We stayed in a crappy hotel last night in Eastbourne but they did a great breakfast. We were up and off early with plans to catch the train back to Bournemouth.

We arrived at the station and bought our tickets which involved catching a number of trains. First one was Eastbourne to Brighton. Brighton to Southampton, then Southampton to Bournemouth.

I always get a bit nervous when travelling by train with our bikes as a lot of train stations have stairs to push our bikes up when changing platforms, and it’s impossible with our loaded bikes.

The first stretch to Brighton went well, but our train to Southampton was cancelled due to signalling problems. So we caught the train to Barnham and then had to change for Southampton. Thankfully it was all on the same platform so we didn’t have to take the stairs.

Barnham to Southampton was a bit more crowded and it was a struggle to get our bikes on without blocking the aisles. But a bit of mucking around we got them sorted.

Then at Southampton I was pleasantly surprised that the Bournemouth train left from the same platform as well so no steps involved. Although they did say a faster train would leave from the other platform, but the thought of getting our bikes over there was too much. So we stayed put. So rather than a 15 minutes journey to Bournemouth, we stopped every station and it took an hour. But it was no problem. I had a little nap.

We arrived back in Bournemouth about 3.30pm and fell asleep. So that’s it, cycle tour over. Now we just need to get our bikes back to storage

We had 3 options of getting back to Bournemouth. One was to catch the train to London then scramble across London to catch another train to Bournemouth. We both dismissed this, not wanting to go to London,

The second option was to buy a van. We had a couple lined up to look at. One was a campervan but the speedo didn’t work, a common problem with Renaults, so we dismissed that one. The other van was only available to view in the evening and we didn’t want to hang around Dover.

The third option was to cycle back or at least part of the way. So that’s what we chose.

It was a beautiful day when we left Dover, but first there was a massive hill to climb. We both really struggled only having done flat riding for the last couple of months.

We arrived in Folkestone which is on coast and had a look around. There were a bunch of food trucks on the pier and we chose the Greek bus. It was a beautiful day and we couldn’t figure out where everyone was. In my opinion, Folkestone is so much nicer than any of those high rise Belgium resorts.

We had an amazing ride today with a great tail wind. And the scenery was much nicer than the last few days in Belgium. We cycled through forest paths and even past a wildlife park. We saw antelope, bison and a couple of giraffes! That was the highlight of my day.

Then we zoomed along the narrow country roads at 22 kms/hr loving the tail wind and country scenery.

In the afternoon it got harder. The wind shifted and became a head wind and the scenery not so nice. Then the massive rain clouds over by the coast had us a bit worried. There was no camping on the route today so we headed for the train station at Rye. It was 5.30pm and we’d had enough riding for the day.

We decided to catch the train to Eastbourne but the next one was cancelled so we booked the 6.50pm one. Then we booked a hotel in Eastbourne just to be sure we had a bed.

Today we cycle in three countries!

We had a great sleep last night despite our English neighbours at the campsite only starting to cook their meal at 11pm, and yacking away in loud voices as if other people weren’t trying to sleep in their tents until past midnight. I’ve somehow managed to switch off to noises and sleep through them, possibly due to being so frikken tired after cycling all day.

We were away before 10am this morning and started our ride to Dunkirk. There was a vicious head wind today, the worst we have had, and it was really hard going. Usually we’re doing about 20 kms/hr, today it was as lower than 10 kms/hr in the gustiest of winds.

It was another day of cycling alongside high rises on the beach and through crowds of people. Neither of us enjoyed it very much. We had tossed around the idea of continuing to Cherbourg, but the headwinds have definitely put us off that idea.

We arrived in Dunkirk around 2pm and headed straight for MacDonalds (well, we saw it and decided to stop). It was yuck, nowhere near as good as Germany’s Maccas. So our first meal in France was pizza from a vending machine, and our final meal was MacDonalds. We should be ashamed of ourselves!

After MacDonalds we wondered what we should do. We were both really tired after struggling into the headwind, but the thought of hanging around in a campground for the afternoon didn’t appeal. So we decided to make a run for the ferry and see if we could get on one today.

