Leaving Belgium we headed in to South West Germany our first stop being in Trier parking next to the Moselle river. Walking into town on the Sunday morning we stopped off for coffee and cake at a delightful coffee shop called Maria’s Kaffeestubchen the service was first class and the coffee and cake was to die for.

Continuing our walk into the town centre there was an obvious mix of tourists and locals, the tourists obviously on the circuit around the town and the locals socialising with friends and family in the coffee houses, wine bars and restaurants creating a relaxed atmosphere.

As tourists we chose to visit the main cathedral Domstadt St Peter and the adjacent museum. The cathedral is a UNESCO world heritage site being the oldest cathedral in Germany built upon the foundation’s of a group of ancient Roman buildings called Augusta Treverorum. The artefacts discovered during numerous archaeological excavations of the site were housed in the museum.

We also visited the site of Porta Nigra the original Roman gate to the city and walking back into the town centre we diverted through the original archway to what remained of the old Jewish quarter.

After stopping for a well deserved drink at an on street cafe we proceeded to Karl Marx birthplace which had been converted to a museum of his life. The exhibition was revealing in having always thought of him as the sole author of Das Kapital we discovered that others had contributed and that two of the three volumes were published posthumously after being edited and completed by his colleague and friend Friedrich Engels. The museum information claims that Marx thought his work as not being a finished theory and it begs the question as to would he have published the final volumes as we have come to know them or would he have developed his theories further? Is the Das Kapital we know his work or Engels?

To end the day a final walk along the river back to camp looking back at the original Roman bridge which is still in use today. Wow those Romans!

Neustadt an der Weinstrabe

Next morning we set off for the wine growing region of the Rhineland Palatine arriving around teatime we decided to walk into town and do a reccy for the following day. Having meandered around and discovered there was a historical walking route which we could do we wandered into the main square and decided to dine out. We chose an outside table at one of the many restaurants and ordered some food and wine.Well the wine was divine so with his limited German Charles discovered the wines origin which was a vineyard en route for us so we scheduled a visit into our itinerary.

The following morning we went back into town to do the historical walk but gave up after finding ourselves walking in circles and getting frustrated, however we did find an ancient street called Metzgergasse alley as described in the pictures below. A visit to the vineyard sounded more welcoming so off we went, two cases of wine later we departed for Baden-Baden.

Baden-Baden

A town famous for its mineral waters in the same way in Britain we think of Bath and Buxton.The main spa attraction is built on the site of the original Roman baths, we chose not to visit the baths instead we visited the Faberge museum. The museum was set up by a Russian emigre who had amassed one of the largest private collections of Faberge artefacts. We learned that Faberge did not spend his time bent over a jewellers work bench but his job was to design and manage a very skilled workforce who made his reputation.

Amongst the collection there was a display of early Colombian gold which was absolutely exquisite for its variety of very simple but fine and ornate objects. There was also a book of photographs that captured the horrendous conditions of the work force that mined the gold.

After the museum we decided to walk the famous Lichtentaler Allee which is a 2.5 kilometre long footpath dating back to the mid 1600s. Originally this path led from the Cistercian Abbey on the outskirts of town into the heart of the city centre. It was a delightful stroll along the river Oos with 300 variety of trees, and separate rose and dahlia gardens. The walk was flanked by very large spa hotels and private houses whose grounds came down to the riverbank.

Bodensee

Bodensee is a very large lake bordering Switzerland and very popular as a holiday area.After two weeks on the road we felt this would be an ideal area to take time out to catch up with some domestics and have a break from travelling. We based ourselves just outside a small town called Langenargen to which we could walk within half an hour along the lakeside marina to take a train to Lindau island where we enjoyed a circular walk from the harbour around the old town window shopping and stopping for coffee and cake.

Besides being a lakeside holiday area the whole Bodensee region was one of vineyards and commercial fruit farms (apples, pears, cherries, and strawberries.)

After our short time in France surrounded by war graves and sites we decided that before continuing southwards we should visit a war cemetery and Mons being so famous and close by we decided to stopover for a couple of nights. It was a good choice as we later learned that Mons is where the British entered the war and the first British bullet was fired.

On arriving we realised that Mons had more to offer in the shape of numerous museums of interest, a cathedral and a very attractive town centre.

