Our last stop before London was at High Wycombe, with a short walk to Beaconsfield and the oldest pub in England, The Royal Standard, dating back to the 11th century.

The next day we joined the London motorway, amazed by the absolute adherence to the reductions of speed as we got closer into the centre.

Making our way to the drop off point at Paddington station it was time to reassemble the bikes for our second to last ride of the trip, out to Tufnell Park.

Being a bank holiday weekend there were plenty of people out enjoying the beautiful sunny day as we rode along the Grand Union canal through to Camden.

Safely ensconced, our first London day was a trip to the Science Museum.

Greg… Much anticipated and great fun, it was great to spend the best part of the day wandering about the technologies which paved the way for what we think of as the height of sophistication today (and are the museum pieces of tomorrow).

As a kid I was fascinated by all things steam, by the romance of wireless, by clockwork, as well as anything electronic so it was an engrossing day. So cool to see the BBC’s first transmitter, a wonderful display of beautiful clock mechanisms and watches, a jacquard loom and a Japanese Toyoda loom, beautifully made by the family business that would turn its attention to cars before long.

Apparently the “d” in Toyoda was replaced with a “t” as it was easier and speculation has it, more auspicious to write (8 vs 10 brush strokes with 8 being a lucky number) and softer sounding, as well as having the more obvious benefit of avoiding confusion (Toyoda means “fertile rice fields” apparently).

The next day was pure sightseeing starting off in Hyde Park. A memory lane walk for me, remembering some of the places I had last visited London over 40 years ago.

The Diana Memorial at the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace gave a quiet moment to reflect on the gift Diana gave to the world with her care and love.

Further on was the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain. Not having any idea what it was like, I was surprised to see a circular granite water feature with changing surfaces to engage the feet as the water flowed over and around. Just simple and yet not.

I can only imagine how delighted she would have been to see how this fountain was being thoroughly enjoyed by the kids venturing around it, including this big kid.

At the end of Hyde Park was the Wellington Arch, as well as New Zealand’s poignant memorial commemorating the bonds between home and the UK.

And then big house, Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Monument.

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. It was lovely to sit and listen to the 4 o’clock chimes ring out.

I tend to forget that not everyone can or would cycle their way from Lisbon to Paris. It is a different way to travel. So thank you to you too, for reading our stories.

Down to Westminster Abbey and on past Westminster Cathedral.

Walking on through some of the more prestigious areas of London – Eaton Square, Belgravia and Chelsea.

And on to Harrods.

As the bed was outside our price range, we settled on a cinnamon roll from the food court. Delicious despite the £4.50 price tag.

It was lovely to see BAINA towels there too, the company I had been working for before this trip.

It was a glorious day to have been out exploring London town. Time to rest our tired feet now.

The National Gallery was our next day out, getting the tube to the nearby Charing Cross station.

More stunningly beautiful artwork. I’m continually amazed at the art we have seen. The quality, the subjects, and the clarity. The ability for it to bring us in, to bring the canvas to life in front of us.

And Trafalgar Square in the afternoon light outside the gallery.

Here’s a few of the charming paving patterns on properties around Tufnell Park…

The Victoria and Albert Museum the next day continued our culture lessons, with disappointment nowhere in sight!

From artworks and jewellery to ceramics, ironwork, and woodwork, there was a wonderful array to interest all who ventured inside.

With the weather due to take turn, we made the most of the mainly fine weather and spent a glorious day outside exploring Kew Gardens.

Founded in 1759, this 121 hectare World Heritage site, is home to over 50,000 species and more than 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens.

From the Temperate House, the Great Pagoda, Kew Palace, the Princess of Wales Conservatory and magnificent Palm House through the lakes and the Great Walk of Borders and there was no shortage of vistas and plants to catch our eye.

Kew Palace was the summer residence for King George III and Queen Charlotte in the 18th century.

