18 November 2014 - Rest Day - Lunteren

I was looking forward to my first official ‘Rest Day’ of the trip. Julie had a full day of conference involvement. We were out of bed early, and down at the breakfast area by 7am, mainly to have our nice cup of coffee together to start the day before the throng descended for breakfast.

It was a typically sumptuous breakfast, with some laughter and stories again over breakfast as the table filled with other conference members. I lingered long after the others had gone to their first session, having a second round of cereal and coffee before the clock struck 10am.

I spent time carefully washing and servicing the bike. The bike was caked in mud from the journey. Without a hose it was a challenge to wash the bike clean. However, it came up looking shining and clean nevertheless. I had worn out both sets of brakes. The entire run from Arnham was done mostly using front brake only – the rear pads were worn down to the metal, gouging the rim of the rear wheel.

With new brake pads, and a lovely wash, the bike was looking and feeling great once again.

I spent some time to sit and reflect on my blog, enjoying the extra time to especially write and reflect deeply on my visit to the War Cemetery. I decided then to dress up and spend a few of the afternoon hours walking through the surrounding forests. I must say this was a lovely reflective time. The forests are just ablaze with colour, the bronze carpet of magnificent leaves just stunning in all directions.

It was lovely also to walk past a number of farms, all of which had horses and ponies which showed no shyness when approached by this Aussie touring cyclist.

As the weather began to close in and the darkness begin to roll down a curtain on the day, I made my way slowly back to the Hotel. It had been a truly restful day, and a welcome one at that.

Tomorrow I plan to get back on the bike and do a day trip to the original capital of Holland, the historic city of Nijmegan, which is also famous from WW2. The bridge at Nijmegan crosses the southern tributary of the Rhine, called the ‘Waal’. This bridge was taken and successfully held, being the bridge before the more famous John Frost Bridge at Arnham.

Until then, I send my love from the stunningly beautiful forests at Luteren, Holland.