After 13 weeks on the European continent the time for goodbye was drawing near. With a flight out of Frankfurt we had the perfect opportunity to catch up with our German crew in the south west Black Forest region, and to get there from Italy we made a beeline through Switzerland to rendezvous with friends in Zurich.
Switzerland is truly postcard perfect – its also insanely expensive and in early October we were digging deep in the suitcases for thermals, coats and hats. Our quick stopover was rewarded with a drive through snow-capped mountain landscapes and a fabulous night in the company of Aaron and Tino, Aaron and Rhi being childhood friends. We were spoiled with a home cooked meal and plenty of wine as we solved the world’s problems and agreed to catch up again somewhere in the world.
Next stop was Emmendingen in Germany, a lovely town we have now visited five times and home to some of Andrew’s extended family. Natalie and Matze welcomed us into their home and we had the pleasure of meeting their two boys who have arrived since our last trip four years ago (3 year old Nico kept asking about the strange way we speak!). As usual we were spoiled rotten with so much awesome food, excellent wine and wonderful company with Natalie’s parents Hans and Erika also joining in the fun. Having all holidayed together in Oz a few years ago it was great to be reunited for a few days and catch up.
Just a few hours up the road and back to the Rhine river where we started back in July, Heidke and Herbert took us in and once again spoiled us with their generous hospitality. Our time in Rheinsheim was spent eating (of course!), and catching up with the young cousins Kristin and Florian who are both at uni. With Autumn underway we also had a fun night out at a wine festival celebrating the “new wine” for the season, and in an effort to work off some pasta and bratwurst we went forest walking, visiting a castle or two along the way (well it is Germany, and they are everywhere!).
And just like that we were in Tobago! The ten hour flight was the easy part, getting through customs not so much. We think our gypsy passports, our intention to island hop through the Caribbean and that we had no cash on us to pay for our visas (it was stupidly in our checked luggage that we could not get to) stalled our progress into the country but they eventually let us in. From the Autumn days of Germany its fair to say that 29 degrees and 100% humidity at 7.30pm was a real shock, but not as shocking as how little our Aussie dollar stretches in this part of the world.
Tobago has some stunning beaches and we took a rental car for a lap to check them out, stopping at a beachside shack for heaped plates of seafood, curried lentils and roti bread. A drive through the island’s capital Scarborough didn’t present anything we felt compelled to get out for and the main attraction of the island, Pigeon Point Heritage Park, was closed on the day we tried to get to the beach due to a nearby earthquake that had created a mess with huge waves pummeling the coastline.
As a destination in its own right its not high on our list but it was really only our entry point from Europe and the launchpad to get to our next stop so we only had 2 nights here. The food offering in restaurants and supermarkets was limited and our credit cards were not working everywhere, which is tough when some of the ATMs don’t recognise your cards! Thankfully US dollars are accepted everywhere here so we were able to get by, although not without a conversion rate that was heavily weighed toward the locals.
The short stint in Tobago gave us the chance to start getting out of our Euro-headspace and start acclimatising to the Caribbean way of life – the exhausting heat, the outrageous cost of food and operating on “island time” which we would soon find out can make travelling here a little tricky……
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