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