Went to a off road truck show in Germany. Abenteuer & Allrad. Held in Bad Kissingen.
Met up with two friends , Craig & Mirne, and we drove down there on the the Thursday. As Craig was towing a folding caravan the speed was around 85-90 kph which made it a nice gentle run. It was about 550 k so took up about seven hours with rest stops.
I had not been camping in Europe for over thirty years and the campsite at Bad Kissingen was a very pleasant introduction back. Pitches were good and not to close. Toilets/showers were exceptionally clean 24/7 (something close to every campers heart). The washing up area also was as clean as anyone’s kitchen.
Craig & Mirne have a folding caravan which is up in less than a minute. The big double bed makes camping a pleasure and when hooked up to the electricity means that even if the weather is cold they are not. I was however banished to a tent. This was an oz-tent lent to me by Craig & Mirne. These tents go up in about 10 seconds although a further 10 minutes is spent pegging it out and generally straightening things if you are staying more than one night.
As we knew we would be spending a lot of time driving that day we I had prepared my version of an Irish stew the night before. Must have been ok as we all had seconds. This was washed down with a bottle of wine to aid sleep.
The show itself was held in a forest and to cut down on the amount of traffic you had to get a shuttle bus. We walked down to the show camp siteto pick up the bus there. The camp site itself was interesting to look at as the vehicles there ranged from the usual Landrovers and Toyotas to the Uni –Mog and Mann trucks. Here the emphasis was not so much on off road but more on overland travel.
The top end of the market would be Mann sized trucks that were so big you could no longer drive them on a standard license. Even saw one with a small 4*4 in the back. Nearer my price range would be the conversions done on Toyotas and Landrovers. The addition of a pop up roof meant that a decent sized double bed could be placed in the roof space and a reasonable sitting cooking area laid out below.
Most of the time wandering around the show it rained but only lightly so it was not unpleasant to walk around. The rain stopped me taking lots of pictures but then most of them would be obscured by other show visitors so no great loss.
Second day at the show was just a repeat of day one. Still it rained but what the heck. Had dinner at the camp restaurant (Wiener Schnitzel of course) to the accompaniment of one chap playing the accordion and another the spoons.
Sunday was time to pack up so of course it rained getting all the gear wet. This meant after an easy run home we had to erect the tent again to get it dried out. Awning sides adorned the garden trellis.
As it was too late for Craig & Mirne to return to Amsterdam we just sat outside and enjoyed another braai partly composed of German sausage.
Photos of the trip here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/series_truck/sets/72157626951228605/
