FOUR DAYS IN

FIRST DAY

Well woke up to snow, not quite a blizzard but in London on a April morning still quite a surprise, bags packed and down to reception in search of the lorry, 15 mins later and after not much help from the receptionist on directions on how to find the coach park, we end up in the carpark which is only 2 metres in height so no way is a 4 metre high lorry going to get in there, back up the lifts and another circuit of stairs, lift and an even more unhelpful receptionist we finally stumble upon the large orange truck hidden behind two coaches just outside the front doors. Everybody’s present and in remarkable good spirits considering it’s snowing and we could well be camping in snow on our first night!
Fully loaded we set off 40 minutes early through the blizzard conditions of the London back streets after much winding of back streets Jacko our driver comes across a low bridge which rather suddenly halts our progress which means that at 9 0’clock in the morning the time we should have left the hotel we are now repassing it in the other direction, is this goings to be a 7 month tour of London ending up at a aussie bar on the last day we wonder. It was at this point that it also became quite noticeable that there is no heating on the truck and the outside temp coupled with the wind-chill factor makes for an interesting survival ride luckily we had seats in the rear of the vehicle where it was a good half a degree warmer. Now I’ve never been on a 6 wheel drive off road vehicle before but I didn’t realise that suspension is one of the optional extras that this vehicle didn’t have, safety helmets might well have to be worn to prevent any damage to the roof of the vehicle it reminds me of those slimming machines of the early eighties where a belt went round your rear and the vibrating knocked off the pounds I think by next week I’ll be 8 stone in weight.
Ferry crossing was delightful chance to warm up and thaw out those frozen toes then off through France and Belgium arriving at our campsite 8 o’clock at night and a temperature of 7 degrees feels like a positive heat wave. Camp kitchen assembled and sweet & sour pork on the go we intrepid campers make camp and settle back to a nice hot meal shame we have no tokens for the shower so no hot water a well never mind, sleeping at night we soon realise the temperature is plummeting and are not surprised to find a hard frost in the morning thank goodness we got sleeping bags that are good to minus 7, but we didn’t expect to be testing them out quite so early. Breakfast consisted of cereals and trying to get the circulation back into the fingers it was at this point that Jan thought that going to work would be a good idea.
Now we are back on the road heading across Germany towards Prague, overnight bush camp tonight in Germany this could be fun wood fires and digging toilets let’s hope the temperature picks up by about 20 degrees would be nice

2ND DAY.

Well what a bonus that was, after leaving Belgium in the morning under clear skies & sunshine thinking the weather was improving we soon drove into yet more snow which was not what the members of this trip wanted to see, the stop for lunch consisted of hot soup and thawing the joints with the wonder of just how long will this last, the discussions of pitching tents in snow was the main topic of conversation. Soon after lunch the snow abated and we were all relieved to see it was just cold, we spent a little while hunting down a potential bush camp amongst the boggy conditions that surrounded us, it was at this point that things took a turn for the better, we had stumbled upon an out of season restaurant that allowed us to camp next to their tennis courts and use the wonderful facilities that was hot and cold running water (showers) sheer luxury, this coupled with the fact the place had a bar and also distilled its own liquer made for a very warm and cosy night but alas for Jan no red wine she’s still shaking this morning . Now back on the road no snow but still cold heading for the cezh border and Prague looking forward to it.
PRAUGE
Wonderful city after a couple of tours of the outskirts and a picnic on the forecourt of a petrol station because jacko had run out of driving hours while we tried to find the campsite, it was at this point that Jan took the opportunity to remove her boots and warm her feet up on the metal tank lids on the forecourt, the sun was now shining and the cabin warming up we arrived to camp next to the river, a brisk stroll up to the centre, good to stretch the legs out after two days driving and view the sights coupled with good beer and hot food we are looking forward to seeing the sights of Prague and a day’s rest from travelling. Pitching our tents in warmer weather is definitely better than the cold after a good night’s sleep we were all raring to go, some more than others Jan got her first 3 mile jog pounding the streets of Prague with two other members of the group, hope we don’t get the bill for the broken pavements (see Elaine she does jog occasionally). Now back on the road 9 hours to Vienna where we have wifi on the campsite so hopefully we can update the blog please excuse any mistakes trying to type in the back of the lorry whilst bouncing up and down is still an art I’m still trying to perfect hopefully by Sydney I would have mastered it.

Just arrived in Vienna and finally mastered the wi-fi connection so here's the post to bring you all up to date, weathers great 20 degrees now at last, hope white watch have a couple of quiet nights glad I'm not there well thats all for now now folks hope all is well with you all at home, dinner and a beer now beckons so must dash catch up next time.