2 June
Start: N48 10 39.1 E9 32 21.9 (Möhringen, Germany)
Destination: N46 59 41.0 E8 29 03.0 (Gersau, Switzerland)
Distance: 253 km
3 June
Start: N46 59 41.0 E8 29 03.0 (Gersau, Switzerland)
Destination: N47 25 48.5 E12 08 57.7 (Hopfgarten, Austria)
Distance: 414 km
The day in Gersau, Switzerland, started with a rain shower and low clouds hanging over the Alps. The lake had a dark colour, reflecting the clouds overhead. Fortunately the ride to Luzern was dry. The rainy weather intensified the whiff of the green meadows we were passing through.
Riding towards Chur the weather turned for the better. The sun broke through the clouds. Amazing how a bit of sunshine could lift the spirits.
After passing through Liechtenstein I turned towards the Alberg pass. There one had the choice between the Autobahn going through a lot of tunnels, or riding the smaller road out in the open. I decided on the latter, and what a ride. The road circled higher and higher, and suddenly the snow that one saw high up on the Alps was lying next to the road. I had to stop for a few photographs.
Tonight I am camping close to Hopfgarten in Austria. The camping site has an ideal setting, surrounded by forests and mountains and a river directly next to it. The email of the camping site is info
I am having supper just across the street of the camping site. The table and my plate is literally covered with flies. About 30 m from the restaurant the farmer next door has piled the dung of his cows and horses. He and his friends are sitting next to the dung mountain, each with a beer. Not even the flies of Egypt were such a nuisance as the flies of Hopfgarten. But I don’t mind. When one is travelling these thing do happen. One just has to make sure that you don’t swallow a fly.
Tomorrow we will cross the border into the Czech Republic. That will be my first time there, and another first for the KLR as well. I think it will be its 22nd country, have to check.
Groete uit Oostenryk!
Departure: Möhringen, Germany
Destination: Gersau, Switzerland
GPS coordinates and distance follow soon
I left Möhringen just after breakfast for the ride to Switzerland. Heaven smiled on all the weekend travellers with warm sunshine and a blue sky.
I got to Lucerne, Switzerland, just after 13:00. My friend and travel companion of many kilometers Evelyn Gomer organized a special surprise. We had to travel along the shore of the Vierwaldstättersee, the beautiful lake at Luzern, to Gersau where we were going to stay the night at the youth hostel “Hostel Rotschue” (www.hostelrotschue.ch). The youth hostel lies within meters of the lake with a stunning view on the Alps. There was still some snow on some of the mountains..
During the ride to Gersau I had just one wish: May the ride never stop! There is no way that I could describe the beauty of Switzerland I saw on my way to Gersay. Take all the clichés that you have read about Switzerland, multiply it by a thousand and then you will have only a slight idea of the beauty I’ve experienced today. Unfortunately no photograph can do justice to the beauty.
I owe Evelyn so much for sharing the beauty of her country with me!
On Sunday I turn west and will cross from Switzerland into Austria. Tomorrow night will be my first night in the tent.
Enjoy the photographs!
Today was my last day in Germany.
I did a nearly 200 km ride to Lindau and back and had to put on my rain clothes for the first time. The rain didn’t spoil the fun at all. Again I rode through many small villages and avoided the main roads. Since yesterday I suddenly felt the excitement about the months to come rising. I think I crossed that psychological point of hanging back and clinging to the known. I am ready to make my small tent my home.
In Lindau I visited friends of Tanja. Petrus Pretorius and Rita and Maria Bailer-Pretorius are living in Germany since 2007. It is strange to meet people for the first time and immediately to feel as if we had known each other already for many years.
Back in Möhringen Anne and Achim were busy preparing the farewell dinner of tonight. The photographs will tell the story.
Tomorrow I will reach the most southern point of my ride. From there on the road will go east and north until I get to the point where it doesn’t get completely dark anymore.
I enjoyed the time in Germany. Bis zum Wiedersehen!
With all my long-distance rides of the past my first stop in Germany with the KLR always was at Achim and Anne Rebstock in Möhringen.
Now try to picture the following:
Möhringen is now 1 222 years old and has a population of 175 people! Yes, only 175. Their house stands surrounded by meadows, on which cows graze, and farm houses as neighboring properties. The province, Baden-Württemberg, in which Möhringen lies, is well-known for many things, not only Mercedes Benz. It is the birthplace of Albert Einstein, DNA (Miescher), the astronomical telescope (Kepler). It was here that Bosch invented the spark plug, Gottlieb Daimler the gas engine and Count Ferdinand the Zeppelin.
