At 3pm Thursday my phone goes: mat do you fancy a trip to Denmark next week? With nothing important lined up that cant be changed I say yes, “ok well were just quoting on the job at the mo, but it will be leaving Sunday if it goes ahead” 10 minutes later the phone goes again “ok jobs on, but your truck is in for mot so you will be in brians (a 58 plate, no worries!)” typical, I have about 6 weeks off, and the 1 week I get some work my truck is off for MOT! Hey ho, it’s not the end of the world, although it will mean dragging some stuff out and into Brians for the week. The plan is for me to leave Sunday tea time, and head for the general area of venlo, where I will have to park up until the German bank holiday Monday ban lifts at 10pm then head on through ready to tip first thing Wednesday (the job came about I believe after Enrique’s tour came back, DSV sent a trailer to our yard to load it back, but when the lighting crew saw a curtainsider, they took one look and said they were not loading their gear in a curtainsider, it had to be in a box van, so a few frantic phone calls were made, and it was loaded into one of our trailers). So I get to the yard Sunday, and get my truck keys and the little list I have made at home of things I need, amazingly my passport was never on this list, and its only because I noticed it I suddenly thought of it!! That could have been embarrassing! Someone else’s truck was parked across the adblue pump so I will have to fill up en route, no biggy as I was planning on a tank top up at lokeren en route to se me up and back. I set off around 5-6ish and head for Dover, and once again I am reminded why I hate driving in the uk, some car drivers seem oblivious to the fact they can actually use the inside lane especially when something that cant use the outside one is going faster! Anyway rant over, and I get to Dover, book on the 10pm Norfolk line sailing, and decide to have a quick sort out of the clutter I have chucked in from my car and my truck and make my bed. It then becomes apparent I have left my pillows at home, doh!! Ah well, I pop the other things under the bunk and in the lockers, and decide to put my work phone on charge with my inverter (I don’t have a cigarette plug charger for it), ah problem number 2, I have the inverter and charger, but I didn’t notice that Brian really does take everything out of his truck, and as my inverter is 24v I will need a hella plug converter, which is in my truck! And more worrying is that I can’t charge my laptop to watch DVDs, of which I have brought several along!! God what else have I forgot??!! So I get on the ferry, and take my laptop and phone upstairs so I can get them charged up while I cross after having my late tea. There are only 5 trucks on the crossing so it’s nice and peaceful upstairs and the smell of B.O is non-existent for once! Once we are docked, I head off for lokeren, where I decide to make a quick brew while getting diesel and adblue, ah forgotten items number 3, my cutlery!! Getting a tea bag out of the cup when you don’t have asbestos fingers is not easy, and eating the yoghurts in the fridge as well as my cereal could prove interesting, if only I had noticed BEFORE I got on the ferry I could of borrowed one from there for the trip, even more doh’s and slapping myself, I fish the teabag out with my car keys (this isn’t the best solution worth trying by the way!!), and as I leave lokeren and turn the lights on the truck blows a bulb, a job for tomorrow im not ■■■■■■■ about now I want to crack on and get to bed! I decide to see what the parking situation is like at asten truckstop, and if I can get in I will as the restaurant and showers are good, and the last time I parked at Venlo the showers were rubbish! Luck is finally on my side and it’s reasonably quiet so I slip off the motorway and park up for my extended break
ready for the off from the yard
nice easy load!!
nice to see the office have a sense of humour!!
so its nice and light then, the mighty 410 shouldnt struggle too much…
wouldnt be asten truckstop without a whites parked in there!!!
Day 2
The heat finally gets to me around lunchtime and wakes me up, I didn’t have any windows open as a regular fixture at asten truckstop alongside all the whites removal trucks are Greek fridges, and it seems I am a fridge magnet and all fridge drivers want to be my friend and park next to me wherever I am!! So I get up, have a brew and a quickly finish my book (a man walks into a pub by Pete brown, highly recommended read!!) and start the next book with another brew, after a while a Scotsman wanders round and we while away the afternoon chatting, then have tea later on. 21:40 rolls round and im heading out of the gate, I want to crack on, and get round Hamburg and the elbtunnel long before herman and helmut are heading to work in their beemers. I stop at an autohof at Bremen for my break (and start writing this), and acquire a plastic knife from my Bockwurst snack for fishing out teabags from my cup, not ideal but still better than my car keys! Off I set, and 10 minutes into the drive the thought dawns on me that not only have I forgotten my big spoon, but also my bowl, so eating cereal could prove a real challenge! I cant believe how forgetful I have been, and I doubt the chance of getting a bowl are pretty slim, I think the cereal will be coming home with me for another day! I get up round Hamburg, and decide to have a few hours’ kip. Once I set off again I come to a grinding halt, as Klaus has flipped his car somehow! I only lose a minute or 2 as none of the emergency services are on the scene. As yet I don’t actually have a delivery address as yet as it was a rush job and the Danes forgot to tell our lot, and there seems to be a little bit of confusions as to where exactly I will be tipping! I think about staying at the last autohof in Germany, but after pulling in there I decide I will carry on into Denmark and use up my 9 hours in case there will be a reload. I get to a services just north of Kolding in just a fraction under 9 hours. I get out and the stink or urine from the hot tarmac is horrible, just like a British services (please don’t do it unless it’s a real emergency, there’s always a toilet or bush) and it takes me a while to get used to it before I get my chair out to carry on reading. I ask the office about where and when im tipping, they chase them up and it turns out in off to frederiskhavn, which will be a new one on me, not been up that far before in Denmark! After constantly saying what time do they want me, I tell our office I will be there for 9 as no answer is forthcoming, and if it turns out they want it earlier well they should of told me!!
