Cycling 1000km to Sweden on my Brompton. Camping in Germany was interesting!

So I had cycled across the Netherlands and just now I'd gone over the border into Germany on a thousand kilometer cycling and camping adventure to Sweden riding to my husband who is Swedish. I was super excited about it because the year before just when I was about to set off I'd found out that my cancer had come back. Everything was delayed for a year but now I was on the way. The main challenge here seemed to be where to camp. I had planned to do the whole trip in 12 days camping all the way but campsites seemed quite few and far between along my route through Germany. This was my original plan which already had question marks and gaps on it but then in the Netherlands I'd had a sore knee and had to rest and now I was a couple of days behind schedule which is no big deal and I was overjoyed that my knee got better so that I could continue but I'd planned to cross the Jade Byte by ferry and that ferry only goes at weekends and now I'd missed it so I had to replan almost everything actually because it kind of knocked my distances out and I ended up with even more question marks about where I'd camp. But I was super excited to be in a new place. I don't know what they're saying. Moin, I think it is. The first place I hoped to camp was a kind of youth activity centre. I don't normally book normal campsites but I gave them a call. They no doubt will have gone home by the time I get there because it's about half past six now. It's beautiful here. It's so nice to be out in it. Right, this is it and it's literally only me. I thought they might be full or something. I can camp anywhere and there's a big field. For dinner there's going to be a pilaf kind of curry dish. We're going to soak these onions which are dehydrated. Soak this rice and it will have fresh tomatoes, fresh garlic, soya mince, dried parsley and then some spices. So I'm going to leave this stuff to soak while I go and have a shower and do the washing. The onion is ready to use. It's brilliant and look at the rice as well. Slightly making it up in a way because we're supposed to use tomato puree which I didn't want to bring because it's like a metal tube. It's quite heavy. So I'm just using tomatoes and then I've added the parsley as an idea. I think it's going to be good actually. The activity centre staff invited me to have breakfast with them which was super nice and there was no coffee, just tea and they told me all about how East Brisian people are big on their tea and so on. Super kind people. Today I'm a little bit conflicted about what to do really. There were two campsites along my route here but the first was kind of too near and the second was too far. Just see how it goes really. Now I was heading into Oldenburg, another former state. This region has been closely linked with Denmark. Today is just today and not tomorrow. I'm going to get to Varel and then do some shopping and it's like where on am I going to put anything? I realised I needed to stock up to avoid running out of food. Really few and far between with shops. So yeah it's quite tricky. Anyway, found a way. I hadn't expected it to be so tricky to get food. You imagine buying vegetables at farms and going to small shops in villages and actually I'm in the massive middle. That actually didn't work at all because everything's in really big packs in there. Loads of onions, potatoes, like a whole massive bag. So that didn't really work. So I've just bought some bread and I'll try another shop. Try another shop. It's massive as well. It's called Famila. So let's see about this. So look, yay! Loads of lovely things. I squashed everything into my bags and I carried on. I'd reached the Jade Bay, the big bay of the North Sea so I thought I'd climb up the dike and have a look. So there's a little path here up the dike. In the Middle Ages this was actually land and there were villages here but the sea washed in and the villages became like islands and then they drowned and disappeared completely. I'd decided to do the 50 kilometre option for the day and just around the corner was the campsite with loads of caravans actually but I found a really nice back corner. So here I am. Some nice plants, a little farmhouse there and then they've got a campsite along the road. The next day there were no campsites on my route. Bit of a funny feeling this morning because I don't know where I'm camping really. I thought I'd just try Camp Wild. In theory I could be fined. Of course I do no damage and leave no trace. It's always a bit nerve-wracking but pretty much always brilliant. I think I'm going to Camp Wild tonight so I feel quite excited. I don't know what I found, how it is, to where it's come and why it's meant to be. Dreaming I could lay in fields of Claude Monet. Sirens call my ear and I hear beautiful creatures Wave! Wave at sea themselves. Tonight, oh tonight, I wonder if tonight is when I will feel it again. On the other side was the former state of Hanover. It was weird to think that British Hanoverian kings like King George I, George II and so on were actually from here. Right, so we've got a plan. Basically I'm gonna head to this area here and see if it's possible to Camp Wild and if it's not, there's a couple of campsites that are actually on the Elbe. We should be a pretty long day. I don't know how many miles, probably not