It was touching to read the plaques on the memorial chairs, these in the Great Broad Walk.

The 17 metre-high “Hive” was designed to recreate the inside of a beehive, vibrating in the key of C – the key of buzzing bees.

The Carbon Garden showcased the vital role carbon plays in lives of plants, fungi and humanity.

And ending our day with our first-ever Ethiopian dinner at a local restaurant.

The rain did come the following day as Greg left our cosy abode to pick up a rental van to take our bikes out to Stansted.

It had taken us a while to work through how to get to Stansted airport. Should we ride the 60km and then get bike boxes when we got out there… however flying out on a Monday made it difficult to obtain boxes on a Sunday, let alone find a bike shop in the Stansted area to supply the boxes.

Should we hire a SUV, like we were travelling around the UK but getting the bike boxes in the vehicle would be an issue.

Get a Uber/taxi also seemed problematic, trying to ensure the vehicle would be big enough to fit the bike boxes.

All in all hiring a van seemed the right choice and getting some boxes locally in Camden made it easy to pack up the bikes before heading to the airport.

The van hire was only for 24 hours and needed to be back in Camden by 8:30am the next morning. An early 4:00am start was required, on the road by 5:00am.

I waited at Stansted airport with boxes while Greg made the return journey to Camden, returning to the airport by train.

Back at the airport it was time to weigh the boxes. Maximum weight was 32 kilograms per box with a maximum combined weight of 84 kgs, having bought some extra weigh.

After some rejigging, and some pounds lighter as each reweigh cost us a £1 each time, we managed to get both boxes under the required 32 kg. Plastic wrapped they were ready to be put into storage at the airport to save us having to manoeuvre them on the bus to the hotel and back again.

It had been a mission to get to this point, anything to make it easy at this point was worth the extra cost.

Having not done packing up bikes and returning home before we had booked 2 nights accommodation at the airport. In hindsight we would arrive at the airport, check the weights and fly out on the same day. Good learning.

Also being a weekend and not easy walking distance to a nearby town, we made the most of our last couple of days watching television and playing Gin Rummy.

Home time…

After a stopover in Dubai, multiple meals and movies later the familiar sights of Auckland were soon beneath us.

On the ground and through NZ’s stringent agriculture and custom checks and passing with flying colours, it was bike reassembly time.

Finding a quiet spot Greg did his magic again and voila… the bikes were ready to ride.

Our last journey was to my Mum and Dad’s at Wattle Downs, about 15km away.

Winding our way through a mix of busy and quiet South Auckland traffic, we were back!

Final thoughts…

Jeanette – it’s hard to find the words to describe how amazing this adventure has been.

Definitely tough at times, tougher than I could have imagined but all of the lows are well and truly eclipsed by the highs. The changing vistas, the new experiences and the wonderful people we have met have made this adventure truly the best. An incredibly special time.

I have so many treasured memories with many many stories to remember and share.

But most of all I want to thank Greg for being there. Without you this would not have happened.

What’s next… we are not walking the Te Araroa as planned. We need a break, time for bodies and minds to relax and reset.

Something will emerge as we are homeless for another 6 months!

Greg – my overriding impressions are of wonderful people in Portugal, Spain, France and the UK – wherever we went we were met with kindness and care – so very lucky to have had the experiences we have enjoyed and to have met the people who have been so generous to us. So easy, too, for me to take everything for granted, for memories to fade, to settle back into trying to avoid discomfort, to not deliberately seek out challenges, to forget.

The trip was over in a flash – six months gone in the blink of an eye.

I’d thought I’d emerge with clarity about what would be next, how I wanted to spend what seems to me the uncomfortably short period of time I have left – so little insight on that score – apart from occasionally realizing the wonderful privilege it is to even think like this.

Jeanette is wrong; the adventure would not have happened without her. Her energy, thoughtfulness, clear-thinking. There is magic in encouragement – a lovely gift to give and receive.

Here’s to what comes next!