typical!!
i dont think you meant to do that!!!
the last autohof in germany heading north
heading north
the danish border
Day 3
I awake long before my alarm, and after a couple of brews and a read I decide to crack on, I was hoping to do all the drive in the daylight but I decide to get going, and after an hour or so the sun is rising for another lovely day. It’s a 3 hour drive from where I am parked up to frederiskhavn, I stop just outside for a quick brew and when I get out to take a few pics I have to put my jumper (or should that be anorak??!!) as it’s a bit fresh up here!! Another 10 minutes up the road and im at martin lights, onto the bay when they tip me while I go off and have a cracking shower. As its quarter to 9 danish time, and our office don’t get in until at least 10am (got to love the music industry for late starts!!) I decide that there is no chance that I will be loading this far north in denmark so I set off south, sure enough when I do call in, im told “well we have nothing on continental Europe for you to do, so head back but expect us to call you when you get to Calais and tell you to turn around!” (yes this has happened before!) I press on south, and im hoping to get round hamburg again, but it soon dawns on me that this is going to be impossible, and as I start getting fairly close the traffic is building and im fast running out of driving time, so I opt to come off the motorway and head into an autohof for the night. After a couple of wursts for my tea (I had a meal for lunch) I have a quick beer and a read before tuning in for a 9 hour break (well after having 17 hours the night before and probably as long at asten I think Its only right!) as I want to get hamburg and the roadwork ridden a1 out of the way as quick as possible as the a1 at the moment is a nightmare during the day!
danish sunrise (not quite the pic i wanted, i missed when the sun was directly behind the factory, i think that would of made a nice picture)
regular site on the danish roads
interesting advert on the side of the road…
almost there
frederikshavn…
there it be!!
on the bay tipped ready to head south
what a beautiful day!!
although it is a little dull heading up this far, not much to see!!
not a great pic, but what a beast of a daf!!
mini artic
a tipper on the bay!!
Day 4
I awake again before my alarm, and see that where I had parked to ensure I could get out easily has backfired as a car transported has parked near the entrance/exit, and sure enough I cant get round from where I am, so I have a shunt about, and then have to back out of the parking area! Its 2am local time and I get a great run past hamburg and through the a1 without slowing down much. I stop at a great autohof at lohne, where they have some garages where they prep race porsches etc, which is well worth a look during the day. As its still early I have a coffee and yup you guessed it a wurst breakfast and catch up on the internet for an hour before plodding on south. I head back into asten truckstop to get the truck washed, in the shop is a model of an EST truck with “not for sale’ on it. I try to point out that indeed that is not the case anymore and I have some black paint to correct it, but I think it’s a bit lost on the man in the shop! Once the truck is washed, I pull in the parking to make a brew while it dries off, and head off once again, destination lokeren. I get into lokeren, get my diesel (with every 325 litres you get a meal voucher), pull round the back and go to bed as im pretty much out of time. I get woken up by someone knockin on my door, wondering what its about I pull my curtain, and a big swede hands me my truck keys! I left them in the door when I got in, oops!! I wake up around 7pm, get out to stretch my legs and get chatting to the swede, who works for a norwegen company. We head in, and have a coffee and I have my breakfast ready for the night ahead! We say our farewells when he heads for bed and I have 20 minutes left on my 9 hour break. Once that is up im off heading for Dunkirk. Another clear run and im booked onto the 2am ferry, which will give me a nice clear run round the m25 (I hope) and back towards home for a decent finish time!
what a learner vehicle!!! much better than the ex superdrug daf i learnt in!!!
well i hope you have enjoyed reading this, i have certainly enjoyed writing it!
