Monday 31 May 2010 Flaach to Böhringen (near Radolfzell)

Monday 31 May 2010 Flaach to Böhringen (near Radolfzell) 70km

It wasnt raining but it was still chilly and grey when we woke up, it's hard to believe that it's going to be summer tomorrow but I guess we're not in Darwin now.

We said farewell to Daphne (the girl who got her bike thrown on her tent) as she was off to the nearest large town to buy a new tent and send her broken one home for repair.

The next attraction for the day was Schaffhausen which was an old town with lots of building with murals on them.  We had a cup of tea in a cafe and wandered the streets for a bit.  We rode past Rhein Falls which as supposed to be spectacular but we both dont get into the whole tourist crowd thing and we've seen lots of waterfalls.

After Schaffhausen the path took us through some wonderful forests and trails you just wouldnt find unless you were following the cycle route.  We had lunch on a picnic table deep in the forest and the most gorgeous setting.

After Schaffhausen we headed toward a big lake (name slips my mind at the moment) and things started to get a bit, not so touristy but holiday maker if that makes sense.  Lots of fancy houses with flash cars and some nice sailing boats.  Not really our cup of tea as we rode through.  Sandy and I both like the rustic, down to earth Europe rather than the glitzy modern places.  It was on the lake that we forwent the last marked campground in favour of finding something a little more wholesome.  The next town we came to had a campground sign and it turned out to be basic and friendly.  They also served very yummy black forest cake.

We're in Germany now, actually we did about five border crossings as the path meandered it's way up the river.  Haven't noticed much change yet as most people in Switzerland spoke German and the scenery hasn't changed much.  Tomorrow might be different as we are heading north.

Border crossing on the cycle path

Tomorrow we head north toward the Danube river and then we dont leave the Danube untilw e get to Vienna in Austria but thats a couple of weeks away.

The campground

Sunday 30 May 2010 Wil to Flaach

Sunday 30 May 2010 Wil to Flaach 61km

A quick entry today as I haven't uploaded photos yet and dont have much time on this Internet

It was raining when we woke up, it was raining when we had breakfast, it was raining when we packed up and it was raining when we left, it was raining when we stopped for a cuppa at a nice cafe but by 1 or 2pm it slowed to a fine drizzle and then by about 4pm it had pretty much stopped. Not the best days cycling in the world but you have to take the good with the bad.

We had some more good climbs today, if 'good' is the right word.  Not as steep as the English hills but pretty long.  Very very nice scenery though.  The green of the forest is really intense.

When we arrived at the campground we met a girl from the Netherlands who had a fright last night.  Some one threw her bike on her tent while she was sleeping.....she was very shaken up, still is.  Police called, tent broken, bike OK, she is physically OK but pretty nervous.  She is cycling alone to Rome and is now on the hunt for a new tent and is continuing on her way.  Pretty scary stuff.

Hopefully not so much rain tomorrow but we will ride on regardless.

Saturday 29 May 2010 Basel to Wil (near Laufenburg)

Saturday 29 May 2010 Basel to Wil (near Laufenburg) 71km

We left Basel today a little worried about our stamina after being sick but we both felt pretty good so off we went.  Luckily it was early when we left as we made quite a mess of getting into the city from the airport hotel via quiet streets.  After spending what felt like an age just getting to the start of our days riding we stopped at a cafe and had some yummies and a coffee.  Actually Sandy ordered a tea but they gave her Earl Grey and the only person on the planet I know that likes Earl Grey is Sandy's mum Mary.  I had a curry ham roll and it was sooo good and my expresso was perfect.  After our little rest we grabbed some bread and started out on the EuroVelo 6 path.

It was a good thing the path was very well signposted as it weaved it's way across Basel but we were taken past some lovely sights and suburbs.  We saw a covered bridge, Roman ruins, majestic hills, dark forests and of course the powerful river.  The forest has taken on a new depth since the hills have started and it's all very 'Teddy Bears Picnic' or maybe that was 'Blair Witch', either way it was impressive.

The perfect route signposting let us down a little bit  near Stein and Sisseln as we must have taken a wrong turn.  To reduce the damage done we studied the map and followed a more direct path to get back on the EuroVelo 6 so we got to see some lovely industrial parks and factories.  These are the things you don't see in the tourist brochures :)

Roman ruins

As we rode we were both very surprised at how good we felt considering the three days convalescing in Basel, which was a good thing as the first campground marked on the map didn't allow camping?????  Yeah we didn't get it either, they had lots of little mobile home sort of things and was called a 'Campground' but they don't do camping, ah well off we went.  We filled up the extra water bladder expecting to have to rough camp it as the next marked campground was some ways away.  We rode and really didn't find many spots you could rough camp but we felt OK so we eventually made it to the next campground.  One thing we have noticed in Europe that is different to Australia (OK there are more than one thing) is when there is a signpost on the side of the road pointing to a town or campground they never put the distance.  At home you'll see the camping sign and almost certainly it will have 1km, 5km, 20km or whatever distance.  This is a bit important to a cycle tourist as that last 20km may be 1km too far.  Anyway we saw the campground sign and the symbol on the map made it look about 3km away so off we rolled.  Small problem is that so far in this country if you move away from a water course you go up.  We rode, and rode, and rode went past the town that was marked on the other side of the campground on the map and keep riding.  Just as we were having our doubts and wondering if we are going to ride all this way to find that this campground is like the last one and doesn't allow camping we see another 'Camping' sign.  No distance but it gave us hope.  Into another little town and then another sign but this one pointed up the side of a mountain.....bugger.  Into granny gear and push.  Now I'm carrying an extra 4kg of water just in case we need it so that makes the hills a little harder but we both felt pretty good.  It was a considerable climb, we gained about 100m elevation over not too much distance.   Thankfully around the next corner we saw the top of a caravan........more hope but after the last let down we knew that we could still be thwarted.   At the top, we saw a tent...yah!!!  We got off the bikes and hunted around until we found the guy who runs the joint.  So now with a cup of tea, a shower, a snack and a magnificent view we're relaxing.

Our camp, it's higher than it looks :)

Friday 28 May 2010 Basel

Thursday 27 and Friday 28 May 2010 Basel 
A day off in Basel yesterday and another unplanned one today as Sandy had a bit of a relapse last night so we booked into another hotel to let her recover.

On a much brighter note, Basel is beautiful and we have made use of the very efficient tram system.  We got given a 'Mobility Ticket' which provides free use of the public transport in Basel.  Not only that but the trams are everywhere and it's very easy to find your way around.  We did our sightseeing and some essential shopping all without walking too much.

One of the trams

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be back on the road.