To describe the very industrious people of this area the best I have to use a Schwabian expression: “It schwaetzen, schaffe!” (Do not speak so much. Work!)
But Baden-Württemberg is also a region with rolling green hills, forests, cycle paths and where the young Danube river (yes, Johann Strauss) is still a narrow stream of water. The Danube is the only major river in Germany that flows east, where all the others flow north.
Today I took a relaxed ride to Riedlingen, a town about 8 km from Möhringen. The fun starts when one does not take the direct route but one many minor and narrow roads running through forests and crossing green meadows.
On Friday I am going to ride to Lindau on the shore of Lake Constanze to pick up my gas stove from Tanja and Henda, and on Saturday it is off to Switzerland. The ride is picking up momentum!
Guys, please don’t forget about Operation Smile! The good people need your R 10’s! Go to www.naboom2germany.co.za or www.fsa-youthexchange.co.za to donate a green one. As soon as I have fast wifi again I will update the website.
Start: N 52 33 06.2 E 13 17 07.7 (Berlin Tegel Airport)
End: N 48 10 38.9 E 9 32 22.0 (Möhringen, Germany)
Distance: 670 km
At last the big day arrived. I looked forward to getting to the airport but at the same time dreaded the thought of getting there and then to get the message that a) the flight hadn’t arrived yet, b) the KLR wasn’t on the flight. So early morning I called the forwarding agent at Cargo. A lady answered and bluntly told me she wasn’t there to give any cargo information, I had in person to come to the airport.
To make it short: I met only friendly people at Cargo and Customs, everything went smoothly, and for the first time it was not necessary for me to untie and get the KLR off the pallet. It was standing there and waiting for me to get on it and get away from the huge city!
Fully loaded in the heavy early morning traffic it took some time to get accustomed to the heavy weight on the bike. At slow speeds it felt like a crab shuffling forward but when I got onto the Autobahn the riding got much better.
On Sundays and public holidays trucks are not allowed to drive unless they are carrying fresh produce or live animals. So yesterday morning after a weekend and a public holiday the hell was loose on the Autobahn. Columns of heavy trucks were crawling forward and were making riding unpleasant. Adding to that was a strong crosswind that gave the feeling that the KLR was an aircraft, dropping and picking up the wings in turbulence.
It was a long day of riding and I had to drink many Red Bulls to keep me awake. Just after 19:00 I stopped at my friends Anne and Achim Rebstock in the small southern German villiage of Möhringen where I will spend the next few days before riding to Switzerland on Saturday.
On my website www.naboom2germany.co.za I am soon going to have my fuel log if anyone is interested to see what the fuel consumption of the KLR was.
The one and a half days in Berlin were pleasant and I have to thank Tanja and Henda for endless chats and discussions and a lot of jokes. But the time came for me to move on and I will for sure miss the fun we had.
Greetings from Berlin!
Good evening from Berlin!
Two days to go!
I arrived in Berlin this afternoon. Tomorrow morning (Monday) at 6:00 the KLR will leave Windhoek on a day flight to Berlin.
I have a new annoyance following me wherever I go: Holiday days. I planned to buy the last few things in Berlin on Monday. Today I heard that tomorrow, Monday, is a holiday day in Germany! Shops are closed. On Tuesday there is no time for any last-minute shopping. If I get the KLR released in time I will have a 680 km ride on Tuesday.
I need to mention a few people. Paul van der Merwe from Windhoek helped me to get storage for my bakkie and trailer close to Windhoek. Thank you Paul. I am sorry that we couldn’t meet, but it was a wild and mad day due to the holiday day in Namibia. Greg of Jetline Lynnwood in Pretoria printed my sticker business cards. When I wanted to pay he refused to accept any payment. Thanks Greg! Your kind gesture is much appreciated!
My friends that came to the airport to say goodbye, thank you all! Gerhard and Nettie, my sister Dorette , Neil and Lita (Neil will help me uploading messages to the blog when there is no internet available), Andrew and Suzanne (and for bringing my load of luggage to the airport), Marinda and Rolette, I appreciate your time!
I had four huge bags of luggage that had to go with me. Without Tanja and Henda that offered my some of their “luggage weight” I would have been in serious trouble.
Now I am off to bed for hopefully a long sleep.
Gerhard and Nettie de Villiers with me.
My sister Dorette. The other two, Ina and Ronelle, were in spirit with us.
These two ladies Tanja and Henda were instrumental in getting all my luggage to Berlin.
My dear friends Neil and Lita’s newborn baby. What a cute little lady!
So, there I was standing, stunned to silence by what the gentleman had told me. The cargo for the flight to Berlin on Monday morning was closed. Full stop. The rest of the staff already left office and were back in Windhoek, 45 km away.
