River Days and Fairy Tales

Our first day out of Bremen was the only day of the next few that we didn't have organised accommodation, and with this knowledge we happily crossed the Weser river for the first time, and joined the Weser Radweg (Bikeway) - a path we would follow for the next week all the way south to the head of the Weser river. The first few days of riding had us weaving all across the surrounding country as the 'bikepath' was following the small car roads through the farming areas of Nieder-Sachsen, and it seemed the creator of this path was keen for the traveller to visit every tiny town along the way.

I started the day with wet socks after the bike shed became a shallow pond after the last 2 days of rain, but the weather had turned for the better now, and even though not warm, at least it wasn't wet.

We planned to get a new map from a servo as we were about to ride off the bottom of ours in the next few km's. I didn't manage to find any maps so we just went without, which will probably shock most German people to the core, with sat-nav's seemingly being the required minimum for any trip further than the local supermarket, for all types of transport. And as we were to learn, rightly so, as travelling without a map in Germany is fraught with wrong turns and miss directions if you only have the road signs to go by. But we also had the bikepath signs, and with the riding along this river among the most popular in Germany, we found ourselves with an abundance of signs. Depending on our mood it was possible to follow the river trail, church trail, devil trail, monk trail or windmill trail, with a few others thrown in just to keep it interesting. We stuck loosely to the Weser river trail.
We were rolling along nicely with our first tail wind of the year and quite probably our first tail wind ever. It was taking us past paddocks submerged under snowmelt and rainwater, whilst other paddocks were populated with swans feasting on bugs. We eventually picked up a new map, but it started further south of where we were, so another 1/2 hour of surprises before we knew our exact location in the world again, a mildly good feeling whilst on the other side of the world. But without getting lost along the way, I pay homage to the pre sat-nav skill of 'opening a bloody map'.
We had guessed that the town of Verden would be a good length day from Bremen, but we gave the town a miss, instead staying on the western side of the river. We cruised into the town of Hoya for a very late lunch, so late that it was decided to look for accommodation also. We found 1 place that was advertising a special for cyclists that came with cheap room, brekky, all the mod cons and a sauna to boot, but when we rang the number that this deal wasn't actually for us. Maybe because nobody has heard of 2 people stupid enough to be cycling at this time of year, and especially this year when we are only 3 weeks out of the severe winter in 20 years. Putting this dissapointment behind us we pedalled the entire 900mtrs to the next town of Bücken where we happened upon a beautiful little B&B right on the bikepath (the bikepath goes past every B&B), so that became home for the night. Looking at all the B&B's and houses advertising free rooms, I can only imagine how nuts it must be along the river during the summer. The first question we got at the restaurant this night was 'cyclists or hikers?'. We aren't planning on pre-booking any accommodation for now, but might find ourselves in trouble come mid May.

The next day started with a beautifully presented breakfast, and with not much to pack we were away at 10.00, and straight back onto the Weser Radweg. The same as yesterday we were passing through many small towns only a few km apart from each other. There were Schweringen, Sebbenhausen, Buchhorst, Mehlbergen and Marklohe all before Nienburg which came equipped with a nice bikeshop, where we stopped, as we do with most bikeshops we see along the way. This time I came away with a new second hand adjustable stem, to raise my handlebars a few cm's, as my seat has been a long way above my handlebars, which ins't great for extended tours.

