The Final Chapter

Well, Dear Blogards, here we are at journey's end having covered 4,026.4 miles at an average of 26 miles per gallon, which bearing in mind the size and weight of the combination and loads, is not too bad at all.

Our last couple of days at Hoorn were very pleasantly spent in cycling and sightseeing to both Hoorn (see photo) and Edam. On Thursday afternoon we travelled the 30 miles or so to our port of departure and boarded the DFDS Princess of Norway for our overnight sailing to Newcastle. Never having travelled with that particular shipping company, we were interested to see how things compared with P and O. The whole experience on board was to a very high standard and the level of service was excellent. The food was fantastic and we enjoyed a very leisurely evening meal in a relaxed atmosphere assisted by a bottle of Rose! After our meal we adjourned to one of the lounges for a spot of entertainment before hitting the sack, which was very comfortable indeed. After a hearty breakfast we took to the decks as the ship entered the Tyne and finally docked allowing us to be on the road home by 09:15.

We travelled home via Scotch Corner and Kirkby Stephen arriving at Forton by 12 noon; and then the work began!

We are both very grateful to all of the blog readers and have appreciated all the comments sent by readers and also the many emails that we received; you have all added tremendously to our enjoyment.

I suppose there should be a verdict at the end of such an adventure and I can speak for both of us (as I often do!) and say that it has been a fantastic journey and allowed us to explore new places and meet many interesting people of many nationalities. The equipment has served us well, with absolutely no problems whatsoever with the new towing car and only a few niggly issues with the caravan. If Mr Mazda ever reads this blog, may I respectfully suggest that he starts making caravans!

We have greatly missed all our friends and relations and although I never thought I would say it, I am even looking forward to returning to the dancing lessons, but only to meet up with our friends, you understand!

My final thanks are reserved for my dear wife, Margaret, who has been the best travelling companion that anyone could wish to have. When you get a Spanish dentist talking to your wife in French, and she then translates his many questions to English and replies with the answer to the aforementioned chappie in French, you just know that you married the right one! Would we do it again? You bet your life we will given the chance!

Good luck to you all, and whatever you do in life, follow your dreams.

John and Margaret.

Delightful Dusseldorf

Our chosen site near Dusseldorf, a city much mentioned by my late mother's family, was intended merely as a stopover site, breaking our journey towards Amsterdam, however, so impressed were we that a 24 hour extension was decided upon.

The site was about 7 miles away from the city centre and afforded us with a view of the constant river traffic. Nearby we discovered a car ferry which was ideal for our cycling purposes. On the opposite bank we could see the ruins of an old castle/palace at Kaiserswerth, and on first sight there didn't appear to be much else, but on closer inspection we found a most exquisite old town that had clearly escaped the attentions of WW2.

On Sunday we again crossed the Rhine and cycled into Dusseldorf along the river side cycle track. Upon arrival in the city, I was thankful that I was wearing my Garstang Cycling Club colours which are black, red and yellow, thereby allowing me to merge un-noticed into the thousands of Germany fans who were preparing for the match (no further comment on that matter). See photo above

Our last day was taken up with cycling during the day and in the evening we were visited by an English couple, John and Pat Parkinson, who wanted to pick our brains regarding sites in Germany. Amazingly it turned out that they were both Prestonians and live in Whittingham Lane, Broughton. Even more amazingly, we discovered that John was a retired adult education teacher and had for many years worked with my cousin, Rosemary! (Come on Anne Spencer - beat that!)

Today (Tuesday)we have travelled to our final site near to the old fishing port of Hoorn, which is close to Amsterdam. We have a super pitch alongside a little canal and have already taken a couple of short cycle rides to inspect the area. Before departure from our last site, a Dutch couple asked me where we were heading for and I attempted to pronounce the name of Hoorn, but they couldn't understand me, however, after a few moments, the confusion was sorted out when our friends told me that my pronunciation was incorrect, and in the words of our friends, my attempt referred to "a public woman" rather than a quaint little seaside town. Good job I wasn't asking for directions - may have got more than I was expecting!

As our regular Blogards will know, we sail home on Thursday night and I can promise a final blog upon our arrival home, but what I can say at this stage is that it has been a most wonderful time and I would recommend it to anyone.

Black Forest to Wertheim

Our time in the area of Kirchzarten was, as usual, most enjoyable. Initially the weather was cold, and more so9 than we had experienced previously in this area. On Sunday afternoon we visited our friends at Klausenhof for afternoon tea and to inspect the latest family member, Jonas Samuel, who was 7 weeks old and could already speak more German than me!

