Before I dive into the first installment of Donkey and Horse Adventures we just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who made it to our leaving do.  We had a fabulous send off and with my parents there it made it a very special occasion.  For those who couldn’t make it….we hope Glasto was suitably psycadelic 😉

It’s coming up to a week since we left the UK now and we’ve been enjoying every pedal.  A friend of ours, Nora, turned up to wave farewell from our house and it was all a bit surreal as we cycled out through Essex to our first night wild camping.  It turned out not to be so wild as we realised we had to get used to reading the Garmin and ended up pinching a spot in a field of a lovely couples farm. Big thanks to Stu, Lisa and Lilly for lending us a tap, field and smiles 🙂

Day one sunrise

We woke on the second day with the sun and were on the road at 5:30.  Going to bed and waking up with the sun is becoming our routine and it’s quite lovely to use mother nature as an alarm clock.  Another 50 miles cycling saw us arrive in Harwich to catch our Ferry.  Last chance to stock up on the brands we love and for some reason I plummed for a tin of corned beef hash and  pack of jelly babies.  Then it was onto the ferry for a rocky nights sleep in a windowless cabin for 8 hours, lovely job:-)

We touched down in Holland to the same glorious weather as the UK and cycled out the aches and pains of the first two days.  The Hook of Holland is a unique sight and it took us around 10 miles to get out of the port area which Brian described as looking like the inards of a giant robot with smoke billowoing out from various chimneys/orifices. Hitting the flat plains of the Dutch countryside was a good change and bought lots of familiar sights and smells from my childhood as I spent 3 years of my youth in the land of windmills.  On entering a small village near our first campsite another familiar site came into view, a village chip van, BOOM! Chips and mayo for everyone and they were gluten free thank goodness.  Unfortunately a few miles down the road I realised I’d left the wallet on the bench by the chippie, I can only blame the delicious carby distractions for my lack of attention. Safe to say after loosing our two credit cards and the best part of €200, they were the first and last Dutch chips 🍟 we’ll be having and a money belt was employed the next day! Predictably the supermarket was closed when we reached it so the corned beef was a sensible decision.

The innards of a robot/the hook of holland

Three Dutch lovelies

The next couples of days inducted us into proper wild camping. Putting our tent up in deserted woodland and having showers with our water bag in the middle of nowhere have certainly got us in the spirit of adventure. Post the second night on the hoof we visited the small town of Bingelrade where my family have lived. The next door neighbour, Mrs Schneider, was in the front garden and was a bit taken aback when I said it was Tommy her neighbouur from 23 years ago! With my adult height and extra pounds Brian made me put on for the trip it took her while to believe it was the same rug rat she last saw as a 9 year old!

Wild camping night 3

Straight Dutch roads

We spent our last night in holland in a forest with the sounds of the local village World Cup celebrations lulling us off to sleep. Then it was up and over the German border to Aachen. We were sad to say goodbye to the flat lands of Holland but excited to see the hills of Germany ahead!!

Top three things we’re loving at the mo: wing mirrors, fishing chairs, schammy butter for the family jewels
Things we’ve left behind: grater, 2 x tin openers and a cotton duvet cover!

That’s all for now as the bikes and road are beckoning!

Hope everyone is well who’s reading this 🙂

T&B
Xx

P.S. We’re actually a few days into Germany now but we’re never near the internet so will update again when we can 🙂