We have now been home for more than three weeks, we have recovered from jet lag, the place is back into order and we are getting used to living in the real world. We are lucky when we get home as it is early summer and the garden and the vineyard are full of new life - the weather has been absolutely glorious sunny but not too hot, I fear however we are building up for another drought.

This has been a fantastic trip full of interest. The first part in the heat we (I) found difficult but once that was sorted everything went well. Germany of course wins the prize for being the most cycle friendly country with its magnificent infra structure for cyclists. The Fulder and Weiser Radwegs are both well worth investigating. Of the countries we were in Germany was the least expensive. We don't camp any more and we found the guest houses always spotlessly clean, cheaper than in the other countries we were in and of course the breakfast that comes as part of the price is substantial and delicious. We love the cycling culture that Germany has, this year we were surprised however by how few long distance cycle tourists we saw.

It goes without saying that Netherlands is a paradise for cyclists, I was rather disappointed that we didn't ride over the Afsluitdijk but Ken was concerned about how I would cope with over 30km with no shelter and the predicted head winds. Actually we did get a lot of wind in both the Netherlands and Belgium. The most amazing thing that happened in the Netherlands was when we were following the GPS we got into an extensive forest on tiny tracks and saw both deer and a wild pig!

Our time in Belgium was mainly spent searching sites of World War 1 and it brought into clear focus for us the futility of war and the massive sacrifice a whole generation of young men had made. For us it seemed almost unbelievable that these young men from Pokeno, Mangatawhiri and Maramarua should come to this land so far away to fight in this war and then lose their lives.

I always love the culture of France (and of course the food). The Via Rhona is a great route, it is unfinished, absolutely excellent in parts and with lots of variety. At the beginning of each section there is a massive car park and people seem to mainly use the cycle way by parking up and riding a section as a day trip - lots of camper vans doing this. We only saw 1 other touring cyclist on this route. Provence was great, we just used small roads. I had not realised just how many hills there were in Provence, although these were a challenge at times we were by now fit and they didn't bother us too much. The coast road between Frejus and Cannes is magnificent because of the glorious colours, the red of the mountains and rocks contrasted with the blue of the sea.

As far as costs are concerned. We now do not camp so spend a fair bit on accommodation. We normally just have bread and cheese for lunch and mostly eat out at night. We do seem to have lots of coffee stops and always have wine, beer or cider with our evening meal. We don't buy souvenirs along the way - we would have to carry them. Cycle maintenance was fairly negligible and we didn't spend very much on entry to tourist attractions. All and all not counting air fares we spent about E120 a day for the 2 of us which for the whole trip is around E8640 which at the present exchange rate is NZ$14600 which we think is reasonable. It could be cut down but we don't see the need to do that.

All our equipment worked well with the minor exception of my bike. I cant lift my foot very far off the ground so even though I have a step through frame I have a lot of difficulty getting my foot over. This doesn't bother me too much but drives Ken to distraction he says that he has gone about half a kilometre and I am still struggling to get on. This is being remedied as Luke our nice bike mechanic has with difficulty sourced an ultra low step through frame for me and is building me a bike around it with the features I like about my present bike.

That all sounds as if this will not be our last cycle tour, at least we hope not. Ideas are spinning around in our head for what next. Planning and having ideas is such fun. At present the leading contender is to fly into Zurich, train to Andermatt and the source of the Rhone, follow that to Lyon, overland to Le Puy then follow the Chemin de St Jaques to St Jean Pied de Port over the Massif Central, then the Camino Frances as far as Sahguin and finally backwards on the Madrid Camino to Madrid and we will fly home from there. Sounds great fun but lots of hills. When we strike them we should be fit and we can do very short days. We do love the freedom that cycle touring gives, it feels like respite from everyday life. I will be sad when we get too old to manage it any longer