Monday 30th May 2016

Today we thanked Kerry and Gareth for their marvelous hospitality and came back to our "other house" in Devon. Further thanks were immediately due as Steve our neighbour had cut our lawn for us as you can see here. I imagine the grass must have been at least a foot high before he started.

Today we traveled 239 miles (385 kilometres).

Our complete journey lasted 37 days and we travelled 3539 miles (5698 kilometres) excluding the ferry trips from Dover to Dunkerque and Calais to Dover.

Thanks to anyone who took an interest in our travels by following this blog.

Roger.

Friday 27th to Sunday 29th May

The party is to celebrate Ann's daughters birthdays -  Kerry is 50 and Hannah is 40 - their brother Jake who is a tree surgeon made them these amazing wooden "birthday cards" from an old yew tree he had cut down at work.

The party got even bigger on Saturday with another guest arriving.

On Saturday night we had a really big meal cooked by Kerry's bloke Gareth. 

On Sunday some of us were a bit worse for wear. Those of us who could make it went for a pub lunch.

The only travelling we did was on Friday when we went to the supermarket in Maidstone - a round trip of 28 miles (45 kilometres).

Thursday 26th May

I was very worried that the van might not start this morning, however after a couple of tries it did. We went into Calais to the municipal service point which proved to be the service point from hell - in the middle of a very active construction site with huge lorries whizzing by only a metre away! We gave up the idea of dumping waste water and taking on fresh as a Spanish vanner in front of us was exhibiting a total lack of understanding as to how to get water from tap to van.

Calais is pretty grim these days. Rows of razor wire topped fencing everywhere around the ferry port. Third world style cardboard and plastic shelters housing destitute people are easy see around the town. Please understand that I am totally opposed to all of this. I see myself as a citizen of the world. I think that I and everyone else should have the right to travel to and live wherever they wish.

All this apparent security appears to be a sham put on for domestic political purposes within the UK. French police looked twice under the bed and once into the washroom of our van as we checked in for the ferry. There were no sniffer dogs in evidence and no one looked under our bench seat to see if we had taken out the fresh water tank and replaced it with a refugee.

Anyway we got onto the ferry and before too long arrived at Dover.

We've arrived at Ann's daughter Kerry's house in Kent. There's going to be a big family party here this weekend. We anticipated this to some extent and have imported some Polish vodka, Georgian wine and German beer.

Today we traveled 56 miles (90 kilometres, excluding the ferry crossing from Calais to Dover).

Wednesday 25th May

Today we came to the Calais area of France passing Gent, Bruge and Ostend in Belgium on the motorway. Just before the French border we came off the motorway and topped up with diesel. 

We went into Calais but couldn't cope with the parking requirements - you have to pay your parking charges by phone!? Calais now is like a fortress with kilometre after kilometre of double razorwire fences surrounding the ferry port and police patrols everywhere. Very depressing indeed.

 We came east again for about 15 kilometres to this small car park by the seaside dunes. It's called Plage D'Oye. There are two Netherlands vans and a German van here tonight plus ourselves.

It's a quiet little place - the restaurant is closed.

Sand dunes run down from our parking place towards the sea. 

Things are not totally okay. Ann has a bad cough and congested breathing. Our van is very difficult to start. I am feeling very nervous and lacking in confidence..

Today we traveled 129 miles (208 kilometres).

Tuesday 24th May

I was up early this morning. I saw this man, a fellow camper vanner, empty the contents of his toilet down a storm drain next to the dedicated camper parking place in Rekem. We are truly our own worst enemies! It is not at all surprising that "no overnight sleeping in vehicles" signs are springing up all over Europe. I despair!

We moved on to the Belgian town of Aalst today and parked by the swimming pool. There is plenty of green space around which is used by the local school for PE etc.

 

Ann walked into town - here's the church. She also went for a swim in the swimming pool.

Parking for camper vans is free in Aalst - only problem is that if you want water it costs 5.50 euros for 10 minutes supply! Most expensive water I've come across.

Our journey today which included passing just north of Brussels was 89 miles (143 kilometres) long.

 

Monday 23rd May

It was very wet during the night and for most of the day. We had some difficulty finding our way out of Cologne but made it eventually. We crossed from Germany into Netherlands but were soon over the border into Belgium where we stopped for the night next to this canal in the small town of Rekem.

