Hamburg

Well not quite, but after being warned about the shortage of beds in this area, we stopped just short of Hamburg in Hasloh.


Judging by the garage this morning, most guests must have come by bikes

This was an amazing start to the day. To go south we needed to cross the canal and the only way is by a tunnel under it. Here's how it works





A long escalator takes you deep under the bottom of the canal, or you can use the elevator as in our case.


You then ride about 250 metres to the other side





Then it's up, up and away. In the half hour we were there I would estimate at least 200 people crossed by it !


There's where we came from. You could also cross under it by car in another tunnel (and join the que)


The trail was mostly on lanes this morning. Some of them are just long concrete strips





It's better than cobblestones. These are hard on spokes


Every so often there are these huge digesters. The waste greenery makes methane to power tractors
It's harvest time and I love the old tractors still in use . Note the Bailer
"That's a Welger son"





I was photographing his round house with a grass roof ( is that someone in the foreground ? )





The villages are so tidy and neat


At Bad Bramstedt we had lunch with another couple on a biking holiday, Jurgan and Renate. Renate has hurt her back so they are going to take the train back to Bremen.


From Bad Bramstedt all the way into Hamburg ,35kms, it's a straight road . This guy was just changing signs ,NZ kiwi fruit , so we took that as a good omen and stopped.


Ela has spent a lot of time working in NZ and she was so helpful and welcoming