Another Westie in North Yorkshire

[greyplague]

Hi to all,
Having had our 1992 T4 California since January 2012, I thought it high time I signed up on here.

We bought the van 'as seen and tested', without warranty and with 235,000 kms on the clock! We'd been looking round for ages before finding this one, then, out of the blue, my 'other half' was offered early retirement on health grounds - with a substantial payout, so we grabbed both the money and the van. When we finally got to try it out before parting with our money there were 3 other couples behind us, waiting to do just that! We grabbed it :clap!

The initial plan was to put right any faults that may show up, then set off on our long-promised trip round Europe in May. By April, what little jobs there were to be done had been sorted, it passed its MoT with no problems, so we set off for the ferry in driving hail and rain on 31 April. After exactly two months (with only 3 wet days) and 5,000 miles later, we arrived back home after sticking almost religiously to the plan we had formulated over the preceding months. Did we enjoy it? You bet your life we did. Did we have problems? Err… yes , but nothing desperate! Let's just say that the Adrian Flux Rescue service was brilliant . I'll post details on the forum later, but let's just say that we visited Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy (Tuscany), round the Med to France, then into Germany again and ended up at Bruges - in that order.

So here I am, a dedicated California owner . Anyone wanting detailed info on the Europe trip can get get in touch and I'll help/advise where possible - isn't that what forums (fora?) are all about?

 

[2into1]

Come and join 'Rusty Corner' (my naming) of the T4's being grouped together at The Cali's on the Farm meet next weekend.

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Great stuff, just what they were designed for!

Would love to see some pictures from your trip. We'e dragging our '91 to Germany over the summer, although Munich's LEZ means we can't take the van to see where she was originally purchased :cry:

Rusty Corner - Fantastic. We need a banner!

dan

 

[greyplague]

So whereabouts are you going - and when? We go to Germany most years and could help/advise on campsites, places to go, etc. As far as Munich is concerned, try
http://www.campingplatz-nord-west.de/index.htm
on NW side just outside the LEZ - take public transport into the city. Google maps has it marked.

Have a look at my earlier posting on Germany viewtopic.php?f=49&t=4096
You'll find a link to a brilliant FREE download for a campsite guide.

If you're over there from June 14 to 16 there's a VW Meet at Kochel am See (due south of Munich, almost at Austrian border). See their website at
http://busfreunde.chatacomben.de/ (in German)
Site is on the shore of Kochelsee lake in a beautiful area right on the edge of the Alps. See
http://www.campingplatz-kesselberg.de/
We've booked already :clap (book through the bustreffen website - it's cheaper!).

Still in Bavaria, have a look at Berchtesgaden. Campsite Allweglehen is great - views to die for from the van window - and good grub in restaurant :clap . See
http://www.allweglehen.de/en/

I'll put some pics in my album soon - have to re-size them first, or you could try looking at them on the T4/T5 forum if you're a member (sorry mods). If not, I recommend joining: very friendly site and tons of info on T4s. My name on there is basscamp67.
Whatever you do, have a great trip, let us know how you get on and feel free to keep in touch.

Stopping off in the Rhine Gorge? Try Camping Sonnenstrand at Bacharach am Rhein
http://www.camping-rhein.de/deutsch/der-campingplatz/
On river bank at edge of medieval town - wine growing centre - well worth a stop. Site also runs a nearby Stellplatz (campervan 'Aire'), but usually very busy and not all that brilliant.
Going out of season? Take an ACSI card or Camping Cheques. We saved a LOT of money last year with them on our 2 month trip.

One last thing for now: Breakdown cover ? We used Adrian Flux last year - they were brilliant! I have full Europe cover, up to 4 months at any one time - for about 60 quid. We needed them a couple of times and found the service to be superb.
Last tip of all. If stuck at a garage with language problems - use Google Translator. All garages have internet - it makes life easy, as we found out in Italy!

I've got loads more info if you need it, so let me know what your plans are.

 

[greyplague]

A few Germany 2012 pics now in Album

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Thanks. Love the castle shot

We're over there in early June I think.

Our basic plan is to head for Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt, first, I lived there for a short while in the late '90s and my OH wants to see the place (although again, there are LEZ problems...). From there we will head south. Haven't got a real plan for that yet. Probably the Romantic Road, the Alps, Lake Constance and then the Black Forest. Lots of walking and cycling and castles really

We've got an ACSI card and the Bord Atlas, so we'll take each day as it comes.

