July Update 2009

1. The Holocaust Memorial - Berlin
2. Briar & MC on the Afsluitdijk - Noord Holland (longest dyke in the world)
3. The view from our Hugo and our campsite - Breitlingsee near Brandenburg
4. Briar & MC in front of one of the remaining sections of the infamous Berlin wall
5. Briar & MC - The windmills of Zaandaam - near Amsterdam . Holland of course.
6. Briar & one of Amsterdam's canals
7. Briar & MC at the famous Checkpoint Charlie - Berlin
8. The most famous landmark in Germary - The Brandenburg Gate - Berlin











Mid July update

Passing between countries has now become a bit like going over the Kaimai’s into Waikato – big deal , almost quite looking forward to being stopped at a border crossing and getting searched or something now. So not even much difference between the countryside of France and Belgium – the weather was still warm but a stiff breeze along the coast kept temps. to the mid twenties. The land is very flat as one would expect here – more fields of maize / barley and wheat interspersed with fields of cows – are the effervescent smell of cowshit wafting through the van window. Kapai bro. Bit of a saga with arriving in Belgium which has left a lasting impression
Our first encounter with a local in Belgium happened at a Total gas petrol gas station where driving into Oostende I spotted Lpg bottles identical to the now half empty one in Hugo – big U-turn and back to the station – where I got told in Belgiuk-inglese no we don’t swop or exchange the one I’ve got that is exactly the same as ours on sale here anymore – so why are you selling yours then – she also couldn’t give me price. Well – so far not impressed – they have proper bike lanes down each side of the road where also it appears that motorscooters can also drive down – so of course nearly had some senora nearly run smack into the side of us as I pulled out - oooppps .
Nearly a second encounter with a local – we drove on about another 15 k’s to our campground on a coastal strip called Bredene – where I had the third encounter with a local who also really wasn’t interested in taking my money to stay at her camp and I seemed more of a hassle than anything to her. Perhaps Belgiumites don’t like tourists or they all have bad hair days – but my early impressions of Belgium – not good, can see me spending very little deneiro in this little country. Had to borrow for a $20.00 euro bond a plug from my friendly little receptionist lady so we could plug into their rather silly pipe connection (first one encountered like this) –another first for Belgium
It can only get better – after setting up camp I usually do the sanitation facility once over ( really to see if Briar needs to take loo paper, not that I don’t use the stuff as well ) and also what the general state of the showers are. – ya need tokens to get warm water for the showers otherwise you have a cold one which my charming little lady friend at the reception failed to tell me when we booked in – boy I’m really liking this country – NOT. After finally being all set up – we went for a wander around the local town and the beach – the temp was still warm for late afternoon – still a lot of people at the beach – I suppose when you have a 6-7 week timespan for summer here ya make the most of it. The tide was out almost fully and all the way along the beach were stone and concrete sea breaks – we guessed to quell the mighty north sea rollers when the weather is fierce from damaging the dunes and the beaches. Good to see lotsa vacationers out enjoying the warm and humid weather. Back at camp we indulged in our favourite pastime – antipasto and vino before firing up the Barbie.
After dishes and showers we settled or tried into a very muggy night for sleeping. We awoke to an even warmer and muggier morning – unusual day – completely hazy – like a halp pye fog . we did the usual 3 x S’s and brekkied and wandered down to the local tram stop where we first caught the tram into Oostende train banhof (station) as they seem to call them in this part of Europe. Then caught the train ( around 15- 20 min. ride) to Brugge. Then jumped on the bus into the centro platz of Brugge – where the sun was starting to melt the clouds away – we wandered around the central markt – with fascinating the Helig-Bloedbasilik church & its dominating Belfort tower – horse drawn carriages everywhere for 435.00 euros one could get a leisurely 30min. historical tour – we chose to wander about ourselves for awhile – we did visit the Choco story museum – all very fascinating and anything to do or about choclate – ya won me over – belgiumites love their chocolate and the number of chocolate shops about in Bugge are testament to this – far too many to chose from – not even. After the choco museum we headed back to the markt and managed to find a restaurant with shade and a fan right next to our table – which blew the very warm air about – but at least it did stop the sweat from the brow. Whilst Briar wrapped her lips around a toastie sanger – I tryed the local fare or dish ( Moules and frites ) in English muscles and chips – smallest muscles I’ve ever eaten – but being so small, they were naturally sweet.
After a few cold drinks we then headed back out into the heat (oh dear… like all of Europe so far…the sewerage whiffs were very strong to say the least…how do you get stuff/pipes to run down hill when there are no hills?? We are so lucky in NZ!!) – wandering down little back alleys and lanes which are usually well shaded – we found a canal tour which for $ 6.00 euros we decided – OK . Being near water always tends to make one feel cooler – the cruise with some historical info. was reasonably informative and shame me bloody camera battery run out half way round the tour – never mind at least got a few of Brugge.
Around mid arvo we headed back to Oostende and once again headed down to the town and shops for a few bits and pieces for dinner – we then settled into a relaxing evening – we both watched a Dvd after dinner and hit the hay. Awoke again to a very hazy but slighter cooler day than yesterday – nice for travelling. We decided to head to Antwerp or outside of Antwerp today – a riverside camp outside – but being a holiday weekend the campground was full so – stopped for a bite before deciding to head on up into Dutchie country instead of hangin in Belgium.
