The day started slowly. Matt, our friend who was already at the campsite in Ghent woke us around 9.30am. None of were ready to wake but we knew we had to get going. We had a long days drive ahead of us to reach Hamburg in a reasonable time. We started to get ready for the drive and packed up camp. Matt left shortly after waking us and was already on his way to Germany. 

The drive through Belgium and the Netherlands became monotonous. We didn’t seem to be making any distance and Hamburg seemed a long way away. It was a day of stop start & 30kph. In some ways very similar to driving in the UK, and very different to what we are used to driving on the continent. 

John was also struggling with the driving slightly. The combination of the numerous hours sat in the drivers seat and the unexpected heat was taking its toll and John’s leg was swelling quite badly. Like anyone who has had surgery will know, the risks of a blood clot post surgery are high and the swelling in John’s leg was a only solution we had was to make sure we kept stopping and walked around a bit to get his circulation moving. This alleviated the swelling and discomfort a bit but it wasn’t disappearing. We decided the only thing we could do was keep an eye on the leg and watch out for any of the symptoms of a blood clot.

It was getting later in the day and again we realised we were not going to make it to the campsite in Hamburg. We spoke to Matt who was already there and updated him with our whereabouts. Next we had to find somewhere to camp.

In Germany, you are not meant to wild camp but we found a small area off the main road next to a river. It appeared to be a local fishing spot so we decided we would camp here for the night. 

Tomorrow we will head for Hamburg.