top of page

Black Forest - Day 9 : No cycling

The lady from the campsite asked if we had been cold and wanted blankets for the next night. That was sweet, but we would be okay without them for now. It had been raining all night and continued in the morning. This day, we started the 'breakfast in the tent' routine, where we planned everything the night before so that we could stay in the tent as long as possible. Unfortunately, the tent wasn't pitched right and had started leaking. Because of the heavy storm, the water dripped in quickly, and puddles began to form on Bram's mattress. We used our 'friends of nature' mugs to catch as much water as possible.

35_water_tent.jpg

An impression of the mess in the tent and the puddles of water on Bram's mattress.

36_water_pullen.jpg

The mugs came in handy to catch water.

 

I was fortunate that my side of the tent wasn't leaking. Fortunately, Bram had a water-resistant sleeping bag so that he could avoid some of the wetness. We wanted to wash our clothes, but everything was too wet for them to dry except a public room at the campsite. However, if we left our tent, we might return to a large puddle of water. 

​

We went for a walk in the forest when the weather cleared up. There was a signed route with all sorts of assignments and information about the area. One of the assignments was to estimate the height of a tree. Bram thought 35 meters, me 45. Fortunately, the correct answer was 40 meters; otherwise, one of us would be more right. Further along was a giant ant hill. The sun was shining, and it was swarming with ants. Bram thought it was very interesting and wanted to have an ant walk over his hands. I thought they were red ants, but Bram disagreed. It turned out not to be red ones. Nonetheless, Bram was surprised when the ant suddenly raised his head, spread its jaws, and bit his hand. Bram suddenly got very fast. We also tried to make a match from tree resin and a stick, but it was too wet to burn properly. I felt something biting my neck when we were almost back at the campsite. It turned out to be an ant hitching along. Back on the campsite, we decided to gather nettles to make tea. We had to walk for 2 kilometers to find suitable plants. Back on the campsite we made the tea in the pouring rain. I poured some in my mugs and tasted it. Meanwhile, Bram threw the leaves on the ground. I didn't think the tea was strong enough, so Bram picked the leaves from the ground and put them in the pan. The people across from us looked very confused.

 

Because the sun had come out, we also quickly washed our clothes. It took a while to figure out how the washing machine worked. After it finished, we tried to open the door, which didn't work. We then started another program, hoping it would open automatically afterward. Fortunately, that was the case. Bram thought the clothes were still too wet, so he wanted to centrifuge again. Of course, the weather got worse, and this time, the door didn't open after centrifuging. After much trying, I learned that if we pressed two buttons at once, the door opened, at least we thought this was how it worked. We put in my socks, which hadn't fit the first time, and started it again.
 

Meanwhile, we were invited by our neighbors to sit in their party tent and be dry. They were cycling people, but more car-cycling-people, people who go cycling somewhere by car. The man told us he once went 108 km/h on his bike, which made Bram jealous. Back at the socks, the door didn't open again. The washing machine really didn't make sense.

 

Dinner was again potatoes, this time with peas and beans. Those came in a can. My pocket knife had a can opener, but it didn't work because it was blunt. Bram kept hitting the knife with a rock until the can had a tear big enough for the carrots to come out. My cheap pocket knife was ready for the garbage afterward, but at least we had something to eat. We stayed in the TV room for a while before going to bed.

Distance cycled : 0 km

bottom of page