Day One

DAY ONE

We were seen off at the Durban airport by all the office staff. The new arrivals hall at ORT was huge and quite a site to behold. I left my Leatherman in the carryon luggage and had it confiscated at international check in. We were going to spend the time before boarding in the Business Class lounge but due to renovations decided to rather have a coffee overlooking the departure gate. Coffee was good. The flight was great and we both managed to get some sleep. The luggage was all fine and we spent the first 3 hours at the Frankfurt airport. I have to say it is the least impressive “warehouse” airport I have ever seen. We couldn’t find a cellular shop and therefore couldn’t get a local 3G connection SIM card. The airport is very bland and so we spent most of our time in and out of one of two coffee shops. We then made our way to Mc Rent to fetch the camper. The drive there was hair-raising to say the least. The taxi driver drove at around 170km/hour on the freeway all the way to the office of Mc rent. The roads were good and not iced over but there was a blanket of snow all around us as we drove to fetch the vehicle. Things in Germany are very different to what we are used to and in many ways the entire experience has been very stretching. The German people we have met thus far have been very friendly and on the whole it’s been easy to get around. The Van wasn’t ready for collection and so we did all the paperwork and then went for a 15 minute walk to the nearest shopping centre to find a Cellular Shop. It was -4 outside and quite chilly to walk around. The houses here are largely new due to most of the buildings having been damaged by the Second World War. The shopping centre looked like a warehouse converted into shops and we found a Vodafone shop at long last. The problem however was that either the attendant couldn’t understand me or he just wasn’t interested in helping. Either way, we came away empty handed and after having cappuccino number 4 for the morning, we returned to the Van Office. The vehicle is a 2009 model with 15 000 on the clock. It is an amazing engineering feat with lots of gadgets – Q man (alias Dean), would have been in his element. We went grocery shopping after a very detailed instruction seminar on the do’s and don’ts of the vehicle. The supermarket is a scary place to be in for South Africans like us. The drive from Frankfurt to Rothenburg ob der Tauber was around 180 kms and in the snow and ice took around 2 hours to get there. The autobahn is a nightmare in a vehicle 4 metres high and with High winds all around. The truck drivers are mad on the road and there are lots of Heavies throughout the entire trip here. The Merc’s and BMW’s drive at 180km per hour and so it made for an interesting trip. We arrived at the parking ground at around 3.40pm. There isn’t a campsite as such as you can see from the photos and only electricity points with a prepaid meter and toilets. No showers on hand but it gave us a chance to try out the van’s onboard shower. The hot water is short lived once in the shower and we both had a 3 minute wash down – a good thing too since Glenn was beginning to smell a little…. The heating system is diesel driven and worked a charm. We only had 3 – 50cent coins on us and so the electricity is about to go off until we can get some more coins in the town. We are up and about and had breakfast in the van. We haven’t been able to go and see the medieval town as yet and will be going there as soon as the Blog is done. I woke at 3.40am and was tired of sleeping – when in fact it was 2.40am since I forgot to turn back the time on my cellular. Then I lay in a little more since Glenn needs his beauty sleep and then woke him at 6.45am or rather 5.45 – the true time. We had Bockwurst sausages, fried tomato and mushrooms for breakfast. The dishes – Oh my Lord – another photo comes to mind – if you ever to Germany bring your own dishes, pots, pans, utensils, a kettle etc etc. The dishes are done, the van is warm, Glenn has 3 layers of clothing on at the moment – wait until we leave and then we will be walking to the town. We will attach some photies at a later stage once we have the local 3G card. The bedding – oh yes, the Germans think that a single bed inner for ¾ duvet cover is just right. The pillows are like dead rats that have been run over on the N2 freeway for a month. I think its time to go shopping for bedding.