Coming back from our evening meal last night we found the campsite in turmoil as dozens of locals were erecting marquees and putting in benches and trestle tables and setting up lighting, ready (we discovered) for a weekend party. Fortunately we hadn’t pitched our tent right in the way – but we went to bed with people working all around us! One group of 6 then stayed on until 2am, drinking and making a huge racket. This was our first very poor night’s sleep because of a noisy site.

The morning was overcast, with rain threatening. We set off down the valley in search of breakfast, feeling a bit groggy through lack of sleep. It took nearly 10 miles to find anywhere to buy a breakfast! But the scenery was good – we were in the wine growing section of the Donau valley, in the middle of the Wachau region.

But we were getting a bit frustrated by the hordes of guided-tour cyclists, on identical rented bikes, with someone stopping them on every corner for a lecture on how to ride a bike, where to buy coffee.. etc. Yes, we were tired and a bit cranky. At Durnstein (a lovely village with a famous ruined castle overlooking the Danube) we had planned to stop for coffee, but one look at the crowds of tourists making their way off the cruise ships and blocking the narrow alleyways was quite enough. We were off. We arrived in Krems – a much bigger town, and quite pleasant. Here the day began to turn around. First we found a VW Beetle in the park – used as a plant holder. My first car was a Beetle.

Then it started to rain as we left town. Curiously, this really cheered us up! The cycling hordes vanished, and we started to sing rain songs as we headed on down the Danube towpath, racing a large barge. Cycling in the rain is oddly therapeutic – but best when (as in this case) it seems likely to be a shower rather than the start of another 3 days of rain. We crossed the Danube for the umpteenth time on yet another hydro barrage and the rain stopped. On reaching our intended campsite we had a drink and a sudden late burst of energy, and here we are in Tulln, the last town of any size before Vienna. The sun is shining, the tent is pitched on the local campsite, beer is being drunk and all is right with the world! Vienna tomorrow!

Helen’s track of the day: The Beautiful South, Blackbird on the Wire, just because I had a dose of TBS on the playlist today and I particularly like singing along with Paul Heaton on this one. And it reminds me of home and the kids, as I used to play the album from which this comes a lot.