WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE... and not a ferry to cross it. Well, plenty of ferries but none that will have us on board.

We got up early this morning and rode two good hills across the spur of land that separated our camp-ground from the ferry port of Bandirma. We had loads of time for the morning ferry to Istanbul, the one that avoids Hell's Highway on the mainland. We went to buy tickets and the dark-haired girl behind the grill wrote the times of all the day's crossings... and wrote FULL against all of them. And then again for all the ferries tomorrow morning as well.

'But we're on bikes,' we said. 'No car.' We made the universal hand-pedalling motions in the air and her expression made it clear she'd understood but that it changed nothing. There were just too many passengers for the lifeboats, it seemed, be they in cars, lorries or just walking or cycling. We can only assume it's the end of the weekend and that those who work in Istanbul but live on this side need to be back over there. We have no other explanation and the ticket girl didn't share a language in which we could discuss it.

Well, we have tickets for tomorrow afternoon and then at last we'll be in Istanbul. And that, for Steph, will be the end of the road. She has had a great time but she is overwhelmed by the colour and drama of so many international borders, changes of language and custom, and the distinctly three-dimensional nature of our route.

Make no mistake- she has enjoyed it all. But she's had fun aplenty and going home will give her time to go to Australia, which she needs to do. On top of that, time lost through successive food poisoning after Albania, and our side-trip to the national park in Montenegro, mean we can't reliably get to Georgia and Armenia before an early winter. For which we're not equipped. So we'll save that for another time and I'll ride back home from here.

A fresh road, a fresh adventure.