Our first visit was to the Mons military museum which was very informative as it not only covered both world wars it described the numerous historical battles for the control of Mons itself going as far back as the Middle Ages.

It had a very good visual display showing the moving lines of battle and how the allies were encircled and pushed back resulting in the evacuation at Dunkirk and an insight on the planning of the evacuation. A small exploratory force had been sent to test that the sand would take the weight of the vehicles and a group of soldiers were practising for the evacuation on the Welsh coast. They were spotted by German submarines subsequently attacked and many died, not something you learn in history books.

Sadly the other two places that interested us were not accessible to us, the Francois Duesberg clock museum was closed though it was published as being open and the Bam museum was restricted to members of the press only for a pre show viewing.

We had noticed there was an event called The night of dance in the main square that evening so to salve our disappointment we grabbed a pavement table for a few drinks and a meal whilst we watched the first couple of hours of the show before heading back to Vinnie.

Before leaving the next morning we visited the Commonwealth war cemetery which also included other members of the allied forces ie: Polish, Russian, Romanian and American. It also contained the grave of Pte J.L.Price of the 28th Canadian regiment, the last soldier recorded as killed in the Great War a tragic two minutes before the Armistice surrender.

After a number of years here we are “on the road again” aiming for Greece via Croatia, with no predetermined route to guide our journey allowing ourselves the freedom to explore.

Our first stop after disembarking the ferry at Calais was a small town named St Omer with a population of 15000. We drove into the main square in the early afternoon just as everywhere closed for lunch, so we had a quick wander around intending to come back and explore the following day. Unfortunately we woke up to torrential rain which was forecast to continue throughout the day so decided to decamp and move on.

Our intention had been to head towards an area of National forest at Le Quesnoy but had noted on the maps the existence of a Matisse museum at Le Cateau.

Le Cateau- Cambresis

The journey to Le Cateau was through vast areas of farmland very similar to that of Lincolnshire but on a much grander scale. It was a very poignant journey due to the numerous war graves and monuments relating to both world wars which were in evidence along the route and were a sobering reminder of what had taken place and the lives that had been lost.
The Matisse museum was a disappointment to us, having gone with little knowledge of his work we found his art did not capture our imagination. However the work of Genevieve Claisse we found dramatic, bold and interesting.
Our curiosity satisfied we completed our journey to Le Quesnoy

Le Quesnoy

This location being on the edge of a large National forest had seemed an ideal spot to begin a walking and cycling holiday in an area of natural beauty. However we found the available information lacked detail and when combined with the poor location signing as we drove through the forest points of interest became impossible to find.

The city itself turned out to be very interesting with the history behind its fortifications ( dating back to the 12th century ) and its part as an occupied city in WW1 and its amazing liberation by New Zealand forces a week before the Armistice.

To understand why a special bond has formed between the city and New Zealand the act of liberation needs to be explained. For four years 1500 German soldiers had controlled the city and being a fortified city with stone and brick embankments some 10metres high in places defence had seemed relevantly easy. What the New Zealanders did was find the point of weakness that allowed a small detachment using ladders to scale the wall and create a secure access point for the rest of the regiment to follow.

This heroic act came at the cost to the New Zealand division of 114 deaths and 464 casualties. The city in thanks have created a series of tributes including a memorial, a gate of honour and a garden of remembrance and continue to hold ceremonies on Anzac Day.

Next stop on our list was Franz Joseph glacier, we arrived early afternoon so visited the West Coast Wildlife centre leaving the forty five minute walk to the glacier for early evening.

The centre breeds two of the world’s rarest kiwi, the Rowi and Haast tokoeka it also has a good heritage, conservation and glacier display. The Kiwi can actually be viewed in a darkened enclosure which mimics their natural habitat, they are a very timid bird so silence and good night time vision is required. There were only two chicks in the enclosure and difficult to make out not helped by a child having a tantrum then a man coughing which sent them scurrying back into the nesting box so we went round a second time and had a great view.

Later we walked along a very stony pathway to the edge of the glacier which was not as spectacular as we thought it was going to be. During the last ice age both Franz Joseph and Fox glacier reached the sea unfortunately climate change has seen them recede to where they are today. I met a lady on the campsite who had been here 22 years ago and at that time she said you could walk up to and on them which really bought home the devastating affect of climate change.

The walk to the glacier was enjoyable following the river and enjoying the many waterfalls cascading down the rock face which made up for the disappointing end.

