DAY 04: Wijngaarden to Brummen.
Last night was so peaceful, so very peaceful. However, unsure of time, there was a sound of someone sprinting, like full sprinting for about 5 seconds, stopped, and then sprinted back. It was a weird sound to be hearing in the middle of no where. We both heard it too so it definitely wasn’t dutch cheese dreams!
We left the farm and despite the CamperContact app telling us the stay had electricity included we were slightly embarrassed when the lady asked us for €3 before we left. Not bad really though when you consider that for €5.50 each we’d stayed the night in a beautiful farmland with electric and water. I guess there are worse ways to spend that money!
Today we were heading east and heading towards Brummen. We’d originally planned to do about 100km a day in Doris which should take us an hour to two depending on the roads. Todays journey was around 97km and took us just under an hour.
From Brummen we’d planned to cycle into Nijmegen to see the oldest city of The Netherlands and of course hunt for some dutch pastries. Just as we were unloading the bikes from the rack it started to rain. We decided to wait it out a little incase we got caught mid 16 mile cycle in the pouring rain. It was the right decision.
Once the rain had calmed down we decided to cycle to Lidl and pick up some supplies for the rest of the day/tomorrows breakfast. After someone stopping us at Kinderdijk and asking us about our bikes and then telling us they looked very expensive, we’ve been a little worried about leaving them. But they stood loud and proud outside Lidl and we didn’t have to walk home.
The cloud still loomed but determined not to sit in all day we decided to just explore locally and see what was about. Unfortunately those clouds followed us. Everywhere. Until eventually the heavens opened and we were left like drowned rats and still about 3 miles away from Doris. We could only laugh as we were belted with rain, both absolutely soaking and struggling to see where to go.
It was all doom and gloom until I spotted two donkeys in a field which I just had to turn around and say hello too. My Grandad loves donkeys so it was only right I went over and gave them a stroke as I know he’d want too. These are for you, Grandad. Nat fed them for you!
The rain didn’t really easy up for the rest of the afternoon so we spent some time drying our clothes and watching yet more, David Attenborough. He’s 92 now, can you believe that? Single handedly had more of an impact of climate change, for the good, than anyone in the world. When the weather cleared we decided there was no time like the present and we managed to sneak a little upper body workout in.
Unfortunately whilst travelling New Zealand I managed to gain between 14-20lbs from eating like a small child and not working out. Our life in Doris is going to be different and we’re determined to keep some sort of structure and routine.
That said, here’s the upper body workout we managed.
A1/ Press ups x 8
A2/ Banded Pull Apart x 16
Repeat for 5 rounds.
B1/ Banded Overhead Press x 10
B2/ Bent over Row x 10
Repeat for 4 rounds.
C1/ Dips x 12
C2/ Banded bicep curls x 12
Repeat for 4 rounds.
Where we parked Doris there is a lovely little lake behind us. SO after out dinner we headed out for a little walk around. It’s amazing to see so many different water birds. Can you call them that? Coots, ducks, storks, herons, there are so many different species, it’s not what I expected. Oh and how could I not mention the amount of dogs? Cleverly parked at a local dog walking spot, so we’ve been scratching doggos all evening!
Tomorrow we’ll head into Nijmegen early and then get over to Germany for the later afternoon.
Tonights camping location: Bemmel, Holland. (CamperContact: 7760)
Them donkeys tho ?
They were beautiful mate. Friendly too!