We can't believe that we're on Day 5 seems so much has already happened! We've crossed into France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. A few moments:

A diversion to Leytonstone to meet our new great neice, Clara. 😍It may be some time before we see her again so it was very special to spend a little time with her and Barnaby and Laura.

A non descript urban campsite in Gent in Belgium made unique by being in some kind of olympic village of sport - a long rowing lake, cycle paths, a huge climbing wall, skatepark, courts of all kinds, a lake with paddle boarding, wild swimming ... amazing!

The Graslei: classic colourful, steep facades alongside heavy stone churches and castle towering out of the canals. And remembering to enjoy beer, frites and waffles.

Tulip fields near Lisse - spectacular strips of every different colour dotted with pickers and all at different growing stages. Of course, given the time of year, the world and his wife had gone too so it was wall to wall coaches and campervans. We skirted the worst to go to the beach - another long, wide stretch with ghostly wind turbines out at sea.

A big thank you to Lauren & Vince in Amsterdam for looking after Nala so we could go to the Vermeer exhibition. So glad we got tickets. It was very well curated - only a few, themed paintings per room. Amazing to see his development as an artist, the revisited props, clothes, settings and the extraordinary intimacy, the use of light, the gazes and the incredible detail in the fabrics.

A fabulous campground find in Rehden east of Osnabruck in Germany - collections of old barns and half timbered buildings set amongst tall trees. An atmostphere of calm, friendliness and trust and only one other camper on the site. This is what we've been looking for especially after the serried ranks of gleaming white motorhomes in the urban campsites. Liked it so much we stayed for a down day - domestic chores including sourcing 2 new batteries to give us power for all the important things - charging, fridge, lights, as Archie's seem to have failed.

Because it's been busy we still feel like we're spinning a bit. Getting used to the space has been more of an adjustment out of Turnpike but it's starting to feel like everything has its place and we know where that is! It feels good to be in europe again too.