Raj: Today we left Germany which I thoroughly enjoyed. Staying outside the main cities allowed us to take in more of the traditions, surroundings and gain a better feel for the areas we visited. Sausages and beers were among the highlights and thoroughly enjoyed! We are now in The Netherlands for 5 nights, staying 15km outside Amsterdam. Driving through what struck immediately was the agricultural setting, very similar to NZ with plenty of sheep and cows to ...

Anouk: This morning we visited an awesome castle that looked amazing (Eltz Castle). First we had to drive there which took about 1 hour. We then followed a track through the bush, leading down to the castle (it was 1.3km long). We tried getting some good photos for the blog but they weren't that great because it was in the sun. When we bought our tickets, the lady gave Harley and I a packet of mini biscuits each with chocolate icing in the middle for free!!! Insi...

Raj: A cruisey day today with only one thing on the agenda. We took a 30 minute ride on the Autobahn (and dared faster speeds) on our way to Andernach to see the Geyser Andernach, the worlds highest cold water geyser. To get to the geyser itself we took a short boat cruise along the Rhine River, but with enough time for me to sample another fine German beer. The trip was very picturesque with well presented traditional houses lining the river banks, and stee...

Vikki: We are now in the heart of Rhineland and grape country, in another small village called Alsbach, about 20km from Koblenz. The village and other immediate surrounding ones are all about pottery and our apartment has some of the local crafts on display and for sale. Koblenz is the point where the Rhine and Mosel Rivers join, with grapes vines and local vineyards dotted all along the banks. Our drive here was a wet one, we had rain all the way and at times...

Harley: This morning we did an hour drive to the Playmobil Fun Park, an adventure park for kids with lots of fun activities to do. The fun park has lots of different playgrounds including slides, lots of climbing ropes and tight ropes. I walked across a 5 metre tight rope without falling off. One of the slides we went on was very steep and we sat on felt mats which made us go extra fast. Anouk, dad and I got on a wooden log raft and paddled in a small lagoon. We...