16 June 2014 (cloudy, mild, with increasing wind) 93km

First of all, apologies for the interruption to our broadcast but we are experiencing technical difficulties at the moment.....more on that later.

So Pete woke me at 5.30am so we could (to use an expression of Michele's from long ago) blow this clambake.  Packed the tent up efficiently, loaded the bikes and hit the road, away from our grubby little Antwerp camp.   Our first impressions of Antwerp were not good and we wondered why we had bothered coming here, but eventually we found the historic town centre and were so glad we made the effort. 

And it turns out first thing in the morning on bicycles is the best way to see a big tourist city.  There's no-one about so you can snap away to your heart's content without having to wait for the way to be clear and you don't have to worry about

traffic.  Being on a bicycle means you can cover so much more ground as well.  We covered 13km before our breakfast at Starbucks just cruising round looking at the buildings.
We had a lot to catch up on in Starbucks and stayed 'til 10.30am.  Apologised to the waitress for staying so long but she assured me it was fine as they have some people who stay all day.

Pedalled slowly out of Antwerp and attempted to get to the top of a modern museum building but it was closed for maintenance on the escalators.  So we continued on our merry way, and it took about an hour to get out of Antwerp, but the route we had mapped out using the dot-to-dot system, worked really well and it was cycle lanes all the way.

Stopped for lunch just before midday by the side of a soccer pitch in a village.  Then went through our first of several tracks that took us through the woods.  Passed the magnificent Kastellan Veltwijck that led into the lovely town of Kapellan.  Missed a sign and went the wrong way for a km before retracing our steps to find out where we went wrong.  Had a flat, straight ride beside the train track for a few kms before turning down a tree-lined lane with gorgeous houses

that led onto another equally beautiful lane.  As we travelled further to the north east, the houses got bigger and more opulent, with grounds to match, and often backed onto woodland.  It was impressive and expansive as well.  Took us a good hour to complete our tour of Kalmthout, but we were so distracted that we barely noticed the time pass.

Call us juvenile, but we did find this statue rather funny

After that tree-filled paradise, we had cycle tracks through farmland.  The weather started to get dodgy and the

especially when coupled with the name!

rain jackets came on for five minutes.  Over the farmland we were very exposed to a cross/head wind and when a road led into a forest on the Dutch border at 4pm, we had a break and made cheese sandwiches and coffee.  As the afternoon wore on, it was more farmland, woodland, farmland, woodland 'til we crossed the border in to our first Dutch village for a Magnum and to stock up on supplies at the small supermarket there.  On we pressed, with the wind getting stronger, but managing to evade the rain.
The cycle lanes were a delight and we lost count of the tree-lined lanes we rode down.  Had a chat to a businessman riding home from work who rode up behind us as we approached Breda.  But as he left to take the direct route, we took the scenic route through delightful forest paths.  Hard packed golden brown sand with a smattering of pine needles on top.  Wonder if it would have been quite so delightful if it hadn't been dry for the last week, although it does seem to be quick-drying.  At long last, we made it into Breda, having to ask directions only once before finding the campsite at 6.30pm.  Pitched tent and then I had a shower before cooking a delicious dinner of pork steaks, potato salad and steamed broccoli - and if you saw the equipment I had to work with, you'd be impressed.  Pete did the dishes and had a shower but then we found we couldn't get the tablet to turn on.  Pete was quite upset by this because he is enjoying using it now.  Hoped it was a minor glitch and would work in the morning and turned in for the night.