Some people started to arrive on Wed 13th May …. We had gone for a ride and when we got back there were about 6 people in tents….this was nothing to the onslaught on Thursday 14th May with about 200 people attending the meeting. We met Jens (the organiser) who arrived around lunch time with his family.
Over the 4 days of the event we met so many people and so many experienced travellers it was fantastic! It was a very different organisational set up than we had experienced at previous Perth HU meetings and a unique experience for us …..any stereotypes of German people were blown out of the water by the relaxed, welcoming and friendly atmosphere and the very flexible schedule. There were some inspiring presentations ….especially the two given by the famous (crazy) Dutchman, Shaak Lucassen ….truly amazing! So much so we bought his DVD for 12.50 Euro….he offered to sign it for us …which we accepted and he also offered for me to sit on his famous bike …the Yamaha R1 he rode around the world for five years – including through deserts in Africa and mud in the Congo ….awesome!
We also met another larger than life and top bloke Aussie (Sheldon) – “rides four smiles” who Vince knows from Adv Rider and he has offered us some advice and help for some of the counties we plan to go to…..so generous! We may even cross paths somewhere on the road.
We made many new amazing friends ….too many to name them all individually….but we have already had some emails and they will be following our blog. One particular friend (a kiwi) who lives in Switzerland, has invited us to come and stay …we’ll see where we end up…..very hospitable.
Sunday 17th May was filled with packing up a wet tent ( it rained each night and sometimes a shower during the day) as well as saying goodbye to people ….it was after 11.00am when we eventually left to head for the “Black Forest”.
