Day 5, taking it slowly

We‘re having a slightly slow couple of days (yesterday, today, tomorrow) mostly because of the weather. As I‘ve posted previously, it rained heavily yesterday, and this was followed by strong winds into the evening. From Enkhuizen we caught the afternoon ferry across the water to Stavoren. When we arrived at 6pm it was so windy we headed to the first campsite we saw a signpost for, which was thankfully just around the corner at the marina. This hadn‘t been our planned camping destination but after Gregor and bike were blown into a road sign we realised we hadn‘t much choice but to stop soon. We pitched the tent fairly quickly and had an easy but delicious dinnner of hot-dogs, rolls and salad.

Yesterdays rain and wind encouraged us to check the weather forcast for the next few days so we could know what to expect. I‘m glad we did because on the weather map for Sunday you could hardly see The Netherlands for a huge blue patch of rain! Due to this rain beginning on the Saturday night and not clearing till Monday morning we decided to book into a hostel for tonight and tomorrow night. Now we are able to experience tomorrows downpour from the comfort of inside!

Choosing to stay in a hostel meant we didn‘t have far to ride this morning. We were only on the road for an hour and a half before reaching our destination and so haven‘t got much riding done today, but a camping strategy wouldn‘t be sensible if we ended up drenched. We have had a nice journey today though. At one point it was rather entertaining to find that suddenly our cycle path had ended and that we had to ring a bell to call the ferry-man over to help us cross the canal! We paid one euro each and were over and on our way within minutes. Currently in the hostel we are lucky to have a whole room to ourselves (we‘d booked into a 6 bed room as it was cheapest but it must be quiet season still..) and have spead out all our gear for drying/airing.