2008 December | Wicked Friends

Barcelona to London in 10 days, con solo me Pt. 1

I spent a week in Barcelona doing an intensive Spanish course, but still had some time left before I needed to be back in London so I got in touch with the Wicked people and organised a camper. I bid farewell to my friends from Spanish language school in Barcelona, bought a sleeping bag and towel from a department store, and embarked on a 10 day mission to get the Dukes of Hazard camper, General Lee, back to London.
Being early November much of the Med coast was deserted of tourists as I headed up to Roses. Consequently, a lot of campsites are closed at that time of year so I was glad to have a Lonely Planet and phoned the campgrounds ahead. I often found it difficult to find open tourist information places on the move as they where either in siesta or closed by the time I arrived at my destination.
Just above Roses on the Med is a great little town called Cadaques. Very different from the usual high rises and vacant holiday houses.
My Spanish leg of the trip took me through Andorra and over to Basque country to check out San Sebastian and Mundaka, keeper of the longest goofy foot wave I have ever seen. As you come into Andorra from Spain, you’ll immediately notice shopping malls set up to cater for Spanish customers. Be careful what you purchase and the quantity of because the French do a thorough job of inspecting your freight when you come out the other side – especially when you’re a young solo male traveller in a bright orange van. People in Andorra are generally friendly and speak a variety of languages in the shops.
Andorra was freezing! Two days before I left Barcelona I was sun baking on the beach so I had no idea I would run into thick snow on my travels.
The Bay of Biscay greeted me with windy wet weather and San Sebastian seemed deserted. I parked the car and got into town, and wandered through the old town, which was lovely. There are loads of bars crammed into the old city and every one was full to the brim with appetisers to enjoy with your drink. I would recommend going there in the summer to take in a language class and seek out some waves.

Barcelona to London in 10 days, con solo me Pt. 2

Heading West out of San Sebastian in search of surf and the famous Mundaka.
Mission accomplished. I arrived in Mundaka in early November and there was hardly a soul in sight. It was tough to get to, mostly because I came across roads that where closed for maintenance so I had to go through Bilbao, Getxo, Mungia and Bermeo before I could feast my eyes on it. It’s a beautiful place.
From there I headed back up to the south west of France because I wanted to see for myself how straight that coastline really is. France had even less camping sites open, with majority closing at the end of October for the winter. There was nothing open at all in Biarritz so I drove back down to Saint-Jean-de-Luz and found the mother of all ocean camping sites. I can’t remember the estate name, but search for Avenue Napoleon III just north of Saint-Jean-de-Luz off the D810.

On the straight section of beach that goes from Bayonne towards La Rochelle. Apparently there are some pretty good beach breaks along this southern section.
After that I headed up to Tours to pick up my girlfriend for the final French leg. The camping attendant in the La Rochelle camping ground rattled me a bit, perhaps I caught him in a bad mood because I knocked on his door at 7:30pm when 7pm was the closing time. In any case, he went on to explain that my Wicked Van was not a camper van and was, in fact, a car and further, it is forbidden to sleep in cars in camping grounds for safety reasons. Got to love it. After I put my sad-puppy-dog face on and explained that I had nowhere else to go he let me stay for one night. But I had to leave early the next morning because he didn’t want this forbidden practice to be noticed by the police.
I picked up my girlfriend at Tours airport and we headed straight to the wine country to sample some produce.
Another sight I wanted to reach was Mont Saint Michelle, impressive from every angle. It was a real treat to get there.
The Normandy D-Day coastline is amazing if you are into recent history. We only spent an afternoon here, but I would have loved to spend several days to take in all the museums, sites and cemetery. There is a lot of ground to cover.
I particularly recommend Pointe Du Hoc because they have tried to keep it as it was after the D-Day invasion.
10 days was sufficient to cover the distance and destinations I did. I was driving every day, some long and some short distances. So if you want to relax more and go surfing, fishing, or play golf during the day I recommend adding on a few days. However 10 days in a car can also get tiring so it’s a catch 22.
Overall it was a great adventure and the Wicked Van held it’s own through the rain, hail and snow. Petrol and road tolls are the biggest expense to be mindful of when planning your trip.
Oh and ice to keep your beer cool is hard to find in France unlike in Aus so go to a supermarket seafood section and ask for a ‘le sac de glace’. AKA a sack of glass. They’ll grab a bag and shovel some in for you.

