One of the main aims of this trip was to get outside and get on the paddle boards. It is SO MUCH FUN! And yes, it warrants the capital letters because it’s so good.Stand up paddle boarding appears to be extremely popular here, and it’s easy to see why; Bavarian summers are made for it.After leaving the city we headed down to a lake called Wörthsee: an idyllic location for our maiden voyage.

Pumping up the boards in 28 degree heat, after a sweltering drive in the van (note to self: next van needs air con!!), definitely left us yearning to jump in the cool water.

As soon as I got on the water I felt at home – I’m not exactly what you would call a water baby but sunshine and smooth lakes, with barely a ripple to be seen, certainly makes you feel good.

Taking in the views and hearing only the splashing of the paddles and the group’s chatting I could hear this buzzing kinda noise. What was it? Where was it coming from? I stopped paddling. It soon became clear. A fucking puncture!! Damn it!!

We soon assessed it wasn’t too bad and realised I could probably make it through the day without sinking so off we went towards the horizon.

A super chilled afternoon of paddling, lounging, swimming and ogling the beautiful houses along the shoreline followed.

So lake number one = done.

The next day we went on our first proper hike up to the top of Herzogstand. Standing at about 1800m high this was not exactly easy… especially as we started in the midday heat (I blame the slow start on drinking too much Pfefferminz schnapps the night before) and I’ve not really done any exercise in about a month!

A relentless three hour, calf busting ascent in searing heat took us to the summit, and man was it worth it. We were rewarded with stunning 360 views. Surrounded by the snow capped peaks of The Alps and glorious sunshine we revelled in our achievement. Then, time for the knee breaking two hour descent. Goodbye knees.

Feeling pretty achy the next day the boys had planned a chilled day by the Eibsee lake at the foot of Germany’s tallest mountain, the Zugspitze. We had originally planned to climb the mountain but there was still too much snow on top so instead we wallowed in the crystal clear lake at the bottom. Could not believe my eyes. Such a beautiful scene of turquoise and green waters and snow capped peaks that dwarfed the tiny pedalos that dotted the lake underneath. Heaven.

A paddle to watch the sunset off one of the island headlands of lake Staffelsee was fuelled by radler (shandy) and weiss wine and ended up in a night time paddle back in the dark – made especially fun as I had Ike on the front of the board as my puncture repair rendered my board useless for the evening! It was surreal paddling back in the dark, in almost complete silence. Only the birds for company. The reflections of the dusky sky and trees on the water messed with your eyes (and balance!) but we made it back without falling in, hooray!

It was time to say goodbye to Bavaria and our lovely friends, old and new. Next stop, Austria…