Page 9 of Pennyfarthing Travel Blog Posts


Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland August 23rd 2019

Orkney Kirkwall and Hoy 51 miles 639m ascent. The ferry from Lerwick to Kirkwall on Orkney was delayed slightly last night as we were half an hour away from the port and someone apparently fell with the swell of the sea and needed to be taken off. Sailing back to port delayed us 1 1/2 hours and 11.30 departure became 0100. Miraculously we arrived in Kirkwall at 11.45 and found the hostel and made bed by 1 o’clock. Away at 8am for a good breakfast at the Pomona cafe. First class food and service. Whilst the day started bright it deteriorated with occasional rain and became very cold when the 20mph wind hit us head on. By the time we were at the Ring of Brogdar with 2 million German tourists it was quite bitter and ... read more
Unstans Tomb
Ring of Brogdar
Emilys cafe

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Shetland August 22nd 2019

Shetland. Walls. Tuesday morning started off much colder at 10 degrees and very overcast with a little drizzle in the air and a 20 mph westerly wind. Luckily we were heading south off the island and down through Yell to the mainland. The first ferry was just about to set off as we arrived and we rode straight on for the 10 minute journey. Once on Yell we got onto the main road and fell into a peloton with me at the back (mostly) being protected by the younger and fitter riders. The ferry at Alsta came in 10 minutes after we arrived and then sat in the harbour for 45 minutes. Luckily we could get into the passenger lounge to get warm with a coffee bought at the shop which was open today (Closed Sundays). ... read more
Great Skua
Replica Viking Longboat.
Burrastow House.

Europe August 18th 2019

Shetland. Yell and Unst. Good news this morning as we woke up to a dry morning and a dry forecast for the next 5 days. The breakfast at the Magnus Bay Hotel was to die for, as was the meal last night. I can thoroughly recommend it for a stay. Off we went down the bay and within 2 miles a 10% climb loomed in front of us for half a mile. Bottom gear and heavy breathing was the order of the day, especially when the wind was against us until Brae where we stocked up on supplies at the Co-Op. Luckily we turned north and it was behind us for the rest of the day. We passed the oil terminal at Sullom Voe and over the hill to the ferry at Toft. Since we are ... read more
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Road train

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Shetland Islands August 17th 2019

Shetland. Hillswick 45 miles. After waking up to rain these past two days, for a surprise we woke up to rain again today although it was only very gentle and there was very light wind from the south. This was great news as we are heading north today firstly up the east side and the tail wind is every cyclists dream. Breakfast, for the more domesticated of us, was home made porridge with banana and jam. The molly coddled crew of three went to the Peerie cafe in Lerwick again and then to the supermarket to find some food for Unst. Five of us then headed off under a heavy sky and low cloud. The scenery going around the lochs and coastline was very good and would have been stunning on a sunny day, but alas ... read more
Coffee break. .
View from hotel

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland August 16th 2019

Shetland and Orkney. August 2019 The Clitheroe Bike Club head off to the far north. The eight of us start by taking two cars to Aberdeen Airport for parking before taking the overnight ferry to Lerwick. Landed to meet rain and dark skies at we disembarked and headed to the Isleburgh hostel. Luckily our room was available so we made up our beds hoping the rain would abate. No such luck, so off we went on our way to Burra and then back to the Scalloway Museum and Castle. The museum was well worth a visit with great staff and interesting exhibits. The castle was built by an Earl who was given the job of looking after Shetland and Norway but ended up being greedy and making the locals poverty stricken so ended up being executed. ... read more
Scalloway Castle.
Scalloway in the wet.

Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Chiyoda June 28th 2019

Onsen Explorer. Day 13. Thursday. After sleeping like a log we needed a more European breakfast so had a egg and bacon tea cake at Cafe Delice before a trip on the Ginza underground line to Asakusa. Whilst this is a big tourist destination it is well worth the visit, full of tourist stalls down both sides of the street with the exquisite Senso-Ji shrine at the end with people milling around everywhere. There are several shops selling and renting out kimonos so there are girls and ladies parading the streets wearing them - very nice. The restaurants are good too if you get away from the main area selling traditional Japanese fare and Italian etc. From there a walk to Ueno Park is possible where you will find a zoo and several shrines of Shinto ... read more
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Asia » Japan June 27th 2019

Onsen Explorer. Day 12. Otaru. Hokkaido. Great breakfast of all variety of food of Japanese and Western tastes. Full marks. The temperature was 22 degrees at 10am as we went out to exploreWww the Canal and dockside. Plenty to see with small stalls selling artistic products. Sakaimachi Dori street was a tourists Mecca selling allsorts of tat and classy products as well. We were asked to take part in a tourist survey and to take part in a tea ceremony by some school children. This was quite interesting with them making the green tea and frothing it up with what looked like a shaving brush served with a small sweet cake. All the while three girls were playing what I think was a tune on long stringed instruments. Since the temperature was getting to 26 degrees ... read more
Rickshaw
Wolf shop .
Canal

Asia » Japan » Hokkaido June 25th 2019

Onsen Explorer. Day 11. Otaru. A nice warm sunny day for our last cycling day. 500m up the hill and a great descent to our first stop 16km away. We stopped on the hill to get a good view of the mini Mount Fuji called Mt Yotei, the top of which at 1900m was unfortunately covered in cloud. As we left town at the tea break we had a tail wind into the countryside which brought on a dose of perspiration running down my sun specs. The area looked quite prosperous again and it was a pleasure to ride through it to our lunch stop which was at the other side of a big hill, which has a 2km tunnel,very noisy but we cycled along the 1 1/2 metre pavement without mishaps. Down we went to ... read more
The source of the onsen spring.
Mount Yoshei
Hot spring

Asia » Japan June 25th 2019

Onsen Explorer. Day 10. Goshiki Onsen. The forecast was good today and we awoke to a bright sunny sky. Our accommodation was a little third rate with scruffy toilets and rooms. The toilet window had not been cleaned since the Shogun visited in 1678. Smoking was allowed and the rooms stank. Whilst the rest of the group ate a superior western breakfast of bacon and egg with fresh croissants Paul and I had guess what? Fish, followed by fish, followed by fish soup, followed by seaweed on rice, not forgetting the squid - delicious. After breakfast I went into the small harbour and watched little bent ladies and men gutting fish. A prize morning photograph was a kite sat on a pole which stayed long enough to get a good shot with the light in the ... read more
Kite
Fish gutting.

Asia » Japan » Hokkaido June 23rd 2019

Onsen Explorer. Day 9 Sunday 23 June. Shimamaki. A nearly western breakfast which was very well received. Scrambled egg sausage, salad, yogurt, rice, fish soup, croissants and baguettes. The Cockney Rebel couldn’t stop smiling. A good cycling start to the day which started dry with a little occasional blue sky. It was Deborah’s birthday today so we had a celebration with a Japanese birthday card before we set off. Alis had a puncture along the coast road, I think it was the first on this tour. The concrete block sea defenses indicate that this is a really rough seaboard. We could not help but notice that many of the beaches were covered in debris; timber, large ropes, fishing nets buckets and a large variety of plastic were all to be seen, most of which seemed to ... read more
Shinto Shrine.
Cormorants.
Squid boat




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