East to Germany

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Sunday 9th August
East to Germany
It’s been interesting that when we have staying with relatives or friends or in the homes in Settle,Kendal and Edinburgh as opposed to hotel rooms,we have generally slept in for longer!!And this morning was no exception.
Wim was up as usual making breakfast and preparing some buns for us to have on the road when it was lunchtime.
Diny showed us the way on our map to find the N35 that would be the most direct way to the German border about 80km or so away where we would also pick up the main highway the A1/E30 that runs east across Germany all the way to Berlin although we were only travelling as far as Hannover today.
The Netherlands doesn’t open for business on a Sunday at least in the smaller cities like Zwolle although the gas station was open.And although it was midday before we headed off from Wim and Diny’s home there was still virtually no traffic on the road nor even anyone out cycling.The place was almost a ghost town.It reminded us of New Zealand in the 1970’s before weekend shopping came into being and people stayed indoors until the afternoon when they might have had a run in the car in the afternoon,if they owned a car.And of course that is a major difference here between the Netherlands and NZ where more people are likely to own a bike(or3 or 4 of them!!)than a car.
As we drove eastwards we almost had the road to ourselves although we did start to notice a few more cyclists out in the countryside.Roadside restaurants were the only commercial premises we noticed that were open and they were starting to gather some trade for lunch.
Main roads and even the one we were on which was one lane in each direction have markers every 100metres giving the distance travelled so keeping track of where you are if you have an atlas to check off against is a breeze.If this keeps up it will be easier when we are counting down looking for our hotel accommodation after having taken instructions from Google maps.
We were pleased we had filled up with diesel in Zwolle because all we seemed to be passing now were unmanned service stations which take only cards with PIN’s.And although our travel card does have a PIN it hasn’t worked for us on that basis so far on this adventure,rather we have had to sign for each transaction.
We were getting close to the German border when we remembered that Murray hadn’t been given the opportunity to meet his Dutch cousins and just ahead were a small group of sheep in a field next to the road.We set Murray up with the sheep in the near background and got ready to take the photo when suddenly something spooked them and they all turned and ran further away in the field.They stopped and turned towards us again and in unison they all passed water!!!!It was like it had been choreographed for the moment!!!
A little further on and we came across the first lot of roadworks on this run and we noticed that the repair work would slow our progress down for the next 5 km.There was a sign with 5 written on it and one of those round faces that you can get on your computer although this one was sad looking.What changed every kilometre though was that the numbers counted down and the face on the sign went gradually from sad to happy.A rather unique way to keep the motorist amused as you drove through the roadworks.!!
The border crossing into Germany was probably even more unspectacular than the France to Belgium or the Belgium to the Netherlands had been and if it hadn’t been that the exit numbers on the highway started to count back up from one again we would not have noticed it straight away.And of course being on the a highway you miss the towns to able to notice the change in the style of housing which did eventually come to our notice from those we could see in the distance.
There wasn’t a lot to see along the motorway and we keep ourselves interested by the speed of the traffic in the left hand lane.They certainly drive FAST in Germany while we were happy to potter along at 100 to 110pkh!!One of the features on the roadside was a succession of fields given over to the growing of Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes all growing in uniform.
Eventually the landscape noticeably changed and although the day was overcast with a hazy horizon we started to notice hills!!After the last few days of just having a flat landscape around us the hills were a welcome sight as they give some perspective to where you are.
While the traffic with cars was moderate we noticed that at the car park stops and refreshment areas there were trucks parked up.It wasn’t obvious to us whether trucks weren’t allowed on the road between certain times or it was just a coincidence that the drivers had all run out of driving hours before they had to take a break,all at the same time.!!
We sped on passing the major towns from our map that gave us indication as to how far we had to travel to our destination a little further east of Hannover at the small town of Sehnde.
And before we knew it with a straightforward drive we were turning off the main highway and heading for Sehnde.
The hotel room here has cooking facilities and a refridgerator!! So the microwave can have a couple of days off and stay in the car.
However with this part of Germany at least the same as the Netherlands and all the stores closed on Sunday we had to resort to a local cafe for dinner and so joined the locals at one of the 3 or 4 that were open.We did feel we were being watched by the locals as we sat back in the early evening sun and enjoyed a local brewed beer and a pizza.Clearly in this small town well off the highway we looked out of place and it is little wonder the locals were probably wondering how we ever found the place and as travellers wanted to be there.

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Photos

Murray and his Dutch cuzzies
The sheep were closer when we stopped to take the photo but they got scared when they saw Murray and took off into the background!!