It was another 3-country day as we drove into Luxembourg starting in Germany and going via France (this will never get old for the little Kiwi in me). Luxembourg had been on Dani’s list since she had discussed a homelands tour with 2 friends at university that had never happened and with my new found interest in micro-nations it was a must go. Like all other micro-nations on this trip, Luxembourg is very pretty and pretty dull. The campground (Kockelscheuer €15.35/$22.90/18 USD) was another very nice campground but did lack in food facilities. It did however have an easy access bus stop to get into the city and although we’re not really sure why, we were told we did not have to pay any fare to get there. Luxembourg City is a strange mix between really old and ultra modern. More targeted at those who like high end shopping than those interested in a historical city although the museum is free and Mel said it was fantastic (we decided to wander instead). After 2 nights we were ready to push on but did face the problem of where to go next. Already ahead of schedule we weren’t sure where to use our extra time. We had wanted to go to Brussels but there were no viable camping options and Ghent had a massive summer festival going on so we settled on driving straight through to Holland. There was a town near to the Dutch/Belgian border that belongs to Belgium. This town is unique as it is entirely surrounded by Dutch territory and has 22 separate parcels of Belgian land. This means neighbours on the same street may have different taxes/laws to abide by and you can cross multiple borders just walking down the street. This greatly amused us and we posed for all the typical tourist pictures. Our problem began when we tried to find a campsite. None of the 3 we arrived at had anyone manning reception and we were then informed that no one would be coming until the following morning. This was seriously suboptimal and induced mild panic in the 3 of us, but luckily someone helped us contact the caretaker who agreed to let us in and register in the morning. The campground (Parc de Kievit €17.70/$26.35 AUD/20.70 USD) was surprisingly lovely and we decided to use the opportunity to break into the Alispacher keg that we had purchased to reward ourselves for finding somewhere to stay. Having examined the map and knowing the ultimate goal in Holland for Mel was Amsterdam we decided our next stop would be Gouda. This turned out to be a great decision for all of us as not only was it gorgeous but the cheese tasting locations throughout the town were out of this world. Armed with over €40 ($60.20 AUD/46.90 USD) worth of cheese we headed off towards the first campground. Here we stumbled across yet another problem…it was full. The woman at reception kindly gave us the name of another place and so we continued on towards it. Luck was on our side this time when we arrived (Boerderijcaming De Mulderije €13.77/$20.55/16.15 USD) to not only space but also a wonderful campground with a fantastic owner. Set in a field you have a small canal next to the field and it even has a windmill in the background. We could have stayed there forever but the debauchery of Amsterdam was calling. The campground we had booked in Amsterdam has a fantastic location. Less than 2km to walk to the free ferry that takes you over to the city centre and is really well equipped. Camping Vliegenbos (€19.35/$28.85 AUD/22.65 USD) caters generally to a younger crowd but is still nicely set up. We arrived and checked in before heading off to into the city to find a pint. We had booked the Heineken brewery tour for our second day, so Dani and I walked into town (Mel likes a sleep in so she caught the bus) wandering through all the canals. The Heineken Experience (€25/$37.65 AUD/29.40 USD) is a lot of fun despite the high tourist hype and we had a great day learning about the Dutch national beer. The tour included a canal ride, which we enjoyed and then we wandered back to the campground. Dani and I had been to Amsterdam before so were happy just ambling around and bopping from place to place. After a few heavy days it was time to make our way back towards France as our road trip was coming to an end. We had several options, however we had all loved Gouda so much we agreed to head back and do a Stoopwaffel making course (worth it for a foodie with a sweet tooth even though it’s in Dutch). Another wonderful night at one of our favourite campgrounds on the trip set us up to head down to Maastricht for one final stop. The campground there was sensational. Right by the river, it had a little beach for kids to play in and it’s own bar. Although 7km out of the city it was a beautiful walk along the river to get there (there is a bus should you want to catch one). We decided to do the walk and it was my misfortune on the walk to discover stinging nettles. Who on earth thought that wouldn’t be something you’d be warned about?! Trying to reach some blackberries growing along the path I pulled back my leg to find 2 large welts. Thankfully having an English wife meant she new what to do and asked me to find some dock leaves (for those of you who don’t know, dock leaves can be rubbed on the welts to soothe the sting). Unfortunately for me, my wife had yet to point out to me what stinging nettles actually looked like so while reaching for said dock leaves I managed to sting my arm! This was not a positive sequence of events. Maastricht is another beautiful historic town and we immediately stumbled into the main square to check out their wonderful antique market. While perusing miniature steins my other arm started to burn and I discovered that a bee was caught between my bracelet and my arm. I was seriously not having a good day! The only thing to cure this was the wonderful looking chip shop/restaurant on the corner of the square. It turned out to be a great choice as we had a delicious meal and soon my stings started to settle down.
This was a fabulous last stop and it was with sadness that we packed up for the final time to head to Dunkirk to catch our ferry back to the UK. We had decided to stay in a F1 motel (which seemed fitting since we had started the trip in one) close to the ferry port, as it was booked for very early the next morning. Now, Mel is not a morning person and we had tried to be accommodating of this despite both being really early risers which had resulted in more than a few mornings waiting for Mel to emerge from her tent like some sort of baby dinosaur. This had been causing us both some concern as we had to be up at 5.30am to get to the ferry on time. At 4.30am, Mel needed to get up to go to the bathroom and upon discovering it was so close to when we all needed to be up decided to stay awake…great in theory until she decided that we’d actually set the alarm for 5am. At 6 minutes past she panicked and decided to wake us up! So typical that the one time she’s up early we miss out on sleep because she got the time wrong! Drowsy and a little under caffeinated we piled on to the boat and set sail for the UK. A little sad to be saying goodbye to Hamster who had been our home for 2 and a half months we drove back into London. It was time for friends and family before setting off on the next adventure…see you soon Central America!
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