Fiat 500 - Around The World Expedition

The Great Side Car Expedition

2011-12-29T21:47:00.004+11:00

Ukraine to Italy via Istanbul by Russian Army Side Car

The story below (starting from the BOTTOM) relates the adventures of 20 intrepid riders who rode old military 650cc Dnepr sidecars through Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Croatia to Italy.

By going to the history/archives on the right you may bring up each month. The history/archives also hold all the various expedition stories from past years- just click on the year and month.

All photos may be clicked on to bring up full size.

Genoa, Italy Finale

2011-06-09T23:58:00.007+10:00

Thurs 9th June

Thank you to the riders who took photos shown in the trip blog.

Lee and Phil in particular spent a lot of effort on recording what they saw. Phil's collection can be seen in full on his site.
http://www.ratichon2605.blogspot.com/

The trip is well and truly over. Yesterday we tucked 15 bikes into two
forty foot containers which will be shipped to Brisbane and the additional
two bikes went into a 20 foot container to go to New Zealand.

We came into Genoa on Sunday and Lang was able to organise the shipping
first up on Monday. On Tuesday everyone scrubbed their bikes until they
gleamed, getting rid of 6 weeks of road grime and oil leaks. They were
then put into a warehouse on the dock overnight. It only took a few hours
yesterday with a lot of grunting and groaning and only millimeters to
spare to pack them into the containers and the shipping agent had a crew
on hand to do all the tie down, before the doors were shut and sealed.

As always the end of a trip brings very mixed emotions.

And, as usual, this project has given Lang and me challenges we could never
have planned for in advance. Lang as always has the capacity to just keep
his focus on solutions and shut out all the negatives enabling things to
keep moving forward. This does not always please a few people, pushed beyond their comfort zone, but in the end there is only ever one way - forward.

In any group we have ever been involved with there is the handful of people
who perform above and beyond expectation. We had that handful as usual on this trip and to these people we owe an enormous debt of gratitude.

Hub Jones really stood out as the person who was entirely dependable
and forever a calm problem solver. Even today several riders don't appreciate it was Hub's tireless efforts that kept them going. His work ethic and practical skills make
him a giant amongst his peers.

Lang and I will have some down time before our trip home staying with our
good friends Sandro and Wilmy in Garlenda Italy and then we have a few
days with John and Nui Salter in Thailand.

As with all our trips I like to remind people the reason we undertake such
things:

In the ten countries we travelled through on this trip we made
connections with local people that have left an incredible impact and
reasurred me that mankind is basically good and caring.

Einstein also said about travelling,

All time is now
It takes you out of the everyday routine
The leaden weight of routine
The fetters of habit
The cloak of cares and
Slavery of home
It allows you to experience the here and now.

And finally Lang's favorite quote from Robert Louis Stevenson

"I travel not to go anywhere
But to go
I travel for travel's sake
The great affair is to move"

Bev

Genoa Italy

2011-06-06T00:08:00.001+10:00

Sun 5th June, Genoa

Good News

We have all arrived in Genoa. That is all except Stuart Wood who in Poppi
decided to visit friends in Venice and catch up with us tomorrow.

The last few days have seen only minor problems with the bikes and all
arriving under their own steam. Lizzy Lada has had a few issues with her
carburettor but somehow manages to get me to my destination. She has done
extraordinary service hauling such a heavy load of spare parts during the
six week period.

Nadia has been riding with Sasha on his bike so I have done all but one
leg of the whole trip on my own. Early in the piece I did get plenty of
company at the end of a tow rope with hand signals our only form of
communication. It is a bit sad to say that I have formed a very special
bond with my very faithful GPS and get quite a feeling of well being
hearing her calm voice giving me directions.

From Poppi we had a camping night in Pisa, checked out the leaning tower
in this beautiful ancient walled city. We were going to stay two nights
but the consensus of opinion was to do the short hop to Levanto and see
the Cinque Terre. Many of us did the train trip between the five towns and
a few of us did the cliff face walk between the towns of this spectacular
UNESCO listed area.

Tonight we will have a finale dinner and then over the next few days
organise the shipping of the vehicles to our home ports. Most of the group
have arrangements to fly home later in the week.

Bev

Poppi, Italy

2011-06-05T03:55:00.001+10:00

Thurs 2 June

We arrived in Ancona, Italy on the overnight ferry from Zadar in Croatia
sailing at 10.00pm and arriving at 7.00am on the 31st May.

At present we are at a camping site in Poppi on the Eastern side of
Florence. Here we are spending two days as we had two major break downs
yesterday.

We did some serious mountain climbing travelling from Urbino where we had
camped out side the beautiful walled city the previous night and here to
Poppi. Sasha's bike broke a bearing and Susan Horrobin seized the
universal joint on her bike. After towing Sasha a short distance we were
lucky enough to flag down a passing tow truck and ended up with the two
bikes arriving on the back of the truck at the camp site ready for the
repair work.

Here in Italy it is working out better to camp as the towns are so crowded
and this gives us plenty of space to work on the bikes and spread out a
bit.

Split, Croatia

2011-05-31T02:02:00.001+10:00

Sunday 29th May

We are all now in Split, Croatia.

Yesterday we had a long day from Tivat along the coast and three border
crossings. We passed from Montenegro into Bosnia and then into Croatia. It
is a very beautiful part of the world and Dubrovnik in particular is
spectacular.

This long run was to enable us to have two days in the one place and
allow Sasha to do some long needed major repairs.

Late in the day Robert Hazell's bike had differential problems and was
unable to continue. Nadia and I had to double back with the spare parts
and between Lang , Brian and Robert they got the bike mobile, but the five
of us decided breaking down in the dark was not an option so stayed 90kms
short of Split and joined the rest of the group here early in the morning.

Bev

Durres, Albania

2011-05-27T14:12:00.000+10:00

27th May

Phil Barnaart is downloading some great photos see them on
ratichon2605.blogspot.com

Last night we spent just south of the very historic town of Durres.
Albania is similar to Romania and Bulgaria, in that they are a mix of vey
primative life styles in the rural areas and very flash coastal resort
areas. We have seen hand ploughing and seed planting, ancient old farm
machinery in use and donkey and cart as their general means of transport.

Tonight we will be in Tivat, Montenegro

Bev

Albania

2011-05-27T05:17:00.000+10:00

Wed 25th May

I am at present sitting at the Greek / Albanian border and have been for
the last two hours, having left Florino early this morning, .The mountain
climb was all but impossible but the little car and all the bike made it
in first gear.

Already 10 of our riders have gone across the border and reported it was a
hassle free event. Lang and Hub have left me here to twiddle my thumbs and
they have taken the Lizzy back to tow in Marcel. We believe he has had a
major problem .

