and so it begins....

The first leg (heading to Budapest)

A short drive through the Tunnel to a stop just over the Belgium border near Dunkirk so that we can make sure everything is working.... and we remember where we put the important bits.

Tunnel parking next to latest Discovery towing a Caterham

Arriving in Belgium.....shorts and sunshine weather rapidly turns into thunderstorms so we snuggle in front of the TV to watch Channel 4 news and Joanna Lumley's Postcards.

Important bits

It's all working...

We'll probably have a short drive to Maastricht tomorrow....

........
The Netherlands...

...Maastricht, where it all began, before it ended, that is, if you get the drift.

We stop near Valkenburg some 8km or so from Maastricht - and what a great little town it is, best appreciated while sitting in the square with a nice beer.

A long grind through Germany tomorrow: great autobahnen  though....should I have said that??

.........

Another day, another country, this time we're at the fascinating little town of Ochsenfurt. The centrepiece is a, frankly, wierd building with a performing clock. Must do some research....
Best appreciated while sitting with a Bier in the 'square'.

That clock is odd, you know

Austria tomorrow, hopefully.

........

Austria...

.....and here we are, right on the bank of the Danube near a little town called Marbach an der Donau after a very swift but weird journey. 

It's Sunday, so no lorries, but lorries pack every conceivable slot in the rest stops on the motorways, so we drive for around four hours before finally stopping. After a number of abortive trips into various motorway service areas, I eventually squeeze the outfit up against a lorry on an iffy corner while we eat. Repleat with eggs and bratwurst, we wave thanks to the HGV mob and head off for the remainder of the journey. A running average of around 90km/hr for 530km when the max is 100km/hr says it all really. Brilliant outfit.

Very chilly but interesting church in Marbach

We're off to Hungary and Budapest tomorrow for a few days before starting the Camping & Caravanning Club tour bit of the adventure. Since starting, we've passed through a country per day apart from the first day when we managed three...

UK> France> Belgium> Netherlands> Germany> Austria> (tomorrow) Hungary.

So that's the end of this post. Budapest tomorrow, all being well. Just imagine all those pent up HGV's on the road again...