Still May - now the homeward journey

^{Wednesday 13th}

Having paid our dues – all 99 euros ! - must be the dearest site we have ever stayed at, we left around 10.00am to start our return journey.  We had originally thought of going further on down to Leipzig and Dresden but decided it was too far and one city probably looks much like another, and we were by now a bit all-citied out.  We had found a campsite in the Camping Card book at a small place called Uetze ( not far from Hannover and Celle) that looked to be just the place for a quiet couple of nights.  It was 149 miles to Irenensee Camping and we got there around 3.00pm after having stopped in the town itself to do some food shopping at a small Edeka supermarket, then discovered 2 minutes down the road an ALDI and LIDL on the other side! Always the way, a bit like buses they all come along at once.

Thursday ….this is a beautiful spot, by the lake, with swans, geese and other wading birds to watch.  We got up late, collected our rolls and after breakfast as well as a few chores went for a wander right around the lake and through the woods on the other side. We wished we had bikes even though we are not sure we could still ride one, there are so many cycle paths and everybody keeps going past us saying ‘Guten Morgen’ or ‘Buenos Dios’ or ‘Gut Tag’, but still no more English people.

Friday 15^th

A dull start to the day and turned to rain later on.  We drove 133 miles to Rheda-Weinbruck and found a stellplatz (free) that looked good in the book.  It turned out to be one side of a large car park, that also took lorries and buses.  As it was by now bucketing down we decided to stay put. After a bite of lunch we took a wander in to the town and found a schloss (castle) but it was closed, so after diving in and out of shops for an hour or so getting wetter by the minute, we gave up and headed back in to our dry little home. By tea time the sun had come out so we walked through the park behind us and along the river for a while. Once back we discovered that the building behind us through the hedge was a sort of clubhouse for the football team, which then went on to host a disco until 1.30 am, then at 5.45 am the lorries started up and set off for the day…needless to say we did not get much sleep!

Saturday 16^th

Although we had originally thought of staying a Rheda-Weinbruck for 2 nights as it looked to be an interesting place, after the previous night we decided to move on. 111miles driving in rainy, cloudy conditions we found Rheincamping Meerbusch luckily about 12.40, as the closed for lunch hour was 1.00-3.00. It is a long site all along the banks of the Rhine at Dusseldorf, in the middle of nowhere, a very pretty spot albeit wet and muddy. We got sorted and rested and eventually the sun came out so went exploring. We found a ferry just outside the site going across the river to Kaiser-Werth, also a café/restaurant/beergarden just up the road.  So maybe a day or two here could be in order.

Sunday

What a difference a god night’s sleep makes!  We awoke later to sunshine! and as it was Sunday had ordered croissants as a treat for breakfast. We do like the custom of continental campsites whereby you can order your bread/rolls/croissants the night before and lo and behold come 8.00 am they are ready and waiting. We are still only on our first box of Crunchy Nut since we left home as a result.

After the ablutions and chores we donned our boots as it was still quite muddy underfoot, not helped by the long grass, and walked for a couple or hours along the footpath by the river and back across the field along bridleways. The boats going up and down are really interesting, huge barges like oil tankers or ones with containers on, followed by a river cruise boat or a motor boat and then some rowers or jetskis.  They zoom down the river at a great rate of knots, but coming up are thudding along barely moving as the current is so strong. 

The fields behind are criss-crossed with paths and bridleways so there are always riders or cyclists going by. We stopped and sat on a seat at the jetty for the ferry and watched loads of cyclists and other folk chug over to the other side of the river. It actually looks quite interesting with an old fort–like looking thing and a long promenade, so we think we may head over there tomorrow ourselves and explore the eastern side of the river.

We think we are happy to stay put here until Tuesday when we are due to go to Venlo in Holland and meet up with Lorna & Mike for a week.

Monday

Today dawned lovely and sunny, then just as we were getting up an horrendous thunderstorm arrived! So, ablutions were late, rolls were late, not a good start to the day. By about 10.00am it was dry again so we set off with our jackets and brolly for the short ferry ride over to the other side of the river.  It cost us 1.20euro each and took all of 5 mins against the current.

We walked along the footpath and discovered that the fort-like building was actually The Imperial Castle of Kaiser-Werth, built in 1050 on the grounds of a monastery which had been there since 700ad. At some stage it had been partly demolished and the stone used for buildings in the town and we were looking at the remains.

On up the road in to the town of Kaiser-Werth itself, lots of old buildings brought us to a market square with a few shops and an outdoor café. As the sun had now come out and we are on holiday after all, we bought an ice-cream and sat in the sun people-watching.

After an hour or so we wandered back down through some more little streets to the church of St. Suitburg (who we have never heard of) and had a mosey around in there for a bit. Then back to the ferry once more (all to ourselves) and over to our side of the river. What a difference from yesterday when we were watching all the cyclists and bikers going over.

We sat in the sun in the afternoon, relaxing and catching up on photos etc. Unfortunately no wi-fi here so updating the blog will have to wait until another day.

We have promised ourselves a meal in the restaurant along the road tonight, so hope it is good.

Tuesday 19th

Last night’s meal was very good and only cost us 28 euros. It was a bit dismal when we got up, so did not rush around. We left Meerbusch about 10.30 and called in to a shopping centre on the way to the motorway to get some more food stocks in. Also tanked up with LPG and motored slowly the 49 miles to Camping Californie near Venlo. Lorna and Mike had arrived about 5 minutes before us, all of us having got lost coming off the motorway, the junction is so convoluted with all the new roads and accesses for Floriade.

