we're broken!

Just after we had crossed the boarder into Romania, something very important on the truck broke so we were stranded! We spent a few hours on the side of the road and then an English speaking mechanic arrived who was a friend of one of the policemen who was the brother of one of the boarder crossing people who knew someone else etc etc. Anyway we got the truck to a garage but there were no camp sites to be seen. So we had a night on the concrete floor of the yard! Bad news is that it looks like we may have to miss Bucharest as it won't be fixed until Monday but the good news is that the sun has come out!

Our non free standing tent needed a bit of help to stay up as the pegs don't go into concrete but it did mean we upgraded to having decking!

Budapest

What an amazing city Budapest is. The buildings are stunning and there is so much to do there. You wander around the streets and see some amazing views and really cool things. There was an underground labyrinth of crypts and tunnels!

If ever you go camping, wherever in the world you are, you need to make s sure that you swing by Budapest on the way back for the thermal baths. We spent 3 hours submerged in a variety of pools and saunas with water ranging from 0 degree salt water plunge pool to 40 degree spas. After you feel great and nice and relaxed.

Worst bit about thermal springs? The smell of rotten eggs that is sulphur!

Team ortho are here!

Thermal spa

our first truck party

What do you get if you put together an oversized bright orange truck, iPod and speakers, multicoloured flashing head torches and a group of 40 people? An amazing truck party! This is what happened on our first night as we entered Budapest!

Couple of facts for the day for you. In Hungarian, curse-a-gnome means thank you and see-ya means hello. spelling may not be entirely accurate but it's how you pronounce it!

Robbed!

We woke up the next morning in Salzburg to find that our tents had been raided overnight while we were in them sleeping! Our door was open and flapping in the wind but we obviously had nothing valuable that they wanted. But some tents had been slashed with knives and cash, iPods, iPads, phones and cameras were all stolen! Thankful though that everyone was unhurt and all passports were safe.

The police came round and got statements and a guy called Bob and I went on an investigation and we found the place where the getaway car probably was and a head torch that they had dropped.

Scary stuff and this is only Austria!!

Germany to Salzburg

Remember about the swimming in the beautiful lake in the sun? Not quite.

After a long drive day we arrived in this random place just off the German autobahn. Apparently camping in a lush grassy field is too easy so instead, we pitched out of site on a rocky path by a stagnant pond. Oh and it was raining. So definitely no swim in the lake in the sun.

Anyway, next morning we were just about to drive off when we realised someone was missing. Luke was still asleep in his tent! So after that lucky escape for him, we drove to the concentration camp Dachau.

If anyone else has ever been to a concentration camp you will know how it feels but it is a really strange experience

We got our daily exercise as we very nearly missed the truck as we had wandered off to get some food. But a quick sprint later and we made it!

A long drive (and sleep) later and we arrived in Salzburg in Austria. as you would expect from a summer holiday, there was torrential rain and it was freezing.

Salzburg was beautiful. One of the guys called Chris and I went for an intrepid run. Up waterfalls and across rivers on an Austrian hillside in the rain!

The beast

Camping in Germany

This is Salzburg

The perimeter fence at Dachau

we're off!

So as with all good adventures everything was planned to perfection and therefore nothing could go wrong. Ish.

We said our goodbyes to Jenny and got into our pre-booked taxi. All was going well. The problem came when the taxi pulled up in a random cul-de-sac in London somewhere and the driver announced that we had reached our destination. The driver, who spoke limited English, then refused to accept that we weren't at the hotel we were meant to be. So after using my best generic eastern european (pointing and speaking loudly and slowly) he conceded that we were infact lost. This bodes well as we haven't even left the country yet.

Anyway we made it and met up with the group and caught our first sight of the beast.

So we went off to Dover to catch the ferry. Again, all was going well. Then we were stopped by the anti-terrorist police who were dubious that a group of people would be driving to Australia and apparently thought we were all bonkers!

So, after evading vommitting school children, we arrived in mainland Europe. To cut a long story short, we just drove and slept until we got to somewhere fairly random in Belgium to set up camp.

Then came the best news of the day: team Hay won the tent-putting-up race! We will be basking in our own glory for a while...

Drive day tomorrow to a bush camp in Germany. Apparently near a very nice lake that last year everyone went for a swim in the sun. Good times.

Arrived in London

We have just arrived in London after saying goodbye to the Hay's in Kent and the Williamson's in centre parcs. Apparently this trip that has been pie in the sky for 3 years actually starts tomorrow! At 5.45am we travel across London to meet our new roommates for the next 6 months and then depart on our adventure.

Over the last few weeks we have been massively overwhelmed by the amazing kindness and generosity of so many people. We have meet some amazing people already and we haven't even left yet.

But we do have all our bags packed and not an ounce of space left. And we have forgotten our first thing. Apparently it isn't important to have clothes wash with us as our clothes will be perfectly fresh even after the 9 months of wandering across the globe!

Anyway, we have had some good news! We spoke to Mr Tesco Mobile this morning and he said that it is free for us to receive texts anywhere on earth. This means that we would love to be kept updated from home. So this means there are no excuses for you not to text us! You may not get a reply every time but, let's be honest, that's probably no different from normal!

To be honest, it doesn't even feel real.

These little men were given to us by Philippa as little mascots for us!

Where we are actually going...

Here is a list of the countries we are visiting and a rough timescale for them...

·         Europe (to include France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria) – 23rd June until 4th July

·         Turkey – 5th July until 28th July

·         Iran – 29th July until 11th August

·         Pakistan – 12th August until 19th August

·         India – 19th August until 4th September

·         Nepal – 5th September until 17th September

·         Tibet/China – 18th September until 11th October

·         Laos – 12th October until 18th October

·         Vietnam – 19th October until 31st October

·         Cambodia – 1st November until 5th November

·         Thailand – 6th November until 16th November

·         Malaysia/Singapore – 17th November until 30th November

·         Indonesia/Bali – 1st December until 10th December

·         Australia – 10th December until 1st January 2014

·         New Zealand – 1st January until 23rd January

·         Fiji – 23rd January until 7th February

·         Samoa – 7th February  until 20th February

·         Hawaii – 21st February until 1st March

·         Canada – 1st March until 19th March

·         Mainland US – 19th March until 23rd March

Then home again on 23rd March 2014

Just a few days to go before our departure day - 23rd June 2013

Everything has been ordered, packing is well underway, visas sorted (except Iran which we will now have to get in Istanbul) and we are getting excited! Just a few days of work left and then soon we shall be underway! Just looking at the news before we leave and half of Europe is under flood waters, Turkey is at civil unrest and Iran is highly stressed because of elections. This really is going to be an adventure!