I talked to my mother this morning and she mentioned that she rode a moped between Amsterdam to Austria (apparently she had to peddle it up the hills, must have been fun in the alps) where she finally left it and hitchhiked the rest of the way to Croatia after deciding that she was spending too much time looking at tarmac. Not enjoying the scenery is one thing that I am quite worried about on my trip but I guess I will be able to do my riding in shorter time periods as I won’t have to peddle going up the hills.

My flatmate’s mother is staying with us for a few days and she said that in Christchurch, NZ that apparently it is a big deal if your family came on one of the first four ships. I have always know that I am a direct descendent from the first European female who was born and remained in NZ, Hannah King Lethbridge (apparently there is a pakaha (Maori word for white fella) that was born first but didn’t remain in NZ). So I phoned up my grandmother to ask if they came on one of the first four ships and she said that we are descendants from Captain Hansen who brought Lord Samuel Marsden in 1814 over. Picture is of the memorial put up at Marsden Cross where the boat landed.

Amazing how your family never tells you these things. You would have thought that my mother would mention her trip (Ann’s Adventures from Amsterdam to Austria) when I said I was going to ride a motorbike from Argentina to Alaska instead her first response was she wished that she was able to go with me. That is until she realised that it might be dangerous and then she said couldn’t I just limit my trip to Canada and the US!

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