It was another 20 kms to ride to the ferry and it was a hard slog, that headwind relentless. I had a burst of energy from the MacDonalds, but Mike was struggling. We got lost a couple of times on the cycle paths, and in the end just decided to follow the road. It was a Sunday and hardly any traffic.

We made it to the ferry with plenty of time to spare and they had space! Heaps of space in fact, the ferry was near empty.

I was a bit worried about the wind, but the people on board the boat said it would be a smooth crossing so I didn’t bother with a seasick tablet. It was pretty choppy, but the big boat with its stabilisers made for a smooth crossing.

We are now sat in our hotel, wondering what to do tomorrow. We’ll make that decision in the morning.

We’d camped in the wrong spot last night but thankfully nobody asked us to leave and we slept quite well considering the noise in the campground.

Today we continue down the North Sea cycle route. The path is mainly next to the sea and cycling through dunes.

We stopped for lunch at a cafe sitting on the beach. It was literally seats on the sand. Quite neat.

Today we cycled along promenades with high rises on one side and the beach on the other, masses of people in between. We weaved our way through the crowds treating it like a game of Mario cart and it was quite fun. Made the other days cycling through tree-lined streets seem boring.

One place there were a some cyclists congregating on the track. Mike rang his bell and they all started clucking in a different language, just like chickens do when you’ve scared or upset them.

We crossed into Belgium today and suddenly we’re able to use our credit cards again. Germany and Holland only take cash in a lot of places and we were running low.

After 72 kms we found a campground and it’s really noisy and not from kids. Someone is speaking loudly with what sounds like a Scottish accent but it doesn’t sound like English. Some English people next to us have only just started cooking at 9.45pm and I just heard a champagne bottle pop. Now more people are yelling in strange languages. I think they are very drunk.

We’re heading to Dunkirk tomorrow and we’ll either catch the ferry tomorrow or Monday. After that, we have no idea how we’re getting back to Bournemouth. But we have a couple of ideas.

We’re glad we did that extra 20 kms yesterday with a tail wind as it would have been a headwind today.

We’d done so well, camping right on the route. We left camp and followed the signs, then got distracted by an Aldi. We stopped, grabbed some lunch and continued on. But where are those damn signs?

Mike checked his phone and said we were right on the route. We were cycling along a cycle path next to a busy road but I thought we were to cycle alongside the inlet today. So we stopped and double checked and sure enough, we had gone astray.

So we managed to get back on the inlet track and it was so much nicer cycling alongside the water. The smell of onions was strong in the air today, with fields of them growing beside the track. I saw a couple had spilled onto the road and I was about to pick one up but there was a tractor up my arse so it got splattered.

Today we had a ferry crossing. We thought we were going to Belgium but we are actually still in Holland, but are following to North Sea cycle route south.

It was nice to see the sea again but the beaches are so crowded. We stopped at the first campground we came across not really expecting to get a spot. It was 5.30pm and there were throngs of people heading back from the beach, kids running feral all over the place. Basically my idea of hell, but we needed a place to sleep and they had space.

They showed us on a map where to go, so we put up our tent and went to find the showers. According to the map they were just up on the right. But after walking around for ages trying to find them and asking two people, we found out they were actually on our left.

When I got back to our camp I double checked the map and it was definitely wrong. Either that or we’d camped in the wrong spot. On closer inspection the latter was correct. We were in the wrong spot. I just hope they don’t ask us to move.

We had dinner at a restaurant next door to the camp and had a massive burger each.

Today was an awesome day apart from being bitten by a wasp and almost breaking my arm.

I woke up really groggy in our hotel this morning when Mike’s alarm went off, but after 3 coffees I almost felt normal.

We decided to pick up the lf13b cycle route again to save mucking around trying to navigate to the coast, but we spent ages trying to get out of Breda. Eventually we found the route and it was stress free travel.

We cycled through a lot of forests today and it was really pleasant. We also had an wicked tail wind and we sped along at about 25 kms/hr for a lot of the day. The cyclists going the other way looked really grumpy though.

We stopped in the forest for lunch when a poxy wasp stung me on the leg. It hurt like mother crockery! So I put some antihistamine cream on and hoped for the best. The last time I was stung by a wasp I had to have antibiotics.

