sleeping matts

For the first month or so of our trip we had cheap sleeping mats. They looked the same as the fancy dearer models but punctured quickly (we are unsure whether Jennys ever retained air!) and were not very comfy. After many a poor night's sleep we splashed out on the well reputed Therma-rest brand and haven't looked back. A bit of a plug there but the difference is obvious and it's really not worth trying to skimp when it comes to getting a good sleep.

Anyway i drew some pictures of what it was like sleeping on our old mats............

le camping sauvage (wild camping)

We have been camping in campsites when we can but sometimes there is not one on our way so we will set up in an out of the way spot. It's not encouraged in many countries but in practice some are easier to do this in than others. Scotland is one place where it is legal under their roaming laws. You can camp overnight on private property or public land if you are not disturbing anyone or disrupting their animals or crops, and you must respect people's space (not camp in their backyard) and leave the area tidy.

Our wild camping experiences on the continent so far have been a bit mixed - the worst was a mozzie-infested wood in Belgium, and we had another poor one in France which has been christened "bugs and slugs camp". As we left we had to pick hand sized big brown slug/leaches from our shoes, bags and bikes. However, since then we've had some nice ones in woodland areas and fields and have aquired mozzie coils that deter most creepy crawlies.

Camping prices have been very reasonable in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In Antwerp, we camped just outside the city for about 6.50 euro a night for both of us! A few others have been under 10 euro but on average I'd say we have paid 12 euro a night for the two of us. Often campsites in France have a swimming pool, restaurant etc so quite ritzy by our standards.

Below is a drawing of us sleeping in our tent in a wild wood in France. I must have been a bit over tired because I coudn't sleep and my imagination was running away with itself hearing the noises outside the tent. We had been talking about the wild pigs that live in france and I was picturing them snuffeling into our tent in the night.

mini trip on our new bikes

This weekend we packed up our new bikes to test out how they (and we) could handle the load we intended to take on our bigger trans euro trip in two months. It was also a chance to gauge whether our estimates of average cycling distance each day were realistic. A good chance to test out all the new bits of camping gear and clothes we had too. Checking the weather for a suitable cycle we were initially disappointed to see rain and strong winds forecast across the north of Scotland were we had hoped to go. We found a route below Aberdeen along the coast that promised a milder ride but in the end we threw caution to the wind and decided on the more adventurous route from Fort Augustus to Fort William

The path mostly follows canals and lochs and climbs up quite high giving wonderful views of the moody lochs in the valley. We were glad to have tested our new stuff in such rough weather and have them hold up. It shouldn't get too much colder or windier on our planned Europe path which gives us a scrap of confidence. Although wet it definitely could have been wetter and although our tent held up ok and we weren't too soggy it will be hard during long periods of unrelenting rain. It's pretty impossible to stop everything getting slightly damp no matter how carefully you pack and cover things. On the road, we may have to reenact those jean adverts were the guy/girl strips off in the launderette to wash their levis to give our stuff a quick tumble dry.

In terms of distance, we covered about 30km each day. That was only 2-3 hours cycling as we had a late start on the Saturday and on Sunday we arrived back to the starting point about 11am. A lot of the steeper sections were too muddy and rocky for our bikes so we had to pushed them which slowed our progress. Taking it fairly easy we both felt we could double that distance comfortably in a full day's normal riding. This is about what we predicted for a day of about 60km with 4-5 hours in the saddle. On open land with sealed roads and nothing of interest to distract us we would probably want to do quite a bit more.

The southern end of Loch Lochy was our camp site for the night. The steep rises on either sides still showed snow sticking to the tops but a lot had melted and the mountain streams were flowing quickly. The loch was wonderful clear and crisp and I planned I would take a energizing morning dip when I woke up. A cold, stiff and damp sleep made it seem less appealing when the time came however. Especially when I got that awful brain freeze sensation from my breakfast banana that usually only happens with ice cream (actually caused by cold food chilling the blood in your jugular headed for your brain... yuck!). Still sort of regret not taking the opportunity now that I am looking at the photos of the loch - next time will take a thicker jumper for a warmer sleep.

The rain stopped long enough to pack up and we warmed up pretty quickly as we cycled. We avoided much of the rocky steep detours by sticking to a main road on the way back. Not much traffic being Sunday and only 2km or so but this section took about 45 min the previous day on the winding, muddy, precipitous bike track! Back to Fort Augustus for morning tea by 11am. Stale scones and coffee from an automated machine never tasted so good.