Jabberwocky
Forever young (ish!)
Super Poster
Lifetime VIP Member
Hi, we (My wife and I!!) are new to Cali life and took delivery, as some will know, of our new 150ps Ocean in February this year. We have been to the meet at Brean Sands (two nights) and a few trips out in the UK including Ludlow, the South Coast - from Dorset to West Sussex (9 nights). Then we decided to change everything - we booked, or rather I booked, a European trip. And we decided we would not mess about!
Our trip included, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, back to Belgium and France and home. So seven countries, 3373 miles, 43 nights away (42 in the Cali), 38ish miles per gallon and half a litre of oil and a few slight hi-cups here and there, but nothing serious, on the way and we're back safe and sound having experienced day temperatures from as low as 10 in the South Tyrol in Austria to 34 in France (Noirmoutier).
My wife made a blog while we were away and it starts "22/6/17, Mileage 3363, fully laden, bikes, wardrobe, kitchen sink, water, gas, etc, etc on board, 16:10 leaving confines of where we live........" It was with some trepidation that we set off. What had we forgotten? etc. No turning back now – off the Harwich. Twenty minutes into the journey – we got our first VW/Cali wave!
We took the ferry from Harwich to Hook van Holland and to save the boredom of too much detail we visited:
The Netherlands
Delft (Delft (beautiful/typical Dutch café culture), Keukenhof (Flowers), Zaandam (architecture), Enkhuizen (famous museum of the Dutch struggle against the sea), Amersfoort (Camper Centrum) and Rotterdam (Kinderdijk etc). We used our bikes wherever we could – very easy.
Belgium
Silly, “Chateau Graty” (only because Graty is our surname and we were curious……..) Sadly no inheritance waiting for us!!
France
Giverny (Monet), Saumur (Cadre Noir, Wine etc), Cholet (Puy du Fou), Noirmoutier (7 nights for a beach holiday week – very relaxing. Used bikes only – no driving days!), Nantes (the airport – my wife had to go back to work!), Briancon (Tour de France)
Italy
Turin (In transit only as have been before), Alessandria, Denice (one of my sisters lives here), Trento (gateway to the Dolomites – stunning)
Austria
Innsbruck (Transit only), Rutte (Very wet [pylon got hit by lightning in storm closing motorway) and cold but Gateway to Fussen and two German castles – Neuschwanstein and Hohnschwangau)
Germany
Fussen (Neuschwanstein and Hohnschwangau Castles – well worth a visit. http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/ , http://www.hohenschwangau.de/ ), Heidelberg (Trip down the Mosel to Heidelberg Castle. http://www.schloss-heidelberg.de/en/home/ ), Eltz (In the Mosel Valley and gateway to the famous castle. http://burg-eltz.de/en/ ). You will have realised by now that I quite like visiting castles!
Luxembourg
Vianden (Vianden Castle - http://www.castle-vianden.lu/english/ )
So how did we fair with the Cali? On the whole faultless. Only real niggle was the awning and its rattles and bangs as you drive along. No matter what I did (and I have read the various threads on this subject) it seems to at least come back and annoy. (I have used sticky pads and Velcro to control noise and seems to have worked for now)
We did have a number of issues on the way:
I managed to reverse the bike rack into a tree! Annoying, but only minor damage to bike rack. No damage to tailgate door as far as we can tell fortunately.
We had no spanner/wrench for gas bottle when we ran out – a quick beg on the campsite solved this though.
Fellow motorist in France “dinged” the nearside body panel with his door. Wouldn’t mind except we were parked in a field – wasn’t exactly tight for space!!
When travelling solo its really annoying to have to get out on the Cali to pay tolls etc. Managed to “dink” the drivers door on high kerbs at least twice! (I have a slipped disc problem and slipping through small gaps is not easy – but only a minor problem).
Overall? Great holiday and experience. Really enjoyed the freedom.
I am 64 this year and have travelled all my life be it privately or as part of my work. This holiday has proven that you don’t have to go too far, in your own time to enjoy good weather, good food and good company (wife included!!!).
