And though it's a part of the Lone Star State people dont seem to care
They just keep, lookin to the east...
da da da ddaaaa
Doobie Brothers
A PHEASANT FAREWELL
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| The Pheasant "so whats with all the flags mate are ya gearin up for the world cup" ..."Noo Tbrewry gives us them for noothin".....yep go England!  I'll set the timer, leg it back to the table and see what we get! Been walkin my mind to an easy time, my back turned towards the sun Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around James Taylor We almost Visit the Queen, get the nod from Kazakhstan and cross the channel. The telly in the motel room is chirping away in French about the D Day landings. We have hung our socks out as we have no clean ones and we smell. It's been a good day. We left the Pheasant ninish and headed into the absolute centre of London in Pall Mall to see if the Kazakh's have granted us the visas we applied for last week. I've got the GPS working overtime and I've scared Ron into silence(not easy) on the blue tooth with some serious language as I concentrate my face off to get there through central London. We turn down a tree lined avenue and there are people with flags everywhere as well as a flash looking horse and coach. We round another roundabout and I yell to Ron "cop the big joint on the left". Then it dawns on me "f!@# M# that's Buckingham Palace". We both crack up laughing. We find the consulate just around the corner, park up on the footpath and head in. There is a line of worried looking people....our time comes and the lady takes our receipts, says nothing and hands us our passports. I rip it open and shuffle through the pages and bingo, a two month dual entry visa stamped and ready to go. Nights and nights on the net are paying off - plan intact! I refire the GPS, punch in Dover and battle the traffic to the port. Thirty nine pounds and we're off to France. This is a whole new ball game and the first night sees us in a motel I find in the GPS and dinner at Maccas, also from the GPS. Not ideal but safe until we get our bearings and figure the language thing....and maybe a laundrette... .....um isn't that a French word?  Just couldn't figure a photo to do it justice  it's joined onto the same bit of dirt as Vladivostok are we there yet are we there yet? We get what we wish for.....it gets hot! There's a damp patch in my back pocket. That'd be where my hanky is. My wife and daughters think they're disgusting things but blokes love em as a multi purpose tool. You can wipe your oil dipstick (lucky I put oil), polish your visor, wave to the queen and of course the primary task.....blow your nose, preferably as loudly as possible. Crossing the channel I copped a killer sore throat which turned into a killer cold putting the hanky to it's intended primary purpose. Bummer. The plan is to head to Istanbul asap and that means googling up the map, take out toll roads, (Ron's a tight arse) and hit the motorways. We DDblast straight out of France through Belgium in hot humid weather and lob into Germany at a camp ground near Diez. The campground is a winner and even has a laundrette - where do we pay! The motorways in Germany are a blast. Far from being boring they consist of three lanes, one for trucks and caravans and DR'S. The middle one is for passing etc and the outside one is for OMG stuff. We are getting passed for two days now at I would guesstimate up to 200kph. All manner of Ferrari's, Porsche's, Audi's, Mercedes and even heaps with the slipper down fly past. I'm stunned and I love it, I want to have a go! Ron's a bit intimidated and warns me constantly to watch my back as I head into the middle lane to round up another caravan. The scenery and weather are stunning. We find ourselves sitting in an old walled village for lunch - Alsdorf I think, eating rolls and apple strudel! The second day we knock over another five hundred k and are tonight in the Dreitlusse campground at Irring near Passau. I'm crook as and my hankies are on a high rotation basis........and I'd better clean the inside of my visor as well...maybe not with a hanky!   to get one of these babies going past at nearly DDDD double Dr speed!     Next the road to Istanbul.... and... in the real world These two handsome chaps are my son Sean and my brand new, first, grandson Harrison. He's a stocky little chap at nine pound two and already has more hair than me. See you in a couple of months little fella when we can shake paws and talk man stuff like motorbikes, cars, guitars, sheds, tools and badly timed irresponsible world trips....life is for living.....go to it little guy!  |