After this long stop we chose some more direct routes to get to our destination a bit quicker, and also because the sunny day had given way to clouds, and the smell of rain was on the edge of my nostrils. So with the threat of rain and a house to locate, we were getting to work and putting the km's behind us when at one stage we stopped to ask directions and Naj noticed that her back tyer was needing some extra air, which she promptly added with her rarely used pump. A few minutes and 2 towns later I was exiting Heimsen and noticed that Nadia was not. I gave it a few minutes, then guessed that for the first time in over 4,000km's we had our first flat tyer situation. I returned and found Naj with her bike upside down and rear wheel off. She found a nasty foreign object imbedded in her tyre and decided on a complete tyre and tube swap. I was ready to lend a hand, but noticed the look of determination, so I sat to watch and chat. In no time at all we were on our way again, but still, the day was shortening, and we had told our hosts to expect us between 5 and 7. After a few pieces of advice from locals and a few wrong turns we managed to lean our bikes against the correct garage on the stroke of 7.00, which was also just about right on time for dinner.
This night we were staying with the parents of Anja from Bremen. We dined with her folks Manfred and Gurden, then retired to the basement where Manfred has a fully kitted and stocked bar, with tables for 2 dozen guests. Finally got to bed at middnight merrily pissed, and with stories of European Handball swimming through my head, that being the chosen sport of the family. There were a few old newspaper clippings on the wall of the bar, of Manfred and his 4 brothers in action for the local team. They were all big and hairy and I would've happily let them win without much of a fight.

Day 3 along the Weser started dry but overcast, then got even better when the clouds burnt off and the hangover followed suit. We were again away early with no camping gear to pack, and were soon standing beside the Mittle Land Kanal AND at the exact same time we were also standing above the Weser River. This amazing feat was achievable thanks to those engineering Germans who many years ago built a massive aquaduct for the massive canal right over the top of the masive Weser River, so that was interesting.
Riding onwards took us through Minden and also past our 1st mountain of the year. We left the river and went up a bit of a climb, easily our biggest since Norway last year. At the top of this climb we stopped for lunch at a picnic table set back from the road amongst some large, brown leafed trees. We sat in the sun and the birds were singing and it was great! I really like that most of the picnic tables out along these small, backcountry roads also come with bins. I don't know who has to empty them or how often, but it's great for us, where packing space is a sought after thing.
For a few km's after our mittagsessen we followed the windmill trail, and as the name suggests there were windmills to be seen. The afternoon session had us crossing onto the northern bank of the river and passing through many small towns, including both Kleinen and Grossen Wieden, and yes, 1 was much more Grossen than the other. From here the last stretch of the days ride into Hameln was ridden in near perfect riding conditions, with a beautifully smooth path under our wheels and a gentle breeze at our backs. We weaved our way between other cyclists and rollerbladers, arriving in town just before 5. Soon we were joined by our couch surfing hosts Marc and Susanna who were also on their bikes. They gave us a quick tour of Hameln, taking us past the towns oldest house, built in the year 1560. The tour ended in town centre just on time to listen to the bells and see the Pied Piper characters come out of the wall and follow their thrice daily path, moving slowly around whilst in the background was playing the Pied Piper tune.

We rested a day in Hameln, then got away early on the 25th, arriving in Bodenwerder for lunch. Bodenwerder became the 3rd town that we have passed through along the river that is the basis of a Grimm Brothers fairytale.
Another name for the river path we are following is the Fairy Tale Trail. The Brothers Grimm actually travelled this area and put together some of their works. Of course we had the Bremen Town Musicians in Bremen, The Pied Piper of Hameln, and now the town of Bodenwerder, the home of The Lying Baron Von Munchausen, who was a man not short of a good story, like riding a canon ball and taking half a horse to water. I vaguely remember most of the stories from when I was a little tacker, and it's fun to know that it was in these old towns along this wide old river that the ides emerged and have been told to many a generation since.

We collected the obligatory postcards and got back on the path, where everything was going nicely until the path disappeared under hochwasser, this 'high water' being the result of all the rain and the masses of snow melting up in the hills. We negotiated the flood and enjoyed a care free afternoon that took us past Corvey Schloss, an ancient and fairly sizeable abbey. The photographing of this abbey completely drained my camera battery, meaning the last 16km of the day were halt free on my behalf.
Our host for the night had told us to text her when we got to the bridge, which had us confused as there were many bridges across the river, but as we arrived in the town of Blankenau it became much clearer. The town is on the uphill side of the old traintracks that run along the riverside, and the only way into the town from the riverside is through the old train bridge tunnel. So Nadia sent through a text and 10 seconds later Sabina was looking over the railing above and saying hello.
We took our bikes through, and around and up to find her property edging onto the old tracks, giving her an amazing view over the river, which we enjoyed with her for the next few hours till after sunset.

