So the mileage has been totted up and comes to a fairly respectable 3699 miles (5699 KM). And to make the van go all that way, we spent approx £511 on fuel. Considering all the gear we took and the weight we were carrying in a 2.7l twin rear wheel van, it's not too bad.
We did a total of 33 nights away from home, mostly in campsites with great facilities but also managed 6 completely free nights wild camping on the road.
On our journey we managed to take 2996 photos (that's not a typo, we have two thousand, nine hundred and ninety six photos to show you. Come around to see them sometime!!) We did some basic editing while away, to get rid of the total rubbish ones (so we did have more than that!!!) but now we have to spend at least the next 33 nights going through all of them on the PC, trying to whittle the folders down to a more manageable two and a half thousand 'ish.
We also have 281video clips, which range from a few seconds up to 7 or 8 minutes long. You know, just to make sure we captured everything in digital format to look back on. We have pretty much 20GB of digital memories. A very small selection will be posted later in the last blog of this series, the journey in pictures.
Things that went wrong: Nothing that spoilt the holiday. The van was faultless and just purred the whole way round, even thought the distances were great and the heat was relentless. All our bookings and schedules were kept, the weather was fab and we did all we planned to do. Plus much, much more.
If I am going to be really picky, just for sake of honesty and balance I would mention 2 things that happened that weren't on script. Firstly, on one of the toll roads in France we stopped for fuel and cleaned all the rubbish and litter from the dashboard. It wasn't until we got to the toll booth at the end of the motorway that we realised we had been a bit over-zealous and had thrown our toll ticket away too. That meant we were fined equal to the entire length of the motorway (one of the longest in France) and had to stump up Euro 100! In fairness, we had done a fair stretch of that motorway, and our toll would have been 50-60 anyway so had to pay about Euro 40 for our carelessness. Toll tickets had a special safe place in the van from then on! lol
The second thing was just a technical failure. Our 12v/240v fridge freezer packed in and started working intermittently and draining the leisure battery very quickly. The bloke who sold us the van had thrown the fridge in as a bonus extra, and it was a real bonus when it was working as new it cost over £700 (Waeco 50l fridge freezer, google them) and was excellent. We knew it was on its way out, before we left, but had thought (and had been told by a Waeco technician) that it would work on just its basic setting for this trip. Anyway it broke and we had to resort to using it as a regular cool box and filling it with ice daily. It still kept the wine chilled so wasn't too much of a show stopper.
Other than that, the trip went smooth as a baby's bum. I put it down to all those 'P's I mentioned in an earlier blog. That and a little bit of luck which always helps.
Tips: Not wishing to teach anyone to suck eggs, here's a few things you may want to consider if you plan to do any travelling around the area we went, or any of Europe for that matter.
1. Toll roads are obviously an expense but cut down journey times considerably. If your trip is just going to be a lazy meander around a specific area, stay off them and save a few quid. My research showed you can travel from Calais to the South of France for Euro 86 by the most direct route. All Sat Nav's can be programmed to avoid the tolls. If you include all our toll's in France and Spain, plus our fine and a Vignette (Swiss road tax you MUST buy when entering the country at Euro 35) we spent approx Euro 250 (£200) in total. Just don't lose your bloody ticket! lol
2. Use the Aires. All of Europe, except Britain, seems to embrace the idea of making journeys pleasant for travellers. Views differ on Aires, with some people preferring to avoid Motorway Aires and heading for ones in villages and towns. This is because of the worry that bandits, thieves and vagabonds target tourists in Aires along main routes because they are easier targets possibly carrying larger amounts of cash. We stayed in a few near motorways and never saw any hint of trouble (except in Kerry's mind on our last night in Spain). This may be because our riot truck conversion says more 'travelling Aussie lads/dirty socks/no cash' than 'rich retired couple that wont put up a fight'. And it may also be that speculation about problems is greatly exaggerated. Sure, a few people may have been robbed, but many thousands have not.
We will certainly use them again. They are plentiful, handy, free (or very cheap) and make long journeys so much more manageable and therefore enjoyable.
A book on Aires can be bought. Go to:
They also do books on Spain, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia if your interested. The books list all the Aires, what services they provide, how much they cost and how you get to them. Useful.
3. Buy a good COMPRESSOR duel voltage fridge. Not some Halfords fag lighter tat for £70 which only fans food so it warms slightly slower than it would normally. If you are travelling in warmer countries and like your food to stay properly fresh and your wine to be chilled it has to be some kind of compressor fridge/freezer. Yes, they are far more expensive, but yes they are worth it. We will be saving to replace ours (as it was brilliant when it worked) and hoping Santa is listening. You need dual voltage so you can keep cool on the move via the fag lighter, then tap into mains power on sites for proper cold mode.
4. Shop in town. Businesses around the globe try to make a profit however they can. Camp sites hike prices especially in high season to cash in on lazy tourists who don't want to leave the site and who are willing to pay far higher prices in the site shop. Local supermarkets on the other hand have to maintain lower prices all round to attract custom and not annoy the locals. So buy a fridge (point 3), stock it at local supermarkets for far less cost, and be able to eat for days on end saving a fortune. On our trip we ate in restaurants only occasionally, choosing spend more on 'fun stuff' than expensive meals.
5. Take a gas BBQ. In southern France and Spain, charcoal BBQ's are banned because of the risk of wild fire (see the news of the Costa del Sol this year on fire).
6. Try the language. As a family, were not very good at pronunciation. But wherever we went, we tried a little bit with the language, even just a hello, how are you etc. It seemed to work, people seemed genuinely pleased that we had made an effort to speak in their language. We met some lovely people who helped us make this holiday something special to remember. And some of them were French.
7. If you have a choice of ferry companies, pick Brittany rather than P&O. Don't waste money on Wet 'n' Wild, save up for 'Aqualand'. Way better.
If you only have one day to visit Disney, choose the Studio rather than Disneyland. If you can go to either France or Switzerland, France wins (based on prices alone, Switzerland is lovely too).
And most of all, if its a choice between USA for a fortnight or what we have just done then there is no contest. It has just been the best collection of memories and experiences we could have wished for, and we got so much longer for our money.
So if you see the Quiksilver van on a motorway near you any time, we may just be heading out on the next trip. Give us a honk!
I hope you have enjoyed our tale. Until next time.
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