Day Five

DAY FIVE

We woke early and went for a quick shower before striking camp and moving onto the Bodensee resort we had selected. The water this time was not warm and I had great fun in falling twice on the ice that had formed on the ground between our campsite and the ablutions. We had some fun slipping and sliding to and from the van but eventually got going at 8.15am. The resort at Hallengan was the best thus far and after making reparations with the European resort staff at dinner last night, we said our farewells and went on our way. The drive through the Black Forest region to the highest waterfall in Germany was by far the easiest thus far. We have come to the conclusion that driving on a Sunday is the way to go. The weather has warmed up and it rained the whole way to the waterfall. I have been suffering with a weak stomach the last 24 hours and so we made it to the waterfall just in time for me to make a pit stop and a cappuccino refill. Glenn walked to the waterfall and took some photos before joining me at the café for a well deserved Caffeine break. The waterfall is some 168 meters high but due to the path having iced over, Glenn wasn’t able to climb to the top of the falls.

The trees lining the roads on the way to the waterfall in the black forest are the largest fir trees either Glenn or I have ever seen. Glenn feels they must be in the region of several hundred years old. We drove up a mountain pass after leaving the falls that left the heavy 3.5 ton Van with the small 2.2Lt – 96Kw diesel engine – chugging up the hill in first gear. The view from up top was awesome and Glenn took several photos along the way. We arrived at the Campsite at around 12.00pm and once again were surprised by the excellent facilities at the resort. The Campgrounds are cleared of snow and Ice – what a pleasant change and the ablutions are quite unreal. We decided to take the opportunity to do a load of washing and so after having a bite to eat in the van and getting the washing started, we proceeded to the indoor heated pool area. The pool is a decent around 28 degrees and there is also a Jacuzzi. Well Glenn being Glenn and me not wanting to feel left out, since Glenn and I were the only ones at the pool we decided to enjoy a nice Jacuzzi. The water was awesome and after an hour or so we showered and went back to the van. Glenn is sleeping – Again and I am keeping myself busy. I have to say the sleeping habits of those creatures that occupy the Zebra Loft are difficult to get used to. It is raining outside and the wind is blowing a gale. We are planning to do dinner at the restaurant tonight and then I might catch a movie in the van before sleeping.

Glenn has reminded me to inform the loyal followers of our most excellent blog about the laundry episode that has just happened. The machines all use 50 Euro Cent coins and so we proceeded to put a coin in the box above a machine just to discover that this machine was in fact a tumble drier. So we moved to the machine next to us and this washing machine wanted us to deposit 8 coins to cover the cost of the load. We proceeded to do so and left the machine to do its thing. Well after the swim I returned to the laundry expecting the washing to be done only to discover that we had put the money in the wrong boxes and the nett result was our load was now only soapy and very wet. The machine next to us which I expected to have 8 coins credit had since been used by a clever European thief who had decided to use our coins to do their washing. Well the long and the short of it is that the washing is on its way again and hopefully will be clean and dry before we retire for the night. Glenn felt it was necessary for me to rant and rave since things just wouldn’t be the same unless I had a chance to get things off my chest….