Diary - Holland

Friday 1st February 2002 - DAY 2

It was a wonderful feeling to wake up after a good first night's sleep in the rooftent and remember that the expedition had begun. It was a beautiful clear, crisp day so we packed up the tent and bought a few supplies from the local shop for breakfast. We were accosted by some vaguely amused looking Dutch policemen who suggested that we could park the landie outside the police station for safety - our first police escort. Headed into town and wandered around soaking up the sights, sounds and smells of the city. Did some e-mailing, found a great little Morroccon café and visited our favourite Chinese restaurant. We had been advised to leave the city that day as the Crown Prince was getting married the next day and the all the roads would be closed in preparation. So we found our way to the nearby village of Durgerdam where we camped in a layby outside the campsite (again closed) next to the lake.

Saturday 2nd February 2002 - DAY 3

Very very windy night - didn't sleep too well for fear that the roof tent might collapse on us as it was all wobbling about quite a bit up there. Realised that camping next to open water and a windmill probably wasn't the best idea (mental note: windmill = wind. Don't camp next to a windmill). Durgerdam turned out to be a very pretty lakeside village in daylight + we awoke to find someone camped right next to us. We packed up and started the drive down to Stuttgart, stopping for lunch just outside Köln and then taking the scenic route via the Rhine valley and Koblenz. Germany was surprisingly hot and sunny, so morale was high as we arrived at Stu and Liz's house, about 6pm. We were then plied with loads of quality food, beer and wine, had our first shower of the trip and got to sleep under a duvet - already a luxury!

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