Over the last few days we have had a lot of small problems, mostly
electrical, and all have been rectified along the way. Ivan had an
electrical problem and Lee bought him a car battery and with jumper leads
hooked it up carring it in his sidecar.

Everyone is really sorting out their own bike's idiosyncrasies and doing
more and more of their own preventative and repair work

Yesterday morning at Thessaloniki Lee Harman decided to leave the group to
catch a ferry across to Southern Italy and will ride from there up to the
north. For the rest of the group we have booked an overnight ferry from
Zadar Croatia to Ancona Italy on the 30th..

I have had a message from Sasha and Nadia and they are about 300 kms
behind us, and should catch us up in another day. We are certainly looking
forward to another mechanic and the spares he is bringing.

Evening of 25th at Progradeci, Albania

Marcel's problem was not as major as first thought and he was able to ride
under his own power from the border, albiet with the car battery in the
sidecar fix.His starter shorted out, flattening the battery and this was
fixed immediately.

The scenery here with a huge lake and mountains down to the water is
spectacular. Prices are cheap and the small town very pretty. Most bikes
required only daily maintenance and everyone was relaxed well before
dinner.

Sasha and Nadia arrived at the hotel at 10.00pm absolutely exhausted
after a 500+ kms ride non stop.

Bev

Thassos, Greece

2011-05-23T15:19:00.000+10:00

Sunday 22nd

We are all here on Thassos Island in Greece enjoying the sunny weather and
beautiful surrounds. Some have hired modern bikes, cars or little motor
scooters to visit monasteries, Roman ruins or enjoy the local fare at
fabulous waterfront cafes.

Most of the group had two nights here but five of us were again doing
catch up.

Sadly Paul and Martin pulled out of the group. Paul's bike has given him a
run of bad luck and they have decided to finish their holiday riding BMW's
through Europe.

Paul was going to leave his bikeat the side of the road, but our mechanics
in the group saw the potential to get some essential spares we may need
before the trip ends. Paul generously offered to come to the border with
it to get it across into Greece with his paperwork.

We saw Robert and Brian go back into Turkey and tow the bike to the border
where Lang met them with Lizzy Lada and towed them back to Alexandroupoli.
Here in the back blocks we did a Zorba the Greek. We stripped the bike of
all useful parts loaded the bikes and car to the gunnels disposed of the
frame and as it was so late in the day we spent the night at Komitimi
enroute to Thasos.

Lizzie is now so loaded she can not carry another gram. The electric fan
stopped working so every time I start the car I have to lift the bonnet
and connect the wires straight to the battery to stop her overheating. Her
tiny 1,200cc engine is still bravely pulling the car, her load and often a
half ton of bike as well.

Our bike problems are definitely being sorted with fewer faults every day.
The regular problems are just the price of driving 75 year old technology
6,000km across Europe. Most people are becoming good at diagnosing faults
and if they can not fix them themselves, can give Hub an indication of
what is going on.

Hub continues to perform miracles and has kept everyone going. We are all
very grateful for his dedicated mechanical work.

Moral is still very high and the continuous change of scene is pleasing
the majority. Everyone is looking forward to the week or so running up the
Adriatric coast through Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia etc.

Off to Thessalonika tomorrow then into the hills.

Gallopoli Peninsular

2011-05-20T16:04:00.000+10:00

We all spent the night here on the Gallopoli Peninsular at a camping hotel
site only 8kms south of Anzac Cove.

Today we will cross the border into Greece and overnight in Alexandroupoli.

For another version of our trip and some photos Paul Barnard has a blog
paulbgsa.blogspot.com

Bev

Canakkale, Turkey

2011-05-19T16:10:00.000+10:00

Thus 19th May

Yesterday the mobile contingent left Canakkale and went the short distance
over to the Gallipoli Peninsular, crossing the Dardanelles by ferry.

Eight of us remained to work on three disabled bikes in the hotel car
park. When Lang and Hub stripped Lang's bike they found a bolt had come
loose in the gear fly wheel. Fortunately it had not caused any severe
damage and did not need an engine change . Never the less it was major
job which took all day to fix. At the end of the day everyone was tired
so we decided to stay another night in Canakkale.

This is an area steeped in military history, and to us Australians
Gallipoli obviously has very special significance.

On the peninsular hillside opposite Canakkale gigantic letters spell out
the first few words of a poem commemorating the stuggle at Gallipoli in
1915.

The translation is

Traveller, halt! The soil you heedlessly tread once witnessed the end of
an era.
Listen! In this quiet mound there once beat the heart of a nation.

Bev

Istanbul / Bursa

2011-05-18T05:05:00.001+10:00

On Ferry out of Istanbul 27th May

The run into Istanbul was certainly a challenge as everyone in the entire
city was out having a Sunday drive and picnics along the water front,
making a grid lock on all major roads. All our group except Lang made it
under their own steam which was quite a feat. I again had to tow Lang the
entire day.

The hotel was on a steep hill and the promised parking was on a very
narrow busy street. The next morning we risked having all bikes towed away
so a hasty search for parking found a vacant block not too far away. The
area made any major work on Lang's bike impossible so another day of
towing until we are able to do an engine change.

The majority of the group were able to do some sightseeing in around town
on our second day. I even managed to fit in a visit to a Turkish bath to
recharge my batteries.

Dan Gridley flew out to OZ after handing over the bike he had been riding
for the last two weeks to Dave Griffith who will be with us for the rest
of the trip.

This morning after a 6am start we are now on a ferry crossing the Sea of
Marmara to Bursa, from where we have a 250kms drive to our overnight stop
in Canakkale. Tomorrow after another short ferry ride we will be on the
Gallipoli Peninsular where we will spend the next two days.

We have decided to double up a lot of our remaining days to allow on going
maintenance on the bikes as well as a chance to relax and enjoy the
country side we are passing through.

Bev

Kirklareli, Turkey

2011-05-16T19:57:00.000+10:00

!5th May

I will keep my blogs short as so much is going on with the bikes and also
with our day to day running

Sasha and Nadia are still in the wilderness so we are having to be
totally self sufficient. As with all our projects we have the group of
people who really step up to the mark and not only look out for themselves
but do the extra mile for the good of the group. To them we are just so
grateful.

Last night we stayed in Kirklareli just 45kms south of the Romanian
border. Lang had a major break down out of Nessebar so I towed him 100kms
to the border where Lee Harman had also come to a grinding halt. I then
did a double tow all the way to our overnight stop. Little Lizzy Lada
certainly earned her keep yesterday

We arrived at the Romanian/Turkish border at 12 noon and the last man
processed was out at 5pm. We had no trouble with our paper work just that
it was a long slow grind. Everyone's father's name is now officially
recorded in the archives at the Turkish border custom's post.

Today after work is done on 4 sick bikes we will follow the early mobile
group and arrive in Istanbul and a two night stay.

