Thirty-seven thousand two hundred and four kilometres; ten chains, thirty tyres, and 66 punctures, in forty-four months from Cape Town, South Africa to Nordkapp, Norway. Another leg of our world journey by bicycle is complete. It was a strange feeling to arrive; although there was no fanfare, inside we felt the satisfaction of having made the journey.

In the last 200 kilometres, I caught a cold and had to spend a day in the tent to get over the worst of it. Emi took advantage of the carpet of blueberries around us. Unfortunately, she had sore calf muscles for days after from crouching down to pick them. The berries did taste great, though.

There were also the long climbs over the 350-metre-high treeless cape to conquer—it seemed we weren’t meant to have it easy, even to the last kilometres. The weather was on our side, though; it had been the best summer for years.

Having arrived, we sat in the cafe at the end of the world, and it seemed everyone was coming. A group of “Brits” from the Land Rover factory had arrived. They were on a 50-day, 50-country challenge in aid of UNICEF. They had a group of four Land Rovers and lots of energy to go all the way to Cape Town.

The fog eventually moved in, obscuring the view over the sea with the fishing boats on the calm water’s surface. We camped behind the car park, out of the wind on a rocky spot amongst the rubbish thrown there by people who don’t see the beauty of a clean environment. It would have been interesting to stay and see the Arctic winter or go with sled dogs to… Naaa. We’d miss our bikes too much.

Ben Stephenson