So we have been at home for 1 year, 7 months and ? days and it’s time to dig out the suitcases, sort though our clothes and get ready for another adventure! Though this trip won’t be anywhere near as extreme as our last one!

            For as long as I have known Nick, he has wanted to go to Africa. We have dabbled around the edges, with trips to Morocco, Egypt and Jo’burg & Kruger some 21-and-a-half years ago, but now we have booked a small group safari that will take us from Cape Town, through Namibia, Botswana & Zimbabwe, and finally finishing in Johannesburg.

            But this blog isn’t about the African trip – it’s about the bit before we reach Africa.  As many of our friends know, we can’t travel in a straight line – and there are no straight lines in Nature…so we’re just following Mother Nature! We flew from Brisbane, via Dubai, to the Netherlands! We had a brief 26-night trip around the Netherlands & Germany and also a sidestep up into Denmark to see a different part of that country.

            For the European leg, we hired a medium-to-small car from EuropeCar and, whilst the car was adequate, the extra charges were not! “You want to leave the Netherlands? That will cost you extra!” and “If you take basic insurance, you will be charged €1000- per scratch for every single scratch, or you can pay an extra €300- for the middle-level of insurance and then you will only be charged a single fee for any and all scratches.”

            Sensible, we chose the middle road for the insurance – because you never know what the other idiots on the road will be like!  BUT! We were not prepared for an extra charge of €400- after the car was returned and it was acknowledged that there was no damage! We are waiting to see if any paperwork comes through but we will be sending a NastyGram to EuropeCar when we get home!

            Rant over… on to the good bit!

            We discovered the old town of Oudewater, which has two amazing museums … which weren’t open whilst we were there! Quick note to self – come back to Oudewater! There is a Rope Museum in the town, which seemed a strange thing, until we learnt that there was also the largest Rope Walk (where ropes are made) in Northern Europe, which all dated back to VOC days. And there is a Witch Weigh-house Museum! Apparently, when hunting witches was the thing, you could come to the Weigh House, get weighed and get a certificate to say that you weren’t a Witch! Sadly, we only spent a night here – to get over jet lag but now we are wishing that we had planned more time.

            Because Day 2 involved driving up to Groningen, setting into our accommodation and visiting the family. But, as previously mentioned, us and straight lines… thanks to Geocaching, MJ read about a cache that had been placed at a old Steam Train museum, so we detoured via the Veluwsche Steam Train Company in Lieren. MJ found the cache, which was pretty elaborate and we also went for a ride on the steam train, up to Apeldoorn and back. It isn’t a long track and, during summer, the train seems to run every weekend, going up and back between Apeldoorn, Lieren and Dieren. Even though it was short, we enjoyed the ride!

            Then onto Groningen, actually, we managed to find accommodation at a place called Oude Pekela, and we ran into Eric Hese there. For those of you who don’t know, Eric is one of Nick’s younger brothers and regularly goes to Europe. He had shipped one of his Australian motorbikes to Europe and was planning on spending a few months there. But wouldn’t it be easier to ride 800+ kms to visit us at home than to fly 16,000+kms? We had a nice catch up with Eric over dinner and then, the next day, we were off to see Suuz and her family, including the newest addition. We had a great couple of days with the cousins, lots of talking, laughing, good food and drinks… the coffee in the Netherlands is still VERY good!

            Next stop was Denmark. Actually, the next stop was the Familla XXL in Oldenburg for some groceries and chocolate, and cheap fuel. We were driving a Opel Corsa which was a hybrid and very economical but we still needed to buy fuel sometimes. In the Netherlands, Super 95 E10 cost €2.35 per litre but in Germany we got it for prices ranging €1.82 to €2.10 per litre!

            So after we stocked up on fuel for the car and us, we headed north. In the past, we have been to Denmark and visited Odense, Copenhagen and Helsingør, but we hadn’t been up to the top of “mainland” Denmark. So, we stayed just outside of Aarhus for a few days, on an Apple Farm. We caught the light-rail into Aarhus for some “gentle” walking, and then we drove north to Skagen, which is the very northern tip of Denmark. At that point, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea meet! It was a long day, over 600km round trip but Wow! What an amazing spot to visit! On our last day, we went to the local Summer Festival, drove around the local countryside, down to the coast and generally stooged around in the area! We can certainly recommend the area of Malling as a place to stay – good public transport in and out of Aarhus, friendly people, and beautiful landscape!

