Susie's report No 42
Hello to All, Guten Tag..
Here’s where we have been for this report.
HATTEM: Our last port of call in Holland, and of course it's a marina. This little town served the best Kiblings and chips so far for taste and value (more bad carbs again) Dr. Atkins and his diet would be horrified, but to the rescue ?....a 30 kilometre bike ride through the countryside. We peddled up past ZWOLLE over a smaller looking version of the Harbour Bridge, with a wide bike lane past a huge "Scania" truck building centre and into the rural area and into a little town called WILSUM.
The local people have erected a purpose built Stork"s Nest in the fields, one even has a web cam mounted to the side, it would be great viewing with the eggs and chicks.
We retrace our way back, dodging a few tractors along the way and crossing some more Bruges, Holland is so pretty, we missed seeing Tulip time, but we say TOT ZIENS and next day into Germany.
WEENER: Don't you just love this name. At this camping platz along the canal, we meet a guy who lives on his boat (steel ketch) with his little dog Luna.
We are invited onboard "Pacifico" for tea and chats, he said he likes to practice his English. He's also very passionate about animals and whale protesting. He also looks very much like "Jon English" our singer/actor, he was most impressed.
We say our Vielen Danke and wander off to Lidl & Aldi - T. Lee is most happy now as we can buy Rum in Germany and I can buy my Rotwein at a good price. And also to say Ich spreche Englisch, Bitte, nein Deutsch. Off we go to.
NORDDEICH: It's supposed to be Summer so we are paying higher rates now, plus a 5 euro a day "Tourist Tax”! Now this stinks as we already pay taxes on what we spend in the area anyway. I questioned this on our camping receipt and was told it was a tax for the "NORDSEE" North Sea to keep environmentally clean & tidy. Well. !!!!!! I can tell you, clearly, someone is not doing his job.
The so called beach is an eyesore.
There was a dead seal on the shore amongst the flotsam and jetsam ( bottles & rubbish )
I think there would be enough royalties coming in from the North Sea projects I.e Oil & Fisheries etc to cover this. Tourist Tax... what a clever idea to make more money !!! Nein Danke.
When we finally came to a beach … sort of, we discovered the amazing “strandkorbs”. What funny things they are.
Each chair, (strandkorbs) have a number, seats two if you're lucky, (families must take it in turns to sit ?). On grass or sand, owned or rented, they have handles so you can move them around. Different colours, and there are thousands of them in various states of newness/oldness. They just look messy, but a very old tradition I guess.....
They even cart them around in their larger motorhomes and bring them out when the sun shines...
Eventually, the sun showed itself, we had a nice ride around the foreshore, lots of people flying kites and walking with dogs. Kids playing in the mud (sorry !! I mean) beach. ......
WILHELMSHAVEN: Germany’s deepest harbour and biggest Naval metropolis at the North Sea. The campsite is run by Peter a friendly, English speaking gentleman, and because we were his first Australian visitors, he said our first night was FREE.
Whoopee.. He wouldn't even let us pay for our bread.
CUXHAVEN: You might have guessed by now that I am becoming a bit flabbergasted (it's a good sounding word), by Germany's TOURIST TAX. You pay your daily rate at the campsite, then you pay for power, you pay to use the toilet, you pay to have a shower, you pay for water etc. Then you pay 3 euros for the privilege to walk on the beach.
Needless to say we didn't do this, I tell you they would have to pay ME to swim at some of there beaches, they are muddy, full of weed and you have to walk 1/2 Km out to get your knees wet. The tourist brochure says it's jade green - IT'S BROWN!
Anyway, we were getting ready to leave and two women came to H.H. We couldn't understand a word either of us was saying to each other. We worked out we had to pay 5.60 euro Tourist Tax as well as our camp fees. After I finished bitching/rambling on about this (they were just doing their job) I noticed her arm was bleeding, she had puncture marks, she notes my look and says.. “DOG" and points left ( I thought maybe someone else doesn't like the dreaded T.T. also) I digress, I get tissues, cotton pads & Dettol cream, fixed her up and off she goes. We still had to pay even though we were leaving ( this is obviously part of her job description, (lunatics & dogs).Imagine fencing off all the Tourist areas along the Australian coastline and charging entry to the beaches through gates/barriers - there would be riots in the streets.
GLUCKSTADT: We crossed the river "Elbe" by car ferry to this lovely 15th-century town. We had front row seats in H.H.
We were first on the ship, then it turns around so we are looking back to where we came from, it’s a wet drizzly day ( I keep forgetting its Summer ). It was an enjoyable 30 min ride, we were entertained all afternoon by the ships and a paddle steamer doing the tourist bit around their harbour and river.
MELDORF: . We spent two days by a lake.The first day calm as a mill pond.
And the second blowing a gale, with windsurfers flying around.
It was blowing well over 25 knots so it was entertaining to watch, and, of course, the ubiquitous wind turbines were kept busy.
Our bike ride was tough on the old legs, but we soldiered on only cause I knew our snack at the kiosk was not going to be overly healthy. Actually you don't' get to see much when your riding as you are below the Dyke wall. The sun was shining, we woke the next morning to a calmer day and headed off still going North.
ST.PETER ORDING: This is the “Gold Coast” of Northern Germany! After wandering through the local markets, I spied a Tourism Office, in I go - absolutely nothing, nought, anything in English - I said but this is a Tourist Office - for tourist information - nein English, obviously never will or have been. Hmph.....what I wanted was general info like local map & bike tracks ( even if it's in German) "YOU HAVE TO PAY."...no info is free - user pays. !!!
