Netherlands
Gorinchem Sunday 7th August
Warm, freshly-cooked bread for breakfast with Jo Lopez da Silva's delicious homemade damson jam, a very lovely start to Sunday. Lisa's bites are beginning to remind us of Mount Vesuvius but we are trying to ignore them.
After breakfast we try to plan our next stop. Alastair seems to be struggling with the 'lets see where we end up'approach and creates a spreadsheet to count the days it could take us to travel between countries and suggests we work backwards to check out if we are Ok with that , Lisa is wondering when 'living the dream' became reduced to
X-cel.
linitially we wanted to head North to explore the islands but toll charges are much higher in July and August and are could easily come back here in the future so we decide to head west.
Having agreed a destination we needed to find somewhere to stop. Our wifi worked well enough to allow us to download the Sunday Independent but wouldn't allow A. to download his overnight stops. This led to another rant from A. about poor wifi access, the poor chap downloaded lots of info before we left but now can't find it and can't download it again, how very frustrating. What are later realised has that the map didn't show overnight stops because there were none.
We set off and for over an hour did boring motorway driving but as we came off the motorway and waited for the road / bridge to let through a small yacht we were soon driving through a different type of Dutah countryside. Much of the land has been reclaimed and is lower, surrounded by ditches, they have so much space.
Like Belgium cycling is absolutely the norm and bikes take priority although there is almost always a cycle path. Most bikes have a plastic crate on the front and panniers on the back for shopping although some have small boxes on wheels in front that can carry up to 3 kids who are able to play as parent cycles along. Other bikes have 2 child carrying seats, all very civilised.
Our destination was X which was a bucolic Dutch village, some houses had a lake, their own ducks and a boat others were sleek and minimalist and we wouldn't have been surprised to see Kevin McCloud filming. Lisa spotted the neatest wood store ever.
After winding around the tiny lane that ran through the village we got to the spot.... it was no longer a motor home spot. Let down again by our ap we had a rethink.
We chose a spot that we had to pay for but housed several motor homes so we thought it had a better chance of actually existing.
We arrived in a town and sat nav took us along an avenue that resembled Amsterdam between houses and a canal then over a small bridge and along a single track road that went through a park, over a hill...... Now based on our earlier experiences this took a huge leap of faith but eventually we came to a barrier that asked us to see the harbour master.
Hamish is in a car park overlooking a river with lots of nautical stuff to keep us amused. Lisa spots a wifi code on our paperwork and Alastair immediately signs in and is delighted. He sets aboot downloading all of the overnight stops... again which is when we realise there are hardly any around here.
Once sorted we explored the town which has a number of historic buildings and a town square with bars and an art gallery.
We came back to listen to T.M.S. for the end of what has been a brilliant 5 day test at Edgbaston against Pakistan. We had slight pangs when Blowers said there were still seats available but sacrifices have to be made to 'live the dream'.
We wandered up to the point behind H. to watch Dutch barges making various technical manouvers with their huge cargo.
We got back to try to publish some photos on the blog but guess what, the wifi isn't strong enough..
Perkpolder Saturday 6th August.
Even we had a lie in today not waking up until 8:30am. Lisa counted her bites, mozzys 6, Lisa and Alastair 7, a fair result.
After a slow start to the day we decide to try our new new washing clothes facilitys for the first time and put stuff in an airtight container in the boot, a tip Alastair picked up from the Dutch many years ago.
Alidih suggests a visit to Brussels and we immediately agree as it would be lovely to see her, then we realise the logistics and cost of getting Hamish anywhere near are beyond us at the moment so sadly we decline.
Our first job is to get water, empty the toilet etc and we head to a place about 30 Minutes away which takes us over the border into the Netherlands. lt's amazing how imperceptible the border is and yet how completly the nature of the country changes.