The other mishap, I was had stopped for a drink of water and dropped my cap on the ground. As I bent down to get it my bike tried to fall and my arm got caught between the wheel and the frame. Thankfully I managed to stop the bike falling as it probably would have broken my arm if it did with all the weight on it. I’ll probably have a nice bruise tomorrow.

At 4.30pm we’d done 65 kms and there was a campsite nearby, but we were loving the tail wind so much we decided to ride another 25 kms to the next campground. We rang them first to make sure they had space. We’re not going through that again!

After about 10 kms of riding we arrived at a massive inlet that smelled of sea and we cycled along that all the way to the campground. We saw a couple of seals so that was neat.

We arrived at camp after 90 kms for the day. We didn’t have any food to cook so we went to the bar for ‘bar snacks’ which were deep fried thingys and quite delicious. Still hungry though.

Tomorrow we catch a ferry.

Holland is becoming hard work! Yesterday we were following a well-marked cycle route which would take us to the coast, but because we got so far off the route trying to find a camping spot the previous night, we got a little lost today.

First of all Mike used his Garmin to navigate, but it kept trying to send us down non-existent paths. I know, we’ve been here before! Then we thought, we’re in Holland, they have cycle routes everywhere using a number system. Every so often there would be a board with numbers on, showing you all the routes. So we knew we need to head west, so we collected all the numbers we needed to follow and I wrote them in a note on my phone. Then we were off.

It was actually a lot of fun. Follow the 2, then the 1, then the 70 etc etc. Until we got to a board where the numbers had been rubbed off. Oh well, let’s just follow the one going West. That worked out well, we got back on track and were following my numbers again in my note. We cycled through forests and fields, and sometimes on roads. But we still haven’t seen a frikking windmill.

Anyway the numbering system was working well, and we were making good progress to the west. Then when I stopped to check my notes to see what the next number was, I accidentally deleted them all, no way to get them back. I could have cried. To top it all off, our internet stopped working so we couldn’t even come up with an alternate route.

So we followed our noses, (the sun actually). Then we got to the town of Tilburg. We’d done 40 kms for the day and thought it would be nice to finish early and navigate to either a campground or a hotel. I was leaning towards hotel so we could get internet to find out why our internet wasn’t working. So we headed for the centre of town when suddenly we were thrust into a carnival in the main street.

‘Let’s go back!’ I said to Mike, but he was navigating to a campground and said we continue on. And it got worse. There were so many people and rides and the noise, OMG so much noise. Loud booming techno music coming from all different directions as we weaved our way through the covid-infested masses while keeping an eye out for pickpockets. This went on for a kilometer with no end in sight. It was too late to turn back now and claustrophobia was setting in.

Eventually we pushed our way through all the people and I asked Mike to navigate on his Garmin to get us the hell out. ‘Just head for Breda,’ I said. So we did.

It was quite scary having no internet, not knowing where the heck we were going or where we would find to sleep. It was lucky Mike had his garmin as that works regardless, despite it trying to send us some stupid ways.

Not long out of town we found a hotel, but they were fully booked. I told the girl on reception of our problem of having no internet, and she said we could use theirs, so that was really nice of her. She also suggested some hotels on our route, but they were all booked. We finally found one about 20 kms away and booked in using their free wifi. And it was a straight line to get there, so no navigation required. So with peace of mind, we navigated to the hotel and settled in just after 6pm.

We ordered a Dominos pizza for dinner.

We are both getting a bit grumpy with Holland and all the drama of finding places to sleep.

Well , what a day. Holland is not proving to be as easy as we thought.

The day started well as we are following a route which will take us to the coast. We tootled along looking out for windmills but seeing none.

We were heading down a road when we saw some cycle tourists coming the other way. They told us that way was blocked. I told them we are heading for the coast and they said they are too as they live there. They also invited us to come stay with them which was nice. So we’ve connected on instagram.

We kept running into them all day. They have been touring even longer than us and have been up into Sweden and up that way.

After about 50 kms I decided I’d had enough for the day, I was just so tired. It was 3pm and putting up the tent and having an afternoon nap sounded like a great idea. We had a nice coffee at a cafe (so much better than German coffee, and they use real milk!)

