Finding Nemo

An 11½ hour flight from the UK to Hong Kong departing at 11.30AM arriving at 10:30PM UK time.  Sleep is unlikely as the body rhythms are on UK time.  A nine hour layover in Hong Kong waiting for the flight to Perth.   Whilst tired I can’t afford to allow myself to go to sleep as I might sleep through my connection.  By the time I board my last flight it’s 7.30AM UK time and my circadian rhythms are confused.  I’m very tired but part of me is saying it’s time for a new day.  By the time I reach Perth it’s 3PM UK time and 10:30PM local time.  I manage to force myself to get one hour of heavy sleep during the flight.   The good part of both flights is the adjacent seat is vacant allowing me more room. 

The next morning I’m up at 7AM and make a start on all the outstanding home maintenance issues.   Three of them are with the swimming pool.

Jacques Cousteau died before I left on my trip.   I had done an autopsy before leaving.  Jacques had suffered cardiac arrest.  A leaking valve had resulted in water egress that had fried both motors

Red arrow points to the motors.

Prior to his demise Jacques had three deficiencies.   He was expensive to purchase.  He wouldn’t climb the walls of the pool and he had a power cable connecting him to the house power box that always seemed to tangle.

He has been replaced by Nemo.

Nemo is much smaller and cordless being powered by a rechargeable lithium battery.  He will also climb and clean the walls of the pool.  Nemo also cost a third of the price compared to Jacques.   He is small, but it’s a small pool.

Off he went scrubbing the pool floor and walls.  Did he do a good job?

I think he has done a better job than Jacques.

Izzy hasn’t been started for five weeks.  Her battery has been slowly failing but I continue to use it in an effort to obtain as much longevity as possible.  There was enough power in the battery for lights and a slow crank but insufficient voltage to start the engine.   I then used the lithium jump pack on the battery to give just enough voltage to get her going.  It was going to be a short drive so I took the jump pack with me just in case she wouldn’t restart.  When I returned home I put the battery on trickle charge overnight.

Whilst I have the charger out I might as well top up the new battery which has been sitting in the garage for the last 6 months.

Back to the pool.   Whilst I was away the UV sanitizer developed a fault.  Jan was alerted to the audible alarm by he neighbour.  I was able to explain in an email how to disconnect the sanitizer power supply.

The sanitizer operates by projecting ultra violet light through the pool water after it has gone through the filter and before the chlorinator.

The power brick (Ballast) and lamp have both failed and will need to be replaced.

The third task was to replace the pH probe which controls the amount of acid dispensed into the pool.  The original probe wasn’t working.

Last year our son gave me his old GoPro Hero 5 action camera.  I decided to mount it on the rear of the bike and wanted to record video whilst cycling.   That meant I needed a remote control for the camera.  Not an easy task given the age of the camera.  Eventually I was able to purchase one and took it with me this year only to discover the remote control battery had a very short life.  I deduced the battery would be the original and had likely degraded in storage.

Today I dismantled the remote eventually reaching the printed circuit board.

Small circuit board with the arrow pointing to the battery terminals.  The battery was glued on the reverse side of the board with no visible markings.

I very carefully pried the battery off the board and was then able to read some of the battery specifications.

Jan has ordered a replacement battery from Aliexpress.  About $7.

Last task for the day was to reassemble the bike.  There are two reasons why it needs to be disassembled for the flight.  It has to fit into the cardboard box and I need to reduce the weight.  The complete bike (less battery) weighs more than the checked luggage allowance of 23kg.  By disassembling the bike I can spread the weight across both check luggage bags and my cabin bag.

Whilst reassembling the bike I discovered one of the motor controller display mounting brackets had been broken in transit

It’s not possible to purchase a replacement bracket and I want to avoid the cost of buying an new display and control set.   I’m going to attempt to repair the bracket by gluing a length of plastic strip cut from an old ice cream container across the break.

