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Published: August 6th 2007
So here I am in Amsterdam. Its hot, hotter still in this basement internet cafe, so excuse my brevity and speeling errors. No photos sorry - don't have a USb cable for the camera, might get one later.
The flights from Wellington went relatively well although my mistaken belief that my first flight was at 9pm, not 1900 did come back to haunt me. Although I still made it to the airport comfortably, with assitance from the lovely Cas, I did not have time to print out a google map of Amsterdam as I had planned... this would have come in useful 40 hours later.
But boefre we get to that, let me tell you quikcly of my conclusions on China having spent 5 hours in the Middle Kingdom's Shanghai aiport. My conclusions are these: there are lots of people in China, Shanghai is as flat as Amsterdam (more on that soon), the smog was unbelievable it actually smelled of pollution stepping of the plane (in 28 degree heat too), Shanghai airport is poorly laid out and no fun; the Lufthansa staff in Shanghai suck - they will make you pay USD$100 for transporting your bike beucasse its sport equipment despite a) you didn't have to paything on the flight to Shanghai, b) the Lufthansa office in Auckland told you travel agent you wouldn't have to pay anything, and c) you are within the 20kg limit even counting the bike. So, China get s 2.3 out of a possible 4.7 on the universial scale of awesomeness - not a good impression from my first time in a dictatorship (at least the planes ran on time).
The final flight ran late in Amsterdam - it was 11:15pm by the time I had all my gear out the front of the airport, got out my tools and set to assembling my bike, aided by encouragment from a group of 20 something Dutchies who were drinking in front of the aiport for some reason. The bike was assembled pretty easily with only a slight angle a front whell brace and the lack of front brakes (which had been deactivated for travel and which I couldn't see how to make work again) slight causes for concern. Now, having received her address in an email at frankfurt airport and taken a quick look at its location on google maps before my time ran out, I was off to couch surf at Martinque's, I called her from the airport saying I should be there well before 12.
that turned out to be an optimistic projection.
At first the bike track form the airpot to the centre of Amsterdam was easy but then it disappeared and I was left heading in the gnereal direction on footpaths and hoping more signs for AMsteradm would appear.. which they did, unfortunately after 20 minutes biking they still indicated Amsterdam was 9km away (as it had been at the airport). Well, nothing to do but keep going and soon enough, maybe an hour later, I was at the Central Station.. Matinque's instructions were that from the station I should take a ferry to NDSM wharf on the other side of the major canal. I preferred to try biking and anyway couldn't find the wharves by the station. I headed for a bridge and first got a sense that I had the sacle of things in Amsterdam worng, the birdge turned out to be nto the 5 minutes away I imagined but more like 15, and when I got there, there was no bike lane. Some Latvian Russian sailors befriended me at this point, telling me there was a way arocss the canal near where their ship was docked.. I walked with the for some time and they pointed me in the direction of this crossing - no such crossing, retracing my route I thought of biking along the bridge's hard shoulder, but it turned out the bridge became a tunnel and I had to get off and retrace my path right back to the city centre, whereupon I found the ferry wahrves right beside the central station. thre was no ferry running to the wharf I wanted but the other one was only a few kms away. It was now something like 2.45, i had been travelling for about 45 hours since Wellington and had had about 5 hours sleep - having an ice tea perked me right up though and as i crossed the canal in the ferry (free it turned out) I looked forward to sleeping soon.
That would have to wait.
Biking through the twisting roads of the northern side with no landmarks in the totally flat suburbs I used the maps on bus stops to check I had my route correct (these maps did not show Martinque's actual street but did show the major ones nearby). Things were going well but then I found myself crossing a bridge I had before. Somehow, I thought, I've got turned around 360, well, have to get back to the point where that must have happened. Biking along I saw a wharf up ahead - I must to close! Then I noticed a fimilar pile of clothes, a pile that had been beside the wharf I got off at... I hadn't been turned around 360 degrees, only 180 - so I had to start agian, another 30 minutes lost... carefully this time I went along, checking my location at every bus stop - somehow I still managed to get way off track severl times, and overshoot her street twice - but I found it around, a flat in a series of apartment buildings constructed of shipping containers stacked together), at 4am, meaning a wonderful 4 hours sleep on a mattress on the floor, interrupted only by Martinque asking me not to snore..
Now I'm trying to rehydrate and see Amsteradm before heading off tomorrow to the delightfully named Hoorn.
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Cain V
non-member comment
i can't believe you're not butter
i miss you already clintsickle... my head hurts from friday. i blame you for 3% of that! i'm a little concerned that you have troubled sense of direction. yet i understand that sleep deprivation, poor visibility (due to night) and unfamiliar surroundings may have influenced this a bit i think it's just to be worried that your 360 degree detours may head you in the direction of the Vatican or worse...Amsterdam again...godverdomme!!