Linz to Emmersdorf. Friday 20th June.

A lovely warm start to the day. We left camp just before eight and travelled the twenty kilometers to Mauthausen with Terry, Jim, Jaco, Don and Jurg. At Mauthausen we climbed the steep hill to the old concentration camp. It was a sobering place to visit. From there we were joined by Garis and stopped after a short ride for our usual coffee and cake. We usually share a piece of cake as they are large and very delicious!

The fast bunch caught up with us shortly after morning tea and we rode with them along the north bank of the river on the stopbank and through cornfields and forest. Liz lead the bunch at a great pace with a very helpful strong tail wind. Lunch was at Grein which was a very picturesque spot. It has a schloss on the hill and is right beside the river. After that we headed off with Garis and rode the cycleway hugging the north bank of the river for 40ks. We had an afternoon stop at Gottsdorf near Persenburg for an icecream and coffee.

Then it was a fast twenty kilometers to camp with a great tail wind again. It was lovely and warm (30 degrees) when we arrived in Emmersdorf. Arrived about three pm and set up camp before sitting in the shade to have a cold Austrian beer.

Today we rode 107kms in 4hr 42mins with an average speed of 23. We have now travelled 1500 kilometers!

Passau to Linz. 19 June.

Dawn chorus starting at 4.30 as usual, up at 6.30, breakfast at 7.30 and left at 8am. We headed into the city to use a free wifi connection, then crossed the Inn River and joined the cycle trail. Almost as soon as we left the city we passed the border into Austria. The cycleway was well-formed and about two metres wide. It made for very easy riding. The route was through steep forested valleys with the track hugging the south side of the river. We saw some squirrel and white swans on the way. There were a few cruise boats on the river. At Pyrawang we stopped to see the little church beside the river. Morning tea was at Engelhartszell. We passed three large hydro dams at various points along the river.

Lunch was at Schlogen. We then carried along all beside the river on the lovely cycleway. There were a number of other tourists cycling the Danube - mostly older couples. At one stage we had an inline skater tailing us at 25kmh. We had an icebream at Aschach where there were lots of tourists sitting at the many cafes in the sun. It was a lovely sunny day, 25 degrees. We arrived at camp at 2.30. It is a beautiful site beside a lake. Tents up, washing done, riders showered, relaxing in the shade. There is wireless Internet available so can catch up on emails. Dinner was pasta and turkey in a sauce. Bought an ice cream from the camp store for desert. Sat around talking in the beautiful summer evening. Bed at 9. Still very light out.

Travelled 99.46kms in 4hr 52 mins. Ave. 20.4. We climbed 350 m.

Straubing to Passau. 18 June.

Dawn chorus began at 4am following on from all night snoring from a number of tents! It was a warm start to the day. We made a packed lunch up after breakfast. We packed up and left camp around 8.15. Headed back to the Danube cycleway heading for Passau. Again the route was through grain fields either on the stopbank or right beside the stopbank. First stop was Deggendorf at 40ks for coffee. The cakes at €10 each were too expensive! We spent nearly 45 mins while the man in the photoshop tried to download our photos to cd. After two false starts he changed computer and was successful.

Saw our second mole today, albiet another dead one - victim of road kill on a cycleway! They are small little black things, fatter and not as big as a rat, with no tail. Lunch stop was after 50kms at Niederalteich beside the river. There was a little river ferry there carrying bikes and people across the river.

After lunch we meandered along the cycleway through and past many little villages. At Windorf we came through the village to see police and an ambulance on the road. Our fellow tour participant, 82 year old Neil from the US, had had an accident in an altercation with a farm vehicle, and was being put on a stretcher to go to hospital. At this stage he has a broken pelvis and minor internal injuries. After he left in the ambulance we carried on the last 20ks to camp.

The camp is a tent site beside the Ilz River which along with the Inn River joins the Danube about 500 meters downstream. After the usual tent setting up and a lovely warm shower we walked into town. We saw the cruise boats taking the tourists down the river. While we have seen barges taking goods further upstream through locks, this is the furtherest upstream we have seen the cruise boats. The church of St. Stephens in the centre of Passau dates from the sixteenth century and replaces a number of previous churches which were all destroyed. It boasts the largest church pipe organ in the world, and is a beautiful baroque church. After wandering around the streets we had an icecream in brilliant sunshine. Later we stopped at a coffee shop which allowed us to get free wireless Internet access so we received all our emails.