I'll take a look at the campsites you've listed, although I think we've given up on the idea of Munich in favour of just flying there for a weekend at some point (the last time we flew to Germany for the weekend, we got snowed into Berlin for a week. Fantastic!)

I'm on T4Forum as well, it's a useful resource for more general T4 problems. We've got breakdown cover with the RAC at the mo, haven't had to use them yet though

We're looking forward to the trip!
dan

 

[greyplague]

One for you in the Black Forest at Titisee
http://www.bankenhof.de/
We stayed there last year: great site near lake, helpful staff, good grub and bar, small shop (bread every day) and above all not noisy - just what we like.
Titisee town is 'touristy', but not too bad for all that - and in walking distance (through the woods). Walking by road is hot - no shade at all!
The area is beautiful and worth a look if you're new to it. Handy for Feldberg mountain trip if that's your thing.
Camping Sandbank (next door)
http://www.camping-sandbank.de/gb/
is on the lake, but not as good in our opinion.
We're over in Germany most of June - we'll watch out for you!

 

[owen_h]

Jumped over from the other thread on Germany info, hope you let a T5 Beach owner in In my defence I’ve spent so long considering getting a camper that when I started, T4s were the current version.

A couple of those campsite links look like they could be good for the trip I and another couple with a tent are doing in Aug / Sept. The end destination is lake Walchsee in Austria where were doing a triathlon. Booked into this site http://www.camping-seespitz.at/artikel-en.php?catid=1 . The plan is to take a few days to get down there (and back) stopping off on the way. The sites at Bacharach am Rhein and Titisee could well be suitable stopping off points. Like twentyonethirtyfive we were also thinking along the lines of visiting lake Constance so be interested in your experience of that area.

The Bacharach am Rhein one is close to where I had a B&B stop off last year (Koblenz)on the way over to do another Tri. End destination was a place called Roth just south of Nuremburg. Didn’t have Clara the Cali then but tent camped in this site on a small lake. http://www.camping-waldsee.de/index.php?id=909&L=1

Enjoy your trips

 

[greyplague]

No probs at all with a T5 - my son has one, so I have to be careful what I say :? ! You can see it at http://stone174.blogspot.co.uk/ - it's quite a gem, as he has no kids to clutter it up :mrgreen:

You mention Lake Walchsee - are you sure it's not Walchensee, just over the border in Germany? It's a great big lake (deepest in Germany) with all the water sports and a great bike ride on the main road, over the Kesselberg mountain to Kochel am See (about 7 miles, all twists and turns, ups and downs ). There is a good campsite at Kochel - in fact we'll be there middle of August for a VW Meet - see http://busfreunde.chatacomben.de/ all in German, but I can help if necessary. Campsite is http://campingplatz-kesselberg

Again, I can happily recommend the sites mentioned on the previous post. We've been on them all - some several times - important, as Mrs. Greyplague can be a little 'choosy' at times :evil:

When I started it was a 1959 6-volt Beetle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy yourselves

 

[owen_h]

No probs at all with a T5 - my son has one, so I have to be careful what I say :? ! You can see it at http://stone174.blogspot.co.uk/ - it's quite a gem, as he has no kids to clutter it up :mrgreen:

You mention Lake Walchsee - are you sure it's not Walchensee, just over the border in Germany? It's a great big lake (deepest in Germany) with all the water sports and a great bike ride on the main road, over the Kesselberg mountain to Kochel am See (about 7 miles, all twists and turns, ups and downs ). There is a good campsite at Kochel - in fact we'll be there middle of August for a VW Meet - see http://busfreunde.chatacomben.de/ all in German, but I can help if necessary. Campsite is http://campingplatz-kesselberg

Again, I can happily recommend the sites mentioned on the previous post. We've been on them all - some several times - important, as Mrs. Greyplague can be a little 'choosy' at times :evil:

When I started it was a 1959 6-volt Beetle !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy yourselves

The lake is def Walchsee Kaiserwinkl in the Tirol region of Austria. I've got to swim all the way round it as the first leg of the event so don't want it to be to big :lol:
The roads there look like there all up and down as well, thats the sort of cycling I like though, must mad :crazy

Will check the other links tonight, sites are blocked at work .