Honk if you’re …………….a Pirate Pt. 1

With the tingle of anticipation and excitement running through our blood, we left London and headed for Calais via a quick boat ride across the English Channel in search of an endless European Summer. With the sun on our face and the wind in our hair, our first experience of Europe came when we were screamed at by some other Pikies coming off the Boat Ramp for driving slow in the wrong lane. Finger and all. This was to be one of many times we were yelled at for driving on the wrong side of the road. It’s easier than you think, when you wake up early, very hung-over and your brain goes into auto-pilot. We found smiling and waving not only made us laugh but infuriated them further…causing us to laugh harder.

The French countryside was stunning – lush vineyards, inexpensive but lovely wine, cheese platters and French cops that would wave us down and stop us in the middle of a busy intersection just to come over and say hello. All were amused by the Van and that two rouge Aussie chicks were in it. En-route to La Rochelle we stopped in at what looked like a place off a movie set with locals bustling to the music of a quaint café by the water. We got lost a few times in the country side but we were bothered. We had already been to Paris and done the touristy stuff so we were free to roam without any pressure to fit stuff in. Driving through fields on a dirt road along hand picketed fences felt like we were light years away from London after only a couple of hours.

Spain was an absolute riot with the Running of the Bulls. The Opening ceremony and race were unreal.. not to mention a diet of Sangria and roast chicken all week and the best street party I have ever been to. Wicked had organised for all the Wicked Vans to camp together which made meeting fellow travellers and revellers very easy. Most of whom we met up with along the way of our 3month trip. The Campsite was well organised, provided food, drinks, music, transfers into town and security for our Vans while we were down town. Other than Pamplona we visited Biarritz and San Sebastian which is a MUST for anyone going to Spain. You could easily stay there for weeks. In fact we met some Aussies that lived there doing Surf Camps who said they never wanted to go home.

The drive to Madrid from San Sebastian is long, hard and dusty ! We stopped in Madrid for some of their famous tapas and a shop around (and the air conditioned shopping centres). Its VERY hot and dry there. We heard the nightlife is good fun but we were too exhausted after all the fun in Pamplona. Next stop was Portugal where our time there was kicked off by a 3 day Music festival called Optimus Alive 2008 in Lisbon featuring Xavier Rudd, Rage Against the Machine, John Butler Trio, Ben Harper and Bob Dylan to name a few. The festival was on the water and the Aussie and Kiwi’s spirit was high and notable with all the green and gold and blow up kangaroos. A few hours south and we hit Lagos– insane nightlife, drinking out of fishbowls, chaotic camping, face planting and other drinking related injuries but being 5 mins away from one of the most beautiful beaches where you could swim in and out of the caves. We found a car park on a hill with the most amazing scenery and reversed the car in and set up camp. Come night fall all the other big vans got moved-on as there is a sign saying ‘NO Camping’. Fortunately we are considered a small car and are allowed to stay. We waited until dark to put up the curtains haha

Next country was Morocco and Fez was not a let down. I later found out our friends held a competition as to how many times they did a No.2 in one day.. shortly after getting back to Spain! 14 was the record. Lets just say they aren’t exactly strict on food preparation and keeping fridge items under 5 degrees to avoid bacteria in Morocco! None-the-less the culture was unbelievable, lanes were tiny and design and architecture has to be seen. Others ventured out into the desert for a camel ride but we were time poor. It was a bummer we didn’t have enough time to see Marrakech as well… however we skipped off to Ibiza for a 5 day blitz of swimming, inflatable family members (Bruce and Susan R.I.P), Dancing to Groove Armada live and partying in the biggest clubs in the world. You could see why the English go there every holiday they get. When the guy on the street corner asks you if you want to buy some sunglasses, be assured.. he is selling everything but sunglasses!