En route to Fiordland we stopped overnight at a place called Cromwell which had an interesting history, in 1992 they built a dam which flooded the historic town centre as well as homes and surrounding farms. To preserve some of the historic buildings they were disassembled and rebuilt in a pedestrianised area next to the river. It is also situated at the centre of the prestigious Otago wine region so after visiting the historic area we called in at one of the wineries for a tasting session and some lunch. I am normally a Sauvignon drinker whilst Charles will drink whatever is on offer but does enjoy a good Rioja, so I was surprised when I opted for a reisling which normally is to sweet but this had a nice citric back taste and Charles found a nice Pinot noir needless to say we left with a few bottles tucked safely in the van.

Further down the road we called in at Queenstown to find someone who could fix the World Wide Web device that kept playing up. After numerous circuits of the town we finally found a car park where I sat in the van whilst Charles did his business, I had seen enough to ascertain it was just one mass tourist attraction extremely busy and not for me. Then on to Fiordland to try and get on to a trip around Doubtful sound, most people head for Milford sound but our friendly Kiwi back at the lakes said Doubtful was better and he had visited three times. We headed straight for the quayside at Manapouri and booked on to the eight o’clock sailing next morning so as it was late it was straight to site eat and bed.

Photographs do not always do justice to your surroundings as they only capture a snippet of what the eye sees and I feel that our photographs do not do the Sound justice. To be on this great expanse of water dwarfed by the surrounding mountains with their many waterfalls was surreal.

On leaving Karamea We headed to the Wild Food festival at a place called Hokitika but first we had to visit the grey fur seal colony at Cape Foulmouth on the outskirts of Westport. Well worth the effort as there were many adults and pups soaking up the sun on the rocks and in small pool many of the pups were splashing and frolicking around.

We pulled in at a campsite opposite a glow worm dell and with access to a beach renowned for the little blue penguins. Dusk found us sitting on the beach in the hope of spotting the odd penguin coming ashore, out of luck we headed to the glow worm dell and yes they were in residence. Unfortunately photographs do not reflect the flashes of small light that you see with your eyes, you would need a very long exposure and tripod to capture this display. Apparently they are not worms at all but a native fungus gnat larvae with luminescent organs that produces a greenish light attractive to insects which they feed on, the glow worms that shine the brightest are the hungriest.

The following day found us in town at the food festival which is the annual highlight of Hokitika drawing people in from all over the country. It has been going for nearly thirty years and attracts the adventurous eater that wants to try the weird and unusual. Whilst there were some unusual foods on offer ie: huhu grubs both alive and cooked, mountain oysters (sheeps testicles) and gulls eggs but most of it was very ordinary. What was entertaining were the people themselves that had taken this opportunity to dress up weird and wacky either individually or collectively.

Throughout the day we were entertained by a variety of musicians and an air display by the New Zealand Air Force.

An early starts sees us boarding the ferry for South Island, unfortunately I missed the dolphins swimming across the bow of the ferry and the sailing through Marlborough sound as I was engrossed in my book for the whole crossing. Charles says Marlborough sound was stunning its beauty being the combination of sailing through a meandering gorge whilst surrounded by steep heavily forested landscape into which was built the odd isolated dwelling with no sign of road access. Boats rule ok!

Once off the ferry we had decided to head straight for the west coast,everybody had been telling us “West was best” so we thought we would check for ourselves. We had read that a beautiful but off the track area was the West’s most northern town of Karamea, this place was literally at the end of the road where the famous 80km Heaphy trail began (or ended depending your direction of travel) The Heaphy is considered THE wilderness walk and is a 4 day walk minimum, we don’t have any photos unfortunately as surprise we gave it a miss on this occasion!

So Karamea bound we were and our journey took us through the Famous Marlborough vineyards, amazing to see such an expanse of vines but we were glad when the scenery changed ( sorry Mr V you can have too much). Our Satnav slowly took us away from Marlborough and we headed into farming country ( sheep, beef and deer) and into and over the Buller gorge and pass, where (although for me with my fear of heights was a nail biting experience) the views were awesome.Karamea was no more than a small settlement of five hundred people with a real sense of remoteness yet we have both voted it our favourite place and we would defy anyone not to love the area and landscape. The camp site was part of the old Rugby ground at the back of the town school and run by a local committee who had provided some of the best facilities we have encountered on our travels.

