sun

Shot for the Day (25 September 2013)

| Zapfly

Shot_of_the_day_25SEPT

A decade ago, I was in southern Argentina, on my travels around South America. I have fond memories of camping out close to the Perito Moreno Glacier, with some friends from the Raleigh International expedition I had just completed.  The previous night, we were kept awake by the violent sound of huge chunks of ice carving off the glacier.

I arose at 4am and walked to the glacier to watch dawn break. It was a truly spellbinding moment. Unfortunately, the next time I visited the glacier, you were no longer allowed to camp in the National Park, so a doubly lucky moment.

Here’s looking at you 2003!

Day 13: Litlahof to Kirkjubaejarklaustur

| gloriakidsfirst

Julien is currently waiting for a pizza to arrive.

Woke up and had a chat with Dave. He decided that he couldn’t ride anymore. So left him behind in Hofn. Jumped on bike. Perfect conditions. Arrow straight road, glacier on the right hand side. Even saw the sun and although it was  intermittent, it was a welcome change. Julien got excited by the conditions and caned it as he was so excited to see the sun. Not many kilometres left to cover but still a few days left to cover them in so am limited myself each day.

Cycled on for about 65 km and found a  very random hotel in the middle of nowhere. Situated on a flat plateau and is a building that looks like containers from a big ship with windows at each end. Looks bizarre and crazy but is surprisingly smart inside.  I wandered in and they looked me up and down. I asked them if they had any lunch but I was too late.  Too late for lunch and  too early for dinner but they did have their special so I was treated to bowls and bowls of lamb soup with a great waitress running back and forth refilling my bowl.

Headed to Kirkjubaejarklaustur and outside of the town I could see a rain cloud coming like curtains ahead of me. I thought I might get away with it but no, cycled 8kms in the pissing rain. Found service station, ran in absolutely soaked. Ordered a cup of tea. I met two German guys going around the island in a 4×4 so spoke with them for 1 hrs 30. Went to Tourist info to find out where I could camp. In the tourist office there was a great guy who was half Scottish and half Icelandic who recommended a campsite and a great restaurant where I have now ordered pizza. It’s arrival is imminent!

I have two days left  and now I am solo am cycling about 17/18 miles per hour and getting excited about meeting up with Dave in Reykjavik and celebrating the end of the tour 🙂

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

Arriving in Devon

| Zapfly

Saturday, 26th July

Finally, we are off. I boarded the train from Paddington to Penzance. Two stations down the line, Pete and Mary joined the train in Taunton. I was still worried that my bike was far too heavy yet equally concerned that I did not have all the kit I needed with me. However, once we got off the train at Penzance, the warm afternoon sun and calm roads soothed my worries.

We ended up cycling about 12 miles to the camp site, where we were greeted by perhaps the most hospitable campsite owners in the UK. They cracked open a few beers and chatted away to us for a while. The setting was serene and incredibly quiet, which was great as we needed to get some sleep.

Prior to sleep, we headed out to get some grub. However, Lands End ain’t London and nothing was open, so we ended up having to carve slithers off from the picnic table and garnish them with some woodlice. Nice.