Germany to Hull

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Hi everyone here's the last blog.

Sunday 4th
After the rather unfortunate incident with the irate Swiss bloke we drove off and crossed over the Rhine at Schaffhausen Switzerland, after just a few miles we were soon into Germany and heading into the black forest. We were familiar with this area having been here 3 years ago so we decided to revisit a camp site we stayed on back in 2008 in the city of Freiburg.

Being back on familiar territory and meeting up with familiar travellers in Glen and Linda who after having had 4 months back in the UK were out for a summer trip, we made plans to stay in Freiburg for 4 days.

Over those days we walked around the lovely city with it's medieval old town and it's streamlets that run down the road sides that cool the temperatures on the hot summer days, we paddled in the river that passes by the camp site and walked up to the viewing tower that looks as far as France one way and deep into the black forest the other. We spent time in the adjacent bar where the Germans were going crazy for the women's world cup football (until they were knocked out), showing it on big screens almost every where you went and we chilled out on the site chatting to a few Brits, one couple from Beverley.

Thursday 7th
Leaving Freiburg we headed off to the Rhine just 20km away for lunch by the river at Breisach, after lunch we said goodbye to Glen and Linda again as they were heading south and us north to our next sites.
One of the things Harry had looked forward to since the very start of this trip was a visit to Germany's largest theme park, Europa park, so with the wait finally over we pulled into the motor-home parking area next to the theme park.
The facility here is great for kids, it's not just a parking area, it has a cowboy themed bar and restaurant with entertainment each night and outdoor events each evening.

Friday 8th
The gates opened at 9am so early on a hot summers day with a theme park that was not very busy at all we set about going on everything possible, which we managed including the big two (Silver Star and Blue Fire) which we did 4 times each and had a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Sat & Sun
Having been on the Rhine a few days earlier we now continued our mini tour of German rivers and headed for the river Neckar just a few miles from Heidleberg.
Wanting to put our feet up after the busy theme park visit we pitched up by the river on a nice little site and spent the weekend watching barges and cruise boats ply their trade up and down the Neckar valley.

Monday 11th
Next river stop and this time by the Mosel, the first of our 4 nights by this river.
The first camp site was just 8km from Koblenz beside a cycle track that went straight to the town. After a boiling hot afternoon I decided to cycle into town, the kids were now in going home mode and had almost given up on sightseeing so I went in on my own, again.
Koblenz is a very nice town with many historic buildings, it's also where the Mosel runs into the Rhine and has a great spot where you can sit and watch the sun go down as the many boats sail by where the 2 rivers meet.

Tuesday 12th
The Mosel river runs from the Vosges in France, up through Luxembourg and into Koblenz Germany. The route up river from Koblenz to Trier is all in Germany and is around 120 miles long. We'd driven part of this route before but I thought the full route would make a very scenic drive.
We set off from Koblenz and slowly made our way up river along the road that follows the waters edge. The banks of the Mosel valley are lined with forest on the north facing hills and vineyards on the south and every few miles or so a small town appears, all white walled buildings with slate grey roofs and each town has somewhere to buy the local Reisling wine.

After a few stop off's en route to admire the views we finally stopped and stayed at a small site in a village called Pommern, we then made our way through the towns of Cochem and Zell before staying in the town Schweich for a couple of nights, we also stopped in Piesport to pick up a few bottles of the local Piesporter for home.
This time of year the Mosel is very busy with both small yachts and large barges making their way up and down the river, some of the small cruisers stopped off to use the camp site restaurant set by the rivers edge, we also had a great meal in there one night.

Friday 15th
Leaving Schweich we drove through Germany's oldest city Trier (also the birthplace of Karl Marx) and the short distance through the countryside to our next country, Luxembourg.
The site in Luxembourg is just on the southern edge of the capital and once parked up the kids spent the afternoon in the large play area whilst I did what will hopefully be the last lot of washing and sat back and read another book for the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday 16th
From just outside the camp site the bus takes you straight to the centre of our final capital city of this trip, Luxembourg City.
There's not much to the new town part of this city but the old town is now a UNESCO world heritage site and it's full of history.
A castle was first built on this bit of rock in 963 AD by Siegfreid the Count of Ardennes. Over the following years many forts, walls, tunnels, bridges and more defences were built earning it the name the 'Gibraltar of the north'.
The city has been attacked and claimed by many over the years including Spaniards, French, Austrians and Germans. We walked through the casement tunnels where cannons where housed to defend the city from marauders, we also walked the Wenzel circular route around the old town walls which gives you great views of the old town itself and of the cathedral and the Alzette valley below. It's not a big place but well worth a visit and a walk around the old town and if your well into your history then there are many other walks available and there are city guides posted at all the main tourist places to assist you, all very well organised.

Sunday 17th
Off again and driving on a Sunday is nice, no big lorries on the roads in Europe they all park up and take the day off so we had a leisurely drive north through the rolling Luxembourg countryside. Our route took us right up to the northern border point with Belgium and Germany and to a site in the rolling hills of the Ardennes at Lieler.
We could tell now that we were getting much closer to England because the skies were now full of grey clouds and rain and the temperatures a lot cooler at night plus we also spotted 2 Eddie Stobart lorries parked up so we must be near home!
We spent 2 days here just relaxing, the weather wasn't great with quite a bit of rain so we couldn't go out walking in the wooded valleys that surrounded the site but we used the indoor pool and had some wifi time to catch up with family and friends and to make arrangements for when we return home.

