Saturday 28th July

Day started out coldish and a bit wet. We decidd to ride with Garis and the team from Australia.

Had done about 50 of the 115km planned for the day, heading to Munster when Liz fell off her bike crossing a low Kerb. 

Disaster! She is now in a fine country hospital in rural Germany in the town of Oelde, recovering from breaking her arm in 3 places. She also has a very strained set of muscles in her leg which makes walking painful. The accident was on Saturday about 11.30am about 5 minutes from the hospital. The efficient ambulance service took only a few minutes to arrive.

I travelled with Liz to the hospital while our friends took our bikes by train to Munster. I have packed up Liz's bike and cycling gear and left it with mine in our truck, where it now wends its way on with our friends towards Barcelona.

I am ensconced in a small hotel over the road from the hospital and spending time with Liz while she recovers. She needs an operation on Tuesday on her elbow, so it will take a while to recover and get her mobile.

The plan is for me to try and rejoin the tour later, and for Liz to recuperate either with her Dutch relations or Amy in London. However all that is a maybe, since she needs to be able to walk for me to get her by train to Amsterdam, which is 400km and 4 train changes away. Changes of platform and lots of subway steps etc require her to be mobile.

I'm also trying to sort out a not inconsiderable insurance claim. I guess this is where you find out whether the travel policy one has secured actually works........

So the appropriate adjective is I think "bugger" to describe our response to the situation. The planned family reunion in Holland with Liz's Dutch relations, planned for this Thursday is probably going to be cancelled, since it looks like Liz will be in hospital for quite a few days. In fact it looks like I will see little of either her relations, most of whom I have not met, nor the countryside, since our tour will be on to Belgium by the time we Re ready to move.

Oelde is a town of 35000 with a good hospital. At this stage I have no idea when we will return home. 

will keep everyone posted. I hope to get a sim card for the iPad tomorrow so Liz can use it from her hospital bed where there is no free wifi. 

--
John & Liz Pfahlert
P O Box 9740
Marion Square
Wellington 6141

Friday 27th July

There was a group camping beside us, who kept making noise until almost midnight. Not appreciated when we were getting up at 6am 

Today's ride was from Hoxter to Schloss Holte-Stuckenbrock, just over 80ks. Through Marienmunster, Hiddensen and Augustdorf. 

It was about 85kms, and very up and down all day. The road surface varied from many kilometers of beautifully sealed road to forest track. There were some stunning vistas in the morning from the tops of he hills we climbed. 

The start was through cool forest, but as the day progressed it got hotter and the climbs got harder! So it was a tough day, though we did have a two hour lunch along the way at a lovely restaurant. 

 

The humidity increased markedly as the day wore on. We arrived in camp around 4 .15 pm., glad to have arrived. Camp is a lovely spot with a large area all for us not far from the facilities. 

We were eating dinner( delicious pasta and salad) when the thunder started, followed by rain. For the next few hours there was a massive thunderstorm. Everyone had crawled into their tents before 8pm and so there we lay, listening to the thunder rumbling all around, seeing the lightening, and hearing the rain.  Have never heard thunder go on and on, but given the heat of the past few days we can see why. 

The thunder continued till 12.30am, then it just rained until 5am. 

--
John & Liz Pfahlert
P O Box 9740
Marion Square
Wellington 6141

Liz in non cycling mode!

Town square in Oelde where Liz is now enjoying her holiday in hospital!

Prague, 22 & 23rd July

We walked the short distance from our hotel to the railway station in Dresden, to catch the train to Prague. It left at 11.08 am, and arrived at the main station in Prague 2&1/2 hours later. Caught the local train to the hotel, then walked back into the city. It was 4pm when we sat down for lunch at a Czech restaurant on Wencelesas Square. 

After lunch we walked around the central city, amongst the thousands of other tourists, then walked back to the hotel. 

The buildings are rather beautiful, and there are tourist shops everywhere.

It was fine all day, a pleasant change!

Monday was lovely and warm. We caught the train to the city, and went to the Communist Museum. This was, rather ironically, situated beside a McDonalds. The display was rather aged, but a video presentation depicted the fall of communism rather well. From there we walked to the Castle over the Charles Bridge and up the hill. Wandered around the castle for a while, before returning to the central city. Liz had a Thai massage while John waited at a nearby cafe. Then we sauntereed the central city until we met our companions at a nearby restaurant at 6pm for dinner, before going to a concert of highlights of Mozart's Requiem at the St. Nicholas Church.

Our hour walk home along the Vletana River was in beautiful mild, calm conditions, with the lights coming on shining on the Castle as dusk approached. We were walking home with Nelson, and got onto the wrong path through the walled area of the former King's castle, so took an extra 1/2 hour. 

--
John & Liz Pfahlert
P O Box 9740
Marion Square
Wellington 6141

24th & 25th July

The train arrived in Magedeburg about 5pm, And we got a taxi to the camp ground. It was by a lake, so we had a swim while waiting on the truck to arrive. It arrived about 7pm. Dinner was pizza, ordered in - NOT vey good at all, just a base with lots of cheese, we could certainly give them a lesson or two. 

The ride to Goslar on 25th was easily the hottest day of the trip to date.  

As a result, we began an hour earlier than previously. 

The route was almost entirely on roads as opposed to bike routes, but we still had plenty of cobblestone and brick of various difficulties to contend with, particularly through the multiple towns and villages along the way. The scenery continued to be rural with some crops already harvested. Although we have seen several wind farms, today we seemed to see twenty to thirty wind turbines for each village sitting atop the slight hills. No one seems to know how the energy from the turbines might be managed and distributed. However, it is good to see such use of green energy.

Goslar is considered one of the best reconstructed medieval towns in Germany and most of us agreed with this assessment though it was a bit dangerous rubbernecking on the rough cobble common throughout the old town area. Most had lunch there as the campground was only a couple k out of town. The campground is a bit lesser quality than what we have come to expect, but certainly much better than a rough camp, with hot water showers, porcelain thrones, etc. Des and Mike cooked up a nice meal and we had a relaxing evening, going to bed early.

Next day, we started at Stassfurt, an 88 km day. It was very hot, reaching 33 degrees. We went through Eglin, Grossalsleben, Krottorf, Schwanebeck, Anderbeck, Baderslben, Osterwieck and Vienenburg to Goslar. Goslar is a UNESCO World Heritage City, having been a major town in the 1500s. It is a beautiful city with stunning old buildings. 

--
John & Liz Pfahlert
P O Box 9740
Marion Square
Wellington 6141

26th July

We were all up early for a 7.10 departure. This was a long day. We cycled through Langelshiem, Seeson (morning tea), Bad Gandersheim, Einbeck (lunch), Dassel, Deensen, Holzminden and Hoxter to our camp at a swimming pool complex beside the Waser River.

First part of the day provided excellent views over the vast farmland, quite a lot of climbing, and some rougher track through the forest. Later the route was mostly on lovely sealed Cycleway. 

It was a long day of 125kms, and the temperature reached 33 degrees at arrival. We each drank 6 bottles of fluid. 

We rode with Stewart all day. Einbeck was a lovely city, and we had lunch in the town square.

Evening was very warm, pleasant spot beside the river. We went for a swim on arrival which cooled us down beautifully. 

--
John & Liz Pfahlert
P O Box 9740
Marion Square
Wellington 6141