Susie's Report No 26

Guten Morgen to All,

We arrived at a Stellplatz, the German version of a French “Aire” on the Mosel Rive,r with its massive transit of working cargo barges & canal cruising vessels plus the cruise holiday ships. This never fails to keep me occupied for a while, these ships look very luxurious indeed and I can dream on.

 

 

 But enough of gazing and on our bikes we go. You never know what you’ll come cross riding, we ended up down near a disused Nuclear Power Station near the town of KOBLENZ/URMITZ, the cooling towers are something else, these were shut down for various political reasons and now all we see EVERWHERE are those horrible (eyesore) wind turbines. Next day moved to a gorgeous town, COCHEM with a stunning castle high on a hill overlooking everything (as you did in those olden times) mind you, most castles have been re built for preservation/history.

Everywhere you look there are grapevines as far as the eye can see, way, way, up hillsides (I’m sure Oz Clarke & James May would of loved it here on their drink till you drop tour). We loved their TV series. Germany is picture perfect postcard stuff, with huge industry, huge amount of history, huge varieties of grape vines.

Still moseying around the Mosell, we had our view blocked one afternoon by a canal/river cruise boat - their tour was with bikes, which I think is fantastic - you ride to the next destination and the boat meets up with you.  We might stoway with them with a bit more confidence as we have finally bought a new rear wheel for Terry’s bike, it has a shiney new stainless steel wheel/spokes (rear only), the other one buckled KAPUT!! 60 euros later and we are back on the road again, lets hope it lasts. Its been extremely frustrating this bike, but you get what you pay for !!!

TRIER is another fascinating city, we think its the oldest in Germany something like 400BC.  When we get used to parking H.H. anywhere, we will really play the tourist bit, it’s about having the know all & confidence to do so. Speaking of H.H. we had a win the other day, we called into a huge Hymer Dealership to see about getting his handbrake re adjusted and they sent us to a Fiat garage.

We had to drive over a pit, the fellow tinkered with & tightened a few things, went to pay, he waved his hand and said “Welcome to Germany”. With many DANKE’S later we drove off, next destination the RHEINE RIVER.

 

 ANDERNACH was our next stopping point.- what can I say - this time we had our view blocked by the APT vessel, AMACELLO, 110 m long - you know the ones you see in the Telegraph/Sunday Mail travel section, its too long to take a photo of.

 Also another company called Travel Marvel had similar vessels, where we met some of the passengers, they were telling us they are the budget version of APT. As soon as we saw the Oz Flag flying on the ship, we grabbed a couple of ours and these MAD dutch people we had met, were walking around with our flag and parading it out the front of our vans.

Next minute we see cameras and lots of hands waving to us, also in very loud voices COOO EEEEEEEE & AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI!!. OI!.OI! It was very funny & patriotic. They went on their tour, came back and said hello to all of us, I had my Wallabies t-shirt on so it was a discussion on the Bledisloe Cup. We waved them off and all we could hear again as the ship was sailing off was (you guessed it ) very loudly, these were OLD people (probably the same age as us), having a great time. I think we will be staring in some holiday videos. Next APT ship in was the AMABELLA and of course we were all near the disembarkation point - I must point out that this is also a very large Stellplatz where we all are parked full of motorhomes (about 80) and tour buses. As we are standing around talking, we could hear the Purser/whoever on her very loud microphone telling all the passengers . "Please be careful, going through the carpark as it is full of GYPSY vans, go straight to the buses, there are GYPSIES there, do not talk to any of them”. WHAT!!!!!!!!! Did I just hear what I thought I did. Those around us that could understand English were shocked  - what an ill informed/ignorant person, it was insulting & embarrassing. If she had cared to look, she would have seen Millions of Euros worth of Motorhomes/Camping Cars in the Stellplatz.

So that’s it. We now are officially “Gypsie” Yeah!

