Day 47 - Milford on Sea second day

The sun is shining and the temperatures are warm. It seems that we could have brought them with us.

This morning there was a plastic duck race in the local stream. The tide hardly moved the test duck but once they were all placed in the water the race was soon over. All this so that we could add to the charity funds. There are raffle tickets and other assorted ways of extracting your money.

In the afternoon a New Forest DA birthday lunch was organised. Tina and Krish helped with the preparations and serving of the food. I spent some time catching up with old friends.

Summer spent the day playing with Pheobe

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Day 46 - Milford on Sea

Up early thus morning so that we can get to the port ready for our crossing at 8am. We left the Aire at approximately 6:30 with a great deal of apprehension. We were concerned that the boys will be allowed to sail because the vet had pointed out that the passport did not gave an up to date record of their inoculations.

We arrived at the checkin desk were the guy spent an age looking at the pet passports. It was only after he started to dish out the paperwork did we feel a little easier. The ferry left on time at 8:00am with all of us aboard.

After an uneventful crossing we landed at Dover at 9:20 and was soon on our way home. It wasn't long before we knew that we were in England as we got caught in traffic jams and delays. We made our way straight to the garage arriving at 12:30. We unloaded the scooter and the trailer and picked up extra chairs and the BBQ before doing some shopping and getting some money for the weekend.

We picked up Summer at 13:15 and soon met Andrew & Krish on the A303. We had arranged to enjoy our final few days at a DA meet at Carringtons CP, Milton on sea.

We spent the afternoon catching up with friends and letting everyone know how our last few weeks had gone.

In the evening we bought some Fish & Chips. I have to say it is something that I missed over the period of time we were away. The weather was cooler than we had been used to. The forecast for the weekend remains bright and sunny. We plan to stay for a few days.

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Day 45 - Dunkirk

After driving all day yesterday it was going yo be an easy day today. We had a lay in and breakfasted at around 10am. For the rest of the morning we read our books, walked the dogs etc before we drove to Auchan hypermarket to fill with fuel before our return home.

After visiting the filling station we parked up and strolled across for some lunch at "Le Flunch". It was our final treat to ourselves. Tina wanted to look around the kitchen wares in Auchan which of course in the end meant a general look around the other aisles. We did a little food shopping before returning to the van and then travelling to Dunkirk.

When we arrived it seemed that it was full again much like the previous day however we did squeeze into a space at the end. Spend the rest of the day reading and watching some football. Big disappointment that England lost thief fame again.

Off to bed immediately the game was over as we need yo be at the port by 7am in the morning so set the alarm for 6am. Long day ahead of us and worry if we will be allowed to travel with the dogs.

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Day 44 - Oye-Plage

Up early this morning as we knew we had to do half of the 600km drive to the channel port. We moved around to the service bay to empty grey and black water and were on our way by 9am.

After about 30mins the Sat Nav decided it had found a quicker a route. My original intention was to go through Luxembourg so fill with cheaper diesel before returning to England. I decided to accept the suggestion only to find that we now were not going to go through Luxembourg. It was 60mins shorter though.

As the route had changed I no longer had a planned overnight stop so we pressed on during the day to see how far we could get. We did get involved in some long traffic jams where there had been accidents. We stopped every couple of hours for a break...made some tea etc. mid afternoon we decided to try and get to Calais / Dunkirk this evening.

We finally arrived at around 7pm at my planned overnight stop for our last night at the Aire in Dunkirk. It was however full. No room in the Inn! Quick look at the Sat Nav and we were off for another 20km to our final resting place here at the beach car park. Tina thought that if Dunkirk was full then Oye-Plage would also surely be full. If this was so then we would go to City Europe where there is lots of space. Fortunately the beach only had a few vans and we were able to join in the line overlooking the sand dunes. Delightful!

We settled down in the end at around 8pm. Tina cooked our meal and we watched Spain get beaten in the football by Chile. I am glad that at last another team will come to the forefront in Europe.

My internet credit ran out this morning so I will have to publish this either when I get some free WIFI or we get back to England. Not long now. Relaxing day tomorrow. Filling with fuel and last minute shopping before we get the ferry early on Friday morning at 8am.

