This campsite in Dresden takes the cake for value for money and its a great easy to use tidy campsite and is well used. It is completely automated with entry barrier arms where you take a ticket like a carpark and you pay when you exit. There is a graphic based machine which allows you pay with different languages and also dispenses tokens for both the showers and the power.
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Harry and Ralph on the Stellplatz
When we arrived at Schaeffer Mobile Stellplatz, we simply rocked up to a barrier arm and pushed a button for a card, just as you would in a parking building.
The entranceway
As we drove in there were 6 rows of parks on either side and it was simply just a case of selecting a park. After parking, there was just the job of plugging in to the power which is charged by the kwh.
All very simple.
The front of the dealers yard. Stellplatz behind.
There was no one anywhere near the site apart from the camping shop, and the Hymer / Dethleff / Concorde dealership in front.
Vans for sale. You can see the barrier arms and the camped vans out the back.
We ordered hot bread for 8 am in the morning for a couple of Euro’s .. magic!
The drive over grey dump and the pay as you go fresh water.
All you had to do was keep an eye on your power consumption as an electric jug would eat through your tokens for power depending on your consumption.
Fiona, Dianne and Gary walking baack to harry and Ralph.
For two days staying with free wifi, toilets, black and grey water the total was 30 Euros for two days stay and 4 euros for power (We had an electric jug!)
Busy and Popular Campsite
There was free Wifi and the water was 50c (Euro) per 50 litres and you could buy different amounts. Black and grey dumping was free.
NZ equivalent = about $60!! .. good value..
Harry and Ralph
I can see this working well for the NZMCA sites, even partially where they have power available and charged by the kWh for those who want to use it.
We arrived in Berlin pretty knackered as although it is only 3 hours driving from Hanover, it is all on the Autobahn and is very boring driving. The only break in the steady lines on the road flashing by and lots of trees was when we spotted a car upside down on the other side of the Autobahn. Its amazing how quickly the traffic builds up. When we passed it going the other way, it must have only just happened and within a few minutes, the queue was about 8 k’s long! With us averaging about 85 K’s an hour, cars were zooming by as if we were standing still!
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Dianne, Gary and Fiona opposite with Harry
We were about to have our first experience in a Stellplatz. This one was in Tegel which is one of Berlins north western suburbs on the end of the underground line. It was about 20 minutes walk to the underground from the Stellplatz so was very handy.
Ralph behaving himself in the corner
Stellplatz are quite different to what we are used to in NZ in that you are charged for every single thing you do, usually resulting in a cheap stay but this one was expensive by the time you added everything up, and for its money was pretty scruffy and unkempt.
One of the nice things about it was their setup of both the Black water disposal and the Grey water. The Black water was done on a stainless steel bench where you stuck your cassette neck into a flexible 4 inch pipe and out it went. You could then rinse it out but being at a bench height, you didn’t have to bend down and murder your back! It was almost like the good old days at school doing a science experiment 🙂
The Grey water was done with a stainless bucket on the end of a hose which you unclipped from a post and stuck under your grey water outlet and then let rip. All very easy.
The Grey and fresh water tower at the Stellplatz
After a good nights sleep, we were up early and onto the undergound to do the round and round bus trip. We figured this would be the best way to see heaps and then we could go to what we really wanted to see after that.
Fiona, Dianne and Gary waiting for the train back to Tegel
The Berlin Library where they burnt the books
The old Reichstag
Checkpoint Charlie
A Chunk of the wall
Tourists br the Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate
One thing that really stuck out was seeing the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. To see all this was quite sobering and seeing Berlin as it is now, you can only imagine how awful it must have been for so many having the wall up and everything that went with it.
The wallCheckpoint Charlie
The next day, Fiona and I caught the train back into town to see the Jewish Memorial which is a huge area down by Brandenburg Gate with several hundred big concrete boxes.
You can see a persons head popping up through the concrete blocks at the Jewish Memorial
Its an amazing thing to see and you can walk among the boxes and get lost in them. An awful reminder of a truly awful time in our history and with the current generation of Berliners being so helpful and nice everywhere, it is quite amazing to think that this could have happened here.