We arrive to find about 30 motor homes but absolutely no facilities. Our special Netherlands app tells us the next nearest place has facilities at a small site with a small charge. This time they do exist and there is space among 4 other vans in a suburb behind a sports hall. 10€ in coins would allow us through the barrier with another euro allowing access to water, all from machines, we decide we don't want to stop here and don't have the coins anyway.
The next best option is a small campsite so we continue North. This part of the Netherlands is characterised by huge areas of mainly agricultural land. The last mile or so is down a single track lane and a m/h infront of us gives up and turns back. Finally we arrive and find a small field with a lot of Dutch tents. Alastair immediately finds it all too claustrophobic so we ask if we can just use their facilities and move on. The woman who greets us is absolutely lovely but she is not the owner and can 't tell us how much it would cost. She asks us to wait while she calls him. After a polite amount of time with no answer we thanked her very much but said that we were heading off.
Alastair found the next place that had free services, too good to be true? 0f course it was, our app is letting us down badly. We had to remind ourselves that we are LTD 'living the dream', that its early on in our trip, we are still learning, that we don't need to panic, that we didn't get enough sleep last night and that by default we are seeing a part of the world that we would never have seen if we weren't lucky enough to be doing this.
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| Termeuzen- massive barges drive out to the sea |
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| They bend the roads up for boats! |
Anyway having subsumed our panic we formed a new plan. We were loving having a very different type of view and found a campsite that was also on this part of the coast. We set off again and as we were almost there we missed our tum and found what would be a great howff if we didn't need water. It was a huge carpark surrounded by sea with a cafe serving people sat on beanbags.
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| Massive Barges just the other side of a Dyke. |
We retraced our steps trusting to sat nav. There are lots of roads that can't possibly lead to anything and then there it was, Perkpolder, we were met by lovely Ingrid and she had space, by now we were too tired to just use facilities, she told us about fresh bread in the morning and a band tonight in the barn , we explained why we probably wouldn't make the band.
Hamish snuggled up in a beautiful spot, we got our washing on the line, our chairs out and celebrated with a g and t. We managed to walk across the road from the site, the tide was in and the terns were fishing.
As 9pm approached we were still awake and thought it would be rude not to go to see the band. We knew all the words to the songs but not necessarily in the right language. Apparently Dutch and Glaswegian have much in common.
We last the first half and retreat for a Springbank and bed. Quiet night's sleep.
Belgium
Ghent Friday 5th August
Another hours drive and we are in a car park in Ghent. We cycle towards the vague direction that we think is the town centre. Not feeling confident of our navigation skills are ask for directions and we are doing pretty well but heavy showers mean we have to take shelter.
We arrive in the town centre, leave our bikes at tourist infomation and armed with a map set off to explore. Ghent is very beautiful and even in August is much quieter than Bruges. We grab a baguette and houmous for lunch and carry on. Around 2:30 Lisa starts to flag but a pep talk from Alastair spurs her on and we explore further.
Down a side street Alastair's keer eye spot a healthy shelf of Springbank . Inside the shop we meet Jahroon who was at Springbank 3 weeks ago doing the whisky school, Springbank creates an intimate, international community.
Eventually with our necks aching from craning to look at the beautiful buildings we decide we deserve a beer. When we were in Bruges we benefitted from comprehensive advice from Andy M and without his knowledge we knew we were struggling. We went to the Dulle Griet. Alastair sampled on old favourite, Lisa tried a new one. On the way out Alastair asked for a pub recommendation and we sat in a bus stop waiting for it to open. We were very well behaved, after the second beer Alastair used his considerable map reading skills to find our way back to the super market and tea.
After tea we try to communicate with various people which requires wifi, this is an ongoing struggle and leads to a splendid rant from Alastair about the poor state of countries wifi infrastructure and our lack of money to establish a reception arial on Hamish that G.C.H.Q. would be envious of.
During tea another m/h arrives and parks a few spaces away from us. As we go to bed another squeezes between us, this is a huge empty carpak and we parked here away from other m/h's that were here so instead of being inconspicous in a corner we are now obviously a row of m/h's, we don't understand the need to be together.
