Down

Well Team Haggis arrived in style. After an epic 17 hour drive from Amsterdam they got to the camp site at 2am and promptly drove their Seat straight in to a ditch. When I awoke it was still there, one wheel dangling in the air. 

Strangely at 6am there was a lot of activity. Formula One related it turned out. Several teams had read that we were going past Monza, so they were off at first light. 

We were also off in good time to see if we could assist Ian and Ann who were still stuck in Brig with van issues. We found him with a selection of carburettor pieces laid out. The RAC had been fairly unhelpful for them but they had a hire car and an idea of what the issue was. There was little we could do, so we departed Switzerland via the Simplon Pass. 

Boy, what a long haul. 18km of constant uphill. Poor Jezebel. 2nd and 3rd gears for around half an hour. At the top we found Team Bob enjoying a coffee. 

We had an appointment at Milan airport so left them to it. 

Naturally, after all of that uphill, we were expecting a downy bit. It just doesn't seem to stop though ! I swear you could skateboard from the top of the Simplon Pass down to the Mediterranean coast (assuming you could dodge all of the Italian potholes and lunatic drivers. 

Talking of lunatic drivers, Team Bob shot past us again with two grinning lunatics on board practicing their Formula One driving. 

Jo and Vicky were waiting for us at the airport. Jo was actually impressed that we were only 10 minutes late. Last time I collected her from an airport I was 2 days late and left her and my young son Sean in Northern Ethiopia. 

We had a few issues with finding a suitable campsite. The first on my list was full. I announced to the world by all forms of communication that we were heading to the second camp site. They had space, or so they told me. By mid afternoon reports were coming in of this site being full. Once again I was scrabbling around the Internet and making phone calls until I found one. 

Santa Vittoria had spaces. It also had an officious little Italian woman with OCD to tell us where to park. It also had workmen welding and banging away. It missed a few basic amenities. Toilet paper, a ladies, that sort of thing. 

Still, the weather was warm. All teams were in a jovial mood. We've only temporarily lost 2. One in Brig but now fixed, one in Monza getting fixed. Team Flo are having a night of luxury in a hotel whilst the starter motor is fixed. 

There was a plan to get to Cinque Terre tonight, but we only got as far as a restaurant. Sestri Levante isn't a bad spot to dine though. 

We'll get to Cinque Terre sometime. 

 

High Finance

You know what really takes the time and effort on a trip like this ? It's collecting money off people. It's a pain. Swapping countries and currencies so needing so many euros and so many Swiss Francs off people. It's a pain in the backside. Well let's just hope we can stick to one currency for a few days now. 

We set off from Gindelwald in reasonable time, sticking to the non toll roads. Strangely, I have a vignette bought on a previous Swiss trip. It's somewhere safe in the van. I have no doubt it will turn up tomorrow when we are out of the country. 

The Grimsel Pass. Awesome road, much snow. 

She got us up there without any major issues. 

If you have never been to this part of Switzerland, it is worth the effort. Jaw droppingly stunning.

Eileen has reverted to his Scandinavian music collection. We had bloody Aqua and then Abba. I did point out that they were Swedish, not Swiss but I was informed that it's the same thing. Now there's a man who knows his geography and his cheesy 70s music. 
 

Lakes of glacial water, spectacular views and winding roads. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my son Lucas a year or two ago. 

Lucas- "Dad, do you remember when we went to Switzerland and there was that hill ?" We had found that hill today. 

We trundled in to Saas Grund in the early afternoon, not first, not last. Ian and Ann were having van issues down in the valley. Not much we could do from the top. Their recovery company were dealing to some extent. 

Eileen and I set off up a mountain to try the 'trotties'. Think children's scooter with huge, chunky 4x4 tyres. 

From the top of the ski lift it was a long winding dirt track followed by a long winding Tarmac road. Marc later measured it at 7 miles long. 

Alas when we got down we missed the bus to Saas Fee by seconds and hence our opportunity to do the toboggan run. Just too much fun stuff to do here. 

Pizza evening in the Central restaurant in Saas Almagell saw all 33 present in there. Ian and Ann alas couldn't get up the hill and were residing in Brig awaiting some work on the van. 

The England football match was then watched in the Groovy Bar. They provide free shots when a goal is scored. Or in this case when they feel like it. 

A new team were on their way to join us. Joel and Fraser from Inverness were working their way down to us from Amsterdam ferry port. We will no doubt see them in the morning though. We have a van to fix in Brig first thing. 

 

Cheese

I have some sort of cheese hangover today. I think I may have consumed at least a cow full of Swiss dairy products last night. But I can say that, as I suggested in my wine guide of Europe, Fendant does go well with fondue. So does single malt whisky, Magners, pickled eggs and French red wine. 

We awoke to bright, painful sunshine, with the north face of the Eiger poking through the clouds. 