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Day 43 - Mannheim again

We left our spot this morning in Heilbronn thinking that we may well come back again. It was delightful and very relaxing.

We made our way first thing to Lidl to do some shopping. We gave been using up the things in the fridge and freezer and needed to get re-stocked. Slightly embarrassing when they informed us set the checkout they don't take Visa cards. We only just had enough cash to pay for our already packed goods. We had just a few cents left in the wallet.

Next we started our journey to Mannheim. We made our way straight to the Motorhome dealer we had used a few weeks ago. After taking on fresh water and dumping our grey water we soon had the kettle on in our parking place.

Later in the afternoon our friends arrived to take us initially to the vets to have the "boys" examined and pet passports stamped prior to returning to the UK. Our Visa debit card once again was not accepted as payment for Our bill of €70. Thank goodness Hartmut and Claudia came with us. It also seems that some injections the boys gave received have not been recorded...this could be a problem when we'd check in on Friday.

Back at the house we sat and chatted before we strolled up the rise to the Greek restaurant where we were warmly welcomed on our last visit. The greeting this time was even warmer. They were very pleased to see us. Lovely evening chatting, eating and drinking.

We finally returned back to the van at around 10pm and then said our goodbyes for now. We will be seeing them in England soon as they travel to Poole on Saturday / Sunday.

We start our final journey back to the channel port in the morning which we will split over 2 days.

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Day 42 - Heilbronn last day

Another quiet relaxing day today. Tina finished reading her book on the Kindle. She has been steadily going through Sidney Sheldon novels over the past weeks so much so I am now challenged to find her a book of his she hadn't read. I duly obliged and bought her a title from the Kindle store which was downloaded to the Kindle and the kindle app on my ipad. We both started to read the same book on our respective devices. A strange situation but quite enjoyable.

The early match today involved Germany playing Portugal. In the park here people started arriving to watch the match on a large screen. There was also a screen set up at the cafe 30m from our van. We used this facility to buy dinner tonight... Quite naughty but most enjoyable burger and chips.

We continued to read our book until we stopped at the same point. I was threatened by Tina not to proceed beyond that point.

Tomorrow we move on to Mannheim. We need shopping and a visit to the vets is also planned to get the boys pet passports signed before Friday.

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Day 41 - Heilbronn second day

Today we had a quiet day relaxing and taking it easy.

We were later getting up as we knew that we were not travelling anywhere. Tina spent a long time walking the dogs around the park. I was starting to get worried.

Later we took a walk around this huge park. People arrived all day with their picnics, BBQ and footballs. The park has everything for a family outing. A very nice place for people to meet.

Watched the football from early evening. Tomorrow we will probably do much the same.

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Day 40 - Heilbronn

Yesterday saw us at a lovely spot in the corner of a car park very close to the centre of the town. We had immediate access to walks alongside the river and was ideal for exercising the boys. We did not realise that it was the meeting place for the youth of the town with their radios blasting out music to the early hours. It kept Tina awake, not me as when I'm asleep not a lot disturbs me other than when I think there is someone around the van.

The second test of England and the All Blacks was taking place at Dunedin, NZ starting at 9:35am. I was able to use the same radio station I found last Saturday to listen to the commentary. Great game and in the end we lost by just the one point. It is odd how sport can be so cruel. If only we had converted one of those missed kicks.....

Late morning we set off for a site I had identified from the reference books at Waldenbuch. However on arriving the car park was being developed so we soon moved on to the next overnight stop... Heilbronn.

We are parked under some trees with access to services at a small cost. Electric is available and charged by the amount you use. Wish we had this in the UK. Site owners wouldn't be able to rip us off with exorbitant charges especially in the height of summer when we don't need heating. We are next to a huge public park with crazy golf, picnic area etc. seems like a lovely place.

Due to the need to get some telly I made sure that I could get satellite reception and that the trees were not blocking the signal. Had to move twice but managed to get a nice spot. Mixture of nationalities here:- Norwegian, Dutch, Swiss, Belgium, German and of course English.

