The Mother of All Thunderstorms

Last night we crossed the Bulgarian/Turkish border, however the bureaucratic rigmarole of crossing the border wasn’t the cause of finger clenching moment. Nor was our transit from Nis in Serbia through Bulgaria to the border town called Edirne in Turkey – a distance of 550km. Before I talk about it though I thought I would briefly describe Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, cattle cross the badly potholed roads in random locations; the police indiscriminately pull you over to ask what you are doing; the traffic disobeys any western driving rules but seems to works well in a chaotic and haphazard way and I have to say that I love because it reminds of Kenya. Added to Bulgaria’s unusual charm is its natural beauty, which is reminiscent of parts of Africa. In particular are the wide valleys that are patched together by golden rectangles of ripening wheat and dark green fields of growing maize crops. All along the roadside all manner of wild flowers grow – everything from poppies to other really nice ones (?), which is a reminder that you actually are still in Eastern Europe. It certainly is a country that I’d like to come back to explore.

Now, I know that the Javens are prone to exaggerate a little but this is no exaggeration. On approaching the Turkish border last night I could seem a looming and threatening dark cloud in the distance, which was probably big enough to blanket the whole of Wales. The nearer we got the larger the cloud became. Eventually, it felt like we were driving into a living grey water colour painting that was being sucked into an expanding black hole which was regurgitating hundreds of bolts of forked lightening that momentarily lit up the darkening night sky. In short, this thunderstorm was the mother of all thunderstorms. When the rain started lashing down it made it virtually impossible to see where we were going and our headlights seemed to have no to little effect of lighting up the road ahead, so it hard to know where the edge of the road started or finished. Added to that it was also so humid inside the van that even the hardiest of Indians in monsoon season would have had to wring out their sweat drenched underpants. After an hour of driving through this Goliath of storms we eventually reached the Turkish border. I never would have thought I’d be so happy to see a border in my life! After crossing the border in record time we pitched up at 11pm at a campsite a few kilometres outside of Edirne – safe and sound.

Posted by Colin

Edirne, Turkey

Arrived in Turkey in an almighty thunderstorm; the border crossing was fine and spent the night in Edirne; a pleasant, historic city seldom visited by tourists even though it's an easy day-trip west of Istanbul. Edirne (eh-DEER-neh, pop. 130,000; formerly Adrianople) has wonderful mosques because it was the second capital of the Ottoman Empire (after Bursa, before Istanbul). Fine mosques representing the great ages of Ottoman architecture: the Eski (1418), Muradiye (1436), Üçserefeli (1447), Beyazıt II (1488) and the elegant Selimiye (1575). The Meriç (Maritza) River, across which the graceful Ottoman stone bridges. Cols and Chrissy admired muscular semi naked men in an historic oil wrestling match. Edirne's Selimiye Mosque (1575) is the masterwork of Mimar Sinan, Turkey's greatest architect.

Posted by Blog Assistant

Travelling With Chrissy

After over 8 hours driving through Croatia from Bled to Zemun (just outside Belgrade in Serbia) we arrived in a dark Soviet-esq campsite where the mafia-like owners greeted us with blank stares even when we said hello in our best non expressive eastern european accent. Once we convinced them we were actually paying guests and after asking them where we could camp, they gesticulated with a karate like backhand in the direction of the entire, virtually empty campsite. After driving through the swarm of mosquitoes from the nearby Danube river I made the executive decision to camp next to the only other living campers in the fifty acre campsite, so that if anything happened in the night they would at least hear our screams. It was at this moment when Chrissy got out of the car and got licked by this ferocious looking, flea infested furball, that resembled a pedigree Masai cattle dog, that she asked in a slightly concerned voice "do you think that dog has rabies"? As you can see the next day when we met the dog in the light we saw a flea ridden, apathetic yet attention seeking dog, whose worst affliction wasn't rabies but a habit of dragging it's backside accross the rough grass in a grinding motion (I'm no vet but it looks like an obvious case of worms). Two days later in Belgrade, Chrissy luckily hasn't shown any signs of rabies, but after this narrow escape I am not sure, as you will see from the picture, if she is aware of the expression "curiosity killed the cat"!

Out of our comfort zone

Woo hoo! We are out of France, Switzerland and Austria and we are currently in a campsite in small town in Slovenia called Bled.

I have to say that our first week driving 1375 miles through three countries has been very challenging and we have been on a steep learning curve. Not only do we have to cover a certain amount of miles per day but we are also having to learn how to live out of a small campervan. It may sound easy, however during the first few days it took us four hours to get me into my chair, eat breakfast, pack our belongings before we hit the road and the normal day-to-day task of eating, cleaning etc has to be carried out at the final destination, which consumes more hours of the day and we seem to end up going to bed very close to either side of midnight. Added to this the driving has also been very difficult. The steep right-hand camber on the European roads makes me lean off to the right and without any trunk muscles to hold me up I have had to wedge my head into my headrest to prevent me leaning out to far. This position means my shoulders and neck fatigue after about one and a half hours of driving and I have to pull over. What is more, Miranda is heavily laden and with the knowledge of how many miles she has to cover I have been driving very cautiously. All of which means that the going has been slow.

