We left a cold and drizzly Belfast and headed back to sunny Hamburg, the plan being to pick up Berty2 from the dealer, spend a few days sorting out any bugs, pick up the gear we shipped from Australia and then really start our travels. Things have gone well enough but not entirely according to plan.
The journey from Belfast to Hamburg should have been a 90 minute flight but took a day and a half because no direct flights were available. It had to be a bus to Dublin then a flight to Frankfurt (on everybody’s favorite, Ryan Air), then a night at an airport hotel, rent a car and drive the 620kms to Norderstedt. We had hoped to go by the super fast ICE train from Frankfurt but found out too late that you must book 7 days in advance and it was full anyway. The drive was another high speed one at up to 150kms/hr on the Autobahn but the weather was very wet and stormy which made for a long day and overall, a very long and tedious trip from Belfast.
We had our last night in a hotel in Norderstedt, and it was a really nice one, the Wilhelm Busch, before picking up Berty the next morning, Wednesday, 1 June.
Lundbergs had prepped the van really well but there were some small issues to sort out and the legal weight paperwork had been done incorrectly at 3.5 tonnes instead of 4.25. (At 3.5T we would have a carrying capacity of only 350kgs and would be over the limit all the time.) They assured us that would be fixed soon and we set off on our first driving adventure.
Our first major problem was that we had our home and a few borrowed plates and cooking gear from Lundbergs, but no food, bedding or even a towel. We had shipped most of what we need from Australia but all that gear was still waiting for us at the port and we could not pick it up until Monday, five days away. And to complicate things just a bit more, it was a public holiday on Thursday with virtually everything closing. (When the Germans say holiday they mean HOLIDAY, no work, everything closed.)
Our first day was one of life’s real challenges. A new and large vehicle and a drive of about 80kms through all kinds of traffic and streets, many of which seemed like Chapel Street and the back roads of South Yarra only narrower. Of course, Alan, who is a bit inclined to exaggeration, was saying from the driver’s seat of his big new van that all the roads, even the Autobahn, looked like a skinny side street to him. And the discovery that German supermarkets have tiny carparks. After many, many tricky turns, stressful moments and more than a little swearing we finally reached our camp and were able to shop for the basics in the local supermarket.
We spent 2 nights at Grobensee in a slightly rundown campsite beside a small lake about an hour from Hamburg. It turned out to be a really nice wooded area and a very friendly camp. We had no outdoor furniture but both neighbors offered us their spares.
One very charming German man wrote us a wonderful note in perfect English (while we were out walking) offering us their chairs and table set while they were out for the day. He is typical of the friendly people on campsites. His written English was perfect and his spoken english was very good although some things got a little confused in the translation. He was telling us about their travels and how, when they go away for a longer trip, they put their dog in a “dog asylum”. Mind you, we also thought little Hanna the terrier was a wee bit crazy.
We moved from the camp beside the lake to the camp beside Ikea because it is only a few minutes drive from our van dealer and there were a few things still to be sorted. It was only supposed to be for a couple of days whilst we picked up the goods we shipped and sorted out a few small bugs in Berty2. It has turned out to be longer than expected, in part due to the weight error taking longer to fix. We will end up being at the Ikea site for about 11 nights, but that’s ok as it has given us time to really sort out the van and find the right home for everything. In the first few days we made full use of the Ikea restaurant and have shopped there almost every day buying everything from pillows to plastic crates. We’re just about on first name terms with even the strawberry seller in his little hut near the front door. This picture is the first time Alison cooked a meal in the van.
On Monday it was time to collect our gear from the shipping agent at the port of Hamburg, and what a massive place it is. We rented a Mercedes C220 wagon and promptly had our first disagreement of the trip. Would it be big enough (the car, not the fight) to fit all the gear in?
George, our GPS, did us proud and steered us right to the shipping agent’s door, deep within the confines of the port. We queued with the German truckies and eventually our gear appeared, toppling off a wobbly forklift pallet. And yes, it was all there and it all fitted in but only just. It could be said that Alan was so keen to be sure to get it all in that he disassembled the seats and left Alison sitting with her knees around her ears so as not to have to hear the magic words – “I told you it wasn’t big enough!” We then simply drove out of the port, through what was no doubt the wrong exit and back to Berty2.
Our motorhome has a garage about a meter wide and the full width of the van. Alison loves the garage so much it is now known as Alison’s shed. As you can see it is pretty much chokers with stuff, even a washing machine. The Internet is great. In Belfast we managed to buy a plastic twin tub machine for about A$130 from a German supplier and had them ship it to our dealer. Washing costs a fortune in campsites, about $8 per load (washing only) so it will have paid for itself in about a month. It was actually a ‘housewarming’ present from Alison’s mum – thanks Margaret!
Hamburg is a money town. Even the Ikea carpark has Maseratis in it. Last Saturday we had a day in town and did the obligatory harbor boat trip and lots of shopping. Alan counted about a dozen Ferraris along with one of those super sportscars that have no name, attract crowds and cost millions. Typical was this Bentley parked on the footpath outside the Emporio Armani.
The local neighborhood around the camp can be fairly described as German quaint, even the street names confirm this: Rumpelstiltzkin, Hansel, Gretel, etc. But we have managed to negotiate the local bus route and then the underground into town a couple of times. Even better was that we managed our way back once after a big day, drinks and dinner and armfuls of shopping.
We are still waiting for the final legal paperwork to come through on the van’s carrying capacity but it is just a day or so away and we are having some minor modifications done to the van. So it is a bit of a waiting game while we get these things sorted but Lundbergs are still looking after us really well. In the meantime we have taken advantage of the spare time and explored the sites of Hamburg, which is a really pretty city and is also one of the largest ports in the world!
More about life onboard in our next blog, and on Friday we’re off to Bavaria and hopefully warmer weather as Hamburg has turned a little cool over the last week or so.
Cheers A & A
berty2 