I enjoyed the holiday.  Europe has some great cycling infrastructure.  However Europe is expensive compared to Asia.  Which also happens to be much closer.

Europe - Day Twenty Three

My last day of cycling on this holiday.

Regrettably I didn't sleep well on the ferry.   A broken night and an early start.

There was time for the ablutions and a shower before packing my panniers and preparing to disembark.  Eventually the intercom system advised all cyclist they should go to Deck 7 and prepare to depart the ship.

I reached my bike to find a couple from Hamburg, Germany also preparing to leave.  They had driven to the port and left their vehicle in the long term parking with the intention of cycling in the UK.  Apparently they love it.  I'm not so sure.  The cycling infrastructure doesn't look nearly as good.

I decide to use the Insta 360 camera to record the disembarkation process.  The camera was connected to the selfie stick which in turn is secured to the bike handlebars.  As I removed the protective cover off the camera lens one lens guard fell off and dropped down onto the ferry exit ramp where it was promptly run over by a departing car.  Bugger…… another expense!

Obviously I got the boarding process in Rotterdam wrong as there was a UK Border Force control point upon exiting the ferry.

Once off the ferry I followed the cycle path into Hull city centre and then the railway station.  I'd given myself plenty of time to board the train which meant I needed to wait several hours before the train departed.

Whilst sitting at the station I noticed a larger number of young females all dressed to the nines in the latest fashion.  Light coloured matt brown face full of filler.  Black panda bear eyes and red duck lips.  Very short flared skirt so the bottom of their butt cheeks show.  Yuk!

It wasn't until I looked at my train tickets that I realised I would have to change trains at Sheffield.  I'd been trying to avoid changing trains however rail infrastructure work meant going directly to Manchester wasn't possible.  I'd reserved a bike space and seat which meant the journey to Sheffield was east until the train reached Doncaster.  That's where it filled to standing room. 

I started to get concerned when I overheard some of the youths mentioning Manchester.  Was the next leg of my journey going to be a packed train. 

The arrival platform at Sheffield emptied and I was then able to wheel my bike to find the lift.  Then look for the next platform.  Having arrived at the required platform I noticed more of these young females dressed to the nines.  The problem is with all that makeup they all look the same!  I'm probably an old fuddy-duddy.

I found the carriage with the reserved bike space only to find people seated in it.  This was despite the sign saying priority was for bikes.  I also noticed someone had removed the reserved card and dropped it onto the floor.  Consequentially I had to stand and hold the bike for the journey to Manchester.  I consoled myself with the thought the exercise would do me good.

Manchester was a repeat of Sheffield.  Locate the lifts to get the bike to ground level.

It was then a case of cycling to Sale.

All that remains is to wash, disassemble and pack the bike ready for the flights to Hong Kong and Perth.

It has been an interesting holiday. 

Europe - Day Twenty-two

I knew there wasn't going to be much of interest today.   The ride from Rotterdam to the ferry is slightly less than two hours and the earliest boarding time is 4:30pm.  The hotel checkout time was 11am.  Do the maths and you can see I had several hours to fill in and the weather forecast was for rain.

Things didn't go to plan after I vacated the hotel room at 10:30.  I was fitting the rear panniers to the bike when I noticed one of the two front panniers I had left on the bike was open and empty.  Someone had stolen the contents.  One of the front panniers contains my tent and thin Aldi sleeping bag.  The other contains the more attractive folding chair, airbed and pump.  This latter pannier was hard against the railing I had secured the bike to and I suspect that made accessing it slightly more difficult.

The lazy thief had taken the tent and sleeping bag.  Neither were of much value.  Particularly as the thief hadn't taken the tent poles that were secured to the rear carrier rack.

My initial reaction was the thief would quickly realise they had taken little of value and discard it.   Consequentially I went for a brief walk around the local area finding the tent and sleeping bag abandoned by a pillar box.

