ROAD TRIP (Day two)

OK so there we were, bedded down for the night, Alarm set for an early start, what could go wrong now?

We both woke at 6am and were ready for the day, the restaurant was located next to the squash courts ,well were else would you put it? but it was deserted apart from a cleaner who was totally uninterested in us, perhaps someone might be in the kitchen? and a shout brought someone out “yes?” we would like breakfast please, of course, we had ordered the full english !!!! and were told !!!! “the kitchen doesn’t open until 7am” Well!!! if someone had told us we could have had another hour in bed, as it was we sat and watched the empty squash courts ,went for a walk,then sat some more until finally our breakfast arrived, eggs (2) bacon (3 rashers) sausage (small) cucumber???? lettuce?????? (not sure where they fit in an english breakfast) but plenty of coffee and bread rolls.

We finally shook the dust of Poznan off our wheels at 7.30am, only to return again,!!on our way home (but that's another story)

Motorway travel might be quick but
it's also very boring.

Polish  toll road. Excellent  driving.

We just had another 1104 kilometres to go but then we had 22 and a half hours to do it in and don't forget it's motorway all the way. The sun was up, it was a glorious day and our spirits were high.

Four hours into the day we were zipping down through Germany I was at the wheel when I commented to my friend and co driver ,, the road here is making quite a noise must be the surface, one of those new ideas to help keep you awake, but the sound grew louder and with a pronounced wobble on the steering wheel ,oh no!!!the front nearside tyre had gone, POP!!!! Help !!!we had a blow out and with expert handling( ha ha !!) and a great deal of help from our guardian Angel , I was able to get onto the hard shoulder and relative safety.

I have been driving for over 45 years and this was the first time I had this experience,(they say there's a first time for everything) don't want to do that one again.

German countryside, 

OK, all we’ve got to do is whip the spare off,,, jack the car up ,whip the wheel off and replace it, two experienced drivers no problem!!!! 15 minutes max and we would be on our way again. First things first ,hazards on ,triangle about 100 mtrs back. The spare was up to pressure (I checked before we left)

Talk about feeling exposed as we wound the spare tyre down from its place under the back of the car, first problem was,,could we get it off the cable it was hanging from could we heck , well,,, lets get the wheel off and look at it again when we need it ( who knows the cable could grow a bit longer!!! )So jacked up we started to undo the wheel nuts there's six on the Alhambra 5 were no problem the sixth could we shift it? Not a smidgen!! Don't panic Mr Mannering, we have plenty of time, lets look at the problem,

can't get the spare off can't get the wheel off, ummm!! I know lets call the police.

Now the clever people who had made my triangle thought it would be a good idea to mold into the case the SOS numbers you need to call when in need of help in an emergency and I thought our situation came into that category (for Germany it was 110) All the time we were expecting the police to come and get us towed away (at some exorbitant price) arrest us and throw away the key for breaking some obscure motorway rule.

Now picture us if you can on the hard shoulder, under a junction bridge against the crash barrier on our right, as there was a two lane filter onto the motorway on the other side of it feeding the motorway with vehicles at speed, and 40ft articulated lorries plus what seemed to us like every other motor that had been built ,thundering at a zillion miles an hour, on our left, we did feel a tad exposed to say the least. And the noise unbelievable!!!!!

I clamped my phone to my ear having dialled 110 prayed please let whoever answers speak some english, my prayer was answered “Hello police how can I help” “I am on the motorway and have broken down I need someone to help me” “Hello police how can I help” I;m broken down----------- after five minutes of this back and forth he realised I was broken down, Hallelujah!! I will send a car where are you??? I don’t know it's your motorway!!!!!!! across the road there is a tall thing with a triangle shape on it turning round, ( it was the only landmark I could see, and there wasn't another one like it that I had seen) but where are you at what Kilometre are you? At that point the penny dropped (I always wondered what the numbers by the motorway were for, ) I will find out and ring you back!!! While all of this was going on I saw not one but two police cars both with green stripes along the side, must have been a different department as they took no notice of us at all. Could you imagine that conversation if one had stopped “ ello ello what seems to be the problem??? broken down ave we sir!!! ummm sorry not my problem, see we’re urban not motorway police, someone will be along shortly, sir.

Anyway back to reality ,they need to know at what kilometre we are at, I told my friend,, you go that way I'll go this and the first one to find a marker wave you arms and jump up and down as a signal, can't remember who was first but we found one. So it was back to the phone and “Hello police how can I help you”

It's that man broken down by the side of “your” motorway and the only number we can find is! Very good I will get a car to come and see you, I was just going to ask how long when he hung up.

