Friday 5th – Sunday 14th October
With friends Martina and Ralf at their home in Stelzenberg Germany
Sunny skies and fantastic warm October weather for the whole stay here which gave us the opportunity of spending lots of time detailing Ziggy both inside and outside. She is more than sparkling now and we are sad to think that it is only six weeks before we head home. Ziggy has been our home for such a long time now, it is hard to imagine not having her as part of our life in Australia.
Ralf is a real whiz with motorhomes and he installed a new micro-switch in one of the taps, adjusted the sun awning arms, renewed the waterproofing membrane on one of the skylights which was looking a little tired and made all of his equipment available for us to detail Ziggy – much appreciated Ralf.
We had such a fantastic time with our friends and their family and did so many things it is hard to remember them all.
Martina’s mum and dad Christal and Emile are singers as part of a 40 strong choir in Kaiserslautern and we were lucky enough to be invited to their Schubert concert which also featured many great movie films such as Lion King, Aladdin and Phantom of the Opera to name just a few. Accompanied by professional operatic soprano, baritone and piano player, the two and a half hour concert was just wonderful.
We celebrated a 50th birthday with Ralf’s sister with her family and friends in a restaurant several kms away and they welcomed us with open arms. Spent many hours talking about Australia with a few who had visited Australia previously and others who want to go.
Had a wonderful afternoon tea with Martina’s sister, brother, mum and dad and enjoyed cakes you can only dream of and the best home-made apple crumble pie (made by Cornelia – Martina’s sister) – yum – had to have two slices of this one.
Went on some wonderful hikes through the Pfalzwald with Martina, Ralf and Petra and on one day enjoyed the panoramic view at the top at the Hohe Loog Haus with a wonderful traditional German late lunch/dinner.
The road on the way to the departure point was a little testing – it is called Totenkopf Strasse which roughly translated means Deadhead road and there are many traffic accidents on this road.
Our last day and also our wedding anniversary (our second in Germany) was spent in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse on the last day of the two week wine festival where more than 110 floats paraded through the streets.
Mostly pulled by tractors, beautiful horses, vintage cars and some man power, the floats carried wine princesses from all the wine regions in the area.
Wine flowed freely and helpers with the floats were eager to fill up any glasses you had in hand.
Several bands in full colourful German costume passed by and created a wonderful atmosphere.
Back in the town centre, Ferris wheels and other rides were in full swing and every spare spot was taken up with food and drink outlets. Spent a whole afternoon here – just fantastic.
We have made wonderful friends in Martina and Ralf whose hospitality, friendship, companionship and help over this week with Ziggy have left us so sad to part company with them and their wonderful friends and family.
Ralf and Martina are going to try to come and stay with us in Tweed Heads in March next year and our Polish relatives from Biala Podlaska will be staying with us in August/September and we hope to be able to show them all some Aussie hospitality.
Ralf and Martina are also keen for us to return to Germany so we can go touring in our motorhomes together again – maybe Ziggy goes back into storage over winter??? – something to chat about in the evenings to come.
Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th October
Our campsite for two nights: Am Nohfels, Bad Sobernheim – GPS N49.778881. E7.658640
After a large shop at our favourite Lidl store, in Kaiserslautern, we travel through a colourful countryside with Autumn now in full swing. We passed along many roads where both sides of the road were showering autumn leaves creating a carpet of orange, red, brown and green – so pretty. We just love the Autumn tones but can imagine it being a nightmare to clean up the tons of leaves everywhere.
The campsite is set in such a colourful Autumn setting with apple and nut trees scattered throughout the campsite. Hedges are well groomed and everything is perfect here. The small cafe adjacent attracts lots of visitors and campers and overlooks a small river.
Several walks and bike ways lead in every direction. Walked to the village only 10 minutes away where there are loads of shops, cafes, old churches, quaint buildings and of course a small town square where we enjoyed a quiet ale.
The walk/bikeway in front of the cafe led along a treed avenue to the Barfusspfad which is a local attraction where you take your shoes off and walk barefoot across the river to the other side with the aid of ropes. There is also a suspension bridge though dismantled at present so only way across was through the river. Really worth the effort though a little chilly in the water now.
They have a local tree artist who has carved fantastic animals out of logs and these are right beside the cafe.