The next day was our last following the Weser River and it again started early with not much packing required. There was the lightest drizzle as we set forth for the day, and we'd been promised rain later coming across from France. But for now the weather was nice and the temperature climbed to a seemingly hot 24degrees.
The day and the scenery were both sliding by nicely until, after what must have been 1 bump too many, the screw attaching the top of my right front rack snapped and the pannier rotated around to be hitting my foot.
5 minutes later it was occy strapped back in place well enough to get me into the next town of Bad Karlshafen. Here I found a bike/auto repair shop and within a few minutes the boys had managed to remove the remaining screw body out of my fork, leaving me free to put a new screw in. To top off the good work the fella then said there was no charge, so very chuffed with Germans and Germany and life in general I happily rolled along until reaching Hannover Munden. It is in this town that the river Werra joins the river Fulda, and with their powers combined... they become... the Weser river, which we had now reached the start of.
We lunched by the rivers in nice weather, and then the storm came.
It started with some dark clouds appearing from the west, and then came the wind change, with some huge gusts roaring across from the west also. We jumped aboard the bikes and began seeking shelter in a fairly hurried style. The shelter was found at a servo on the outskirts of town, and we were soon joined by a motorbiker with the same idea.
It was now that the day turned the lights off, with some of the blackest clouds ever created, and an instant temperature drop of a good 10 degrees.
It took another 5 minutes for the storm to break, but once broken it certainly knew what to do. We were stuck in the servo for 45minutes as it absolutely smashed down all around us. Our time was spent making sure the bikes hadn't been blown away, drinking choccy milk and chatting in our broken German to the other sewrvo dwellers, whilst outside the storm kept it interesting by swapping from heavy rain to hailstones and back again.
When we left it was still raining, but time was slipping by and we had a host waiting for us in the distant city of Kassel. Leaving the servo it was as though we were riding through snow with that much hail laying on the side of the tracks.
We arrived at Corri's wet and filthy, both us and our trusty bikes, but still we were welcomed with open arms. By the time we were showered and fed I unfortunately only had about half an hour of chat in me before I had to sleep. Another fun day done, another 89km further from, or closer to somewhere.

After a rest day in Kassel and a few beers at the Irish pub, we were back on the path, the path this time being the Fulda river radweg. The morning was nice so our hostess Corri jumped on her bike and rode with us all the way to the outskirts of town, which was great, as we would've got lost a few times. She left us just as the path got beautiful for the day, with the track climbing and decending a few times before the valley widened out. The riding was easy and after a bit of rain the day was nice. Naj was apparently bored so decided to liven things up by falling off her bike, blaming a stiff clete.
This day was our last day of touring for nearly 2 weeks, as the end of the day brought us to Britta's house. Britta is the kind lady keeping Brendan Hanley off the streets, and was therefore in need of a nice relaxing Easter holiday. During their holiday we were making ourselves useful by guarding the house and feeding the cats.
Brendan is an ex Waratah lad, so we had a good time catching up. There were hugs all around and a few beers were had. The bikes were unloaded, but not forgotten, with a tender loving clean the next day.
We had a nice holiday, with some walking, some reading and lots of relaxing.

On The Road... Again

And so it begins... again.

