6th August 2016

A bing bong announcement at 8am over the tannoy advised us the breakfast queue had begun! It actually said the restaurant had opened but we translated that to join another queue. Luckily I had packed enough breakfast bars and biscuits so we would not have to endure the queuing.

We very slowly docked in Travemünde we seemed to be there for ages before finally being asked to return to our vehicles. As they had spun us round onto the ferry we thought we were facing the right way and would be first off but no, we soon realised there was no door our side and we would be reversing off the ferry.

Once off the ferry the heavens opened and torrential rain came and went as we drove through Germany heading to The Netherlands. The Blachfords were going towards Düsseldorf to visit relatives and we hadn’t decided where we would stop.

Not far from the ferry port we spotted Golden Arches, it was just gone midday and the dogs needed a run out so a McDonalds service station was a blessing.

Back on the road I grabbed the Camper contact book and began looking for a stopover. We initially thought we would drive towards Brugge and stop somewhere on route in The Netherlands but looking online and in the book nothing looked appropriate.

A lucky spot of a place with a funny name made the decision and we headed to Grobbendonk, it was free had a service point and was near restaurants, bars and the town.

As we pulled in to Grobbendonk we couldn’t believe our luck when the main street had a fun fair up the centre, we’re not sure why it was there but Lucy was happy.

After parking up we walked the dogs then headed out to find food. Trip advisor had the 2nd best place to eat in Grobbendonk down as an Italian, this was good for us and was literally just round the corner from our van.

After a lovely meal we hit the funfair which was all fun and games till Neil purchased Lucy her own bumper car cart, it ended in tears when the local teenagers found it funny to bump her, we got off.

On route back to the van we spotted a very civilised looking bar with a decking area with people eating and drinking. We went in and went to sit in a sofa area on the decking when a speedy waiter ran at us shouting we would have to leave. We asked why and he just advised we should go next door where they would be happy to serve us, he obviously didn’t like the look of us!

The next door bar turned out to be better anyway, perhaps the previous waiter was doing us a favour. The bar we ended up in had a random Elton John style singer who was sat in a dark room alone playing his grand piano with backing tracks. I was the only person in the whole place to clap when he finished songs. We didn’t stay long. Back at the van for the first time all holiday we turned our sky box on and watched TV. We had read that GB could potentially win medals in the Olympics so it might have been worth a watch.
Overnight Location: Grobbendonk

Overnight Coordinates: 51.18958°N 4.73624°E

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