This Tour de France was motivated
by a mate’s (Bob) retirement from the Regular Navy. I first met Bob back in
2003 when we travelled to the UK and Europe as part of an exchange program with
the British Army. Despite the fact that he’s a die-in-the-ditch Navy bloke and
I’m Army green to the core, we’ve got a lot in common, in particularly our love
of cycling. While I’ve done many unsupported cycle tours both in Oz and OS, Bob
has stuck to supported tours, where someone takes care of your baggage, food,
and accommodation.
We are keeping planning to an absolute minimum, only booking a B&B in Lyon for the arrival and departure days. Everything else is up for debate at the time, including where exactly do we cycle to. We have both seen the Loire Valley on The Tour de France coverage so we’re well aware that it’s a pretty special place. We’d like to take in as much of it as possible within the four weeks we’re there.
The check in at Hervey Bay was the quickest and easiest I had ever encountered; I suspect they’ve had a computer upgrade as the old one was tortuously slow. Amazingly we took off from Hervey Bay 11 minutes early (a first for Qantas) so that gave me a bit more time to get from Domestic to International. As it turned out I sailed through everything, transfer, security and customs like a breeze. Plenty of time to relax in the international terminal before departure.
Bob joined me in the departure lounge after a flight from Canberra and a good run through security and immigration. He was one relieved puppy having had a busy lead up to the trip both at work and home. We boarded a bit late and then a refuelling problem meant a long wait in the plane on the tarmac in Brisbane. However, the captain assured us that he’d make up the time on the way. One thing struck me immediately on boarding: the lack of children and babies. It made for a very quiet and peaceful flight. Note to self - try very hard to travel outside school holidays at the destination and departure locations. Considering what’s going on with the flu season back home, I was surprised by the lack of anyone coughing and spluttering. I managed some pretty good naps (in between radio podcasts) and arrived in Dubai spot on time at 0717h fairly refreshed. Only seven hours to our flight to Lyon, but Dubai is huge so plenty of walking around.
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