2019-07-15 Helenaveen NL To Dürrwang, Dortmund, DE

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Our route from Helenaveen to Dürrwang at Dortmund

We sleep in again, which is good. Have a leisurely breakfast and decide to stay here for the morning as the surroundings are so pleasant and we only have about 80 miles to drive from Helenaveen, NL to Dortmund in Germany.

The day starts very overcast but later the sun comes out for short spells. We have a relaxing morning, sitting inside as the temperature is only 13°C. We watch four of our neighbours pack up and leave. There is one reserved spot from last night, someone did not turn up (a no-show as the Canadians would say). The other two campers are staying for a few days. We have lunch and reluctantly move on from such a lovely spot… must try and come back, we say and think that a lot, but then there are so many new and exciting places to visit.

We take the A67 to Venlo and here, cross the border from the Netherlands into Germany. Now on H40 we cross the Rhine at Duisburg and enter an urban industrial area, the road becomes very busy and heavy with traffic. Past Oberhausen, Essen and onto H2 to north east Dortmund. We find Dürrwang, the-Hymer dealer and park up on one of their overnight Camperplaats spots (they have eight), each with free electricity hook up.

We are booked for a Habitation service tomorrow (there is no one north of London who can do it in the UK!). We wait for the man who can speak English and he is happy to do the service now. We take our books into the sitting area and he takes our camper. Three quarters of an hour later it is done, and we pay. There is a spares shop here too, with a lady who speaks very little English. We spend some time trying to explain that we would like a new sink plug, the one that came with the Hymer comes apart. I think €9 is a wildly overpriced for a small sink plug, but as we know, any spare part for a motorhome costs about ten times what you expect.

When I noted out miles and fuel consumption it was a great surprise to see that today we recorded our best ever fuel consumption, with 34.4 miles per gallon. Maybe it’s the flat terrain in this area.

We decide to stay overnight, although next to the road it is private, safe and free with all facilities (including a toilet when the showroom opens). Motorhome dealers in the UK should take note, providing facilities is an investment that really pays off. We went out of our way to stay here and have our habitation service done rather than spend our money in the UK.

Helenaveen NL To Dürrwang, Dortmund, DE

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Summary of motorhome journey through Germany and France

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