Day 189: Tuesday 23 September – Bavaria: Berchtesgaden, by Ken

It rained on and off all night. As usual we were up before dawn. There was a chill inside Mabel’s living area in spite of leaving the electric heating running overnight to help dry the washing. I checked the outside temperature, it was 0.5 degrees! When we finally plucked up the courage to venture outside it was just like stepping into an English winter’s day – cold, very grey and very damp! For the first time in months I put on jeans, it seemed unlikely I would be wearing shorts again until we got to Goa in November. The days of getting by with just one layer of clothing also seemed to be over and I put on an Ice Breaker over my polo shirt.

After breakfast I drove Smarty to the lower part of the camping ground and parked close to the facilities block where the wi-fi aerial was mounted to check out wi-fi reception. We thought that we would shift Mabel down there if we could get a wi-fi connection. While I was able to get a connection, I couldn’t download email, or get onto the internet. I reported back to Jane and suggested that as the weather didn’t look good enough for us to do some sight seeing we should move on to another camping ground. Jane agreed.

I went to reception and asked if there was a problem with wi-fi. There wasn’t and the woman came outside with me, pointed her phone in the direction of the facilities building and showed me she had an internet connection. I went back to Mabel, collected my laptop, and walked back down to the facilities building. After 5 minutes I was getting quite cold and still couldn’t get an internet connection. I took my laptop back to reception to see if the woman could help. She looked at my computer and said “Apple - our wi-fi doesn’t work with Apple computers”!

We checked out and we got on the road with a course set for camping grounds near the town of Berchtesgaden. The route took us through some absolutely stunning scenery on narrow roads that climbed and descended through the mountains via dozens of hairpin bends. Ever since getting grounded in Göreme Jane has become nervous about Mabel’s hill climbing abilities. While Mabel was often reduced to 2^nd gear, and 1^st on the hairpins, she powered her way up the wet road with aplomb. Jane’s mind was taken off Mabel when she saw cows grazing in pastures, while they were without bells, they nevertheless looked beautiful to her. Cows seemed to have replaced cats in her affection but hopefully there is no danger of her bringing a cow into Mabel.

Nearing Berchtesgaden

It was just over 20km to Berchtesgaden. As we drove through the town and took the road south towards Lake Königssee the clouds were beginning to lift and we could see blue sky. We pulled in to a camping ground. The reception was unmanned, a sign on the window indicated there was w-fi, I walked around the camping ground, it wasn’t very busy and the pitches were on grass that had turned to mud. I drove Mabel around the ground so Jane could take a look. She agreed it didn’t look the best. We drove on another kilometre to Campingplatz Grafenlehen. It was busy, always a good sign, and we could see lots of motorhomes parked on gravel. The manager advised there was room for us, there was no wi-fi, but MacDonalds next door had a free hotspot. We decided to stay.

Smarty and Mabel at Campingplatz Grafenlehen
 (The Eagle's Nest is on the pinnacle clear of snow above Mabel's door)

Late morning we drove Smarty into Berchtesgaden to have a look at the town. The pedestrianised centre was delightful with brightly coloured buildings with deep overhanging eves characteristic of the alps. The facades of many of the buildings were decorated with medieval figures. Although the sky had cleared and there was warmth in the sun, there was a distinct nip in the air, particularly in the shade. We wandered around for a while, Jane was happy there were clothes shops she could browse and delighted to find a wool show that was closed, unfortunately.

Berchtesgaden Main Square

Berchtesgaden Lederhosen Shop

Berchtesgaden Hotel

Sculpture Of Dog Being Sick And Pooing In Berchtesgaden

Another Sculpture

Ella's Favourite Dogs Seen In Berchtesgaden

We ate lunch at a table on the pavement outside the Edelweiss restaurant just off the main square. Jane had lamb knuckle which she said was the best lamb she had ever tasted, I had beef with an onion gravy that was also very good. It was clear Germans don’t do small portions. Mine came with a mountain of sautéed potatoes and vegetables. We shared a cheeseboard for dessert, apart from a very good soft goat’s cheese and an equally good blue, the cheeses weren’t particularly special.

Jane's Best Lamb Ever

Seen At Lunch - Dog Being Taken For A Ride

On our way back to Smarty we stopped off at a supermarket for a few supplies and then drove to McDonalds by the camping ground where we spent a couple of hours using their free wi-fi over a €1 cup of coffee each. MSD had been bugging me over not returning a form they say requires completing for them to continue paying NZ Super while I am overseas. After an exchange of email I finally received the form that they sent to Sue’s address in London in August (that was the overseas contact address I had given them). I managed to complete the form electronically using Adobe software confirming my NZ address hadn’t changed, neither had my relationship status (I was tempted to say that I had converted to Islam while in Turkey and taken a second wife, but doubted that would go down too well) my bank details were still the same and I was receiving the same UK pension I was when we set off from NZ. In fact, absolutely nothing had changed. I managed to add my real signature to the form. I drafted a reply to ’Kenneth’ at MSD commenting on what a great name he had, asking whether he thought it was a bit over the top expecting someone travelling in Europe to have to confirm nothing had changed by completing his form. And as I was in the Bavarian alps I was unable to have his form witnessed by a “Notary Public/advocate, Justice of the Peace, New Zealand official at an embassy, consulate or high commission, local social security authority, priest or religious leader, magistrate, solicitor or physician” after they had sighted my “passport, drivers’ licence, identification card or other official government document”. He would just have to accept my word that the details were true and it was my signature. If my past dealings with MSD are anything to go by, I hadn’t heard the last from Kenneth.

Later in the afternoon McDonalds suddenly filled with school students on their way home. The noise, laughing and joking and the consumption of burgers and fries were identical to McDonalds at the Basin after Wellington College and Wellington East finish for the day, except it was all in German.

The sun was beginning to set as we returned to Mabel, the mountains around the camping ground looked magnificent, partly bathed in sunshine and partly in shade.

As the sun set we ate toast with dips and cheese. Without the sun to warm her the temperature inside Mabel dropped quickly. We fired up her heating and were soon toasty warm.