Carry On Camping

As my first blog entry, I don’t know what to begin writing about due to the fantastic sights we’ve witnessed and experiences we’ve had. Col has a brilliant job keeping the blog functioning and his dedicated many hours to this, even to the extent that he’s been blogging on the bog! Val, you are the best blog assistant this side of the Caspian and thanks for filling in all the bits we’ve missed and keeping worried mums posted on our whereabouts. So where to begin. When I reflect on all the good times on the trip so far, the people we have met spring to mind and so I dedicate this blog entry to the campers, characters and champions we have met enroute.

It has been nearly a month and half since we’ve been on the road and we’ve camped every night apart from four, three of which we spent in Serbian hostel’s (not that we didn’t grow to love our aforementioned ‘Soviet-esq Campsite’) and one in a colossal 4 star eye sore in Tabriz, Iran. As such we’ve become acquainted (in the case of tight Speedo clad Germans, ‘very’ acquainted) with our fellow campers. We have noticed that campsites have a dominate nationality as people of a similar heritage tend to cluster in packs. Germans and Italians have dominated the scene and have left the biggest impressions on us.

Zee Germans

You can spot Germans a mile away. They park their caravans in an orderly fashion, keeping their surroundings immaculate and they parade around in Speedos one size to small, pulling them up as high as their world-cup induced beer bellies allow. They are the ambassadors of speedo’s so much so that they promptly dress down into them like a pair of pyjamas after a jammed pack day of sight seeing, even with no beach in sight. They also like to take an authoritarian role in the camp. For example, in one case a german retiree approached me about a serious matter one morning. She placed her hands a ruler length apart and said sternly, “You have left zee big package in zee toilet!!” It was at this point Col looked at me alarmingly, wondering how my body could produce something of this unflushable dimension, but after she marched me to the toilet like a naughty school girl I realised she was merely referring to the bin bag I’d naively placed in the rubbish bin adjacent to the toilet, when its correct home was the identical rubbish bin outside. In another example Col rightly pointed out that to Germans camping spots are like sun beds. We discovered this on our second day in Oren (on the Aegean Coast). We had selected what we thought was a pretty mediocre camping spot. It was close to the toilet block and our view of the beach was obscured by two symmetrically placed caravans. Moreover, the ground was littered in rotting fruit from the tree above, which ended up covering our vanfloor in a sticky residue. But apparently it was like the crème de le crème of camping spots. On arrival, a German couple circled our camping spot like lions on a kill. When Col flashed one of his infamous smiles it was only met with a cold stare. We thought that we must have got the wrong idea when the lady finally approached us, but instead of the usual formalities e.g. where are you from, where have you been (hell even a hello would be nice), she directly stated ‘Vhen vill you leave?’ followed by ‘Vhat time vill you leave?’ It was only then that we realised that we mistakenly intruded on this seasonal territorial German couple’s annual camping spot. All we could do was laugh. On the plus side we have met some great Germans and really do have a soft spot for them. For example, we have met Helga and Hossein - a lovely German couple on a Turkish road trip to rediscover Hussein’s Turkish roots. They kindly invited us over for our first cup of campers tea and were routinely popping into our van for a chat. Then there was Michael who regularly helped me push Col’s shower chair to and from the bathroom across pebbly terrain, enthusiastically relaying the latest world cup football scores on these short journeys. In a similar case, there was also another German who without prompting eagerly helped propel Col aboard his shower chair at high speeds towards the shower block, upon seeing me struggle. We never caught his name as the guy was in such a rush – although adept at multi-tasking, the poor guy had been busting for a number two during his spontaneous act of generosity. Finally there was helpful Herbert who happily divulged the secret GPS coordinates of other crème de la crème camping spots and suggestions on the best sights to see.

