Our Scandinavian Tour - Day 127 - 130

Saturday 8th September - 🌧️🌧️⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅ with strong winds.
Mileage 42 from Tonder in Denmark to Nordstrand which is one of the Frisian Islands in Germany
Parking Co-ordinates 54.51802, 8.93207

Today, after only a couple of miles travelling, we waved a sad farewell to Denmark because out of the 3 Scandinavian countries we've visited on this tour Denmark was our favourite - therefore I'm sure that sometime in the near future we will be revisiting.  Once over the German border our first task was shopping (at Lidl of course), and then we proceeded over a causeway that links the Frisian Island of Nordstand to the German mainland.  The island only has an area of 19 square miles and just about all of it lies at least a metre below sea level so it's all protected by a dyke which provides grazing land for this areas many hundreds of sheep.  And they themselves are both a gastronomic delicacy and a tourist attraction especially in spring when the lambs are born.

We're going to stay here for 3 days and we've settled in on a small Stellplatz which is cutely called WoMoland.  The island itself is very 'German' and unfortunately none of the info boards have any English translation, but the site owner is a goldmine of information and he's told us about all the things we should try and see while we're here, and apparently it's even possible to visit England so that's been added to either tomorrow itinerary!

Part of our scoop from Lidl and at only 59 cents a tin (about 50p) it went down a treat!

Sunday 9th September - 🌧️🌧️⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞⛅⛅
Mileage 0  + 27 🚴🚴 miles

'Suddenly' we found ourselves
in England 😂

This morning we almost thought rain was going to stop play but although we got sprinkled to start with it turned out to be a beautiful day!  We set off on our bikes along deserted country roads with arable fields on either side of us where birds of prey circled and swooped and where smaller birds did all in their power to see them off!





Then we hadn't gone far when we saw the first sign for England - we certainly hadn't realised we were that near home soil - and we were even more startled when we realised we'd ridden all the way through within the space of about 5 mins!  However, during our traverse though the very pretty street we identified preparation for Christmas Dinner and also some very pretty thatched cottages with roses climbing up their walls.

🎅🏻Free Range Turkey🎅🏻

One of the pretty cottages with a weeping sunflower instead of roses!

After England we rolled into the deserted village of Morsumkoog and paused to admire their churches of which there were 3.  Apparently 2 of them are Catholic but only one follows the rules to the letter.  The other one comes under the charge of a Married Priest, and for the congregation of that one, many of the Catholic rules are relaxed.













We thought with it being Sunday all the seats might be taken but still there wasn't a soul in sight.

Outside the church there was a lovely play area for the children and also a perfect resting place for us to partake of our morning coffee.

Then once that was supped we headed for the coast at the hamlet of Suderhafen and from there we peddled along paved track that was on the seaward side of the dyke and more or less circumnavigated the rest of the island passing through the tiny port of Sttucklahnungshorn and finally leaving the magnificent track at Norderhafen.






Along the way we paused for our picnic lunch at Fuhlehorn and it was here that the shallow waters of the Wadden Sea came alive with hundreds of gulls, oyster catches, dunlins

Today's dining room for both birds and us!

The Port at Sttucklahnungshorn 

Finally, from Norderhafen it was just a couple of short miles back along more quite narrow roads back to WoMoland where we were very naughty and indulged in another of Lidl's fine Craft Beers which has a quote on the side that says 'Let's oil the Gears of Life' - so who are we to argue - and after 27 miles I think we needed a bit of oiling 😂😂😂


Monday 10th September 2018  ⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅
Mileage 0 + 30 🚴🚴 miles

Today we finished off our exploration of Nordstrand, and in doing so we crossed over to the German mainland via a causeway that only carries a very minor road and a bike track.  On the way we passed by Nordstrandischmoor which is a tiny island that is only accessible by a narrow gauge railway, and we also rode out on the peninsula of Hamburger-Hallig.  Here there was evidence of lots of experiments that were being done by Hamburg University concerning the effects of Global Warming and it's influences on the diversity of the area's eco systems, but once again all the info was in German and even with the help of Google Translate it was hard to fathom out what was going on!  Therefore we just admired the views before backtracking to the mainland for lunch.

The seaward side of the Causeway

And the other side!

Now have I mentioned the sheep?  There were huge numbers of them in this area, and they were roaming all over the dykes and also the track on which we were riding!  Often they didn't want to move out of our way (even when we shouted 'mint sauce' at them), and as you might imagine, where there's a lot of sheep there's also a lot of 💩💩💩 - and dodging it (in order to keep our bikes reasonably clean) became a bit of an art form that we'd rather not have participated in!