Fiona at the Jewish Memorial
As we left the Stellplatz the next day and headed towards Dresden and as we were just around the corner from one of Europe’s bigger motorhome accessory shops, it would have been rude not to stop by and peruse the shelves of this great store called Berger. You can find it here at www.fritz-berger.de
A happy Wurlitzer player at the Brandenburg Gate
A lovely city, the weather wasn’t up to much while we were there but we saw the essentials and we’ll be back.
Thats the name of the Motor camp we stayed in in Hanover and is about 4 k’s south of the City.
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It is a huge area surrounding a lake of Chalets and parking areas for Motorhomes Caravans and tents and is fully equiped and even has its own restaurant.
The View
In Germany, everything is priced separately including “Strom” which is power and is charged by the KWH but actually works out to be pretty reasonable.
A happy wee RalphFiona and Gary at tea time
Some caravanners just along from us seemed to spend quite a bit of time in the water and it looks nice.
Our view at Drinks time.
Stepping back a wee bit … As we approached the border into Germany from Holland, the motorway suddenly became a parking lot and everyone was redirected off into a parking area and separated into lanes by the German Police.
We were selected for an extra look and presented our passports and our smiley faces. After answering a few basic questions of where we’d been and where we were going, the nice older Copper waved us through. I think he was more excited about seeing some NZ passports for a change 🙂
It seems they were quite stressed about the G20 summit that was on in Hamburg as he advised us not to go there as it was “difficult”!
Drinks time
Needless to say, we were relieved to be sitting down under Gary and Diannes awning having our first glass of wine that afternoon in a very nice Camping Ground 🙂
And it is Amsterdam. Dianne found a great camping ground just on the edge of town surrounded by Canals. The campground sold 3 day tickets where you could swipe on or off the tram as much as you liked. This worked really well.
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Ralph and Harry in Amsterdam
The first night we went in to have a bit of look around and ended up having tea in the town and checking out the red light area.
Fiona, Gary and Dianne trying to find somewhere to eat
Day two we got up early and headed in so Fiona could check out the Art in Rijksmuseum.
A Famous walk bridge
One of the oldest foot bridges over a canal
Bike mayhem
The car accident on the bridge
A Dethleffs in the campground 🙂
Lots of young people in tents in our campground.
Gary, Fiona and Dianne at a cafe
On the way there was a car accident on one of the bridges so that was as far as the Tram could go. One of the downsides of Trams of course is they can’t go around the obstruction so we walked the rest of the way.
We stopped at a pub on the first night by the Cathedral for a beer One of the larger canals where the accident was.
While Fiona was at the Art Museum, Gary, Dianne and I got on a Hop on Hop off round and Round open roof ferry. For 19 Euros, we could go right around the city by Canal with an audio commentary which was fantastic. Not great for taking piccies as you could only shoot out of the sides.
During the Hop on Hop off trip
One of comments which came across was that the canals are 3 metres deep. One metre of Water, One Metre of Mud and another Metre of bicycles 🙂
Madame Tussauds in the Dam square
On our third day there, Fiona and Dianne were keen to check out a Diamond Factory. I didn’t think I’d like it but I found it quite interesting. It was quite tourist tatty and the free coffee was awful but great to see.
Fiona with a big sample Diamond
One of the curious things I found with Amsterdam is Bikes have right of way over EVERYTHING!
One of the oldest foot bridges over a canal
The Bike lanes are everywhere and they go like the clappers and they simply ring the bell if you get in their way. It is quite intimidating. Also in the bike lanes are scooters and small cars and they go even faster. Often there is only a few inches between the edge of the footpath and a scooter doing 30-40kph! .. Its not uncommon to see people speeding along on bikes on their cell phone with a child strapped on somewhere.
Bikes rule !
So much history.. most of the buildings are centuries old and some have a lean either forward or sideways 🙂
Next to the campground.
Amsterdam is a really interesting city. Next were moving on to Germany.
Just north of Amsterdam is a charming little coastal City of Alkmaar. The central part of the town is basically on an island ringed by canals.
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Ralph and Harry. Gary getting his bike ready
We stopped at Alkmaar Camping which is just on the edge of town but an easy 20 minutes into town by bike. It is supposed to take 10 but as usual, we got lost but we got there in the end 🙂
The Campground is well set up but for what it is, I thought it was a tad on the expensive side at 32 Euros a night for two but its very easy to get into town and a nice relaxing spot to stop.
