Rellies, hobby makers, with kilometres between - Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
After driving the motorhome onto the big boat, we managed to find our room, with bunk beds and an ensuite. Doesn't seem much bigger than the motorhome, so we'll be right. So we're on the overnight ferry from Newcastle to the port near Amsterdam and dreading the long 15 hour+ voyage. We take a look around, find the duty free shop and take advantage of some cheap rum, find all the bars and restaurants and watch as we leave the shores of Britain. The ship is massive, and my fears of being sea sick fade as we move along the water smoothly, as it's as if we are not even moving. As we have paid for a buffet meal we take advantage of all the food on offer and as usual Bo enjoys 2-3 helpings of each of the courses. We listen to an American singing in a bar, and he was able to entertain the patrons with music from all genres. With Bo on the top bunk and me below, we manage to get some shut eye overnight. Breakfast was rubbish! Happened to sit next to a lady visiting from NZ though, so that compensated the breakfast fit to only throw away. Bo wasn't hungry - can you believe it!!? He had gorged himself so much the night before that he could only manage a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. He didn't miss anything. We arrived in Holland, made it through customs and border control. Had the feeling they have a competition at border control though, to pass away the hours during their tedious job. I think the guy who chatted to us was victorious with the furtherest away country today. Bo nervously drove through the other side, not worried about the authorities, but that he now had to keep the vehicle on the right side of the road. With great concentration, he navigates the vehicle out onto the motorway towards Julianadorp to Lia and Theo's. Well, he gets us there safely and without too many hiccups, just a bit confusing turning left but apart from that, together he did it!! We managed to find a camp ground by the beach and not too far from where Lia and Theo live. Once settled we hop on our bikes and ride around to Lia. Took a few detours, no we weren't lost, just detouring. Eventually we get to Lia. We stayed in Julianadorp a few nights, and was able to meet with Suzanne and Dennis and see their new house. Very nice too. With garaging to make Bo green with envy, how he would love to have some of this at home. Lovely house for these two, great purchase, and am sure they will have fun making it what they want. We look forward to the progress photos.
We followed Lia and Theo to Amsterdam and booked into a motorcamp not far from where Celine and Martijn live so we can visit them and also see some of Amsterdam. Martijin and Celine live in Hoofddorp and we were staying not far from there at Hillegom. We met Mila, who was born to Martijn and Celine on the 26th June, the day we first used our motorhome on Yew Tree camp site in Canterbury. She is adorable!! We all went out and enjoyed a lovely meal somewhere near Amsterdam. We said some goodbyes, or see ya laters. We will see Lia at Aunty Gerries 90th birthday party in Rotterdam in 3 weeks time and Theo when Lia and Theo come out to NZ in January next year. Hopefully Martijn and Celine will bring their family out to NZ in the near future so we can show off our beautiful country to them. We decided to stay at the camp just outside Amsterdam for a couple of days so we can go into the city again. We biked into Hillegom and checked out the shops, mainly the food shops and to also work out where we go to catch the train to Amsterdam for the next day. So the next day we bike to Hemestede and with the help of a very nice shop owner, managed to buy return tickets to Amsterdam at the machine. Didn't take long and we were there. We made our way to the house Anne Frank where her and her family were in hiding during WW2. The queue wasn't too bad, but we decided food was in order once again, so had lunch at a cafe on the banks of the canal across from Anne Franks house. The sun was shining and it was lovely watching the boats on the canal and all the people of various nations walking past, taking photos and obviously enjoying the atmosphere of Amsterdam. We joined the queue of people waiting to visit the museum of Anne Frank, and it wasn't long before we were in the doors. It certainly bought back memories of the book, and felt unreal to be in rooms as she had described in her diary, to see the pictures on the walls Anne had put up to make the place look more colourful. Before we knew it, two hours had flown by! Well must admit, it took my interest more than Bo's and he was waiting for me at the door to go for a while I think. Never mind. We then went looking for a canal trip. Wasn't to be though, cos by the time we decided to catch a boat, we worked it out that we would be too late back to our bikes before it got dark, so had to give it a miss. The trips take an hour and we had to wait about 40 minutes so bit of a blow, I never got my canal trip through Amsterdam. To compensate, we seeked out the red light district, without making it look obvious we were doing it :).
