Germany

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15/07/11
Took a drive into the city of Pforzeim, about 10km from park. Finally, after three wooly months, we all got haircuts. How beautiful we look – well compared to what we looked like yesterday!!
Anyway, walked around town – very nice shopping area. Visited the Pforzeim jewellery museum which was really interesting. Nathan especially loved seeing the opals from Australia. He gets so excited everytime we see an Aussie flag or anything to do with Australia.
The last 2 nights have been really cold and the days have been cool-ish. A change from the last few weeks.

16/07/11
Another cold night but a beautiful sunny day. Has warmed up nicely – getting back to what we are used to over here. Took a drive today through the northern parts of the Black Forest. Stopped in some lovely little villages – had Black Forest cake of course.
Headed off again, this time towards the Rhine River. Had decided to head towards Koblenz, where the Rhine and Mosel Rivers meet. Drove up the Mosel Valley first and saw beautiful castles, valleys, vineyards etc. Then drove into the Rhine Valley and to our van park Another beautiful spot. Overlooking the Rhine, next door to an ancient castle – Lahnstein Castle. Nathan and I took a guided tour through the castle which we really enjoyed.

Today we left the beautiful Rhine area and headed towards Cologne. The caravan park was really nice, again right on the banks of the Rhine River. We took the bus into Cologne and viewed the amazing Cologne Cathedral. We did baulk at climbing the 508 steps to the top of the Cathedral. Went inside though and saw some amazing stained glass windows.

Met some Australians and New Zealanders in this van park which was nice. Had a good chat with them.

Left Germany and entered The Netherlands. The weather hasn’t been great for the past few days – quite cloudy and cool. The van park in The Netherlands is probably the most spectacular so far – its own amusement park and indoor water complex. The park took over 110 hec.

Drove through Belgium and then stopped at a van park in Calais. Can’t believe we have now come full circle. It has been 10 fantastic weeks since we first arrived in Calais and began this adventure. We are certainly looking forward to getting back to London and putting down roots for a few days but we would not have missed the past few months for anything. As a family we have made some wonderful memories.

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