My mistake in Bad Kissengen

[mettisse]

Our trip to the Allrad was amazing, we are on our way home in Belgium now( ( Saturday ) the last time we were here ( 9 years ago) we camped. It was a wonderful experience
This time we decided to amalgamate the trip with a holiday as this time the Duchess came along, also another froader and his wife. So.. we didn’t camp, we stayed in a really posh hotel with swimming pools and spas, the full monty. Our first day was the opening Thursday, it was so good to be there again, my pal Nick also has a love for overlanding, so it was a pleasure to look around with a like minded accomplice,
Well, we thought the show was targeting newer vehicle owners, and new vehicle buyers. Nothing wrong with that.
The mistake we made was not visiting the campsites. Thats where you get great innovations and can see some great ideas. The weather was incredibly hot 32* in the sun!! Plenty of refreshments available and we had the sausage and chips in a curry sauce, €8 and delicious. ( with a beer at €3)
We returned to hotel for a shower and a swim, when I get home ill post some pics, Best regards Bill Westley

 

[mettisse]

continued……..
For anyone thinking of making this excursion it’s worth doing a lot of research, it is a long way, the splatnav gave us about 7+ hours on the road, but when stops and ”roadworks” are added we came out at about 9+ although we didn’t keep a log, ( yes they have the same amount of roadworks, and yes the same all over Europe no one actually doing any road works, just lane closure and millions of traffic cones)
1st) The Actual show, we got the free shuttle bus from the train station as it was only a short walk from the hotel and I’m pretty certain there is no parking at the show, hence the free bus, plenty of buses, they pick up at all the camping areas on route. A really excellent service. On arrival we were suprised how quickly our tickets were checked etc. The static displays of converted vans, pic-ups, light trucks ( toyo 70, Land Rover etc) medium and heavy truck is quite astounding, Lots of variant styles of Roof tents, not so many free standing, lots of awnings and similar kit.
lots of “ base camp“ stuff-for cooking etc not much camping gear.
We saw a company that sold bolt on stuff to convert your axle to unimog type portal, yep bolt on, and only a few people selling winches.
A passenger ride round an off-road course in a MAN lorry was available as was a jeep and buggy, Land Rover had their own course demonstrating the new defender, and Ineos had two Grenadiers taking people around the main course.( I did, good truck!)
Unfortunately for Land Rover one of their vehicle got in a pickle right in front of the viewing place, and it was a real golden opportunity to demonstrate how a “ text book” recovery should happen, using a bull horn loudspeaker they could have addressed the growing crowd about “ everyone gets stuck” and this is how we do it.
instead they had two old boys ( about the same age as me get a tow strap ( looked like they had to go and buy it)
and with only one shackle between them, drag the offending vehicle across the metal racking that was supposed to demonstrate articulation, ooh! Sounded dreadful, and amateurish, it was clearly stuck on something , and before they started towing, a high lift to get it off the snag would have helped ( hopefully pics to follow) , anyway, we really enjoyed two days at the show, nothing really great, except, one item I really liked, it was a tube that was about 5inches dia, by about 40 inches long, which was filled with water and then pressurised to make a shower, painted black, in the sunshine it was hot! And a really good pressure, ( long way to go to get a shower)

2nd) The Camping…
this really was the “Show” hundreds if not thousands of outfits of all types camped out on several locations, we saw them all from the free bus, it was magnificent , that’s what we missed, being in with likeminded fellow adventurers,
Sitting around, walking around of an evening, the barbecues , the gatherings, May I recommend that if you decide to go, don’t miss out on the main event.. the campsite!
Best regards to all, Bill Westley

 

[Andy]

Been several time, yes very well organised busses etc, and yes the campsites are definitely the places to be