It's always so nice to be home, regardless of how good the trip was. Getting home was a bit of a marathon thanks to Qantas. It just seems that every time we fly with them lately there's always a drama, particularly when it involves the Airbus A380. Some points from the tour: 1. While more people in the group mean that it was "merrier" (the more the merrier) it does remove some flexibility when booking accommodation. Smaller hotels or B&Bs in quaint villages a...

Boarded on time for our flt to Sydney and then sat in the plane for over two hours while the engineers tried to resolve a "computer issue". The captain had to shut the whole plan down twice to do that. Not good sitting in a plan without aircon in Dubai, 46deg in the shade!! Finally fixed the problem, well that's what they told us, and announced that we were taking off, but after pulling back from the gate they discovered a new problem so back to the parking bay. ...

16-22deg, cloudy but fine. Our last day in Frankfurt started with a leisurely brekkie in the hotel. We had all day to sort and pack. Greg decided to walk to the Palm Garden and then take a look through the Botanic Garden. Wendy opted for a walk along the river and chilling out at the hotel. The gardens were excellent, especially the climate controlled tropical glass houses, some dating back to 1869. The Palm House is the largest building of its kind in the world....

Total km for tour 1,574km, 17-25 deg cloudy and cooler. Back at the Holiday Inn where we started so a nice hearty brekkie in-house. Bus-loads of Chinese and Indian tourists are still here. It's nice to see that they now are the new "middle class" and have the resources to travel and see the world. That way they can share the joys of their success. Today we need to clean the bikes (for our very fussy Customs & Quarantine people) and put them back in their boxe...

41km, 21-33deg, fine and pleasant. Our last day on the bikes for this tour, where has the time gone? As Maccas was across the street from the hotel, some (who shall remain nameless) had to wait until they opened to have brekky. Maccas opens very late (8am) here compared to Oz. They actually serve a nice bacon and eggs breakfast in Germany so it's not too bad for you. Greg had brekkie in the room. Rode away at 9am and headed back to the city centre of Mainz for a ...