Read about Ron & Viv's journey so far through Africa - EUROPE & UK - Sept/Oct 2007.
Italy
The waterfront and ferry point and the clear water of Messina port, on our way across to the ‘foot' of Italy.
Switzerland – on the road to Luzerne.
Switzerland
France
England
AFRICA TRIPLate Sept / late Oct– EUROPE - Sicily, Italy, Switzerland, France, England
A European Finale
So much for our 4 hour time frame to get through customs, passport control and onto the boat - we were down at the ferry point at 5pm readying ourselves for our 9pm departure at Tunis, in Tunisia. Yeah … right!
At the port we were first in the vehicle queue but that didn't help. The ticket issue office was a shambles – rugby scrum down and intense for a couple of hours, computers failing, the issuing people working at a snail's pace, all in Italian, people yelling, pushing – it was the ‘Faulty Towers' of the shipping world! Of course we ended up with a helper who was pretty good really but he wanted his pound of flesh and dollars once we had the tickets.
Then, when we got to the police/Immigration post we found we should have had a visa and not just a ‘Visitor Card'. All laughter and shaking hands and ‘No Worries – you just pay” and parting with US$50 each we finally got thru – it taking about an hour. Then it was Customs which was easy, and then onto the vehicle queue – of which we were now pretty close to being last and waited to get on the boat – a slow process! By the time we were parked and up in the cabin it was 1am – it had taken 8 hours!!!
Sometime later the boat slipped from its moorings - civilized Europe was waiting!
Delightful Italy
Morning saw us cruising alongside the impressive Sicily coast finally landing in the harbour at Palermo. Of course we were late berthing owing to the previous night's debacle. Checked thru ‘Passport control' on the ship – another lengthy process, and then down to the vehicles and drive off. Customs were waiting but it was pretty quick and just a cursory check of the vehicle.
We had planned on getting the ‘Green Card' (Third Party) Insurance that we needed upon landing. Landing late in port, we found all the offices closing at 1pm. After a fruitless search for an insurance office that was open, Neil & Ron gave up and met the girls in the local café and had lunch – which cost Euro55 for the four of us – about A$90. It will take some time to get used to European prices!
With no insurance, and nothing we could do until the following Monday, we very carefully drove east along the coast, sticking to the SS113, which is the old road thru every town and village along the coast. It was a pleasant enough drive even though the roads were very narrow in the heart of the towns.
Made camp at Rais Gerbi (GPS 38°01'23”N 14°09'14”E), about 90km east of Palermo (173km west of Messina) near the village of Finale. This park has everything a traveller needs including a bar, restaurant, small store, a large spotless swimming pool, very pleasant, spotless and all-working camping facilities, on-site cabins, great coastal views and is pretty shady. It is 7-star compared to anything we had seen in Africa – South Africa included! Check out: www.raisgerbi.it. Cost was about Eu25 a night for a powered site and Viv and I – which is also the dearest we have paid on this trip! Much to Viv's absolute joy it also had a fully functioning washing machine!!!
We spent the next couple of days just catching our breath and enjoying the glorious weather and surrounds and staying in one spot for a few days. Went swimming in the very clear waters of the Med off the rocky beach at the bottom of the cliffs below the camping ground - very pleasant.
Monday saw us sorting out our Green Card and planning the next leg of our trip through Italy, Switzerland, France and onto the UK.
Sicily is quite mountainous and we twisted and turned our way south into the centre of the island. We headed to Enna , which is one of two hilltop towns across the valley from one another. With a bit of effort found our way up to the old fort that dominates the highest point of the hilltop. Luckily there was a car park big enough near the fort for us to park the cars – the drive through town had been very interesting in our large vehicles!!!
Our next camp was again on the coast just north of Catania at the Paradise International Camp (GPS 37°53'48”N 15°19'35”E). Once again the facilities are pretty good and there's a small store, bar and restaurant. The beach wasn't bad and the views all round were nice with mountains dropping down steeply to the shore. Cost was Eu21 a night – and that was with no power!
A short ferry ride from the port of Messina saw us cross to the mainland of Italy, heading east across the top of the ‘foot' of Italy. The amount of tunnels and bridges we went thru were unbelievable – around 100 tunnels for the day's trip. We also hadn't realised that Italy was so bloody mountainous! We arrived in Pompei in the late afternoon – our Garmin Nuvi leading us right there and booked into the Zeus camp ground – one of three around the entrance to the ruined city. A railway station, two hotels and numerous curio shops make up the ‘square' in front of the entrance to the old historic site – the other two camps being Spartacus and Pompei camp grounds just nearby. All have campsites, bungalows and full facilities. Ours turned out to be pretty good, the price a relatively cheap, E17 a night for each of us – electricity included!