We needed to hire a car to visit the wilderness highlight of the Oparara basin through which ran the access road to the Oparara arch. Our site manager Doug told it was not accessible by campervan and he pointed us in the direction of a local family that not only did car hire but also delivered the mail, ran the school bus and a weekly bus service over the mountain road into Westport.We walked into the “town” which was no more than a handful of shops and having organised the car hire via the information centre went for a coffee at what transpired was the epicentre of Karamea.

That evening we took a walk along the riverside to the mouth of the estuary and on to the beach which we shared with a diverse number of wading birds and not a human in sight.The river is popular for large trout fishing and in season the area is overrun by whitebait fisherman (no wonder at $80 dollars a kilo)

9am and the hired car arrived and after Charles returned from taking the driver back to base we set off. After twisting our way up a steep stony track we arrived at the car park from which the track to the arches started but before heading off we were intrigued by movements in the trees and spotted the rare Tui bird sitting on a branch singing its heart out. A plain black bird that looks like it has cotton wool balls either side of its neck of course we snapped a photo, we were also lucky enough to spot the rare blue duck during our walk.

The walk to the arch was interesting but the arch which was formed by the the water of the river interacting with the limestone and washing a hole through was itself disappointing. It was only a short walk so returning to the car park we took an alternative track to the mirror tarn which did in fact reflect all the surrounding vegetation, a quiet contemplative spot in which to quietly sit and enjoy nature. Further along we came across the Moria Gate arch much smaller than the Oparara arch which because of its setting we preferred. With all our meandering off track we had used up most of the day so our plans to also complete a walk through a palm forest was put off till the following day.

A perfect end to a perfect day was a beautiful double rainbow followed by yet another amazing sunset that we sat and watched until it had totally disappeared over the horizon.

Before leaving the following day we took a walk through the palm forest that ran alongside the bay and was where the Heaphy track either started or ended. Our aim was to walk to Scott’s Beach which was 45 minutes each way but decided to call it a day and make do with a few photos from the look out point and then get on our way to our next stop at Westport which was just a quick overnight stop so that we could visit the seal colony the next day.

Leaving the Northlands and heading south we had an overnight stop in Hamilton so that we could visit the only tea plantation in New Zealand on the outskirts of the town.

The Zeelong tea estate was founded by Mr Chen and his son who noticed that the flowering Camelia grew profusely in the area, in his homeland of Taiwan it was used to make tea. Starting with only one hundred and thirty cuttings they have gone on to propagate over 1.2 million tea plants producing Oolong tea. The estate is picture perfect with beautifully maintained growing fields a main office building and separate visitors centre built in very modern designs with both garden and grounds home to numerous hand crafted copper statues and sculptures. We arrived to late for the morning tour and would not be around for the afternoon tour so we settled for a pot of tea each in the restaurant area and on leaving we purchased a sample pack to take home with us.

Art Deco was calling so we hit the road and headed for Napier finding a freedom campsite overlooking the beach and only a short walk into town.

The museum had a very informative display of photographs, newspaper cuttings and information displays on the 1931 earthquake that devastated both Napier and the nearby town of Hastings as well as a video of survivors reliving their individual memories of that day which was very poignant. The rebuilding of the town coincided with the popularity of the Art Deco style shaping the design of the majority of the new buildings. Unfortunately the modern trend of large shop fronts has detracted from the beauty of Art Deco leaving the original designs mostly above ground level. However this has not stopped the city celebrating its uniqueness by having an Art Deco festival at the beginning of March each year.

The rubble from the collapsed buildings was used to rebuild the towns sea defences along the beach front with extensive landscaping to create a promenade which has overtime been developed to cater for all ages providing sunken gardens, seating areas around water features, skateboard and bmx ramps, a marine aquarium and numerous areas with play and fitness equipment.

The next stop was to satisfy Charles desire to visit the museum in North Palmerston dedicated to the history of the All Blacks which he found was fascinating, a small museum that managed to have displays about all the rugby union playing countries of the world. The two things that he learnt was that a) the first official New Zealand Rugby team shirt was purple with a fern in gold thread for the badge and b) the first wearing of the famous black shirt with a silver fern was actually by the 1888 New Zealand Natives (a Maori team and unofficial NZ Rugby team).

