Captain's log, supplemental

Gosh, been a long time since I was on a date with an attractive young girl. Her father even rang to make sure my intentions were good.

Thank you, Thessa, for a lovely evening. The guided tour was a nice touch, and the curry was pretty damned good.

Nijmegen is a jumping town, add it to your list of places to visit.

Night, all.

Philosophical

Some observations for you:

1/ why is it we do public transport in England worse than most places in Europe?

2/ Why am I the only person who actually likes Germany? If you haven't been, go there. It's relatively cheap, people are pleasant and by and large, it's very pretty. I'm in Kranenburg now, just inside Germany across the river from Nijmegen. It's lovely. If this were Sussex, the cheapest house would be a million. Here, it won't. Not by a long chalk. Anyway, that's my bit for the German Tourist Board. If you don't come, it's your loss.

The weather has gone from cold and wet to hot and humid. If there isn't a storm soon, I shall be surprised. I expect it's waiting until I hit the road.

Tonight, I'm taking my dearest friend Ad's daughter Thessa for a meal. Not having (thank Christ!) kids of my own, she's the nearest I have to a daughter. I've had the delight of watching her grow up with none of the tedious responsibilities that go with it, nor the cost.

And on the nature table: a cuckoo! My first this year. Very late. Haven't heard one in Cornwall, though Pat says she did yesterday.

Evening all.

Gosh. Another exciting adventure sur le continent.
I don’t know quite why, being of a scientific bent, I don't believe in fate, but every time I set off on my bike, the weather nosedives wherever I am and becomes positively balmy at home.

I was so tired I slept through both calls on the boat and were it not for some noisy brats in the corridor, I would probably be back in the UK now. However, as is always the case, I needn't have panicked as the only benefit of heeding the calls would appear to be a greater opportunity to queue.

It was 8 degrees in Hoek when we eventually got away, with a stonking headwind, which continued all day, of course.

I used to live in Holland, well Amsterdam to be specific, which isn't the same thing at all. I really got into Amsterdam, so much so that I seldom left the place. Today was a revelation, I would never have imagined one country could have so many industrial estates. They're ok, but after a while you've had enough. I'm grasping for some positives, and there are some... the Dutch. They're like us, but nicer. Helpful and cheerful, so despite a somewhat unprepossessing start, I still have to say it... I love Holland.

A popular section of last year's blog was 'On the nature table', well Darren said it was slightly interesting. Anyway...

ON THE NATURE TABLE:

Frogs, bullfrogs to be precise. Croaking their little hearts out. Pat tells me it’s past their mating time, so they're obviously doing it just for the craic... Bit like me and cycling.

you have to admire good taste, don't you?

I thought this was rather jolly.

Anyway, I'm going to have a Dutch IPA - it has to be better than Heineken, then an early night.

Evening all.

Weight

Last year, the big problem was too much weight. Not just me, but the ridiculous amount of stuff I took with me. I threw quite a lot away and left even more with my friends in Germany, but still had too much.

This year, I solved the problem at a stroke. I left loads of stuff behind through sheer forgetfulness. So, no pump, tyre levers, spanner, no spares at all, in fact. No toothpaste. No charger for my music player - a tragic loss. How could anyone be so stupid? Actually, it was easy.

Very crowded train to London and a very big bloke in my booked seat. After an initial skirmish, he changed to being a pleasant big bloke, played rugby for Camborne and was off to London to have fun. As he'd had ten pints by the time we got to Exeter, I'm sure he did.

Cycled across London and it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Lovely meal with Janet and Arf in the land of the white stiletto.

Night night all.

The beginning

Off we go tomorrow, though it doesn't really count as there won't be a lot of cycling. I'm taking the train from Cornwall to London then cycling (with trepidation) across London, and on to another train to Shenfield in Essex. This will be the most linguistically-challenging part of the whole trip as my Dutch, German and French will hopefully prove adequate.

Staying overnight with dear Arf and Janet then the overnight ferry from Harwich. Holland should prove refreshingly flat after the somewhat challenging terrain of southern Germany last year.

We've had a couple of weeks of really rather nice weather in Cornwall, so possibly not the best time to leave, but you have to go sometime, don't you?

Hope to see you on the trip.

And another go...

Setting off again in a week's time, on this occasion a more gentle target. I'm taking the boat to Hook of Holland, going just across the border to visit Thessa, the daughter of my dear friend Ad - she's a dear friend in her own right, now. Down to the Ardennes to see Stan and Marie and then a gentle ride back across northern France, through Brittany, and home from Roscoff.

Much more gentle than last year, much more achievable, learned a lot - mainly, don't take so much stuff and try to eat occasionally. So, with the new wisdom, what can possibly go wrong?