But we were back on the tourist circuit, big time, with the park pretty full, camping sites small and lots of vehicles parked with their people in at the ruins. After all the amazing ruins we had visited during our travels, Pompeii wasn't really on our list of ‘must see', but we are very glad we did. It was much better than we thought and well worth the visit. You really get a sense of being in an old town as you walk along the streets and amongst the buildings.
Our next quick visit was Cassino and its famous monastery, which after being totally flattened during WW2 was quickly rebuilt. We bypassed Rome, and after a bit of navigational ginning around we stopped for the night at the large and well set-up Bungalow Park Camp Ground (GPS 42°09'21”N 12°34'26”E) near the village of Fiona Romano about an hour's drive from the centre of Rome (shuttle bus does the trip - Eu7 each return).
Next morning we got onto the motorway an didn't get off it until we got to Milan – and then only to change motorways! They flow well and carry a lot of traffic but they now how to charge - total bill for motorways for the day around A$70.
Skirted around the outside of Milan and took the road to Como and was almost immediately in steep hill and mountain country. Got to Como Camp on the south side of Como and booked in. The cheapest yet – Eu15 – but you had to pay for a hot shower. While its pretty old the facilities worked pretty well and includes a pool. The park is well treed and the autumn leaves were falling in a steady stream.
Picturesque Switzerland
Entered Switzerland just up the road early next morning and the border was no hassle at all – no customs or Immigration – just pay Eu30 toll for the use of the motorways and away we went. It was a great drive too with mountains all round and lakes to drive beside. Went thru numerous tunnels including the 17km long Gotthard Tunnel .
The day had started off beautiful and we had stopped for morning tea with mountains all round and a good view. By the time we had come out of the long tunnel it was cloudy all the way to Luzern, where we wound our way through the heart of the town picked up a sign to a camp and followed that to the shores of the lake and Lido Camp (GPS 47°03'01”N 8°20'22”E). Well set up (as we have come to expect now!) and not far from the city and right beside the lake.
Luzern is a delightful city and we all enoyed this picturesque place. We walked around the lake into town and explored the old part of the city. Next day we caught the ferry up the lake and then took the cogged railway – the steepest railway in the world often at a gradient of over 40° to the top of Mt Pilatus .
The view was wonderful and after lunch admiring the snow-capped mountains we headed down the mountain in a cable car.
Bryan and Fran Jackson, friends from Melbourne who had just driven across Russia arrived in Luzern so we enjoyed a few beers and a long yarn of all our adventures
The Poignant Battlefields of France
Somehow we tore ourselves away from this place and headed for France while Bryan and Fran lingered in Switzerland a little longer. The border crossing was easy and we ate up the miles thru rural France and we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of forest, the amount of open farmland and the size of the paddocks.
Got to Chalons-en-Champange in the champagne district of France stopping overnight before pushing on to St-Quentin. Then took the main road to Amiens – and the heart of the World War 1 battlefields of France.
At Villiers-Bretonneux they have a strong allegiance with Australia because our troops saved the town from German occupation. The local school houses the excellent museum and a sign proudly proclaims, ‘Never Forget Australia' - and they don't!
The Australian Memorial near Hamel, not far away, is quite good with a long wide grassy strip between rows of headstones leading to the Cross of Remembrance and then across a wide green lawn to the memorial itself. You can climb the steps inside the tower which gives a great vew of the cemetery and the surrounding undulating plains. The pock marks in the tower and walls of the memorial are from WW2.
Got to Corbie, a pleasant large village and found a camping ground. Booked in and then wandered down town to check it out to see if we could find a decent restaurant, while Viv had a hair cut which she was wrapped in – well it was her birthday! Had dinner there at the hotel restaurant opposite the cathedral and it was very good.
Next day we found our way to the Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension 1916 - 1918 and found the cemetery where Archie Gordon Lewis, one of Ron's grand uncles, is buried . He died just 2 weeks after his brother who died from wounds received in action just a few hundred metres away.
‘HE DIED A SOLDIER BRAVE
TO KEEP AUSTRALIA FREE'
The words chosen by his parents, is his epitaph.
Stopped at Albert which is a largish town and has the great Somme Museum as well as the cathedral of the ‘Leaning Virgin'. The church is quite spectacular and the ‘Virgin' Mary is back in place adorning the top of the very tall spire.
Just on the southern outskirts of Pozieres is the Australian 1 st Division memorial . This was a major battle area for the Australian in 1916 with Mouquet Farm, the Windmill and other battle sites nearby.
