the first part of this diary can be found here
So this is part 2 of the diary, it’s not as big as the last one! So we loaded in at Helsinki, did the show and headed across to naantalli to get the morning ferry across to kappelskar. We sailed at about 9.15 Finnish time, in which time it was straight to bed for 6 hours, get up have tea and discharge from the ferry and meet our double drivers. It was a long drive ahead, fortunately I have a friend of mine with me for my second driver so I was happy. We set off, and the rain started! Our route was south to the Malmo Bridge, then to the ferry at rodbyhaven and sail across to puttgarden in Germany. We just managed to catch the ferry that was in when we got there and by the time we landed and headed south we just beat the Hamburg rush hour. Our stop was at Bremen for the double drivers hotel, and somehow we had managed to beat everyone there! So we went around the corner to the truck wash and got the worst of the Russian muck off the truck, before parking up and having a couple of beers before bed again!(one of my favorite pastimes is having a drink early on a Monday morning, and then telling my younger brother I am as he is just starting his working week on containers round the uk, and this one was extra special as he had just had a week off, so the wind up stakes were even higher!!!)
So, as usual, all too often the alarm was ringing, so it was across to the hotel for a shower, then into the autohof for a meal, and then we set off for Antwerp around 11pm. We called into asten truckstop to get some diesel, but the garage was shut, and we couldn’t see a machine for night pay, so we carried on up the motorway and there was another shell so it was in for diesel, adblue and coffee. The drive was uneventful, and we arrived at Antwerp, loaded in and then my 45-hour break could start. The show was that evening, but it was the double drivers job this time, and they then set off for Düsseldorf. I had great plans of doing some night photography in Antwerp and visiting a few shops I know, but sadly I left my tripod in the truck and Kelly’s Irish bar seemed to have a magnet type hold on me!
belgiun rainbow
dutch delays
found this gem in antwerp
Once our break was up it was a train ride to Düsseldorf to catch up with the truck, and after a 9-hour break we were loading and double manning down to Zurich. Originally this was meant to be done by just ourselves, but it would have been cutting it very fine with time, and the double drivers got a break in at Düsseldorf. So load in, sleep show load out, and we found ourselves double manning back to Rotterdam!!! (Who plans these things!!!) Once we had loaded in, I headed for my bed, sadly after a couple of hours the warehouse next door was sound checking for a rave they were holding that night, so that was me wide awake with no chance of getting any more sleep!!! When it came to leaving that night, I drove the first 3 hours, before deciding that was enough and my bed was calling! Our route south was head towards Luxembourg, but come off and head for longwy and jump onto the motorway in france avoiding the driving ban in lux (cheers brit pete) and head south for nimes where the next hotel was booked. We arrived in plenty of time, and my driver knew the area as he had stopped there before, so it was round the corner for a bit of food, before shower beer and bed. After a nice long lay in, we set off about half 6, it was nice to have slept without the night heater, and to get out the cab and brush my teeth without having a jumper on was great!! We toddled off in the morning dark towards the Spanish border. We stopped to compare prices and to use the loo, and then we pressed on, but onto the national road to find somewhere to eat. We found a garage, had a change of drivers and got a pastry each, made a brew and carried on. It was lovely to get off the motorway for a change, I normally don’t have much time for such fun, or its dark! We jumped back onto the motorway around girona, and headed towards our destination of Barcelona, which will be my last gig in Europe this year.
truck outside the gig in dusseldorf
lyon…
more lyon…
peage at lyon
parked up at the hotel in nimes
spanish sunrise (Well, we were till in france at the time!)
ouch
night heaters a bit powerful…
protest slogan
aaahh, national roads!
after the show in barcelona, it was time to head north back towards blighty. we were only going as far as orleans where our double drivers hotels were booked. the journey was uneventful, france is looking nice and autumnal though. the parking that had been arranged turned out to be a quagmire which we would not all fit on, so we were told to head to the centre routiers. after a steak dinner it was off to bed, and a 4am start the next day to beat the paris rush. it was then up to calais, and await a p&o boat, for some strange reason all the seafrance lanes were empty, (maybe no one else likes expensive food poisoning either), and we were on the 11.40 ferry back. once we landed in england, we found out about the m25 being shut, so changed our course accordingly, and beat a few trucks who had left before us and had got caught up in all that closure. we got to sheffield, and it was park up and across the road to the pub for a pint and some food. from here we are going to newcastle london liverpool dublin, then im waiting to hear if im going back to switzerland to drop my load off and come home, and that will be me done!
france in autumn
i hope you have enjoyed the read, adn thanks for looking!
