Friday 7th September (Day 52): Arbon to Zell (Wildberg) (68 km)

A cold start (about 9 degrees again), but not raining. That is not to say that the clouds were not promising rain, and that, in fact, it had indeed precipitated all night. Set off along the lake for about 5km until my rear tyre went rather flat (valve problems - removing the dust cap, and a little action with the pump made all the difference). We then pedalled off onto route 5 into Switzeland. The route is superb. Well thought out, through picturesque rural land and communities, and past buildings and places of interest, such as the water schloss we passed (large painted building in a lake - most impressive).

The houses are distinctly different and there is a definite sense of industriousness in the fields and orchards.

The route climbs quite seeply at first, but then levels off, although there was a pretty steep climb on gravel at one point. Love the place, people, route, and cycling though...

Thursday 6th September (Day 51): Lindau to Arbon (Germany, to Austria, to Switzerland in a day (57km)

Woke late and made the decision seeing how the weather was still rather grotty (there is snow on the mountains surrounding the lake, down to about 1000 meters!) to go to an Internet cafe to make bookings for the flight back to NZ. Failed miserably (the Emirates site...don't even get me started), but have since been successful. As such, we set off at about 1pm. It felt pretty good to be back on level ground as we cycled around Bodensee (Lake Constance), and we made good time. Excellent spot for lunch at Bregenz, and the sun actually made a couple of weak, watery appearances.

While pedaling along today we discussed a few top tips/observations and will be posting them soon (rather tongue in cheek, but based on experience).

We made the transition into Austria (welcome back cycle route signs), and then again into Switzerland. Oh my - do these guys know how to sign a cycle route!! Place names, distances, reassurance markers, the whole lot, and on big signs you can even spot if you are myopic.

The camp site we rocked up to is fantastic. There is an area set apart just for tents, right beside Bodensee, and in spite of being beside a railway track, there is no major motorway, or a halogen lamp burning down on the tents. We had a superb evening sitting by the lake, scaring the ducks, being scared by the swans, and watching the sun go down.