The empty map of Macedonia and into Greece

Continuing south towards the Serbia / Macedonia border, the satnav warned of a lack of detail, "do you wish to continue with this route?"
However we are not intrepid explorers and Macedonia comes with a few " be careful" warnings, so we decided to stay on the motorway :-) We didn't explore Serbia; it will wait for another trip. So it was on to the border.


Here, passport and V5 were required again and also proof of insurance. We didn't have any of course. When we rang the UK insurance company call centres prior to the trip, most had no idea where these countries are. They don't understand non-EU. "Macedonia - can you spell that"?
The nice man at the passport office was already expecting me to say that I would buy my insurance at the "Green card office" and he handed back one passport and the V5 and put mine in his pocket until I had the necessary paper for the Landy.
Unfortunately in spite of the Land Rover being classed as PLG just the same as cars in the UK, the V5 shows a Validation Character 'B'. What this is for in the UK, I don't know. At the Macedonia Green Card Office, manned by She Who Must Be Obeyed, this means €165 instead of €60. Of course you can't pay by plastic, you can't pay with Serbian currency and you can't pay with Macedonian currency as 1) you don't have any and 2) you don't really want any as you are only driving through the country for a day. But hey! You can pay in Euros! We like Euros!
So I paid in Euros, got my insurance cover for about four hours driving and the nice man at the passport office handed me my passport. I wanted a selfie with She Who Must Be Obeyed but Dawn got concerned with my over familiarity with border personnel and we drove off into the empty satnav.
Then a funny thing happened; our phones went mental and we received all the texts that had been sent whilst we were in Serbia. It turns out that the Tracker had also been offline and stored all its waypoints, only to upload them via the Macedonia GSM network. So it's not so empty after all.
The motorway was quiet and a pretty good standard really, although you do need to be careful as there are potholes and the many viaducts have huge expansion joints where the wood or rubber is perished. This is the main route into Greece so there are lorries and still the other tourists - again mainly German, Austrian and a surprising number of Swiss, all making their way south. One Swiss car was pulling a huge trailer, 2m cube and all wrapped up with tarpaulin.
In spite of our misgivings about travelling through Macedonia (and it's a short journey on a motorway and hardly a war zone), it was nice to look around at fields, mountains and gorges as we weaved our way towards Greece. During a coffee stop at the side of the "motorway" we looked down into a valley and could see a small railway track and station, people tending their allotment gardens and I'm sure I could see a Land Rover. No really!
So an uneventful journey through Macedonia ended at their border with Greece which is just north of Thessaloniki. After jumping the queue at passport control (I think the others were all MK plates) we pulled over and had lunch based on a very nice loaf that we had bought in Serbia that morning.

A friendly Greek litter picker who was about 125 years old, came to say "hello" and to find out from which country the GB sticker was from. "Great Britain" didn't do much for him but "England" did and he was all handshakes from that moment. There's no doubt that the Greeks like the English. It's just that they presume we are German.
A boring motorway later and we could see mighty Mt. Olympus. It reminds us of Canigou at the eastern end of the Pyrennes as it is huge, snow capped and can be seen from the beach. Here it is:

...and guess where our campsite is...


Yes, that's the beach, and this is what you do at the beach after 1,700 miles of driving.


Staying next to us last night only, were a French couple of a similar age to us. They, like the German couple in Hungary, seem to be so matter-of-fact about what they are doing. In their case, they have driven from their home near Perpignan, roamed the Balkans and are now driving north/east to spend a month in Bulgaria. All this is in a large motorhome, towing a trailer carrying a Citreon Dyane. As you do!
However what really defines them and it really made me think about levels of self drive and motivation, was that the guy had a total leg amputation, yet was moving around on 'lower arm' crutches, doing chores like cleaning all the motorhome windows by balancing his stump on one of the crutches.
He did ask me for help because the jockey wheel on the trailer had slipped and the drawbar was on the ground. As I lifted the trailer end up, he was straight onto the ground and re-fixing the wheel whilst sitting on his bum. It was amazing. The result of all this was that we conversed in pigeon French, learned of some Greek sights not to be missed and were given a couple of maps. Then they were gone on the rest of their current adventure!
So we are chilling for two days before moving a bit further south. The coming weekend is a holiday in Greece and by all accounts it's when they first emerge from Thessaloniki and Athens and head to the beach. So we need to be on another campsite by Saturday before the rush. We are probably heading for Delphi. More to follow. Thanks for reading!

