September 17-24: Upgrading the Revel

 Sunday, September 24

We spent most of the day at QW Caravan Services as we continue to plan for our upcoming trip to South Africa. Upon closer inspection of the requirements of sending our van back to the USA, I found out that we need permission to send a vehicle with lithium batteries.  Yes, the same lithium batteries that we are planning to install in our van tomorrow – ugh. 

We also spent some time deciding if we should rent or buy a house when we go back home in December.  Finding a rental property appears easier at this point but the thought of moving twice is not appetizing at all.  We did see a few homes in Framingham and Ashland that fit into our modest price range.  Finally,  I made my special Sunday sauce with meatballs in advance of watching the Patriots play the Jets.  Let’s go Pats!

Saturday, September 23

We did some grocery shopping for our last 10 days in Germany.  I also bought a bucket of KFC that we swallowed for lunch that we ate at QW Caravan Services where we will have our lithium batteries installed on Monday. Ashley is beginning her research for South Africa – should be an incredible two months.  

Here’s my list of things to do in South Africa with some help from Lonely Planet:

• See Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) at Kruger National Park 

• Hike Table Mountain

• Learn about apartheid history in Johannesburg

• Swim and canoe on the Wild Coast

• Hike to Hole in the Wall

• Whale Watch by land at Hermanus (100 km east of Cape Town) where migration from Antarctica happens

• Surf on South and Addington Beach on Durban’s Golden Mile

• Ride the Blue Train

• Scenic ride on the Garden Route

• Drive to Cape of Good Hope

• Star Gaze in Karoo

Friday, September 22

We had our tires balanced at a place called Auto Crew.  Their customer service was outstanding – a technician explained and showed me the process of balancing one of our tires in a manner that was understandable to a layperson.  A woman working in the office served us each a cup of cappuccino. And, our intake specialist answered our questions about installing our lithium batteries.  He eventually referred us to another shop that specializes in RVs and campervans.  The cost of the balancing was about $150.

Next, we drove and met with the owner of the RV shop and again was impressed with the professionalism and patience shown to us.  After some discussion, we agreed that the batteries should be installed in the campervan between the front chairs.  We set up an appointment for Monday for the work to be completed – an estimate of $600 was given for the labor. 

Thursday, September 21

After swimming about a half mile in the pool, we hosted a few visitors from Korea at our campsite.  They had traveled from Norway to meet us to drop off our two lithium batteries for our camper van.  The total cost was $2000, which is actually a bargain.  

After lunch, we all traveled to an outlet mall where I purchased a new pair of Nike trail running sneakers.  The price of $100 was comparable to what I would pay for the same model in the USA.  

Wednesday, September 20

We decided to ship with IVSS mainly because it allows you to keep personal items within your camper van.  They explicitly state on their website that these items should be locked and stored out of sight.  IVSS is not responsible for any of your personal items.  With this first domino knocked over, we next purchased airline tickets from Brussels to Cape Town ($553.60 for 2 tickets after using credit card points) along with a bus voucher ($113.59 for 2 tickets) from Hamburg to Brussels airport. 

For a good portion of the remainder of the day, I spent time researching watches for Alex’s birthday gift.  I really loved the models from Code 41 – really sleek and stylish skeleton design.  We ultimately decided on a Hamilton Skeleton model.  

Tuesday, September 19

We have a set of four new tires and our next task was to find a shop to balance them.  After a few unsuccessful attempts, we finally found a location and an appointment scheduled for this Friday.  With this mission accomplished, we found an inexpensive campsite for 13 euros in Neumunster.  The site also has a swimming pool for 4.50 euros that I’m sure that we’ll use tomorrow.  

After settling into our site, we made Korean dumplings from scratch.  I actually liked the steamed ones better than the fried version.  I won’t tell Ashley but I actually like the frozen dumplings that we get at HMart even better.

Next, we attempted to finalize our plans to ship our campervan back to the USA.  We have decided to contract an agent for $1500, which includes storing the car for 60 days before getting it on a ship in early December.  We are down to two shipping providers IVSS or Schumacher.  

Monday, September 18

While in Hamburg, we decided to take care of a few issues that we were experiencing with our campervan.  First up, our tires needed to be replaced.  We’ve noticed a lot of noise while driving and have discovered a lot of uneven wear on our treads.  I’m hypothesizing that it has something to do with the rear suspension that we added while in Morocco.  Fortunately, we found a shop that offered us a reasonable price for four new tires for 1100 euro ($1,175) with tax and labor included.  Jamal and Andy, the owner, were super gracious and allowed us to stay overnight in the parking area as we awaited the arrival of our new wheels, which are scheduled for tomorrow.  

We spent the rest of the day walking around town and grocery shopping at a few different markets.  We met a couple from Iran who own a hair salon downtown and offer customers a beer and/or champaign during their visit.  We both thought this business model was an excellent strategy to increase tips and decrease complaints.

Sunday, September 17

We made it to Hamburg today and met with a Korean woman who works as an agent for a shipping company.  We asked her to explore our options of shipping our van from Bremerhaven to New York.  She would also be able to find a place to store our camper van before we ship it to the USA in late November - early December.

We spent the evening at Campingplatz Buchholz in Hamburg where we enjoyed a hot shower and lightning fast internet.  I was able to watch the Pats lose another heartbreaker to Miami without any lagging.