1584 km, squelch and an end to the Rhine.
Our run of fantastic weather rather predictably came to an end as we approached the UK. We arrived at a large but slightly neglected campsite right by the river. Trouble was, the friendly owner said "Camp anywhere". Well, the campsite was very big, and this of course prompted the standard tour round ( think about where you park in an empty car park!) for about 5 minutes. Where will the sun be in the morning, how close is it to the loos, where is the water? Having eventually settled on a site with a good view of the boats passing by we set up the tent. With half the pegs missing (see previous post), which incidentally wasn't quite the disaster we had thought.
However, within about an hour the wind had turned through 180 degrees and it started raining, so this ideal position was no longer ideal. It also put paid to a culinary experiment of mine, where I had bought some sliced potatoes and some oil and intended to do fried potatoes. I got to the almost brown stage, but then had to make a choice. Continue cooking or get soaked? A dry me one, so our "chips" were as pale as Scotsman arriving on holiday in Majorca.
Boys will be boys. Me and two other chaps fascinated by the activity in the massive Princess Beatrix locks. A real bottleneck on the Rhine route for shipping, so much so that they are building a third lock
We did make use of the bar in the rain- or more like a hut. It was well populated by fellow campsite dwellers ( many of whom appeared to live permanently here) playing snooker. One particular group were down to two balls and one cue ball when we sat down, and I noticed that about an hour later they still had not potted any of the balls. Only on closer examination did we see that the tables had no pockets! A quick google revealed that the points were scored by bouncing the cue ball off both of the other coloured balls. Or something like that.
The campsite in Rotterdam failed the loo roll test as well as the "no mosquitos in the shower area test" and the "no surface water on the camping area test". We also failed on the "morning sun to dry the tent" test. Note every other tent in the sun with one exception.
The kinderdijk - a series of 19 windmills used to keep this area dry. Most are all preserved and still work and you can go and visit them.
Making use of the numerous road side honesty stalls selling fruit, in this case a whopping big basket of strawberries. Apples and pears were also for sale, which I would happily have carted off had I actually got any room for them on the bike. They tasted great incidentally, and all for a euro.
Last view of the river. You can see the storm clouds as they passed onto the continent. We just managed to get onto the ferry before there was a massive clap of thunder and the heavens opened.
And so back to blighty temporarily via a great little guest house in Harwich. My trepidation about the British Rail experience with bikes was unfounded, and in fact I shall say something quite bold- The experience was much better than the much vaunted cycle friendly Swiss railways. Staff were very friendly and helpful about where to put the bicycles, and in particular there is virtually no step from the platform to the train, so you can just roll the bicycles on. The trains were also spot on time wise.
To welcome us back, the sun shone brilliantly as we whizzed through the Essex countryside. As we did, I thought that whatever you might say about the UK, there is very much an unspoilt charm about the place. Our bikes are a great conversation starter. We slightly blocked the exit to a carriage section with them and this got us talking with an older couple, who had just returned after walking through the entire train. Turned out that they were searching for the buffet car, but with no success. Having talked about our trip, they then told us that they were getting off the train at the next stop. "Home?" I asked. "Oh goodness no", the husband replied. "We are changing train to find one that sells coffee"
We now have a week to get sorted for Japan.
However, within about an hour the wind had turned through 180 degrees and it started raining, so this ideal position was no longer ideal. It also put paid to a culinary experiment of mine, where I had bought some sliced potatoes and some oil and intended to do fried potatoes. I got to the almost brown stage, but then had to make a choice. Continue cooking or get soaked? A dry me one, so our "chips" were as pale as Scotsman arriving on holiday in Majorca.
We did make use of the bar in the rain- or more like a hut. It was well populated by fellow campsite dwellers ( many of whom appeared to live permanently here) playing snooker. One particular group were down to two balls and one cue ball when we sat down, and I noticed that about an hour later they still had not potted any of the balls. Only on closer examination did we see that the tables had no pockets! A quick google revealed that the points were scored by bouncing the cue ball off both of the other coloured balls. Or something like that.
The campsite in Rotterdam failed the loo roll test as well as the "no mosquitos in the shower area test" and the "no surface water on the camping area test". We also failed on the "morning sun to dry the tent" test. Note every other tent in the sun with one exception.
Making use of the numerous road side honesty stalls selling fruit, in this case a whopping big basket of strawberries. Apples and pears were also for sale, which I would happily have carted off had I actually got any room for them on the bike. They tasted great incidentally, and all for a euro.
And so back to blighty temporarily via a great little guest house in Harwich. My trepidation about the British Rail experience with bikes was unfounded, and in fact I shall say something quite bold- The experience was much better than the much vaunted cycle friendly Swiss railways. Staff were very friendly and helpful about where to put the bicycles, and in particular there is virtually no step from the platform to the train, so you can just roll the bicycles on. The trains were also spot on time wise.
To welcome us back, the sun shone brilliantly as we whizzed through the Essex countryside. As we did, I thought that whatever you might say about the UK, there is very much an unspoilt charm about the place. Our bikes are a great conversation starter. We slightly blocked the exit to a carriage section with them and this got us talking with an older couple, who had just returned after walking through the entire train. Turned out that they were searching for the buffet car, but with no success. Having talked about our trip, they then told us that they were getting off the train at the next stop. "Home?" I asked. "Oh goodness no", the husband replied. "We are changing train to find one that sells coffee"
We now have a week to get sorted for Japan.
Comments
Post a Comment