We did drive through the centro’s of both Gent and Brussels, Gent seemed a very intriguing and historical old town – and Brussels was as you would expect a metropolitan city to be. Stopped for a bite outside of Antwerp before heading into the Netherlands, once again no border guards to be seen anywhere – hardly even a border crossing – apart from a wilkommen sign – at least one good thing was the further north we drove the sunnier and clearer the day became and because it was coming up the weekend – as we drove through Rotterdam – only about 50k’s from the Belgium border it was around 4pm and rush hour time on the autostradt’s – so bumper to bumper for 10-12 k’s of motorway – little country town kiwi’s not use to this (ahhh – felt like Auckland southern motorway – don’t we all know that – me driving this day lukily as MC hates traffic… ).
We did eventually find our way out to the coast and our campground about an hour later than we had intended –the smell of sea air and the warm welcome at the reception from a very pleasant young filly meant lets book in an extra night. OK. Had a reasonably quiet and uncrowded spot – goot – considering they had a very full camp – mostly permanent mobile homes (kinda like an NZ bach) in this camp – Rotterdamites obviously head out to their mobile pad for the weekend – but their was also quite a few permanents as well – one friendly dutch local a couple sites further along introduced himself.
Settled in well wit a good Barbie of bratwurst & schweinfleisch washed down with sum roht wein. The evening was very warm so stayed outside till quite late until almost dark around 10.45pm to do the dishes – both showered and after a late cuppa hit the sack. Awoke to another very warm but windy dutch day – no rain so not complaining. Had a rather casual morning – did a bit of washin – gave Hugo a spring clean ( takes all of bout an hour at the most – worked up a bit of a sweat and the temp around lunchtime was in the high twenties- time for a quick dip before lunch, being a Saturday the pool area was packed mostly with kinder (kids) of course – but hey was nice to cool off and lower the body temp. a few degrees (and I got in as well…!!musta been hot. Very noticeably blonde heads here – not one other ethnicity).
After lunch we headed down to the beach or the strand as it is sometimes referred to here- bit of a hike from the campground – biked half way walked the rest hardcase – glad we took the camera – took some snaps - a bit like an inner harbour back home but with Dykes /power windmills and a main road ( not motorway over the dyke) – other than that almost like home – still lotsa nice scantily clad fillies to perve at (no kiwi lads so girls…best we stay home lookin for lads) – did have a dip – had to wade out a fairway to get up to me chest – no swell of course – the sand on the beach was fine like ours at home.
After a couple hours of suntanning/ chilling and bathing (only me off course –I did put my feet in…they get sea lettuce here too…yuck) back to camp and Hugo – stopped for another dip at the pool – this time Briar even had a dip –checked out their snack bar menu at the restaurant and grabbed a couple things from the camp supermarket ( quite a good one as far as campgrounds go) a couple more campervanners had slotted in next to us – one with Scottish plates even.
Both hit the showers then the anti pasto/ vino and Barbie scenairio again – becoming the norm and sounds boring I know but hey we are at last enjoying a summer & sun – so ya can all go get stuffed. Once again chilled outside in the cooler night air till the sun went and the moon rose – 11.00am tonite – introduced ourselves to our new Scottish neighbours during the course of the evening – young couple in their mid to late thirties – on their way home – been on the trail for 5 months- definitely have to catch up with them and chew the fat – tmoro maybe if still here – did watch a Dvd till bout 1.00 inda morning while Briar slept, twas another muggy night – the morning did bring some cloud and haze – so after the 3 x S’s and brekkie we jumped on the bikes and treddled about 4k’s into the local town of Rockanje for peekaboo- they also had a strand which of course was just further down from the campground.
The town for a Saturday was as dead as a doornail but the parking platz for the strand certainly wasn’t – the temp. was nice and warm but it was a very cloudy sky yet people were pouring down to the beach – perhaps they know something we don’t. Anyhows we did some more biking through this planned little town with its small canals, streams and perfectly cobbled cycle/walk paths – did end up losing our bearings and required the aide of a charming young lass who spoke good English (after I refused to ride in the wrong direction that MC wanted us to go in…) who was biking past and helped us or rode about a km out of her way to show us how to get back to camp. Bloody tourists !
Wouldn’t ya know it as we got back to camp the clouds began to part and the sun beamed through and an hour or so later – nothing but clear blue skies and sweltering temps again - bloody weird weather up here I’ll tell ya. Chilled around the camper for a bit of the arvo – some catch up blog writing, then into the anti-pasto and vino – as we are such friendly kiwis like most of our fellow compatriats are, we nonchantily invited ourselves over to our Scottish neighbours who had surfaced from their campervan and chill out day for a chin wag and a couple of bevies – Chris and Christine ( the Scots) looked as though they also enjoyed the liquid refreshment of the alcoholic kind. He had just arrived back at the camper with a cold box of the local bier – good man ( only had one of the several offered – just not a big beer drinker anymore – or am I too cultured now and prefer the smell, taste and feel of a refined wine hitting the back of the throat (ha…refined here is costing no more than 3 Euros so not too sure about our judgement any more…)
Even though I had only one of his several beers he offered me – I or we did make up for it with several bottles of vino ( 5) – he did however also help us with the red wine . The night – the wine – the conversation and very little food flowed throughout the evening – I did race down to the snack bar at some time to get a feed of sausie’s and frits – which of course got devoured unceremoniously – but know one seemed to notice that – who cares when ya havin a good night – it is always the next day that it returns to haunt ya and it certainly did for Briar – told her to drink lotsa water during the evening – still we extracted lotsa info from our Scottish new best friends about Scandanavia and the northen eastern bloc countries – and we shared many stories of our travels – I think we did finally hit the sack around 1.00am . Great nite.