We found a campground about 2 kms away but not in the direction we wanted, but we decided to go there anyway. When we arrived the reception was closed but it looked like a nice campground so we figured we’d put up our tent and someone would no doubt collect our money later.

We chose a spot and were ready to set up when out of nowhere came a torrential downpour. We ran for the shelter of a marquee to sit it out.

I dug around in Mikes panniers and found our snickers bars. I dumped them on the table and a pile of ants appeared. Turns out we have an ant problem so we emptied all the stuff from the panniers and repacked them.

Just as we’d finished a man came to ask us to pay for camping. It was still pissing down so we said we wanted to wait and see what the weather was going to do. He said he is a busy man and we have to either pay now or leave. We didn’t like his attitude so we left.

We navigated to a hotel which was on our route as we didn’t want to camp in the rain. It was only 14 kms away but it seemed to take forever. The skies were dark and it felt a lot later than it was. We arrived at the hotel around 6.30pm tired and hungry. I walked inside and there were masses of people. “Do you have a room?” I asked.

“Sorry we’re full,” was the reply I did not want to hear. Turns out there is no more hotels in the area but there is camping 5 kms up the road. So we headed there. We arrived about 7 pm, tired and hungry. “Sorry we are full” he said. “You don’t have room for a small tent?” I pleaded.

He said they had reached capacity and it would be illegal to allow any more to stay. He then went and got us a list of all the campsites around the area and their phone numbers. He pointed out the closest one. Mike rang them. They answered and Mike asked if they spoke English. “No,” they said and hung up on him. Geez, we have not met anyone in Holland who doesn’t speak perfect English.

So we tried another campground on the list at the recommendation of the camp owner . He said they always have room as it’s a big campground. Mike rang them, they spoke perfect English and he said they have space but to ring when we arrived.

We cycled another 5 kms ( 82 kms for the day) and arrived just before 8pm. Reception had closed at 5pm but thankfully he answered when Mike rang and checked us in.

We’d seen a lot of campgrounds charging 37 euros to camp and we figured this was one of them due to having a lake and a swimming pool. We held our breath for the big price tag and were pleasantly surprised that it was only 20 euros for the two of us as we were on bikes. Other campers were paying 37 euros though. Crazy!

We cooked taco mince and rice for dinner. We didn’t even have a shower as it’s really cold. So we’re in our tent feeling a bit sticky. And we still haven’t seen a frikking windmill!

We had such a lazy day today and did pretty much nothing. I read my book, did some video editing, ate lunch and then dinner.

Mike’s wheel came back today, the spoke all fixed. But it’s possible others might break as they’re so old, but it will be ok to get back to England on. At least it’s not catching on his brake now.

We thought it might have been quite expensive but it only cost 16 euros to fix, so that was fantastic.

We are moving on tomorrow but still no idea where to, still undecided whether to take the ferry to England from Dunkirk, which is about 5 days ride away, or whether to keep going to Cherbourg which is about 2 weeks riding.

I remember the ride from dunkirk to Cherbourg as being quite hilly and a lot of it on roads and feel a bit reluctant to do it again having ridden it before. Plus we need to get back onto a proper diet and it’s so hard to do when touring. And all the hotel stays are eating into our budget.

We had a great rest day in our lovely campground. We walked 40 minutes to lidl and got some supplies for the next couple of days. Then we dumped all our clothes into the washing machine and hung them out to dry.

It was a hot 31 degrees today but thankfully our campsite was in the shade for most of the day. We sat around, read our books, snacked on junk food and grapes, and generally did nothing. Well, it was my birthday after all.

The camp owner just visited us and his friend owns a bike repair shop and he has offered to take Mike’s wheel into him for repair. This is really lucky as we would never have got in to have it repaired without an advanced reservation.

So hopefully we’ll have it back by lunchtime tomorrow, but we’ve decided we will probably have another night here as it’s so nice.

We’ve heard from locals that the coast is very busy at the moment and the campgrounds are very crowded and possibly full. So we think we’ll head to Dunkirk and catch the ferry back to England next week, then catch the train to Bournemouth via London. We’re both pretty tired and the thought of crowded camping grounds does not appeal at all.