Next destination, Delft, home to the blue stoneware. The campground here is very nice, it is full so we are given a space with other motorhomes in a big car park out the front by the road. Feel a bit like the poor relations, but it's not too bad out there. The weather is stunning! Up to 30+ degrees. While we are here we visit the village on our bikes, and go to their market. I spot a pair of shoes, and they are very cheap, not to look at though, and being a bit dubious of the quality and the comfort, because they are cheap, I ask for assurance from the guy selling them that they are OK. With that, he stops different women he recognises as having bought his shoes, to guarantee to me they are comfy. These women all agree they are OK and after accusing him of only stopping his friends or sisters I buy myself a pair :). Luckily this man has a wicked sense of humour and we were able to have a laugh. And yes, the shoes are comfy. We don't buy any delft, it all looks the same!! Nah we still have more travels, and we would be worried of breakages. We didn't even go to the delft factory - bad tourists! When we got back to camp, with the weather being so hot, I made use of the camp swimming pool and tried to work on my tan - 1st swim since Australia. As Delft is not far from Rotterdam, we have made arrangements with Bo's uncle Aad and Aunty Gerrie to go and visit them on the Sunday. We have a couple of days to fill, so we take to the bikes, armed with a map, and head for Rotterdam. The map took us along the cycle tracks through rural areas, past lovely little homes on the banks of canals and we stopped to let a bride and groom in their sports car arrive to their waiting guests on the bridge leading to their home, while the photographer took snaps. We eventually made it into Rotterdam, and while the day was beautiful with the sun shining when we first left Delft, the black clouds were looming and it was getting darker and cooler, and of course this led to rain - heavy rain - so we found cover under a shop verandah. After some time, we decided the rain wasn't going to stop but it was not so heavy, so we took to our bikes again and Bo led the way home. We think we may have ridden between 35-40k that day, and our bottoms reminded us of it for a few days after. It's not that far to Rotterdam on the bikes, but we took a few detours again. The next day we decided to go back to Rotterdam, and the short bike ride to the train station in Delft was more than enough for our recovering butts. The train took us to the Rotterdam central station, and what a beautiful station! It is brand new, and in fact, still having the finishing touches done. As we left the station, we were told of the world harbour day, and with directions of how to get there, we started to walk towards the harbour, via shops. Well no wonder there weren't many people at the shops, they were all at the harbour. It was buzzing, with a commentator giving information to all the people, well those who understood Dutch. We got the general idea though, cos there seemed to be a march past of various water craft on the water. From rowers, to passenger and freight liners, and cruise boats, barges, water skiers, you name it, what goes on the water was there. Was a really good day out in Rotterdam, where Bo's dad had lived. The next day we packed up from camp and made our way to Bo's uncle Aad and Aunty Gerrie's house for lunch. We find it with the trusty GPS and were relieved to see we could park nearby. And there, as we park is Uncle Aad waiting for us! Luckily for once we were on time!! Was so nice to see them both once again. We hadn't seen them since Sally was 1 year old, so been a while. Uncle Aads son Eric, came about an hour after we had been there, and he took us all to a restaurant where we met Tenike his wife. We had no idea we were been taken out for lunch, but was so good for Bo to meet Eric as this is one cousin he hadn't met before. We were all surprised to learn that the only other family at this restaurant was also an Overweel family! No-one approached them though, but I had a few sneaky peeks to see if there was any resemblence, but no, couldn't see any. Once back at Uncle Aads and Aunty Gerries we said our see ya laters, as we will see them again towards the end of September at Aunty Gerries 90th birthday party. Back in the motorhome, it was well where to now???
