Helmstedt

It was Day 4 of our 'Flight up North' and there were 1500km left to Gothenburg.

We'd had a peaceful night and had planned an early start but the GoPro camera we'd bought yesterday had started malfunctioning. We were already quite a way from the shop where we'd bought it and didn't relish the thought of taking it back, so we turned to the Internet for solutions. After having tried the recommended cure without success we called the GoPro UK base and were told to download some software. Will got on with this while Vicky started emptying and filling the van. Thank goodness for our new fast access to the Internet and unlimited calls - the problem seemed to be solved and Will was available to empty the toilet just in the nick of time!

The journey was all on the motorway today so we managed 500km! The land became flatter and flatter and we passed huge agricultural fields of Oil Seed Rape, hay and grain. There were also a number of solar farms and lots of wind turbines.

Helmstedt wasn't far off the motorway and its free stopover was a gravel car park with a section of cut grass that we chose to park on. There were some kids playing around, a border of mature trees; Willow gone to seed and flowering Elder and Hawthorn. Behind the trees we discovered a small lake covered in Water Lilly pads. It looked idyllic.

It was a quiet night but with our rapid progress North we noticed a huge difference in how light it was- at 10pm it was still dusk! It is to think that daylight hours will continue increasing until in a month's time we should be experiencing 24 hours of daylight in the Arctic circle!Read more