What incredible powers of recovery the body has - I felt so much better after a few hours in the sun, good food, boots off. I swapped my skis for a bike and set off on a magical five day ride, with fine weather and fabulous 15km long descents in wild country. I crossed the state border from Victoria to New South Wales at the headwaters of the Murray River. Here it is a tiny stream which grows and flows for thousands of kilometres to become Australia's second-longest river.

The weather changed on the last night of this leg, just after we took shelter in an old stockman's hut. A huge storm kept us awake all night, smashing onto the iron roof. We woke up to a real wet 'British' mountain biking morning, with the bonus of pushing bikes through soft snow for 6km. Soaked but content, we rode into Thredbo for a late breakfast.