Aaaahhh Lovely sleep! To sleep, perchance to dream? NO. More like- to NOT sleep, to RAVE!! Excellent to find our quiet carpark transforms into Rave Central for Ghent from midnight on Fridays! BO0M BO0M BOOM. Great rhythms, lots of laughter, chanting all together! Despite this Lisa slumbers on, getting far too hot at one point and opening a window for a few minutes, then falling asleep again. Until.......
Zzzzzzzzz.......... zzzzzz zzzzzz.
At 2am Lisa jumps up waving her arms, she had heard the terrifying zzzzzz of a mosquito, we went into action stations. Belgian mosquitos are obviously brighter than the Scottish Midge and stayed out of the light but soon Lisa spots one in the shadows, once she has her eye in she gets 2 more. The armful of blood that comes from each tiny squished mossy is a tell tale sign. One gets away but we give in and try to snuggle down to the duh, duh drumbeat. By this time they are playing rock anthems and everyone is singing along. At 4am the music finally finishes and as people leave we are gifted a blast of music from a car, lovely. As we start to doze off at 4.30am Alastair hears the zzzz in his ear, action stations. We get 2 more but one gets away. As we start to doze again Andrew the Scottish sat nav contributes to proceedings by announcing we need to turn left. Alastair unplugs him and spots and gets 2 more mozzys. Finally we fall asleep.
Ypres. Thursday 4th August
After a great nights sleep , despite the entertainment, and a restful start to the day we set off determined to be in more control of our destiny.
Ypres is our chosen destination. As we cross the border into Belgium the road improves..... for about 100 Metres but then poor Hamish is given a proper bone shaking. Taking it very carefully within an hour we arrive at the car park which is attached to a sports centre. Its busy with visitors but leafy and quiet.
Very pleased with ourselves we walk the mile over a footbridge to the town centre. We head to the Menin Gate which contains the names of 60,000 soldiers who's remains were 'lost' in WWI. The enormity of the loss is overwhelming as every corner you take presents yet another slab of names.
Saddened by the visit Alastair suggests lunch and a beer, mindful of our budget Lisa insists on returning to Hamish for lunch, no beer.
After lunch we cycle back into town, as we set off Alastair mentions we may come back drunk, clearly adjusting to our new lifestyle may take some time. Penelope the Pashly struggles with cobbles even more than Hamish so Alastair looses a millimetre or two of his molars as we cycle in.
Tourist Information gave us a map and we visited the town's highlight's, ten minutes later we were back at Hamish, OK a slight exaggeration.
Toilets have been the top topic of conversation today, including where to find free facilities to service H. We realise that Belgium appears to be woefully lacking in free services for H. Hamish knows he can do two days before seeking 'services'. So he will need to head for the Netherlands on Saturday. Also public loos are not really provided. Perhaps it is a British thing. Just two in Ypres, with one not opening till 11 am. Luckily the sports hall, by our Howff, may provide a solution, if we are cheeky enough.
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| The Toilet in question! |
The weather has been cloudy and cool for much of the day but as we enjoy T.M.S. from Edgbaston and settle into one of our frozen meals from home the sun warms us as the sky clears and its a beautiful evening.
Just after 7pm we cycle back into town for the ceremony at the Menin Gate. There are already crowds of people and we take our place to wait for 8pm. As the bell chimes 8pm 3 buglers sound the Last Post, there is a reading of 'at the going down of the sun', wreath laying and more bugling and within10 minutes it's all over and they do this every evening at 8pm, incredible.
We cycle back for our first glass of wine. Almost a whole day in Belgium and we have resisted the beer, even the Bruges Zot we spotted in a supermarket. New weekly budget tomorrow and we are 26€ in credit. Now where are our halos?
