Goodbye My Love, Goodbye!

This post contains a XXXL amount of photos. We just can't decide because all memories are so special and we want to share them with you again here.
Why?

We say goodbye to the Château!

No, this separation is not easy for us. After all, the caravan has given us many wonderful experiences, great adventures, impressive views, extraordinary events and also hair-raising, sweaty situations:

https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/schwarze-nacht

https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/abrutsch-im-solling

Maybe you remember?
We took over the small motorhome almost exactly five years ago as a gift with severe water damage. And originally the little castle was only intended to serve as the master's summer residence in Bad Gandersheim.

After short excursions, we soon developed a taste for caravans. We were completely infected by the Christmas tour to the south of Spain, which also started this blog:
https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/wintercamping-jetzt-gehts-los

The rotten floorboards, the fittings that are falling apart, the little holes in the walls, the water that seeps in during heavy rain - for a long time we ignored the dilapidated condition of our mobile home. But even the best repression mechanism does not save one from realizing that even the most beautiful castle can fall apart one day.

We have been looking for a replacement for two years now. This is made more difficult by various parameters: the caravan must be lightweight so that the Kangoo can tow the vehicle. A shower is a requirement because we mainly travel with the caravan in winter and I'm too squeamish to wash myself in sub-zero temperatures, icy east winds and snow in a cold babbling stream. A bit of atmosphere, ambience and coziness don't hurt either. And the price should be right if possible.

Oof! Absolutely not easy, you can already tell.

After extensive research, we come across British caravans that are particularly characterized by a well-thought-out spatial concept, a fantastically simple table-bed conversion system, comfort, living comfort, convenience and a built-in oven.
For Zappa it is immediately clear that it has to be one with an oven! The shower is actually enough for me.

So we jump into the offers from the brands Sprite, Swift, Elddis, Abbey, Bailey, Compass and whatever they are called.
But finding the right model is not that easy. Either they are too heavy or too long or too expensive or they are being bought from under our noses!

At some point Zappa develops a concept for renovating the château and begins the first steps even before we go on the autumn tour. The same one where we break down with the Kangoo near Lyon and start an insane château rescue and retrieval operation from the threatening meter-high snow loads of the French Massif Central without considering any losses and under health restrictions and without thinking about financial losses. The Château has to go home!!!

https://vakantio.de/chateauprojekte/das-dicke-ende

As soon as we have the small caravan on the farm at home, I discover an Elddis Mistral XL on the internet. The weight is right, the size and the price too. With oven and shower! I hardly believe it and hesitate for a moment whether I should show Zappa the treasure, after all it has already been around for 30 years. But a quick look is enough for him and the seller is quickly contacted.

A weekend later we went to the Steinhuder Meer and quickly fell in love with the Miss Marple outfit in After Eight green. It's just too cozy, pleasant and fluffy. I assume that the weather on the island is simply too often very unpleasant, so that a lot of time has to be spent in the caravan, which is therefore necessarily comfortable.
Unfortunately the Elddis does not have an MOT and is not registered, but we quickly come to an agreement with Dirk.

After a long search, Zappa was able to rent a suitably large trailer in Schöningen with which excavators could be transported to the construction site on weekdays.
On Friday evening we pick up the trailer, which first has to be pulled out of the muck.

On Sunday morning before getting up, the vehicle is connected to the borrowed Mitsubishi and the journey begins.
Just the sound of the car hopping through the empty, long trailer on the A7 around Hildesheim is definitely worth the tour.
We still have to make a detour to collect the camera on the way and then we'll be in Mardorf on time at the agreed time.

Now comes the tricky part: the caravan is wedged between two pine trees in the sand of the sloping property where Dirk has already dug a drainage ditch in which the caravan should not end up if possible.
The first obstacle, a stone edge to the path, was overcome after several attempts and embankments.

The nose wheel keeps sinking into the sand, but there are still exposed concrete slabs lying around, which quickly form a solid base. After a lot of tugging and jerking, digging here, digging in there, pushing, braking, pushing, holding, with and without brake blocks and heavy hydraulic jacks, the caravan is on the road undamaged. The trailer is quickly circulated onto the property and pulled onto it using the Elddis cable winch. Now tighten everything with the 5-ton ratchet straps so that the good thing doesn't jump off the trailer during the wild hopping trip on the motorway.

Now the business has to be taken care of. We retreat to the terrace for coffee and look through the papers. We do not have German approval. Unfortunately, there is no such thing, only a green vehicle license for a short-term license plate. We have already seen this and have therefore assumed that there is also a German vehicle registration document. But there isn't.

Dirk only got a red license plate and didn't move the caravan that much.

We're amazed and Zappa curses that he doesn't buy the caravan without papers!

It took two arduous hours to get the vehicle onto the trailer and now everything has to be taken down again?
It took two arduous years to find a caravan that met our high standards and now it's all been in vain?

I can not believe it! Neither does Dirk. He calls the dealer where he bought the caravan five years ago and they even pick up the phone on Sunday afternoon. He says that the Elddis received a full German approval at the time and could have been registered as normal within two years. A short-term license plate is not enough! But he has no doubt that the good piece will pass the German TÜV a second time.

All right then. Château Mistral is coming along.

We're taking another trip to the Weserbergland to pick up old cameras that we've donated. Zappa has to maneuver the XXXL vehicle backwards between parked cars from a dead end because someone is parking stupidly in the turning area. Whatever, no problem, I'm just sweating blood and water again.

When we arrive home in the evening, the bus stop where we actually want to stop is occupied by the flashing fire brigade. Luckily there was no accident, just a short stopover so we were able to maneuver our new purchase off the trailer.
The winch rope is not hooked properly and slips out of the pulley when lowered. Luckily the caravan doesn't fall off the trailer, but is now at an angle and has to be straightened out. Zappa cranks the nose wheel, the caravan rumbles off the trailer and falls on his foot with the clutch!
Next time we know: leave the shanks standing so that everything falls onto the steel toe cap and doesn't crush your toes.

Now the Mistral just has to go into the yard, the château is already on the street.

But the day isn't over yet, the trailer has to go back to Schöningen. In the meantime I have cleared out all the stuff from the Mitsubishi that we needed for our Sunday trip. Coffee cups, biscuit tin, snack box. The bag with Zappa's ratchet straps will also be returned to the home workshop upon request.

Then we go on the 40km long journey to the edge of the former brown coal mine. In the dark evening, the trailer has to be reversed around the curve on a steeply sloping road, into an unlit yard, through a narrow entrance between a post and a street lamp.
When we hand it over, we notice that the papers for the trailer are at home in the bag with the ratchet straps. So tomorrow we'll take another trip to Schöningen.
We can make a plan as to how the Elddis can best get German approval.

But until then we still have the château, which still has a TÜV for one year of travel.