Central Europe

We left the bells and cuckoos behind and hit the road towards Austria. The Landy drives nicely on the motorway and so far has just required a little top-up of engine oil. I'm not sure why it's using oil but it seems ok. There's a biggish puff of black smoke on startup. I think black = diesel and oil would be blue. I'll have to check. There's absolutely no coolant loss so that's all good. (Reference to W1A there.)

Middle Germany is a lovely area. All the houses look cared for and it's easy to see how they used up the solar feed-in tariff so quickly (they introduced the idea before we in the UK did). Many many roofs have solar panels but there are also acres and acres ( hectares?) of commercial solar panel farms.

Pushing on into Austria, we picked a campsite for an overnight halt right next to the Danube. By now it was cold and damp but we used the tent sunshade as an awning.

Then it was into the restaurant next door. We were actually at an embarkation point for the Danube boat trips ( have you seen the adverts for Viking River Cruises)?  So a Wiener Schnitzel and a beer later, we were ready for the first night in Landy the Motorhome.

The next morning it was really wet and it's a practised art getting off the sleeping platform with everything pack away and clothes on when it's persisting down outside. Once we were on the motorway the weather got serious. It was about 12C, with spray and fog. Horrid driving but the objective is sun and warmth of course.

Into Hungary and then the rain stops and sun shines. Heaven. We even did some shopping.

Dawn's research took us to a campsite at a thermal spa which also has a 50m swimming pool that was hosting some international children's competition. We couldn't actually get the gate to the camp opened using the intercom. My English frightened-off the receptionist.

Fortunately a car came out and the power gate opened so in we went.

Once on the site, we were greeted by a German couple. It's a typical situation. They have been there since March in their Motorhome complete with car on a trailer. They decamp there each year.

That night was a second night in the Landy motorhome and was much easier as the weather was dry. I will post photos of the sleeping arrangements at some point (in the remote chance that someone is interested!). However the bespoke privacy panels are fitted like this as the designer/manufacturer demonstrates):

So it's Sunday morning and we are on the way to Serbia. It wasn't too long before we got to the border. Passport and vehicle V5 were a formality; as was insurance. Then we continued on the motorway, through Belgrade and into central Serbia. There's not a lot to see in northern and central Serbia. We tried to make huge fields look interesting.

The monotony was broken by "spot the number plate" but we soon got sick of the M for Munich or W for Wien cars hammering past us at 90mph plus.

It began to feel a little far from home:

Belgrade was missable

The Danube gets bigger and bigger - it's quite scarily fast flowing.

Pressing south through Saturday 24th the surroundings got more interesting with much smaller fields and plenty of people working them - with the odd car parked alongside and a few tractors. In the north there had been no signs at all of where the agricultural buildings are. There was hardly anything except fields. Bizarre.

Finally we arrived at a campsite in the far south, very near to Kosovo and to a warm welcome from Marko. This was the result of great forward planning by Dawn (yet again). You don't simply drive past these places. They can be way off the main drag and you have to know where to aim for.

So third night in the Landy and this one started with a continental style thunderstorm which lasted half the night. The rain then started again at 7am. Not very convenient.

I'll sign off this post with a reference to an old friend - our (actually Jo's) Thomas the Tank Engine towel. This is a towel that refuses to die. It's currently being pressed into service as a general useful mop-up towel, for use in, out and on the Landy!

Cuckoos and bells

Its been a very pleasant start to our drive to Greece. Our first thoughts have been "how's the Landy going to perform."  This is because we didn't have time to drive it more than a couple of hundred miles before setting off on a two thousand mile outward leg. However, the drive to Hull was a steady two hours and we reached the ferry early. So early in fact that we tried to say hello to a client at ABP offices at the dockside. Although he was in a meeting and therefore not available, we did exchange pleasantries via texts!

Then it was up the slope and over the Linkspan onto the ferry. That Is a previous project that is still going strong; a clever bit of engineering in which I was fortunate to be involved, alongside Nick Totterdell's Riverside Automation, in which the Linkspan, connected to the ship, automatically follows it as it floats up and down at the quayside, through twelve hours of tidal rise/fall.