Lively Italians:

You can always hear Italians well before seeing them as you approach a campsite whether it’s due to their loud and impatient announcements that dinner’s ready “mangia, mangia bene, andiamo MANGIATE” or the rev of a hired-motor scooter. Their campsites are tainted by the scent of another mouthwatering Italian Bolognese sauce or the waft of espresso. They usually travel together in big groups of extended families and are even apt to packing their pet cats along for the journey! Italians love to be involved where the action is and are always willing to help. Upon pushing Col up a grassy hill to a shower block in Selcuk, in our ten minute journey we picked up three random and jovial Italians along the way, all keen to help and direct the pushing process, all keen to hear about our travels and all keen to joke around. E.g. One of these jovial Italian’s, who was not convinced that I was Australian, had a good time ordering me to jump up and down like a kangaroo, to test the authenticity of my heritage. On another occasion, when I was loosening the wheel nuts that had been overtightened during our scam incident, in no time at all two separate Italians had approached me, each demonstrating with flexing biceps and macho charisma the appropriate way to loosen the nuts. This was despite the fact I had already requested help from a Turkish fellow, who accidentally put his foot in it, when unaware that the new helpers were Italian, joked that Italians were the ones who taught the Turkish how to scam tourists. On our journeys we met some great Italians – a family of Italians who had opened a camping ground near Ephesus and were prone to stuffing our already heavily laden vehicle with free food –bunches of mint, tomatoes, cucumbers and massive watermelons. Vincenzo, Adrianna, Lorenzo, Antonio and Rita a gregarious bunch of lively Italians always keen to chat about the latest campsite gossip in the toilet block. Finally, we met a lovely unassuming retired couple Paula and Lorenzo who we eagerly bumped into again and again on our travels, so much that when they weren’t around, we hopefully looked at the camping ground entrance like kids waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas eve. They were very laid back and yet would always go out of their way to help – assisting us with maintenance checks on the car, offering us tourist tips and giving us slideshow presentations of all the unaccessible parts of Turkey Col and I had missed. On one occasion I had a laugh as Paula offered to stand for a good ten minutes next to Col, holding a pink parosol over him to shield him from the blazing sun like he was royalty.

But it’s not just fellow campers who have left us with great memories. On these journeys it has also been fantastic to catch up with old friend’s en route and a few thankyou’s are in order:
- Val, John, Barrie, Harry, Oscar, Esme, Ben, Heth and Viola – thank you for giving up your weekends to help us load the vehicle and prepare for our journey. We wouldn’t have made it without you.
-Barrie, Catherine, Mike, Ryanie, Char, Doc, Kiko, Emma x 2, Steve, Nat, Evita and Youssef thankyou so much for the warm send off in London on a schoolnight. We had a fantastic night. P.s. Catherine and Mike thanks for the fantastic hospitality!
- Lad, Christianne and new addition Rea thankyou for the coffee and cakes and making time to meet us in unseasonally drizzly Swiss weather, during an important world cup game. It was great to see you and hopefully next time it will be sooner!
- To the entertaining Shari and Mark, our first campervan guests, thank you for squeezing into Miranda for a night of pasta, minty wrapper competitions and laughs. You guys are legends and we wish you luck on your road trip.
- Sabine we loved schnitzelling it up with you in Vandans. Thankyou for being our video camera guinea pig and preparing a delicious Austrian smorgasbord breakfast for us.
- To the Ohrid crew your Belgrade hospitality was seriously exceptional. Thankyou for being our tour guides, arranging accessible accommodation for us and showering us with delicious foods. Tijana you should open a tourist office. Dearest Mile thankyou for the book, Milun for the lovely beer and funny footage, Vlad for the tasty Burek, redwine and candles; and Llijia for the funky flip flops!
- Last but not least, even though we have only just met you, to the amazing AJ, Rosa, Asha, Eden and Portia thanks for cooking us such a delicious gourmet three course camping meal. It made us grin from ear to ear and we look forward to seeing you guys in the UK along with Nick and Jo. Hopefully the after eight game hasn’t kicked off too many a food fight.

Posted by Chrissy