Chrissy has been amazing. My challenge of driving has been matched by Chrissy’s challenge of helping me, plus navigating and keeping us fed and watered. Despite this challenge though you’ll never hear a grumbled word - even if we’ve been on the go all day and we don’t go to sleep until after midnight.

We have seen some beautiful sights on our journey and we’ve met some great people, which we’ll update you about shortly.

Monday 21st June - Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria. Salzburg's "Old Town" (Altstadt) with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of 18th century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid-20th century, the city was the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music, which also features famous landmarks in Austria. This famous fountain in the Mirabell Gardens was featured in the Do-Re-Mi song in the Sound of Music.

And left - Schnitzel - the famous food of the Austrians.

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Sunday 20th June - Vandans, Austria

Spent Sunday night in a car park; but what a car park - surrounded by the Alps and at 2,100 feet it was pretty spectacular. Saw Chrissy's friend Sabine in Vandans and whilst still in Bern caught up with Shari and her boyfriend Mark, another camper van couple (their camper van called Wilma) and other friends of Chrissy's Ladina and Chris. All in all a couple of days which have been very social!

Vandans is a town located in the Bludenz district in the state of Vorarlberg in Austria. Located 650 m (2133 ft) above sea level, it is known for its skiing and hiking activities. Vandans is very different in Winter - -

Colin sends a personal message to Mr Tom Eaton ......... "We are in Austria .. well g'day mate".

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Bern - Switzerland - 18th June 2010

Of all Swiss cities, Bern is perhaps the most immediately charming. Crammed onto a steep-sided peninsula in a crook of the fast-flowing River Aare, its quiet, cobbled lanes, lined with sandstone arcaded buildings straddling the pavement, have changed barely at all in over five hundred years but for the adornment of modern shop signs and the odd car or tram rattling past. The hills all around, and the steep banks of the river, are still liberally wooded. Views, both of the Old Town's clustered roofs and of the majestic Alps on the horizon, are breathtaking. Bern – once voted Europe’s most floral city – is the nation’s capital, home of the Swiss parliament and wielder of final federal authority.

Saturday 19th - Switzerland here we come

Verdun - Meuse Department - North - Eastern France in the

Overnight in Verdun - the largest city in the Meuse Department of Lorraine in North Eastern France. The River Meuse runs though this city.

French - Belgium Border - Boeschepe - 15.06.10

Left England heading for Calais in France. Drove a little distance from Calais and spent the night on the French - Belgium Border in a little village called Boeschepe. The village is typically Flemish with brick and timber framed houses and the area has some of the oldest windmills in the country; one example you can see in the picture; apparently this windmill is one of the best preserved. The area is famous for its cheese as well as its Trappist Monastery.

First Night

Good journey from Moreton-on-Lugg, slow, Miranda pretty heavy. Via Stoke Mandeville, and to Wimbledon where the night was spent with a couple of Chrissy's friends - Ryan Pape and Charlotte, the Doc with new friend Emma, Kiko, BJ and a few others joined Colin and Chrissy in a pub called the Coal. Had last vaccination this morning and then headed for the Tunnel - really on the way now!

Two days before Colin and Chrissy's departure - on their way to the wedding of a very good friend - and an opportunity to catch up with other friends before their epic adventure. In front of Miranda just before they departed today and some of Miranda's new insides!

Departure Date - 14th June 2010

The day has finally arrived - all too quickly it seems. Barrie, Val and John were chief packing assistants, odd-jobbers, cooks and bottle washers for the weekend enabling Colin and Chrissy to tie up all the loose ends. ETD is 1200 hours.

Val's View

This time four years ago, Colin arrived home from his Driving Home expedition - 22,000 kms, 15 countries across Europe and Africa. And now the first steps have been accomplished and the start of the next Adventure begins on Monday 14th June 2010. Another overland mission, this time to drive Chrissy home.

England, Europe, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulagaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, final destination - McLaren Vale South Australia. A collection of countries, each one of which holding its own distinct allure, as well as its own challenges.

Miranda, the Sweat-Box, has been trotted out like the grand old dame that she is; de-rusted, overhauled, given a brand new hair-do in the form of a substantial roof-rack and roof box, had her insides removed and replaced with an overhead hoist and every necessity for a journey of such magnitude and is almost ready to hit the road.

Cols and Chrissy have spent months in the preparation - maps, visas, vaccinations, route prepation, time lines. I, as a mere mother, cannot help being somewhat nervous about the magnitude of the journey, but the nerves are outweighed by my immense admiration for both of them. I feel that their commitment to getting this epic adventure underway is the lynchpin to the success, enjoyment and safety of this amazing quest, and my love and sincere good wishes go with them.Val