We thought it would be quite good to head to Germany, go north to Schleswig-Holstein and visit the Hobby factory, where our motorhome was built. So with Germany as our destination, we point our home on wheels towards that general direction via Haaksbergen near the German border, where we find a motorcamp to stay the night before carrying on to Lienen. We decide we want to explore here but it rained through the night and was bucketing down in the morning, so we carried on towards northern Germany. We can't get over how much the motorway is packed with trucks. The rain comes and goes and we decide to camp at Stove where we camp across the road from the main facilities, over a dike to the busy canal with barges passing by. The next day is still wet, but not so bad, and we continue our drive north towards the Hobby Factory. We successfully find this factory and manage to park right outside. We enquire about tours, only to be told the tours are on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 10am. Well it is Wednesday afternoon! After checking out our German campsite book, we find we can park at Schleswig, at the harbour. Gosh GPS's are great! We find the spot and its lovely, we park amongst others there and envy those who have a spot right by the water. We decided to go out for tea, and go to a small cafe/restaurant by the water. We were given the number 12, which put us in a bit of a quandary cos we didn't know what 12 sounded like in German, so when they called out a number we really had to watch and see if anyone claimed the meal. Bit of a laugh really, but we didn't embarrass ourselves, was just a matter of elimination of the people who had been there before us, and then matching the meal with what we ordered. The sound of the church bells rang through the night and in the morning we woke to the sounds of the town waking up. We notice a camper move out from the front row, and we moved into the space, so then we had a waterfront view over the yacht harbour and inlet. To top it off, the day is sunny and warm. We had a look around the town, and I actually bought a top (made in Italy). We eat waffles in the sunshine by the water and in the evening we continued to enjoy the sunshine sitting out on the chairs enjoying a drink, looking out to the water and beyond, pure magic!
The next day we wake to yet another beautiful day and decide on a bit of a bike ride around this lovely town. The residential streets are so quaint with their standard roses in pots outside their lovely coloured houses, which line the paved footpaths and cobbled streets. We thought we might fill the weekend in by going to Denmark as we aren't too far from the border. Decided to head to Funen Island and stay at Odense with the thought of carrying on to Copenhagen. We went for a walk to the beach but it wasn't anything to write home about so weren't too excited about staying more than one night. Luckily we enquired about the cost of getting across the bridge into Copenhagen. We decided against going once we found out the price, as we plan to only be here a few days and its not worth spending about $100 each way for just a night, so Copenhagen will be on our plan for our next trip. We went to Esbjerg instead, on the other coast. Well we drove into rain and it didn't stop. Not only did it rain, but it got colder too. This place looks like a nice place though, and was the host to the Hot Rod Euro Nats that we had missed out on in July. It looks quite modern with all the new buildings and wide roads. The beach would be lovely on a nice day, but when we visited it after a night with the rain pelting down on the roof, it was cold and bitter. We visited the statues of 4 men on the beach which symbolises something, and then made our way back to Schlegswig and back to the view of the harbour. The next day was Monday and so we set our alarm (that's twice now in 6 months) as we needed to be at the Hobby factory, which is about 40 minutes away, by just after 9.30 the next morning. The night was really stormy but we woke before the alarm went off and made it to the factory in more than enough time to go on the guided tour. Well the tour was all in German and there was probably another 20 people in the group, and as luck would have it, two lovely ladies were eager to practice their English and translate for us. It was really interesting and was amazed at the speed of the production line and how personal some things were done, like each and every curtain is stitched by ordinary sewing machines, buttons covered with a small machine, the sewing of the seat covers and the sanding by apprentices of the little dowels. Computer controlled machines cut the carpet patterns and printed the date on the back. All the internal coverings were cut by computer generated knives all measured and cut exactly the same. Water jets, also computer controlled, cut the polystyrene insulation panels and laser cut the steel work. Everything in the production line was timed for the final stages from the chassis for the caravans with the electrical wiring through the chassis to the gas fittings, cabinets, beds, coverings, cushions, bathrooms etc all ready for completion at the right time. Bit like putting a meal together really, preparing it, cooking it and having it all together ready for the final stages at the precise moment :) The caravans, in various stages of completion, are on a slow moving chain, so need to be ready for inspection by the time they get to the end of chain. In another part of the factory we had seen the walls of the caravans lined, glued and relined with the windows and doors cut out, each with the edges smoothed over by hand. Interesting to now see these walls put onto the chassis with all the other bits added to finally become a caravan. There's a caravan completed about every half an hour. They seem to breed like rabbits! We walked through the motorhome production which was not such a hive of activity but could see how everything is put together. Each motorhome had a team of workers and there wasn't the urgency to get it finished like it was for the caravans. Not on a moving chain, so didn't seem to be the time limit. Was relieved to see that our motorhome wasn't put together in a mass production with a time to have to beat. After the tour, we did manage to get the attention of one of the managers in the service centre and he organised straight away for the 'head of windows' to fix our problem, and he did! So with a couple of new windows and a few spare parts we left the Hobby factory feeling very pleased with the outcome.