Any reader who followed my 2024 European trip may remember my route from Rotterdam to the ferry took me under the river.  Today was different.  Komoot took me along the north bank of the river to a crossing which turned out to be a ferry.  I hadn't anticipated that and immediately realised I probably have to pay to cross.  An opportunity to rid myself of some of my collection of Euro coins.  Alas, they would only take payment by card!

A local park with a bench seat under shelter allowed me to wait three hours.  I filled in the time reading my ebook. 

Afterwards I continued cycling through a heavy industrial area and into a strong headwind reaching the ferry terminal just as it opened to accept passengers.

The first control point was to exit Dutch immigration and obtain my boarding pass and cabin key.

The second control point was UK Border Force Immigration and Customs.

The third control point was P&O Ferries acceptance of my boarding pass. 

Then I cycled up the ramp into the ferry vehicle deck where I was directed to secure the bike to a railing. 

All this took much less time that last year and I started to think the ferry may not be fully loaded.

I have (of course) booked the cheapest cabin.  It's the first on entering the accommodation deck which means it will be the noisiest as the majority of passengers will walk past.  No problem; I'll take out my hearing aids.

I can almost touch both cabin walls with my arms outstretched and it's an internal cabin so no view.

 

Last night I didn't sleep very well and I'm hoping the rocking of the ship will allow me a good night.

Europe - Day Twenty-one

No cycling today.  A long walk around the waterfront and city centre instead.  But first I wanted to check my bike was still secured to the railing at the rear of the hotel.  All good!

No point in walking where I went yesterday so I headed in a different direction passing this church.  I've noticed most of the churches in northern Belgium and the Netherlands have this tulip shape to the steeple.

I finally managed to get a reasonable photo of these cargo bikes I've seen throughout Belgium and the Netherlands.  Mum or dad taking the two little ones shopping.  And if it's raining they have a cover.

Rotterdam appears to have a reasonably extensive light rail system.  Most of the trams are very modern but they have obviously kept several heritage units.

I did wonder about the building in this next photo.  Does the owner actually own the land below the overhang or have they encroached onto adjacent property?  If it's their land then it seems like a waste of space.

Another church.  This one is likely eastern orthodox with the crooked cross on the top.  A look online tells me it's the  Alexander Nevskikerk.  A Russian Orthodox Church.

My route took me past Rotterdam's Central Railway Station where I couldn't resist taking a photo of one of the bike storage zones.

Being a bike mechanic in Holland definitely has job security!

I didn't think this next building is a church.. 

My body is starting to crave vegetables and in the evening I went for another walk looking for a cheap restaurant.  I didn't want fast food or middle eastern.  Eventually I found a place and had a reasonable meal.

As I was returning to my room it started to rain.  If this happens tomorrow it will be an interesting day.  My latest check out time is 11am and the ferry check in time is 5pm.  It's a two hour ride.  Probably less at the speed I ride.  I'll need to find somewhere to shelter for six hours.

Europe - Day Twenty

The last few days have made me realise the Netherlands isn't that large.  My daily distance has only been averaging 60-70km and yet I find myself in Rotterdam at the end of the trip.

Cycling in the Netherlands is very enjoyable with flat terrain and excellent infrastructure.  I'm slightly disappointed it's almost over.

I haven't made the same mistake as last year where I booked a hotel in Rotterdam only to discover there was nowhere to secure my bike.  This forced me to leave it at the main railway station along with hundreds of other bikes.

Tonight's hotel website claimed to have bicycle storage.  It turned out to be a small open common user space behind the hotel. 

The bike is chained to the railing and anything of value has been removed.  I think it will be safe as there are thousands of other easier bikes to steal in the city.

This afternoon I went for a walk down to the waterfront.  Some interesting boats in a small harbour

I can't make up my mind if this is a waterslide or some type of viewing platform

Another surprise.  A cruise ship!

I couldn't see the reason behind the harbour boat squirting water.  Unless they were testing the system.

 

Europe - Day Nineteen

There won't be many photos on this post.  The camera battery went flat at the start of the day.