The morning wake up was a different story – the sun was beaming in and the temp was warming and we had slept in a bit – funny that – hour and a half to vacate the camp or get charged another days fee – force fed us both with some fruit , quick showers up camp with Briar dragging her heels and her head but finally got under way just before the deadline – we said goodbyes to our new found Scottish friends who had also slept in a bit longer than had planned also – haa funny that (they decided to stay another day oops!!).
Not much missed on the drive to Amsterdam – the weather was OK sunny and early twenties temps. The port and shipyards of Rotterdam were fairly active being a weekday – massive port areas – with multi-level carparks full with new cars ready to be shipped or waiting on clearance . The countryside also much the same – flat as – broken up with either rows or clefts of trees . Spotted a few sheep but still predominaetly cows and also lotsa fields of you guessed it – barley, wheat, maize and rye grass too. The clouds and cloud formations streaming across the flat lands from the winds quite unusual – not like anything we have at home – and a little bit hazy – unusual for this far north.
It was my turn to drive fortunately for Briar – she was not in good shape and an hour into vanning down the autostradt pulled into a service/restaurant stop – burger king their also – yayy – greasy food – perfect grub for soaking up a hangover – Briar didn’t agree and decided ta do the physchdelic yawn thing ( a first for MANY years…musta been that food the night before…) – after ten minutes over a bucket which she ditched into the hedge next to where we parked and washed up – meanwhile I was munchin out on burger and fries – she did force down a couple of fries – of course the same old adage came out as usually does – I’m never drinking again – not till the next time – aye dear.
Very commercialised as we approached Amsterdam from around 15-20 k’s out – lotsa very different modern architectural office blocks and quite a few of them on stilt structures (supporting 12-15 storey buildings-amazing) – perhaps it still floods in these parts -
Had previously prebooked and prepaid into Camping Zeeburg- Amsterdam for 5 nights via the net – so just had to turn up. Just as well with a crook Briar on board – the rest of the trip pretty uneventful – another hour and a half on the autostradt we pulled into a Lidl supermarket store for a top up before our stay at camping Zeeburg.
in outer suburb of Amsterdam – Briar volunteered to play shotgun to Hugo – it was a fairly dodgy looking area – think she was still too crook also to confront anyone today.
I must say she was certainly a bit perkier than a couple hours ago. Shopping done we found our way to rock camp Zeeburg – and a fairly lively camp it was – have to admit there were people of all ages there – but predominaetly the age group was the 18 – 30 yr old age group – no doubt here to experience the far out scene of Amsterdam – hey good on them if I was 20 again I’d Just do it – just like Nike.
The camp was fairly full and in an area fortunately away from us luxury campers in motorhomes, there was a tent city – (200-300) pup tents scattered for all the youngies.
Had a fairly private spot under and next to trees at the end of a row of motorhomes so easily managed to sneak a Barbie in disguise under the trees ( rules for camp say no open fires) for dinner.
Settled in for the night with dinner,showers and a Dvd. Awoke to real crappy morning – had rained spasmodically all night as well- felt sorry for the tenters – not. Bugger the weather – we jumped on a no.7 tram ( bout 10min. walk to station) into central Amsterdam – stopped off at the Van Gogh museum stop – spent several hours here perusing some more Art of another master. Had a bite to eat at the museum café – tasty kai at reasonable price – ist goot. As the rain had cleared during our museu visit – quite warm & muggy outside now , we then wandered around the corner to the Heinekin Od Brewery & Experience as it is called – they don’t make it here anymore – not big enough to cope with the world demand & supply off course.
But had the tour and tasting experience at the old brewery – had a lot of funky modern IT stuff at the end- sent a videoemail of to the girls . had a couple complimentary ales at the end in the bar – chatted to young English/American couple over for the week.
Trammed back to camp and the olde BBQ under the trees trick – gotta make the most of the goot wetter whilst ya can. Another Dvd night.
If yesterday’s morgen wetter was shitty, this morgen’s wetter was even worse- it rained rather heavier during the night than the previous nicht. Still feeling sorry for the tenters – not. After brekkie armed with rain jackets and umbrellas we caught the tram again – no.24 this time into Amsterdam centro. Checked out some of the city landmark buildings and then the Sex Museum – rather crass – but hey its Amsterdam ( this city is all about sex – isn’t it and drugs and tattoos…not really my scene I found actually) .
Then wandered around up and down some canals lookin for the red light district – which we had unawares walked right around – so after a quick panini & coffee in a café that sold food and not dope – we ventured around the corner to – Roxanne’s street – but alas her red was on – along with about fifty others in a row – being the mere male I am, I’ve decided that if I become mayor of Tauranga I will erect a building with glass box windows with red lights out the front along the strand maybe ?? – will have to come back at night time for another look – seems all the old ugly ones parade their wares during the day – damn sure some of them make little monies at all. – Pick another trade dear.( the windows cost about 120 per day…whew..that’s scary!) – you’re to but ugly for this one.