Honk if you’re …………….a Pirate Pt. 2

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we have done Italia: Venice, Florence, Pisa, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii ruins, Rome, Vatican City and settle into Croatia for 3 weeks of serious sun tanning, waterfalls, cocktails, snorkelling, Island cruises and beautiful sunsets. Montenegro and Bosnia were two of my favourites. So poor but still so rich in culture and amazing old landscape. Everyone was moved by the War Tour of Sarajevo, Bosnia. A young guy who is only 20 and who lived through the atrocities set up a wicked hostel in the heart of town and has an organised tour which didn’t disappoint (Harris’s Hostel – Bookings essential). He picked us up in the morning after our night at the Hostel and took us in his Van to Sniper Alley (where all UN food Aid was dropped and people had to risk their life to get food and water for 4 years!) as well as the famous Holiday Inn Hotel and the canal amongst other places. For a young guy with English as a second language, he gave a very factual and frank account of his city. The tour finished with a big traditional feast and lots of drinking. We took a bus up there and were lucky enough to meet another Aussie and a Swiss couple who stayed with us during our quick trip. Despite the fact there is a LOT of security there, the place has an unsettling feel to it at night and we felt safer with a few of us. A great experience much different to any of the other countries we had been to already.

When we got to Vienna we hired some bicycles to maximise how much of the city we could see in just a day or two. We also stumbled upon a Australian bar and sat out the front drinking cider and eating vegemite toast. After tasting all the sausage in Austria one night, I was bemused to find a local customer offering to clear our plates from the restaurant table. The waiter later told us he didn’t work there but was just doing it to look at my rack. Nice. It got a bit creepy when he asked me to sit at his table. No thanks – what are you, 50 ? how many teeth do you have left ? don’t get me started on your breath. The next day we were off to see the Eagle’s nest (Hitler’s hideout in the mountains) near the German and Austrian boarder and then the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Just as we were running out of cash we got top up from a tax return and back home (thanks mum and dad) and so the road trip through Poland, Czech, Hungary, Slovakia and Oktoberfest were back on the cards. Hurrah! After a few celebrative dances, high- fives and a few more weeks past…we cruised into Munich and were overwhelmed to find about 50+ Van Tour vans rolling in to the campsite in preparation for the opening ceremony for Oktoberfest and 100 Club. We donned our traditional Beerw**ch outfits we had picked up in town, cheers’ed our steins and mingled with the friendly Germanians in the beer halls. Belgium and finally AMSTERDAM were in our sights. Belgium was picturesque, cobbled-stoned and had chocolate everywhere… whilst Amsterdam was the most kicking city ever. Shortly after arriving at the campsite we were back out in town with about 30 friends testing the local… ah.. produce. Come night time we trawling the red light district in search of the best looking window girl (Note: they can hear you from behind the glass !!!) and somewhere to kick back and laugh and stupid stuff all night. I’ve never seen so many bicycles in my life, not to mention sex toys and other weird apparel. Promising to come back again we began our convoy back to sweet sweet… cold London.

A bloody ripper of a trip. BEST thing about the trip had to be the Van. As a Class 1 vehicle we were able to park on the beach at every single country and were never moved along due to size. All the larger Vans had to check into campsites = $$$. We parked up on the most beautiful and famous beaches (Marbella, Dubrovnik, Split, Amalfi Coast for weeks)…parked right outside the last pub on the Pub Crawl on the main road of Rome and scammed our way through paying a lesser toll on all the boarders! We saw over 15 countries, did lots of free tours, made lots of friends, did lots of partying and had a dirty good time!

HOT TIP: If you want to save cash, park at the Auto-grills in the car park. They have free or 1 euro showers, its safe to park and a good spot to meet up with all the other vans. You have a place to pick up a burger before the Vans start moving on a long haul convoy! A SatNav is essential if you want to stay on the convoy. ***Take Bandaids and disinfectant. You will be baffled at the number of drinking-related injuries and trips to the hospital. - Vanessa !