There are two parts to this page: the
Travel Facts section, and the
Diary section.
Key Travel Facts - Details that other overlanders might like to know
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You will probably be busy getting bits finished right up to the very end (even if you think you have done everything) so be prepared for that.
Most of the campsites in France and Italy close for the winter at the end of September. A few had stayed open for October, but most of those were then closing for winter.
For those (like us) who have always torn through France on the Autoroutes before, it makes a lovely change to use the ‘Route Nationale’ roads and probably doesn’t take much more time given low top speeds. We just used the Autoroutes to bypass some of the larger cities.
They don’t sell Calor Gas in France – this could be a problem for us throughout!
Don’t assume that your ‘internet’ ticket will be good for a Mediterranean crossing. We booked ours on the SNCB website for the Genova – Tunis route (actually run by CTN ferries), and on turning up at the port they thought we were having a laugh. After lots of being passed around, and lots of pleading, they let us through with a ‘magic word’ (someone’s name we think) written on our print-out. From then on, whenever challenged we simply showed them the word, they made a couple of phone-calls, and we moved on. Would have been so much easier to have a proper ticket though! That said, the boat (Carthage) is pretty snazzy (currently sat in our cabin – the swimming pool is closed) and seems a bit of a bottle neck for overland travelers!
DIARY - How we're getting on, and what we've been up to
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OK, so what’s been happening so far in Europe, and how best to write this for a pretty diverse audience spanning Grandmothers, mates, a few from work, and no-doubt a few other curious types. Probably to think through what’s happened, writing up the points that we have found interesting. And for Gareth, who has kindly offered to ‘filter through this lot’ for the work newsletter, filter hard! Also a few fairly random ‘traveller facts’:
Nights spent sleeping in proper buildings: 1 (staying with Em and Tuc)
Number of punctures: 0 (unless you count the one heading down to Weymouth, but that was pre-trip really)
Number of arguments: 0, and confident it will stay that way so we’ll drop this ‘boring fact’
Number of cock-ups: 1 (possibly 2)
Treating ourselves: we’ve splashed out on a cabin for the 20hr Mediterranean crossing
Slumming it: we couldn’t get any fresh bread to go with our Merguez sausages this morning. Ok, so France/ Italy has not been too tough!
Europe started with a Party. The best send off party that either of us could have hoped for. And probably even better if we are honest. The emotions were a complete mix of excitement about the trip (which we both really just wanted to be underway by then – enough waiting!), anxiety (had we done enough planning; could we have done any more?), and the sadness at leaving family and friends. All mixed in with trying to speak to everyone, and get drunk but not too drunk. Hopefully we did OK on both fronts there. So, THANKS EVERYONE!! Thanks for coming, for helping bolt last-minute bits onto Forbie (our truck, not our cat for any ‘new readers’), for helping out in so many other ways, and for such great surprises. OK, Oscar receipt speech over! (And whilst attendance was never formally linked to a wedding invite next year, barring certain extenuating circumstances it will certainly be a factor. He he he).
So, having recovered from the party, having said goodbyes, and having remembered to ask for directions to Dover, we set off for Dorchester (8 miles) where we pumped up our tyres, and filled up our tank. Well, we couldn’t have allowed for a late(r) departure now. And we got to Dover just in time, rolling straight onto the ferry. A mental note that England is quite large when traveling at 50mph. A second mental note that Africa will be enormous traveling at 20mph!!
And onto Calais where we found a charming campsite between the light industrial estate and the container-cargo depot. Charming. Then we started heading south. The roads out of Calais were atrociously pot-holed. We noted that things could only get better from here.
France went by uneventfully. Lots of pleasant evenings, lots of ‘hoping it will get warmer as we go South’, and lots of ‘well it’s good to see whether the tent is OK in high winds really’. Yes, it was pretty cold and very windy a lot of the time!
Great to stop of with Bleeshka’s sis in Nice (Em and bloke Tuc – please excuse the spelling since by default I have gone for the salty biscuit snack since these are the only other ‘Tucs’ I know). And a great chance to lock ourselves out of the car. Should I be accused of burying that fact in the midst of a para, here it is again: A good chance to LOCK OURSELVES OUT OF THE CAR. And to be even more honest about it, a good chance for Nigel to lock us out of the car. All happened under pressure in the middle of the night, and we didn’t let it spoil a great dinner – thanks Em. It would be sorted in the morning, and after a quick visit to the locksmiths (Hicksy, you’ll be amused to hear that this time there was one just next to the car-park) we had the padlock hasp ground off. Reassuring to note the effort it took – good to test these things.
From Nice we headed into Genova where after a few ‘fly byes’ we left the city behind and headed on into the country. We eventually found the last and only open campsite in Northern Italy (and they are keen to keep it a well kept secret so I shan’t tell you where it is) and settled down. It had been a long day, so we decided to treat ourselves to our first meal out. Lovely.
We took advantage of the following morning to get our admin ‘squared away’ before heading for the ferry. With hours to spare this still managed to become an immensely stressful rush as our ‘internet ticket’ (ie printed booking reference number) turned out to be about as useful as an average supermarket receipt. Other than for raising more laughter. Lots of being passed around from pillar to post, lots of false success, and lots of complete confusion. Still, we are on the ferry now and it beats the cross channel ones hands-down. Swimming pools (though closed), discoteques (I haven’t asked about the “Night Clubs” yet he he he) and generally thoroughly gucci. That said, it’s going downhill slightly as people have begun vomiting in the corridors. Yes, it’s a rough crossing! I complete bottle-neck of overland travelers too as every 4x4 vehicle under the sun seems to have converged. We can’t help but notice that Forbie is somewhat of a proud Grandmother to them all (read as old and knackered, but wise from experience!)
So, a great intro to overlanding as we prepare to pass into Africa!!