Therefore, rather than venturing into this 'land mined' area again we continued our ride on tracks beside quite roads and this eventually allowed us to cross back over the main causeway to Nordstand, and once there we nipped into a lovely farm shop and purchased 4 succulent 'Barnsley' chops which we will consume with said mint sauce (or maybe even rosemary and garlic)  sometime in the very near future!

Unfortunately today's ride didn't really compete with the loveliness of yesterday's 'but hey ho there you go' - and although it wasn't spectacular it got us out in the fresh air and ensured we'd earned our coffee and cake which we consumed on the way!


Tuesday 11th September 2018  🌧️🌧️☁☁☁🌧️🌧️⛆⛆
Mileage  127 (+ a short ferry ride) from Nordstand to Cuxhaven.
Parking Co-ordinates 53.87599, 8.70356

Today should have been a simple run, mostly down one of Germany's main arterial routes, from soon after we left Nordstrand to the coastal port of Cuxhaven (B5 then the A23) !  But that little plan didn't come to fruition!!  While we were in Denmark someone had mentioned to me that the motorway towards Hamburg (the B5) was closed -  but that little fact slipped my mind - that is until our nose was pressed up against a barrier that barred our way! 

Therefore, we had no other choice than to follow the Umleitung signs (diversion) which resulted in our journey being further and on much more minor roads - some of which were narrow and congested with all the heavy traffic that should have been on the motorway!  And all of this seriously upset Mrs Snoopy and resulted in a great deal of binging and bonging! On numerous occasions she tried to turn us around - and when John wouldn't comply with her instructions she spat her dummy out and just bonged some more!  But that all left us with a bit of a dilemma because if my dear husband wasn't going to follow her instructions he needed someone else to help him - and that only left me and Google!!  Now, for those of you who know me you probably understand about my non existent sense of direction - I've been known to get lost in a car park and if you turn me around 3 times I've got no idea as to which direction I'm facing 😧!  Therefore the responsibility of maintaining us on the right track weighed heavily on my shoulders, but I'm happy to say I made a reasonably good job of it - but it was a huge relief when Mrs Snoopy finished her sulk and resumed the role of chief navigator.

The very long queue for the ferry

But that wasn't the end of today's 'trials'.  Once back on the right track our goal was the tiny town of Gluckstadt from where we needed to take a ferry over the river Elbe to Wischhafen - but we knew we were in for a long wait when we tagged onto the end of the queue 1.2 miles from the port!  In all, this part of our journey took nearly 2 hours (only 20 mins on the ferry) - but I put the time to good use by cooking our dinner as we slowly chugged along 🌭🌭!

After that it seemed to be plain sailing for a while, but would you know it, as we neared our destination we got snarled up in another diversion in the town of Neuhaus, and here Mrs Snoopy must have wanted a second look at the town because she sent us on a circular route that passed along the same streets twice - and she would have gone for a 3rd circuit if John hadn't taken charge!

We eventually landed at Cuxhaven (where we've stayed on 2 previous occasions) at about 4.30 and by then the rain was coming down with a vengeance but we still had to venture out on foot because we needed cash to pay for our stay!  So all in all, today probably hasn't been one of our best but maybe you've got to occasionally have a bad one so that you appreciate the good ones more!

I think tomorrow we'll be off to Holland, but for now it's bye from us 😗

Our Scandinavian Tour - Day 5 - 8

Sunday 13th May 2018  🌞🌞🌞, 🌧, 🌞🌞
Mileage - 170 miles from Lauwersoog (Netherlands) to Cuxhaven (Germany).
Parking Coordinates 53.87599, 8.70356

Before I tell you about today I just want to make comment about how many cycle tracks there are here, but not only in this area (Lauwersoog) of the Netherlands, but all over - and just to demonstrate all the red and blue in the screen shot are mostly off road cycle ways!

Anyway, back to today and I haven't really got much to say!  We left our cosy Marina pitch knowing our journey would be a long one - about 174 miles that would mostly be on toll free motorways.  The first 62 of them were in the Netherlands with far reaching views over flat agricultural land with just an occasional windmill to break up the vistas.  Then the rest was  over the border into Germany, and it was there that we spied our first major traffic issues - luckily on the opposite carriage way! ⛟🚌🚐🚑🚕🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚙🚙🚚🚛🚛🚛🚛🚜 - the queue went on for several miles😧😧!