We got sorted out and then sat and caught up on what we had all been doing over the last 3 weeks.

Wednesday

 First I opened my birthday cards – thanks to everyone. We all left the campsite around 9.30am and walked across the field to the Floriade car park to catch the shuttle bus in to the grounds itself. It took us about 15 mins. Arriving at Floriade we were not sure what to see first so decided a cable-car ride across the whole grounds would be a good idea. that way we could get an idea of which way to go. We then spent the next 5 hours wandering around the gardens and exhibitions. Floriade is only on every 10 years and is a combination of flower show, trade fair, entertainment shows – very large, very busy and very,very interesting.  We knew we would not see everything all in one day so had bought 2-day passes and intend to go back again on Friday to see the other half. There were some amazing sights both technical and artistic.

Back at base, first we nursed our sore feet, then cooked my birthday dinner and  sat back and relaxed for the evening.

Thursday

As we were shattered from yesterday we settled for a down day, just doing a bit of washing, then went shopping, and sorting out photos. It is a very muggy oppressive day so would not be surprised if we don’t get a storm tonight.

Friday

As predicted, we had a most spectacular storm whilst eating dinner last night, so today it is a bit cooler and cloudier.

We set off on our trek across the field to Floriade's car park for our second day. On arrival we were met by a group of stilt-walkers who were so clever keeping time to the music.
 

 After watching them for a while we headed straight for an earth-walk that we had noticed previously on the assumption that it might be quieter there at 10.00am than if we left it to the afternoon. It was most amazng standing on what appeared to be a glass floor watching flowers being harvested and then transported all over the world, from outer space.  There was another  exhibition in a dome which was completely 360 degrees around us, again flower orientated but truly spectacular. Another path took us to a pavilion where we sat and watched a flower ballet - all models of tulips etc. that changed colours and danced. And so the day went on....by 4.00pm we were again worn out so after purchasing tomatoes and peppers along with a few souvenirs we headed back to our vans. It had been an amazing few days and we are so glad that we opted to buy tickets for 2 days even though at 40 euros each it seemed a lot at the time, it was certainly worth every cent.

Saturday

We have now discovered that there is not much else to do or see in this area so have decided to leave earlier than planned so will be heading off to Belgium tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day doing a bit of washing and tidying up and then sitting in the sun.

Sunday 24th

157 miles today - in wind and rain, luckily not too many lorries as it was Sunday. It was a most unpleasant journey and we were glad to reach Jabbeke safely about 1.00pm only to find Klein Strand shut for lunch, again! So once more it was sandwiches in the car park. We managed eventually to find 2 pitches next to each other albeit quite muddy and squelchy. About 6.00pm we all wandered over to the main part of the site and had a really nice meal in the Chinese restaurant as the main restaurant was not opening for another week.

Monday

A quieter day, with shopping and a walk in to Jabbeke to find out the bus times, with one of Lorna's lovely stir frys to round off the day.

Tuesday

We set off from the camp site around 9.30 to catch the bus in to Bruges, all in jackets as the day did not look very promising. It took about 30 minutes on the bus going through a lot of little villages on the way. Once in Bruges, after a coffee stop, the sun came out and we got steadily hotter and hotter. We had a look around the main squares at some of the most beautiful buildings; then we had a boat ride along the canals; then we had a very expensive but most delicious lunch and gradually made our way back through the town to the bus station and the ride back to Jabbeke.

My turn to cook, so we managed to use the salmon fillets that I had bought a while back.  It is quite interesting trying to cook a full meal for 4 in our little camper van - tin foil and the steamer gets used a lot. After dinner we sat outside with our coffees and compared red faces, we hadn't realised how much sun we had caught during the day!

Wednesday

We left the site a little earlier to catch the bus to Ostend, they are only 1 each hour, and it took an hour to get there, but again very pretty villages on the way and still only 3 euros each so really good value. On our wander to the promenade at Ostend we found a lovely cathedral so went in to explore and sit to listen to the organ playing. It was quite restful and calming. Outside virtually every road was dug up in one way or another and the station is being completely rebuilt at a cost of 6.7 million euro...now we know why we keep giving money to Brussels! They are evidently keen to spend it all before the euro's downfall.A lot of the promenade was also under construction so we actually were quite disappointed. We remembered it from years ago being a long sandy beach that the children could play on and a lovely promenade. Anyway as we were holidaymakers we bought baguettes from a stall and sat on a bench in the sun to eat them. We wandered back to the bus station only to find that we would have 2 hours to wait, so all decided a taxi between us would be a better idea. We cooked and ate separately so that we could use up all the leftover bits and pieces we had got, then just had coffee on the terrace together afterwards.

Thursday

Our last day! The sun shone! It was hot! We got up late, had a leisurely breakfast and did some tidying up and emptying of waste tanks etc. Then got the sunshade out and just sat until dinner time. We had promised ourselves another Chinese meal as the last was so nice and we were not disappointed.

Friday 29th

A windy morning and we were all up and about fairly early although our booked ferry was not until 2.00pm, so after a bit of discussion headed off to Dunkirk earlier than planned in the hope of getting on the 12.00 ferry. Which indeed we managed to do and drove off at Dover around 1.30; followed by a good run home arriving by 2.35pm.