We reached The Hague really quickly the next day, and with time on our side we cycled out to the nearest campsite: Camping Duinhorst which was 5km from the center of the city. Unfortunately the whole place was closed until the 1st of April. Taking the hint now we decided to give up camping for a week and take it easy at a budget chain hotel, picking Easy Hotel out from a free Hague city guide. Right in the heart of the city, with free and fast WiFi it was great!
This day was going to be a riding day only. We picked Leiden as the halfway point to The Hague which gave us about 50km, the longest ride we’ve had so far. We packed up in the rain, stuffing a very wet tent into its bag. Getting out of Amsterdam’s concentric circles was surprisingly easy, and the bike path soon led us through very pretty suburbs with long canals that the houses sat right against.
After spending the night shivering and realising we had grossly underestimated the cold, we decided to go hunting for warmer clothes. Looking out from our tent the sky was completely overcast with drizzly rain. But rain at least was one thing we had prepared for! Pulling on sealskin socks, rainpants and jackets we headed out to the center of the city. For the next two days we took a meandering route through gritty gorgeous Amsterdam, full of canals, architecture, and of course bikes.
After spending over 20 hours on two planes plus a 3 hour stop over in Dubai we were running on adrenanlin only. And so began a comedy of errors. After arriving at Amsterdam airport Schipol, and retrieving our bikes from Oversize Luggage pick up we dragged everything underneath an escalator to set up shop.
We took a quick weekend camping trip to test out the bikes with the gear. It was to be a easy ride using mostly bike paths from Wolli Creek to Sutherland (approx. 20km). From there we would take the train to Kiama, and then a small local train to Berry. Camping at the Berry Showgrounds for the night we would then ride out for a day trip to Seven Mile Beach (approx. 12km). Despite getting prepared the night before it still took quite a while to get going. Unusual scraping noises had to be investigated, panniers to be rearranged, and finding bike paths took a bit of time. Also getting used to how heavy the bikes were with all the gear, there were a couple of little hills near Sutherland that I was pushing the bike up!
There was definitely a list of requirements when choosing which bike to buy. It had to be within the cheaper touring end but still suited to long distance travel. It also needed to be able to blend into the urban landscape so we could use them for quick commuting at home.
The idea of travelling long-term started as a ‘what if?’ daydream but became louder and louder in our heads. We wanted to travel for six months to a year at least, the biggest debates being money, stuff and time. We had an apartment full of 7 years of our lives being entwined, from the modular couch we agonised over at a furniture super centre, to the TV we had debated size vs. living room space, to the photos loving printed and stuck on the walls. Would we be able to give up our possessions? The constant debate on how much we would need for the trip, and how much we would need for re-entry was at the forefront. The budget affected which countries we wanted to visit, and how long we could travel for.
Days of Light 