Fiona on a mission
After we arrived from Arnhem, we got the bikes ready and headed off into town. As I said earlier, yep, we managed to get lost on the way but quickly found our way into town. We locked our bikes together at the big church in the middle of town and then headed off down the narrow streets. Its a charming place and being a Sunday afternoon market day, the place was chocker. It was alive and kicking!
The main “shoe shop” street with the Church at the other end.
About about an hour or so, after the girls had checked out nearly every shoes and clothes shop down the main street, we made it to the canal down the other end. It was just a great sight. Everything you see in the tourist brochures and some.
The Canal by the coffee shop
People enjoying a cuppa in outdoor cafes by the canal, people in boats and it seemed to be all about people watching and shopping, drinking and eating! Way to go:-)
People getting together
We eventually ran out of shoes shops and started heading back to the bikes and made our way back to the camp, nearly getting lost a second time !
Dianne and Gary in the main street
By the canal
People watching
Apparently there is a beach on the North Sea only 15 minutes bike ride from here but we’re heading towards Amsterdam next.
We arrived in Arnhem mid afternoon after 2 easy hours driving on Motorways from Brugge. You don’t even know you are crossing the border. Its amazing.
Harry and ralph at the Arnhem campground
In Europe, it pays to book ahead with the campgrounds but we took pot luck and there was plenty of room. Great campground with all the facilities and reasonably priced I thought at 26 Euros for two per night.
Outside the campground figuring out the buses.
The next day, the weather was miserable and it was drizzly and threatening to rain so we caught a bus into Arnhem Centrum and then another virtually straight away out to Oosterbeek where the Airborne Museum is for the Battle of Arnhem.
An Allied tank outside the Museum
This was one of the battles the Allies lost in the final push towards Germany towards the end of the war.
In Arnhem city.. Dianne and Fiona navigating
The Allies Headquarters during the war but now the Airborne Museum
Dianne and Fiona arriving back with food
Outside the Airborne Museum
Its a great tribute to the Allies involved and there is lots of memorabilia there. Its a must do if you’re in the area.
Shopping at Arnhem
One the way back, between buses, we checked out the town and then headed back to the vans at the camp. A really interesting city and one worth checking out.
After checking out the new Niesmann and Bichoff at Telford, we all piled into Gary and Diannes, Harry the Hymer and headed to Milton Keynes through the traffic to collect Ralph the rental Hymer. We arrived just before 5pm and Peter the proprietor, gave me a run down on Ralph. Where the hoses were, the camp chairs etc and how everything worked.
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Ralph is a real hard case machine. Its a 1992 Hymer with a 5 cylinder 2.9 litre Mercedes with automatic trans. It starts first pop everytime despite its 250000 miles on the clock. Its a fun wagon.
The Hymers in the carpark at Bearsted
We stopped at a Caravan park in Bearsted after battling the M1 traffic for a couple of hours and we arrived 3 minutes late at 8.03pm. The sign said no admittance after 8pm so we spent the night out in the carpark but still had to pay what I thought were extortionate fees of 34GPB (NZ$70!) without power and not much else. What a welcome .. Dianne rang and we were basically told “Rules are Rules !” .. not a nice welcome…no wonder the other Caravan Association calls themselves “the friendly group”.
We were close to the Channel Tunnel for the next morning and that was all that mattered.
We were away at 8:30 to get on the Chunnel Train. We arrived quite early and clocked in through both borders and parked our car in the C lane and went to get a cup of tea and look at the duty free stuff.
Fiona and Dianne with the Hymers waiting to board the train.
Gary and I stumbled on this amazing deal for internet for roaming all over Europe with a prepaid card from 3. All the Truckies use it apparently but its great.
After an hour of cups of coffee we were asked to line up Harry and Ralph Hymers and get ready for the train. Its was amazing how quiet and how easy it was.. very streamlined. Dianne even got a wink from the French immigration man with his “lovely accent”!
Dianne and Fiona at the Duty free terminal waiting for the boarding signal.
About 10 minutes early, we were asked to move the Hymers onto the train.
Our view of Harry on the crossing
We drove up over a small bridge and then straight down a ramp and the sideways onto the train. You drive through the carriages until you get as far forward as you can then they chock your wheels.
