The Diary, page 2.
Nov 2004 Tunisia
Here are a couple of pics
30th Oct 2004 Trapani
Bill - Garage Mechanics! You either love em or hate em!
Difficult when you've just been told "Impossible Messeuir. You ave a problem.
Your camper she is broke and we are too busy to elp. Come back in just over
one week, and maybe, in two days hard work we can fix you up." Now the
difficult bit is all the hugs and kisses as they welcome you to France.
So, back to base camp. I set about jacking up the rear end, making safe and taking a close look at the damage before dismantling. Just a sheared mounting bolt as suspected. Caused no doubt by the fact that for the first time we were travelling fully loaded. All those extra provisions, jerry cans, roof tent, etc., not to mention Penny's travelling patchwork kit, had brought into play the brake equaliser system, which must have siezed with lack of use over the years. As usual dismantling everything took longer than fixing it. Once off Ricardo, our hosts handyman, provided an M12 bolt and we arranged to meet him at his home workshop for a spot of welding after lunch. Just as he was about to demonstrate his welding skills the door burst open to reveal a large and fierce looking lady clutching a demijohn and plastic bottle filled with a five day old first pressing of what will one day be a famous French Claret (if there is any left!). My welding job forgotten Ricardo and the lady embraced each other passionately and settled down to a long discussion on the possibilities of this vintage. Ron, my host looked worried, "This is going to take some time" he said, "and we are going to have to sample it." We did, but fortunately after Ricardo had finished the welding (a bit knobly but ample use of the angle grinder tidyed things up. Ricardo is well known for his nine cats, we met five of them and a crazy dog who continually harrassed them from his vantage point on the table amidst the demijohn, bottle and our wine glasses. Ricardo was distraught to find we'd only sample one glass but after we'd hugged and kissed goodbye he settled down to do justice, on our behalf, to his good fortune.
Within an hour of returning to base we were up and running. We had had a lot
of fun, we knew a little more about the van and all for free. So do we love
em or hate em? Well its difficult not to love em when you are being hugged so
much!
Hopefully we can look forward to a travel free run from now on.
Penny - We left the Figeac area on 15th October (incidentally Figeac is a lovely old town in beautiful countryside), loaded down with gifts of all the local produce, eggs, fruit, nuts, toms, wine, etc (plus an excellent book on old Dutch Cross Stitch designs!). We intended to stick to the N roads, similar to our A roads, as we dislike motorways and our slow pace annoys the other drivers. Our chosen route (thanks to the help and advice of Ron) took us, on a cold and damp day, high up in the River Lot Valley. That first night was very cold and we camped in a picnic area in a narrow, rocky gorge. On 16th we climbed to 1046mtrs over the Col de Montmirat before dropping down again with fantastic views through the Park National des Cevennes - a great area for walking and rock climbing.
On 17th the temperature in the van at dawn was 48f and there was a hard ground frost followed by fog as we struggled to follow the sign-posting around Avignon.18th starts with another frost but never-the-less a glorious sunny day. We headed for another Pass, more hairpin bends, overhanging rocks and signs advising the use of the horn. The autumn colours up in these mountains were brilliant and at one point the mountains ahead were thick with snow. But luckily our road swung east and soon we were swinging down the hair-pins into Grasse with the sea ahead. Spent that night in the first campsite we've found open. The owner advised an early start next day as Nice is in chaos, a new tramway is being built. She was correct, we took 3 hours to cover 36 miles. Even for us that is slow!
But after that things began to move a bit fast and before we knew it we were
in Italy and completely bemused by the Italian traffic. In Ventimiglia we gave
up struggling with the smaller coast road which passed through all the towns
and villages and resorted to the Toll Motorway.
Which is where we've been ever since despite it almost giving me a heart attack
for the first few days. We even camp overnight in the truck parks, as there
are still no sites open. The weather stayed wet and cold till after we passed
Pisa. We heard on the travellers grapevine that Venice is under a foot of flood
water.
The Rome Ring Road was a mad-house and we almost caused an International Incident
before we sorted out the road signing. Incidentally our airhorns have proved
invaluable here in Italy. Truck drivers give us more respect when they discover
our "voice" is as loud as theirs. Many of the motorways are in terrible
condition, particularly the slow lane and there are frequently miles of single
lane traffic, you can imagine how much the car drivers love being stuck behind
us for mile after mile. And tunnels! For ages we seemed to spend more time under
ground than above.
Eventually we reached Reggio di Calabria, right in the toe of Italy, where we
intended to rest-up for a couple of days. Pulling into the Port car park, looking
for a Tourist Office, we realised the Sicilian Ferry was about to dock. Within
20mins we were aboard and an hour later it disgorged us out into the appalling
Messina traffic. No parking, no Tourist Office, just bedlam. Double and triple
parking seems the norm; no-one takes any notice of traffic lights; most cars
were dented all down the sides and all corners knocked off. Matters became so
fraught we almost had our own 'major incident' in the cab before finding our
way onto the correct motorway and into the first Service Station for the night.
26th October we pulled off the motorway onto the Capo di Milazzo peninsular
- and PEACE. At last we've found a campsite open. We've shopped in a lovely
old town with real shops and places to park. The campsite clings to the hillside
and we are on a shelf with the sea lapping the rocks below. A huge electrical
storm the first night, heavy rain and hail, but no problems with the roof tent
- first time we've been able to use it since leaving home. The temperature is
now 78f and we're eating supper outside under the sunblind, all the washing
is dry, the only drawbacks are the tiny mosquitos which are biting us both.
Bill - Refreshed by our few days at Milazzo the last 96 miles to the Ferry Port at Trappani clicked up 2,606miles since leaving the UK. We were elated, just 33 days and we'd achievedalmost one seventh of our journey to Cape Town. The van has been magnificent and has achieved 31mpg despite many long grinds in 2nd gear.
We muscled our way into the hurly burly of our 2nd large Sicilian town determined
not to be bullied. And it worked. When there was a gap I just aimed the bull
bar in the general direction and went for it. When the lights changed to red
I just followed the half dozen or so cars in front that completely ignored it.
Parking? No problem, Pedestrian crossings do just fine!
So we parked, legally of course, found a ferry booking office, an internet point,
supermarket, and an open Tourist Office. Trouble is there isn't an open campsite
within a 50 mile radius of the Port and the ferry left yesterday (next one Monday),
the Banks closed in 20mins till Tuesday and its a Festival Holiday Weekend,
including Monday. This is not the first time our arrival has brought whole towns
to a standstill!
So our hard work of driving 2606 miles is to be rewarded with two days holiday and we also get a 10 hour cruise to Tunisia on Monday 1st November.
Here are some more pics...
Penny & Brian of Imp Transport Lincoln with the Beasts
Washing day at Milazzo, tough life ?
Two finger Penny in the office, what could she do with 4 !
