We had the most fantastic time – I am a VW fanatic, and I had always wanted to visit a couple of VW shows in Europe; travelling from the Middle East meant I needed to hire a car and find hotels. The cost of a hire car is outrageous at the moment, and staying at a hotel meant we would have been away from the show instead of camping with everyone else. Then I found Goboony and found Esther's beautiful VW Bay-window camper. It was the perfect solution; I could go to the show, and camp with everyone else in the perfect camper for less than the hire car would have cost. Initially, I had planned to visit what is considered the World's best VW show in Hessisch Oldendorf, Germany.
Then I decided I would also visit European Bug-in in Chimay, Belgium, the following weekend. Then when the airport chaos started, I decided to stay in Europe between the shows. Esther was so helpful and flexible and accommodated the changes to my itinerary without complaint. The day arrived to collect the Bus; I'd flown from the UAE, my brother flew in from the UK, we caught the train to Hoorn direct from the airport, the train took about 45 minutes, we then grabbed a taxi from the station which took about 10 mins to Esther's. Once we had completed the Goboony formalities, we were underway. A quick stop at the supermarket to stock up on essentials and called into a camping store grabbed a couple of sleeping bags, and were off; ahead of us was a 380km drive to Hessisch Oldendorf, Germany. We had a fantastic time over the four days of the show; we saw some amazing cars and met loads of great people. The Bus was super comfortable and equipped with everything you needed to camp comfortably.
We left Germany, travelled back to Utrecht, and found a lovely little campsite outside the city. We took a taxi into town, and Utrecht is a lovely place and well worth a visit. The following day I dropped my brother back at the airport and collected a good friend who had flown in from Dubai. Before driving to Belgium, we had some time spare; we decided to explore North Netherlands, specifically Terschelling. We booked the ferry and campsite and headed off; Terschelling is simply stunning. It is difficult to believe that the Netherlands has such amazing beaches – if you've not been, it is a must-see.
After a couple of days of relaxing in the sun, we started the final leg of our tour. It was an early start as we wanted to catch the first ferry off the island so we would arrive in Chimay, Belgium mid-afternoon. The weather on the way down turned, and we had a lot of rain; the Bus took the bad weather in its stride and got us to our destination without any problems. We spent four days at the show and had a great time; many memories were made. We decided for the last night that we would find a camping ground near Esther's; we wanted to ensure the Bus was returned clean and tidy. We booked a lodge at a local campsite for the last night. We could empty all our luggage and all the VW parts I had collected on the way, sort everything out, re-pack and give the Bus a good clean. After a good night's sleep, we headed on our final short trip to return to the Bus. The return procedure was as smooth as the collection. We were a bit concerned after seeing the news; the farmers had planned another protest, and the airport reported long delays - so Esther kindly offered us a lift to the station.
We spent 11 amazing nights in your Bus, travelled over 1850KMS through 3 countries, and experienced 2 of the best VW shows on the planet.
Thank you, Esther & Ruud.
Luglio 2022