As usual, we had a bit of trouble leaving a major city. We are following a new cycle route now that will take us back to the coast. We were really pleased that the new route went right passed our hotel, so we started following it out of town. Only problem was, we were following it out of town in the wrong direction!

We backtracked and followed it in the correct direction, and luckily this sent us through town as I needed new sunglasses. ( I would have bought these yesterday but all the shops were shut – reminds me of nz in the 70s)

We left Holland today, which was a bit sad, but the weather was much better in Belgium. Clear blue skies and deliciously warm.

There were also lots of hills.  We had to push our bikes up one of them. We have lost a lot of fitness since leaving France having spent the last few weeks tootling around the flat roads of Holland.

The major noticable difference in Belgium was the lack of accommodation or camping. We had cycled 60 kms, and had seen nothing. It was 5.30pm when we arrived on the outskirts of a town. I saw a pharmacy and decided to ask if they knew of anywhere to camp. They sent us around the corner and here we are, camped in someone’s back yard! We haven’t seen the owners yet so we hope it is ok.