I write at the end of June, nearly a month after we departed Halifax, Nova Scotia. I’m enjoying typing on a proper keyboard, on a laptop (!) from our dining table/desk in Hebden Bridge (near Halifax, West Yorkshire). It’s been quite the month as we have begun to readjust to life back ‘home’ after 14 months living on the road.
Somehow, this has felt like the first opportunity – or at least the first opportunity I wanted to take – to write this ‘last’ post of our trip. It’s been ‘A Lot‘ to take in, that after so so long away, we are back. And that the life we had become completely accustomed to is now a past life. The present has felt hectic – mainly filled with seeing people. People who we know (and love) as opposed to the many many interactions with strangers (some of whom became friends, of course).
The reconnections started nearly as soon as we put our feet on British soil. We arrived at London Gatwick at 9am, having had zero hours sleep during the six hour cross-Atlantic journey. The bikes arrived safely too and were immediately unpacked from their enormous boxes and assembled by Matt, whilst I re-packed our panniers for (very) nearly the last time.
We boarded a Southern train into London and immediately it all felt… familiar. So many accents that sounded like our own! Green fields giving way to urban sprawl. Old and new butted up against each other. And London itself. Alighting at Victoria we felt the crush and rush, the busy-ness of it all… bewildering but also comforting (there’s nothing emptied out about the UK’s big cities, that’s for sure).
The first person we spotted was our uni friend James – and his Mum and Step-dad, on a visit from New Zealand, also known as our wonderful hosts from our time in Christchurch a few months ago. It was lovely to be met from the train by people who knew how we might be feeling. Julie’s hug brought tears to my eyes again, just like when she showed us to our room in their house in NZ.
We enjoyed a bite to eat before saying our goodbyes again and jumping on the loaded bikes for a quick spin across central London. The sun came out and we genuinely gasped at the beauty of the place. No wonder international tourists love it!
They even closed the Mall for us! (or so it appears)
Luckily it was a short ride despite the detour as we were both starting to feel the impact of the no-sleep situation and so enjoyed watching the lush green-ness of the east of England whizz by as we took the train to Norwich, and then onto Lingwood – where my Mum and Dad live. We were greeted by a roast chicken dinner as requested (thanks Mum!), Matt’s favourite beers and a bottle of fizz. They seemed pleased to see us!
A couple of days later we were on the road again after enjoying a Norfolk spin minus bags to wake the legs back up. We’d both forgotten that a lot of the UK (including Norfolk) is home to a tapestry of tiny country lanes. Perfect for bike touring! After 14 months away we had the obvious/familiar realisation that adventures can be had just about anywhere if you open your eyes to what’s right in front of you. We were also struck by just how green and lush everywhere was. UK readers – I’m sure you’ll all groan and tell us that this is because it has rained non-stop whilst we have been away. And you might well be right (sorry). But we were hugely struck by the hedgerows, the trees, the wild flowers that crowd the countryside here. The insects and birds seemed pretty happy, as were we.
This theme of seeing the familiar with new eyes continued as we cycled across Norfolk to Snettisham. We didn’t quite retrace our steps from over a year before – choosing a different route heading north then east across the county. This meant for more endless country lanes, as well an off-road trail alongside the Bure Valley railway and plenty of small historic market towns, with a bonus ruined medieval abbey (it’s been a long time since we’ve admired such an old building!)
Our night in Snettisham was as welcome and comfy as when we stopped there at the end of our first night – thank you Bridgett and John for your repeat hospitality! And then we awoke to just one more day of riding before the finish/start line of Matt’s Mum and Dad’s in Lincolnshire.
It turned out to be an eventful day weather wise – quite the head wind (of course!), plus some heavy rain and then finally sunshine for the pancake flat run-in to Eaudyke Farm.
The day seemed to rush by. We wanted to get there, of course. But we both also found ourselves slowing down, willing the adventure not to end. It couldn’t be helped though. We’ve learnt time and again that all beginnings bring eventual endings, and here was ours. Our niece Esme ran down the lane to greet us waving handmade finish line flags (courtesy of Matt’s very crafty Mum) and skipped alongside us as we reached The End.
Hugs all round (sorry Caleb, just this once!), some tears from me. Beaming smiles from us both. Champagne was popped, and lasagne was eaten – Matt’s return-home request back at Christmas when we were asked this question by one of you lot (it was delicious and plentiful, thank you Clare).
