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Published: April 2nd 2010
Send off
John's family saying goodbye to John before he sets off for a trip lasting some 100 days.LONDON TO SYDNEY IN A 1968 HILLMAN HUNTER, RAISING FUNDS AND AWARENESS FOR THE PROSTATE CANCER CHARITY
Monday morning 29 Mar 10
We are now in a hotel called the 4C in Cluses, some miles from Chamonix and about 50 miles from the tunnel (Mt Blanc). The car has performed well up to now although with the weight in the back, we will need to do something with the back mud guards inner rims as they are rubbing against the side walls of the tyres whenever we hit a substantial bump in the road.
This morning it is checking time to make sure all is well with the car - first service parade of many during the course of the next 90 days or so.
Another good night’s sleep.
Weather has been poor since we left the UK especially yesterday hence decision not to camp.
Incidents: 1st hotel took some time to find in Arras (Campanile Hotel) as it was tucked into a small industrial estate. But it was quiet and comfortable.
This hotel was found with some help from locals. John went into a pizza restaurant to ask directions and came out with a guide - very useful - who
Send off
Barry's family seeing him off for the next 100 days or so. escorted us to a hotel they knew. Problem was that on arrival the reception was closed. John made a call but said the line was engaged - I called and got through to a woman and in haltering English made myself understand as she soon appeared at the door. We got access. John had a couple of moments - one, the electronic doors shut on him and knocked his new glasses off; two, he went out to get his camera and forgot the correct sequence of numbers to get back in - wondered why he was so long - so went searching for him and let him in.
Good night’s sleep and now heading for Italy, Milan and over to the Adriatic. Should be a good day although weather not forecast to be good.
Monday 29 March 2010-03-29
This is the second of many blogs I hope to down load for all our readers. We did well today. Sorted out the problem with the rear mudguards by hammering the inside up and away from the wheels which worked well. Repacked the car and then set off for the Italian border traversing through the Mt Blanc tunnel into Italy.
Spectacular views on the way up to the tunnel and especially when we emerged from the other side.
Uneventful trip through to the outskirts of Milan, and during a refuelling operation I was approached by two people driving a very nice Audi cross country car who introduced themselves as journalists and would be interested in doing a story on our epic journey. As a result of that engagement, John and I ended up travelling to Bologna to a B&B where we stayed the night and also went to a restaurant where the head chef, reputed to be the best in all Bologna and husband of Gio the landlady of the B&B we were staying at, provided us with a wonderful meal.
Tuesday 30 March 2010
This is the third blog of our epic journey from London to Sydney in Australia. We (John and Barry) had a wonderful send off from the Ace Cafe on the old north circular road, London by friends and family. Not to mention the number of strangers that came to bid us a farewell. The pictures say it all.
We are now in Bologna, shacked up in a wonderful hospitable B&B where we have been for two nights. But more about that in a moment. The drive through France was wet and miserable but the car behaved really well. However, we realised once on the open road that we were very heavy and our rear springs were taking a pounding not to mention the side walls of the rear tyres being rubbed by the flange of the rear mudguard of the car. After the second night John and I set to to give the car a good check over and while I did the servicing, John did the panel beating to turn back the flange so that it did not scrape the tyres any further. Onwards.
Milan service station. We were accosted by a well heeled gentleman and a woman who turned out to be journalists. They saw our car and came over to talk to me while John was inside the service station having a pee. The upshot of this twist of fate was that we ended up driving down as far as Bologna in Italy to look for a B&B they recommended us staying in (friends of theirs) and to participate in the gastronomic delights that their friend produced as the best chef in town. They were not wrong.
Today with the help of our newly found chef and his wife who runs the B&B we got our car into a garage to have the springs of the car strengthened by having a further spring added to both sides of the car. Hopefully, the car will be ready tomorrow morning and we will be able to start the journey again, heading this time for Bari to catch the ferry to Greece on Thursday night. We have already completed just over 1000 miles of our 16,000 mile trip.
Thursday 1 April
Well here we are - on the high speed ferry to a place called Igoumenitsa, Greece. We have now passed the 1400 miles mark since leaving Bologna, Italy, yesterday morning. The car has travelled like a dream since we had the extra spring put into the rear springs and corrected the tracking of the front wheels, which were badly out of alignment for some reason. But it has its temperamental moments but more about that later. Last night we came off the motorway and travelled towards the Adriatic to find a camp site for the night. Needless to say so early in the season nothing was open. We find a dilapidated site that had been sign posted and caught the eye of a guy working within the gated camp site we stopped at and in 10 minutes, with a little sign language, a discourse in German, Italian and English, John and I were given a plot to put our tent up. The night was dry and windy - we dined on compo, courtesy of our supportive military friends, and both of us actually enjoyed a three course dinner before turning in for the night. We woke to a beautiful morning - warm and sunny. John had problems with his blow up (bed!) which had gone down in the night but that’s camping for you. After a breakfast of beans and sausages, some time taking some physical exercise, we struck camp somehow getting everything back into the car and began our final leg to Bari to catch the ferry. We found the office within the port area, and now we are on the superfast ferry waiting to leave Bari. While waiting, John came back to me where we had set up for a few hours to await boarding to tell me that the catch on the boot lid had failed. Fortunately this time (as it had failed before) we were able to open the boot and make the repair needed. A ll part of this challenge we have set ourselves to get to Australia. Both of us are now looking forward to a good meal on board accompanied with some good vino before settling into our aircraft type seats to sleep until we arrive in Greece. Pictures attached show the campsite and our boarding of the superfast ferry.
Friday 2 April
At 4.45 am we were awoken from our troubled slumbers in our aircraft seat by the ship’s tannoy telling us we would be arriving at Igoumenitas, Greece in 30 minutes time. Most of us were probably awake anyway thanks to some pretty inconsiderate individuals who chattered away between them in their east European language.
John had already gone and I too joined him shortly to await the ship’s arrival in port. Overall the ship’s company and service given was excellent. We didn’t have to wait long before we were hustled down the escalator to the car and lorry deck to be with our beloved Hillman. Shortly we were being waived off the ship. “Where we going? Which way?” says John to me as he drove off the ship. “Haven’t a clue.” says I, “haven’t been here before but follow that truck it seems to know where it is going.” And it did. We knew not what direction to go so we did the next best thing and stopped at a BP service station just outside the town where we had a coffee, consulted the map and asked the way of a very nice woman running the cafe. And so we headed further East towards Thessalonika to our present destination, Kavala. Uneventful as the trip was, we both thought that overhead gantries warning us of bears was a little nerve wracking although the scenery was wild and very rugged. We decided since a camp and a sleepless night might be making our progress dangerous to find a suitable small hotel to stay in for the night before proceeding on into Turkey and Istanbul tomorrow, A good choice as the weather has been foul all afternoon with thunderstorms and torrential rain that has even taken out this hotel’s electrics for the past two hours. Back on I might be able to finally get this blog working for everyone. John is presently relaxing in one of his deep sleep modes! I will endeavour to get this blog and pictures to all of you interested in following this blog.
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elaine
non-member comment
hurray!
Well done guys to have got so far so fast and without incident. The blog makes great reading...would have been better still if you had actually met a bear, but I suppose you can't have it all. Glad the Hillman is behavng but keeping you on your toes. Keep motoring on. !