I connected up to the electric and benefited from the remaining credit left by the previous van. I watched a lot of the football especially staying up until 2am to see the England game. We are one hour ahead of UK time. Unfortunately we lost but we still have two further games to gain qualification from the group. Roll on Thursday when we will be in Dunkirk ready to catch the Friday early morning ferry home and watch the match in the evening.

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Day 39 - Riedlingen

Slow start as we had not made a decision whether we should move on. There are no services available so we eventually decide that it would be better to continue our journey north. The TV picture on itv1 was still not available and itv1+1 makes it so late as we are adding 2 hours to the time being broadcast in the UK. Was not able to watch the opening match of the World Cup last night.

We stopped en route at a Netto supermarket and whilst Tina grabbed some essentials I went and looked at some trailers. There was one I would have loved but not the price at €3300.

We arrived at this small town and parked up. Relaxing afternoon. Just checked the TV reception and ITV1 is better but not brilliant. Will try watching the football on BBC1.

Tina has done a little washing and it has dried in the warm breeze. Should be OK now until we get home. I changed our ferry crossing to 8am on Friday next. Will have to get Tina up early that morning. We should be home around midday. Pick up and drop some stuff off and we will soon be off to Carringtons with Summer, our grandchild. Looking forward to meeting everyone again.

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Day 38 - Lindenberg Im Allgau

Today we retraced some of the journey we made a month ago. We showered, breakfasted and serviced the van as not sure when we will be on a campsite again. We set off at around 10am.

On route we stopped at the same restaurant and gift shop we had bought our new coffee mugs previously. We had strict orders to buy some more as gifts. We also bought some small keep sakes for the grand children. It was 11am so we decided to push on and not eat lunch quite that early...much to Tina's disappointment.

The trip today encapsulated all that is good about Austria and Germany. Unlike Italy the roads were good and I was not forever driving along the edge of the road to avoid the potholes. The scenery was stunning and we soon found ourselves entering Germany. Tina actually stayed awake.

Our chosen overnight spot has good walks for the boys and last time we were here we were able to pickup some television. Success as the World Cup starts tonight and England are playing in a couple of days time.

With the help of our friends, Claudia & Hartmut, I think we have sorted out where we will get the boys looked at by a vet and their passports stamped. Let's hope it will be cheap enough.

Our plan is to stay here another night and relax. Tina has promised to walk into the village and buy a cake. There have to be some advantages of being on holiday!!!!

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Day 37 - Prutz

Last night we were in a public car park with around 4 other vans. Most of the cars had departed but I could have sworn I heard someone tampering with our van at midnight. I dressed again and went and investigated. Nothing there. All this and Tina was still asleep. It was a hot and muggy night. We left all of the roof vents open but we were still dripping with perspiration.

At breakfast Tina informed me that she did not feel 100%. She didn't have her usual breakfast. We were soon on our way travelling north and finally left Italy and entered Austria. Tina did feel better later in the morning. No explanation of what it could be.

We arrived at the site we used a month before and found ourselves a pitch for the night. The temperature was cooler than it had been the last few days at around 30°C but a thunder & lightening storm soon had the temperatures dropping to a more comfortable 25°C. During the storm the mountain tops disappeared. However they soon reappeared when the storm was over.

My lasting thoughts of driving in Italy are:

1. 
   
   The drivers have no patience


2. 
   
   They do not know what a Highway Code is and continue to ignore signs and road markings


3. 
   
   No one seems to drive slowly

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Day 36 - Bolzano

It was a very warm night last night. According to the camper dashboard it was 25°C at 11pm. It stayed like that all night.

We serviced the van and were soon off to the Aplle store I have visited twice before. After some work on the laptop it was determined that there was nothing that could be done in the short term so it looks like a claim against the company I bought my hard drive from as I only bought it in October last year.

On returning to the van it was midday and the temperature according to the dash was 43°C. Another hot day in front of us. We travelled along the toll roads as it made a significant difference to the time we spent travelling. We are now in a public car park with services across the road. In the official parking area it is €1 per hour. Across the road...free. Guess where we are.

Tomorrow we leave Italy and enter Austria using the non toll route over the mountains. We both hope it might be cooler. We are all suffering from the heat including the 2 dogs.