Bev

Nessebar Bulgaria

2011-05-14T15:28:00.000+10:00

Friday 13 May

We are now in Nesseba, Bulgaria. Again a country of amazingly friendly
people.

The country side here is very lush with a lot of agriculture in evidence.
There is a mix of old communist buildings and the very new modern resorts
particularly around the black sea area.

We crossed the border from Romania into Bulgaria with very little trouble,
and continued on to Nessebar which is a big tourist region on the Black
Sea. Here we decided to stay for two nights so problems on the bikes could
be addressed and a little of R & R for those lucky enough not to be having
problems.

Nadia and Sasha are still catching up to us, and everyone is still on a
steep learning curve dealing with their bikes under Hub's dedicated
direction.

Martin White went ahead of us to Istanbul to meet up with his wife. He had
a few issues at the Turkish border so we will see tomorrow if the rest of
us are going to have any problems.

I will get Lang to do a report on the bikes when he has a moment to spare.

Bev

Tucuci, Romania

2011-05-10T16:46:00.001+10:00

Tues 10th May

If there was any doubt that we were on an adventure and not a tour it was
dispelled once and for all at the Ukraine/Romanian border.

We all arrived at the border mid afternoon with bikes and Lizzy the Lada.
Earlier, customs had turned back the first nine bikes to attempt the
crossing. Lang with Sasha and Nadia on arrival went to state our case.
Apparently new laws have been introduced in the last week and the Ukraine
customs not being to sure what they were, tried several scams to block our
way. In the end they came up with the problem of how and what did we pay
for the bikes and the great worry, did we spend any money in Ukraine.
Everyone had to produce all their documents and receipts of purchases etc.

These were taken by Sasha in to the inner sanctum where they would raise
documents for each bike which would then be signed by the owners and of
course a payment made. This process was to take all night as they would
call us one at a time and it could take two hours to process each person.

At this point all tents were erected on a grassy area outside the border
gate. After the first few were called we all got excited thinking it might
take less time so, down came all the tents. The rules then changed and
the remaining contingent outside the gate were told nothing would resume
until morning, so up with the tents again. Just to fool everyone they
started taking people again at 4am. From then it was an ad hock process.

The last lot consisting of Dan, Lee Myles and Lang were not allowed in
the first gate until 8pm on the second day and were finally through the
two border checks at 3am the next morning- 36 hours after arrival at the
gate!. They then got on their bikes and rode two hours to Falticeni where
the rest of us were staying overnight.

I have been through some memorable border crossings but I think this takes
the cake.

Just to make things more interesting they refused Nadia and Sasha's
passports as a document had not been signed by a very "important' person.
They believe they can clear this up by going back to Kiev and hopefully
catching us up in 4-5 days time. Apparently it was something to do with
their marriage documents.

We are still having lots of small problems with the bikes but somehow we
are managing to progress every day and get all the chickens home to roost,
even like today when Dan put his bike on a tow truck for the last 100kms.

We are reliant on Hub with his mechanical knowledge to work on the bikes.
His role has changed from participant to being a member of our admin team,
and to help him out our group's mechanical knowledge is on a steep incline
upwards.

Also since being in Romania as soon as we pull into our accommodation the
local bikers are out in force offering spares and lots of practical help.
The locals here are a lot more friendly than the Ukranians. We also can
now read the signs easily without dealing with cyrilic script.

The troops are all very upbeat and enjoying the continuous new adventures
being presented on seemingly an hourly basis!

Tomorrow we are heading for the Danube Delta area.

Bev

Bila Tserkva, Ukraine

2011-05-02T15:22:00.000+10:00

Friday 29th April Bila Tserkva

Lang and I have been in Ukraine now for two weeks, 2 nights in Kiev and
the rest in Bila Tserkva where the bikes are being prepared, slowly but
surely. The saying all will be right on the day has passed through our
minds on numerous occasions.

Our group of 18 riders have been arriving during the week in Kiev. Some
went off sightseeing, four came down to Bila Tserkva early and the rest
were collected in a mini bus from Kiev on Thursday morning.

It is now the 1st May and here we are still in Bila Tsverka. The best laid
plans etc. Ukraine is unbelievable, the paper work and all the bureaucracy
is unbelievable, and there is such a laid back attitude to everything.
Urgency does not seem to register in the psyche of the locals here, and
corruption is alive and well.

Some bikes are having last minute adjustments so we have postponed the
start of the trip by two days.

On the up side our hotels are a good standard, the food and drink are
great and the prices are very cheap. The troops are in good spirits and
taking the slow motion in their stride.

Keep posted for the convoy to roll out southward bound.

Bev

The Great Side Car Adventure

2011-02-20T12:22:00.007+11:00

In May 2011 twenty old Russian Army Dnepr MB650 side cars will leave Kiev, Ukraine to travel the Red Sea. As usual, Lang and Bev will be leading the trip with Lang on a bike and Bev, driving a tiny Russian car, going ahead to find camp-sites, hotels etc. Riders are from Australia, New Zealand and USA. It will take six weeks to cover the 6,000km journey cruising at only 60kmh(35mph) .

The route is Bila Tsekva, Ukraine to Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Jordan.

The bikes are closely based on the German WW2 BMW and are two wheel drive (the sidecar wheel drives as well as the bike giving terrific off-road performance). They are being restored to as-new standard by Alexander and Nadia Levchyk in Bila Tserkva, just south of Kiev.

The trip can be followed on this blog from 01 May 2011.

Willys Overland Expedition

2010-12-21T08:48:00.003+11:00

During the month of December 2010 Lang, Bev and their friend Carl Neilsen drove their 1915 Willys Overland 6,000km around Queensland promoting men's health and prostate cancer awareness. To read about this highly successful trip go to the trip website http://www.willys.com.au/

How to Read the Blog and see Photos

2009-06-19T14:18:00.002+10:00

To read the regular blog stories of the trip scroll down. They start from the BOTTOM and each new one goes on TOP of the previous post.

They are collected together by month. Only the latest month comes up. To read previous months go to Archives or History list to right of page (you may have to scroll down) then click on the month you want.

All photos can be brought up full size simply by clicking on them.

The Istanbul to Normandy story is the current page but you can get the Fiat 500 Trip story just by clicking on the archives for 2007 as above.

Istanbul - Normandy Final

2009-06-18T22:36:00.006+10:00

End of another trip

Penelope

Chev Cab

Bertie's adoption paper

We can now look back and feel very pleased with what was a highly successful expedition. Everywhere in every country, the vehicles were received with enthusiasm by the general public. Those with knowledge of these old vehicles were astonished by the audacity of the concept to attempt to get such a large group such a long distance.

All the crews contributed to this success by retaining their focus for 6 weeks. As they became more comfortable with travel in strange lands – on the wrong side of the road – their enjoyment also increased. Right to the end everyone was still socialising every night and setting out each day with enthusiasm.