We then drove to Hamburg and found yet another bridge to sleep under near the centre of town. The bridge is a rail bridge so we hoped it wouldn't be too noisy. Woke the next day to a warm sunny day and so decided to walk into Hamburg. Bo had a look at the prototype car museum and we checked out the town centre and Rathaus, which houses local government. A pretty impressive building, with a beautiful statue in the courtyard. We went for a boat ride around the lake which we felt was expensive for what it was, just a ride for an hour, with not many noteworthy attractions, and with the commentary all in German. We wished we had taken a canal trip. We sat in the sun and had a beer before we walked back to the bridge via the supermarket. The next day we decided to head to Berlin, with the thought of getting back for Aunty Gerrie's 90th birthday party in Rotterdam on Sunday, and this being Wednesday, we will need to plan well. So we head towards Berlin. As we make our way, the clouds get thicker, the temperature drops we can feel the chill in the cab, we even turn on the heater. From about 18 degrees, the temp drops to 8 degrees. We have about 170k to go and after much pondering and humming and haaing we decide that for the short period of time we have, and the weather is getting worse, we will give Berlin a miss this trip and reset the GPS for Hannover. We decide we'll see Berlin next time. So it's in the direction of Hannover we go. We decided not to go into Hannover, just stayed in a camp on the outskirts and then continued towards the north of Holland direction. We make a stop at Midwolda for the night which is just over the border into The Netherlands, and go for a bike ride into town, checking out a gallery full of paintings from one woman artist on our way. We love the typical old Dutch buildings and finally find the lake we had being told we can cycle around. Rain threatened and Bo wasn't keen to take the risk, so I decided I could get around this lake before the rain comes - its only 12k round. Knew I couldn't get lost, it's only a matter of keeping the lake on my right hand side. Well, easier said than done. The weather held off, I rode much further than round the lake but only got half way. There are different waterways everywhere in Holland and what I thought was the lake wasn't the same one. I finally got back though, just on dark. Not worried about the rain coming, but more concerned I was running out of daylight and was in the middle of nowhere! After asking for directions, I was a good half hour from home, and was relieved to eventually see the camp driveway ahead, and Bo was only just starting to wonder where I was!
The following day we managed to get to Julianadorp via the Amsteldiepdijk which is a dike connecting one part of North Holland to another. It's 30k long. It was build 7metres above mean sea level in an almost straight line. It is an amazing piece of road to go over. Work started on the building of it in 1920 and was finished in 1932, a brilliant engineering feat especially for way back then. Imagine the manual labour to have been put into this construction job! We stayed in a camp ground at Julianadorp which was a family run camp, and it had everything, from horses, to an in ground heated swimming pool, a camp kitchen with stoves and ovens etc just like at home. It turns out this family have NZ connections (in Otaki) and bought the idea of a communal kitchen back to their business and the campers love it! We went with Bo's cousin Lia, to Rotterdam and celebrated Aunty Gerrie's 90th birthday. Great way for Bo to meet the family. Good to be able to put names to faces and to see how everyone is connected. Was well worth planning some of our holiday around.After 3 nights in Julianadorp we once again said our goodbyes, this time to Lia, well see ya laters really cos we will see Lia and Theo at the end of January when they come out to NZ.Ok, so maybe now we'll go check out Belgium, or maybe not, who knows, we'll decide on the day. Is a hard life, but hell someone has to do it.