Jan 10th

Awoke to another glorious day of about 75F. Left by 9am and cycled through Huntly- a coal mining town, over the Waikato river and then beside the river for much of the way to Hamilton - the largest inland city in NZ. The countryside was very beautiful and the road almost traffic-free; the lush pastoral landscapes with grazing cattle and sheep gave one a glimpse of a bygone age and so not surprisingly not far from where we were was filmed the rural paradise of Hobbiton village in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Finally cycled into Hamilton - a ride of about 35 miles as opposed to nearer 50 yesterday. Saddle sore but not suffering in the way we had yesterday.

Jan 9th

Took a ferry across Auckland harbour, cycled to the train station at Newmarket and then a train into the outer suburbs of Auckland at Papakura. Had great difficulty in manhandling the bike up and down the station steps but station staff happy to help and in fact our abiding memory of the first day is the friendliness of everyone - perhaps the best advertisement of NZ is the people themselves. Eventually got cycling and soon discovered that what I had thought was Highway 1 was in fact a motorway and cycles are banned! We ended up doing a massive detour of at least 20 miles. During this first day 3 men stopped their cars and waved us down - the first to show us the alternative way to go now we had left the motorway and the other 2 men just to find out who we were and where we were going. The tandem is like being accompanied by a dog or small child as people seem to feel happy to speak - it opens many doors.
Having left the sprawling suburbs of Auckland we were able to observe the countryside and the impression is of a rural landscape but with plants and trees one would associate with the tropics such as giant ferns, and palm trees.
My failure in  not allowing us  sufficient time to recover from the long-flight soon became all too apparent - firstly Linda was ready to give up, but then she says this at the beginning of every long trip. I had been asking her for months whether she was getting fit, but in the end it was my body that failed quite dramatically as I kept getting cramp in my lower thighs, on one occasion in both legs at the same time.The problem made the more difficult in that I had to get off the bike in order to stretch to stop the cramp but the pain was so bad that I could not get off the bike in order to do so! When I did manage to get off the bike and this happened on numerous occasions over the last 2 hours of our ride I had Linda giving me instructions as to how to alleviate my discomfort and on one occasion when I was not responding in the way she thought appropriate said quite quietly but loud enough for me to hear ' be a man'. This from the person who when I came home from work some years ago complaining I was suffering from the flu said ' don't bother me I only deal with very sick people'!
Thus we were both suffering from the 'bonk' - a technical term used by cyclists to signify total exhaustion - a term not to be confused with bonking, which at the time was too hard to comtemplate let along undertake. Finally we got to our first night's accomodation at Jonio's Olive Farm and had a great welcome and were given a basket of food to cook as the local restaurants were all closed as we had arrived after 8pm. The farmer couldn't remember if we had paid so had to ask if we knew! We enjoyed a beautiful room set in the olive groves and Linda cooked some spaghetti - we had a definite need for carbohydrate loading before tomorrow's ride.

Jan 9th

19 hour flight to Brisbane and although only a short transer to our Auckland flight we had to go through immigration. Only one person singled out for a 'patting down' - I heard Linda say 'but why have I been picked out?' The officer said ' because you fit the profile of an IRA bomber'; he had a sense of humour. As avid watchers of the TV programme Border Control we expected a thorough examination of our bike bags when we got to Auckland, but apart from a cursory look at our cycling shoes they took our word that we had cleaned our bike and that no foreign elements would arrive in NZ because of us.
Spendid welcome from Nigel and Kath Prickett. The relationship is tenous to say the least. Nigel is the cousin of Christina's ex-husband! I had not seen them for 24 years and Linda not at all.
As we were flying I realised that I had not allowed sufficient time for us to recover from our flight before we set off so as soon as we arrived at the Pricketts, after a cup of tea we had to put our tandem together and pack ready for the off - we had to keep to our timetable as we have booked all our accomodation throughout our trip. We joined Nigel and Kath for dinner and after quickly into a deep sleep.

Jan 8th 2013

Helen took us to Larnaca airport and no problem in getting our bike bags accepted; uneventful flight to Dubai but then took 2 hours to get through immigration in order to get to our hotel for our 10 hour stop-over so in the end only got about 3 hours sleep.

We are ready for the off but we cannot use the Just Giving site because the main charity that supports the Baraka Childrens' Home is Dutch and is not registered with the site. If you would like to sponsor us please pay the money into our Lloyds bank account number 10201168, in the names of LA and JC Stevens sort code 30-93-99. Please email us when you have made the payment so that we can acknowledge receipt. When we have finished our trip, and after a further fund raising event in March we will account to everyone for how much money has been raised and how it is to be spent.

In January 2013 we are off to New Zealand. We will stay with Nigel and Kath Prickett in Auckland before setting off on our tandem on Jan 9th. We will cycle down North Island to Wellington where we will stay with Sue Wilton who was a friend of Christina's when they both lived in London.Then on the ferry to South Island and south to Christchurch where we will stay with Rosemary who we met in Pachna. Finally south and hopefully finishing in Invercargill in the very south of New Zealand.
We will be cycling in aid of the Baraka Childrens' Home near Mombasa, Kenya. If you feel you can help please access Our Just Giving site called Baraka Childrens' Home, Kenya

18th July Home and planning next years trip.

Well it has been the most wonderful experience and a trip that we have both looked forward to for a long time. I thought I would be lost without the daily routine of cycling to the next place of our journey, but being back home in Cyprus is good and although I rememebr the trip well and often parts more than others it is good to be back.
This journey I have to say would not have happened if it had not been for Jeff ,my wonderful husband. He spent a year planning the route, booking the Bed & Breakfasts, arranging the various modes of transport to the final boxing up of the bike and getting it transported to Cambridge. A task that was done well and with great thought for both of our needs. The one thing I do miss since being back is our conversations while cycling particularly Jeffs leadership when following the route, and saying to me " gears, pedal, freewheel and bump" the communication necessary to all those stokers on the back of a tandem and ones I dearly miss now!
A trip of a life time today yes but what about the next one? It may be as good or better,.
For the money raised (nearly £1300) we gratefully thank all of you who supported our cause and charity and finally to all the many people we met in England , Wales and Scotland. we will Haste ye Back Soon.