Blue Fern Adventures

Austria, Switzerland, and Germany

Our race from the Balkans to back to France continued with relatively quick travel through Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.

Austria

In Austria, we drove over Gloßglockner Pass – enjoying views of the glacier as well as spotting marmots. Next, we visited Salzburg, including bicycling to various South of Music filming locations. These locations were amazingly similar to the film after nearly 60 years, though mostly smaller than expected! Then we visited the town of Leogang, where friends from Cayman own a ski apartment. We visited the sites they recommended in their town, including the Asitzbahn Talstation cable car to the mountain top, which has a large playground, walking trails, lakes, an alpine slide, cafes, and free-ranging horses. After leaving Leogang, we stopped at an Inn and motorhome parking where we had some delicious Austrian food – and we finished our quick tour with a drive through specular western Austria, including the B200 road toward Switzerland.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, we had been invited to stay with Lukas who we met while traveling in Norway. We had parked at a tourist office to use their free Wi-Fi and we started chatting with Lukas when he arrived in his van to do the same! When he left, Lukas stopped by the motorhome to offer us a beer from his hometown of Unterseen (often confused with Interlaken which is on the other side of Aare River) and to invite us to stay if we ever passed through the area. We were very happy to take him up on his offer one year later and we had a great time visiting Lukas and his friends and family and seeing attractions in the area such as Lauterbrunnen, the  Trümmelbach Falls, and Pfingstegg which Amelia had learned about from a video by the 5 World Explorers.

Germany

Finally, we entered Germany. Our first stop was Freiburg, where we enjoyed walking the old streets, floating homemade boats down the tiny freshwater canals that run throughout the city, having a drink at a beer garden with great views, and stumbling upon a fun wine festival. We then headed to Freudenstadt to meet up with Cayman friends Rob, Rachael, and family in the Black Forest – an area where friends had recommended many attractions.

We stayed at an Airbnb down the road from a small farm (Herrenwies Hof) where we were able to park our motorhome outside, but the farm also offers motorhome parking. This was a good location near the start of many trails through the forest which led to a little forest cafe (Waldcafe Teuchelwald) and a delicious restaurant (Berghütte Lauterbad). We also visited the town pool Panorama-Bad Freudenstadt, Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald tree-top walk and slide and the adventure park next to it, an older slide park Riesenrutschbahn Poppeltal – Seewald Freizeit Park, and the town of Baden. Initially, we were underwhelmed by the scenic roads (we did not find the Black Forest High Road to be as dramatic as roads through Norway and other countries) but we were quickly won over by the beauty of the forest paths and the abundant attractions in the area, including many activities for families (one that we didn’t visit but looked fun: BarfussPark Hallwangen.

After Germany, we were truly out of time so we drove as quickly as possible to France and flew to New York and Rhode Island where we had wonderful visits with family and friends and celebrated Jonathan and Jess’ wedding. We then returned to Les Eyzies – the first time we had been to the area in August. It felt like coming home – relaxing in the house, swimming in the river, going to a gourmet night market (Marché Gourmand) where food was served at communal tables, and visiting friends Claire and family. We had a wonderful time at our neighbour’s wedding and this felt like the completion of our European time which started in the French lockdown almost two years before. Finally, on our way out of France, we stopped off to meet friends Kat and Mark – who we met on one of our previous motorhome trips in France – and then we boarded an overnight ferry for the next leg of our journey: Ireland and the UK.

We pay a flying visit to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark

Our goal was to reach Norway without being caught by any border closures or lockdowns (four lockdowns is enough for now) so we rushed north from France. Along the way, we had just a taste of Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.

While we love France, it was exciting to cross the border from France to Belgium and feel that we were on the move at last. We settled in a small paid parking lot by a canal (goodbye to abundant free aires and France Passion sites) and immediately discovered a large park and playground, equipped with water pumps and channels for kids to play with. For dinner, we stopped at a frituur for Belgian beers and piles of frites with ketchup and mayo. The next morning, we went to a bakery and tried a new pastry – it was a hardy dough wrapped around a spiced whole apple – a new favourite.  We prefer to drive just 1.5 hours per day (with some days of no driving) but to make our way north we had some longer days. We enjoyed refuelling with delicious Belgian chocolate on long drives.

Cycling through the trees

We visited two interesting cycling attractions in Belgium – Cycling through Water in Bokrijk and Cycle through the Trees in Bosland. The first is a path through a lake that puts cyclists at eye-level with the water; the second is a circling ramp rising up through the treetops. Gary crashed off his bike but fortunately his helmet absorbed the shock of his fall, and aside from a few scrapes and bruises he was OK to keep going.  

Waffle in Ghent

Next stop, Ghent; thank you to friends for the recommendation. We stayed in a campsite near a lake; Amelia managed many hours of playground time with a new friend (an English-speaking seven-year-old with a birthday the day after hers) plus a morning swim (polar plunge style! – she is still our Caribbean baby). Despite cold rain which chased us home early, we enjoyed the historic centre of the city, with its twin cathedrals and bell tower, and a €10 strawberry and cream waffle from a street stand that didn’t have prices on the menu! But Amelia’s bucket list was complete with “waffles and fries” (from a song she learned at school in Cayman).