The Mouquet Farm (called by the Aussies, Moo Cow Farm) memorial is beside the road just out of Pozieres and these quiet pleasant rolling hills were the scene of some harsh fighting – Australian forces here had 23,000 casualties in 41 days – the highest toll we have ever endured! Archie was wounded in this action and died from his wounds a few days later.
The Franco-British memorial at Thiepval just a couple of kilometres from Pozieres is very impressive and BIG – it has to be … to fit the 73,000 names of the British Army personal missing in action on it! It was near here that on the first day of the battle of the Somme, the British army had nearly 60,000 casulaties! Can you believe that?
On the North side of Pozieres is the 2nd division AIF memorial and across the road the Tank Corp memorial, which is more than appropriate as it was near here that the first tank Vs tank battle was ever fought.
On the outskirts of Vimy is the Canadian memorial , which is set among the green fields which have been left as they were – pot marked and incised by the bomb craters and trenches of that conflict and it was here the Canadians lost so many – it was there ‘Gallipoli' ! Apart from that, the memorial itself is fantastic made from white marble and towering tall above the surrounding hills and adorned by some great statues.
Next day we were on Channel coast of France at Boulogne-sur-Mer and found our way to the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery , which has over 5000 Commonwealth soldier graves in it, 370 of which are Australian. Charles Stephens Lewis, another of Ron's grand uncles, lies amongst them. His epitaph, chosen by his parents, reads, ……
WITH HIS BROTHERS HE IS SLEEPING
AN HONORED SOLDIERS GRAVE
Headed up the coast and got to Cap Blanc where we found a nice campsite and booked in. A memorial up on the high point of the cape was to the British of WW1, I think while along the beach and dotted across the farm land were a number of WW2 German pill boxes and the like. You are never far from the remains and reminders of those great wars that were fought across these green rolling hills of northern France.
Travelling the battlefields of northern France can be a very moving experience and it was really good to see the number of schools and young kids who were touring and taking an interest in the incredible price paid by their forebears on these muddy bloody battlefields. There's a host of websites and books but a good place to start for Australians visiting these places is:
www.diggerhistory.info/pages-battles/ww1/france/somme-1916.htmOr:
Onto England
Found our way to the ferry terminal at Calais and got our tickets and onto the queue where we were quickly moved on board. The boat fired its engines right on time and we were away – so slick an operation after Tunis!
A smooth crossing and we were quickly un loaded. Headed south along the coast stopping at the Norman's Bay Caravan park , just north of Eastbourne for the night. There were not too many people around and once again the park was closing down in a few days. The weather had cooled dramatically and was windy and cold.
We spent the next week with Ron's cousin, Clive Moon and his wife, Tricia, in Woking, and met up with another cousin, Keith Moon, who lives in the old family town of Yeovil. It was fabulous and we enjoyed the time there immensely.
While we sorted out our vehicle storage situation at the Cooper Avon factory in Melksham we toured the local area and took in some of the delights of SE England, enjoyed some great pub meals and local beers. We also visited Frogs Island 4x4 Centre where our vehicles will be serviced and checked over before they head out on next year's adventures across Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. For more info on this highly recommended 4WD service and repair centre check out: www.frogsisland4x4.com .
We also had to fix our Carnets , which had not been signed off when we had left Libya. This was a bigger hassle than it should have been, but Paul Gowen at the RAC based just out of Bristol sorted it all. Paul is THE person for all your queries, information and issuing of Carnets in the UK and he is most helpful. He can be contacted on ph: 01454 208 304 or email: pkgowen@rac.co.uk.
For more info on Carnets go to: www.britishexpeditionvehicles.co.uk/planning_cdp.html .With our vehicles safely stored and our gear packed away we headed for Heathrow and the Qantas 747 Jumbo. We were a ‘little' over weight as far as our baggage was concerned but with eight months worth of souvineers collected thru Africa what could you expect! It had been one hell of a trip!
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FOR MORE PICS - SEE PICTURE GALLERY PAGE EUROPE & UK
The delightful Sicily Coast.
The historic old town of Enna , perched on the hilltop; & Ron near the old fort in Enna.
We spent a few hours walking amongst the ruins of Pompei .
Mt Pilatus - we were so lucky with the weather.
Villiers Bretonneux museum and school at – a must visit for any Australian; as is the Australian Memorial near Hamel.
Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery and the grave of Ron's great uncle Archie Gordon Lewis.
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery , in Boulogne, and the grave of Ron's great uncle Charles Stephens Lewis.
Camp on the coast, just south of Calais.
The Stonehenge structure at Avebury – much more impressive than the better known ‘Stonehenge'.
A visit to the RAC to sort out Carnet for the vehicle and a picture opportunity – next stop home!!