Lotsa back alleys and lanes and also some very exposed prominent cafes that sell the dope – definite aroma lingers through the air in downtown Amsterdam – ya just pick up a whiff here and there as ya stroll. Ya don’t have to smoke it in the cafe’s only either. Called in at the info. centre to get some info. on the windmills of Zandaam – before catchin a tram back to camp. The camp makes it own fresh baguettes and buns daily and at alltimes during the day – being the busy camp it is – bellisimo. Weather turning ugly again – no barbi tonite – but at least we didn’t get rained on today. Hopefully improving tomorrow. Yeah Right – another very patchy lookin day – greyish with the odd splatter of blue sky – have I mentioned how weird the sky and clouds here are.
No raincoats but definitely umbrella’s – trammed into central station and then caught a train out to Zandaam – a taste of old Holland today – windmills and cows and cheese . Had a ten minute walk to catch a free people ferry across to Zandaam – where we were presented with a quaint little pictureperfect village complete with five windmills behind it – all had different purposes and uses. One was still be used as a timber sawmill, one for pressing oil, one to grind flour – another for pumping water they were mainly tourist attractions, but would have been well utilised in their day – three were working or should I say spinning around the day we visited – it was another windy day like most in this country – leaves Wellington for dead bro.
Bought some great cheese we had sampled – had a nice soup and roll for lunch.
Back into Amsterdam where we booked for a candlelight cruise around Amsterdam canals for the tonight. – Then back to camp where once again the weather packed in again and once again we managed to use the umbrellas little during our day. But caught the tram back into town without getting wet – had a table to ourselves with 2 bottles wine and a good sized cheese platter(included in the price) we knew that.
What a great way to see the city from a different perspective – had a fairly informative tour guide – cruise lasted about 2 ½ hours – both very relaxing and enjoyable. Went back for another look at Roxanne and her work associates in the red light district – she was not their, but their were plenty or should I say streets of others
parading themselves in the windows ( apparently it costs $120.00 euor to hire a windowfront for the night).
Must say the night crew were certainly a lot more pleasant on the eye than the day lot. Got back to camp on the the last tram around midnight – shared the last tram car with around 7-8 rather dark Rastafarians drugged out to the max and who were waiting for us to get off to light up another no doubt. (we had their back seat I think and of course just being kiwis didn’t realise they were supposed to be ‘scary’…other folks looking our way – don’t you just laugh!!)
Awoke to another greyish gloomy lookin sky – no wander the dutch are such a miserable pessimistic lot – they never see any sun – its no wonder they, like the germans, (and poms) all head down to Spain for 3-4 months of the year – vitamin E – does amazing things for ones aura. Had a chillish sought of a day – scooted into the centro – check out the July sales – both needed trainers – both Briars and mine clocked a few k’s on this tour – lookin a wee tad tired.
After wandering for a bit, window gazing and soaking up the Amsterdam vibe – both decided had enough – grabbed a few groceries no barbi again – had packed away in anticipation of our leaving inda morning anyhows back to camp ( no new trainers) did some Wifi-ing before tea. – dinner/dishes/showers then popped back to the bar as some bloke Shane form Neuw Seelande was playing – of course we both thought this might have been Shane from back around the 1970’s and of course wasn’t – a young chap from Great Barrier Is. who had been in Holland for only 5 months – had followed his dutch girlfriend back home. The old Shane sounded much better – but he was OK – had a wee chat to him. One other kiwi in the crowd besides us. Bedtime.
After the usual routine and picking up a fresh baguette from the shop we hit the trail – heading north again – a few fields and in some cases paddocks like home, of sheep. Still bloody flat and becoming rather boring . Around midday we drove over the Afsluitdijk (Longest Dyke in the world) built in 1929 – the engineer died before completion . Stopped at the memorial about halfway across – took snaps and had some lunch their too. Wicked cloud formations wisping across the Ijsselmeer – large inland expanse of water – a few yachts on the horizon. Mostly travel day today – on a time line to get to Berlin – stopped at a nice camp outside Groningen – very family orientated camp – nice facilities and private enough for me to fire the Barbie up.
Had rabbits and Hares everywhere – obviously not fazed by humans as they didn’t scare off like the ones at home (ha! No one with guns here and boy…I would have loved to chase them just for the fun of it but they all seem to be excruciatingly painful animal lovers) – counted approx. fifty at least in the camp pitches next to and along from ours. Dinner / Dishes / Showers and a Dvd – bed .
The weather had been warm and sunny for a change – nice warm evening – this unpredictable Dutch weather – awoke to a drizzly morning and it stayed this way most of the way almost ot our next destination back in Germany. More flat land – broken up by clusters and rows of trees – more field after field of either rapeseed/barley or wheat.
Arrived in Bremmen with grey skies but at least no rain – the city of the fabled four musicians – Briar was keen to stop here – luckily we found a handy grosse (huge) park in the middle of town – locked Hugo up and went for a wander around – found several statues including the authentic one of the four musicians – the old town had such narrow lanes it was wide enough for only one person to pass through. Had to dodge raindrops – didn’t take the umbrella’s for a change – but made it back to Hugo without getting to wet – did stop in the main banhof (train station) for a bratwurst and frites – Briar had a good old roast pork bun – looked yummy.
