Our Long Cycle Home

We are an Australian family who moved to the Netherlands at the beginning of 2020. Most Dutch people are surprised by this as Australia is a paradise destination, somewhere on everyone’s bucket list. For us, though, the Netherlands is another sort of paradise - a bicycle paradise. Cycling is part of our daily life in our utopic Dutch town, and it is also the way we spend our holidays.

The last two summers we have completed long bicycle tours. Last year, over 900km from our house in Voorschoten to Berlin, and this year, 1168km from Hamburg back to Voorschoten on a rather indirect route.

Our children are 11 and 14 and you would have thought after last summer’s cycle to Berlin they would be looking for other ways to spend their holidays. It turns out that they are as hooked as we are. When I gave them some alternate holiday options they were both firm, “we want to do another cycle tour!”

It was then up to me to decide what the route would be. This is the overwhelming part in Europe as there are just so many options. Should we do a river route like The Danube, The Rhine, or the Elbe? Should we choose one of the established EuroVelo routes that criss cross their way through all parts of Europe?

In the end one of the deciding factors was that the kids were keen to do a lot of swimming.

When our daughter was 2 we cycled over 4000km across Europe, and part of that cycle had included the “Mecklenburger Seenplatte” in the North-East of Germany. This region is known as “the land of 1000 lakes” and seemed the perfect place for our next tour.

On the 20th of July, the four of us caught a Flixbus to Hamburg and then cycled due East out of the city towards the thousand lakes. The rough plan was to cycle East until we were more or less directly north of Berlin and then point our bikes South-West and cycle home to the Netherlands. We would be camping every night and so route planning was largely centred around where our next campground was. We never book anything and trust that there will always be room for a small tent and 4 weary cyclists.

It didn’t take long to find our first lake. Every camping we stayed at was right next to a stunning, crystal clear lake. For us, this is somewhat of a novelty as fresh water lakes are not abundant in the part of Australia we are from. What is abundant is sunshine, and sadly this could not be said for the first 2 weeks of our cycle tour. It was rain, rain and more rain. Often the water was warmer than the air temperature, but we resolved to make the best of the situation, as the weather is something we cannot control. Thankfully, as we changed direction and began cycling in the direction of home, the weather changed for the better.                              

While the cycle infrastructure in Germany does not compare to the Netherlands, it was certainly good enough for us to feel (mostly) safe, and German drivers give a lot of space to cyclists. Each day we would cycle around 50km, sometimes more and sometimes less due to the spacings of the lakes/campings. 68km is our record, which the kids are very proud of.

We camped next to some phenomenal lakes and were surprised at how little tourism there is in that part of Germany. While on the road we rarely saw number plates from other parts of Europe, and didn’t meet any foreign tourists until we reached Hanover (over 600km into our journey). In many ways it felt like we had this part of Europe to ourselves and we delighted in the brilliantly green countryside and tranquil forest riding along mostly well kept and empty paths.

People we met were often shocked and amazed at what we were doing and would ask the kids directly if they actually liked it. They would always reply that they did, but that isn’t to say it was always easy. Head winds and driving rain are never fun. Nor is setting up camp in the rain or cycling up a never ending hill in scorching heat. But we all know that at the end of each day we will crawl into our little tent and feel cozy and safe and warm, and, most importantly, together.

This sort of travel is like a huge antidote to our normal busy urban lives. We are in nature, moving, breathing fresh air, exercising, living simply with only what we can carry on our bikes. We are cooking simple meals (and sometime splurging on restaurants), we are enjoying the hospitality and kindness of the people we meet, and we are feeling a sense of accomplishment each day as we roll into the new campground.

On our final day of cycling I asked the kids how they felt about finishing and they both didn’t want the journey to end. It was a massive achievement for them, and it is a summer they will not forget in a hurry. And now, as we face the reality of going back to school and work, we can start dreaming about our next adventure.