There was a payment issue booking the ferry from Rotterdam to Hull.    Everything went smoothly until I clicked the 'pay' button.  Then the bank decided it needed to send a confirmatory code to our Australian phone number.  The phone is with Jan in Perth.  So I tried using Paypal and they also wanted to send a confirmatory code to Jan's phone.  Eventually we sorted the problem otherwise I'd be cycling back to Calais and catching a rubber boat to Dover. 

Jan thought this was a good idea as I'd receive 4 star hotel accommodation at no cost.  A weekly allowance and free driving lessons.

Today I rode north and then west eventually reaching The Hague.  The card issue was nagging at me and I then decided to head closer to Rotterdam and the ferry terminal.  I've slept under a hedge before today.  But if the card doesn't work then I won't have a room in which I can recharge the bike battery.  

The cycling was a mix of rural and city with the latter half of the ride being commercial and light industry. 

I found a cheap (but good) hotel in the outer NE of Rotterdam.  It's a coffee shop with a few rooms.  It's probably the best room I've had to date.

The coffee shop is on the right in the above photo across the road from the canal.  My room is in the basement!

After a shower I went for a local walk to stretch my butt muscles which have been grinding away on the 'Brooks' leather bike saddle.  I was 'sold a pup' when buying the expensive leather saddle.  The manufacturers claim was after 3-4 weeks the saddle would make me feel like I was riding in a hammock.  Lying ba$t@rds!

The nearest shopping precinct was a block away from the coffee shop.  Turned the corner into the shopping area and thought I was back in Small Heath, Birmingham.  Almost all the shops were selling Islamic items.  Ninety percent of the females were wearing a niqab and the males had beards.  The food outlets were halal.

Retracing my steps I noticed the fountain at the entrance to the street.

 

Very Islamic looking with the patterned small tiles.   If I had noticed it before turning into the street I would have been more aware of the clientele.

               

 

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Europe - Day Eighteen

It was definitely a mistake having breakfast at the hotel.   All these breakfasts are the same.  Powdered eggs and bacon.  Bread and coffee.   I've reminded myself not to do it again.

Last night I planned the earlier portion of today's ride using Komoot.  Upon reading the route instructions I noticed there would be a requirement at one point to carry the bike up some stairs.  That wasn't going to happen and to get around the issue I had to split the plan into separate sections.  It also meant a detour.   I have plenty of time so additional distance isn't an issue.

I'm enjoying the Dutch cycling infrastructure.  There seem to be cycleways everywhere and the locals of all ages use them.  Vehicles stop and give way wherever a cycleway crosses a road.

It seems ironic that today was the first day I saw a windmill!

 

I suspect much of today's ride was on land reclaimed from the sea as all the cycling was done on elevated roads or cycle paths.  I had the impression I was riding on top of dykes.

My first major city was Gorinchem and this was where my current south to north path crossed last year's east to west path.

It had been my intention to stay in Gorinchem but I had reached it before midday.  I decided to continue on towards the next major city, Utrecht and arrived on the southern outskirts at 1.30. 

Too early to stop for the day so I turned west passing through a number of small and attractive villages beside canals.

I had decided to stay at the prettiest of them only to discover there was no accommodation.  After some research I made a booking at the next village informing them I would arrive at 3pm.

The booking was accepted but when I arrived at 3pm I discovered the premises were locked.  A notice on the door stated they opened between 6 and 8pm on Monday and Tuesday.  Three hours to kill.  I could have cycled another 60km in that time! 

All the bench seats beside the canal had no shade and it was hot.  Cycling around I came upon a small patch of green with a pumphouse shaded by trees.  I remembered I was carrying my collapsible camping seat.

Three hours were spent reading my eBook reader before returning to the hotel.   

I declined the breakfast and asked about dinner.  The hotel restaurant wasn't going to be open.  After a shower I walked back into the centre of the village looking for somewhere to eat.  All but one of the restaurants were closed and the one that was open was fully booked. 