Once again we had our faithful companions along on the trip, Penelope ( the Garmin GPS ) proving her worth as the marriage saver. Sitting on the ledge behind my head was Bertie the Brooklands Bear, our adopted mascot. Bertie, dressed in a Sidcot flying suit made by Gieves and Hawkes, was presented to Lang by Prince Michael of Kent just prior to the Vimy flight. He has since accompanied Lang on the Avian flight, was in the Itala during the Peking to Paris expedition, travelled around the world in the Fiat 500 and is now safe at home again.

In conclusion we would like to thank our friends who generously provided some very unique hospitality that no tourist operation could possibly emulate. From the brass band parade followed by some wonderful Italian fare we thank Sandro and Wilmy Scarpa and the Fiat 500 Club. For the night at their 17^th century farmhouse with tables groaning with homemade fare and a cake decorated with an Australian flag, along with an impressive private collection of military vehicles, thanks to Marjorie and Peter Tombs. As a fabulous finale to our week in Normandy the D-Day dinner party at a real French Chateau with fine food and wine thanks to Anna and Franck Bailleul.

There were many others along the way who made our trip unforgettable – Jerome Stevens and the boys at the French Military Vehicle Club, the enthusiastic crew in Scarperia from the Italian Military Vehicle Club, Derek Skoda for help with shipping, Colin Smith and the MVT. There were also numerous people who extended friendship and help to members of the crews right across Europe – thank you all.

We were all proud to have reminded people of Australian and New Zealand historical achievements and commemorate the sacrifices our forefathers made by walking the ground where they endured, suffered and died.

Bev and Lang

France and Belgium

2009-06-16T09:01:00.009+10:00

The Cloth Hall Ieper/Ypres

View from the tower at Villers-Brettoneux

Australian National Memorial Villers-Bretonneux

Le Hamel memorial with old trenches

Field of poppies Flanders

Amiens Cathedral

Our final week of the trip was spent in the area of the Western Front of France and Belgium. This is where so many futile massacres took place during WW1, and where the breaking of the German offensive of 1918 allowed the advances by the allies that led to the armistice 90 years ago on November 11 that same year.

Driving through this area there are so very many beautifully maintained cemeteries mostly established where the men fought and died. It is so emotionally charged, wandering through the headstones seeing the average age of these men in their early 20's and so many with just a headstone stating "An Unknown Soldier" or " An Australian Soldier of the Great War"

On Tuesday we went into Amiens and saw the huge cathederal in the centre of town containing many dedications to the soldiers who fought in the area. We then visited the town of Villers Bretonneux where not only is there a reference to Australia on every street corner but it also has a dedicated Australian National Memorial where there are names of 11,000 Australians who have no grave. On the outskirts of the town is the Adelaide cemetery where the Unknown Soldier's remains were exhumed in 1993 and taken to the War Memorial in Canberra, as a lasting memorial to all unknown soldiers in all wars. We also visited the French Australian museum in the town.

We camped overnight at the village of Le Hamel on the Somme River and saw the new Australian memorial that has recently been established that depicts Monash's very clever assault and recapture of the ridge line. The memorial is on a hill behind the village in amongst the local farm fields and obviously a very stategic position during such a battle. This was also the first battle in which a small number (1,000) of newly arrived American troops were put in with the battle-hardened Australians to gain experience. Several small items such as buttons and bullets were found in the remains of the trenches still scarring the wheat field beside the memorial.

An interesting feature of this memorial is it is from near this spot that Sgt Popkin and another Australian gunner shot down Manfred von Richtoffen (the Red Baron) with their machine guns (despite the unfounded but propaganda driven official story that Canadian pilot Capt Brown was responsible).

On the following and our final day with the group Lang and I visited Arras. Just north of the town is the stunning Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge, very stark but unbelievably impressive. The Canadians lost 10,000 men on one day taking this point and the names of 60,000 Canadians lost are recorded (about the same number of wartime losses as the Australians). From there we went across the Belgium border and attended the playing of The Last Post which is performed every night at 8pm at the Menin Gate at the entrance of Ieper/Ypres through which marched thousands of men to the slaughter of the salient. The spectacular stone city gate has the names of 54,000 men, mainly from the British Empire, who died in the immediate area but have no known grave.

Those of us who still had the energy left, attended a last get together with a strange but tasty menu, the pooled remains of our food – and wine - supplies. Even though it had been raining heavily and quite cold during the day, the camp site had a large weatherproof tent. We even managed to have a funny hat competition.

For us this is the wrap-up of a very successful trip. The majority of the group headed to Antwerp to pack their vehicles into containers for the trip back home. The coordination of the containers is not as critical for the trip back, so it was not essential that they all got away together. The Studebaker was sold in Europe and others in the the group are continuing to travel for a longer period. At the last minute we have some interest expressed in the Chev have chosen to wait a few days to see if anything develops.

We have had the dynamics of approx 30 people (numbers have varied between 28 and 33) travelling in 15 vehicles (1 motorbike, 5 jeeps, 3 large trucks and 6 medium size vehicles). Each day I posted the next night's campsite and it was free travel for the day. Some of the team formed themselves into smaller groups of two or three and stayed together during the day, while others were happy to be independent and use the day to do and see what was of particular interest to themselves.

Having been over much of the route before made things easier for us in planning, if not in execution. A mob of fifteen 70-year-old vehicles made it unwise to rigidly plan every nightly stop and we also wanted to retain the flexibility to stop at places of interest or by popular request. Things went very smoothly most of the time but we spent at least an hour each day and several hours on a number of days, trying to secure a suitable stop for the night, reorganise ferry bookings etc. Every camp site we went to was well above the average Australian caravan park standard.

The participants, as planned, knew little of the day to day administration required for the trip and many continue to assume that it all "just happened". Our $1,000 telephone bill is a reminder to us of the constant work required on trips like these.

Because of the the common interest in military vehicles the tour was designed around quite a few of the significant battle fields in Europe of both WW1 and WW2. In between though, there was plenty of opportunity to go sightseeing, and we stayed over in quite a few large, diverse and very colourful cities, such as Istanbul, Athens, Turin, and Paris.

Even though the battlefields have been maintained as memorials to many incredibly bloody and futile experiences I believe they serve as important reminders to future generations, so that these brave men, regardless of nationality, and what they endured will never be forgotten.

Normandy

2009-06-10T19:13:00.016+10:00

Villagers from Baron

The Bailleul chateau feast.

Raining parachutes St Mere Eglise

American parachutist incident recreation St Mere Eglise

Lang and Bill in French resistance outfits

Fireworks Port en Bessin 05 June

Lang film interview Point du Hoc

The team Bailleul chateau

Beach celebration Arromanches 6 June

We organised with the English MVT (Military Vehicle Trust) to stay at their campsite at Etreham during our week long stay in Normandy. This camp ground is in an ideal situation just out of Bayeux and close to all the coastal towns that were involved in the D day landings.

