Holland to Germany!!!

Image via Wikipedia

I'm going to give a quick overview of our progress so far, this time from an Internet cafe in Gronau in Germany (and yes, the 'z' and the 'y' are still interchanged, but at least the keyboard works this time!!) I wanted to post some pictures, but there is no USB port so that is going to be impossible - sorry...we've been taking a lot, and will try to upload soon. (Had a chance to add pictures later :-)



Thursday 19h July 2007 - Day 2: The Hague to Woerden (65km)

Today things started to go right. In spite of a late start we got away and headed in the correct direction (for a change :-)) following the LF4 route. John had a headache which we later put down to caffeine withdrawal as we had not had a cup of coffee or tea for a day. The cycling was intially deliciously cool through deciduous forests, which gradually gave way to farm land. Saw a lot of horses and ponies of all shapes and sizes. The smell of the countryside here is a heady mix of wild flowers, grass, and rich soil.


One of the highlights is that there are so many other people cycling here of all ages, on a range of bikes from top of the range road bikes to old bone shakers.

The houses along the route were very distinctive, with squared off roofs, often thatched in funky stles, and meticulous gardens stuffed with flowers. After about two or three hours we passed on in to 'canal' land. The landscape is criss-crossed with channels, and each house has its own bridge to access it.

Lunch was beside one of the long roads, lined with huge mature beeches. Our entertainment was a flock of birds wheeling and circling above, and a constant stream of friendly cyclists.

After John started to flag (he calls me the Duracell Bunny for some reason!), we started to look for a campsite. A cup of coffee went some way toward alleviating John's headache and cheering him up. Even better we found an outdoor shop that sold white gas...tea-yay!!

Met a 73 year old Dutch guy in the last few kms who still cycles the world. He looked great, and was an inspiration.

John writes his diary at the end of the day

In Den Haag in Holland

Just off the ferry

I'm typing this at our first campsite in Holland but the keypad does not work properly and the 'y' and 'z' are interchanged! Our first day has been a bit of a disaster with one of John's new Ortleib panniers breaking and finding out that the new MSR stove does not burn meths, but only white gas or kerosene. So it's sandwiches for dinner. And a rather grumpy John.

Ferry ride was uneventful, even though it was a day late. More disasters that culminated with us spending a day in Beverley instead of Holland.

Weather has been perfect though, and we have cycled in some very pretty, if flat countryside. Better get back to the sandwiches :-)

Will type more when have a proper keyboard that works....

Sitting in an Internet cafe in Wolverhampton!!

Tonight we are getting on the overnight ferry to Rotterdam! Just have to get as far as Hull which means we have the laborious task of finishing our packing, and getting the bikes in the back of the car. Ah well. Soon we will be underway. Just hope we won't need the snorkel and fins in the rain-sodden landscape :-)