Day 2 - Oberhausen to Osterode

 Day one finished with us having ticked off 4 of the 14 countries we shall vist, and having covered over 300 miles. Day 2 ended with us having completed over 530 miles, since we left Sittingbourne, most of them again today, motorway madness miles. That's the story for this part of the tour, basically, we plan to shift through Germany as fast as possible, hoping to avoid rain. It always rains in Germany for us!

The day started warm and bright again, though it was apparent that there had been rain overnight. That's fine by me. Dry during the day, wet when we are tucked up in bed.

Continuing the theme from yesterday, our first POI of the day was to visit the crash site of Flt Lt Hopgood's Lancaster, AJ-M. With a little help from Google maps and What3words, we found the memorial quite easily. Reading the information board, it was clear they had only just refurbished it for the 80th anniversary a month ago. Originally, the site had been maintained by a local gent. Then in 2010 the local council had taken up the care, with the latest update adding to the memorial with the info board and a stone surround to the wooden marker.

Memorial to Lancaster AJ-M

Just over 4 miles away, our next stop and the target for Hopgood's aircraft on that night in May 1943, the Mohne Dam. An impressive structure, regardless of its history. So calm and peaceful today, it is impossible to imagine what it was like on the night of the attack. I've watched the film numerous times, read several books but nothing could prepare me for the feeling I felt, standing in the centre of that dam looking in the direction those aircraft would have come from. I can't even explain it.

Ginny & Mohne Dam, German engineering at its finest!

Having done one, we had to do the other, the Eder Dam. What may be surprising to some, is the fact we had to ride 90 miles to reach the Eder. One could be forgiven for thinking they were close by each other. The Eder is a smaller dam and set in different terrain. As a tourist attraction, I'd say it and the immediate facilities were better than the Mohne. Neither though provided parking for motorcycles in their car parks, so we just left them where we felt like, closest to the dam. At Eder we came across a BMW GS, registered in British Columbia and shortly after, the gentleman riding it. Richard, is on a 6 year plan to ride around Europe. This is year 3. He explained he takes 2 months each year to ride around the continent, with his bike stored in Heidelberg the rest of the year. Like us, he was at the start of his trip, this time to Norway. A nice bloke. It was nice to share some time and stories with a kindred spirit.

The Eder Dam

Eder concluded the Dambusters part of our trip and we made our way to our fuel stop, only to find it unaccessible from the motorway, due to roadworks. We soon found another petrol station to fill up at though. We finally left the motorway when we were about 15 miles from our hotel in Osterode am Harz. It's a big hotel with lots of potential but there can only be about 5 others staying. Sad really, as it's quite nice, not quite so dated as last night but part from B&B and garaging, it offers nothing else. That meant we had to find somewhere to eat in town. The host recommended a place, so that's where we went. I had the schnitzel again. I do love schnitzel. Food was OK but the service was deadly slow. We waited ages for our drinks, then were on our second, before the food was finally delivered. Not though, before we had to move tables, as the heavens opened and there was a terrific downpour. It didn't last long though and the sun was out again for the walk home. Hopefully it will be dry again tomorrow, though 30 degrees is getting a bit tiresome. Mid 20s will suffice.

The town itself is like many in Germany, quaint, with lots of interesting timber framed buildings. They look great and always lend themselves to a photo or two.

In Osterode Old Town

Tomorrow we head for Berlin, most of the trip, I think, bypassing the motorways, so it should be a lot less fraught and more interesting. More tomorrow.

Day 1 - Blighty to Oberhausen, Germany

 Today was probably the best start to a tour we have had. Firstly, the weather was fine, so no need for waterproofs. Secondly, as we arrived at the check-in booth, Ginny landed perfectly on 29,000 miles covered.

Another Ginny milestone

Following that, the check-in offered us an earlier crossing, which actually left 3 minutes early, so gaining us 30+ minutes on the other side.

The weather was superb for the entire journey, albeit a boring motorway mile-munching one. If anything though, it was just a bit too warm, being in the 30s the whole way, The humidity was very high too, so we were sweating buckets by the time we arrived at the hotel. 

Phew! Scorchio!

Apart from the fuel and coffee stops, we only had one point of interest stop today, that at the Englischer Friedhof (a British War Cemetery) at Rheinberg. Here we were visiting 5 particular graves, those of Flt Lt Hopgood and 4 of his crew, from one of the aircraft of 617 Sqn, The Dambusters. Hopgood's aircraft crashed shortly after having unsuccessfully dropped its bomb on the Mohne dam. This is a theme you will see more of  tomorrow. The cemetery is some way from the crash site but I suppose Rheinberg must be the closest British cemetery to it, for them to be laid to rest there. There are many headstones, a large number being for air crew but all commemorating a young life lost. Hopgood himself, was just 21.

J V Hopgood, pilot of Lancaster AJ-M

We arrived at our hotel, Haus Union, Oberhausen, about 4pm. As is almost always the case, our room is practically the furthest from reception but on the plus side it overlooks the free car park, so we can see the bikes. Another bonus, it has a lovely beer garden, which we obviously had to avail ourselves of. The long hot day was, as hoped, topped off nicely with a schnitzel and wheat beer! 😉

Tomorrow we are heading for Osterode, a town on the edge of the Harz mountains, The area is quite popular with bikers I believe, so there may be an opportunity to have some fun, after we're done with the motorways. Before that though, we'll have a few 'themed' POI stops to make, You can read all about them tomorrow.