We decided to do a mission drive to London so we could be there when Alex was there too. We were going to go to a Doll House Museum in Berlin before we left but when we got there the Doll House Museum was not there! So on we drove, towards The Netherlands. On the way we stopped to go to the loo and I was excited to see it was a self cleaning one. (Do you remember when we we saw one like this Bec, Time, Chris, and Callan?) I videoed it so you can all see how cool it is.
The next day we were both
glad to be leaving Berlin. It had been an emotional stay but we were
both glad that we had been. Sarah had told us that Alex would be in
London on the 17th of June so we had decided to try and
make in there then too so we could see Sarah and Alex at the same
time. We had three days to get there. Before we left we tried to find
a doll house museum that I wanted to visit but when we arrived at the
address it was not there. Foiled again! So we set off across Germany.
Steve driving fast to his hearts content along the autobahns. We
decided to spend the night in a town called Hameln which is the town
the story of the Pied Piper was set in. We found a campsite and went
into town for tea (schnitzel, yum!) I was excited by the rat tiles
which you could follow around the town to look at the sights.
The next morning after a hot drink in town we continued on our jouney and crossed over into The Netherlands. We stopped in a little town near the border to get lunch and Steve had the best sandwich of his life. We don't know any Dutch but luckily the sandwich lady spoke perfect English. Next stop was another small town, this time in Belgium. We went there so I could look at another doll house museum (having made it to none so far). When we arrived at the address, guess what? It was gone as well!!! Foiled again! So we hopped back in the car and drove on towards the cost where we found a camp site and stayed the night. It was nice to be back on the coast. The following morning we went into town to call home as we were both feeling a little home sick. After that we headed to Calais in France to catch the ferry to Dover in England. At the ticket place they were charging 100 Euro for the ferry but I had seen the tickets from the same company online for 60 Euro just that morning. So I got back online, bought a ticket on there and we headed for customs. The line inched forward so SO slowly! Then someone rolled down his window and said “You're a long way from home!” He was a kiwi who now lived in England. We had a wee chat with him (exciting as we haven't had that many people to talk to so far) and continued to wait for the line to creep forward. When we got the the booth we had to hand our passports over. She looked at every single page. Then we had to answer a whole bunch of questions like how did we know each other, did we know anyone in the U.K., where would we be staying, what was the purpose of our trip, how much money did we have, etc etc. It took ages. At this point it was 5 past 1 and our ferry was due to go at 1.30pm. We thought we were through when we realised we had to go through another booth for the tickets! There were lines there too. And this time the line was going even slower! There was a car at the front from Lithuania and it was there for 10 minutes! Finally they were let through and then the line crawled forward again and we got to go through. The ferry was running late (yay). When we eventually got on board we headed up to the deack to be buffeted and blown by the wind which snatched at our hair and clothing and tried to shove us over the side. It was exhilarating.
The ocean air was refreshing and I felt excited that very soon I would be able to read everything in sight! After we got out of the harbor we went down into the cabin and I read nearly the rest of The Help. Which is a very good book. Steve watched surfing D.V.D.s on his iPad. As we approached England I saw the famous White Cliffs of Dover through the salty windows. Nearly there! We went back up on the deck as we came in to shore. Then it was off the boat, onto the left side of the road again but in the wrong sided car and away to London.
The next morning after a hot drink in town we continued on our jouney and crossed over into The Netherlands. We stopped in a little town near the border to get lunch and Steve had the best sandwich of his life. We don't know any Dutch but luckily the sandwich lady spoke perfect English. Next stop was another small town, this time in Belgium. We went there so I could look at another doll house museum (having made it to none so far). When we arrived at the address, guess what? It was gone as well!!! Foiled again! So we hopped back in the car and drove on towards the cost where we found a camp site and stayed the night. It was nice to be back on the coast. The following morning we went into town to call home as we were both feeling a little home sick. After that we headed to Calais in France to catch the ferry to Dover in England. At the ticket place they were charging 100 Euro for the ferry but I had seen the tickets from the same company online for 60 Euro just that morning. So I got back online, bought a ticket on there and we headed for customs. The line inched forward so SO slowly! Then someone rolled down his window and said “You're a long way from home!” He was a kiwi who now lived in England. We had a wee chat with him (exciting as we haven't had that many people to talk to so far) and continued to wait for the line to creep forward. When we got the the booth we had to hand our passports over. She looked at every single page. Then we had to answer a whole bunch of questions like how did we know each other, did we know anyone in the U.K., where would we be staying, what was the purpose of our trip, how much money did we have, etc etc. It took ages. At this point it was 5 past 1 and our ferry was due to go at 1.30pm. We thought we were through when we realised we had to go through another booth for the tickets! There were lines there too. And this time the line was going even slower! There was a car at the front from Lithuania and it was there for 10 minutes! Finally they were let through and then the line crawled forward again and we got to go through. The ferry was running late (yay). When we eventually got on board we headed up to the deack to be buffeted and blown by the wind which snatched at our hair and clothing and tried to shove us over the side. It was exhilarating.
The ocean air was refreshing and I felt excited that very soon I would be able to read everything in sight! After we got out of the harbor we went down into the cabin and I read nearly the rest of The Help. Which is a very good book. Steve watched surfing D.V.D.s on his iPad. As we approached England I saw the famous White Cliffs of Dover through the salty windows. Nearly there! We went back up on the deck as we came in to shore. Then it was off the boat, onto the left side of the road again but in the wrong sided car and away to London.
We stopped somewhere at a
rest stop to try and re-find Sarah and Gerry's address as it had
disappeared from the map. We could not get on the free internet –
not having a phone to get a code texted to. So we went into a
bookshop (full of books in English!!!) and borrowed a map. There are
quite a few Belsize Streers in London but eventually we though we had
found the right one and marked in on the other map. While we were
there we cooked up the night before's leftovers for a late lunch and
a couple who love New Zealand (they visit it every 3 years) started
chatting to Steve and invited us to come stay if we were in their
area. We were liking England already. We found our way to London and
then got stuck in diabolical traffic. So we jumped off the motorway
and made our way through the city streets and arrived at Sarah and
Gerry's place just after Sarah had arrived back from the airport with
Alex! It was SO exciting to see them!
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