Well we’re back in the UK and the gloom of work has set in. We cycled 180 miles in total as well as taking a few train journeys to fit more in. For the girls it was their first ever tour. They did fantastically and they had a great time too!
Our trip took us through; The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Naarden, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, De Hoge Veluwe National park and Arnhem.

The First day we got down to the bikes on the ferry to find that someone had rifled through mine and Kates panniers. Nothing had been taken as we took all the valuables to our cabins, but all the same its not very pleasant. We got off the ferry, took to the road and instantly received a soaking! after a couple of hours cycling though the sun came out and dried us off nicely. There was one more downpour later that day while we were sitting under a large parasol outside a cafe in The Hague, but that wasn’t a problem. That’s the great thing about continental Europe, unlike the UK there are loads of places to eat and drink outdoors, which is fantastic when you can’t risk leaving your gear laden bikes anywhere.

A little later we came to a nice campsite we have stayed at before called Duinhorst. It’s a lovely little site, with nicely woody areas to camp.  Once we pitched up, we cycled back into town to find a supermarket and get some grub to cook for dinner. It rained and drizzled a lot while we were there so we didn’t hang around much.

During the night I woke up to hear the sound of a carrier bag rustling near my tent. Wondering what it was, I unzipped the door and peered out. Turns out a rodent of some sort had been in the process of stealing a bag of food I had forgotten about and left under the outer of my tent. I retrieved the food, stuffed it in my pannier and went back to bed.
In the morning while Tom and Kate were putting their tent down they found a small hole had appeared in the inner and that one of their malted milk biscuits had a bite out of it! The lesson here of course is wrap your food well, and keep in an airtight container. Even better, hang it from a tree, away from your tent.