Muriel's been a bit neglected this summer, as her crew have been away cycling the North Sea Cycle Route, a long distance international cycleway. We started from our home in Devon, cycling from Exmouth along Sustrans route 2 to Dover before crossing to Dunkirk and heading north on route LF10 to Rotterdam. This is where the North Sea route begins. From there it was north to Germany, Denmark, Sweden (crossing from Grenaa to Varberg) and into Norway. We then crossed to Shetland, then Orkney and finally to John O'Groats, from where we headed home. In all we cycled about 4000 miles in exactly 14 weeks. All but 4 nights were spent in our small tent, a far cry from M's comfortable cabin. Here are some photos of our journey.
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| The route |
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| Starting out - newly trimmed, like the grass |
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| A lunch stop along England's lovely south coast |
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| One of many ferry crossings needed to get to Dover along the Sustrans coast route |
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| South coast towns. Great beaches, great promenades, great weather... Greggs |
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| The Sussex port of Rye |
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| A heated bollard in Folkstone |
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| The Belgian coast - don't worry, we told him it's all over (and who won) |
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| Marinas and sea ports - welcome changes among Belgium's long line of coastal tower blocks |
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| Boats, boats, boats - well, it is a sea route we're cycling |
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| Plenty of cargo. All essential for a three month trip |
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| We're in the Netherlands |
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| More boats and some picturesque Dutch towns |
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| Lunch at a museum. Tea, cakes and 60 year old motorcycles - bliss |
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| Big boats, big docks |
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| Everyone in the Netherlands cycles - no hills in sight |
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| We rested for a day every 6 - 9 days. Our second rest day was spent in Katwijk aan Zee, in the Netherlands |
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| Flat and easy - Dutch cycling |
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| The start of a 32 km dam, the Afsluitdijk... |
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| ... with the wind behind us we flew across |
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| More ports, more lovely towns, more sunshine - great summer, so far |
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| Germany, and the dyke begins. We were to see this sea defence for the next 3 weeks. And the stripey light houses, they seemed to be everywhere along the German coast and into southern Denmark |
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| History in Wilhelmshaven |
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| Old ships ... |
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| ... and new ones. |
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| Busy, busy, busy. The German coast line |
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| German engineering |
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| The Elbe. A fantastic river - for most |
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| Hamburg |
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| Sea Conger enters the Kiel Canal on her way to the Baltic from the Elbe estuary |
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| Picturesque Germany |
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| Denmark ... |
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| ... and more, erm, boats |
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| Danish churches - there are loos and somewhere to sit. Cyclists' heaven |
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| No more dyke - just dunes and beaches |
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| And more ferry crossings. High sided - we wondered what the weather could be like here |
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| Local boat building style |
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| Skagen, where two seas meet. The North Sea on the left, the Baltic on the right |
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| And another ferry. Short crossings, usually, but a nice rest |
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| Some ferries are small, some are big. This was our crossing to Sweden. Four hours, all you can eat buffet - he, he |
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| Sweden and rock after weeks of sand. |
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| It looks a bit flat as well |
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| There are benches, and there are benches |
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| Goteborg |
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| Rocks and ferries |
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| Swedish Americana: big cars and wooden houses |
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| Norway - I've lost 15 stone getting here and Sue was the same height as me when we started, but we've made it |
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| Island hopping on the east coast - it's a lovely break from the hills. Norway not only has oil but minerals as well, and they're all in these rocks. Many are only found here, Canada and on the moon, apparently |
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| From flat to hilly |
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| A lovely old wooden ferry. We got here at 0800, it left at 1145. If it wasn't for the bikes we would have swam across |
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| Crazy Guy. A Canadian cycling from Iceland to Torquay on a recumbent trike and living in Norwegian hotels (v-expensive). I said he was called Crazy Guy |
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| Some paths are better than others |
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| What a view, what a campsite. Kristiansund £39 to pitch a tent, the showers are miles away, the place is minging .. |
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| Big hills, high bridges |
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| Fjords and mountains - we're approaching the west coast |
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| Tunnels are to be avoided ... |
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| ... for safe, happy cycling |
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| A canal in Norway, it's true |
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| Fjord |
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| We crossed to Shetland and cycled from Lerwick |
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| Shetland: it's a wild and lonely place |
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| A Puffin a Sumburgh Head |
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| It's not as flat as it looks, not on a bike |
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| Shetland has strong links to Scandinavia |
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| Orkney is more gentle than Shetland - especially to cyclists |
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| A chapel on Orkney built by Italian prisoners in 1943 |
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| Our final ferry - to John O'Groats |
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| Scotland |
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| Only about 900 miles to go |
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| We head South, for the Highlands |
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| Not quite Dutch standard but UK cycle paths are not too bad |
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| Glasgow - a big surprise to us. Modern, cultural, vibrant, interesting, busy - Glasgow has it all |
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| England - the hoof for home begins ... |
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| ... and soon slows on the most severe hills of the trip. Not the long 5 km climbs of Norway but steep (25% in places) and frequent, the Dales and Peaks are a killer |
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| Apparently the Tour de France will come over this summit in 2014 - not carrying their own luggage they won't |
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| Birmingham - we feel at home now |
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| Gloucester Docks for lunch |
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| A final stop - Lympstone on the Exe |
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| Home - trim, unlike the grass |