Then it was starting to rain so we headed back to camp. Dinner was a delicious pasta with roast beef and red cabbage. It was a very pleasant evening - one of the best we have had. We watched endless airplane flight trails heading westwards, probably to London, so Passau must be below a main flight route. Most people were heading off to bed just after 9.30. There was mist appearing on the river as the evening progressed. This was our last night in Germany, as tomorrow we cross over into Austria.

Distance ridden today was 99 kms in 4 hours 50 mins, ave. 20.5 kms per hour.

Regensburg to Straubing. 17June.

Another noisy night with our snoring neighbour, thankfully we had earplugs. Breakfast was again an elaborate spread in the hotel. We left the hotel about nine, and biked round until we found a wireless hotspot to send our emails before we left town.

We rode over the stone bridge and picked up the cyclepath. First stop was about 10ks from town at Walhalla. This was at the top of a hill near Donaustauf. It is a replica of the Parthenon in Greece and was built by King Ludwig I to honour famous Germans. It contains the marble busts of people such as Bach, Goethe etc. The ride was alongside the river through grainfields. Some was on coarse gravel. It threatened rain but remained cloudy and was a very pleasant cycling day. We stopped for coffee at Worth, again overrunning the little shop. Arrived at campsite on the outskirts of town about 1pm.

After putting up the tent and having lunch we joined many of our fellow travellers in walking to the nearby bike store. It was an enormous store with everything possible for sale. We purchased covers for our panniers - now it won't rain! - and a few other items. Then we went to the town center on our bikes to have a look around. Back to camp at 5pm to wait for dinner.

Today was only 56kms, ave. 18.4, in 3 hours.

Regensburg rest day. 16th June.

Having become used to early waking we were up at 6.30 and headed for the Laundromat. €8 or $nz16 later our clothes were clean and dry. There is always a full set of cycling clothes used every day to be laundered as well as our day clothes. Then it was back to the hotel for breakfast as this was included in the room rate. It was a real feast of cereals, fruit, meats, cheeses, boiled eggs (very German) and a variety of buns and breads- as well as tea and coffee. After breakfast we wandered around the town. The hotel was right in the centre of the old town. The day was cloudy and threatened rain every so often.

At 11am we joined a large group of fellow tour cyclists for a guided tour of the city which Jos organized. Regensburg is the best preserved Medieval city in Europe. The old town was not damaged at all in the war, and there are the remains of a Roman garrison fort, the oldest bridge over the Danube - a stone one from the twelth century, and a Gothic cathedral started in the eighth century. A highlight was going into the stone masons workshop - there are 30 stone masons permanently employed to restore the church. We saw examples of the damage caused by pollution to the church, and the work being done to replace the eroded blocks and statues. It is all done by hand, and recarving a full sized statue can take one person almost a year.

We heard fascinating tales of the towers built by the Italian Patrician merchants who developed the city as a vital trading port city. These stone towers were built to show ones wealth, the higher the better, though most had only the first few floors actually in use - the rest above was just a hollow shell. For many centuries it was a very wealthy city but fell into a decline which lasted until the mid 19th century. In 1975 the city began to be restored and is now a major tourist attraction and listed with the United Nations as a World Heritage site. It is also a university town with 25,000 students, and big employment provided by BMW and Seimens.

Lunch was at a bier garten with Jos, Garris and Jurg. We had traditional foods, Liz's small portion size was a full plate of noodles, fried ham and eggs, and a salad. We walked around town again and across the river to a cycle store. We always meet fellow cyclists at such places. Back in town bought a new pair of sandals for John, and returned to the hotel for a rest. At 5pm we went walking around the shops again. There are a number of antique shops and beautiful clothing shops. All tiny little shops with beautiful displays. Saw a pair of shoes for €485 (nearly $1000) - didn't like them anyway.

For dinner we went with a large group to a very pretty bier garten. We sat inside as it was cool, the building was very ornately decorated. The young waitress was dressed on traditional Bavarian style with a very low cut bodice! A delicious meal, all local specialities. After we wandered around toen eith Janice and Stuart watching all the places where people were watching tv screens to see Germany playing Austria in the soccer. There were groups gathered in all the cafes and bars around town. We returned to the hotel around 10pm and headed for bed. There was a bit of celebration at the end of the game as Germany won 1-0 but not for too long. Mostly just fans walking home through the small alleyway past our hotel. Our room was on the first floor overlooking the alleyway. Again we slept all night with earplugs in due to the loud, consistent snoring from the neighbour's room. Incredible, he kept it up all night.

Kippenfenburg to Regensburg. 15 June.