On the first night several of us began the week with a little culture and attended a symphony recital at Bayeux Cathederal featuring Mozart's Requiem, as well as music from Brahms and Haydn with a beautiful 53 strong choir.

Our second day was spent driving around the pretty harbour of Port en Bessin and other local areas, introducing Rhonda, Lang's sister, to a very different experience from her touring around France in her little Fiat Panda for the last nine months..

The whole coast line is dotted with camp sites of all different nationalities and their vehicles. There are around 3,000 military vehicles in the area for the D Day celebrations. Every five years they have an extra big celebration and this year will probably see the last time there are so many veterans still able to attend.

On Wednesday the MVT arranged for a convoy to go to the village of Baron-sur-Odon near Caen. The Mayor of the village welcomed us with a reception at the local "Marie" and from there we transported the people from the village to a tank memorial where a wreath laying ceremony was held. Lang had taken the canopy off the back of the Chev and when we went back to the vehicles after the reception we had a load full of locals already to go. We had brought four other Aussies with us from the camp so had to do a quick run around to make sure they could ride in another vehicle.

On Thursday we started out to visit some of the other camp sites but came to a halt a few kilometres from camp. The starter motor on the Chev had ceased to work. Lang managed, with Rhonda's help, to push the Chev up and over a hill and I was able to do a clutch start. We then drove to some camp sites to see if anyone was carrying or selling spares. Lang decided then to abandon us women and went off on his own to find a hill and attempt to rebuilt the starter, unfortunately to no avail.

After returning to camp some of the English vehicle owners had just returned from a swap meet and had seen a brand new starter at one of the stalls. Two of them took Lang in their Jeep and were able to locate the prize and following a quick fit we were back on the road.

Rhonda and I did not waste the day and headed into town to see the world famous Bayeux Tapesty which is a 70 m long tapesty a thousand years old and tells the story of the Norman invasion of 1066. It is in amazing condition and the colours and condition of the linen are remarkable.

Mobile again on Friday we drove to look at Pointe du Hoc where the American Rangers landed and were faced with high rugged cliffs. The surrounding area is still pock marked with huge bomb craters and has been left as a memorial to an incredible feat. We then went to Isigny sur Mer near where the French are camped and we had lunch with Herman Pfauter and his cousin Mark as this was our last chance to see them before we go our separate ways. We then went on to Ste Mere Eglise which is famous for the parachute drop on D Day and the parachutist who was trapped, when his chute was caught on the steeple of the church. There is a model of the soldier with his chute on top of the church which is in the town square. Here we were able to catch up once again with the Tomb's family who had two of their vehicles on display in the square albeit unofficially and were being hounded to move by a very patient but persistent gendarme.

On Friday night at 11pm - since it is still light until 10.30pm - there was a fireworks display at 25 different locations along the coast line. Most of us went down to Port en Bessin and because of the very high cliffs and a break-water that juts out from the town we had a great view of about 12 sites up and down the coast as well as in the small harbour of the spectacular coordinated show that ran for 20 minutes.

Saturday saw the D Day celebrations, and quite a number from the camp were on the beach for a small dawn service. The majority elected to leave camp at 10am and we assembled waiting for the tide to fall and were able to drive in a 200 vehicle convoy along the beach from Asnelles to Arromanches where later in the afternoon there was a big ceremony for the British Veterans that Prince Charles attended. Initially the British generally and the royal family had been snubbed by the French but with a lot of bureaucratic manipulating and high outrage in the British press there was an appropriate representation.

The atmosphere in the town and on the beach was amazing, it was almost impossible to walk through the town because of the crush of veterans, serving personel, locals, vehicle owners and bands marching. The British decided to go for a Guiness book of records to break the standing record of 49 WW2 bikes in the one place and did it easily with 145 bikes driving down on the beach.

Our Australian group left the beach and headed to the garden party we had been invited to at Anna and Franck Bailleul's Chateau near Villers Bocage. We also had organised on our way there to lay a wreath at the Typhoon Memorial at Noyers Bocage. This being the only recognised memorial in the Normandy area that has an Australian representation. About 2000 Australian airmen were part of the assault on D Day.

Our luck with the weather ran out but the rain did stop to allow our little ceremony to take place. We were a bit of a rag tag group as Anna and Frank's invitation had said dress was Allied, Resistance Chic, and most of us had already changed either in the back of trucks or the local bar's toilet area.

Down the road at the Chateau though the rain caused everything to have to be moved in doors. The tables had been laid for 100 people along the long front driveway and after they had been completely soaked during the afternoon everything was dried and when we arrived it had been rearranged and looking beautiful in two of the down stairs rooms. Even though it was a little crowded it certainly allowed people a better chance to mix.

A fabulous dinner was served, with nibbles to begin with then salads and cold meats including a pheasant terrine, with stuffed pheasants as decoration. This was followed by platters of cheese then beautiful little petit four desserts and coffee. It was a very generous offer of the Bailleuls to invite our group so we could all have a wonderful finale to not only a very significant day but also an incredible week. Anna also related the story of owner of the Chateau who was taken prisoner on D Day 65 year ago and the Germans took over the building and he was shot on the the same day.

A nice touch to our arrival even in the rain was the Bailleul boys dressed in military uniforms very formally directing all our vehicles to their allotted parking in the grounds of the Chateau.

On Sunday, our final day in Normandy, we went to St Mere Eglise to see the parachute drop reenacted by American, British, German and French paratroops. Again the weather was bad but after a delay of an hour we saw wave after wave of parachutists dropping with old fashioned round chutes from C130 aircraft. It was worth the long walk and getting drenched, along with the jostling with thousands of spectators. The wind was extremely strong and there were a number of soldiers injured upon landing.

Now Normandy has finished and we are on the last few days of our trip to northern France and the prospect of organising for the trip home.

For the last week we have had a two-man film crew with us on the trip. They were able to get some funding from the History channel so they hope to make a documentary of our trip combined with historic footage.

France

2009-06-04T04:30:00.023+10:00

France

Masterpiece by Marjorie Tombs

The "Jerrycan of Friendship" French Military Vehicle Club

Lang rides Jerome's R12 BMW outfit Paris

Sacre Coeur Paris

Line-up Mont St Michel

The Tomb's Farm Normandy

French National Memorial Verdun

Some of the remains of 130,000 unknown soldiers Verdun

FRANCE

Our first stop in France was in Mulhouse where Lang and a few of the group went and enjoyed visiting the Museum that houses the famous Schlumpf Collection and also the National Railways Museum with it's superb collection of locomotives and carriages. Another group enjoyed cooling off in the campsite pool as it was the hottest day we have had on the trip.

