Day 1,393

Slovakia

We really didn't do Slovakia justice. We had a tailwind blowing us along as we left Austria, a smooth cycle path besides the Danube, and sunshine! We soon ate up the miles, Tom even reached the speed of 28.4mph at one point! We stopped for a coffee and a pastry-scone type snack, bought a few to take with us in case we didn't pass any shops (we didn't) and carried on cycling. We had endless miles pretty much to ourselves, little to see apart from the Danube, flood plains, farmland and the occasional bridge. This part of the river is known as the sea of the Danube and it was easy to understand why, the wind made its surface choppy and the clouds reflected in it were bleak and grey. 

After passing about a million ideal wild camping spots we suddenly had a dearth of them. We needed shelter from our friend, the tailwind, a flat surface for the tent, and a view. Finally after about 80 miles an ideal site came into view. We ate our savoury scone things and tried to spot beavers. There was plenty of evidence of their tree felling activities, with one recently felled tree and two works in progress but they stayed away. Tom wanted to add our campsite to our Top 10 wild camp spots but I felt it didn't quite make the grade, despite there being a large sign with a number 4 written on it. That I took to be a reminder of our lovely adopted cycling daughter Helene, she'll understand what I mean! The following morning we were up and away, and despite a less favourable wind we were soon crossing a bridge over the Danube that took us to Hungary and a reunion with our dear friends, Ferdi and Viki.

The ‘nearly’ Top 10 wild camp