Awake to the dawn chorus at 4.30am. Always a lot of birds when camped near bush! Dead calm and slightly cloudy and cool. There was a hot air balloon drifting by above the camp. Packed up before breakfast at 7.30. Headed off at 8am. Rode through more grain fields and little villages following the Altmuhl canal, which eventually rejoins the Danube. Being a Sunday the streets were very quiet as almost everything is closed in Germany for the day of rest. We stopped for coffee and cake after about 30kms at Deitfurt. The locals were just leaving Mass in the nearby church. We were riding on gravel paths down a narrow valley. Came across our first canal boat, a freight barge. During the day we crossed the canal several times, usually at small towns. Some of the houses were coloured light pinks, yellows, and blues and were right beside the canal.

There was a huge memorial - a circular Pantheon-like design - on the top of a cliff at Kelheim. It was built around 1840 to celebrate an earlier victory over Napoleon, and is called the Hall of Liberation. Lunch was at 65kms beside the road. Buns, German sausage and sauerkraut. We stopped again at Bad Abbach for coffee and an icecream. The sun had come out and it was around 20 degrees. We rode most of the day with Charles and Leslie and Jurg. As Jurg had ridden the Danube trail previously with his family he detoured with us into some of the villages to show us the sights. The last 30kms were along gravel paths alongside the Danube, the paths filled with families on Sunday walks and rides. There were quite a number of beer gardens along the way and these filled up as the afternoon went on - most people travelling there by cycle.

We arrived in Regensburg around 3.00pm and weaved our way round through the narrow streets of the old medieval city to find our hotel. Our room is like one you would expect to find in a castle, with wooden doors and floors and a twelve foot stud, gothic archways and stone walls!

At night the European soccer cup game was between Russia and Czechoslovakia. Afterwards there were cars with horns blaring driving around celebrating the Russian victory. We had to put earplugs in in order to sleep as despite the walls being solid stone the man in the next room snored very loud and constantly all night. In the evening we went to a German restaurant for a traditional type dinner with Jos, Jurg, Jaco and Fred. The large waitress was not impressed with her non-German speaking customers who were not deliberately trying to be difficult! The food was very nice though.

Distance travelled was 105 kms.

Egglestetten to Kipfenberg. 14th June.

It was a cold night, the coldest we have had yet. Egglestetten is south of Donauworth and 15kms off the Danube trail. It was a well located sheltered camp ground beside a lake. Breakfast was a delicious porridge and fresh strawberries to add to it. John and I were first out of camp. We were joined after 5ks by Jos, Rita and Carl on their tandem "Bluebell", and Charles and Leslie. The route was through open fields skirting the river. The sky was clear but it was cool. After 25kms we stopped at Marxheim for coffee and at least a dozen others joined us there. There were two young Dutch children there aged 7 & 9 who had ridden there from Holland on their way to Hungary. The cycle path was predominantly down a long valley. On places it was gravel but very easy riding.

All day we passed through the usual small villages with a church on the centre. The church bells ring on the hour and often on the quarter hour also. There were several forts along the way including a reconstructed Roman fort at Pfunz. To view this we had to go up a 20% gradient for 400 metres! From morning tea we travelled the rest of the day with Maureen and Glen from Canada. We stopped briefly in Wellheim to take photos of the local church, the fort on the hill, and a German war memorial. After Wellheim we passed some rock formations where a couple of young chaps were climbling up a vertical limestone cliff. At Eichstatt we came across the celebrations of the 1100 year anniversary of the founding of the city. There were a large number of folk dressed in period costume with all manner of activities taking place.

We arrived at camp about 4pm having travelled 103kms in 5hours 20. We set up camp - a well serviced camp on the outskirts of town - and at about 5pm our friends Rene and Birgit from Munich came to collect us. Jos also came with us for the evening. The highlight for John was us going to Gollersreuth, about 20kms north, to where his ancestors originated from. That was where the family first came from in the early 1600s. We took photos of the few houses and the magnificent views out over the valley. Afterwards Rene drove us south to Ingolstadt on the Autobahn - Johns first fast land travel experience! We had dinner of bratwurst and beer at a handcraft museum. There were crafted goods for sale and a display of olden days logging techniques.

We then went into the centre of town where people were watching European Cup soccer on a large screen in the town centre. Ingolstadt is the centre for Audi car manufacturing in Germany. After coffee and cake we were returned to camp at 10pm. We look forward to staying in Munich with Rene and Birgit at the end of our cycling tour.