On the 17th of March, 2010, after 6 months and a handfull of days (and a smashing going away party) we rolled out of Circus Mignon and towards the first of a few ‘already on the move’ farewells. The Breckwoldt family’s fish shop was the first port of call, where we were given lots of hugs and promises of visits to Australia. As we headed outside to our bikes getting ready to leave again Achim and Kristin followed us out for a photo. One of the other staff came to take the photo and with us standing between them, they unfurled a banner saying goodbye to us from Hamburg, pure words of love. What a great send-off! We had a picnic lunch put into our pockets and then it was on the road again.
From the fish shop we rolled down the hill to the northern bank of the Elbe River, where we were able to follow some nice paths all the way into the city. It was a nice sunny Wednesday and there were lots of people along the river walking, running and lunching. The snow had fallen as recently as 2 weeks before, and the ‘permafrost’ ice covering the footpaths had only fully melted away a few days ago, so all the Hamburgers were out and enjoying the early springtime sun, as weak as it was. We stopped at one stage when Nadia was having some packing issues, and were instantly caught in conversation with a happy looking fella who had been confused by the stickers of the country flags we have plastered to our frames. After confirming we aren’t from Norway and that we are from Australia, but we haven’t ridden all the way from Australia, he then told us about his bestselling book from many a year ago about his journey by bike around Germany, showing Germans that they don’t actually have to go on an expensive holiday to have a good holiday, and that their own country is pretty bloody good. He was now married and stuck in a job and didn’t like it, so hopefully seeing us out and doing it brought some joy to his day.

We had planned our 1st day well, with the destination being the old apple farm, which meant a short day of only 47 km. To leave Hamburg behind for good we chose to exit through the Old Elbe Tunnel, which is open for cars, but also used by pedestrians and cyclists. After taking the elevator down to the tunnel level we strolled along underneath the Elbe River, took the next elevator up and came out onto the southern side of Hamburg. All we had to do now was to weave our way through the industrial part of this dock city before emerging into the fruit farm district of Altes Land (the old land).
We had been warned by some locals that it was easy to get lost on this part of the ride, and get lost we did, but only once, and it only added an extra 2km to our day. And taking the wrong road in this part of Germany isn’t as taxing as taking the wrong road in Norway, as here when you realise you have made a mistake, you don’t then have to push the bike back up a 3,000mtr mountain.
So with the docks behind us we started to see the acres upon acres of fruit tree farms, all looking half dead without their leaves, but the foliage free trees did make it easy to see several deer grazing and birds of prey checking for movements in the grass. Through this area we were travelling along the earthen wall of a dyke, and for the second time, we got ourselves into a friendly conversation. This time it was an old fella on his bike who had stopped to talk to his even older nextdoor neighbour who was also out on his bike. He happily chatted away for a while, and we learnt that he has never been to Australia, but he has been taught how to make and play a didgeridoo from bamboo, naturally. His older neighbour very proudly told us that he was 72 years old and rode his bike 40km every day.

Since leaving the circus in the morning with all our panniers loaded up to the max, people’s attitudes towards us were markedly brighter and friendlier. I noticed many drivers and walkers smiling as we rode past, we had people stopping to talk to us, we even scored a thumbs up from one old dude, and old dudes don’t just give away thumbs up willy-nilly. There were questions of where we were from and where we were going. During the winter we didn’t ride our bikes much (Nadia’s bike was actually frozen to the ground), but when we did we didn’t get much of a reaction out of anybody we passed. I put this down to the lack of panniers. Without the panniers we looked just like normal everyday cyclists, we might even have been locals for all anybody knew, and hence the lack of interest from passersby. But now that we were looking like full on, crazy tourists that were from somewhere else and were right at this very moment going somewhere else, and the fact that we believed that their city of Hamburg was a destination not to be missed, then we were interesting and must be nice people to be engaged in conversation at any opportunity, and failing this, then a friendly wave would suffice. Or maybe everyone was on a natural high because it was the end of a bloody long and cold winter.
Once through the town of Neuenfelde we were back on ‘home turf’ and cruised along familiar roads. We saw one of the hundreds of little apple tractors chugging towards us on the road, carting the usual 5 apple bins behind, and low and behold, it was Ralf, our old boss, doing his thing. He saw us and grinned and waved, then kept on his way. A few minutes later we arrived at the farm and found that Marion was also out, but she soon drove in with young 3 year old Jan riding shotgun and ready to tell us all about his day’s adventures. We moved back into our old room for the night, and then joined the family for dinner and drinks, after which we very much enjoyed looking at all Ralf’s photos from his January trip to Australia.