Unless I'm wrong no other country charges for tourist info ( what have we been paying tourist taxes for? ).The beach here actually looks nice, but, after paying your parking and entry to the beach, you still have a walk of 1 Km to the sand, then about 800 Mtrs to the water across a huge sandbank. After forking out 3 Euros per person to go on the beach, 14 Euros to rent the Strandkorbs for a day, it’s an expensive exercise!
Terry & I were watching all this coming and going from atop the dyke wall, some areas you can even catch a bus for the first leg of the journey or pay to take your car. It must be a struggle for the elderly and children.
I don't think many would struggle with an esky of cold drinks and food unless it had wheels. (Don't think such an item exists here). After such an effort, you would build up a mighty thirst......so T Lee says....It's been interesting walking around most campsites/stellplatz (in the north). We are always the odd ones out with our G.B. number plates, 99.9% outnumbered. Crikey….We did find another however, they were from New Zealand, so great chats followed and exchanging of information.
We planned to go to DENMARK in the next day or two, our next stop was not what we thought so we kept driving and looking for an ATM. We needed Krones, not Euros. We ended up at a complex that had three giant bulk buying stores, with huge trolleys. This was still in Germany, so the Danish people come here to shop and stock up. I can fully understand, as Denmark is very expensive.
I have to keep the brain ticking over by dividing EVERYTHING by 5€ or 7A$ to get the real price I'm now used to. Everything is in double and triple figures.
We arrive at RIBES: Denmarks oldest town, with cobbled streets and pathways we go for a wander (flat soled shoes a requirement).
Lots of Viking influence here...It's holiday time, and bustling with tourists, we find an ATM, then onto our Camper stop, by a fishing lake.
RINGKOBLING: Facing towards the Nth Sea we are parked at a Camper stop at a Marina.
It' s a lovely spot on our our walk we came across an International Wood Sculpturing Comp, with eight countries involved, and one just happened to be a lovely lass from New Zealand.
She was surrounded by her tools of trade, sharp looking things with teeth and lots of different blades. Happy to have a chat, she's in Oz next week for a competition in Adelaide. We wished her every success. There certainly were some interesting sculptures. This “Burning Man” was from Iran.
Back at the camp site with drinks and talking to our Danish neighbor, two Italian Campers pull in beside us, he spoke good English and became the translator for the rest of the families. They were from Verona on their Summer holidays, (what summer). I'm really starting to feel sorry for these people, as Saturday arrives cold and pouring with rain. So now I'm sitting in H.H doing this blog and it's blowing dogs off chains and halyards banging on masts. Terry's thinking about putting on the gas heater......
So what we have worked out is - the Danish go to Germany to shop for bulk buying, ( there is 25% VAT on everything in DK ), the Brits go to France for Alcohol and Ciggies, the French and the Brits go to Spain as it's even cheaper there, the Dutch just move around as they are avid motor homers, the Swiss go to Luxembourg to shop and we have met more Kiwi's than Aussies on the road.
LOGSTOR: Typical of us, we arrive here and we have just missed the Mussel Festival and the Jazz Festival and one day late for the Sailing Regatta. We are either one week early or one week to late. But at least we had a nice campsite.
Ho hum.....Today we are leaving the North and heading West to East now. Trundling down the road we came across a semi trailer jack knifed across the roadway, we stopped and I jumped out and ran to see if the driver was OK.
He was, so we edged H.H up on the grass verge and moved off around him. One can only try and guess the cause on the straight road. He could have swerved to avoid a Deer perhaps, only he knows.
Next stop is a delightfully named town called MIDDELFART. Here we run into “Spirit Chasers” little brother.
And also a Bayliner from Australia of all places!
Now off to COPENHAGEN to see Princess Mary…. well she is from Hobart and so it T.Lee!
Getting there, was our biggest toll yet... 360.00 Kroner, 51€ or 72A$ ouch!! That hurt. Either that or a 200 Klm diversion around the waterway and the bridge.
COPENHAGEN: Is a city of Greenness, Fairytales (Hans Cristian Andersen), Maritime history and historic Harbour. We rode 6ks to town and ended up doing a 3 hr walking tour with an Aussie guide, Daniel, very entertaining and passionate about his adopted country.
The tour was fabulous, we learnt and saw a lot. Danmark, Sweden, Norway and the U.K were always at each other's throats, and the Vikings were always off doing a bit of Rape and Pillage. Obviously it was never a dull moment. We didn’t go and see the “Little Mermaid” as Daniel suggested it was the No.1 most over rated tourist attraction in the world!
The marina view from HH was stunning.
This city has one of the worlds longest pedestrian streets, lots of high end and odd shops, unfortunately Crown Princess Mary was nowhere to be seen, hopefully taking advantage of the sun somewhere. Everybody loves Carlsberg Beer. We stayed 2 days and then off to catch our very expensive car ferry to Germany. Only forty five minutes BUT, 869.00 kroner or A$135.00 !
Otherwise, we have to go back over that very expensive bridge again, Kroners to Euros to Aussie dollars again .Yeah !! We have had to re learn our 5 and 7 times table again to keep converting the currencies. It helps the old brain stay active, when calculating all this.....
The Ferry was incredible, we were parked inside the ferry beside an active train with passengers aboard on their way to Hamburg.
The train enters by its rail and exits the same way. I thought I was seeing things?????( doing a Harry Potter ). The bow opens up the rail lines match up, and off the train goes and we follow behind. We are now back in Germany and summer has finally arrived.
So I will say Auf Wiedersehen to you all, we do not know any Danish as 99% of the people speak English. Danke and Guten Tag, love Susie , Terry & H.H. X. X.
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