Rijs to Elburg

A monster of a day today, 87 kms. I lolled for quite a while but once I got going I was done in 34 minutes. Getting there :)

While I was packing on of the other guests came over and asked if I would like a coffee or tea. So once I was packed I went over and spent about half an hour with Harry and Tia. They have a very nice caravan, all false wood inside, done up in a very Dutch way, very pretty. We chatted about travel and where I was from and had been and was going. They are on a 3 week trip and are going to Grondigen next (in the north).

I eventually set off at something like 10 am and my first stop was at Oudemirdum where I bought some Onbijtkoek, which had sultana's in it. Very scrummy, munched on that off and on all day. The next stop was Lemmer where I bought some lovely wild peaches, they are sort of a squashed version of the usual (same circumference but only 15 mm thick), very tasty. I sat in the sun by the canal to eat those.

Heading south towards Emmeloord it seemed like I had already gone a long way, not a good sign, it indicates I'm already a bit tired. I went through a European version of a forest near here. You know the sort, about 5 metres of trees either side of the bike path. Actually it was quite cold too.

Next stop Kampen. Another slog, this time there was even the occasional head wind. I had my largest climb this trip on this leg, 50% higher than the previous record! Yes this time it was a 10 m climb! It was a bridge over a canal of course. Once in Kampen I HAD to have lunch, so after a bit of a walk I stopped in the city square and ordered I'm not sure what. It was okay but a bit over powering. I think it is like a kebab only on a plate. Filling though. And with tea of course.

Before I got here I'd noticed a bakery round the corner so I popped in there and got a baguette and an apple flan, very cheap. There was a large church here too but I didn't feel like spending the time. Then I was on the home straight and of to Elburg. I was noticably tired, dare I say stuffed by now. The wind was still mostly with me so I was still often doing 20 but it was an effort. I made the town in reasonable time, very pretty it is too, however I just could not find either the tourist info or the camping ground in the town. In the end I gave up, went back into the town centre and got an Appelbol! Yes, one of my favourites, it even had some almond paste in the centre. Delicious. A shame about the camping.

I found a camping ground but when I went in they had closed. Bugger. It was only 4pm and they were supposed to be open until 5pm. Sigh. I rode over the canal to the next camping ground listed (fortunately there are 4), Camping Riviera. Luckily this was open and I got a spot. What a vast campsite! I will definitely have to Google Earth this site. It was also, amazingly, deserted. It is not the weekend and just like yesterday's camp site everyone has gone home. There was just me and the rabbits. (And it turned out one other caravan in my area.) I showered etc, did some washing which I hung on the neighbouring caravan's line and then went for a walk. I didn't quite make it back in time and ended up having another shower and some more washing up :(

After a bit of a lie down, I almost fell asleep again, I walked around looking for somewhere to have dinner. In the end I used a table tennis table :) Quite comfortable standing next to it actually. Afterwards I dropped the leftovers off at the tent and then went for a walk down to the marina. Yes marina, this camping ground has its very own, rather large marina.

It was here that I made a startling discovery. Everywhere I go I am seeing clocks that are one hour out. It finally dawned on me that I am one hour out! I checked on the laptop, yep it was still on London time, so my watch must also be on London time :)

By the by, there are rabbits everywhere.