Day 30 – The Black Forest

Woke up and headed straight to the local bakery which we were told would be open from 7.30 till 10.30am. As we were low on all the essentials we got croissants for breakfast and a few other bits which of course included beer. Don’t think you would find a bakery in the UK selling beers so it was all a bit strange but I was not complaining.

We returned to the van to have breakfast and get ready for the day. The plan was to walk to the local fish farm to buy some trout for dinner and then later in the afternoon do one of the cycle routes that run through the Black Forest.

After making some lunch to eat later we headed off in search of the fish farm and after about 25 min walking we found it. It was a very German affair and eventually we got up the courage to attempt to ask for some fresh fish to take away. After many hand gestures and pointing we eventually had our fish and walked back the site to put them in the fridge for this evening’s dinner.

That done we packed our lunch which we made earlier and headed off on the bikes. The plan was to do the shortest route, which we had seen which was about 17km, That was the plan but it did not quite work out like that. Although it mentioned that the walking and cycle routes were very well sign posted we struggled to make sense of which way we should go. After about 8km we stopped for some lunch and to try make sense of where we were and where we needed to go. After lunch we worked it out and headed for the trail. By the time we had actually made it onto the trail we had cycled over 10km so we decided to head off up the trail and see how we got on all along thinking that we could always turn back if we did not think we would do it in time.

I think we maybe covered the first 4km of the trail which was all up hill before we decided that we would not make it round in decent time if this bit was anything to go on so we decided to turn around and go back.

On the way back we stopped to collect some wood for a braai (bbq).

Back at the site I used the solar shower to have a quick wash, as I was very sweaty from the bike ride. The water was lovely and warm and it was perhaps one of the best showers I have had on the trip and definitely the most fun. 

Shower done I set the fire going as when cooking with wood it takes at least an hour for the coals to form and be at a good cooking temp.

Coals ready we wrapped the fish in foil with some garlic and chilli oil. Although I am not a big fish lover it tasted lovely and made a nice change from the usual food we had been eating. 

Fresh Brown Trout

As mentioned before it was a lot cooler in the evening so as soon as the sun set we were in the van as the dew was setting in.

All in all a good day. Tomorrow we would leave and head to another site recommended in the cool camping book.

The Black forest was a lovely stop and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of peace and quiet with some walking or mountain biking. This is definitely somewhere I would come again.