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. |
