Day 5 – 18.5 miles to near Oude Molen

Woke up to sunshine. It was even quite warm at 7.00am. Enough to risk the shorts. Stayed sunny and warm all day.

Left camp at 7.30am. My home on the lawn of a shop…

Today was another day of long straight cycle tracks, although I had a couple of hours walking alongside a lake with a lot of bird life. I really need to educate myself. Only managed to identify a swan and a mallard. Pretty poor effort!

The ground was a bit wet in places. Even the sheep were not keen – no one likes a wet bum.

It took 5 days but I finally found a field of tulips. Very impressive, and worth the wait.

Also spent a couple of hours alongside one of the main canal routes. Quite interesting seeing the huge barges tearing up and down the canal.

Was a bit concerned about finding a camping spot. But at the end of the day, the route suddenly left the cycle track and veered off onto a real footpath alongside a wood. Result! Tent is now up right in the middle of the path. After my mattress puncture I am a bit paranoid though. Spent 20 minutes on my hands and knees clearing all the broken twigs off the site so hopefully we will be OK.