Germany- Emden to Busum

                                                             Emden

                                              Inner city Emden

                                              First fish and chips

                                                                   Sun lounger used on the beaches

                                          On the right route- NSCR sign

                                           One of many bakery shops

                                            Ferry to Bremerhaven

                                                   !!!!!!!!!! no comment

                                          In the lock on Kiel canal

                                             Lock gates shutting

                                               Busum

Photos at last- Colchester and Holland

We have been stuck in Busum because of howling winds and driving rain so went looking for a gizmo to help download the phoots. Here goes.

internet at last

You would have thought that Europe was full of internet cafes but they have been like hen's teeth on the route we have been travelling. Even finding internet it is difficult to download photos. Since our last posting we have travelled across the top of northern Holland on fantastic bike paths, through gorgeous villages  but the wind persists. We have only had about 3 days where we were able to make good distances. Still we are still smiling. We caught the ferry,  which turned out to be a bus because the ferry was 'kaputt', from Delfilzil to Emdem and into Germany. Emden has a delightful inner city with  canals  and boats of all shapes and sizes. Back into the wind we have made our way up the coast of Germany through Willemshaven, Bremenhaven and Cuxhaven. The highly industrial areas are very smoggy and we decided to catch the ferry across the Elbe river to Brunsbuttel. This involved our ferry entering the Kiel canal and sharing a huge lock with 2 tankers going through the canal to the Baltic. The water lowered by 2 metres from the north sea side to the canal. It was really interesting to watch. Our ferry trip was delightful as we were asked to join 4 very interesting and obviously educated retired Germans who entertained us on the trip then one of them jumped on his bike as it got dark and led us 5 kms to the camping ground. Next morning some fellow campers invited us into their van for coffee and cake before we headed off. Everybody seems interested in 2 New Zealanders on a big bike trip.  We are now in Busum having a day off as the north wind blows from the pole- our first real day of rain since we started the trip. We are going to have a go at putting on some photos- see how it goes.

Windy few days

The last few days have been really windy. We crossed the 30 km Afsluitdjk dyke in a howling easterly blowing directly into us, with our gears down to the lowest at times. We were had it by the time we had travelled another 10km to find the camp site. The next day was no better and luckily we found a mini camping site earlier than we had anticipated. We have made our way to norhern Holland and expect to cross into Germany in 3 days time. We have seen some great sites. Many great modern windmills cross the land producing power. We have past through Harlingen and in the port there were over 70 tall ships,m many that are used for school group camping trips. We were invited to have a look inside the clipper Passat that can sleep 28 people overnight built in 1900.  passed through a village today where there was a church that was built in 11th century.

Northern Holland

Finally we have access to a computer. We have travelled up from the Hoek of Holland and are now in a small place called Bakkum where there is the most incredibily large campsite. We are working our way into the trip and have had time off to see the tulips and windmills and had an afternoon excursion into Amsterdam. We have had trouble finding reliable maps that show where the campsites are but think we have that sorted now. The campsites are great but have no kitchen, no toilet paper and only hot water in the showers which you pay extra for. The bike tracks are amazing. They are tarmaced surface dedicated for cyclists and cars give way to cyclists at most intersections. This has taken a bit to get used to. Route finding has had its moments but always worked out OK. We have sampled some local cheeses and croissants.. everyday for breakfast. Still cant put pictures on as computers not set up to take camera cards. Will do this as soon as we can.

The adventure begins

Flight from home was long........ but the A380 airbus from Sydney to Dubai (14 hours) was superb. We arrived at Heathrow for a 1 hour 30 minute wait at immigration  because there seemed to be many people from the middle east and they certainly questioned them at length. When we got to the counter they didn't even ask Chas to remove his hat. It took all of 10 secs and we were through. We found our baggage in the shambles of the baggage claim area and headed to the rental car depot. They directed us onto the M4 and said it would take us east. ... LOST IN LONDON but after about 2 hours and some help headed in towards Colchester arriving after dark.
Currently on the ferry to Holland after completing our first 44kms to Harwich... only 6000 odd kms left to go! Photos will be posted later.

Almost there

The excitement is building.Only 4 sleeps before we leave. The gear is all packed into the boxes and after a few concerns about the weight we have been able to get it down by stuffing as much as possible into our carry on bags. Katrina has said farewell to everyone at school for two terms. We fly out on Tuesday morning and we just want to be on our way.