On and on and on

We could be here for hours and then towing us off will take for ever, we'll never make the ferry now all for a puncture, sitting against the crash barrier we settled in for a long wait but within ten minutes a very smart BMW estate with a blue stripe along it's side (told you !!different department) ,with it's blue lights flashing it pulled up behind us.

Here it comes I thought the might of German law is about to descend on us, but no!!!

one policeman got out and wandered up to us “what’s the problem”? I have a puncture and can't get the spare wheel out and the punctured one off, with all the traffic we didn't feel safe laying on the ground! He said “so what do you want us to do? Well ,with your flashing lights traffic will move over and you will give us some protection.

OK, and so we attacked the problems again this time with the added protection of the police while they sat on the crash barrier chatting, ten minutes later with the damaged tyre in the back along with everything else ,we were seen back out into the stream of traffic and on our way, oh yes one of the policemen even walked back along the hard shoulder and retrieved my warning triangle folded it and put it back in it's case for me. Full marks to Germany’s Autobahnpolize. From start to finish the whole episode had taken no more than an hour although it had seemed like a lifetime to us.

Did I tell you we took in Italy as well.

But we were back on the road and it just meant we were an hour behind schedule and we could make that up no problem even if it meant driving a bit longer.

An hour later all was well, we pulled into a service station with a KFC and straightened the boot ,went and had a bit of a wash and brush up plus a quick bite to eat, then it was back to sailing down the road with not a care in the world we had plenty of time and a clear road in front of us,!!!! When!!!!!!!!!!!

an oldish looking minivan pulled in front of us followed closely by a small blue 4X4, on the back of the van there was a flashing sign saying FOLLOW ME unsure if it was meant for us, we thought we had better follow it, and at the next exit we pulled off and round into a service area. So there we were the van ,the blue car and us, out of the van jumped three men wearing camouflage outfits ,pistols on their hips and looking quite menacing. Oh my!! we're being high-jacked went through my mind, give them what they want,do what they say, but above all ,stay calm!!!!. First thing they did was wave the 4 x 4 away and he shot off like scalded cat. With one man at each door and another standing in front of us I wound down the window, without chance to open my mouth, the man spoke ,, bla bla bla, “hold on I'm english and don't understand,” OK , my hijacker said , “ how many cigarettes ?, how much booze ?and how much cash do you have in the car?” ( I kid you not) none, none and none, we don't smoke ( It's bad for your health) we don't drink ( well not when driving!!) and we haven't any cash as we pay everything with our debit card, “ So you are saying you have none of these”, yes sir I said... “OK is this vehicle yours and why is it Latvian?” Yes it's mine and I live in Latvia. “I see ,so what is in the boxes in the back, please open the doors, and the suitcases, show us what is in the boxes, so there we were cases and boxes on the ground around the car.

One of the things I had was a christmas present for our son and daughter in law, (bit late ),,gifts for the rest of the family and 10 jars of home made jam, well, we must have honest faces as after a short while they explained they were from customs and excise and were looking for smugglers, but we were free to go. They jumped back into their van and went back presumably to see if they could catch someone else, leaving us to repack the car and continue.

Help which way!!!

We'll just have to keep going until we get to Dunkirk now and rest up while we wait for the ferry, and so the rest of our journey was quite uneventful, that was until we reached Dunkirk we filled the car with fuel ( not going to pay UK prices ) and the ferry signs we had been following just disappeared and we found ourselves in the middle of what looked like an industrial estate ,,,lost!!! ( not many ships about) and the tom tom seemed lost as well,,,,,. To one side of the road I saw a security guard standing by his van ,so we stopped and out I got, only to find he didn't speak english, drat it!!! Not to worry I was able to make him understand we were looking for the port and a ship to “angleterre” The long and short of it was he lead the way until we could see the lights and a funnel in the dock area.

The plan now was to get in the port and sit and wait till our 6am ferry was ready to board, phew !!!we had made it with 2 hours to spare. I parked and walked over to the control booth and said to the Englishman ,I'm a bit early but can we check in now and wait, wev'e done just over 1200 km ( Google got it wrong) and are a bit tired. “ If your quick mate you can get on the ferry thats leaving in a few minuites” and with that we shot through the dock area and onto the ferry. Great !!!!!!

Next stop England

The white cliffs of Dover,
it had been a long way.