I suppose also, to pad this out a bit, I could mention the incident with the dead bodies - they were splattered all over T4rdis2's windscreen!  Thunderstorms had been predicted for the afternoon but all we experienced was about 30 seconds of torrential rain but that  was good because it helped to rid us of the millions of bugs that were firmly adhered😂😂.

Then after that it didn't take us much longer to reach our destination which was the huge Stellplatz at Cuxhaven Port.  Once again we've been here before back in November 2016 so everything was familiar and we were very quickly settled in with a brew made and sitting out in the sunshine to enjoy it.  And while I was whiling away my time I checked how far we are from  our ultimate destination - and it turned out to be just a little 1,740 miles - it's a good job we've got plenty of time to do it in!

The Stellplatz was massive and could hold several hundred vans!

Monday 14th May 2018  🌞🌞🌞 and very hot!
8 walking miles today.

Well, what a night!  As I said earlier our present Stellplatz is right on Cuxhaven port side and when we arrived there was a huge ship birthed only about a 100 yards from our pitch - with it's generator's running!  Now, that noise was bad enough through the evening - but it also continued all night thus resulting in my being a bit bleary eyed this morning - and when I complained John's reply was 'what noise'!


Therefore, an easy day enjoying the lovely sunshine was quickly decided upon and this turned out to be a leisurely stroll along Cuxhaven's sea front promenade which stretches for about 4 miles and where the Wadden Sea washes up onto the shoreline.  Nearly all the way we were greeted by fine pale yellow sand along with numerous sitting places and alfresco cafes dotted about for everyone's comfort.  Additionally, there are also hundreds of Germany's answer to beach huts - in the form of two seater wicker 'chairs' that can be hired for 10 euros a day and can be locked to store possessions, or when occupied, can be tipped back to make shady sun beds! 

The Prom which tripled as a walkway, a bike path and a rail link!

Our day was quite idyllic really, we meandered along watching the antics of people taking a dip in the cooling water, we picnicked with fantastic views, and when we got back to T4rdis2 in the early afternoon we lazed in the sunshine and watched the world go by!  However, it was a bit difficult to chat with our neighbours because I think until evening we were the only 'foreign' van on site, then we were joined by a Swiss couple who tried to explain how wonderful our Scandinavian trip is likely to be!
Oh, and the ship - that's gone so hopefully tonight will be much more peaceful.


Tuesday 15th May 2018 - another day of wall to wall🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 124 from Cuxhaven to a Camper Stop near Nordstand
Parking Coordinates 54.51802, 8.93207

This morning presented with 'a must do' task and a choice concerning our on going journey!  The essential job was the restocking of our food cupboards so that we wouldn't starve to death 😂😂, and the replenishing of our wine cellar because were too mean to pay Scandinavian prices.  So after leaving the Cuxhaven Stellplatz Mrs Snoopy was programmed for the nearest Lidl and that mission was soon accomplished - equivalent of 50p for beer and £2.50 for a bottle of wine! 

Then, to get to our next destination we needed to cross the massive River Elbe, so to do that our choice was either to drive 43 miles to Hamburg, cross under the toll tunnel and then drive 43 miles back, or to take the shorter route to Wischhafen from where we could take a ferry across the water to Gluckstadt.

We choose the later but as our penance we were required to sit in a mile long queue of traffic, and it took an hour and three quarters before we could board the little shuttle ferry that toos and fros across the huge expanse of water that is the Elbe.  However, even if we'd known about the delay beforehand I don't think we'd have altered our plan because the detour to Hamburg would have taken equally as long and would have probably been the more expensive choice of the two.  And while we were waiting we did take advantage of that gift of time by scoffing our lunch and admiring the lovely scenery that surrounded us.

Our Transport Across the River Elbe

Some of the thousands of geese that darkened the sky when they flew en mass!

However, the delay had set us back, so what should have been a 3 hour journey turned into a marathon 5 hours and by the time we arrived at the WoMoLand Camper stop we were more than ready to put our feet up and chill in the late afternoon sunshine with a nice cold beer!  I'm not really quite sure what we were expecting of this place but we very quickly decided that on our own personnel scoring system for camping places this one would get 9.5 our of 10!  It's very lovely with spacious divided pitches, excellent clean facilities, friendly (all German) neighbours, lovely views and lots of peace and tranquillity all around - eventually !!!  The only thing it lost half a point for was the obligatory mowing and strimming noise that blighted our first half hour!