 

The day after, we arrived at BACHARACH, very scenic and from HH’s window we could count five castles!, Actually between Koblenz & Mainz there are about 40 Castles, they are everywhere. I’m also getting familiar with a lot of the names of the ships plying the waters here between the Mosell and the Rheine.

Its non stop movement, 24 hrs a day.

The bike rides are great and my basket always has some bread in it for the ducks and geese, and also my little favourites, the sparrows. Europe is notable for it’s distinct lack of bird life!

I almost forgot to tell you all that H.H. got himself bogged AGAIN! and had to be pulled out by a tractor down by a river ( I think it was the Mosell) but we won’t talk about it as it embarrass’s him, so moving right along….  (not bad) once in England & once in Germany.

I must also tell you that I caught T.Lee out the other day. HE was wearing white socks with his fake beige crocs,( 4 euros in Spain). He had some lame excuse that he was just trying to fit in with the locals, but I said most Europeans wear BLACK socks with anything i.e. crocs (fake & real) sandals, thongs and anything really, and especially shorts with braces (not a good look).Terry’s also come up with another interesting cunning plan, he’s been having a few German Beers before dinner and Germany has a refund policy, every bottle you get 25p refund. You put your empties into a machine at the supermarkets, it counts & returns you a docket to spend in the shops. His saying is finally coming true,,,, THE MORE YOU DRINK, THE MORE YOU SAVE, HuH!! work that one out for yourselves, its actually great re cycling.

The Geraniums & Roses are prolific in their colours at the moment, beautiful hanging baskets everywhere, Actually in Germany they often have small fields of flowers of mostly Gladioli, Dahlias & Sun Flowers beside the side of the road. It,s a company called “Blumen”, armed with your own scissors you can pick what you like and there’s an honesty box/tin on site, each row is marked with a price.  Dame Edna Everidge would be delighted to see the Gladys.

We are now leaving the waterways and going to the dramatic scenery of the Black Forrest, with it’s wonderful parks and gardens.

Anyway I think I’ve talked enough, I tell you about the Black Forrest next time round, Hope all is well with everybody.

Lots of love to all from Germany.

 Susie, Terry and our dear work horse  H.H. x x x

 

  

Susie's report No 25

Guten Abend to All,

Before I tell you all about Germany, I must tell you we nearly had another mishap, well! - I suppose we did.  Leaving the C.L. site on our way to the Ferry with the Tom Tom activated & co-ordinates good, we exit the site (some of the farmers say do not use G.P.S. take the other road’s in/out) so what did we do? - we follow the voice and end up in another F….ing skinny lane covered in hedges  ...BANG!!!!! There goes the mirror again…..and the force shot the cutlery draw out spewing bits on the floor, BLOODY HELL!!.   We inch our way out, my side mirror is bent to buggery AGAIN!! Now it’s got a lean to the right.It couldn’t shatter as this one is plastic, we had to have put over the original glass to pass M.O.T. anyway, we pull over at a safe spot and try to straighten it, poor H.H.he does get himself into strife now & again.  We make it to the Ferry with a good crossing into Calais confused seas but O.K. it took 1hr 15mins . We meet this funny Welsh guy called Gary in the line up to the ferry, he is off to a V.W. convention in Dijon France for the weekend, he’s driving an original everything, paint work included, 1964  V.W. Van, but with only one windscreen wiper, the other fell off on the trip to get here.

He was causing a lot of attention with the old girl….. He has already been offered 5000 pounds more than he paid for it!

As soon as we arrive in France, we high tail it to the supermarket “Carrefour" for our Rum & Rouge Wine to stock up, that done, we head to Gravelines near Dunkirk for our first night, then into Belgium next night, then into the Netherlands. There we had some really nice bike rides along canals again.  Some of these canal boats are to die for along with your wallet/purse.

