Summer 2004

Summer 2004 LWB semi high Transit ex mini bus, basic conversion......................set off with no plans other than meet up with brother in 3 weeks time in Amsterdam for Landjuweel festival........................Shropshire-Dover-Calais (sea France),Brilliant weather from day 1..stopped at Le Crotoy on the beach for the day... First camp...Le Treport, Nice Harbour, town run down, camp site okay and reasonable (Van and tent 10 euro) Dieppe - Le Harve - Rouen...wildcamped near Mantes..................Versaille - Paris - Euro Disney (for 3rd and hopfully last time) Overnight at Euro Disney, arrive after 6pm or they try to charge you for two nights! (20 euro a night) showers toilets, waste drop and water on coach park (actually only 12 euro a night for a coach)no electricity, thats what it says although a German rig across the way with a 1/2 mile extension hooked up and no one bothered him.........................Reims - Chalons-en-Champagne, great weather still, beautiful scenery (big country innit) ...................Low mileage stopping in little places kind of day, both Vousiers and Stenay are nice places...wild camped near Longwy (Luxembourg border)................Arlon, Belgium (just)-Larochette(Luxembourg) great little place, never heard of it before i drove in to it, nice bars a couple (4) amusements rides dodgems etc for the kids, wildcamp on car park just off the main road through (same side as the amusements)...now left or right?...turned left, heading towards Germany......Bitburg-Prun-Aachen, weather still great, can't believe it!.....wildcamped errr somewhere..............Koln - Dusseldorf - Dortmund - Hamm - Munster - Osnabruck......started raining! found campsite off map, they might have thought we were gipsys, forgot to say the van wasn't ready, was rubbed down but not painted, ah well they let us on anyway, then it stopped raining, decent facilities, showers & washing(clothes) price? never asked when we arrived as it was raining...7 euro ! Carried on up to Bad Harzburg..12k from Goslar and actually spotted my brother driving to the supermarket for beer ! great timing, easy to spot (not many white trannies in Germany and we were both in 'em !..we then had six brilliant days in and around the Harz mountains, great place/scenery, great weather, great company (glad we decided to go to Germany rather than meet at Landjuweel...............Which is where we headed off to next, set off 6pm one night, stopped to pick up another vehicle for the mini convoy, then drove through the night, about 600k i think, arrived at 3.30am......slept, then for the next 5 days it was just a brilliant festival, can't really explain it, but it's a pagan festival of life and renewal based around the full moon, it may sound very strange but all sorts of people go (not just hippy/new agers) as you may think, just check out the web pages, there's all sorts of live world music going on (i particularly like djembe african drumming)......there's also workshops for the kids (kite making etc) adult workshops, theatre, bands......it's also not a commercial happening, the camping is 20 euro for the week, showers, toilets, water (best using your own facilities after about day 2) After the festival we made our way through Holland via Brugge Oostende, had a day there then wild camped in Raversidge? just next to Oostende, don't know the road but the car park is on the next road back from the coast (opposite Oostende airport) could have actually stayed on the coast road but not having stopped there before didn't know how noisy the road would be. The Atlantic wall has been well looked after there and some of the original guns have been replaced, very interesting, spent a nice day on the beach then headed towards Calais via Dunkerque, I can honestly say, in fact i did, shall we just carry on past Calais and sod the lot?................we did however come back and i'm now looking forward to 2005 trip (Amsterdam first, then Guedelon.......East of Paris (thery're building a medieval castle there using the original tools)........................................then the Ardeche - Marsaille-Med Coast then Croatia or Spain, who knows, if time and money allows i want to do a winter Morocco-Sahara trip, but thats for another time.................................................................................. The river Oker, close to it's source in the Harz mountains, Germany, the river was very low as it had been turned off! for the German round of a kayak competition. You could actually cross in places .............................. Louise, Joe & Jordie

Louise & Rick

Jordie, Josh, Julie, Louise + Jessie

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