On Monday we arrived in Verdun after a very scenic drive and enjoyed the lush French countryside. We stopped along the way in the lovely little village of Domremy to have lunch and inspect Joan of Arc's house and the nearby cathedral.

Verdun has the dubious reputation as being the byword for war time slaughter. During the last two years of WW1, over 800,000 soldiers – some 400,000 French and almost as many Germans, along with thousands of the Americans who arrived in 1918, lost their lives. In the town and the surrounding areas there are very moving memorials and museums to their memories. Five villages that were completely wiped out in the area and still show the original bomb craters , with just small signs marking where different families lived and, even though today there are trees and grass, it still has an incredible inpact.

The Douaumont Ossuary, at 137m long is extremely impressive and one of France's most important WW1 memorials. It contains the rermains of about 130,000 unidentified French and German soldiers from the battlefields collected after the war.

After 2 nights in Verdun we arrived at our campsite in the middle of Paris and again had a two night stopover. The crews were very apprehensive about the drive through Paris but the various GPS navigation units got everyone in to our camp on the Seine in the Bois de Boulogne without too much tension. The first night Lang and I went to the old bohemian area of Montmarte to capture the romance we had experienced there 40 years previously. Unfortunately we came away disappointed as commercalism and tourism has completely taken over. Lang commented that the best description of the place was "tawdry".

The next day we were invited by the French Military group to go and view their collection. Many vehicle owners in Paris use a marvellous old army facility near Versailles and just half an hour outside the city where they are able to not only store their vehicle but work on them doing their restorations or maintenance. On Thursday Henry de Willy came to our campsite and led a number of vehicles packed with our group down to view their collection and then Jerome Stevens who we had been liasing with, arrived to show us his fantastic collection of vehicles as well as putting on an impromptu and very scrumptious lunch. Many of their members were preparing their vehicles for the trip to the D day celebrations in Normandy.

In the afternoon we caught up with Rhonda, Lang's sister ,who has been holidaying in France for the last nine months. Then in the evening we were invited out to Anna and Franck Bailleul's for a delicious dinner just a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower. We met Anna and Franck five years ago when we were in France for the 60^th D Day Anniversary, and this year Anna and Franck have invited all our group to a D Day garden party on the night of the 6^th June at their chateau in Normandy, so we are all looking forward to that later in the week.

From Paris we changed our original itinerary as everyone likes the two night stops in the one venue, and we headed straight for Mont Saint Michel. Along the way we encountered a vast traffic jam. It turned out the French farmers were protesting the low price of milk so had barricaded several towns with their fleet of tractors. We managed to go around the blockades by travelling on scenic back lanes.

The first sighting of Mont St Michel is very impressive. The spire of the cathedral extending from the walled town perched on a rock, surrounded by sea is one of the great sights of France.

We managed to get the vehicles on to the causeway very early in the morning for a photo before the buses and cars started to arrive. This also enabled us to climb the steep narrow laneways past all the cafes and souvenir shops, and look through the abbey before the tide of people descended. The tourists reminded Lang of the annual migration of the Wildebeest on the Serengeti Plains with the lions (the store owners) waiting paitently for their next feed.

On Sunday Lang and I headed the 60kms to our friend's, Marjorie and Peter Tombs, place where they very generously had invited the whole group to stay for the night. We first met Marjorie and Peter when we were in the UK 20 years ago for the 45^th D Day Anniversary, and they have been involved in some of our various projects over the years.

Peter has an amazing collection of vehicles and a year ago made the move from the UK to their French 16th century farm house. Peter managed to finish his large barn where he can display all his vehicles in time for our arrival. By late afternoon everyone had arrived and we had the best BBQ meal with lots of wonderful homemade fare, a real treat from the very basic meals we have been cooking on our one and two burner stoves. We had a great jam session to finish the evening with our two resident musicians (Sam on Sax and Dale on guitar) as well as Chris the next door neighbour on the electric guitar.We thank the Tomb's very much for their friendship and generosity.

We had an early start the next morning and one of the few times we have driven in convoy we did the 60 kms to our camp site for the next week at Etreham in Normandy. Entering the village with all vehicles driving in an impressive tight convoy was quite special for Lang and me as we felt we had again accomplished what we had set out to do, and that was to bring 15 vehicles from Australia via Istanbul to Normandy.

Switzerland

2009-05-27T00:01:00.002+10:00

A beautiful day on Semplon Pass

On Saturday morning we left our campsite on Lake Maggiore and drove the length of the lake then started our climb to the Swiss border. We have had no interest from customs at any border and the border into Switzerland was no different. We even escaped the compulsory 25euro sticker to drive on Swiss motorways.

It was the most perfect day - a cloudless blue sky. Slowly, on a very winding road (avoiding the main highway) we climbed up to the Simplon Pass which was 2005 metres high. Snow became more evident as we got higher and by the top it was alongside the road in large drifts. We made a very icy snowman on the Chev and took the compulsory photo before he melted in the hot sun within minutes. We had all our cold weather gear at the ready but we are getting extremely unseasonal hot weather and remained in shirtsleeves even for the snow shots. Anything is better than rain because of the manner in which we are travelling so we are not complaining.

Despite the temperatures being only in the low 20's all the vehicles overheated on the long climb but only a couple were obliged to have short cooling stops.

We then travelled down the reciprocal side of the pass, testing our brakes severely, north to the Overwald and the Furka Pass which was still closed by snow. Fortunately there is a train that the vehicles are loaded on and this travels 20 minutes through a very dark tunnel to the other side of the mountain. You drive onto the flat bed carriages and sit in your vehicle during the whole trip.

The scenery in Switzerland is picture post card perfect. The lush green grass, snow capped mountains, crystal clear lakes and the goats and cows with their ringing bells. It is amazing how the different countries change so much. The people have different characteristics as well as the scenery.

We had planned to stay in a camp site at the side of a small lake high in the mountains at Seelisberg but when Lang and I arrived we found that it was a site that only allowed tents and no vehicles.

As there were no other camp sites in the area and, after a long day where a lot of the vehicles had over heating problems and fuel blockages, we needed to pull the rabbit out of the hat. We drove around the town and asked a few locals and ended up at a resturant in the small village, where the owner suggested a flat area (there is nothing flat larger than a tennis court for 50 kilometres!) up the hill behind his place. We waited a half an hour while he tried to contact the owner and, in the meantime, as our group arrived in the usual dribs and drabs there was a welcome cold drink available at the resturant.

We got the all clear with for a free camp with the use of the restaurant's toilet. Most of us also took the opportunity to have a change from camp cooking and dined out in the open looking up to the snow capped peaks.

After dinner we went through our field to a handsome 1896 hotel and were admiring the fabulous views over the lake below when a Swiss man introduced himself as Otto the manager of the building owned by the Maharishi Movement. Switzerland has been their headquarters since the 1970's.

