Arran 20th June

 Arrived on Arran in glorious sunshine. What a busy ferry! Getting to my B&B gave me an early taste of Arran hills.  I anticipate sore legs tomorrow evening.  And the next day.

We are biking this island over two days - one of my more sane decisions, methinks.

I bought this tablet so as to be able to update this blog every evening.  I'm still learning how to use it so bear with me.

Setting off on midsummer adventure

What a lovely send-off from my Intervac house swappers, Sean and Steven,  as I head off to the West on a gorgeous day.

Plans so that you can join in

Midsummer is getting close and so is the Midsummer Odyssey which is planned as below. It will be a leisurely cycle-stroll with plenty of time for admiring the views and checking out distilleries.

Friday 20 June	Train to Adrossan and ferry to Arran (Brodick).
Sat & Sun 21-22 June	Cycle around Arran – 54 miles around, staying at Blackwaterfoot Lodge on the Sat night
Mon 23	Ferry from Lochranza to Claonaig (very regular, including Sunday), cycle across to Kennacraig (6 miles) and take ferry to Islay (Port Askaig) (1300)
Tue 24 - Friday 27th	Islay with one day cycling on Jura - ideally Tuesday or Friday.  Staying at Port Askaig.  Let me know if you would like to share accommodation there.  Going to graduation in Glasgow on the Weds (25th)
Sat 28th	Port Askaig to Colonsay – depart 12.15 arrives 13.25
Sunday 29th	Ferry Colonsay to Oban, depart 20.05 arriving 22.25
Monday 30th	08.00 Ferry to Coll
Tuesday 1st	To Tiree – depart 17.30 – arrive 18.25
Thursday  3rd	Tiree to Barrra - d12.15 - a15.00
Friday 4th July	d18.50 Barra to Oban.
Saturday 5th July	Oban to Edinburgh by TRAIN

Do join in at any stage that is possible for you.  Be aware that getting accommodation in the West of Scotland can be the biggest challenge.

Further plans are:
July or September - Iona, Staffa etc with Heidi and Mark

August - Cumbrae with Linda and Magnus

End of August - An island off Ireland with Eilish Roche and mad friends

Island 6, North Island, New Zealand - a bit of it biked on 27th April 2014

In Raglan, south west of Auckland, we did a bit of biking as we are on an island which is not a country - the North Island of New Zealand. This is a lovely town with some of the best surfing in New Zealand. I managed a body boarding session there - see my travel blog for that pic!

Thanks to the ever-helpful Information centre in the town, we found bikes to rent from Raglan Water Sports at Raglan Sunset Motel. There isn't much flat biking around here so they were mountain bikes which was a bit of overkill for our leisurely potter along the shore and over a lovely bridge which would have been a candidate for biking bridges last year, but this is the year of biking islands, so on with the task.

Finishing, by coincidence, at a great fish and chip shop

With my Kiwi one-woman support team (thanks Treasa), I pottered around, pausing and/or posing for photos in front of typical New Zealand flax and Pohutukawa trees. Treasa, who was also my support team for Waiheke island, had quickly grasped the drill. Get the bike, cycle a few yards, pose for a picture, cycle a few more yards, take another pic. Cycle over and back to get an action shot and so on. The lovely fish and chips at Raglan Wharf was more than we deserved for such a fun and undemanding biking trip!

That's all the New Zealand islands that I can bike for the moment. Next plan is the Scottish midsummer odyssey, starting on Arran on June 21st. Watch this space!

Island 5, Waiheke Island, biked 23rd April 2014

Waiheke Island - 40 minutes from Auckland City Centre

Renting the bikes

On a beautiful 'autumn' day (what passes for high summer in Scotland), my sister, Treasa, and I biked Waiheke Island. This place has lovely memories for us as we have been coming here since I first visited New Zealand in 1990. This time we are biking some of this hilly island, some of which is just like it was all those years ago. Like the bike-hire man. We sign the form and pay the money but he requires no ID or deposit and just asks us to lock the bikes on our return and pop the lock key through the letter box. All very 'waiheke'.