On Monday we took to the hills for a day of walking, or was it to get warm, I cannot recall, nevertheless, we had a super day walking on a mixture of new and old paths and by use of the free bus pass, we were able to use both bus and train in order to complete our circular tour.

On Tuesday we were visited by Jonas and his mother, Kirsty and I was honoured to road test the new pram around some of the little country lanes. On Wednesday we visited a family member that we had met on Sunday and were most impressed by the views from their home and even more so by their collection of clocks that was truly amazing.

Sadly, on Thursday we departed and made our way to our current location at Wertheim, which is and ancient town at confluence of the rivers Tauber and Maine, the latter being navigable and in constant use by large cruise boats and extremely long and wide barges. The town itself has an old castle set on the hills overlooking the town (see photo).

We are certainly feeling that the epic is slowly drawing to a close as we are now in the centre of Germany and have seen many cars with GB plates. We can even receive all the UK television programmes and as a consequence, now understand the problems caused by lack of water in the NW. We have not encountered such problems!

Tomorrow we depart for a couple of days at Dusseldorf and then to Hoorn near Amsterdam before arriving at Newcastle on 2nd July (1 week today).

Should do one more before we sail.

Love, J and M.

Austria to Black Forest via Bavaria

Our last evening In Austria was a very wet one with continual heavy rain and thunder which lasted until the wee small hours.

As we departed on Monday morning, there was the promise of some sunshine, which created long banks of mist which rolled up the mountains from the forest to the summits. The shortest route between Innsbruck and Bavaria is very steep and winding and is prohibited for vehicles towing trailers, so our chosen route was along the motorway towards Switzerland before a right turn in order to skirt around Zugspitze (2962 metres) which separates Austria and Germany. The journey was wonderful and provided us wit spectacular views across mountains and into deep gorges. We both found the area to be similar to the Canadian Rockies.

Upon reaching the border town of Lermoos we decided to take a coffee break before dropping down into Garmish Partenkirchen. Our chosen watering hole was Lermoos Golf Club , and the photo shows the very tip of Zugspitze peering out above the clouds.

By lunch time we arrived at the campsite at Oberammergau, which whilst convenient for our needs was a touch down at heel in comparison with many other sites, although a touch expensive for all that! Our 4 day stay was highlighted by a cycle ride to and around Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Margaret spent some time chatting to an interesting couple on a bench (see photo). On Thursday we attended the Passion Play (Passionspiele), which was performed between 2.30pm and 5.15pm and after a break continued from 8.00pm until 10.50pm. It was a very moving and professional performance undertaken by around half the village's 4500 inhabitants. The length of the performance was only bettered by the length of time it took my hind quarters to regain comfort and circulation!

On Friday morning we departed in drizzle which soon turned into very heavy rain which lasted for mile upon mile as we journeyed via Fussen, Kempten and then along the north shore of Bodensee (Lake Constance) to eventually arrive at my beloved Kirchzarten, which for those with maps is 8 miles east of Freiburg (for those with maps). The skies welcomed us here with warm sunshine as we positioned our caravan and later took an evening stroll around the town. We watched the preparations for the local sporting event of the year: "Black Forest Ultra Mountain Bike Marathon". The competitors appear to have come here from all over the world and many are on our campsite, which has been transformed into a training camp whilst many prepare their machines whilst others sit on their turbo trainers for hours on end. Today (Saturday) was the junior event and tomorrow sees the start of the senior event. The whole area is starting to look like a huge trade show for bikes and all the ancillary equipment.

We will perhaps stay here until next Thursday 24th June which will leave us exactly one week to make towards Amsterdam and our return home on Friday 2nd July. We will hopefully complete at least one more blog before we meet up with you all again.

Love,

John and Margaret.

Mountaineering and Skijumping

What an interesting couple of days we have had!

The weather continues to be hot and sunny with sufficient wind to provide comfort. On Friday we climbed to the summit of Hafelekarspitze, a mere 2334 metres high (see photo) and which gives some indication of the mountains in this area. The final ascent was undertaken without the assistance of oxygen cylinders, however, the climb from Innsbruck to2256 metres was assisted by means of a funicular railway and two cable cars.

