Better Late than never..

So here in hot sweaty Singapore with a few hours free I thought that I would add a few photos and comments to the blog...

taking it from the top..leaving Dover to sunny Calais.. Tom had purchase a new shiny LWB VW T5.. OK, OK with a fiamma roof vent and converted by Mark at vans for windsurfing (still not an ultra reliable T4 though ;-)).. he managed to pull out all stops and convert the van for windsurfing in under two weeks.. good work Mark! The problem with the newly purchased T5 was the gear change, grinding noises changing from 3,4 gears.. bit upsetting for old Tom as he was feeling the pressure, purely from myself, to get on the road and pull his finger out!.. and was worried the lemon he had brought wouldnt make the trip.. so back to the Garage, but no luck still the same bag!

"Sod it, lets go" was Tom's response after picking the van up from the garage.. thats the spirit.. so 2 hours later we arrive in Dover for the ferry to Calais!!

Stopped of in Brugge, to sample the local delights..i.e women on Bicycles and Belgium beer.. we brought the bikes with us after some deliberation about security ( attached to the back of my van) but cycling around the Belgium town is the only real way to see it.. epecially after a few Westmalle beers!! we brought the Satnav with us to find our way back as I've had experience of being lost in Brugge before after a few too many!

I've uploaded a picture of Tom ( I think he's breathing in) wandering around Brugge.. I may come to the weight issue later but.. seriously the scales in Naousa were fixed.. and theres no-way I weigh 2 kg more than the "albanian"

Finding a camp site in Brugge we discussed with the receptionist a pitch... but they were full, they would however let us camp in the reception car park for the full price of a pitch... Hmmm.. so we camped 50 meters down the road from the camp site and used their facilities... thats the way it was going to be... this is Europe baby and were not following the rules!

Down, across to Antwerp then across to Germany and down towards Stuttgart.. parked up in some very quiet German town for the evening just outside the Blackforest.. to find the only pub in town that had an all you could eat BBQ on... SWEEETT!! so we made ourselves truly at home.. smiling alot to the locals as we couldn't speak a word of German and they couldn't speak a word of English... the war wasn't mentioned once!

uploaded picture parked alongside a river, not the best idea in summer, as you tend to get the Mossie massive and once in the van can tend to drive you insane!! but nice cuppa in the morning..