Saturday June 18, Munster

 

Tonights campsite on a horse farm!

This is a catch up “two day”!! Yesterday we spent another day annoying Conny and Hitten. At 9am Ian and Hitten took my bike to see if they could get the brakes fixed, as the fluid had leaked out and needed to be replaced. At the first place they were too busy to even look at it, so they went to another and Kitten played the “help the Kiwi’s Card” and the guy said to leave it with him and to come back just before 5pm, and sure enough he had fixed it, very grateful, maybe no more trips down banks!.

Conny and I went to their supermarket, Edeka, for me to have a bit of a shop. It was very busy and I must admit to being quite overwhelmed by all that was available but managed to find what was on my list with a bit of help from Conny interpreting labels. We have spent quite a bit of time in Germany over the last few years, and things started coming back!

Amazon delivered the parcels that we were waiting for including some new levellers for the motorhome when we are not on an even surface. The others had given up after 3 years of Ruakiwi sitting on them in storage. And a pair of bike pants for me. Decided I needed a bit more comfort!!. Also, thanks to an idea from Kathy, I got a large hanging shoe type shelves for my wardrobe to utilise the space better and it works a treat.

Last night we wandered along the road to their local restaurant and sat outside on a balmy evening and enjoyed some good German schnitzel. And later, time to sit in their garden and enjoy a nightcap. It is not getting dark until well after 10.

It was a leisurely start this morning packing up our bedroom and shifting back into the van. And most impressed when Conny showed us her Robot Vacuum Cleaner that you just set and forget….most impressed!

Unusually for us, we had pre- booked a camping place just 5 kms out of Munster on a horse farm, were concerned being a long weekend that we wanted to make sure of a place. Just like in NZ, many people bought motorhomes during the pandemic and there are many more campers on the roads. Got Jilly set for the route and we set off about 10am. Most of the drive was on motorways and autobahns….where there are no speed limits! Saw so many Ferraris in the fast lane, while we trundled safely along in the inside lane. It was an incident free drive (the navigator was in top form!), with most of it through the busy towns surrounding Dusseldorf.

Arrived at our campsite which is on a horse farm, and it was a hive of activity. There were miniature ponies being led out by young children, older students having lessons and cars everywhere. Our spot is out in the field away from the stables with a nice breeze which we are very grateful of as the temperature is 32 and very humid.

Tomorrow we are going to ride in and explore Munster so got the bikes out this afternoon and had a short ride into a neighbouring village. Still getting used to the rules for cyclists with their special lanes and traffic lights. We have learnt that you have to ride on the footpath on the same side of the road as cars. Tonight, we watched as almost 200 horses were let out from the stables into the fields, the first hundred or so were miniature horses. Made quite a sight and those horses were very pleased to be out grazing. 

 

The Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Farewell Dinner