 

[greyplague]

Just checked the Walchsee site - I should have looked earlier, before replying and getting it wrong.

Have you nothing better to do than swim round lakes? My tip: buy a fishing rod - it's a much gentler hobby

 

[greyplague]

Now sitting in the van overlooking the lake at Walchsee. Site (Terrassencamping) on south side of lake is very good with excellent facilities - we can recommend it. Been here 3 days, with the temperature in the high 30s each day, apart from a quick thunderstorm which cooled things down for a brief spell. Moving on tomorrow, beginning the slow trek homewards.

 

[owen_h]

Now sitting in the van overlooking the lake at Walchsee. Site (Terrassencamping) on south side of lake is very good with excellent facilities - we can recommend it. Been here 3 days, with the temperature in the high 30s each day, apart from a quick thunderstorm which cooled things down for a brief spell. Moving on tomorrow, beginning the slow trek homewards.

I'm jealous but looking forward to my trip down there later in the year. Were booked onto the site on the NW side of the lake. The triathlon organisers posted a u-tube clip of the cycle route last week, looks fantastic but I might take my normal road bike rather than an aero time trial bike as a std road bike is better for hilly courses.
Did a bit more planning of our route down to the Tirol, prob going to spend a night on the Luxembourg / Germany border and then 3 nights somewhere on Lake Constance. Anyone got a good recommendation for Constance? Thinking about the German side of the lake around Lindau.

Have a good trip back

 

[greyplague]

Ta for the reply Owen.
For Constance area, have a look at
camping-sonnental.de
it's at a place called Engen, north of the lake on German side. It looks good to me . We will possibly be there in about 6 days from now. I'll try to let you know what it's like, if and when we get there - nothing's definite on our trips until it actually happens, although it's handy for a jaunt to see the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen, which we want to visit, so it seems likely.

Campsite you've picked at Walchsee looks OK, right on the lake shore, plus a convenient Spar supermarket close by (always handy for a few bottles of something 'refreshing'! :crazy .

Temp hit 40 deg at 1-30 today. The swimming looked good, but biking and running? Not for me.

Have fun and let us know how you get on.

Geoff

 

[greyplague]

Now sitting in the van overlooking the lake at Walchsee. Site (Terrassencamping) on south side of lake is very good with excellent facilities - we can recommend it. Been here 3 days, with the temperature in the high 30s each day, apart from a quick thunderstorm which cooled things down for a brief spell. Moving on tomorrow, beginning the slow trek homewards.

I'm jealous but looking forward to my trip down there later in the year. Were booked onto the site on the NW side of the lake. The triathlon organisers posted a u-tube clip of the cycle route last week, looks fantastic but I might take my normal road bike rather than an aero time trial bike as a std road bike is better for hilly courses.
Did a bit more planning of our route down to the Tirol, prob going to spend a night on the Luxembourg / Germany border and then 3 nights somewhere on Lake Constance. Anyone got a good recommendation for Constance? Thinking about the German side of the lake around Lindau.

Have a good trip back

Hi Owen,
Not sure when the triathlon is, but good luck when you get there. We didn't stop in the Constance area (it rained!), so just had a quick look at the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen (well worth a detour), then went straight to Titisee (Black Forest) - still a great site.

Enjoy yourself, have a great trip and drive safely.
Geoff

PS - bought a fishing rod yet? :lol:

 

[owen_h]

Hi Geoff,
The triathlon is on the 1st Sept but we start the trip down there a week today. Still planning to stop off at Constance for a few days on the way down there. Will try pot luck with sites on Constance as it looks like there are quite a few to choose from.
Just started the process of dumping stuff to take on the spare bed, hope it will all fit in. No fishing rod don't think I'm capable of sitting still long enough to be a good fisherman.

Owen

 

[greyplague]

You're right Owen, plenty of sites to choose from in the Constance area, so you shouldn't have much of a problem. Pick one near the lake and you could give fishing a try - just keep moving: it's not all sitting around drowning worms :crazy .

Seriously though, enjoy the emptying/packing, and the journey, and the riding+running+swimming. Rather you than me :!:.

Let me know how you get on - and give my/our regards to Walchsee. We're envious :evil: .

Geoff