09/30/2017 – Bad Waldsee Germany – the home of Motorhomes

Saturday 30th September

Now slowly heading north west back towards the UK as we are required to be back there before late November for our MOT, our vehicle annual inspection.

Our bike cover is now nearly in tatters and we have been looking for a new cover since we left Poland. 

There are not many motorhomes in Poland and it was very difficult to find any motorhome dealers there.

Austria had dealers but most only stocked the Fiamma bike cover which only lasted us a couple of months before the zip failed – very inferior zips and material.

Whilst driving we saw a massive motorhome dealership in the distance and hurrah found the cover we had been trying to find – and there was only one in stock.  

The staff could not speak English but assured us it was the one for our bike racks.  We were just so happy!!!

Our campsite for the night:  Brauhaus Ummendorff

Great little spot in a small town at the back of a boutique brewery and on a waterway with mother duck and the whole family eager to eat some of the bread we were offering.  Free campsite with no requirement to have a meal.

Not sure which one is Mother Duck

One of those rare magic days, so we happily discarded the old bike cover and put it in the bin.  The bikes came off and we set off through town to the bikeway and travelled about 16 klm through little villages and lots of farmland.  Dark clouds started to appear over the horizon so headed back. The couple of hours biking were wonderful with not too many hills to climb.

Attached to the brewery is the Brauhaus restaurant and bar.  Had to reward ourselves with a pint of the local stuff in the beer garden and were entertained by a group of young men (beginning part of a bucks party).  The rain made everyone in the beer garden duck for cover.

Some good local brew with the buck’s party in the background on the right

Finished the evening with their homemade goulash soup (mmm very tasty) before making a dash to Ziggy.  The christening of the new bike cover would have to wait till morning.

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday  1st – 3rd October

It didn’t take us long to work out that no way was this bike cover going to fit the bikes and the Fiamma bike racks.  We did not try to fit it at the shop as we were double parked and too eager to move away – our big mistake.  Cost around €50 and was too far to go back now – double ugh!!!  Lesson learned now.  Packed up the bike cover.  Typical problem now – how do you fold something large, neatly and have it fit back in the small box it came in?  Took about an hour and eventually looked like it had never been taken out of the box.

Campsite for 3 nights:  Waldsee-Therme, Bad Waldsee

 Arrived mid afternoon in the home town of Erwin Hymer of Hymer Motorhome fame . Hymers everywhere.  We had visited the Hymer showroom on the way in but couldn’t get a park anywhere near it.  Decided to visit it tomorrow.

Bad Waldsee was a lovely traditional village

Parked Ziggy in one of the largest pitches we had come across.  Enough room for two motorhomes.  There were 50 spots but sure you could double that number there was so much room.  Really well laid out and very popular.  Went off to pay at the parking machine and came back to a grinning, pointing Rob – almost directly across from us, Michael and Pam’s motorhome was parked.  Had no idea they were coming here and they were as surprised as we were when they returned from the Bad Waldsee Therme Resort.  Another big night ahead, we think.

It was unusual to see 2 Hymers next to each other both with GB plates and Aussie stickers – a little bit of home sickness crept in – just for a second.

Went for a walk into town as we had plans of leaving here in the morning and visiting the Hymer Museum and then the showroom to look at the latest Hymers on the market and then moving on.  The town is set between two waterways and again really interesting buildings.  

Arrived back and soon joined Michael and Pam for another great night. Discovered we had travelled to many of the same places, so never stopped to draw breath.

They had to leave early next morning, so we said our goodbyes.

Went to the Hymer Museum – really interesting, with three floors of vintage cars, caravans and motorhomes from all around the world.  Really well done and for only a few Euros.  Spent a couple of hours there and then headed back to the showroom.

Early model Morris Oxford motorhome – painted in Brirish racing green and federation cream
A very upmarket BMW powered motorhome with a mezzanine floor for sun bathing
A Mercedes powered Orion
A 2016 model with an outboard engine

We bought a new bike cover after taking about two hours and doing a degree in “brochure reading in German” to try to fit it.  We have now bought 3 bike covers in 7 months – 1 demolished, 1 that doesn’t fit and one that does fit!

Too late now to head out of town so we go back to the same Stellplatz in Bad Waldsee.  Being a long weekend in Germany, the Stellplatz was full as expected.  We decided to wait, it was late and we didn’t want to travel at night so we parked at the entry and ate our very, very, late lunch. Other motorhomes  came and parked behind us – all with the same thought.

Our angels in disguise, Rolf and Agnes (Germans from near Düsseldorf) came over and told us, that they and their neighbours would move and make room for us – three motorhomes in a space for two – what a lovely gesture.  When we settled, we took over a bottle of NZ Marlborough Sav Blanc and then sat and talked for hours.  We talked about both of our many adventures and the bike covers and long story short, they had been looking for a cover for their bikes, so we opened our repackaged box and fitted the cover.  A perfect fit!  They happily bought it and everyone was happy.

They are travelling to Spain early next year so we hope to catch up with them there.  Thank you so very much, Rolf and Agnes for helping us out.

It was raining next morning and as it was a public holiday, we decided to stay for another day.  So we said our goodbyes and moved Ziggy to another spot.  Weather began to clear so we spent another few hours walking and exploring and finishing in the town centre with an ice cream for me and a pint for Rob.