Once upon a time...

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...there was a little girl from a small town in a very small country who decided to pack her bags and travel the world all on her own. Along the way she met lots of interesting people and saw lots of beautiful places. She had to battle lots of dangerous animals and conquer mountains and rivers until she finally made it to.......

See, that is the exciting part about my journey. Where will it end and will there be a happy ending? Do we need endings or can you just live happily ever after???

I write these words as I have yet again packed my backpack and boxed my bike as I am about to head off to the beautiful, exotic and warm France. Not only am I about to have yet another dream of mine fullfilled: To ride the famous Álp d'Huez and see the Tour but as fate has it, I will also be in France on Sunday watching the final of the World Cup. What could be more exciting than being among a proud and excited nation? I will be soaking in the atmosphere and putting on my best French accent as I go: "Allez les Bleus".

Very uncharasteric of me, this blog will be a picture update as opposed to my usual novels about my experiences. As I am running short of time, I will let the pictures of my last three weeks in Denmark speak for themselves.

Here's a quick overview:

1) My Birthday: Had the whole family over for a fantastic three course meal which I actually cooked myself. Bought a whole salmon and cooked it on the BBQ. My best meal so far, but wait, it was probably the first time I ever cooked a proper meal, so no wonder why! It was so great to finally have a birthday with my family. My nana is 95 years old now but still remembers dates and details from the war etc. One funny story was when I proudly announced to her that I had just been for a 75k ride that my granddad used to cycle 17km to and from work every day come rain, snow or shine. On gravel. That put me to shame! My other grandparents on my mum's side are 84 and 85 years old but still managing their own house and garden which is quite remarkeble! Anyway, a great day. And of course it was sunny as we in Denmark have a saying that if the sun shines on your birthday it means that you have been a good girl/boy!

2) Skagen: Skagen is the Northern most point in Denmark and the place where two oceans meet. It is a very beautiful place, probably one of the top tourist destinations in Denmark. I went there for a couple of days with my friends, Lise, Vivi and Astrid.

3) Training: Or should I say, lack there of! No, it has been great to get back into training, especially discovering my home country by bike. The country side is very beautyful here and the bike lanes are a massive bonus. Although there are no hills or mountains the Westerlies more than makes up for this! Although I have given up plans to compete in any major races this summer as I quickly realised that there is no room in my backpack for my bike, I have managed to do a couple of small races just for fun. I was extremely worried about getting into my wetsuit again considering the joys of living at home again. My mum's fridge has got this amazing ability to refill itself no matter how much I eat. Its fantastic. On the downside though I did manage to rip my wetsuit getting into it, so I wonder whether perhaps I should stop visiting those bakeries every day....

Enjoy the photos. Greetings from one very happy and excited traveller.

PS. Thanks for all the emails, do keep'em coming although I am not sure I will be online for the next few weeks.
PPS. A few people have asked about my plans. My very rough itineary is as follows:

July 9-27 France
July 29 Friends' wedding in Denmark
Aug 14-20 Tuscany
Aug 24-27 Copenhagen Tour Guide for all my kiwi friends (everyone welcome, kiwi or not)
Sep 1-20 No plans - possibly Austria or Turkey
Sep 20- Oct 15 Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa)
Oct 16-18 Singapore (wedding dress shopping with my friend Sacha :-) )
Oct 18-22 Thailand
Oct 23-Nov 3 Laos (tbc)
Nov 4 My friends Kath & Nick's wedding in Akaroa, NZ :-)

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