Tuesday 19th
Having had a couple of relaxing days and seeing that the weather forecast for what seems like the whole of the Benelux area wasn't that good we decided to pick a few camp sites that had plenty of indoor facilities on offer and that would also keep us busy and stop our minds from counting down the days to go before getting home.
A quick drive over the border and we were soon out of Luxembourg and into Belgium, this part of Belgium (east) is completely different to the coastal area where we'd been nearly 12 months ago, it's hilly, heavily wooded and quite alpine looking, it's not until you leave the Ardennes area and head towards Liege that it becomes flat and almost British in appearance.
The site we'd chosen was a Centre Parks style place where there are lots of cabin style chalets to stay in but this place also a motor home area (centre parks should do that too!). All of the facilities here (pools, play area, mini golf, bowling, bars, restaurant etc) are all in a central complex area and we needed it as the rain was very heavy outside.
The boys spent the afternoon in the large play area and then after tea they spent the evening in the pool and on the water slides, I had a few local beers in the bar and caught up with the Tour de France which in Belgium is a very big event with many glued to the TV's across the complex.

Wednesday 20th
We spent all day in the complex, mini golf, play area, swimming with lunch and dinner in between, the kids loved it here loads to do and all very good facilities.

Thursday 21st
Moving north leaving Belgium and into the Netherlands, I'd spotted a camp site in the book that was adjacent to somewhere we hadn't been on the trip so far, a safari park. Camping Beekse Bergen is just outside of Tilburg, it's made up of 2 very large areas, one for the safari park and the other for water sports and a play area around a large lake, there are camp sites on both areas, we stayed on the safari park camp site.
Checking in and finding out what's on offer we bought an unlimited pass each to everything available that lasts for however long we decided to stay. This included access to the safari park including boat and bus tours around the park, the indoor pool and games complex, the outdoor kids adventure area and all transport around the sites to and from the attractions.
As it was still only 2pm we took the short walk through the woods and spent the last 4 hours of the day in the safari park, taking in a bus tour as well.

Friday 22nd
Catching the mid morning boat from the camp site we first went around the lakes then into the safari park itself getting dropped off right by the Gorillas where we set off to see the whole safari park. Although everything was in Dutch it was quite easy to find our way around the park although we did miss some animal shows as we couldn't work out the timetable. By the end of the day we'd seen everything including a close up of a giraffe that stuck its head through the bus roof window.

Saturday 23rd
Dan decided to take it easy and chill in the van so me and Harry cycled across the site to the large play area where during the now very rare afternoon sunshine Harry played on everything available whilst I sat and watched. That evening we walked through the camp site to a panorama view point where we could see the Giraffes and Zebras wandering around in the safari park one last time.

Sunday 24th
On what must be the worst weather day of the full trip we left our safari camp site and headed to our final stop over at camping De Krabbeplaat in the small village of Brielle just a few miles from Europoort.
It rained all afternoon long and never looked like clearing up, we where holed up in the van until around 6pm until it finally stopped and we got a chance to have a look around. The site is ideal for the ferry it's very close to all the docks and industry but it is surprisingly surrounded by lovely countryside and lakes and the small town of Brielle is also worth visiting.

Monday 25th
On our last full day we decided to get the bikes out and explore the area, the Dutch are great at cycle tracks and this area has plenty to choose from. We chose to head through the town and out towards the north sea where there are lakes and canals to cycle alongside. We passed by lots of private boats moored on the water now full of people taking their summer breaks and cycled on towards Europoort where we could see the ferry terminal from where we would depart the next day, all in all we cycled for around 35km and made the most of the last day.

Tuesday 26th
Another gloomy grey day but who cares now, we where heading home.
We left the site and bought a few last provisions in town then headed for the port. Once on board the Pride of Hull we had tea in the buffet then whilst Harry watched a film in the cinema me and Dan stood on deck and waved goodbye to Europe as we left the port and headed out into the dark North Sea.

Wednesday 27th July 2011
After a calm overnight crossing we arrived in Hull and were soon back in our home. It felt like moving into a new home again as it seems big compared to the van, so much room..........now the unpacking begins.

Well that's it our trip is over, we've all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to all armchair travellers.

Thanks to all of you who've read this blog, I hope you enjoyed it, thanks to those of you that contacted us whilst we've been travelling, it all helps when your away for such a long time and especially thanks to the family who came out to see us, we really appreciated it.

Neil Daniel and Harry
x

PS
Life soon gets back to normal, Daniel will be starting St Mary's sixth form college in September to study for his A levels, Harry has been accepted back into St Mary's and will start in Year 8 also in September and I have a new job which starts next month.

And for those of you who like a few stats here's what we managed on our trip....

365 days and nights away from home
8857 Miles travelled in the van, we travelled much more adding ferries, trains buses etc to that figure
18 countries, principalities or overseas territories visited
10 capitals
129 different places we slept (107 camp sites, 21 Aires or wild camps and 2 ferries)

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Photos

Freiburg
The view of the town from the viewing tower