A few of us accepted his invitation to have a look inside the building. He first showed us in the entrance the bell on Invincibility which we all rang. Then he took us to their meeting room that had rows of hundreds of throne like chairs in the shape of an amphitheatre. He did not attempt a hard sell at all but just explained about transendental meditation which they teach and practise and at the end he played us some very soothing Indian style music, after which we all went to bed and slept very soundly.

This is the thing I like most travelling from day to day without a strict itinerary. Out of the blue you meet some very interesting people and have some wonderful unexpected experiences.

On Sunday we headed down to the less mountainous side of Swizerland and travelled mostly on the motorway past Luzerne and Basel to Mulhouse just over the border in France.

Switzerland

2009-05-25T02:40:00.005+10:00

Top of the Semplon Pass Switzerland

Advisers meeting Switzerland

Furka car train

Bev at dinner Seelisberg

Italy

2009-05-22T21:37:00.012+10:00

Leaning Tower Pisa

Monastry with two Chevrolets near Lago Maggiore

Garlenda welcome

Carabineri stop for a photo near Genoa

Wilmy, Sandro, Lang, Bev at Garlenda dinner.

Garlenda speeches and presentations

Early morning Urbino Tuscany from camp site.

We arrived in Ancona, Italy at 1pm Saturday 16 May after a 21 hour trip in the ferry. We were met at the dock by Herman Pfauter who is travelling to Normandy with us in his 1941 1 ½ ton Chevrolet truck and Andrea a member of the local Military Club who had contacted us by e-mail several months ago.

As it was still early in the day we decided to travel up the coast a little way. Our first choice of camp site was not open until June so we pressed on to Urbino. This was a bonus, not on our itinerary, as it is an ancient walled city with spectacular winding, hilly streets with shops, cafes and spectacular churches. It was used as a university town for foriegners and is still fully occupied and full of life.

From there we had more mountainous roads as we drove to Scarperia where the Italian Military Vehicle people had arranged for all the vehicles to be assembled in the middle of this Tuscany town of the Medicis. We stayed there for several hours inspecting the castle/museum day until most had arrived and then we paraded through the town to our camp site. Later in the evening the local members, led by Fillipo, came with cartons of beer and a even with some language barriers a good time was had by all. We thank all the members for their hospitality.

Leaving early on Monday morning we had some mountainous and incredibly scenic roads, over to Pisa on the western coast. Some of our vehicles elected to travel on the motorways and others on the secondary roads. We are really pleased with our choice of vehicle for the trip as it is handling the mountainous roads well and we are getting a reasonable fuel consumption. Also with our tent our sleeping arrangements are very comfortable.

Some of the group got up early and caught the train to Florence and spent a few hours seeing the sights and came back to their vehicles to catch the rest of the group in Pisa. As we are not moving great distances each day we are allowing people to make side trips if they wish with plenty of time for catching up.

We stayed in a camp site just 1km from the Leaning Tower, so it was an easy walk to go and see the sights. In the morning we all packed up early and, with the vehicles, tried to get the classic photo in front of the tower before anyone was out and about. A police car was parked in front with two attractive police women, and Lang approached them to ask permission for us all to park. I was already taking photos and all the other vehicles were arriving. They said it was not possible, as everyone jumped out clicking madly. Lang made the announcement, very slowly, for everyone to get back in their cars as soon as possible as we were not allowed to be parked there! There was plenty of good humour and Lang delighted in clipping two koalas to the police officers' (well filled) top pockets. Having completed a successful photo shoot, everyone packed up and headed for our next destination of Garlenda via Genoa and 123 tunnels.

We advised the group to stay on the motorway as we had a fair distance around the Gulf of Genoa and the Italian Riveria to Galenda, which wasn't even on any of our maps. Two year ago this had been our destination in the Fiat 500 for the 50^th anniversay of the Bambino, and the wonderful reception we had from the local people was fondly remembered.

Once again Sandro Scarpa offered to look after our camping arrangements and organise a dinner for the group. Little did we realise what an unforgettable experience we were about to have.

We arrived in town to a banner across the street welcoming the ANZAC group, and down the road at the Fiat museum there was another banner welcoming Lang and Bev back after two years. This set the scene for more to come. At 6pm we all assembled at the camping site and the local brass band then led a parade of the smaller vehicles, with everyone piled in and hanging off the sides, up into town and to the Fiat 500 museum. The President of the club (of 20,000 members) who had come from Genoa and the deputy mayor of Galenda were there to greet us and show us through the impressive musem. Also present was Domenico Romano who was the founding member of the Fiat 500 Club and began the club's association with Garlenda 26 years ago which made this tiny village headquarters of the largest motor club in the world.

We then went the short distance to the tennis club where we were entertained by more more music from the band while we had cocktails in the sunshine. We then went inside to beautifully laid tables where we started our meal with cold meats, then a dish of pasta followed by veal and potato crouquettes and finally a delicious dessert and coffee. We also had as much wine as we desired.

Sandro is very involved with the Slow Food Movement, which encourages the use of seasonal local produce and the menu he had chosen reflected this.

We spent the night as guests of Wilmy and Sandro and again thank them for their hospitality, and the very memorable visit to a place that may not be on a map but we will all remember with a great deal of fondness.

Back on the road we travelled next day to Torino. We camped not far from the city centre which enabled the people from the group to see this lovely Northern Italian town.

We are now further north on the shores of Lake Maggiore where we are spending two nights and giving everyone time to catch up on their domestic chores and some vehicle maintenance.

We have had a few minor break downs in various vehicles, but nothing that has held anyone up for too long and hopefully we are all geared for the Swiss Alps in the next few days.

Crete to Ancona

2009-05-16T17:18:00.012+10:00

Fisherman -Venetian Harbour Iraklion Crete

Private battlefield relic collection Askafou crete

Police drag illegal immigrant stowawy from the back of chev on Patra ferry.

Vehicles lined up at ferry Piraeus Athens

Lang and Bev compulsory tourist photo Athens

Bev counts out EU10,000 at ferry Pireaus.

Bertie's Mediterranean cruise.

Bertie toughs it out at breakfast Sfakia Crete.

While we were at Sfakia nine of us hired a water taxi which dropped us off down the coast 35 minutes away at the Samaria Gorge. The mountains come right down to the sea and there is no continuous south coast road. As we had limited time and the gorge is usually walked the entire 18 kms we only were only able to cover the first part of this spectacular chasm in the National Park but managed to get to a very narrow area and experience some magnificent scenery.

When we left Sfakia we travelled east along the winding south coast road and then took a different route north back to Iraklion. Crete is quite a rugged mountainous windswept island but that gives it its own charm. The weather was beautiful and we travelled in shirtsleves in bright sunshine while looking at the snow-clad peaks above. There are herds of goats and mountain sheep often on the roadway or a small herd being looked after by a shepherd.

