Day 37 - Mosel Valley Germany

14/07/2016

This morning was another chilly and wet one from heavy rain and thunder through the night. After breakfast I packed up the van and set off for St. Goar in the Rhine Valley. The German motorways are very confusing as they were still being built and changed meaning speed limits changed often so if I was in doubt I decided to stick with a lower speed. When I reached a sign for Mannheim I noticed 3 police cars pulled up at the side of the motorway parking. As I flew past I imagined them all launching out and chasing me. Funnily enough a few miles down the road a police car pulled in front of me flashing a message on a board set on the roof between its sirens. The first few messages were in a different language so I planned to ignore it until I read 'Follow me'. I thought oh crap, what have I done!

Parked up in St. Goar, Germany

I followed them into the next services and pulled behind the patrol car which had also pulled up by another patrol van. I opened the door and luckily they spoke very good English. I asked to turn off my fridge as I didn't want the battery to go flat and I didn't want to look suspicious! Once I flicked off the fridge I hopped out and as I looked in the van I remembered my hi vis jacket so I quickly grabbed it ripping it off my chair and threw it straight on.

The male officer made me aware it was just a customs check which was a relief. They asked the usual questions and had a look in and around the van. The female officer checked the bike was well secured and requested my passport to run checks. I was questioned about my journey and the officers seemed suspicious that I was travelling alone. They also seemed confused where I had entered Germany without them knowing as they asked multiple times where I had come from and about my whole route. I knew I was fine, the only thing I was smuggling was cupboards full of chocolate!

Rhine Valleys, Germany

 They returned with my passport and said all was okay so I started the van and drove off. They seemed a little disappointed all was okay. I caught them watching me pulling off the slip road, I was a little concerned they were going to stop me again! I arrived in St. Goar a couple hours later. I hadn't done much research here and couldn't use my phone to google the area so I used the satnav function to take me to the closest campsite. This brought me further into the town and tried to send me on the ferry across to the other side again. Annoyed I followed the river a couple minutes ignoring the satnav and came across a sign for a campsite in 500m, perfect!

Rhine Valleys, Germany

I followed the sign and found the campsite on my left with views over the river. It was very packed but the location was ideal so I went with it. I parked up and made lunch, nearly falling asleep I got ready and cycled back into St. Goar for a look around. There isn't much to do here but the valleys look amazing with castles purched on the hillside. I cycled back to the van and decided to go to the restaurant over the road and ordered a beer, burger & chips and ice cream with warm chocolate dressing.

Choccy fiends heaven!

I felt real ill by 9 pm and I noticed a large guy jog past the van which reminded me of a few years back. I jumped up and got changed, dug out my ipod and went for a jog into St. Goar. I felt even worse when I got back after the run I thought I was going to throw up in the shower. I was awake until 2 am trying to get to sleep with the sick bucket at the ready!