After lunch – back to hugo – hit the trail bound for Winsen a country town north of Hanover – laid back camp – very quiet – nice young chap booked us in. Rain started again – so settled in – no Wifi – bummer - book said they did. Had dinner at the camp restaurant – good price’s – both otped for the chicken wings & frites – nearly everything ya get at a German restaurant is fryed or deep fryed – so Chicken wings OK – but the frites were the best we both agreed so far in Europe. – Fresh oil – makes a huge difference. Both showered and hit the hay early listening to the drizzle hit Hugo’s roof (very cosy..but it is supposed to be summer…).
Woke to an almost clear blue sky – sunshine on my skin – yaayyy. The usual routine before leavin our very quiet camp – had a couple of stops on the way to Wolfsburg.
Bypassed Hanover ( very much an industrial city) and onto Hamein (Hamelin for the english) where the infamous Pied Piper did his stuff back in the 18th century . Once again scored a good park close to the centre – only a couple hours on the clock though . Did a quick tour through Hamein old town – several piccies of course of the Pied Piper and the Olde Rathaus (Town councils are still called this…great name I reckon) – the Wedding church – the markt – then on the road we stopped for some Kai at a parking bay about 15k’s out of Hildesheim – parked in a bus bay in Hildesheim centro illegally I’m sure and wandered into the central Markt platz – cobbled streets and timber/cement haus’s built back in the mid 18th century. Had a couple magnificient cathedrals – cost monies to go in and we have seen the inside of a few now, so jus wandered around the outside – stopped for a coffee in the central markt platz – then wandered through a couple of shopping malls on the way back to our illegally parked Hugo. Hit the trail up to Wolfsburg – sussed out a camp handy to the VW Autostadt/factory – yes this is the home of the VW and the factory where all VW’s are made. The entire VW factory area is bigger than Monaco ( not that Monaco is big by any means) according some info I read somewhere. We checked into our campsite – no barbi fires allowed – but it was only $12.00 euro for the night & 0.50 euro for a duchas(shower) so no worries – tonite we will have Chinese stir-fry for a change. We did go for a wander around Allersee Lake, which the camp sat on the edge of a man-made see ( lake as we call them). Obviously some donated monies by the No.1 industry in town – VW off course – the surrounds of the lake had – parks/ a water park centre/ cafes & bars/ Rowing club/ numerous sporting facilities/ cycle, rollerblade(popular here in Germany) & footpaths/ sandy beaches / numerous kiddie playground stuff of varying sorts – beautifully placed and planted gardens/trees – seatbenchs – toilets etc.etc.etc – wunderbar. Germans – only the best.
Spent an hour or so wandering around the lake in the beautiful sunset before headin home for our favourite pastime on this tour – chilling with an anti-pasto & rosso vino. Dinner – dishes – duchas ( hey 3 x D’s now) and a Dvd that makes 4 x D’s (except for me which is more likely to be book and bed…this touring stuff is hard work) and bedtime.
The following morning was OK not as nice as the previous day – but no rain and plenty patches of blue sky – rather muggy to – around 26 degrees I reckon.
Early up – the 3 x S’s and packed up Hugo and parked him up again in the Autostadt campervan carpark section – found out ya could stay here for the night for free and with electricity – no other services. But that magic word – FREE. Who cares our nights fee wasn’t exactly gonna break our bank. After locking up Hugo securely we had a 1km walk to the Eingang(entrance) of the VW Autostadt- very impressive complex with modern architecturally designed buildings housing the museums/exhibitions/showrooms etc.etc. Paid our $11.00 euros each and spent the next 3-4 hours checkin out the latest - in car technology/ latest in VW vans/campers – own building off course / latest Audi pavilion/ The Lambourghini pavilion/ The Seat pavilion/ The Skoda pavilion/ The VW 3-D pavilion/ The Zeuthaus ( old vintagee & newer car museum and the twin 16 & 18 storey high VW car storage towers.
Around 12 cars per storey – all in glass – so see through (and are about 12 – 15 storeys high like a stretch cube ranging up into the air –pretty fascinating) – Also had a VW Sales & service centre building – where you can buy / test drive either by real car or in a simulator you can pick up and drive away in your new VW. Did notice that 80-90% cars driving around here are VW’s. Even had a kiddies driving school & track. Amazing place and well worth the $11.00 euros.
Back to the carpark and had some lunch before heading toward Brandenburg and Berlin – stopped outside Brandenburg at a recommended ACSI campstop near Lake Breitlingsee – older style campground – looked as though some permanent caravans had been there around 20-25 years or so. Still the kind lady at reception who understood very little English and we understood very little deutsch ,we all managed to muddle and laugh our way through the booking in and explanation process. Even ordered brot (rolls) for the following morning. She gave us the only prime waterfront spot left with amazing views across Breitlingsee (Lake). As we were there reasonably early and the temp was up around 29-30 –we quickly set up Hugo and then headed for the small beachfront for a bit of sunbaking and a dip for me to bring the body temp. down.
Briar read the English newspaper we bought a day or two ago in Bremen while I went swimming. The water temp. was rather refreshing and cool (way to cool for Briar) a few other camp families and kids were enjoying the lake a few boats hooning around further out. Spent the late arvo – reading the paper and dipping in the Breitlingsee. After a shower fired up the Barbie – washed down a steak with a 2007 Bordeaux red – whilst looking over the lake and the sun set– life is good.
Even a balloon hovered over the evening sky and the Breitlingsee. Clear skies tonite
- hopefully a good sign for tmoro. Both slept very well – very quiet camp . Awoke to another good day – stopped further up the road at a Supermark– stocked up for Berlin.
