Christmas in Teich

The next day we headed out onto the D3. Although it too is long, straight and windy you pass through towns every now and again, which broke up the monotony. The towns around the Arcachon basin are quite nice looking places and must be heaving in the summer. Got to our destination after about 8hrs cycling. We have a little self-catered apartment with a dishwasher and cooker and a toaster and everything! Cooked a Christmas dinner to be proud of and drank fizzy stuff. Kit maintenance and prep today heading out tomorrow morning. Merry Christmas!

La Rochelle to Hourtin Plage

Moving on we headed out of the city via the Velo Odyssee 1 cycle path, which took us to Fouras and a closed campsite. Continuing along the cycle path we skirted around Rochefort to Tonay Cha

La Rochelle

After leaving John and Ros we spent 2 days getting to La Rochelle and 2 nights in it. We mooched about the old town and the market, explored the marina and visited the aquarium which was awesome.

Last Night at Retrait Rosslyn and John

So with the wheel fixed we're leaving St. Germier! We've had a great time with John and Ross at our Workaway. We've stayed far longer than we planned and John and Rosslyn have been really accommodating. We've had a great experience here, learnt new skills, ate loadsa great food and just had good time enjoying John and Rosslyns' company. So before we leave, we've just got time to share the last of our photos from our stay here.

Building a 40 hole 4 cross wheel

After waiting for almost 4 weeks for a bike shop to rebuild our wheel I decided, in a fit of frustration, to do it myself.

A Not So Bright Idea

Before we left I had a great idea. Replace all the batteries, in anything that takes batteries, with rechargeables! Our bike-lights and torches were kitted out with rechargeable AA & AAA's so that we'd save a fortune on batteries.

A little further down the road...

It is NOT a good idea. Its bad enough that you have to hang round the toilets to charge your phone and stuff but rechargeable AA & AAA's take at least 6 hours to charge! Either you take a risk and leave it in the shower room overnight or you visit a hotel or something and recharge in your room. We've been doing the former whenever it seems safe but it is far more convenient to just buy some batteries!

Internet Access in France

Internet access is not an essential part of our travels, but it can be useful for sharing stories and pictures, locating bike mechanics, organising future activities and accomodation, researching solutions to various problems and finding a shop that opens on a Sunday!

Using the internet on our phones

The bits at the Start

As our departure was fairly rapid, we never got to post the pre ferry drama .
We finished work, packed the house and got ready for the trip in just over 2 weeks. It wouldn't have been possible without the help of our parents. Thanks mum and dad!(s) Also thanks to the guys at Onitsports for their help getting the bike ready and all their invaluable advice.
Thanks to Billy(the dog) for guarding our stuff.
It was probably the most difficult part of our adventure so far but it really shouldn't have been. It's just putting your stuff in bags!  We bought things we needed ,but didn't pack, on the road. We also threw a bunch of stuff away or sent it home.

In the words of  Tom Allen:
Worry only about leaving.
Leave soon.
Leave before you're ready.

 

Dad fits super-high-tech flag holding device to trailer.

 

 

Liz bedecked in Onitsport kit.

 

 

Billy the vicious guard dog.

 

 

 Stuff to take and stuff to leave behind.  

 

It's so clean!