Wednesday 16th May 2018  🌧  (but only a couple of dozen drops!  Then 🌞🌞🌞 and Oh what a lovely evening !!
Mileage 67 from Nordstand in Germany to Broager in Denmark
Parking Co-ordinates 54.86769, 9.74412

Today is another Happy Anniversary to Us - It marks 2 full years of living happily as full time travellers in T4rdis2!
But that doesn't include the 9 months we spent in our first T4rdis!  In total we've now been on the road for 2 years and 9 months!

This morning we left we left the campsite at Nordstand but it was really was quite a shame to be going because it was situated on a little peninsula that seemed to have quite a lot on offer that we hadn't had time to explore!  Therefore, another promise has been made - and that's to stay there again on our return journey and try and do what we missed on this occasion.

Anyway, we were soon on the road and this time we sailed along without a hitch, and this resulted in us crossing the Danish border after only travelling 31 miles, and although it was manned by armed soldiers we nipped straight through without any problem. Then it was forwards and onwards over an immaculate motorway, and once we departed from that we only had a short distance to travel before we reached our new campsite - Broager Strand which is right on the sea front.

Once there we were greeted by the very friendly owner and we were quickly booked in for the next two nights, but what we hadn't realised was that this would lead us up to the Whitsun Bank Holiday, and the owner explained that we should definitely make a forward booking for that period because it was quite likely that most places in this region of Denmark would become fully occupied.  Added to this we also needed to consider the fact that wild camping is not possible in this country, so although we hadn't really got a plan for the next few days one needed to be formulated quite quickly!!

The site is situated on another peninsula and while we were booking in the owner gave us lots of info about the area and told us about several walks and rides that we could do while we were here - it was all a bit mind boggling really because we hadn't anticipated that there would be quite so much choice in this lovely area.

The Way Markers 

So once lunch had been consumed we set of in glorious sunshine to explore part of a long distance walking path called the Gendarmstien - so called because in the mid nineteenth century the Gendarmes used to patrol the area to watch for dangerous smugglers who illegally moved goods in and out of the country to avoid paying customs duty.  The path runs for 84 kilometres in total but we only walked a short part of it that took us up to a view point from where we had 360 degree views of the coastline and the crystal clear waters that surround the peninsula.

And it was while we were walking that we decided to stay here a while longer as long as the campsite could fit us in!  However, it turned out that our pitch was already booked but if we didn't mind moving on Friday we were told we were very welcome to stay - so now this is home for the next 5 nights!

Therefore, I'll tell you more about it in my next instalment - but for now it's getting late so I'm going to sign off 😘😘


Click here to see our German Camping Spots

T4rdis2 Tour 2 - Day 134 - 138 Germany

Day 134 and 135
Thursday 10th and Friday 11th November 2016

Not sure if I fancy that!

On Thursday morning we left Eckwarderhorne and headed for the town of Norrdeich - a North Sea Spa town that has the Frisian islands just off it's coast.  These include Borkum, Juist, Norderney, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekerroog and Wangerooge and all around them is the National Park Niedersachsisches Wattenmeer .  Apparently, the park was established to protect the unique ecosystem of the shallow seas, that at low tide, turns into a vast area of mud flats call 'The Watt'.

The Watt

Now, our guide book suggests that you could explore this area by paddling barefoot around it, but that would definitely not be on my bucket list of 'must do things' - yuk. However, once we'd settled in on our new Stellplatz we did decide to go for a walk (with our shoes on) in the late afternoon sunshine, and  we were very pleasantly surprised by the tourist friendly shoreline that had lovely walkways that took you right into the harbour.  You could also walk both on and below the dyke where you were rewarded with distant views of the islands, as well as ferry and fishing boats chugging to and from the islands.

Friday dawned bright and sunny, and just as John had predicted, warm enough to go for another ride, so we chose a route that took us along the concrete paved trail, which to start with put us on the sea side of the dyke where there were large numbers of sea birds 'grazing' on the mud flats.

The heron should be there somewhere
but I think I missed!

Eventually the route crossed back over to the land side of the dyke, and from there it wasn't long before we found ourselves crossing a huge nature reserve that was situated on a grassy flood plain. What more could we ask - warm sunshine and frequent sightings of numerous birds which included herons stalking their prey , majestic skuas in acrobatic flight, and large numbers of geese and ducks.