Stopped in Potsdam for a wander around the Sanssouci Schloss – summer palace of several Royal Fredericks who ruled over Germany in the late 1800’s. Massive gardens with several schloss’s as they call castle’s here. Even had an Orangerie building which housed citrus trees during winter months. Had a wunderbar Chinese haus with extensive gold gilded figures all over it. The schloss’s and gardens were around 600 hectares – so rather big. Lotta tourist buses and campervanners – had lunch in the carpark under some trees as the temp was now around the late twenties and very muggy.
Then in the arvo we spent the day doing a bit of a reconnoitre of couple places to get Hugo serviced and also get some new leisure batteries installed as our 1 only is useless for free camping. Did find a couple places and booked into both for the following week – because there are no camping grounds in Berlin itself we headed to a Campervan stationment fairly close to the centro of Berlin from the Camperstop book - Berlin – is very spread out like Auckland. The wohnmobileparkt was packed to the hilt almost of campervans – only a couple spots when we arrived and about ¾ hour later there were none. Very noisy being right next to a priority road– did have separate toilets and showers with hot water, a grey water dump and fresh drinkwater facility, was close to a metro stop – the place OK to me but not for Briar – Stalag 13 as she called it.
Had some dinner – both showered a Dvd and bed- another big day tomorrow – unfortunately Briar had the worst night’s sleep so far on tour and she made sure I knew about it- we were gonna head into Berlin mitte (centro) and check out the Info. centre – where our hotel was we were gonna stay on Sat. nite – etc.etc but after Briar’s performance decided to head outta town and find a campground to appease a rather shitty Briar.
Spent the majority of the day driving the Berlin ring road in search of a decent campground which we found finally near Potsdam – a four star camp called Sanssouci which also sat at the edge of a lake/river. Booked in and set up – no barbies here either – did have a kitchen with gas cookers – will be using them to get our monies worth for sure. Camp had a nice feel and the facilities were of a very good standard, had free Wifi and a good bar/restaurant. Did some wifiing before had some dinner, the clouds began to roll over and it started to spit and did so for the rest of the night nearly. Did do a load of washing to hang out tmoro – yeah right. Bugger me the weather here is as unpredictable as Briar sometimes. (and as shitty as MC can be at times)
Woke to a very nice morning with a good breeze for drying out washing – yaayy. Woke late also – had a bit of a sleep in, bit of a camp day today – although I did decide to go for a cycle into Potsdam – get a couple things for dinner , some deneiro and another squiz around – Briar had computer stuff for school kids ta do. All good
About a 6 k ride into town – bit of a quick blast through town – hit the money machine and a Lidl store on the way back and then back to camp for a late lunch.
After lunch back to the Bar for a couple lemonade’s whilst Wifiing again. The dark clouds beagn to roll in – so decided to rush back and pack everything away and get inda washing which was almost dry – so glad we did that – by time got back to the bar to do some more wifiing, had a massive thunderstorm and lightning show – it bucketed down cats and dogs for about ½ an hour – the thunder here rolls right around almost full circle – cool as . Felt a bit sorry for the neighbouring campervan – had most of their stuff out and had biked somewhere for the day – got very wet.
Another wet night – did manage to sneak over and cook our steaks – with a Roquefort cheese sauce ( yumo) at the campground kitchen- ran into a couple more Aussies doing a tour – just started theirs really – only a couple weeks on the road – not like us seasoned campaigners – so passed info. stories etc.etc then back to Hugo to enjoy our steaks – washed up inda camper as now pissing down again. Early night with a Dvd and a cuppa, drifting off to the sound of spattering on Hugo’s roof.
The next day was marginally better – a few patches of blue sky over yonder. Wished Briar happy birthday and made her a cuppa in bed, (followed by me Nana pancakes with Blueberries, lemons and maple syrup – hey it was a special day… )
After the usual 3 x S’s/ brekkie – nothing to pack up really – did so the arvo before ( so nice and dry in the boot). Paid the bill and into Berlin we drove .
Grand City Hotel Berlin Mitte into Tomtom and we arrived outside about midday – fortunately had a park outside. Even more fortunate was that we could park Hugo in their undercover carpark whilst we stayed – yaayyy thought… we were gonna have to check in – drop off our bags and then drive back out to the Stalag 13 to park Hugo for the night and tram back to the hotel. No need – sweet as bro - feeling so good about it and deciding to treat Briar to an extra nights luxury – I booked in for another night. We also had early access to our room - more sweet as bro - So after parking up Hugo and taking the bags up to our room – nice room with the usual en-suite / mini bar / desk / flat screen TV etc. big bed – made a cuppa – put our feet up and chilled for the arvo in nice big surroundings ( poor olde Hugo all alone in the carpark )– watched a bit of telly (limited choice (English- sport channel and BBC) – both had a wee nap – then showered – donned our concert gear and headed for the tram stop up the road – U2 here we come. Both had our first ‘subway’ roll in the Alexander platz train banhof (usually I have Rhys to help me order – so stressful – what bread? What meat? Toasted yes or no? What salad? Think whew then - oh no! – what dressing? Drink, have here takeaway – full of questions!!)– before catchin the U2 metro train to the U2 concert at Olympiastadion – managed to squeeze onto a very full train – had a 20-25 minute ride out to Olympiastadion – all squashed in like sheep…(sort of ironic I thought…except we are not Jews…and we chose to hope on – then I worry about swine flu…breath thru the nose!!)