We took a walk around Rekem - there are some really nice modern houses.

There are also some nice wild places very close to the town.

Next to the canal in the town there is this fine row of copper beeches.

There is also a small boat dock. Very nice little place.

We traveled 97 miles (156 kilometres) today.

Sunday 22nd May

This morning Ann walked into Treysa town centre - very nice apparently with timbered houses etc.

Here's the little river we're parked next to.

We made the longish journey west to the city of Koln (Cologne) and parked by the Rhine for the night.

We could see the famous two spired cathedral in the distance but didn't walk over to it as it was raining.

We saw some wildlife from our parking place.

We could have taken a trip in a cable car over the Rhine.

We sheltered from the rain for a while under this bridge. There is a great deal of commercial and pleasure shipping going up and down the Rhine. 

The BBC are reporting that Louis Van Gall, the Manchester United team manager has been sacked the day after he won them the FA Cup! Some thanks!

Our journey to Cologne today was 140 miles (225 kilometres) long.

Saturday 21st May 

We made a long journey west today. Stopped on this waste ground by a small river in the German town of Treysa. We were able to pick up British TV for the first time in a long time. We watched the FA Cup Final - Manchester United 2 Crystal Palace 1. First time United have won anything since Alex Ferguson retired!

Traveled 152 miles (245 kilometres).

Friday 20th May

Today we came west to Naumburg. Here is the cathedral.

Ann went inside the cathedral. It cost 6.50 euros to get in. You weren't supposed to take photos but she did as at that price you couldn't afford postcards of the interior!

The town seemed to be a bit of a rip off generally. It cost 10 euros to stay in the car park for 24 hours and extra if you wanted any water or electricity. In the evening these local losers turned up with their old bangers and spent most of the night doing handbrake turns and drinking beer in the car park.

We traveled 53 miles (85 kilometres) today.

Thursday 19th May

There is a special purpose in our visit to Pirna. My friend Joe from East Devon believes that his relatives on his mother's side came from Pirna. This morning we took the foot ferry over the Elbe to look for traces of them.

Pirna town centre is quite picturesque - here's the town hall. We called in at the tourist information office and got a town map. Apparently there is only one cemetery in Pirna - we thought we might visit it to see if we could find any headstones with Joe's family names on them.

We visited the town museum who referred us on to the Pirna Archive housed in this old Schloss (castle) high above the town.

The Archivists were very helpful and gave us two enormous old books to look at which contained records of everyone who had lived in Pirna with the surname beginning B from 1835 to 1922. We found 5 records of families with the surname of Joe's ancestors. Unfortunately it was almost impossible to read more than the surname as the writing was very difficult to interpret.

We returned to our van over the foot ferry and then drove to the town cemetery which was a little far to walk. We spent quite a lot of time wandering around but couldn't find any headstones with the appropriate names.

We moved on west stopping briefly in the town of Colditz to photograph the famous castle which the Germans used to house escape prone prisoners of war in the Second World War.

We stopped for the night in the town of Bad Lausick in this very large car park close to the municipal swimming pool.

We came 75 miles (121 kilometres) today.

Wednesday 18th May

Before leaving our parking place this morning we saw a deer right next to our van. Didn't manage to photograph it though but got this nice picture looking straight up from where we were parked.

We traveled west crossing the river Odra at Glogow on this pink bridge.

We crossed from Poland into Germany and after a long journey parked by the river Elbe in the town of Pirna.

The Elbe is wide and scenic around here. A small ferry for foot passengers runs over from our parking area to the town centre.

We traveled 145 miles (233 kilometres) today.

Tuesday 17th May

We traveled west. Ann visited the cathedral at Piaski.

She didn't get to look around too much as there was a ceremony going on.

We found a good parking spot for the night at an exercise area in a wood near Glogow in South West Poland.

We traveled 86 miles (138 kilometres) today.

Monday 16th May

This morning we visited the church and monastery at Czerwinsk.

One of the monks, who we had seen at the river bank last night, showed us round. Here's the interior of the church.

This panel is in a private chapel.

There are several ancient frescos in the church which were only recently rediscovered during restoration work.

We made another long journey west and stopped for the night at a picnic site in a wood near the town of Grodziec in central Poland. We went for a walk in the woods and had a glimpse of a deer.

We traveled 133 miles (214 kilometres) today.