The next day we continued up the Havel and through a lovely loop of lakes covered with people sunning themselves and enjoying the water. At one lock the lock keeper commented that we were the first NZ boat he had seen in 15 years! We stopped at Potsdam. It was a nice mooring but the highlight was the visit next day to Sans Souci Palace where Frederick the Great built a Summer Palace. Whilst only one floor it was a masterpiece of Roccoco art and the gardens were incredible.
There are actually 4 palaces in the huge park but we only went inside Sans Souci. We spent the day bicycling around the huge park, ate lunch by a fountain and took in the vistas.Whilst looking for some steering oil we entered a boat shop and asked the owner if he could speak English - which he couldn't. He called over his assistant who turned out to be a Maori lad who had been 'encouraged' to stay by his girlfriend.
The next day we left Potsdam sailing under the Glenicker Bridge which was used for spy exchange in the Cold ar time (Potsdam was actually in East Germany) an entered the huge Wannsee. This is a lake about twice size of Lake Tarawera and right on the Berlin's backdoor. It was filled with yachts and boats. We had to continually alter course to avoid hitting the yachts. Eventually we made it to the confluence of the River Spree and the Havel where we turned up the Spree towards the heart of Berlin.
There are only a few (very small) places you can stay in Berlin Central and we wanted to stay outside Charlottenburg Schloss so we could visit it the next day. Luckily there was just one spot available. The afternoon and evening saw a constant procession of trip boats coming and going and near the end of the afternoon we heard to our amazement the passengers being told to 'look at the New Zealand boat!' Needless to say we were video'd, photographed, waved at, to the merriment of our fellow boaters.
Charlottenburg Palace was again a magnificent building - not so much the outside or the grounds but the beautiful interior. 
We spent 6 hours visiting the various parts of the huge palace until we were schlossed out. After the visit we cast off and headed further into Central Berlin to the next free mooring place which we hoped would have a place, which indeed it did. We had a resident tramp who offered to look after the boat whilst we took our bikes and cycled into the Tiergarter, the huge 167 hectare park in the centre of Berlin. Our trip through the park was barred by the police as the Bundespresident was having his annual summer party in the park. So we had to make a detour around and eventually came out at the Brandenburg gate, through which the old Berlin wall had gone. We continued along the Unter der Linden - the famous boulevard of Berlin and around to the Reichstag which is a very impressive building, though not that old and restored several times. We tried another currywurst to check whether the first attempt had been an anomaly (it wasn't) and then biked home through the Tiergarten, where our mate the tramp handed back the boat untouched.
We spent 6 hours visiting the various parts of the huge palace until we were schlossed out. After the visit we cast off and headed further into Central Berlin to the next free mooring place which we hoped would have a place, which indeed it did. We had a resident tramp who offered to look after the boat whilst we took our bikes and cycled into the Tiergarter, the huge 167 hectare park in the centre of Berlin. Our trip through the park was barred by the police as the Bundespresident was having his annual summer party in the park. So we had to make a detour around and eventually came out at the Brandenburg gate, through which the old Berlin wall had gone. We continued along the Unter der Linden - the famous boulevard of Berlin and around to the Reichstag which is a very impressive building, though not that old and restored several times. We tried another currywurst to check whether the first attempt had been an anomaly (it wasn't) and then biked home through the Tiergarten, where our mate the tramp handed back the boat untouched.And so on Saturday we turned around and headed down the Spree and up to the Tegeler See and by chance found a lovely yacht club at the far end. They were very welcoming, with many people coming over to say hello. One couple we had drinks with in the bar had recently sailed all the way around the world to Australia and NZ.
We had a simple but cheap meal there in the evening and returned to the boat with our million dollar views of the lake for a glass of wine whikst we watched the sun set on what was the longest day of the year.We have stayed at the yacht club today, Sunday and spent most of the day doing washing, maintenance, greasing etc. It is very very hot (32c) This afternoon we went for a long walk and visited the grounds and grave of von Humboldt (of the Humboldt Current fame and explorer of South America). The yacht club used to be part of his estate.
This week we start our climb up to Mecklenberg. Stay tuned ....
