Day 1 - Germany

We didn’t sleep that well though there was no “movement”. We had the buffet breakfast and watched the boat docking in Rotterdam. Getting off was quick and soon we were through passport control and straight through the customs area.

Rotterdam is the biggest port in Europe and it took almost an hour driving on motorways to get past it. Not long after we hit what google said was a 12 minute delay for roadworks. More like 30. Eventually we took the A1 towards Germany. All the roads are very busy but the traffic flows well and the overhead directional signs are easy to follow.

In Germany we hit big queues as there had been an accident in addition to road works. This held us up. In the van our optimal speed is 105 km an hour so we took longer than google suggested to reach our turn-off south east of Bremen. We got fuel €154 (177 on the motorway) then popped into Lidl for milk, yogurt, cheese etc (which we’re not supposed to bring in from UK now we are not EU) before arriving at out campsite (Camping Park Sturberg) at 4.30pm. A long day of busy roads and 288 Miles. We stayed here 2 years ago en route to Sweden and it cost €25 - now it is €39. We don’t often stay on sites but today it is necessary to have electrical hookup to get the fridge cold after its overnight on the boat.

We’ll try sitting outside with our books for a little but it is cool and cloudy. The birds are twittering away in this pretty woodland setting.