So here we are – our first blog on the road. We tried doing this last night on my mobile phone, but it has decided to stop working. Good timing that. This is being uploaded from the back of the Jag, so we’re still pretty switched on.
All is going well, but things didn’t exactly go smoothly from the start. Our convoy broke up before we even got on the motorway, and the BMW had to break off en route to collect one of the guys. With fuel stops as well (one every 10 minutes for the Chevy), we found ourselves leap-frogging each other all the way to Dover, phoning each other along the way because we hadn’t sorted out the radios yet, and no-one knew where each of the others were.
The Jag got to Dover with about 30 mins to spare, and the Chevy van shortly after. A quick search of the van by customs (no cavity searches thankfully), and we were both through check in. Puzzled as to why the BMW had not yet arrived when it had been miles ahead of us on the motorway, we phoned Rich.
Turns out he was still going round the M25, and only realized he had gone too far when he saw signs for Gatwick. He put the BMW through its paces and got to Dover with minutes to spare. As it turns out, the ferry was late departing, so we had a bit of time to put our decals on the vehicles – we’re now fully kitted out with 8build, NGK and Christie’s stickers.
After a very sedate crossing with cups of tea instead of beers for the drivers, we disembarked at Calais only to lose the Chevy for about 15 mins. There’s a trend developing here. No worries though, as we settled into convoy for the first time and cruised for a few hours through to Brussels. The Chevy seems most comfortable at 59mph, so it took a little longer than expected.
We arrived at Ed’s in-laws’ flat at around 3.30am, cracked open a few beers and put our heads down at 4.30. Bacon and egg butties this morning saw us off, and we’re now on the road to Luxembourg for lunch. Hopefully we hit Basel in Switzerland this evening, although we haven’t got any idea where we are staying or even if we’ll get there before sundown.
All is going well, but things didn’t exactly go smoothly from the start. Our convoy broke up before we even got on the motorway, and the BMW had to break off en route to collect one of the guys. With fuel stops as well (one every 10 minutes for the Chevy), we found ourselves leap-frogging each other all the way to Dover, phoning each other along the way because we hadn’t sorted out the radios yet, and no-one knew where each of the others were.
The Jag got to Dover with about 30 mins to spare, and the Chevy van shortly after. A quick search of the van by customs (no cavity searches thankfully), and we were both through check in. Puzzled as to why the BMW had not yet arrived when it had been miles ahead of us on the motorway, we phoned Rich.
Turns out he was still going round the M25, and only realized he had gone too far when he saw signs for Gatwick. He put the BMW through its paces and got to Dover with minutes to spare. As it turns out, the ferry was late departing, so we had a bit of time to put our decals on the vehicles – we’re now fully kitted out with 8build, NGK and Christie’s stickers.
After a very sedate crossing with cups of tea instead of beers for the drivers, we disembarked at Calais only to lose the Chevy for about 15 mins. There’s a trend developing here. No worries though, as we settled into convoy for the first time and cruised for a few hours through to Brussels. The Chevy seems most comfortable at 59mph, so it took a little longer than expected.
We arrived at Ed’s in-laws’ flat at around 3.30am, cracked open a few beers and put our heads down at 4.30. Bacon and egg butties this morning saw us off, and we’re now on the road to Luxembourg for lunch. Hopefully we hit Basel in Switzerland this evening, although we haven’t got any idea where we are staying or even if we’ll get there before sundown.
2 comments:
Hit Basel? What did Basel do to you? Or is it just the Swiss in general?
This Does Not Bode Well.
Am sure the 'broken' phone was deliberate so your wife cannot keep in touch. Thank God for the blog! Keep the updates coming.
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