However, much as we were enjoying ourselves we'd decided not to go to far today, so once we reached the far side of the nature reserve at about 20kms into our ride, we stopped for lunch at the ferry port of Nessmersiel.  Then, once fed and watered we started our return journey, and it was on this leg that we saw a sight worth seeing!

Have I mentioned the geese - there are literally thousands of them in this part of the world, and they can often be seen in vast numbers feeding in the fields.  As we were cycling along we noticed such a group off to our left, but other than a quick glance we didn't really pay much attention, until a few seconds later I heard a great rushing and honking noise, which at first I thought was a motorised vehicle .  Then, as we looked behind the whole flock had taken off on mass, and as they flew overhead the sky almost became dark - and I did wonder if we would need our brolly!

They were a magnificent site to see, especially in relation to the formations in which they flew.  Apparently, they fly in a V shape to assist their neighbours - when each goose flaps it's wings it creates an uplift for the birds that follow, so by flying in this manner the whole flock can fly much further than if each bird flew alone. And a bit like big groups of cyclists -   when the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose takes over it's position - and why do they make such a noise - the honking is supposed to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Because we hadn't gone too far we got back to T4rdis2 about 3ish, so after a quick cuppa we went for a walk back up onto the dyke to see if we could spot any more birds on the mud flats, but no.  It was a lovely sunny ending to the day and there were loads of people out walking, and lots of them with dogs, so there was hardly anything to see - except another lovely sunset.


Day 136
Saturday 12th November 2016 - A cold frosty morning but with plenty of bright sunshine

This morning, as we peeked out of our windows we could see that Jack Frost had been out to play and splattered the Stellplatz liberally with a dusting of powder white frost that made everywhere look like a wonderful winter wonderland.  But it wasn't very wonderful inside T4rdis2 - it was bitter cold at only about 6 degrees!  And that was because we were using electricity to heat the van overnight, and sometime in the small wee hours our 'bob' must have ran out, and sods law, it was my turn to get up and make the tea.  So I very quickly leaped out of bed, switched over to diesel heating, stuck the kettle on, and then jumped back into my pit while things warmed up.

By 8.30 we were toasty again so our day could start properly - another moving day, and after 96 days in Germany we're waving goodbye to it and moving on (and homewards) to the Netherlands - but first we had to escape from this Stellplatz!  It was one of those where you pay on exit, so we duly put our ticket into the machine and it rudely asked for the extortionate sum of 48 euros when it should only have been 22.  We asked the machine to spit out ticket out again but it wasn't keen on that idea, so then we had no choice other than to press the button for 'help', and keep our fingers crossed that the person providing it could speak English.  She did, but only in a limited fashion, however eventually we made ourselves understood, and after visiting a nearby sports centre, we were given a ticket that facilitated our escape, but only after we'd paid extra for the towns Kurtax!

Then we were on our way, but we couldn't leave without paying  a final visit to one of Germany's Lidls to stock up on 'plonk' for Christmas - now all we have to do is make sure it's hidden away so that we don't indulge before the appointed time!

And really, there's not much else to say about today.  We're in the Netherlands now and parked on a campsite near the settlement of Koudum, and right on the side of a massive lake that is linked by canals to the North Sea.  After our long drive John was quite tired, so other than a short exploration walk around the site and down to the waters edge we haven't done much, and as we plan to move on to Amsterdam tomorrow we will probably have to save exploring this area until another time.  So the only thing we need to do this evening is keep our fingers crossed that the rain that is forecast for overnight doesn't result in us getting stuck on our already  slightly wet and slippery grass pitch when we try and move on in the morning!


Day 137
Sunday 13th November 2016 -  Wet, grey and miserable!

Well, did we get stuck? No, but it was a very close thing - T4rdis2 set off ok, but as we crossed the 10 foot strip of grass towards the road we started to slid  - and unfortunately left deep gouges in there pristine lawn - oh well, it wasn't our fault, they had told us to park there!