It's a great start to a continental trip as the ferry crosses to Rotterdam overnight. A good sleep is usually to be had and disembarkation is at 8:30 the following morning. We parked alongside follow 'adventurers' who were driving a Morgan over the Alps and down into Italy. They were expecting to use a mountain pass but I doubt very much there's one open yet.

We jumped in the Landy and were away. All is motorway through Holland and into Germany. A quick top-up of diesel at €1.22 didn't damage the wallet as much as it does in the UK and then we were off again. The Landy is running on 235/85 R16 tyres and these do seem to offer a little less rolling resistance than the 265/75 that I have removed. We cruise at 65 (mph😉) and happily skip past the trucks on any incline.

I've driven many times 'in Europe' and it still takes a little getting used to. Not driving on the right, but the fact that whereas in the UK, if you signal that you want to pull-out, invariably someone will flash you to do so. Here that happens rarely; so it's easy to get stuck behind a slow vehicle if you haven't planned ahead!

The weather forecast for our route is that there's poor weather in southern Germany and through Austria into Hungary. We had such a good run on Wednesday that we covered 600km and decide to wait in central Germany and chillax. So we are here in Sommerach just east of Wurzburg in the Franken wine region. The weather is perfect so we are putting our feet up today (Thursday 21st).

German caravan and camping sites are usually perfectly run and this one is no exception. It's situated alongside the river Main and the village is perfectly preserved/renovated. It's a picture postcard place. We are very well informed of the time by chimes of the church clock - on each quarter and right through the night too. That doesn't happen in England anymore does it? What's really funny is that the tower that houses the main chime goes through the 'bongs' and then just incase you think you've mis-counted, a second bell strikes them again. Right through the night. 😩

During the day the bells are drowned out by a cuckoo. It is calling incessantly. Why it does this I don't know but whatever it's doing, it isn't finished yet!

Already the campsite is busy; with many German couples and at the moment, few Dutch. Anyone who has travelled like this will know that the Durch usually get there first😎.

As for the Landy, the only problem so far was discovered in yesterday's torrential downpours as we traveled on the A3. Somewhere a roof seam is letting water in. There is a double skin and it must be sloshing around inside, only to find an exit over the front corner of either the driver or passenger doors and because I've fitted new door seals, it doesn't run outside💦💦💦💦

Tomorrow we will continue; heading through Passau towards Vienna. Not sure how far into Austria we will get. It depends on what time we get away. Early mornings at this time of year are 1) cold and it's hard to get out of the sleeping bag and 2) heavy dew makes packing away a bit tricky. At least it's not raining though. It's 22C at the moment 🌞

Our Landy

Here is our new Landy. It's a 1996 Defender 110 County Station Wagon. The engine is the 300Tdi which is a straightforward diesel that doesn't have an ecu so we won't need access to computer diagnostics in order to fault find.

It was bought at the end of 2014 in 'restored' condition, but we soon discovered that the restoration was wallpaper and in fact it required some serious work on the drivetrain, hubs and brakes.

The jobs done:
Rear half-shafts and drive flanges
Front n/s CV joint and drive flange
Front ventilated brake discs

One old and one new front disc

New brake callipers fitted to each corner

Rear lower link arm bushes
Front radius arm bushes
New shockers all round
Front turrets replaced with galvanised versions
New transmission brake shoes ( after replacing the failed rear transfer box oil seal).
Replaced the rear body cappings with galvanised - hence the silver coloured band around the body.

Galvanised capping, supports the roof and is the top fixing for the spare wheel carrier

Evidence of the restoration wallpaper - managed to paint next to rust!

Also, special features added are:

Mantec spare wheel carrier
Silver faced bubble sheet insulation between headlining and roof

Odyssey batteries for starting and auxiliary power, with USB outlets at the dashboard and at the back door, together with rear 12v outlet for the fridge
An Exmoor Trim security cubby box in the front middle seat position

A custom-built sleeping platform covering the whole of the inside area behind the two front seats. This is just below window level so it's above all our gear. It's to be used when it's not appropriate to erect the tent (security, speed, ground conditions, wild animals etc.etc).

Features removed include all rear seats. It's a two seater at the moment.