Robin apparently dreamt of alpacas last night and woke up giggling. Cheese and mountain air does strange things to you v

What a stunning place though. Pure chocolate box. 

Swiss wooden chalets, gondolas and meadows as well as that mountain. We weren't even supposed to be enjoying Fondue night here, but it will do. 

The original plan was a campsite in Interlaken. Alas it was too wet. The fallback didn't have sufficient spaces. It left me calling around campsites in the area to find one that fitted our requirements. Struck lucky I guess !

It was a wet day yesterday. In an effort to get out of the rain we visited Trummelbach Falls and got wet from the spray instead. 

Glacial water pouring down inside caves as it drained off the Eiger. Awe inspiring and damp. 

Unsurprisingly we have found hills. Big ones too. They seem to be causing a few teams a few issues. Sarah and Marc have binding brakes. Ian and Ann couldn't start this morning as fuel had drained out of the pump as they were parked on a slope and Nik has lost his keys on the top of the Eiger after his morning jog. Apparently. He may have been on the cheese last night. 

So, we are off again now to Saas Grund. Familiar territory. It's where my little brother lives. Pizza, football, toboggan run and trotties (kids scooters) down mountains. Bring it on ! 

Bonnie Was Right....

It's a rarity, I'll admit but occasionally, very occasionally Bonnie Tyler is correct. 

There we were, with Bonnie Tyler singing "lost in France" and I realised that she was spot on. Not only were we in France but we were lost ! A hour later though when we got lost in Luxembourg, she was wrong. It was dark, we were tired and the say nav and mobile phone were arguing with each other. 

We had arrived on the continent with an empty fuel tank. With the recent fuel strikes and hindsight, this was a stupid idea of Eileen's that I was too polite to point out. 

Fuel stations around Calais are infested with dodgy looking characters who look certain to steal your vehicle. I was a little hurt that they didn't want Jezebel. We escaped with our lives and our elderly incontinent van. 

I drove first in to the night but I was soon holding out for a hero. He came in the shape of Eileen. I was able to grab an hours sleep as he drove before the Angel of the morning arrived. 

We finally reached a paddy field in Strasbourg at 10.30am. 

We were the third team to pitch up. Jeff and Laine were already sleeping and Creaseybear and Raquel in his midlife crisis Audi had driven so fast they had set off last night but had been here since last Wednesday. 

It seemed the teams were scattered randomly across half of Europe. Having been informed there were limited spaces left, teams were giving me ETA of as late as 7pm. 

In the end I had to buy up 9 pitches to make sure teams had somewhere to stay. 

Strasbourg is a beautiful city. 

An evening stroll, food for those who wanted and a wander around La Petit France district then home to start the wine review. 

We had followed the wine guide as far as we could and were armed with a bottle of Luxembourgian wine and a local Cremant D'Alsace. Night was falling and the Luxembourgian stuff was actually fairly good. Finally we saw Heather and Shaun in their T25 towing their little caravan arriving. 20 hours after getting off the ferry. And we thought Bonnie was singing about us !

And We're Off...

It's always a relief once we get going. If I haven't remembered to pack it, well it will still be at home when we get back. Strasbourg is our first destination. Home of the European Parliament no less and much to Nik and Gemma's delight, it isn't in Germany. Close but not quite Germany. 

A few teams it seems had issues in the week leading up to departure. Flo, of Team 13 fame, had manifold issues. All good now though. 

Milly on the journey to Dorchester lost a bit of wing mirror and had a seatbelt malfunction as Jim screwed it to the door post. I'm not sure if this was an accident or a very poor attempted murder. 

Jezebel, not wishing to be left out, caused me serious concern on my way to work in Sunday. Complete lack of power on a dual carriageway. 

Assuming it was the clutch, I was trying to work out where I could find a few hundred quid. Thankfully it wasn't a new clutch. More thankfully I hadn't bought a replacement clutch immediately. It was the drive shaft. In fact it was two missing bolts in the driveshaft. All fixed and no charge !

And so to the start in Dorchester. A slight change of scene from the home of English football, the Bob Lucas Stadium but crucially it was closer to Dover by one whole traffic jam. 

Ten of the seventeen Windy vehicles were there. Ian and Anne arrived just as we had left. Another four should join us before Dover, one sets off from Inverness on Sunday to link up with us on our third night away, and finally team 116, our newlywed Swedish contingent are already well on route to the first stop, somewhere in Germany apparently. 

So , we are currently trying to put some miles on the clock and vying for last place with Team 50, Ian and Ann in their more modern double decker T25. Hoping to link up in Maidstone for a Windy convoy, traffic permitting. 

Boy, it's good to be on the open road again. Bonnie Tyler on the stereo, fridge full of cider and 3500 miles ahead of us. 