far off a hundred, so they'd be big but good to know. So that's the plan. It's three o'clock now. Let's go! So I rode to the place where I hoped to Camp Wild and I started to look for a place. Obviously, I don't want to be seen by anyone. This looked promising but I saw some people so I pushed on. Walkers and things. I just saw some people walking. This looks brilliant. Let's get started. Brilliant. So I've hidden the bike because I noticed the wheels have got reflexive stuff on and it works really well. In fact, there's reflexes on the tent which I'll probably just leave. Right, okay, time for dinner. Can you see me? You know, I actually forgot I had this. I was struggling thinking, oh god, these awful midges and then I suddenly thought, oh hold on, I've got a midge net. And now it's fine. Water is on for coffee. I slept pretty well actually. The only thing is when you get up to go to the loo in the night, you bring a whole load of midges with you which will have to be one by one. Got rid of. Brilliant. I'm so chuffed that worked so well. So I rolled down towards the Elbe. At the Elbe, I was going to turn left and ride north towards Denmark. I just love this. It really makes you think, oh my god, all you need is a few bits and bobs and you could just go anywhere. I'm just going to say, lucky, so free. This is so precious. One euro please. Yes, sure. Thank you. Make sure it's not too soft. It should still be a bit crunchy. Not too much cooking. Thank you. Bye. Exactly what I hoped to be able to do. Sorry. We should go to Hamburg. This is absolutely gorgeous. I've had it on these teeny weeny little lens. Now it was getting towards evening and I needed to find somewhere to camp. There was no campsite, again, but there was apparently a free van stop. There is a sort of mysterious, apparently lovely spot for camper vans by a lake. And it possibly has water, although possibly not. It's a suspect. Basically, there's a parking space and it's okay if you've got a van. But if you haven't got a van, there's no space. And then the regulation said you're not allowed in between 11 o'clock and 5am or something. So it's like, okay, I see. I might just sit down somewhere and have something to eat. And I'm sorted now, I've got my water. Then let's find a spot somewhere. Brilliant. So tonight we're going to have potato with this, which is a massive asparagus. I've never seen one that big. I had sort of rushed into this wood last night. Now I had to find my way out again and head north. Gosh, I can't quite remember how I came in. Somewhere that way. Just got to get down onto the road now. Eventually I got out of the wood and it had been a brilliant spot. So the plan today is to get to the Baltic Sea, which is super exciting. And I'm going to stay in a campsite, which is also super exciting. Actually, I've got a foldable bowl with me. So I fill it with enough water to have a mini shower. And I have a shower. So I wash properly. And it's so lovely. You feel so much better. But nonetheless, it would be really nice to be in a campsite with proper showers. Schleswig-Holstein felt really different from the North German plain. It definitely feels like I've left behind a flat Finland. We get views like this. I'm going to have to do some shopping again today, I think. I've only got garlic, some grains and pancake mix. Oh wow, how lovely. This is going to be great. That looks nice. It's potato bread. I don't want to eat it now. But I've got bread from three days ago, so I better finish that first. Now, I'm on a little hill. I'm going to cross the Kiel Canal, which runs from the Baltic, which is over there, back to the North Sea, where I've come from. So that's going to be really interesting. I had reached the Kiel Canal, and it was interesting. This is actually the old Kiel Canal, which was built in the 1700s. A bit further on, I reached the Kiel Canal itself. After the Kiel Canal, I went through a beech wood, and suddenly, burst out, and I was at the Baltic Sea. Now, I've just got to find the campsite. But it was miles harder than I thought. I've been sort of ploughing along this track for quite a long time. Oh God. It's supposed to be nice and easy staying at a camping site. It's really hard. You see, there's a flag. And I think it's just like caravans like that. Nearly there. Done it. That was really sudden. Oh well. But the rain stopped. Today was my last day in Germany. It's quite hard to climb. It's quite hard even to push. So, today, I'm going to cross the border into Denmark. I can't believe it. It's just amazing. I just popped in this shop. They had methylated spirits. So, that's brilliant. To the border. I crossed the Schleifers, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. Now, I was crossing into Anglia Peninsula. Anglia Peninsula is where the Anglo-Saxon Angles lived before they moved to England. Rain up there. On its way here to me. It was, actually. But I wasn't going to get hit by it until I was in Denmark. For now, I had arrived at the Danish border. Coming up towards Flensburg now. That's the last town in Germany. So much and everything last year. But here I am. I'm so happy. I honestly am so happy. And you know, the knee has made it even better. Because the knee threw the whole thing off again. Into like, it might not happen. You might not be able to do it. It's not something you can take for granted. To be able to do this.