Through northern France. Hello Paris
From Tournai, I continued south west across the border to Rumes. A gentleman waited on the path for me to pass, and even though I was listening to music, I think he said bonjour. My reply was an instant”merci bien”. I still don’t know why I said thank you to him. It was simply the […]
Back on the road. A short ride through Belgium
After two weeks in Amsterdam and with far too much money spent, I felt it was time to leave and I left my friends boat with a stonking hangover and no water left with which to hydrate myself. I felt terrible. Having forced myself to mount everything on my bike before leaving a note and […]
Across the North Sea and through the dunes to Amsterdam
I was a little nervous the night before as I had no alarm clock and thus no way of knowing if I would oversleep. I had to be at the ferry 08:00 the next morning and so this was indeed a real possibility. Having prior experience of course, I knew that I was always awake […]
It’s always exciting to board a boat! Brighton to Harwich
After three days in Brighton, I felt it was time to get on my way. I had booked a ferry from Harwich to The Netherlands the day before giving myself three days to make it to the port. I really didn’t want to be pushing hard every day and this also gave me enough time […]
A wet and windy road. Cycling to Brighton
Leaving Nottingham and with my gear properly washed, I headed out into the pelting rain of northern England. In the end it took me another hour and a half to just get out of the city. As I was heading along the road to Melton Mowbray, the sun started to shine and life was again […]
I’m finally on my way. To Nottingham
So with my day of departure having finally arrived and with many goodbyes having been said to my family and friends, I was full of anticipation at my impending trip. So many months of planning and dreaming were all finally coming together and I was delighted at the thought of what lay head. I had […]
A bit of a mad dash up to Manchester. I saw a little on the way too
Resupplied and thoroughly refreshed, I left Brighton four days later heading west, again along the coast, turning inland towards the South Downs. It was here that, finding somewhere to camp became somewhat easier but conversely, more difficult to find water as there wasn’t as many houses or businesses around. I found a great place to […]
Not quite home, but close enough. To Brighton!
As the ferry docked in Dover, and I saw the white cliffs, I had a huge feeling of relief to be back home in England. Of course, it had only been six days since I had left Amsterdam but it had been close to a year since I had been home and after the two […]
Dunkirk and its extremely large port
I thought that, this being the countryside, I would find ample opportunities to camp but this proved simply not to be the case. At the time, I was told I was still 30km’s outside Dunkirk, the light was fading and I was starting to panic, ever so slightly. The road that I now found myself […]
Following a very long canal to Bruges and onto France
The next morning, I headed back into Ghent to have another look around before heading west along an exceedingly long and wide canal towards Bruges. By mid-afternoon, the weather was pleasant enough to stop for lunch and to dry my tent out. Although the road alongside the canal was nice enough, this being Belgium, the […]