They travelled to Australia, Egypt and the British Isles in what has proved to be the longest tour in the history of rugby (108 matches in fourteen months) and becoming known as the All Blacks and were one of the most successful All Black touring sides in history.

I left Charles to his rugby and took myself off to explore the museum and gallery which was in the same complex and I was treated to the best display of ceramics I have seen in one place all by various artists. I am not a Lego person but my curiosity took me to the upper floor of the museum where there was a Lego display I was impressed, not only did they have large models of various personalities from Star Wars and the spaceships, the really big Wow was watching a video of an artist who had used Lego for his medium and created some spectacular works of art which were on display in New York certainly someone I shall look out for.

Having met up for coffee we took a stroll around the town and took a few pics.

Our final destination on North island was Owhiro bay a marine reserve on the outskirts of Wellington to be on hand to catch the ferry the next morning. Yet another freedom campsite which we shared with many like minded travellers. We arrived on what was an extremely hot afternoon so kept cool in the camper van all windows and doors open encouraging a cooling sea breeze to waft through. Later when early evening bought some cooler weather we stepped out for a walk along the beach (really a shingle path) aiming for The Red rocks and Bach’s (kiwi version of a beach hut)

Tomorrow the final leg of our journey.

Whangerai delivered a pleasant surprise by way of its river setting and a spectacular garden created within a disused quarry. After strolling along the river bank into the harbour area and indulging in a massive ice cream

we made our way to the quarry garden located on the outskirts of town, a walk that proved longer than anticipated ( one of those where you hope your destination is just around the corner and your heart sinks to your boots when it is not) Soon forgot how tired we felt when we started to explore, plants that we would take home from the local garden centre and nurture lovingly growing naturally into trees and large shrubs paths weaving you here and there until you end up at a lake and small waterfall, BEAUTIFUL!

From Whangerei we headed to the Bay of Islands leaving the main highway to take the coast road to a small town called Russell. A spectacular drive up and down a mountainous rd that ran parallel to the sea the occasional bay coaxing us in to take a closer look finally arriving at our destination late afternoon. We took a stroll around the town and promenade which boasted a swish looking hotel and a fig tree approx 200 years old. There were no facilities for parking the camper van overnight so we found a quiet lay by on the ferry road parked and set up our table and chairs, turned out we were next to a conservation area and the start of a nature walk. Quietly sipping our wine we were joined by a small family of what we thought were long tail tits then low and behold as they alighted on the tree branches their tails spread up and out like fans, unfortunately we were to slow to get a photograph. But we did photo them another day and this is them.

The ferry crossing next morning was really short as we were only crossing a small estuary which linked Russell and the main Bay of Islands town called Paihia which lacked the elegance of Russell and was obviously catering for the tourist trade. We made our way to the nearby Waitangi treaty grounds sited on a headland where the Treaty house was built in 1832 for a British resident and Crown Representative named James Busby and where forty three Maori chiefs signed the treaty of Waitangi with the British crown thus becoming part of the British empire. Across the lawn from the house a Maori meeting house was built in 1940 to mark the centenary of the treaty, the entrance and interior were beautifully carved. We and other visitors were treated to a typical Maori welcome and inside entertained with a Maori song and dance display.

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From Waitangi we headed for the lakes on the west coast but not before stopping to see Tane Mahuta ( the largest Kauri tree alive at 51.5 metres tall and a girth of 13.8 metres), this tree is estimated to be 2000 years old. The Kauri are an endangered species due to a disease that is decimating the forests, therefore the authorities are very strict on you cleansing your footwear before and after entering the forests and that you stay on the designated tracks. (On entering the country customs were very keen that anyone with hiking boots that had been hiking in foreign parts declared this as they went through or face a hefty fine, thankfully we passed muster. 😁

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We arrived at the lakes in time to snap a fabulous sunset and engage in a friendly conversation with a fellow camper who gave us plenty of tips on places to visit on South Island. Not somewhere that enticed us to stay longer so headed across to Napier on the east coast.

Stopping off on the way at a place called Dargaville as the local museum intrigued me. What a gem for a small museum it was jam packed with loads of interesting items all donated by local townsfolk. The highlight was the history of the gum diggers from which the town has grown. They were mainly immigrants from Dalmatia (now known as Croatia) and what a hard life it would have been. The gum was dug from the ground by hand then cleaned and sorted, some of the pieces on display looked very similar to amber.

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