Snailing to the South

What kind of crazy farmer gets to work with a combine harvester at 5 o'clock in the morning? Obviously the one next to our camping field! 🙉

He also woke up the birds who then proceeded to sing to each other like a bird rap-battle before the alarm went off.

The early wake up call meant we were packed and ready to hit the road by 10am for our first German breakfast. (We've since worked out what day it is and found a baker open on a Monday!) Don't be fooled by the sunny picture of the campsite, the sun lasted long enough for clouds to gather and give us a little sprinking of rain as a departure gift, just as we were ready to pack the tent.

Today's route of 85km was a ferry river crossing start followed by a mix of farm lanes, forest tracks and industrial estates -you can tell we're getting closer to Hamburg. It was also the most smelly day of cycling ever - it seems every Farmer decided today was the day for muck-spreading. 🙊 The dairy industry is alive and well up here, farms are full of dairy propoganda and questionable adverts. I responded appropriately by buying by 2x packs of vegan Ritter Sport in Edeka. ;)

We're still far enough into the north where people greet with "Moin!" - it'll be interesting to establish how far south it stops and people revert back the more usual greetings.

We're currently on a farm campsite - a total bum campsite but the water is boiling ready for a goodnight cup of "strawberry cheesecake" tea, so all is well! (I resisted the urge to try the chocolate brownie or apple strudel tea, sounds so tasty but also so wrong!)Read more