We’ve spent the last couple of weeks cruising the length of Norway, winding our way along fjords and getting as far north as Tromso, the springboard for our voyage around Svalbard. Norway has a similar population to New Zealand but its largest seven cities contain only 2 million – compared to New Zealand’s big seven […]

The Anne Frank exhibition, “Let Me Be Myself” is touring New Zealand, I think its in Christchurch at present so try to get along with your family and experience the messages it imparts. We’ve been a sponsor of the educational work of the Anne Frank House in New Zealand for several years now but unfortunately […]

Bicycles and weed – that’s the lasting impression of this capital city that straddles a canal system off the river Amstel, has 5 million tourists cram through its narrow alleyways each year, and is the European home of some uber companies like Uber, Tesla and Netflix – as well as some old stayers such as […]

Now we’ve parked up the bikes it’s time for another 3 months of global wandering, this time by bicycle, on foot, zodiacs and a cruise ship. This should provide time for the bum to recover from 3 month’s in the saddle. So first we’re to Mother England and a taste of “That’s Country” with some […]

We’re into Georgia now where we’ll park up the bikes until next year before resuming this ride and head on to Mongolia. Definitely less prosperous than Turkey and like Armenia still littered with the ghastly apartment blocks of the Soviet-era, there is a sense of relief crossing the line from the darkest, medieval world of […]

We entered Armenia from Georgia, as the border with Turkey is closed. The country is not quite as modernised as its northern neighbour and has more of its people still languishing in those awful Soviet-era apartment blocks. But here, especially in the capital, there is a lot of construction going on so the signs are […]

From the farmers of central Turkey to the merchants in the city the ravages of Turkey’s economic management are now biting. High inflation (15%), a plunging currency (down since 2009 from 80 US cents to now just 22, the Turkish lira is fast becoming a joke), the legacy of recently re-elected Supreme leader Tayyip Erdogan […]

They are always the bane of motorcyclists’ lives – dogs that run out at you and threaten to get under your front wheel. Over our years of riding the world our worst dog experiences were in the Peru highlands where the dog’s seemed more like wolves, were clearly not used to motorcycles coming down the […]