            We have been to Germany many times and have been to most of the different states (or Länder, as they call them) but there are always new places to explore, and Ariel was one of them, so as we had a spare night, we detoured via Laboe, just a bit closer to the coast then Kiel is, and also the home of a U-Boot, or Submarine, Museum. It is an actual U-Boot (U-995) which had seen service in the North Atlantic and up around Murmansk. After the War ended, it was taken by the British Navy and transferred to the Norwegian Navy which used it until it was retired in 1962. Instead of being scrapped, it was returned to Germany as a token of friendship and, once it was restored, it was placed as a museum vessel in front of the German Naval Memorial. It was intended to commemorate the 30,000+ German submariners who were killed in World War II. While Nick visited the submarine and gave thanks for choosing the Army & Air Force, instead of the Navy, MJ walked along the beach front (yes, she was caching!) all the way down to the port of Laboe.

            Our next big ticket item on our list was a return visit to Wernigerode. We went there in our Round-the-World trip in 2024, with the intention of catching the steam train up to The Brocken, but… due to a Forest Fire on the Mountain, the train only went as far as Drei-Annen Hohne so, of course, we had to return for another try! We had told Eric about Wernigerode, and he hadn’t been here before, so he met up with us and we did the train ride up to the Brocken together. Even though it was summer in Wernigerode, it was a cold day up on the. Brocken, which also happens to the be the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. When Germany was divided, this part was just over the border in East Germany and the Soviets had a big listening station to snoop on the capitalist pigs in the West!

            And now it is time to visit and catch up with friends – Ulla, Ralf & Karen and Tobi & Christine. One of the fun things about visiting Germany in Summer is the Summer Festivals. We arrived in Wildenholz in time for their Brauerei Dorffest, which was held on Christi Himmelfahrt, or Ascension Thursday, and is a Public Holiday in Bavaria. On a side note, it was interesting to see how many of the old Holy Days of Obligation were Public Holidays in various parts of Germany and the Netherlands! And only the Germans would have a name for the day between the Public Holiday and the weekend – Brücke Tag, or “Bridge Day”!

            Backto the Dorffest – we had Wurst, Kuchen, Radler, enjoyed the sunshine and listened to Brass Bands. Then it was time to drive down to Ralf & Karen’s place, which is on the outskirts of Munich, close to the airport and the Erdinger Brewery! And we went to 2 Festivals – the Vintage Motor and Music Festival in Peissenberg (Vintage Cars & Bikes) and the Oldtimerfreunde at Kirchberg, which was old tractors! And you had to pray that you wouldn’t get stuck in a traffic jam caused by one of the old tractors that couldn’t go faster than 35kph! We saw some strange sights that would not be allowed in Australia – Workplace Health & Safety would have conniptions!

            Then it was off to see Toby & Christine, and their kids Lena & Fabian. Sadly, due to their need to attend a funeral, we didn’t get to stay as long as we had hoped, but it was good to see them and hear all their news.  They had just returned from their Pfingst (Pentecost) holidays in Italy.

            Our last week in Germany was spent in Karlsruhe and then up to Aachen. We manage to navigate the public transport system in Karlsruhe, which was easier said than done. There were lots of road building or repair work going on around where we’re staying, but we managed to use bus, tram and light rail, and all with legal tickets! We explored Karlsruhe on foot before finding a wok place for dinner, which was yummy and filling! Nick also got a hair cut in town with a non-English speaking Turk! On our 2^nd day in Karlsruhe, we drove up to Speyer to visit the Technik Museum there. In 2016, we visited the sister museum in Sinnsheim but we were told that we also had to visit Speyer, so we did! There is a lot of Space stuff on display, both US & Russian, as well as the ISS. And as well as the space stuff, there were lots of variety of cars, motorbikes, planes, trains, boats, helicopters and a submarine! So something for everyone!

            Our last day in the Region saw us catching the train down to Baden-Baden and visiting the Friedsrichbad, which is the oldest spa. We enjoyed a session in the Roman-Irish Bathhouse and got really warm and clean – but we avoided Station 13, which was a plunge pool supposedly at 18C… more like 8C!

            Now it off to Aachen. We tried to visit here in 2024 but it was not conducive for driving or parking a Motorhome. We walked up the the old Markt where the Rathaus is and we could hear an orchestra. Around the back of the Rathaus there was a large youth orchestra, possibly even 2 orchestra’s combined. But we stood there for about 30 minutes enjoying the free concert. Aachen also has a long history as a Spa town, as well as being the centre for Charlemagne, think Holy Roman Emperor. We walked down to the Elisian Fountain which was the site of the original thermal water fountain, and there are 4 marble plaques with the names of famous people who visited the Spa. It was like a who’s who of history!

            It is now time to head back into the Netherlands for a final family catch-up, pick up some souvenirs which they had helped us to source, do a final big wash of our clothes, repack, do a last minute side trip to visit Het Loo, which was a summer palace for the House or orange but has since been turned into a museum. Side benefit was a museum display about the House of Oranje – I think that we now have a handle on the transition for William of Orange to the current House of Orange and how they changed from Stadhouders to Kings & Queens.

            Now for the airport, returning the car and catching 2 planes to Cape Town. Chapter Two will follow in a few days.