France
Dunkirk, Camping Municipal de la Licorne. Wed 3rd August
Alastair wakes ridiculously early, 5am, worrying that Hamish wont be able to drive off the waterlogged field. It has rained heavily over night.
Hamish shrugs off the perils of the field with aplomb and arrives at nearbye (massive) Sainsbury’s for breakfast and ablutions. Then forward to Eurotunnel, 30 minutes away, by 10.30am. H is offered an early train for an extra £40. He declines and settles down for a three hour wait. Lisa is exhausted and elects to while away some time with a snooze. A reads.
H is briefly entertained by chatting to Si King's (Hairy Biker) V Dub, a beautifully restored olive green number, which H finds unusually attractive.
The tunnel train is a remarkably efficient and trouble free 35 minutes. France is currently an hour ahead so we arrive at about 4 pm and set off for a Howff in Dunkirk. We identified it using Park4 Free App and the POIs on our Tomtom. One hour later H is negotiating Dunkirk, which is a very large urban sprawl, with occasional glimpses of canals and docks. The first possibility is now defended by bollards so A, stressed and sweating, guides H up the wrong side of the road. Luckily Lisa is less phased, due to her earlier nap, and points out why so many French people are looking so surprised!
H finds a convenient car park for a breather and new plans. Next howff is behind some Dunes. H turns in to a tiny overcrowded car park inhabited by many motorhomes crammed together. H notices the presence of human hippy type people who are engaged in turning their ancient motorhomes into long term 'benders'. H takes fright and drives straight back out again!
New carpark. New plan!
The Unicorn municipal campsite is just around the corner. H thinks 19 Euros is a bargain and drives into this haven of space and facilities.
This site is just behind the ginormous beach that runs endlessly along the coast. It is also very urbanised around here. No countryside to speak of and the massive port of Zeebrugge in sight in the far distance. Hugging the coast round here is probably not so brilliant as a plan. We visit the beach via a gate that would have done Stalag Luft 4 proud! Over the concrete pathway people are at sand yacht school, nordic pole walk, cycling and jogging. Lovely, but very windy so we retreat for beers and tea. lt is 7. pm now, so we settle into a glass of French red before bed. As we nod off the French families around us are packing their enfants into push chairs and heading off to town.
We are woken at 3.00 am with folk shouting at our neighbours to be quiet and go to bed! D'accord!
England
The Flying Horse, Kent. Tuesday 2nd August
When you last heard from us we were with Jo and Simon in Chester. The following day we headed across to Liverpool and had a lovely evening sampling real ale and a few gins with the Lancaster crew, Lisa met someone she worked within Walsall in the Baltic Fleet, that's Walsall.
We drove back to Walsall the following day to visit Lisa's Grandad on his 93rd birthday, a very precious man.
The plan was to gradually get ready for our big trip however ... the fence panel got broken, we fixed it, another fence panel got broken. we fixed it, the dishwasher bost, once temporarily then permanently, the gate fell off, you get the picture.
However amongst the hard work we managed to catch up with some family and friends, some former colleagues and their beautiful new arrivals, had a vinyl night with the 'usual suspects' and spent a lovely weekend with Lisa's brother enjoying Kirsty and Ralph's enchanting wedding and hand fasting celebration.
And finally today it was time for 'the big trip'.
Kate waves us of then we realise we had forgotten the bikes so she stands in the rain while we load the bikes and she waves us off again.
A mercifully reasonable drive to Kent. The Flying Horse pub, which has a field at the back overlooking the South Downs.
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Exhausted by watching Alastair drive for 5 hours, Lisa kips before we head into the pub for lovely beers and a very delicious bruschetta sharing plate.
We keep checking out how each other feels, both expecting that we should be very excited and worried that we aren't. Being at home is lovely but it always ends up being very full on as if we don't allow ourselves to do anything other than work hard so by the time we are on the road are are shattered, we must stop that. Also we have been planning this trip since last October so I don't think can yet believe it is happening.