Harry leading the charge off the Chunnel Train in France
Fiona while we were crossing the Chunnel
The nice French chaps helping us off
Sideways off the Chunnel Train
20 minutes later with what was a very easy smooth ride and we were in France. It only took about 10 minutes and we were cruising up the carriageway to Belgium.
The Chunnel station in France with Harry on the ramp
This is one of those real gems. We’ve stayed here a few times now and it although the facilities are a bit rustic, they’re clean, they work, its a reasonable price and they’re nice people.
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The parking out the back.. early morning
We checked in at the hotel and after parking Rafe, we were pleasantly surprised to see it was pretty dry given the rain the area had been getting. The secret was that there is a good layer of scoria under the grass where you park. There was a couple of ruts from earlier people but they were easily avoided and it was easy peasy.
After having a look at the Coromandel Mining Museum up the road a wee bit, we went for another walk into Coromandel town for a look around for an hour or so and then wandered back. The shops were open yippee! The Mining Museum is run by volunteers and it is well worth a look at it.. really interesting with a lot of images of early Coromandel. I even found a list of the rules of being a Teacher in the 1870’s… quite funny looking at it now but they were deadly serious.
Coromandel Hotel
After getting back to the Hotel, we went for a drink in the Hotel and later had a meal there.
The Ablutions
The food is something else.. We both had Pork Belly and it was amazing. I even sent a happy snap off my phone to a mate in Taupo and he agreed by long distance.
The Pork Belly Yummmm!
Great hospitality, the food is fantastic and its an easy walk to town.
Rafe’s Tracker map to the Coromandel Hotel – Armada GPS
After checking in with Leanne, the camp manager, she advised us that as they had huge amounts of rain, they still had some sites we could use but most of it was roped off due to mud and slush. This is normally a magnificent part of Coromandel and to see it like this was a real shame for them… its only water and will dry out but with the Covid thing and everything else, they needed that like a hole in the head.
I was given the option of two waterfront dryish sites to park on and we easily got in without skidding but the mud was out there 🙂
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At Long Bay
Tucks Bay
Tucks Bay from the headland
Once we’d plugged in and settled Rafe, we set off for a walk around the headland towards Tucks Bay. You can also camp around there as well. Its an easy 15 minute walk each way and is well worth doing. There is also the Kauri grove as well up behind the camp which is well worth checking out too but we didn’t get to do that this time.
The track back to Long Bay from Tucks Bay Tucks Bay
With the clouds blowing away later in the day, it was just amazing sitting on the side of the beach doing absolutely nothing but taking it all in.
Great sunset
A great destination with plenty to see and do… stick this one on your to do list.!
Its amazing who you end up meeting in campgrounds! After our first night in the Greytown Motor Camp, we moved to a sunnier site with more room next to Karen and Ian who were staying in their new Eldiss Caravan while they have their house built in Masterton.
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Ian and Karen with their Caravan
I popped my head in the door and introduced myself. Later in the day we got chatting and I discovered that they too were an Army family along with hearing about their huge success in the Olive industry.
They started their Olive business around 2001 by planting their first 1200 trees and later added more in 7 different varieties to bring the total trees up to approximately 1900. Over the course of the last 10 years, they have won numerous awards for the quality and flavours of their oil.
The Eldiss
Last year they sold their business, Juno Olives, bought a caravan, are building a new house in Masterton and retiring! A busy year… All going well the house will be ready in July.
The caravan is a brand new Eldiss Explor with a rear bathroom and Karen’s favorite part, the HUGE shower. Downsizing from their house to their first experience in a caravan, they found the awning an absolute necessity along with the motor movers for shuffling it around at campsites.
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Bedroom
Inside the awning
The Eldiss
Karen with a bottle of her Olive oil
Ian and Karen with their Caravan
Ian spent 20 odd years as an officer in the NZ Army specialising in Ammunition’s and Ballistics. He later spent many years in project management before the Olive industry beckoned. Karen was an Editor with TVNZ for years and later became a Technical Writer after doing a degree.
Its fascinating talking to people with these different backgrounds and working out how they both got from there to growing Olives 🙂
I’ve always liked the Eldiss caravans and their one is very comfortable with plenty of room. A lovely couple enjoying their caravan.
Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Now back in a house, they were living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.
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