With the better part of a week to travel along the north German Baltic coast while we wait for our front fender (which needs to be ordered and painted). We’ve travelled up through Rostock, although we did not stop there, having had enough of urban space for a while. So here we are 50m away from the sea, just outside Dierhagen and on our way to the National park at Darss for a bit of cycling.
Travelling on the back roads has been a bit interesting, and I’m at a loss as to how the speed restrictions work. There are very few speed signs as you approach a town, and typically none when you leave. That means 50km/h in town, sometimes 60 or 70km/h when leaving, and, at some unmarked spot, the limit goes to 100km/h. As there are no signs this is more usually indicated by cars riding right on your bumper to add some encouragement. Usually doesn’t work for me, except in the case of huge trucks, which certainly are intimidating. And in this area it’s not as though there are any hills on which you can leave the trucks behind.
We’ve had some lovely sights on the way up, with autumn colours now predominating. The Baltic has been the flattest lake ever! Cycling to Dierhagen – next to the beach, all forested – took us to the small harbour where we spent some time trying to distinguish sky from water. There is a bit of mist around, and between the deep green colour of the sea, the grey/blue of the sky, and the reflections off the mirror-like surface means that it is quite disorienting. I think if I were on a boat I’d have difficulty knowing which way was up – apart from the breathing thing, of course.
We had a big van cleanout yesterday, which has proven relatively easy to do on a regular basis. This morning we still need to do the water tanks as they’ve not really been cleaned in a year. Our fresh water supply has been in good nick, mostly because we use so much water that the tank is being filled with fresh water every three days. We are also very careful about not having food scraps etc go into the grey water tank – I don’t shave in the van for the same reason. Even so, we put dose of cleaner in monthly, but I think it’s time to get out the cloths and do it properly – an unpleasant task, I’ve been told. We are also good for another two weeks on the clothing side, having done three loads of washing – at exorbitant prices, unfortunately.
With a bit of luck we’ll be in Hamburg (again) tomorrow, get the van sorted (hmmm, some insurance issues on the horizon) and then start heading south (again!).
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