So, after a brief photo stop in Oneroa, the main town, and a check with the tourist office that the place we plan to get lunch is open, we set off towards one of our favourite beaches. I am already blown away by the lovely views from just about everywhere. Why don't I just move here and settle down?

Lunch being cooked in a trailer

Lunch and swim spot - Little Oneroa

A short while later (it is not  a big island) we arrive at Little Oneroa Beach where the amazing Dragonfired people prepare pizzas and pitta fillings in this oven. It's worth a trip to the island just to taste this amazing food - all prepared and served from a trailer. A rest in the sunshine after this substantial lunch and then we went for a swim - my first of the year and Treasa's last (maybe) of the season. Delicious. Not very warm but a great deal warmer than the North Sea will ever be.

We bestirred ourselves after this lovely interlude and biked to another side of the island (there are lots of sides as the coastline is very 'wiggley') via Palm Beach where we stopped for yet another session of gazing at the sea. Going past my future retirement home (I've ear-marked it) we end up back in Oneroa only because Treasa knows her way around these windy roads. There we have delicious ice-creams - Treasa's was salted coconut and passionfruit. Amazing! Then we bought some things from 'Upcycle', a shop which sells things made from stuff found on the island. We bought an apron made from Ralph Lauren sheets from the 1970s and tea lights in wine bottle tops, filled with recycled candle wax.

A wonderful day, topped off by a double birthday celebration meal in 'Mexico', back on the mainland. Yum! Brought back lovely memories of my recent holiday there.

Island 4 - Enoshima Island, Japan, biked 20th April 2014

Very cute train

First find your island

Enoshima is a tiny island in Japan, near Kamakura. It is only 4 Km around the edge but there is only a road some of the way and one into the centre and up through a shrine (tons of shrines here, of course) to an observation tower where you might see Mount Fuji on a clear day. It's not a clear day so we didn't try that but did find a nearby convenience store which rented bikes incredibly cheaply.

Then find a bike

We took the cute local electric train to Enoshima station and picked up two bikes from this valiant lady who spoke little English and whose machine refused to do the necessary booking in English but we managed fine in the end.

at a convenience store

We cycled over the bridge to the island, among the tourists on the pedestrian way. Cyclists and pedestrians share the same paths here and tolerate each other in a way that is amazing to us who are used to open warfare between the two tribes.

There is not much cycle-able (or drive-able) road here but we cycled what there was and then went onto the sea wall where we had fun cycling over and back. We came across a do-it-yourself reflexology space - there were spaces of different kinds of bumps on the path and a notice showing you what to do. See pics below.

After our lovely cycle we took the bikes out along the mainland coast for a couple of hours and enjoyed seeing Enoshima on a holiday. There was a major volunteer beach clean-up happening and lots of surfing, either training or having fun. People here bike their surfaceboards to the beach - see final pic.

What a lovely morning! Many thanks to Debbie for her support and enthusiasm.

Reflexology area

Reflexology instructions

Getting to the beach, Japanese style

Island 3 - Miyajima, Japan, biked 15th April 2014

Thanks to Tomoyo for lending me her green bike

Miyajima is a wonderful island off Hiroshima. It is most famous for its sacred Itsukushima Shrine - an orange arch which 'floats' in the sea at high tide. We came to check it out for a place to visit and for an island to bike. We loved it so much that we tried to find a place to stay but had no luck with that.

Thanks to Debbie for being photographer

Being on an island, and in the Pacific, I inquired about renting bikes. No. 'Could I borrow one?' I asked various people. No.

This is too beautiful an island to be put off by these setbacks and then I met Tomoyo. She owns this lovely green bike and was very happy to let me rid it around for a while. Thank you Tomoyo!


With the lovely Debbie taking photos, I cycled up and down, weaving my way through the crowds and trying to avoid the deer (see my other blog for those pics, when I have a minute to update it!) which roam around the waterfront trying to eat paper and anything else that tourists might have on them,

It would have been nice to have had a bike for longer but I am so grateful to Tomoyo for making it possible for me to bike this extraordinary island in Japan.