 

I’m willing to give it a go one day. As I mentioned we are ONLY a LOTTO win away from it all.  What we would also like to do is put some Solar panels on H.H.’s roof, our leisure battery doesn’t do what we thought, but good enough at the moment, amongst other things it would be good to be able to run a fan without power (electricity).  Only a lotto win away!!!!!!

We are in a town called Sas Van Gent a massive inland shipping port. The opening/closing of the main bridge has kept me entertained watching the Cargo/Bulk Carrier ships tooing & froing. We are parked opposite the canal in a “free Aire” with no facilities, the town is across the road, its 27degs with a light breeze, just lovely.  The local Geese and Ducks are very noisy and busy pacing up & down the road doing what they do, wait to be fed by passers by.  We decided to go for a ride and have a look at some of the ships - I realised we had just ridden in 5 seconds from the Nederlands to Belgium and back again - how good is that? These bulk carriers are av. 135mm x 11,5mm (big).

Not much freeboard here!

Next day back in to Belgium and onto ANTWERP, onto our bikes and into town we ride, everybody is either on their bikes or sitting in Cafe/Restaurants watching the world go by, they also have the most incredible “TANS”. Bikes are given right of way - it’s amazing to see and be part of, there are proper bike lanes everywhere.

 Antwerp’s magnificent cathedral.

 Monday and the roads are full of Trucks again, it’s extraordinary the amount of freight being moved around Europe by Road, Shipping, Rail etc. But I’m not too sure about some of their Company names!

On leaving Belgium we pass through an industrial area, and I noticed a massive manufacturing plant/wharehouse with a beautiful sign that says “ESTEE LAUDER”, I nearly wept with sorrow & loss, “hah” a bit out of my league now, as over the years I have made a great contribution to the Estee Lauder House of gorgeous  cosmetics & perfume fund and to pay for the B.M.W's. sitting in the carpark!!!!!! Oh well!!   Nivea works just as well.

We end up at LEOPOLDSBERG by the canal in an motorhome stop.

We had just come back from a ride, and Terry’s bike decided to break a spoke again!!!! I decided I would ride on further to see if I could find a bike shop, but I didn’t tell him that!,  I said I was just ridding around the park, quick answer!, none to be found, unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention to where I had ridden, and I finally had to admit to myself on returning, I was LOST! !  But I kept riding thinking I must recognise the area soon, do you know it made me feel sick and panicky, horrible, it was hot and I had nothing with me, I finally rode into a service station and tried to ask directions,(language barrier) what made it worse was I couldn't remember the correct name, only  the "berg” part and we were on the canal, finally a lady said I had missed the roundabout, with many thanks I rode off and found my way back, after much berating from T.Lee as to the stupidity of my actions.  I had to agree with him, I am usually a lot more careful with my solo expeditions.

Most of the older generation in Belgium are cheats with their bikes, we couldn’t work out why they were passing us, little old nanas, old granddads. They are so fast, then we found that most have electric bikes! Underneath their panniers are battery packs. Good for 100k’s and can reach speed up to 25kph. It’s a very social outing here, almost all the women are beautifully dressed even riding in heels and all their finery. I guess its a means to get to “A to B” without taking the car. The bikes cost an average about AUD 3000! But everybody seems to have one.

Next day we pass into 3 countries again before lunch, Belgium, Nederlands, Germany.  My risk of Heart Attack, and mowed down fingernails has now eased  A LOT!!!!! We are on main roads again, and now into GERMANY, Deutchland.  Driving along we kept on seeing this sign that says AUSFAHRT. When you say it quickly it sounds a bit like toilet humour, (small things amuse small minds) anyway… we kept on seeing this sign on the motorway and thinking this is either a very big town or many roads lead to it!!!! Until finally we realised it meant EXIT!! Duh!! We are slow learners - the other one was EINFAHRT, we think means entrance?  To go anywhere you have to have the right  Fahrt, there are lots of FAHRT’S….out there.

Enough, We are going to leave you there and say goodbye for now.    Love to all Susie, Terry = H.H. x x x