He offered to call his manager for me to speak to her. She told me the agent should have confirmed that the date on the documents wasn’t a holiday day in Namibia, as on holdiday days they were closed, toe, geschlossen.
The gentleman introduced himself as Mr Paulus M Uukongo. He suggested that I should perhaps start with customs to get all the paperwork stamped and the carnet de passage filled in and stamp.
It was getting late already. I ran to the custom offices. The lady behind the counter was so relaxed. Each time she started with my paperwork she was interrupted by a gentleman or lady who ordered cats or dogs from South Africa and who came to fetch the poor pets. And the clock was ticking… Then I had to fetch another customs official from the other side of the complex to come and check the chassis and engine numbers of the KLR. Also there the pet-fetchers interrupted us again a few times.
In the meantime Mr Uukongo again spoke to his manager and she agreed to drive back from Windhoek to the airport to come and certify the KLR as dangerous cargo and fit to be transported. He helped off-loading the KLR and to get it on the pallet in the cargo hall. He pointed at some of my stickers and told me that he was a Christian.
There, in the cargo area of the airport I witnessed how the principles of Christianity were practiced by a gentlemen who didn’t have to help me but was prepared to do so. He had all rights to tell me to bugger off, but he hadn’t done so. The fact that the KLR is flying on Monday is mainly because of his willingness to help me.
I gave him one of the stickers that a school boy of Naboomspruit gave me with our last prayer meeting: Reality = Good is Good! He was really glad to get the sticker for his car.
Last night I was totally exhausted. But as I woke up this morning I realized something was missing. In all the excitement I didn’t get a copy of the waybill that I have to submit in Berlin as proof that the KLR is mine!!!!
I drove back to the airport, knowing that it is a holiday day. I drove to the office of Air Berlin, and it was closed.
I felt so helpless. For no reason I walked down the cargo complex and found an office of Air Namibia open. There was one lady at the counter. Out of pure desperation I asked her whether she didn’t know Mr Uukongo of Air Berlin and if she didn’t have perhaps his cell number.
Yes, she did know him. Yes, she did have his number.
She called him in Windhoek, and an hour later I had the copy of the waybill in my hands.
Reality = God is Good!
I saw something that compensated for all the stress. I saw a brilliant red sunrise this morning. While taking a photograph of it suddenly the silhouettes of two giraffes appeared on a hill and walked past the rising sun!
How privileged I was to see so much beauty!
I left with the KLR on a trailer for Windhoek, Namibia, on Tuesday. I spent the night with my youngest sister Ronelle and her family. We, my sisters, Dorette and Ronelle, and I first had to put the ashes of our parents in the Wall of Remembrance of their local church. It was not so emotional for us as I feared it could have been.
Wednesday was a long relaxed drive on the Trans Kalahari highway through Botswana to Kang where I camped the night. Early on Thursday I left. I planned to get as far as Gobabis, Namibia. 90 km west of Kang was a truck accident which blocked the highway in both directions. It already happened the Wednesday. As I got to the accident scene trucks stood in both lanes backed up for a kilometer or two. Some trucks tried to drive around the blockade but got bogged down in the deep sand next to the road. I put the Hilux in 4×4 and ploughed through the deep sand around the trucks. The poor people at the scene were stuck there since the previous day.
From the accident scene I had a 300 km drive with nearly no traffic to Buitepos, the border between Botswana and Namibia. The border post was nearly empty and within a few minutes I was through the border. I could only imagine how that would look there when all those trucks arrive there at one time. The queue would be incredible.
I was quite early in Gobabis due to the time saved at the border. I decided to push on as the airport was only about 200 km further. The incident two years ago when I received a call from Cape Town at midnight, six hours before the KLR would have departed, to tell me that the KLR won’t be flying due to a missing customs stamp, and that was the last flight of Air Berlin from Cape Town for the summer, was fresh in my mind. I got to the Windhoek International Airport and decided to check with Air Berlin that everything was in place for me to hand in the KLR today, on Friday, as per the documents I received from Germany. On the documents it was printed “until 12 noon on Friday 25 May 2012”.
I got to the office of Air Berlin. There was one gent there.
The conversation went like this.
“Good afternoon! I am just checking where your offices are for tomorrow to hand over my bike.”
“You are too late. We closed the cargo already at 9 this morning.”
“But my documents clearly say ‘until 12 noon on Friday’, and it is now only Thursday. How could you close cargo already on Thursday?”
Sir, Friday is a public holiday day in Namibia, and we are closed.”
At that point I realized why some people get older sooner than other people.
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