Then we were on our way to the only Stellplatz in Amsterdam, which turned out to be on the opposite side of a large body of water to where most of the tourist part of the city is, but we felt this wouldn't be a problem because the ferries run every 5 mins and are free.  The Stellplatz itself turned our to be a mechanised secure one with a high fence all around - in fact it was so secure that we got locked out - while all our worldly goods (including T4rdis2) were locked in! On arrival we'd had to pay at a machine and take a ticket which electronically operated the huge gates, that once opened, allowed you 8 seconds to drive in, however we did note that there was a pedestrian access at the side which we planned to use later.   As usual, we got settled and then went for a walk through the dank and dirty litter strewn streets where redevelopment and building sites seemed to lurk on every corner (I think the pristine-ness of Germany has spoiled us).   Eventually, we made it down to the water front from where the ferries left, and here it all seemed a bit more presentable with cafes, museums and futuristic buildings lining the shore line - we even found this bicycle 'race track' - however, you'd have to be very sure your brakes were good if you were going to have a go!  

But the weather was miserable and cold, so we were soon on our way home - only to find the pedestrian entrance to the Stellplatz very firmly locked and only accessible with your pass card - and guess where ours was - yes, it was very safely stowed inside T4rdis2.  So there we stood dithering in the freezing rain looking like 2 big drips - until a very kind Dutch lady came to our rescue - but she did tell us off and to make sure we didn't do it again!


Day 138
Monday 14th November 2016 - It's still raining and cold!

We couldn't quite work out how they parked
them on the top row!

Today was our day for sightseeing in Amsterdam, so despite the weather off we went - for the mile and a half walk to the ferry, and then across the water into the main part of the city.  Oh and did I mention the bikes - the're everywhere, hundreds and thousands of them so you have to be extremely careful when not only crossing the roads, but the bike lanes as well.  On both sides of the water there are massive bike parks that were crammed full of with every conceivable sort of bike you can imagine, and some with very inventive seating arrangements for 2 or 3 passengers!


The ferry dropped us off just outside Amsterdam Central Station, but as we didn't want to catch a train we just passed straight through and headed into the very eeclectic shopping streets where you could buy everything from Dutch cheese, clogs, tulips, liquor and favours from ladies who practice one of the oldest professions in the world!  We also spotted numerous places where you could not only buy all kinds of smoking paraphernalia, but also something special to go with them.

This massive tree was
hanging from the ceiling!

We visited Dam Square with it's Royal Palace, Madame Tussaud's, and Museums dedicated to what Amsterdam is famous for; we pottered around some of the canal region and maybe viewed more than we bargained on; and we visited The Magna Plaza with it's very upmarket shops and lovely Christmas decorations.  But even though we walked for many miles, overall we remained unimpressed by the City's attractions, and even a visit to The Body World Museum didn't change our minds (We'd really wanted to go to the Anne Frank Museum but the queue was horrendous). Therefore,  I don't think it will be on our 'come back soon' list, but having said that, I'm sure we'll find plenty of other places here that we do like!

So tomorrow we will move again, probably to a campsite on the coast, so fingers crossed for some sunshine, but that's all for now so take care xx

T4rdis2 Tour 2 - Day 126 - 133 Germany

Day 126 - 129
Thursday 3rd November - Sunday 6th November 2016

There's not really much to say about the last few days - mainly because the weather has been fairly miserable, so other than a few walks, we've not really done much!

T4rdis2 having a cheap ride on a ferry

On Thursday we moved from Rerik to Travemunde - a town that is located at the mouth of the River Trave, and that has been one of Germany's major sea side resorts since 1802, however getting there caused some debate!  We had a choice - we could either go the long way round which would have added about 70 kms to our journey, or we could choose a short ferry ride across the River Trave - a course of action that seemed the most sensible - but when John checked it out online it appeared  it would cost about 30 euros for T4rdis2 to cross.  In the end we choose the ferry anyway, mainly to save the miles, but it was a very nice surprise when we got there and the chap who issues the tickets gave us one for just 6 euros!

The Stellplatz we were aiming for turned out to be right on the main fishing wharf and was surrounded by fish (and pommes (chip)) restaurants, as well as numerous little stalls selling 'the catch of the day', it was a shame we'd just been and caught ours at the local Lidl!  Anyway, as you would imagine, there was a vague aroma about the place, and occasionally, it was a bit noisy as people went about their work, but the site suited our needs well so we decided to stay put for the time being.

As the afternoon passed we managed to squeeze in a short walk between the frequent heavy showers, but because of the early nights that were drawing in we only went about a mile before turning back.  However, that was far enough to take us to the town's lovely white sand beach, which I'm quite sure would have looked spectacular in the sunshine.

