Well I left the UK finally on a ferry bound for the Netherlands. It was an overnight trip so I departed the Hook of Holland in near freezing conditions. I was riding with an Aussie (Matthew - K1200RS) who lives in Finland. He decided to spend most of the day riding together as he was heading for a ferry in northern Germany. The motorways are extremely busy but safe with excellent road conditions. I decided to set a max of 100kph for the trip with too much at stake this early. That meant we were travelling in the 'slow' lane with another million trucks. The freight transport in Europe is phenomenal. If you want to experience the real Europe, do not travel on motorways. Two amazing memories will stay with me. One the way Germany have embraced wind technology. On the route I followed., there would have been greater than 500 huge huge swinging blades to peer at.

I stayed near Hannover the first night in a very German hotel. Subway gladly took care of my $ for a one foot chicken teriaki roll. Next day was straight into Poland. The contrast was dramatic. But the roads were quieter and trip slowed down significantly. I could not find a hotel and in desperation satyed in an old disused barn full of hay and a trailer to sleep on. It was damn cold and I felt a tad guilty but hell no-one else was using it. The next morning I arose to find the farmer had recently coated his trailer with sump oil. Not greasy but unpleasant all the same. Serve me right eh! The milk I bought the night before was curdled and that spoiled my little camp find slightly. Just before departure I had another look at the 'milk' that turned out to be 1L of yoghurt. It wasn't that bad guzzling yoghurt all day.

Arrived at a swish hotel near Gdansk after dark. This was definitely not my plan but it was freezing cold and I was in need of some pampering. Turns out that I was the only guest. I dined alone in a huge conference room. Staff were needlesstosay were very accommodating.

The roads were acceptable. The traffic was manageable and I was definitely getting into the swing of the trip. MB photos will have to wait until next time!!