Today, Saturday 12th, we dashed out after breakfast in order to visit the Innsbruck Olympic Skijumping Stadium known as "Bergisel". The tower and the associated ski ramp were designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid, who also designed the various entrances to the funicular stations (see photo). Whilst undertaking our visit, we were able to stand at the spot where the competitors commence their descent (see photo). If you look carefully and/or enlarge the picture, you will note that Innsbruck Cemetery is just beyond the landing area! I have come to the conclusion that those who engage in the sport must be brave or mad, or perhaps a combination of both.

Whilst in the hall of fame, we were pleased to see a photo of our very own "Eddie the Eagle" in full flight.

On Monday we are off to our next venue in Bavaria, so we will say cheerio until our next edition.

John and Margaret.

Terrific Tirrol

Avid blog readers will note that my last few entries have been completed every 7 - 10 days or so and usually after leaving a site and moving on to the next venue. I break with tradition on this occasion as this is an area deserving of special mention.

For those of you who may not know the area too well, let me explain as best I can: the city of Innsbruck is set in a deep and narrow valley between two mountain ranges. Apart from the city, the valley contains the River Inn and also motorway and rail track linking this region of Austria to Switzerland which is some distance to the west. The mountains in front of our caravan (see photo) are simply awesome and run along the valley for mile after mile. The mountains that you can see, separate Austria from the Bavarian region of Germany. The mountains at the rear of our caravan separate Austria and Italy. We are located south of the River Inn, which runs basically in an east/west direction. From the valley floor, the land rises steeply and gives access to a reasonably flat plateau which also runs east/west and gives ample opportunity for walking and cycling on the various cycle tracks and quiet roads that link the various villages.

The farmers in this area are working industriously and expeditiously in order to literally make hay whilst the sun shines! It is very warm (29/30 degrees), sunny and there is a good drying wind. My Uncle Bernard always wore a serious face at hay time as the weather around Stonyhurst was almost certain to break at the vital moment, but he would have been delighted with the conditions here. As the farms are within the centre of the villages, there is the sweet and fresh aroma of new hay as one explores the exquisite little communities.

All in all, this is a mighty fine place to be and if any reader of the blog is stuck for a holiday destination, then may I suggest a cheap flight to Innsbruck and a short bus ride to the villages of Natters, Mutters, Gotzens, Birgitz or Axams. Each village is equipped with a variety of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets and each village has the same spectacular views,which do truly take the breath away!

Best wishes to all,

John and Margaret.

From Lake Garda to the Austrian Tirol.

We spent a most enjoyable 11 days overlooking Lake Garda and the highlights included boat trips to Torri del Benaco, which is on the opposite shore. Once there, we met up with a friend of Margaret's and her husband, Derek. They moved some years ago to the area having deserted Garstang. The morning was spent chatting over the world's longest coffee break, and the chatting continued over an even longer lunch break before we took once more to the boat for our return journey.

The final day in the area was spent relaxing around the pool and preparing to leave the following day. Yours truly participated in an international water polo match between England and Italy. Being of advanced years, I opted for goalkeeping and even managed a couple of dubious goals before we were finally defeated 8-10. If David James is injured, Fabbio Capello need look no further!

At 08:45 on Monday 7th June, we set off for Austria and had a great journey of around 200 miles through ever changing scenery. As we steadily climbed on our northern route, we entered Alpine scenery with scattered villages and high meadows. After passing over the Brenner Pass, we were then looking down on to a patchwork of agricultural land, with some fields having been cropped whilst others were awaiting the same treatment. The whole scene was like a verdant wonderland.

We arrived on site just after lunchtime and soon settled in. We are just a couple of miles or so to the south west of Innsbruck between the villages of Natters and Mutters. Those readers who are already aware of Margaret tendency to create verbal howlers will not be the least surprised when I tell you that she referred to the twin villages as: "Matters and Nutters!" That's my gal!

Just prior to preparing this blog entry I visited the shower block to try out the facilities and they certainly get the wow factor! There are a number of identical rooms containing a wash room and shower area. The rooms surround a central lounge area which also contains a display cabinet housing numerous model cars and their respective caravans. The models are similar to the old Dinky toys and seem to span many generations judging by the various makes and models. Furthermore, whilst one is tending to one's cleansing needs, one is gently caressed with soft music. May just get to like this life!

The photos that I have included show the area around Torri and also the view from our present site which is our home until 14th June when we travel over the hills to Bavaria.

TTFN John and Margaret.

P.S. Thank you to all who send comments and send emails to us. We really do appreciate it.