Our lasting thoughts about Italy are

1. 
   
   Love the scenery


2. 
   
   The people have been very friendly and in the main have tried to speak English


3. 
   
   The aires network is not so well established and therefore paying for somewhere to stay has been frequent than usual


4. 
   
   The temperatures have been consistently hot since coming over the Alps


5. 
   
   There are still people determined to steal from you wherever you are....avoid the metro in Rome


6. 
   
   It was nice meeting and travelling with friends

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Day 35 - Peschiera Del Garda

What a scorcher!! It has been really hot here today. At one point here this afternoon I turned the ignition on and the dashboard read 43°C. The sweat has been running off both of us. It's like being in a sauna.

We started out at about 10am and travelled here using a mixture of toll roads and dual carriageways. We still had some pitied roads but in the main they were better.

So hot we haven't done anything this afternoon except a siesta .... I now understand why they need to rest in the height of the midday sun.

Off tomorrow to get the laptop fixed for a third time. Let's hope it stays fixed.

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Day 34 - Ravenna

Up early to have a shower following a very warm night. Why do camp sites insist on making the cubicles small so that there is no room to hang your clothes whilst showering. Outcome ... everything gets wet. I really don't understand.

We left around 10am heading north east which is the way our sat nav is taking us back to Calais. We are travelling the first half of the journey on yet more poor roads. They are sunk where the heavy trucks have used them and some pot holes have been filled in so badly it makes it worse. The roads are all in a poor state of repair. It will take millions of euros to fix which I am sure Italy do not have.

We arrive at a car park in a residential part of town next to a park. A couple of buses, lorries and one other camper here. It will do for an overnight stop. Colin ... You will be proud of me ... It's free.

It is so very hot here. Temperatures well in excess of 30°C. It is uncomfortably hot...we're not used to it. Off tomorrow to Lake Garda again. I have booked into the Apple store to have my laptop looked at again on Tuesday morning.

We need to be in Mannheim by the 17th June to meet with our friends. I am hoping that we will be in Germany by 14th so that we can pick up some British television ready for the first England game in the World Cup.

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Day 33 - Castiglione Del Lago

Colin, our kiwi friend, has been on about the rugby test match taking place today in Auckland between England and The All Blacks. I therefore searched for a stream for either TV coverage or a commentary. I eventually found a NZ radio station broadcasting the match and we both sat and listened to it. Unfortunately we lost in the final stages of the match.

We left our friends saying our goodbyes as we may not see them until later this year. We made our way north to Lake Trasimeno. The roads were once again full of potholes which is difficult to avoid when we have the trailer on the back. Our general impression of the roads here in Italy is that they are atrocious and don't understand why they don't do something about them. In England the roads suffered from the floods recently but they are at least trying to address it.

We soon arrived at our destination. It was a car park on the eastern shore of the lake with some great views. The Italian plated van next to us had an English guy and an Italian girl in it. They assured us that they had spent the previous night there and had not been disturbed. We settled back thinking that is us however after a couple of hours a ticket inspector approached and demanded we get a ticket. I offered to move and he gave us a couple of minutes before he was back furiously brandishing his parking fine book.

We then made our way to an ACSI site on the western shore once again the roads were aweful. The deal in the book expired a couple of days earlier so we had to pay more for the night than expected. That's how our luck has been going in recent days.

Sat in the shade it is still very hot. Before we left we had 36°C showing on the van dashboard and it didn't drop below 30°C at any time. That's hot.

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Day 32 - Tuscania on our way north

After all of the walking and stress of yesterday we were both exhausted this morning. Tina's back was very painfall and I could hardly walk with my sore knees.

I did manage to walk slowly down to reception to pay the fees for the two vans with our only means left... Tina's debit card. I have made arrangements to use our other Caxton Fx card whilst we travel back but I still needed to look up the PIN number.

After servicing the van we drove down to the village where we knew there was an ATM. It seems unreal having no money at all so being able to draw some out was a great relief. We were soon on our way back to the previous overnight stop where everything was free. On the way we filled with LPG spending €18. We must have been getting low on the second bottle.