We all sweated and perspired our way out to Olympiastadion – very welcome relief by all as we got off and ringed the sweat out of our t-shirts. Still just followed the masses of U2 fans from the station to the gates of Olympiastadion. Massive structure – built in the 1930’s for the Olympic Berlin games – where a Black African from the states by the name of Jesse Owens upset Hitler by winning four gold medals in all the premier events – 100/200/long jump and the 4 x 100 mens relay. Lotsa food/ bier/ U2 merchandise stalls around – scored a couple T-shirts for Briar and me. The stadion holds around 80,000 and when the show started was nearly full, I reckon a crowd of around 75,000 approx. We found our seats without to much fuss, well sign posted, had a good possey up high to left slightly, but with a great view of the band . Had an amazing stage set-up / an inner and outer mosh pit – had walkways for the band out into the crowd – awesome – we brought our umbrellas in case it rained– but they had built a roof over the seated area – which we were in. hey it might rain later on our way to the train. We only just missed the warm-up band Snow Patrol by minutes – bugger.
Well to say anything other than fu…n amazing would be an understatement. My favourite band did not disappoint me in the least. They sang all the favourites along with an equally fu…n amazing lightshow – with their new spaceship as they call it.
This is as good as it gets and 2 & ¾ hours later it was all over – bugger. Where are they playin next ? Ah well – all good things come to end sometime. We were all herded back to the train station – where we had a very squeezy hour wait to catch a train home. – finally walking in our hotel room 255 door at about 1am. Cuppa tea and snuggle in between the sheets – yum a real bed. Savouring it. Is that me snoring – no its Briar. Good on her. Both slept well and slept in, did bring our fruit up to the room – so had our normal fruit plate and a cuppa for brekkie. Both showered (ahh the privacy…) we ventured into town again – decided to do the Fat Tyre bike tour around Berlin instead of the normal bus tour. The weather was goot – we were both feelin goot- lets do it. Had a really knowlegable guide ( german-american) Ingo who had been doin it for 4 yrs – so not only good knowledge of the place but well skilled in entertaining people as well.
Was the best city tour so far I reckon – we had really cool bikes – with springs on the seats – wicked german precision engineered gearing along with sit-up & beg handle bars ( might have to look at investing in some of these on our return to NZ) I know Briar very keen – she couldn’t stop smiling the whole bike tour. Highlight of the tour – obviously the Berlin wall / Checkpoint Charlie and the Holocast memorial. The tour even stopped at a bar/restaurant in the Tiergarten ( a park/garden – complete with canals- about 400 hectares big) for a bratwurst and bier – cool stuff.
After the bike tour we did a bit more sightseeing ourselves – as we were told of all the good free stuff to check out – which we did. The Brandenburg gate then, the Reichstag with its glass dome over the Bundstag( german parliament) was amazing and offered excellent views over Berlin (Freebie). It also gave you an audio-guide commentary of the significant landmarks around Berlin also. Chatted away to a couple pommie chaps who had popped over for a few days to see U2 also. Real U2 fans – had been to 5 out of 7 gigs so far by U2 on their 360 degree tour this year. – diehards – good on them – nice chaps. Also meet a very nice swiss girl in the queue who had also been to the U2 gig. Had a half hour wait – so all enjoyed chewing the fat with each other .
Checked out the Sony center – another mindblowing piece of architecture before catchin a tram back to our hotel – where once again we decided to eat in and enjoy the ambience and luxuries of a 4 star hotel room. We had room service pizza for tea – OK.
and back to our ever faithful Hugo awaiting us in the carpark. Did a shop as we had almost nothing in our fridge – local Lidl store jus down the road. Then back to Briar’s favourite Stalag 13 stop for one night – managed to get the second last spot before she shut the gates at 1pm in the arvo.
Caught the tram into the centro again – went lookin for trainers and some new specks for me – me old warehouse jobbies had got sick of the duck tape holding them together. Did find some at very good price -$10.00 euros , make me look a bit like Joe 90 – but at least they don’t keep slippin off all the bloody time. Some more window gazing – then headed for the Holocaust memorial museum – closed on Mondays – bugger so sat and had a beer and shared a pizza instead. Then wandered back through the Brandenburg gate – down towards Fredreickstein area where all the designer brand stores are , stopped in for a look and a snappie of a really grunty lookin Bugatti sportster coupe in one of the windows. (I thought it was also interesting… as Berlin has the third largest city population of gays behind San Francisco and Sydney sooo… the manswear stores are pretty hardcase with a windows for straight guys and a window for gay boys – fluffy collars on jackets and very gay looking models to hang the ponsie clothes on)
Walked through some very upmarket malls – no trainers here on special. After another hour or so we decided to head back to Stalag 13 – grabbed some very good, cheap Thai food in the train station( the train stations have some of the best and cheapest food we’ve discovered not just here in Germany either) . Both had a shower once back at Stalag 13 – cuppa a Dvd and bed. Caught an early tram in to visit the Holocaust memorial museum as we both really wanted to see it – its underground below the above ground memorial tribute to the jews – ironically less than 500 metres or so from Hitlers infamous bunker where he shot himself. Made it back to Hugo to check out of Stalag 13 just on midday checkout time.
