Tim Wyers Euro-tour.
Hey all,
Just thought I'd do a report on my Euro van mission.
I was gone for about seven weeks I think.. spent about seven nights in France along the coast and eleven nights in Espanol and a whopping 34 nights in Portrugal. The trip started when I almost missed the ferry to France 'cause I thought it was at 5 pm not 4 pm; didn't realise till I got halfway across Ireland on the way to the ferry port, but did pretty well - got there with 15 minutes to go and was the last van onto the ferry. STYLE? Well that's what I'm all about.
So then I cruised off the ferry up the top of France and stayed up the top for a couple of nights around Breast which is really nice. A local windsurfer I had contacts with showde me around which was real good. Think its my favourite part of France. I was also surprised with the beer it was pretty good I reckon, I thought the French only knew how to do wine. Also visited Lacanau Ocean (Bordeaux being the city closest - 30 minutes away if that helps). This is where the van wanted to stay, by not starting. I checked it out and the starter solenoid went on me so for about 50% of my starts from here on, I had to hot wire it to start. Next was Hossegoer where I had to make sure I was wearing the latest surf clothes to fit in.
Then Spain. I was in San Sebastian for a week cause the parties were too good too miss and my battery went on me too. So I had to wait till the next working day, didn't bother me. When I did leave there, I was off along the top of the Spanish coastline to check out the scenery, which was quite amazing. So I went along the top and into Portugal.
Portugal rocks - hot weather, cool people, cheap and good beer (E2.35 for a good 6 pack, E1.50 for a shit 6 pack), easy to sleep in vans without getting hassled by the police, cheap, good surfing, good windsurfing and oh yeah, the girls are hot. I pretty much did the whole coastline from the very top right down to Lagos which was unreal. I found from when I left San Sebastian right down to Peniche half way down portugal the most challenging part of my trip as I didn't speak english to anyone for 6 days. I mean there was the odd shop where the person could speak broken english but that was it. I remember turning up to Peniche and met a pommie couple and chewed their heads off cause I couldn't stop talking. Sorry Jimbo and Annie. They eventually had to leave the carpark we were sleeping in because a dog chased them out, seriously.
What can I say, I woke up every morning, rolled out of my van onto the beach; it might not be everyones cup of tea to live in a van but I could live this simple life for a lot longer and I met so many people with similar outlooks. I couldn't have met these people by staying in hostels. I even met 1 guy that sold his house, quit a high paying engineer job and had been on the road for 2 years. Every few days I'd check the forcast if it looked like there was going to be wind I'd go down to Guincho for a few days and go back to Peniche or where ever else I wanted to go. Boys, you should see Guincho when its on, probably my favourite spot ever, the wind keeps blowing into the night. One day I just kept sailing cause I didn't want to go in and was sailing in the dark. Such a good place.
It's funny the way I always get myself into crazy situations when I travel, where if at home you'd usually stress so much about it, but you learn how to handle it so calmly by thinking the surf will be there waiting soon. The amount of times I got lost was ridiculous. Kinda hard to read a map and drive at the same time, isnt it Michelle?
What else can I say?
The most I paid for a toll way was E37 through france.
When I was parked up, including 6 beers if was having a few, I would live off $10 a day.
Did the van make it? Well sort of. The starter motor went on me in the last week, so I had to clutch start it everyday. The French are funny the way they pretend they can't understand you, in the end when I asked them to give me a push, they'd pretend not to understand and I'd just tell them "I know you understand me so push my van!". It worked too. But I did it in true style when the ferry got back into Ireland and they towed me up to the top of the ramp so I could roll off and clutch start it down the ramp. Then I had immigration asking me all these questions, when they finished I was like "Alright boys can ya give me a push?". So I had 3 immigration officers pushing my van to get me going, wish I had it on camera. But fixed the problem enough for now.
And got a tow rope for the flat car parks. Lucky I live on a hill.
Anyways catch ya‚s
Timo
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