Day 15 we spent up in the ski slopes

Today Natalie stole. She went into a shop and took something which she never paid for. When she exited the shop and told me what she had done I was shocked, and when it dawned on her the temerity of her actions she was extremely embarrassed and spoke of going back and confessing, she didn’t however and since we are now safely back in Robinson Street it would appear she has gotten away with it.

We got up today with great intentions of having a bite to eat then jumping on the bikes up to the Blue Mountain sking resort which is situated just a short cycle away from us. We both had good memories of the place as we did the very same thing five years previous and had said in the weeks before we came up north that that would be one of the things we would definitely do when we got to Collingwood, also it got warm as the afternoon was wearing on so we hoped to get up and wander around and then get back down before it got too hot. So we had a plan in place and we aimed to follow it, however pulling the bikes out of the hut at the bottom of the garden it became clear that things weren’t going to go to plan. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bikes hadn’t been ridden since we last rode them so the tires were pretty much flat, the inflator was in the car and Anne Marie had went to a piano lesson in it so we had to wait till she came back to inflate our tires and be on our merry way. While we waited I cut the grass with the motorised lawnmower, I have to say it’s a hundred miles away from the last one I used which was my dads push mower which is almost an antique. (Is should add that I am a hedge cutter in most houses, the grass cutting is other peoples jobs)

check out the calves, johnny drama would want some of those!

Team John and Natalie set out on their grueling cycle

Ok so we got the tires blown up and set out on our way, we sort of remembered the way but like Tuesday when we came up to Collingwood time has played tricks on us as regards how long travelling takes and it became clear that the wee village in the Blue Mountains skiing resort was a good bit further away than we first thought. So we were rolling along just fine till we reached the interchange of simcoe 19 and grey road 21 (not that it makes the slightest difference the exact location but I like how it sounds) on which a driving range is situated, here my bikes back end started making odd sounds as if I had picked up some sort of debris and it was hitting the frame every time the tire completed a revolution. So I jumped off and had a look, my tire was bulging, no wait, it was bulging and moving round, no, I am wrong, the tire is burst. At this there was an almighty bang (it wasn’t really that loud but because I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening I had my face a little too close when inspecting my malfunction) as the tire popped! Natalie came back and we chained the bike up against a power cable, no point wasting the day by calling to be picked up, we decided simply to take the other bike and walk into the village which surely wasn’t that far away. Again, it was. We walked into the village under the baking sun without any sort of shade or protection, by the time we arrived we were beat and right in the mood for a drink.

My bike was utter mince compared to Natalies, she was always miles ahead of me!

This is where the bike got bust, we thought we were there as the sign behind indicated so, we were wrong!

While having this drink a gust of wind got up and picked up speed across the wee lake behind our sitting position and blew our parasol down, narrowly missing Natalies head actually! Not that she knew as she had leaned over to dig something or other out her bag and the big cloth umbrella went right over her head. If she had been upright it would have given her a fair clout!

The extent of the damage to my bike, bet you thought i was exagerating!

So we walked around a little before deciding to head back to the fallen soldier also known as the bike and it was now that Natalie became public enemy number one in the eyes of this travel writer. She entered the small grocery store and disappeared while I looked at ice lollies or something, she came back to me and said time to go so we left. When she came out a mischievous grin appeared on her face and she uttered the words “I stoleded” and opened her hand to reveal she had opened a bottle of sunscreen and squeezed some into her hand. After being caught walking without shade in high heat we were both burnt pretty well in the face and forearms so this was to try combat it for the walk back to the bike. Natalie, even now, is unrepentant in her felonious behaviour but I cant stay mad forever, especially as she gave me some of her ill gotten gains to use on my weather ravaged skin. Plus she has just got me a beer from the fridge!