Maesland

We then crossed the border into the Netherlands. We had asked where it was possible to see windmills and were told “everywhere”, which was definitely true – old-fashioned wooden windmills and modern wind turbines dotted the landscape. We also cycled along the impressive Oosterscheldekering storm surge barrier and spent the night parked the Hoek van Holland (right along the Rotterdam harbour canal with enormous ships passing just outside the window). Guess what – another playground, this time with a zipline – and we counted almost 40 swans in the river! We also made a quick stop at De Maeslantkering and had a tour of the site. Our final night was spent in a grassy field by a canal. Amazing to see so much land that would be underwater (the lowest point in the Netherlands is seven metres below sea level!) if not for incredible feats of engineering and lots of drainage ditches. It felt a bit dystopian considering climate change – and just after we left, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany were hit by tragic floods.

It was raining when we entered Germany. We stopped at a Lidl for groceries and to stock up on pantry items for Norway, where we had heard that groceries would be more expensive. Wanting a hardy hot meal, we cooked Spaetzle and sausage back at the motorhome. We planned to get a new sim card (which would work in Germany and Scandinavia) but could not get it working; this reminded us of all the problems we had when we arrived in France. We decided to increase the (international) data limit on our French sim card but will be somewhat limited on data.

Big ship

The next day, the weather cleared and we passed many fruit stands; we loaded up on strawberries and cherries. That night, we stopped on a canal near Hamburg. The area had been recommended by our friends John and Kellie; the exact site where they had stayed was full, but we found another one close by with a large playground on one side and a collection of food trucks/stands on the other. We bought a sausage and fries and potato pancakes to share, along with salad (made by Amelia) and fruit from the motorhome, and ate on the sea wall while watching the passing ships.

For each border crossing, we prepared a stack of passports and documents but we were not stopped until we reached Denmark. After a few checks and questions, we were waved across.

Finally, it felt like we had reached the north; we enjoyed the golden afternoon light and pretty fields dotted with flowers. We stayed in a motorhome site with horses and an extremely friendly cat that Amelia nicknamed Mr. Cuddles.

Legoland

The next day we cycled to Legoland – the busiest place we have been in the past 1.5 years but a lifelong dream for the Redferns 😊 And it was all very well organized and not crowded. We enjoyed the miniature cities and water rides (as there were only very short lines, Amelia was able to ride her favourites as many times as she wanted). She also went on her first roller coaster ride (and then did it 2 more times). And she met some lovely princesses who chatted with us about our travels.

The next morning, we stopped at a bakery for bread, and on impulse, Gary picked up a couple of custard pastries. He mentioned something about “Danish Pastries”, which Janice said she had never heard of – then “Wait, these are Danishes?” (they certainly seemed to be). We have not yet learned if they are more Danish than, for example, “French Toast” is French.

We anxiously checked the news many times on our trip north; we wanted to balance having reasonable driving days and seeing a little bit of the countries we were travelling through with the risk of possibly missing out on Norway if restrictions changed. On Saturday, it was announced that France was set to go on Norway’s red list on Monday – one day after our scheduled ferry departure. While we were vaccinated and could still enter from a red country, it appeared that Amelia would have to quarantine and we weren’t sure of the rules for her entry.

Fish and Chips

For our final night in Denmark, we drove to Hirtshals, which felt like the end of the world. We were glad to stop and have a cosy cup of tea (and a strawberry smoothie for Amelia) in the motorhome without going outside. Sand was blowing so hard in the wind that we couldn’t approach the beach, but in the evening, we walked down to the harbour and ate delicious fish and chips and fish cakes. The next morning, we woke up at 5 am because it was already so bright. The motorhome was rocking so much in the wind that Janice felt a bit ‘seasick’. We were worried our ferry being cancelled but as it got later, we saw people going to the beach in bathrobes (to swim?) and walking small dogs, so we realised that the wind must be nothing out of the ordinary.

We were extremely nervous about missing the ferry to Norway on the last day that we might be allowed to enter, but everything went smoothly (except for the rocking of the boat; there were many seasick passengers). Janice immediately stopped feeling motion sick when we were actually on the water; Gary and Amelia felt a bit queasy so spent the crossing on deck while Janice caught up on some internet time – researching Norway, which we had not been able to do previously. Thanks to some very comprehensive motorhome blogs we quickly picked up some important tips (e.g., duty on alcohol, priority right driving, no potatoes!) and some ideas for our itinerary.

And then – we arrived in Norway. Amelia had a covid antigen test at the ferry port (which she said was much better than the long swab for a PCR test) and we were on our way.

So, waffles and fries, chocolate, dikes, windmills, sausages, shipping, greenhouses, LegoLand, fried fish – just a flying glimpse so we will have to go back one day.