FRIDAY 19th AUGUST 2011 (Frankfurt to Waldeck)

We've just walked through customs and the first thing we are greeted with is this beautiful MERCEDES BENZ.

We couldn't help but laugh and compare the difference in vehicles on display at Melbourne & Frankfurt airports.

We hired a car and followed the signs north towards Kassel but somehow we ended up south of the city. Not sure how that happened but we soon became all-too-familiar with the road signs disappearing!

Finally got on to the right road and before too long we decided to pull off the main autobahn and arrived at BUTZBACH. We needed a break after the long flight and our bodies weren't sure what time it was (day or night).

What a pleasant surprise to find a beautiful, picturesque, cobblestoned village with Tudorish buildings. It literally took our breath away...we'd forgotten just how beautiful the buildings are in Germany.

We wandered about the streets and took in the main sights. To my delight I found a guard dog sign on the local church gates. At least that's what I think it was meant to be. Looked more like a pooping, panting puppy to me...!!!

We drove through Hunsdorf, Huddingden, Frankenau & Gellershausen, skirting along the edge of EDERSEE National Park. We were astonished by the number of motorcycles on the road. All types, including many hotted-up quadies, sports, touring and outfits. But the one's that astounded us the most were the number of monkey bikes on the road. We learnt there was a Monkey Bike rally nearby with about 300 Monkey Bikes from several countries in attendance. They looked good, went fast and sounded great. We got talking to a fellow from Holland and he reckoned they could just about beat anything else on tight, steep roads!

We found ourselves on the edge of a steep hill overlooking the Edersee, a popular lake and holiday destination and a favourite area for motorcyclists. We walked up a steep, cobblestoned pathway to SCHLOSS WALDECK which had magnificent views over a large proportion of the Edersee, a large inland lake. We could hear Monkey bikes ringing their little necks out all through the hills - very funny. The water levels were down and apparently, further up the lake where two villages were submerged when the lake was dammed, the church spires can be seen sticking up above the water.

We walked around the township of WALDECK and thoroughly enjoyed it. We tried several places to stay the night but all were booked out. Time had got away on us as we weren't used to the long daylight savings season after leaving our winter in the southern hemisphere. We drove down to the water level and eventually found 'Seeblick Zimmer Frei' which had a vacant caravan on sight. We took it (despite the costly price) because we really needed to eat and sleep. Seeblick was situated on the apex of a fast corner where we watched dozens and dozens of motorcyclists take it at speed.

The funniest thing was watching two in particular who would lay in wait for unsuspecting bike riders to pass and then they were off to chase their prey. They were back at the starting line about five minutes later waiting for the next challenge to pass by.

The culprits are the two on the right.