2.80 for adults and 1.40 for
children

 It was backed by a huge long promenade and along it's length there were regular sitting places as well as imaginative children's play parks, but to use it in the summer you have to cough up your dosh and buy a ticket at one of the machines that are placed at frequent intervals!  We've never been asked to pay to go on a beach before, but maybe it was instead of Kurtax - a tax that we've been required to stump up in quite a lot of towns for the use of their facilities weather you use them or not - at least this way you get a choice!  During our outing we also got to admire the Barque Passat - a lovely 4 masted schooner that is now a boat museum - it must have been a fantastic site under full sail!

The light grey is the water and the darker colour is
the ocean floor - and the black blobs -
they're ducks!

On Friday we stayed put at Travemunde, mostly because we'd only seen a tiny portion of the area the day before, but once again the weather was against us and the rain that had been teeming all night continued to hammer down for most of the morning.  However, in the afternoon, God's watering cans must have been nearly empty because it started to abate, and by evening blue sky had re-emerged, but the cold wind didn't want to let up, so rather than the bike ride we'd planned, we just donned our coats and went for another walk.

John pretending to be
an owl

Initially we retraced our steps to the beach, but then we went further afield and walked out for about 3 miles along the coastal path that allowed us some lovely views of the crystal clear waters of the Baltic.

On Saturday we decided to move on, even though we felt we probably hadn't managed to do Travemunde justice and that it would have had more to offer.  But the weather didn't look as if it was going to get any better - it had poured again for most of the night, and the morning dawned grey, damp and very unappealing, so we thought we might as well use the time to travel.  Therefore, we chose Kiel as our next target - a destination that was about 100 kms away.  Kiel is a city that is located at the end of the Kieler Forde inlet and it also marks the beginning of the Nord-Ostsee Canal which has been in service since 1895 and has 2 giant locks which we thought might be interesting to see.  However, as we approached the sprawling industrial dock land it didn't appear very inviting, and when we reached the tatty 'Wohnmobil' parking area we glanced at each other with such a look of dismay that we knew we weren't going to stop, so we pressed T4rdis2's de-materialise button and sodded off very quickly!

However, at that stage we had no back up plan or new place to aim for, so we pulled up in the next lay-by and out came our trusty Bord Atlas that we dropped a pin into to help us hatch a new route!  To cut a long story short we ended up driving back to Plon, a town that lies in the Schleswig-Holstein region.  This area is well known for it's 140 odd lakes, and it's name translates to Holstein's Switzerland because of them, and Plon itself, along with the Stellplatz we were aiming for sits right on the edge of the largest of them - The Grober Ploner See.  

Once again, it stopped raining in the afternoon so off we toddled for what is fast becoming our regular constitutional - another 6 mile walk along a narrow spit of land that protrudes about a mile out into the middle of the lake to provide viewing points for bird watching along the way.  

The left one is earth and the other one is the moon

Then on our return journey we passed along by the towns planetarium - models of the planets and information about them set out at scaled intervals that represent the distances between them.  Finally, we pottered  through the town of Plon from where we caught glimpses of it's 17th century Schloss, and we also browsed around their estate agents windows to see how much property in this area is - I don't think we'll be moving in any time soon!

On Sunday morning we left Plon behind and set off on the rather long journey to Cuxhaven, but the early part of our journey was plagued with diversions mainly due to road works, and these forced us to change our route.  John had planned to avoid Hamburg  which is the 2nd biggest city in Germany, but now without going miles out of our way we had no choice and we had to head straight for it! 

As we neared the city we passed through the Elb Tunnel - a 3km long and several lane wide passage that crosses under the River Elb, and we also passed the massive industrial dock lands where ginormous container ships were being loaded by cranes that passed over huge gantries.  

But, none of this caused us any delay and we were very quickly on the opposite side of Hamburg and leaving it's vast industrialisation behind.   And after that came mile after mile of apple orchards - they stretched for as far as the eye could see - and must look spectacular in the spring when they're in blossom.

Eventually we reached the town of Cuxhaven which is  another popular sea side resort on the North Coast of Germany, and our travel guide informed us that although it isn't very large it can boast that roughly 3 million guest nights a year are booked in it's hotels making tourism it's major industry!  However, besides the sea side, it's other main claim to fame are rockets.  Apparently, between 1945 and 1964 about 500 rockets were launched,  the most well  known being  three V2 rockets in an operation called Backfire in October 1945.

