Germany Trip May 19th to 6th June 2024
Chapter One
Well, what do we say – a very exciting and fun trip for our three vans.
First of all, a massive thank you to Lorna for all the hard work she and Nick put in to make it work so well. A group WhatsApp was set up so that we could all follow each other, which was a terrific bonus and we didn’t lose anyone en route. All of the camp sites were amazing. A true testament to the organisation of the trip.
Sunday 19th May
Departure day … we all travelled separately to our respective campsites before crossing the channel tunnel the following day.
We set off for Park Farm Campsite about 30 miles from Folkstone as we wanted the train journey to be stress free. We set off from home around 9am and had the day to get there. The campsite was spotless and virtually empty at this time of year. A great start for the coming trip to France the next day. We arrived late afternoon and so we took a walk to Bodium Castle. There was a pathway from the campsite alongside a river. A beautiful walk in the sunshine and had an evening meal in the local pub next to the castle.
Monday 20th May
The next morning, we packed up early and set off for the Channel Tunnel. This was the first time that we had been on the tunnel, and found it interesting and exciting. It could not have been easier. We arrived early and were told that we could take an earlier train than our ticket specified, as it was not busy. We took this opportunity to go to France early and I would certainly use the Tunnel again.
Arriving in France 35 minutes later we decided to go to Dunkirk, as it is nearby and I have been fascinated by the stories and films of WW2. This was well worth the small trip. We then headed for the campsite at Renescure. We arrived first out of our group and so set-up pitch. The pitches were individual and quite large. Val, Malcolm, Lorna and Nick arrived about an hour later having been shopping for supplies. The place was so nice. Each pitch had its own electricity and water supply. I did not bring a French plug convertor (against my wife’s advice) but the Campsite owners lent us one. They were such lovely people.
And so the trip had really begun.
Tuesday 21st May
The next morning we set off on a 240 mile journey through France, Belgium, and Holland and on to Germany. Although this was quite a number of miles, we stopped for meal / toilet breaks or whenever someone felt they needed a further stop. It gave the drivers a chance to get used to the ‘other side’ of the road.
Taking the bypass round Antwerp was quite an experience, as the roads were extremely busy and it was raining hard. We all noticed the extreme number of huge lorries on the roads particularly on this section. And when we say big, they were enormous. Apparently, this is a trade route so this could be expected. But this was all part of the Adventure.
Leaving Antwerp the road opened out and we made good progress. Our first stopover was to be in a disused coal colliery, and we wondered what we might find there. We had just stopped to decide if we were in the correct place when someone hailed us to follow them which we did. We arrived at the Bulli Museum in Gelsenkirchen.
One of the buildings was used by the T2 Club in Germany to store all their vans and parts. Roland greeted us and made us very welcome. My word when they opened the doors and we saw their fabulous collection (many under wraps), we all got very excited.
After showing us where the facilities were, we had a general chat and were invited out for a meal. We camped in the car park which was not as bad as it sounded as a water supply and toilets were available in the Museum which remained open during our stay.
Wednesday 22nd May
Bright and early our hosts arrived including Detlef (who was the German organiser of the trip) and Ulf (who became our driver to certain events) together with a few of the Club members. We couldn’t wait to have a look at their collection. Most of the vehicles work or at least they will when completed.
A lot of the vehicles had individual stories attached to them and one by one we were shown them. There was even a fire truck and 2 hearses; one reminded us of the Victorian times as it was decked out with lace fringing and carriage lanterns.
It was amazing the number of different kinds of vehicles. One was used at the airports with a lookout tower on the top, another had a crane used for carrying lamp posts. An ice-cream van and a Police radar van were also there. The vehicles ranged from Split screens to T4s. Each one was unique.
In the afternoon, we were given a guided tour around the colliery by a man who was working on the buildings and site. The whole site is being preserved and put to use in different ways. The Bulli Museum (Bulli being the German name for VW transporter vans) is working towards making a bigger area in order to display their vehicles to their best advantage.
We look forward to a possible return trip in order to see that!
There had been an art celebration a little while ago and many of the buildings had been painted with different artwork and writing. CAN YOU SPOT THE DELIBERATE ERROR IN ONE PIECE?
Some beautiful artwork included Canaries representing the birds taken down the mines to give an alarm when gas is detected.
It was interesting to know how the colliery had been worked and what the buildings were used for. One room was for the injured and there was a doctor’s house on site although this is not going to be used as part of the regeneration of the site.
One area contained many metal baskets which were hanging from the ceilings on long chains with an individual padlock on each one. These were for the workers to leave their clothes in when they changed into their working clothes in a different room. At the end of the working day they put their dirty clothes down into a special hole in the room where they dropped into the laundry area. They then took a communal shower and were so close to each other that they could wash each other’s backs.
As part of the art exhibition an artist had made origami birds. These were coloured from black to grey to a variety of colours depicting the coal dust to clean. The birds were then put in the cages. A lovely spectacle.
Being nominated ‘unofficial’ club photographer I was asked by Nick and Lorna to take a picture of us all from the top of the Bulli Museum building. I needed to get high, so I was offered this vehicle as the platform (Editor notes that “I needed to get high” means elevation, not smoking!). This vehicle is owned by a member of the German VW Club.
The resulting picture shows the fun were we having with the German Club. They laid on a BBQ for us with plenty of food and drink of all varieties including some incredible German sausages made by Roland’s next-door neighbour who is a butcher.
This was just the first day with the German Club members.
More to follow next time.