I've still got the bug.

My knee is causing me problems again, will this ever come right? So I had another appointment to see the Specialist in Christchurch. But it is Spring now, in fact it is almost summer, so I decided to cycle to Christchurch. Niel decided to come with me, and to make the whole trip a bit faster, we made it a Vespa / Bike trip. We had to do 200 kms a day and shared the Vespa and bike riding. It worked out really well and we managed to do 900kms in 4 days. So 4 days of riding in the sunshine made us keen for more.

My turn to cycle along the Kaikora Coast.
 

Beautiful scenery.

Unbelievably I have yet another acute Cartilage Tear in my knee. That is 3 tears in one knee!! The surgeon reckons it is from my bike crash in Vietnam. So I have to have another MRI scan and we will see what can be done following that. Luckily I can still ride, and ride well.

My new bike is taking shape thanks to Niel.

We have had some great rides since coming home, always over 100 kms and on sealed roads, as my road bike isn't built for rough gravel. But my new bike to replace the one stolen in Saigon is almost ready. Only the handle bars with brake and gear levers on, and a saddle to go, yeah I can't wait. I still miss my old stuff, and despair at what it is going through, but I am moving on mentally at last.

Rows and rows of Boysenberries, we will be eating them in a month, everything is so lush.

Yesterday as I was cycling home from the garden centre with a 40 kilo bag of compost on my bike trailer, I passed a family cycle touring. The first one I passed was a boy of about 12 years old pulling a trailer and he also had rear pannier bags. Then I passed the Mother also pulling a trailer  and with front and rear panniers. Then a child of about 7 or 8 years old with a large dry sack on his carrier. Ahead  of him was his father and the youngest child on a tandem with front and rear panniers. I admired them enormously especially the children carrying their own gear. I heard them making comments as I passed pulling my own trailer. I got home and told Niel about them, and then it dawned on me that I was jealous.

I still have the touring bug. Now that I have got over the calamities of Vietnam, I am ready for more again. This time it had to be somewhere civilised where I don't have to worry about being distressed every day by what I was seeing, and less likely to be the victim of theft. So Canada - here we come. Although this time we will do it Vespa assist. One day cycling and the next on the Vespa. Canada is the second biggest country in the world behind Russia, so we needed to have a way of getting across a bit faster. So now I am busy planning the logistics and how much time it will take us.I may not be able to walk, but I can still cycle, and there is no stopping me.