Arriving back in Tiscania we soon were hooked up and relaxing in the warm temperatures. The two Colin's spent the afternoon sorting out photos that I will upload when I am back home. Beer o'clock soon came round and we watched a number of vans arrive later in the day....all trying to find a live electric point.

We have still to decide whether we stay another day or move on tomorrow ... It will depend on how we both feel in the morning. Our friends will stay here for maybe a week whilst their new cards are sent out from the UK.

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Day 31 - Rome last day

What a contrasting day....

First we travelled on the train into Rome to see the colliseum a little closer. When we walked out of the metro station we were immediately accosted by the ticket touts for all the different tours we could purchase. The cost of these tours ranged from €40 to as much as €80 per person.

We declined as we had limited time and wanted to include the Vatican as well. We wandered around the perimeter admiring the size and scale of the building. In its day it must have been even more impressive. Only 2% of the gladiators survived combat in the ring.

We then took a walk around the forum and an adjacent church. We then decided to use our tour bus tickets to travel to the Vatican where we could take lunch before we saw St Peters square.

Seeing these sights on the news and television you don't get any feel of the size of the places. It is so good to get first hand experience. Tina and I then decided to head back to the van.

On the way I stopped at a cashpoint and withdrew some money. We soon arrived at the metro where we purchased our tickets. A lady offered to help us .... She put my money in the machine... And then asked me for money for her services.

We then travelled up the line before exiting the station in readiness to catch the next train. It was at this point we realised that my wallet had been stolen....I had been pick pocketed. We now had no money, no cards and one train ticket to use for the two of us. We decided that we needed to register the crime at the Police station. After a 30 min walk we eventually found the place. Completed the form explaining what happened and an official stamp applied. We asked how we were going to get back to the campsite as we needed €3 for the fare and had nothing. The police mans response was to direct us to the British consulate.

The walk to the embassy was around 45 mins and even before we set out we were knackered and this just added to it. Arriving at the embassy we were told it was closed. The security guard did allow me to make a call on their phone back to the foreign office in the UK. They could not provide any emergency funding. They did put me in touch with our bank but again there was nothing they could do so we were in despair as to how we were to get back to the van especially as we had left the dogs.

The guard must have felt sorry for us as he gave us some Metro tickets which did allow us to get back. The next problem was the walk to the station. Both of us were now exhausted and hurting. The walk took about 20 mins and we were relieved when we finally got onto a train. About 45 mins later we arrived back at our end point where I then realised our tickets for the return coach ride back to the site was in the stolen wallet. Some kind Brit staying on the site paid for our tickets which was really good of him as we only got chatting whilst waiting for the coach to arrive.

It was about 7:45pm by the time we got back to the van. We left our friends at 3:30pm. We expected to find them there and worried about us. No signs of them.... 30mins later they arrive and told us that the other Colin had also had his wallet stolen and they too had been to the police station. What are the chances of that happening independently on the same day. Huge I suspect.

Spent the next hour phoning banks and cancelling cards. We are lucky that Tina still has her cards. Colin & Christina are not so lucky as Christina's cards were stolen in Spain a few weeks before. They have no money and no means of getting any. Their daughter in the UK will send the cards on to an Italian address which could taken anything up to a week.

Our plans have now changed due to the upset today and we will start our trip north tomorrow instead of visiting Pompeii. Happy days!!

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Day 30 - Rome second day

Our planned trip into Rome started at 10am with a coach ride from the site into the train station. We paid just €1 return each. We purchased our single journey ticket allowing 100 mins travel on the metro to and within Rome for €1.50 each.

We travelled firstly into the city and them changed lines to arrive at the bus & tram terminal where we bought our two day sightseeing ticket on an open top bus. The next 90 mins we were travelling around the congested roads of Rome. I am so glad we did not try and bring the van into the city.

It was good to see many of the places that we have learnt about over the years and an opportunity to think about which places we would like to spend more time at. Our tour finished around 1pm so it was tine to find an eating place. All 6 of us sat and had a very enjoyable meal over the next 60mins.

