Strong head winds

struggling against very strong southerly winds interspersed with rain. Last night the wind  howling outside sounded horrendous in our tent. Consequently the going is a bit slow but able to find well placed campsites.

Brielle

Chas on a dyke on a bike

Quaint wee town

Massive transporter bridge on canal

On our way

The last couple of days have dragged as we waited for Sunday to come round to get on our way. Yesterday we spent a great afternoon at the Colchester Castle. It dates back to the invasion by the Romans 2000 years ago when a temple to Claudius was built. Following the fall of the Roman Empire it became  derelict  but was resurrected by the Normans who used all the building materials to build their keep. It has had major work done on it to turn it into an outstanding museum.

The foundations showing both roman temple and Norman castle wall

  

Katrina on the royal Norman "throne" said to have been used by the Tudor kings as it was the only one with a seat

Roman burial covers

A fantastic collection of roman and Norman artefacts. A building in Colchester is being redeveloped and they found a Roman woman's jewel box in the excavations

Entrance way

This morning we finally got our bikes set up and have made our way to Harwich to catch the ferry tomorrow. Good to be on our way.

We have arrived

Sitting on an airplane for 24 hours of an over 30 hour travelling time from Dunedin to Colchester is actually not to much fun. Oh for a big lotto win to travel business class.  However we have arrived in one piece and with a nights sleep under our belt the time has passed very quickly. During the next few days we wil be sorting out our gear, buying bikes and generally getting organised. It has been a beautiful day in Colchester today with the spring flowers out and so had a wander around the castle and the old town wall. Colchester is marketed as the oldest town in Britain. The hotel we are staying at was built in1465 but I guess the central heating must have been added later!

Colchester castle

Entrance to Red Lion Yard and hotel

Inside stairwell of hotel

Who was the lovely person who gave Katrina the cold to share with the folk in the UK???

1 week to go

It's time to head to the northern hemisphere. Woke this morning to snow and hail to sea level. Most unseasonal with temperatures hovering around 7 and down to 2 overnight. A couple of days ago it was in the high teens.

Only 7 more sleeps.