Oil

A week tonight we shall be on our way once more from Dorchester. I have a list of things to do. It was 36 items long when I wrote it a few days ago, it dropped to 30 by the end of the day, but then I remembered another 6 items I needed to sort out. So, it was back up to 36....It will probably still be 36, albeit a different 36 when we set off.

My driveway

I blame my son Sean for one of the items on the list. I had thought I had managed to remove an item, but it seems I haven't. Stemming the damned oil leak from my hemophiliac van. I'm sure it is linked to when he changed the oil before the last trip. Changed ? Did I say changed ? More like sent a flood of biblical proportions to drown my poor engine more like, blowing gaskets, valves and seals throughout.

So, my driveway has oil stains on it where the engine, despite many, many efforts to stop it, is still slowly dripping oil. Red Adare has popped over to survey the situation to see if he can cap the leak and there have been a couple of sheiks expressing some interest in drilling. Woolly mammoths have been getting stuck in it. Bloody number 1 son, claiming to have some sort of mechanical knowledge.

After working under Jezebel

Dorchester ? Yes, we are now setting off from Dorchester Borough Gardens instead of the home of English Football, the Bob Lucas Stadium in Weymouth. It might shave 9 miles off the total mileage of the trip, but that isn't the real reason. The organiser, Lee, offered us some spaces in the Gardens, there is already a publicity attracting event taking place, Wessex FM should be there and a decent crowd to boot. What they will make of a range of motley vehicles and motley people arriving, parking and departing from the gardens is yet to be seen.
There is printing of information sheets going on behind the scenes, printing of stickers, plans being made, research in to things to see and do on the route is still going on. Sleep is being missed as my brain is in overdrive. Much to do, much to think of. I'm sure I'll miss a few things and I'm also sure it will be usual mad panic come Friday. Bring it on !

The Usual Demise

"....So it may require a full engine rebuild." . I had only been half listening to the list of issues that Lee had discovered on Jezebel and how he had fixed them, until that comment was thrown in. From previous research, I'm aware that an engine rebuild, if done properly, can cost up to £1800 or so for a VW Aircooled T25. It brought the usual gulp. I say usual, as it's not the first time that an expert has told me that she would need an imminent engine rebuild. The first time was a few years ago when she was sounding very rough. An oil change, costing £20 or so seemed to fix it. She's completed two Windy 500's since then. Strangely, it was an oil change before the last European Windy 500 that prompted the last demand for an engine rebuild. Number 1 son, showing his mechanical skills and drowning the engine with several gallons of oil, blowing valves and causing no end of problems. Fortunately the VW community was helpful and I found a new cylinder head for about £20 and John managed to fit it (berating me that it wasn't a Lotus as he did so). So, engine rebuilds, or vehicle death sentences are nothing new.

How my van seems to me

Once more, it seems, after a bit more research under the bonnet (is it still a bonnet, if it's actually a metal hatch under the bed where you keep the engine?) it seems it could just be a dodgy oil pump leaking oil. Not the rocker cover, that I had spent so much time trying to fix. The oil issue is fixed now, apparently.
It always seems to be oil related. I'm thinking of not putting any more in, to see if that will help.
So, we are down to 25 days until the off.  I have some planning details to deal with. I have Windy clothing to distribute. I guess most importantly though, I have a van to collect and make trip ready, assuming she gets through her second MOT of the year today. She did so badly on her first test, she is having to resit it.

Not A Bongo

That van may be a pain, but I was reminded this weekend that using a camper van is so much easier and more enjoyable than going back to canvas. I currently have a huge pile of soggy tent drying in the garden where it got soaked in Blandford over the weekend. The tent took about 45 minutes to put up on my own, which was 45 minutes of drinking and chilling time that I missed out on. I also had to tip toe around at 7am pulling up pegs and extracting poles. God, I hope that damn van is fixed soon.
I met the new addition to this years event too over the weekend. Sarah rolled up in her new snot coloured VW T25.
 It is apparently called Theo and is replacing the Bongo. It's a diesel and therefore is water cooled, not air cooled. Perhaps many VW aficionados will consider it 'less cool' than air cooled, but I'm led to believe Sarah had a much better night's sleep than me and nobody has yet threatened her with an engine rebuild.
We may not have picked up any new teams in recent weeks, but we are still gathering participants. Jo is bringing her little sister Vicky for 4 days. Clare is now joining John in Team Lotus....in the Mini. Raquel is also back in Team Creaseybear. This may be the final line up, but who knows ? Still a few spaces for part or all the trip on some of the teams. Marc is still trying to sell his beloved Pinkie, the Bedford, and included in the price is half price entry to the Windy. We could still have a last minute team entry. 25 days is sometimes a long time in Mystery Tour planning...On the other hand, only 25 days ? Christ, I'd better get my skates on.