That was the end of the first day back on the road. It was great to be moving again after what felt like such a stagnant winter, even though we did some bike-free travelling. We had an awesome time in Hamburg and made many very good friends. The send off we received the night before we left and again on the day was memorable and touching. One incredible gesture from our good friend Anne was her gifting us with a small lizard pendant that had kept her company for many years of her life, and it was given to us with the wish that the lizard would bring us many years of luck too. How special is that! So with memories that will hopefully last a lifetime, and be built upon with future visits to Australia, we had left Hamburg, but this night was with the old boss, and the next day 1 final goodbye would be the last of our Hamburg farewells.

The next morning we wanted to get up and at'em early. We knew we had a massive day considering it was only day 2 on the bikes, and it was all starting just across the road. First it was a nice brekky with the Schlieckers, after which Jan had politely asked his Mum if we would ride our bikes with him. So we headed out onto the concrete out the front of the house and straddled our bikes while Jan starting cutting laps around the concrete. We joined in and after countless laps we rested while Jan chucked a few more blockies, before deciding it was now time for me to push him on the swing. We had a fun half hour before we finally had to pull the pin and make a move. Ralf loaded us up with apples and a photo stick of the morning’s fun and then it was goodbye to the farm.
1km down the road we were off the bikes again, this time for our final goodbye from Hamburg. This time it was Ana Breckwoldt, who works at the Jork Tourism Centre. She arrived just after we did and surprised us with a journalist. As she works in the tourism centre she does a lot with the local newspapers and a few days prior she had been contacted by a local reporter who was trying to chase down a story of the oncoming spring, Ana had mentioned our situation and the reporter decided that we were a great story to show that spring was finally arriving. So after an interview and a few photos she left happily and we were left to our goodbyes with Ana. They were short as she was actually at work, but they were sweet, and I’m positive that Ana (and the rest of her family) will visit us in Australia.

Once we left Jork we were into unexplored territories and would be for many thousand kilometres more. But this day was going to be a very long one, as we had accommodation waiting for us in Bremen, about 90km to the sou-southwest. There were suggested paths from other riders who had ridden between Hamburg and Bremen, but that they wound around on nice quiet roads, and were also about 30km longer, so we gave them a miss and just followed the most direct route. Even though following the more major roads we still had nice and wide sealed bikepaths all the way.

Now that we were moving towards central Germany we were entering a very populated area considering what we had found in Scandinavia, but still it was farmland with heaps of tiny towns’ inbetween. As soon as we saw the ‘thanks for visiting’ sign from the town we were leaving, we could also see a sign proclaiming that the next town was only 2km away (sometimes as close as 1km, sometimes a massive 3). So for the day we passed through 24 towns, and stopped at 2 of them. The day gave us beautiful weather with the lightest of headwinds, and lunch was had at Zeven, which was a bit over the halfway mark for the day. Once again we only took 1 wrong road for the day; at Lilienthal a bridge under repair had us pretty confused, and we ended up turning to the right instead of the left. This took us on a likely looking path that just didn’t do what it promised, and after 2 kilometres we decided to turn back as by this stage we should have been in the suburbs of Bremen. After this we negotiated the city like pro’s and got to the front door of our host right on 7pm. And that was the cycling done for now; after 2 days in the saddle we now had 2 rest days in Bremen.

Our nights in Bremen, and all the way for the next week of riding, were accommodated thanks to a nice little website called Couchsurfing. Jonny Cope got us onto this site, where after entering our details, we are now free to find other members in the area we are travelling through and send them a message to ask to sleep at their house, either on their couch or spare bedroom, and for free! Of course the idea is that when you are home you also offer the same free accommodation. It’s a great idea, and for anyone with a spare room or a sofabed, then I reckon it’s a pretty nice way to meet some (possibly) cool people from all over the world. We were loving the couchsurfing as we weren’t wanting to bust out the tent yet with the nights still dipping down to zero, and every German had told us we were crazy to be cycle touring at this time of year. Most Germans happily told us that we could expect some snow in April and here we were riding in March. But our first 2 days of riding for 2010 had been dry and geez it felt great to be on the move again and riding through country areas after such a long stint in big cities.