Headed out towards a campground around 20k’s or so from Berlin – a the camp we were supposed to stop at – nobody about in the office so went drivin around to check some other camps – found one called naturpark – right in the forest – Briar thought it was a nudist camp –
Molles Sud See – another camp on a lake edge – another older hard case camp with many older permanent caravans here. Still cheap enough – had reasonable facilities – I was coming down with a cold or viruse of some sought – throats on fire – swollen glands – think picked it up on our travels on the metro underground – don’t feel like swine flu – so should be OK.
Spent some time in nature surroundings in the sunny arvo next to the likes edge reading an English newspaper – no Barbie tonite – pork chops and salat. Did manage to watch half a Dvd before snoring myself into lala land – stuffed, as well as me nose.
Awoke to another reasonable day – had Hugo booked in for 10.00am – made it there with minutes to spare – after negotiating our way outer the forest. Unpaved dirt roads – I think our first almost this entire trip so far. Still left a list of instructions with the campervan service people – the chap I showed through could speak very good English- all goot be ready about 6pm closing time - got the bikes down of Hugo and we rode to the nearest train station about 10 minutes ride, where we caught a train into Berlin – caught another tram then to Weizberg where they have a Ka-Wa-Be department store – bit like Grace Bros/Myers in OZ or Smith & Caugheys in Auckland – mosied around their lookin for some trainers and more window gazing – then another tram to Potsdamer platz – another subway roll for lunch before catching a movie at the Sony center – they have showings of the latest flicks in English – due to time frames – both wanted to see the latest Harry Potter film but meant not getting back out to Hugo on time – so chose a Harrison Ford – Crossing Over flick. All about people in the states gaining residency or becoming US citizens – several stories and people with intertwined paths – not bad.
Had to rush to catch our train back and ended up catchin one going the opposite way – two stops later got off and caught one going back the other way again – stopped at our original stop where we had a 20 minute wait for the next train going in our direction . All the trains jammed full – sweating like a pig (a very sick MC really and should have been in bed – held out all day amazingly) , everyone steered clear of me if they could – least I wasn’t coughing and splurting everywhere.
We finally arrived back at Bierstein at 6pm jumped on our bikes and made a beeline for the caravan centre – where fortunately the service was still open, they were waiting on us – still the after explanations the chap ran through with what they had done – Hugo had two spanking new leisure batteries in him , they fixed the steps with a safety mechanism – so no moreelectrical beeping inuendo’s in the rain hopefully – and the fridge and the red fridge light works now when the motor is running – yaaayyyy. Paid the bill which was a couple hundred more than had been quoted and anticipated – to late to query now. Put the bikes back up on the rack and set of down the highway with the red on the fridge goin. All goot. (Carolyn…the steps now go in when the motor starts..remember us talking about it)
Found another campground about 20 miuntes drive away – we had to return tmoro to get Hugo’s 40k service done . stopped in for Mackers for tea as we had nothing to cook really – grabbed some takeaways – camp was only 5/6 minutes down the road – checked in – plugged Hugo in – sat down and ate our mackers – nicer campground than last nites naturpark and very good sanitary facilities – also once again on a lakefront. Still feeling like shit so who cares – jus want to get horizontal – did so falling asleep watchin a Dvd. Woke to another busy day – 9.40am hugo booked in so after the 3 x S’s , brekkie , checked outta Camp Krossinsee and back to Honow to the Fiat service centre – had around a 3-4 hour wait – the nice young receptionist said she would drop us off at the local Kaufpark shopping centre about 5 minutes away - goot.
We both managed to find some Nike trainers ( our favourite brand) on sale – also picked up a couple CD’s / another USB flash drive to store more photos on and a Lappie carry/storage bag for the little lappie. ( Very happy Briar). Also scored a polo shirt for an amazing $2.50 euro of reasonable quality as well. Did some more wandering before we had some lunch at one of the café’s – the biggest in the shopping centre – had fish & chips – nothing to rave about but OK (if I was a German I would have had a bratwurst…but you can only stomach so many sausage sizzles on a tour) – then a grocery shop as we were gonna hit the trail and stop for the night about an hour and a half north of Berlin.
After our shop, we phoned our ride back to the service center where Hugo all ready to be driven off – paid the bill – said cheers and auf weiderseined outta there.
Auf weidersein Berlin- a city would I enjoy coming back to I think – even with its 40% Turkish population – biggest outside Turkey – amazing.
The drive north once again produced fields and fields of Barley/wheat and maize spasmodically broken up by a field of rye grass or rapseed, but nonetheless very flat and boring – glad Briars drivin – still feelin like crap, nose really runnin like a tap today- anyone got a tissue.
Stopped at Camp Wursterhausen and yes it was on a lake – once again and older camp but with many permanent sites – many with manicured lawns and cobbled patios and wasser fountains and ponds!!. Had everything we needed – was very warm and muggy again – both headed down to the lake where I needed to have a dip and get me temp. down – I’m overheating – cool me down and once in the Lake that’s exactly what it did – certainly cooler than me previous lake dip at Breitlingsee. Got the swim in before those thunderous german clouds rolled in and bought a ½ hour downpour with it – yaayy once again fired the Barbie up – had missed it – had yummy suckling pig spare ribs - delicioso as were the barbequed veggies - 4 x D’s and bedtime . Couple more days heading north in Germany and we will be Denmark. So will log off here – let Briar add her bits and pieces.
So - Auf wiedersein to Germany till again in late September for the Ocktoberfest
and will probably update the blogsite next after our ventures in Scandanavia. Cheers .