Despite finally arriving and unpacking, we weren’t actually quite done with the pannier packing as we put everything back on the bikes the next day for a bit of a ‘show and tell’ at a little gathering of some of Pete and Clare’s friends who have enjoyed reading this blog! And so the sharing of our tales began – with the strange sensation of knowing that the people we were talking to, already had a pretty good idea of what we had been up to through this blog!
At times since we’ve been back I have wondered if the blog was actually a sensible thing to do. I’m quite a private person – what had possessed me writing about wee-ing in bushes, over-eating (and drinking…) and our sadness over not being able to become parents, with all of these lovely people? Had it all been a bit smug? Self-indulgent? I’m still wondering, but mostly I’ve realised (starting from the little gathering at Pete and Clare’s) that any over-sharing has been worth it. As readers seem to have got ‘something’ for themselves from reading these words. And even more so, so have we.
We left Matt’s parents after a couple of days – not on two wheels each, but on four between us as we were also reunited with our campervan there. Loaded with some of our belongings (and recently MOT-ed, thank you Pete!) we headed northwards – back to Hebden Bridge – where else?
Our short-term rental in the centre of town awaited us, as well as some more of our belongings/ furniture which we managed to extract from the storage unit in Sowerby Bridge the next day. In between we had a lovely evening with Maggie who kindly put us up for the night ahead of us having a bed (or indeed any furniture at all!) We tried to avoid too much trip-talk given Richard was absent. We’re looking forward to a proper catch up soon.
No rest for the wicked as having managed to unpack quite a bit we were back on the road and heading even further north to Scotland to spend a long weekend with my sister Katie, brother-in-law Jamie and niece Flora. The north of England and Scotland were as beautiful as ever, despite the horrendous June weather. We were grateful to be in a house! And for the champagne, home-cooked food and the company of a very energetic eight-year-old.
Heading back down to West Yorkshire coincided with the first day of the Spine Race – a 268 mile non-stop foot race from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in Scotland, along the Pennine Way. Don’t worry – we’re not completely crazy, we weren’t competing… but Matt’s brother Chris was, so we managed to get back to Hebden in time to cheer him on. We’d just finished our big adventure of course. Somehow witnessing Chris doing a very different ‘big adventure’ helped with some of the sad ‘it’s over’ feelings. We were struck by how lovely it was to share in someone else having the experience of a lifetime. And felt immediately inspired to have more of our own.
Having said that, neither of us were left feeling that the full Spine race was quite right for us… but we were definitely inspired as a few days later he not only completed the race (the first time a Type 1 diabetic has done so) but he also won it. A hero! We couldn’t have been prouder.
Dot watching Chris was also a welcome side project as his second day on the trail coincided with my first day back at work. I won’t say too much here, as it’s one thing over-sharing about our trip, but I don’t want to send you all to sleep with work chat. Suffice to say – the best thing about returning to my job has been being reunited with my wonderful colleagues, who all seem genuinely happy to see me!
Two weeks back in a very different saddle has flown by, with just a short break in the middle to spend the weekend celebrating with Chris, Ney, Caleb and Esme in Nottingham (incorporating some uncle/nephew cycling time, as well as far too much time being exposed to Chris’ feet which were just slightly worse for wear after running for 268 miles in mostly extremely boggy conditions).
Luckily for both of us, Matt hasn’t been thrown back into work immediately so he has managed to very efficiently make our flat properly ‘home’, as well as feeding me and ensuring I am looking presentable with washed and ironed clothes (yes – ironing, something we haven’t done for over a year!)
It’s all definitely felt like a new beginning. After a really big ending. For now, just observing all of the feelings that those two things bring has been the priority without thinking too much about what comes next. Life is pretty good when you feel the warm embrace of all of the people who love us, and the beauty of this country that we’re lucky enough to call home. That feels like enough just now, for this little family of two.
PS
After talking to you all so much via this medium over the last 14 months I’m a little lost for words when it comes to saying ‘thank you’ to all of the people – family, friends and new friends – who have followed this blog from the beginning, or joined us along the way. It’s been a privilege to share our tales with you all. Just the process of writing down what we have seen, tasted, smelt, heard and experienced has helped us to appreciate the wonder of the adventure we’ve had, as well as our wonder (and only very occasional despair) of the world we live in. Thank you for motivating us to keep writing and sharing – and for coming with us.
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