Do I regret spending £50k on my Cali? Not for a second.
Next? Cali meet in Stratford in September and then on to France for HC’s Champagne weekend!
Our trip included, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, back to Belgium and France and home. So seven countries, 3373 miles, 43 nights away (42 in the Cali), 38ish miles per gallon and half a litre of oil and a few slight hi-cups here and there, but nothing serious, on the way and we're back safe and sound having experienced day temperatures from as low as 10 in the South Tyrol in Austria to 34 in France (Noirmoutier).
My wife made a blog while we were away and it starts "22/6/17, Mileage 3363, fully laden, bikes, wardrobe, kitchen sink, water, gas, etc, etc on board, 16:10 leaving confines of where we live........" It was with some trepidation that we set off. What had we forgotten? etc. No turning back now – off the Harwich. Twenty minutes into the journey – we got our first VW/Cali wave!
We took the ferry from Harwich to Hook van Holland and to save the boredom of too much detail we visited:
The Netherlands
Delft (Delft (beautiful/typical Dutch café culture), Keukenhof (Flowers), Zaandam (architecture), Enkhuizen (famous museum of the Dutch struggle against the sea), Amersfoort (Camper Centrum) and Rotterdam (Kinderdijk etc). We used our bikes wherever we could – very easy.
Belgium
Silly, “Chateau Graty” (only because Graty is our surname and we were curious……..) Sadly no inheritance waiting for us!!
France
Giverny (Monet), Saumur (Cadre Noir, Wine etc), Cholet (Puy du Fou), Noirmoutier (7 nights for a beach holiday week – very relaxing. Used bikes only – no driving days!), Nantes (the airport – my wife had to go back to work!), Briancon (Tour de France)
Italy
Turin (In transit only as have been before), Alessandria, Denice (one of my sisters lives here), Trento (gateway to the Dolomites – stunning)
Austria
Innsbruck (Transit only), Rutte (Very wet [pylon got hit by lightning in storm closing motorway) and cold but Gateway to Fussen and two German castles – Neuschwanstein and Hohnschwangau)
Germany
Fussen (Neuschwanstein and Hohnschwangau Castles – well worth a visit. http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/ , http://www.hohenschwangau.de/ ), Heidelberg (Trip down the Mosel to Heidelberg Castle. http://www.schloss-heidelberg.de/en/home/ ), Eltz (In the Mosel Valley and gateway to the famous castle. http://burg-eltz.de/en/ ). You will have realised by now that I quite like visiting castles!
Luxembourg
Vianden (Vianden Castle - http://www.castle-vianden.lu/english/ )
So how did we fair with the Cali? On the whole faultless. Only real niggle was the awning and its rattles and bangs as you drive along. No matter what I did (and I have read the various threads on this subject) it seems to at least come back and annoy. (I have used sticky pads and Velcro to control noise and seems to have worked for now)
We did have a number of issues on the way:
I managed to reverse the bike rack into a tree! Annoying, but only minor damage to bike rack. No damage to tailgate door as far as we can tell fortunately.
We had no spanner/wrench for gas bottle when we ran out – a quick beg on the campsite solved this though.
Fellow motorist in France “dinged” the nearside body panel with his door. Wouldn’t mind except we were parked in a field – wasn’t exactly tight for space!!
When travelling solo its really annoying to have to get out on the Cali to pay tolls etc. Managed to “dink” the drivers door on high kerbs at least twice! (I have a slipped disc problem and slipping through small gaps is not easy – but only a minor problem).
Overall? Great holiday and experience. Really enjoyed the freedom.
I am 64 this year and have travelled all my life be it privately or as part of my work. This holiday has proven that you don’t have to go too far, in your own time to enjoy good weather, good food and good company (wife included!!!).
Do I regret spending £50k on my Cali? Not for a second.
Next? Cali meet in Stratford in September and then on to France for HC’s Champagne weekend!
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