GRANDE FINALE

The cast of characters made this tour special!

RIDING ORDER

Of the twelve participants on this bike tour, the youngest is 56 and the oldest is 70. There are four couples who have all been married over 40 years! They are all in great shape and great conversationalists.

Leigh, our fearless leader is first to point the way. She is a powerful bicyclist. She quit her profession as a medical doctor to take up serious mountain biking. She goes with groups that take their bikes in a helicopter to a mountain top and bike down. She is a wonder woman.

Stephen is always up front and owns a seed sales company. He is our humorist. Peter also from Christ Church in NZ owns a garden center and his wife owns the café next door. Peter is known for his quick quips since childhood. As singles on this tour, they room together. Hillary and Anabelle are good friends and get together several times per year for trips. Jeff is Hillary’s husband. He is a psychologist and Hillary is a sociologist.

Anabelle is an attorney and my roommate. She is an amazon woman in strength and wit. We are the other two singles. Paddy and Brian are respectively the oldest couple and such strong bicyclists. They can bike 100 km and turn around and bike it again. Paddy was a politician for 12 years and is a firebrand with a quick and infectious laugh. Her husband, Brian is a commercial adjuster and they both have great stories.

Lorraine and Dale own property in NZ and are retired. Barbara and Rob are retired teachers from the UK. I bring up the rear with Ian as sweep. Ian does construction in NZ when he is not leading tours. He is a super conversationalist especially on the first day when I was struggling over those huge hills. He puts up with me stopping a lot to take pictures. For some of the couples, this is their fifth Escape Adventures bicycle tour. Everyone has done at least one.

BEACH PARTY

Everyone dresses up for our final dinner. Paddy and Brian had fun buying their outfits at the market where it was all transacted with pointing and nodding. They are the best dressed couple. During the cocktail hour, Nutmeg is transferred to Leigh for getting two flat tires today.

We walk to a seafood restaurant farther down on the beach for dinner. Since it was taking a long time, the hostess shows up with shots of lemon ginger rum for us all. Lots of toasts, lots of laughter and lots of sweet memories!

I learned a small group tour can be a lot of fun!