It was with some urgency that I hastened to the open mini-mart I had passed on my way to the village square.  Two day old buns, some sliced cheese and ham will be dinner tonight.

Started the day in 'Made' (bottom arrow).  Detour around the stairs (next arrow).  Skirted Utrecht and am now just east of Gouda.

 

Europe - Day Seventeen

It was hot in the hotel room last night and consequentially I had a broken night.  After checking out I rode to the local Aldi where I purchased an apple and baked custard filled pastry for breakfast/lunch.  I think (hope) I am losing some weight as I needed to reduce the length of the strap on my bum pouch.

There was no set destination for today.  My plan is to take the overnight ferry from Rotterdam to Hull on the 23rd and I could probably ride to the ferry in a long day. 

I headed north passing a small village named Sint-Lenaarts.

A short rest stop at a junction in the countryside.

The agriculture is a mixture of crops and dairy.  The latter came with the smell of silage and cow manure.  At least it clears the sinuses.

Half way through the day I reached the town (city?) of Breda where I stopped to eat the custard pastry.

Lunch stop.

Opposite the park bench was an interesting round tower.

It was only then I realised the vehicle numberplates were Dutch.  I've crossed into the Netherlands!  Another noticeable thing was the improvement in the cycling infrastructure.   Belgium was good but Holland is even better.

The terrain is flat and whilst I have an e-bike I didn't see the need to use the battery.  The exercise will do me good.  Well that's the theory.  

After six hours of riding I decided to stop and look for accommodation.  Unless you want a bed in a dormitory, the cities tend to be expensive.  My strategy is to look for a small town or village.  

Tonight I'm in village named 'Made'

It's about five kilometres off my planned route but as the riding is so easy that's not important.

The village square (actually it was a triangle) had a stature, water fountains and well patronised café.

I appreciated the irony with tonight's room and the last hotel.  Yesterday the room had air-con but no fridge.  Tonight's room has a fridge and no air-con.

Until tonight I haven't been particularly hungry.   Mostly thirsty.  I'm drinking in excess of 3 litres and very little of it is coming out the bottom end.  But I haven't felt like I've been perspiring so I assume it's evaporating very quickly.

Tonight I pigged out and had a dessert.   The apple pie tasted delicious.   Note to myself…..  More willpower required.  Don't do this again!

Europe - Day Sixteen

Yesterday I started cursing when I realised that somehow I had changed the video mode setting on the 360 camera from dual to single lens.   I've been recording the ground!

Today was a rest day.  However I decided to use the Komoot navigation application and ride what Komoot described as a scenic 45km circuit around the local area.

It wasn't particularly scenic but I will do my best.

This part of Belgium contains what is known as the 'Trappist Circuit'.  This is a network of Trappist monasteries famous for brewing beer.   The majority of these monasteries are in the Wallonia region of northern Belgium.   In the north of Belgium they speak Walloon (Dutch) whilst in the south they speak French.

You can read about Trappist Beer <here>

The monastery I passed looked rather modern and didn't accept visitors.  Their beer could be purchased at the nearby café!

A section of the circuit was beside a canal which also happed to be a very popular cycling route.

There appeared to be a café at most of the canal road crossings.  However they were all closed.  It's a long holiday weekend in Belgium.

The route took me away from the canal through a small village.  It was here that I was reminded how common it is to see a small tower crane being used in the construction of a house.  I remember seeing them when I was in Germany in 1984.  Labour costs are high and to minimise the use of labour a significant amount of machinery is used.

The circuit took me though another small town with a slight detour to see an interesting building.

Throughout my cycling in Europe I've been surprised by the number of grey haired wrinkly people on e-bikes (OK…. they are probably younger than me).  I can see the logic in creating good cycling infrastructure and road rules to encourage people to ride rather than drive.  It reduces the vehicle traffic, improves population fitness and reduces demand on the national health budget.

I have to write that I did pass one pretty house that wasn't mentioned in the route guide.

Tomorrow I continue north into the Netherlands.