After walking back to the bus station Colin tried to find the tourist information place but with little success. It was now in the middle of the afternoon and Tina and I decided to head back as the day had been hot and we wanted to get back to the dogs. We left the other 4 to make their way to the Trevi fountain.

We arrived back at the van before 4:30pm and the boys were pleased to see us. The van us parked under trees giving a great deal of shade together with the blinds pulled the interior of the van was cool compared with that outside so they were not in distress.

The rest of the day and evening we sat outside enjoying conversation with other Brits that we have met on the campsite.

Tina and I have made the decision that we will visit Rome tomorrow and in particular spend time set the collisium and Vatican City before leaving for Pompeii on Friday morning. It doesn't seem sensible to come all this way without seeing the place even though it is some distance away.

Looking forward to seeing more of Rome tomorrow.

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Day 29 - Rome

For the last 2 days we have been enjoying free facilities, parking, water, elsan & even electricity. So this morning we filled with water, emptied the loo and set off for our chosen site.

We were in a dilemma because I had an ACSI card which allowed me on Camping Tiber campsite for €18 per night but Colin had not renewed in 2014. The price for him would be €29.50. Therefore we decided to try elsewhere hoping that it would be cheaper. We set the sat nav for our destination calling in at Lidl on the way.

We arrived at a Motorhome storage site with a large sliding security door. After being let in we were informed that the price was €20 per night with electric. There were no other facilities. We ate lunch and had a discussion and decided to go to Camping Tiber and hope to 'blag' a cheaper price for Colin. This site has a restaurant, swimming pool etc.

When we arrived I showed my ASCI card and Colin showed the reverse of his expired 2012 card. We then proceeded to all book in together and all got the cheaper price. Result!!

This evening we got chatting to more Brits staying on the site and enjoyed a pleasant few hours drinking and exchanging experiences.

Tomorrow we plan to catch the train into Rome and buy tickets for the city tour bus. Looking forward to a day seeing the historical sights.

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Day 28 - Tuscania second day

Quiet day of rest and relaxation. Tina was not well last night as she did too much and her back was in spasms so it was off to bed real early for her.

We spent most of the day reading our electronic books. Kiwi Colin washed his van and put me to shame. I keep promising myself I will do it sometime. Christina cleaned the interior of their van.

I tried, but in vain, to fix my laptop which has got the same problem reoccurring from the time we were at Lake Guarda. I will have to wait until we get to Rome and see an Apple store or when we get home. I think I have a serious problem with the solid state hard drive.

Colin and I spent some time going through how to use a blog and we set him up with a Wordpress hosted blog. He will need time now to practice using it. Later we had beer o'clock and looked at our alternatives for locations where we might stay in Rome tomorrow. With the GPS coordinates set and a stop planned at Lidl on the way the planning was completed.

It was very hot most of the day but the temperature dropped when the sun went behind the clouds in the afternoon. Still it was another day of catching up with the chores. More adventures to come when we hit Rome over the coming few days...really looking forward to it.

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Day 27 - Tuscania

Up early this morning as we wanted to ensure that we did not get a parking fine for not paying after 8am. As it turned out we did not pay for any of our stay. We were on the road at 9:30am travelling towards Rome.

After about an hour we found a campsite where we were able to stop and have coffee and a cream cake we bought the previous day. Yummy but very naughty.

We found the trip down uneventful except how rough the roads were. I found myself in Morocco style driving i.e. along the middle of the road trying to avoid the pot holes. The main difference here is that the traffic is more plentiful and they are not expecting a camper to be in the middle of the road unlike Morocco.

We parked up and found that the site has water, elsan and electric all free. We did have to search for a hook up point that was working which we managed with the help of an Italian that was already here. We invited them to join us for drinks which they did later in the afternoon for our style beer o’clock. We made ourselves understood using an iPad and google translate to hold some basic conversation.

In the afternoon the girls caught up with the washing using our washing machine. Colin and I then tried to fix the spin dryer but concluded that the motor was probably faulty. With the wind and high temperatures the clothes were soon dry.

Tomorrow we intend to stay on here and relax. It seems that it is a national holiday in Italy tomorrow so would not be sensible to continue our journey south. Rome will have to wait until Tuesday.

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