Corona-Tours: there is always something!

The Ice Saints threaten to cool down May in the next few days. Therefore, we want to take advantage of the upcoming free and sunny time to escape everyday life with a bit of outdoor-at-home feeling. This gives me the opportunity to further support my theory that wearing respiratory masks inevitably leads to the depletion of brain cells due to lack of oxygen, at least in my case, although I strongly endorse the mask method to interrupt the chain of infection! But more on that later...

We don't have much time, so this time the tour in the minicamper goes to the southern outskirts of the Harz Mountains. In this area, we are becoming border crossers between Lower Saxony and Thuringia, our hotspot will be the Karst Trail, which leads along numerous natural beauties such as caves, sinkholes, earthfalls, ponds and springs over a distance of 233km. A wonderful area with wide views of the Harz Mountains and the gentle hills of the karst landscape.

Today we can only start in the evening and arrive late at night. The Kangoo is put into sleep mode right away, but something is wrong this time...? Something is missing...? The equipment is somehow incomplete...?

Oh no, this can't be true! We forgot our irreplaceable catering box! It contains everything an outdoor cook needs: stove, dishes, cutlery and pot, coffee and cups, spices, romantic lighting, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garbage bags, scissors, corkscrew, and wine glass - oh, and what else!

And this box is not on board! We just left this indispensable, precious, essential, necessary, vital, absolutely necessary box at home! I only say: lack of oxygen...

Well, we won't overcome this problem at this hour, so we crawl under the blankets and console ourselves with various solutions on how to get our beloved coffee in the morning.

Waking up without caffeine is not easy for either of us, but we are creative at night and so the matter is quickly decided. In the next bakery, I buy two coffee-to-go cups and now we have disposable cups and plastic spoons for reuse. I have MacGyver-Two by my side, who buys a can of mandarins, a can of pineapple, and a bottle of denatured alcohol in the supermarket. I'm still wondering, but those of you who like tinkering probably already know what the plan is. The biggest challenge now is to get rid of the mandarins and pineapple, but well, in emergencies, you can't be picky about breakfast either.

Luckily, I always carry a pocket knife with me, which can be a hindrance when flying, but now I drill holes into the smaller can with it (and later uncork the wine bottle as well...). Now the denatured alcohol goes in, with a whoosh! the flame ignites, and in the larger can, water can now be heated! Okay, instant coffee is not the greatest pleasure, but it's really better than none at all. Because who wants to drink coffee constantly wearing a protective mask?

After a completed hike with a final picturesque view from the Hörninger Sattelköpfe and a few ghost stampings from the Harzer Wandernadel, the day rewards us with a spot for the night that promises a $100,000 view of the sunset. We pass the time until then with the best burgers made from the most delicious ready-made ingredients. We've earned it!

The next morning, we are awakened by the master of agriculture from the neighboring company with the 30m wide spray. Romance is over, but he is very nice and warns us that it won't smell so good in a moment. He goes first to the next field, so we move for our breakfast and can enjoy the full aroma of instant coffee.

Tomorrow we'll have it from the machine again, but where's the adventure in that?