beach. Really hurts your feet. We both went for a swim and the water was lovely. There were many people at the beach. We then went for a beachfront walk back to the hotel. Time now for dinner and bed as it is 4.03am Sydney time.

Dinner was interesting. Waiter spoke minimal English and we speak minimal French. Managed with pointing and merci. He taught us a little French along the way. So from us now bonne nuit.

For everyone that has asked if we are doing a blog again. Here it is. Please feel free to read as little or as much as you like. This is also just a record for us of our travels.

Well the adventure has started. After 2 years of not so much planning we are on our way. Just to be different DB was still making holiday purchases the day we left. He still hadn’t bought his backpack at 11.30am, but who needs to rush things. For all of you who know him well, rushing just isn’t in his vocabulary.

After a momentary visit with the kids and grandkids on the way to the station we left the coast at 4pm. A crowded train ride to the city, we arrived with plenty of time. I packed light (14kg) but was still thinking about what I should have left behind by the time I got to
Sydney because on your back it doesn’t feel too light. Oh well, maybe next time.

Our transit through security and customs went without a hitch and we left Sydney at 9.15pm for the 14.5hour flight to Dubai. We ate then tried to sleep for the next 8 hours. I probably managed about 5 hours but DB only managed a few.