Our 2 rest days in Bremen weren’t as nice; it rained on both days and the temperature dropped a fair bit. We had a nice time wandering the streets of Bremen and found it to be a beautiful little town. The market area in the middle of town was cool, with the Rathaus (town hall), the Dom (cathedral) and crazy old buildings surrounding statues of Roland and the Bremen Town Musicians. Some of you might know of the Bremen Town Musicians from story times long ago (4 animals; donkey, dog, cat and rooster who wanted to be musicians and scared some bandits out of a house). We wandered the old town walls that have been turned into nice gardens and saw the Becks (proudly brewed in Bremen) Brewery across the river. Some pleasant days indeed.

.

Our German Family

So with all the computer cock-ups, the photo card issues and having our brains on permafreeze for 4 months, somewhere along the way a blog entry was misplaced. It was of the thanking variety, the sort of thanks that come with the biggest hugs. 
It's concerning an unassuming family of the best kind, you know, a cool married couple who meet you on a beach in Denmark and invite you to come and visit them in Hamburg. And being Australian, thats exactly what we did. And then you find out they've got 2 beautiful and fun loving daughters ready to party hardy and offer their couch to 2 homeless cyclists.

So it was in their comfortable house in Blankenese, a river-side suburb of Hamburg, that we got to know the Breckwoldts. We stayed for a week in a spare bedroom and became friends with Achim and Kristin, who spend their days working hard in the 105 year long family owned and run fish deli. 
We got to their place after thankfully leaving the retired english teacher, who for some reason had decided that we would be staying for an undisclosed length of time. So with his dissapointed face fresh in our memories we arrived at the Brekwoldt's and moved in and showered and felt refreshed.
The 1st evening they took us for a crusie along the Reeperbahn, a street famous for its nightlife and 'men only street' containing many a window housing ladies of both varying age and looks. After a quick stroll up and down this street with Achim while the the ladies waited outside, it was off to a cafe, then to sushi for dinner. During the week we ate great food, met some family motorbiking friends to view photos of an American biking trip, and they were even nice enough to let us stay in the house over the weekend while they went to Holland to race their cart. A few weeks later Kristen unfortunately had an accident in the cart and smashed 1 of her legs up pretty good. So she was on crutches for a month or so, but still full of smiles and laughter.
It was the second afternoon that we met Marie Brekwoldt, the youngest of the 2 daughters, who joined us for a cafe session. It was also here that we found out about our up-coming job as apple pickers, so life was good.
We didn't meet Ana until a day trip to our next hometown of Jork. She works in the Jork tourist information centre, so we saw her a few times during the apple season and 'borrowed' her internet several times at her office.
We were taken out on the town a few times during our stay in Hamburg, and each time we would spend the night on 1 of their couches, and even in Ana's bed, with her on the couch, or at her boyfriends for the night. I think by the end of our stay I now know more of the nightlife in Hamburg than I do of any other city, except maybe for Alice Springs.


And the bonuses kept coming. At the end of the apple season we were once again looking for work and it was Ana that scored us the job at the Christmas Market, thanks to an uncle who knew a man with a dog...
And after the work had finished and we were filling our days with general activities and the ocasional trip, Marie invited us to come and stay a week with her in Berlin, where she had recently moved for work.
It was truely great to have met the Brekwoldt clan and their dog Buddy. Infact without the Christmas Market job we would probably be home already, or completely broke and unable to come home.


The best thing is though, that I know I'll get to repay the hospitality soon, with everyone promising to visit Australia in the next few years, and the promises were made with earnestness, and unlike many a European resident who say yes just to be nice, I actually believe this family will.
Anyway, thanks heaps for adding so much to our big trip.


And thats enough of the tear inducing dribble, and somehow once again, we are now a month or 2 behind in our blogging, so look out.