Meerbusch Germany

Saturday 28^th April

Finally we’re ready for the off. The last few weeks have been fraught with hassle and aggravation. The mover wasn’t working, the car’s been playing up and wouldn’t pull you out of bed and we’ve been faffing about with doctor, dentist and hospital appointments for the pair of us and my dad. But all is sorted and away we go.

We’ve decided to sail from Hull, which is a much easier journey than going all the way to Dover (from Chester). We’ve been using Tesco vouchers to cross via the tunnel – brilliant, but going from Hull will save a bundle on diesel and avoid at least one overnight stop in UK. If you sail with P&O on a Saturday or Sunday, the caravan goes free so that can’t be bad.

It was a rough crossing with much crashing and banging all night but I’m OK so long as I’m lying down. I got up for the loo once and was overcome with the mal de mer almost immediately. Thank God for en-suite cabins. I waited until we were almost in Rotterdam, in calm water, before I dared chance standing in the shower. Breakfast? Are you kidding? 

  

Sunday 29^th April

Rheincamping Meerbusch (Near Dusseldorf)

Zur Rheinfahre 21

D 40668

This is a pleasant site on the river bank, so you can watch the big barges plough past. I love the little houses on the back of them. It must be an interesting life. But fancy having young kids on there! You'd have to tie them to the chair leg for peace of mind. The older children have to go away to boarding school.

There’s an unlikely bar, all done up to look tropical, with imported sand and fake palm trees. Quite tacky and what you would expect in 60s Liverpool. You have to pay a euro deposit on glasses. This took some explaining and understanding as there was a bit of a language barrier, but it was all good natured.

Facilities are clean, as you would expect. Plenty of cycle tracks (shared with lots of gorgeous horses, some ridden by equally gorgeous young men) and there’s a little ro-ro ferry across the river but it’s expensive @ €3.70 for a car. The distance is so short you could spit across. There is a bridge a bit further down but we wanted to try the ferry. There aren’t any shops nearby.

We arrived at lunchtime so had a drink in the tropical bar while we waited for Reception to open. We were entertained by a vintage American car rally. Very noisy with much revving of engines.

Kim lost the caravan key. We have a spare, but the one he lost had the roof box key on the same ring. We searched everywhere and in the end I had to ask St Anthony, who kindly led me to the left hand cubby hole in the car. Goodness knows what it was doing in there. (I'm not a religious person and don't know a lot about saints, but I once worked for an Irish woman who swore by St Anthony and he usually does the biz for me, which is just as well, given the habit of losing things we share.)

We hope to stay here for five nights as we’re both in need of R and R.

Monday April 30^th

Had a great sleep and went out on the bikes after lunch. We didn’t find any shops, just a few restaurants. There are some fabulous houses with horses in paddocks. It’s clearly a wealthy area. I saw a hare bounding across a field. This place is a strange mixture of posh residential and agricultural.

Wednesday May 2^nd

It rained all day with thunder and lightning so we went shopping with the car. We crossed on the expensive little ferry. (Pictured above.) The lady in the satnav knew the ferry was there – I count that as nothing short of a miracle. As you can see from the photos, the weather was grim - but we're English and on holiday, dammit, so shorts will be worn, white legs and goosebumps notwithstanding.

We found an Aldi on the edge of Dusseldorf and were treated to the sight of low flying planes coming in to land. We thought Aldi was more expensive than the one at home, especially the veg.