By the time we arrived it was well past 2pm and we were starving, but T4rdis2 was also complaining of thirst because our fresh water tank was nearly empty.  Not a problem we thought, the Stellplatz is bound to have water - but no - we took our ticket, drove around the site and there wasn't a service point in site, and when we asked a fellow camper, he seemed to indicate that there wasn't any available - so we couldn't stop there.  However, this time   John had done some careful planning so he knew of 2 other Stellplatz in the area, but the 'cow' was dry at number 2 too - because you needed a token to operate the dispenser and there was nobody available to supply one.  So on we went to Stellplatz 3 which is perched right on the edge of a marina, and initially, it looked as if there was no water available there either, but a kind German gentleman eventually directed us to it, and it turned out that we'd actually driven right by it on the way in!

Stellplatz 3 and the view form our window

Anyway, once T4rdis2's thirst had been quenched we parked up overlooking the water along with quite a few other vans.  The site has room for about 100 but at the mo it's only about a quarter full so there's plenty of room for everyone - and if the rain doesn't keep us awake, I think we'll all get rocked to sleep tonight because the gale force wind is howling around us like a banshee, and this position is a little exposed to say the least!  However, on the upside the forecast says the weather might get a bit better over the next few days, but on the downside it also says it might snow - well we are on the same latitude as the lake district now!

Sunday dinner T4rdis2 style

Day 131
Monday 7th November 2016 Cold and windy with very occasional glimmers of sunshine.

This morning we considered getting our bikes out and going for a ride but the wind was still howling so  we abandoned that idea and settled for another walk along the coastal path that runs along the top of the sea defence dyke.  There are a lot of them around here - huge 18 - 20 feet high structures that protect the low lands of the towns and villages from flooding, and to start our walk we were required to climb a staircase which had placards on saying where the water had reached in previous flood events.


From our vantage point on top of the dyke we had excellent views out over the estuary of the Elbe as it flowed into the North Sea, and we were quite surprised by the speed of the tide as it raced in to cover the vast mud flats on which we'd seen people walking only a very short time before the water arrived.  Sadly, it all looked a bit bleak in the inclement weather we've got at the mo, but even with sunshine I'm not so sure this place would have been quite our cup of tea - we found the muddy beaches less than appealing.

Day 132 and 133
Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th November 2016 - It's still very cold.

On Tuesday morning we decided to move on again - partly because we're having to buy our electric by the kilowatt hour, and because we're keeping the heating on overnight, the meter is gobbling our euros! (We're using electric overnight cos the diesel heating function is a bit noisy and keeps me awake).  So we picked out an ACSI campsite further around the coast at a place called Eckwarderhorne, but I think it's other name is The Back of Beyond!  Now, I'm not saying it's not a nice place - there are coastal walkways and cycle paths in both directions, but in places your coastal view is obscured by the continuation of the huge dyke, and in relation to how far the tide goes out - this place could be twinned with Skeggy!

A bloody great fog horn!
I hope that doesn't go off
in the middle of the night

For most of Tuesday we were treated to long periods of wintery sunshine,  but by the time we'd got settled in at the campsite, it was well into the afternoon so all we did was to take ourselves off for another coastal walk where we spotted noisy oyster catchers, curlews and lapwings as well as numerous obligatory gulls, and once again we watched the tide race in as the afternoon sun sunk towards it's watery oblivion.  

And I think the slightly warm watery sunshine of the previous day lulled us into a false sense of security for Wednesday, because then we did get out bikes out with a plan to ride a round trip of about 50 kms to the town of Diekmannshausen.  We thought we would have magnificent views as we went, because on the map it looked as if this ride would take us right around the bay - but for a fair bit of the time the dyke got in the way and obscured obliterated the vistas.  And there were a few other 'elements' that detracted form our pleasure on this ride - the first being several gated fields full of sheep.  Now where there's sheep there is usually shit  poo - resulting in very messy tyres that needed cleaning when we got back!  Oh, and did I mention the cold - it was 2 degrees, damp and with occasional precipitation in the air - and absolutely no sunshine.  Even though we'd wrapped up with numerous layers our fingers and toes were so cold they were painful - so after about 20 kms we gave up and turned back, but not before getting even colder while we ate our very quick lunch.

Anyway, we're back in the nice warm confines of T4rdis2 now, but I think it will have to be a degree or two warmer before I'll be persuaded to venture out on my trusty steed again - but John says Friday looks good, I say 'we'll wait and see!'

Take care xx