While in Iraklion most of us went to the ruins at Knosos which date back to 1600BC. Not a great deal is understood of this ancient progressive civilisation. Although considerable restorations were done in the 1800's that have received a lot of critisism it is all still very impressive.

Late in the afternoon on Wednesday 13 May we again boarded the ferry for the overnight trip back to Athens. Lang and I treated ourselves to a cabin but half of our group opted to sleep in airline seats or on the floor.

When we arrived back in Athens we had two vehicles with mechanical troubles. The Mottram's Chev 3 tonner with a broken spring, but still mobile and the Hedge's Ford ute with an undiagnosed electrical problem. Fortunately no one seemed to mind that a few of us just stayed on the wharf to try and sort out these problems.

After many hours work replacing the distributor and spark plugs all seemed to be well and we took off to our next destination at Patra. The Ford did not make it off the wharf and sucumbed to more electrical problems. The ferry's captain came to their rescue (in his 1942 Willys Jeep!) and was able to ring an auto electrician who spent many more hours getting the vehicle on the road again. The Chev was not able to source a new spring but is still managing to keep up with everyone.

We have been lucky with our camp sites as we are at the beginning of the season and nothing is crowded at present and also, European campsites seem all to have very good facilities, with mini markets and good restaurants.

On Friday afternoon we were all assembled once again on the wharf, this time in Patra for our trip over to Ancona, Italy. There was a bit of excitement when the Mottram's on their way to the port had some illegal immigrants try to jump into the back of his truck as they had slowed down. One got on board at some traffic lights and hid in the back of their truck but they were alerted by other motorists tooting horns.

Then as Lang was boarding the ferry and customs were doing a search, Lang was confidently telling them we had nothing in the back of our vehicle when an ankle was spotted poking out of our bedding and a young fellow was hauled out. Everyone was more than a little surprised as the vehicles had been under watch by our group the whole time we were waiting on the dock. During that time police had flushed out half a dozen stowaways up under the trays of semi-trailers also waiting to board with us. I missed out on all the excitement but Leisa Ward was close by and got some great pictures.

We are now on board the ferry and leaving Greece behind and we will land in Ancona Italy at 1pm Saturday. We are looking forward to meeting the Italian Military Vehicle people and the German/American addition to our convoy of our old friend Herman Pfauter in his 1942 Chevrolet.

CRETE

2009-05-12T01:03:00.001+10:00

Evacuation memorial Sfakia Crete

Leaving our beachside camping ground we set out for Volos. A few people
chose to take the ferry and run down the eastern peninsula while the rest
went along the main road towards Athens.

We passed Thermopoli where General Vasey's Australian troops held the
German assault for two days. He was just one of a long list of commanders
who had held this narrow strip between mountain and sea against invaders.

We soon arrived in what was the chaos of Athens traffic to find our way to
the only camping ground in the city. Amazingly almost everyone arrived
unscathed and the GPS was praised far and wide throughout the night.

Early next morning Lang and I went by bus and train to the Acropolis and
had seen what we wanted just in time to greet the first of hundreds of
tour buses disgorging their hordes of tourists. Around lunchtime everyone
packed up and we headed down to Piraeus, the port for Athens. We were
booked on a 2000 departure ferry arriving in Heraklion Crete at 0530 the
next morning.

Unfortunately I had to become banker after half an hour at the ticket
window trying to sort out numerous changes to ferry bookings. They would
only take cash in one lump sum (of several thousand Euros) so I set up
office in the Chevrolet cabin while people peeled of wads of money and a
few of the boys stood guard.

Eventually they allowed us on board the ANEK Lines ferry to Crete. Despite
lots of shouting and hand waving by the ship's crew we soon had all the
vehicles snugly parked in corners of the vehicle deck, surrounded by semi
trailers. A few people booked cabins while others chose aircraft style
seats. I suspect there will be quite a few more cabins booked for the
return journey!

Driving in line off the ferry at Heraklion in the early morning light,
Lang led the way to two small pinnacle hills – called "The Charlies" for
obvious reasons by Australian soldiers defending the airfield below. It
only took an hour to round up the lost vehicles at the top of the hill
after the 3km journey.

Lang gave us a talk on the successful defence of Heraklion airfield by the
allied defenders from the German Paratroops then everyone drove down into
town to do shopping, refuel etc before meeting at a prearranged point in
two hours. Lang and I had completed all this administration in Athens
before departure so we went into the ancient Venetian port and had coffee
and toasted sandwiches on the waterfront.

There had been some comments about travelling in a military style convoy
instead of our free-running system so, to prove a point, Lang made Crete a
full convoy operation. Setting out from our Heraklion meeting point we
went up the old road to the west. We chose this as the more interesting of
the two, avoiding the new coast road. There was a continuos snapping of
cameras and oohs and aahs as we wound slowly up switchback roads through
the mountains. The views of snow covered peaks and glassy blue
Mediterranean Sea we absolutely spectacular.

Despite our Chev spending much time in second gear to allow the trucks to
keep up on the steep climbs we had several waits for convoy breaks and
people were discovery it was not an easy way to travel.

3 out of the 15 vehicles arrived at the lovely beachside restaurant to
talk about Colonel Cambel's brilliant defence of the Rethimnon airstrip by
his Australian troops (not far from where we sat). The other vehicles were
"somewhere" in Crete, no doubt enjoying themselves!

We arrived at a pretty olive-grove camp site in Chania to be greeted
during the next few hours by small groups of very high spirited, if
navigationally challenged, convoy members. Piling into the smaller
vehicles we all headed into town to the 1,000 year old port to have dinner
beneath a full moon at a waterfront restaurant. A number of vehicles had
unannounced tours of the city before arriving back at camp in top form.

Next morning we set off to look at the key battlefield of the Crete
campaign, Maleme airfield. Driving along a straight road for 15km we had
as many as 50% of the convoy arriving at Hill 107. While the tail enders
joined us the others waited in the lovely German war Cemetary on top of
the hill overlooking the airfield. Lang gave us a 30 minute overview of
the New Zealanders' savage battles with German airborne troops before we
returned to the vehicles to retrace our steps east.

Arriving at Souda Bay we found the war cemetary like all other
Commonwealth War Graves around the world, wonderfully laid out and
maintained. It is here several thousand allied soldiers, sailors and
airmen, killed in the Crete campaign are buried. A few of the women had
bought flowers and these were placed on both particular graves and the
main memorial.

By this time, even the most ardent convoy supporters realised we were in
trouble. A military style convoy requires high levels of established
procedures, discipline and common sense. We had been very successful up to
this stage with free running and all agreed it was the way to go, with
individuals and small groups stopping where they wanted to get the
absolute most out of the trip.

The Chevrolet set off to travel to Sfakia on the south coast and soon we
were in winding mountain roads, the likes of which we had never seen
before. Up and down thousands of feet with the vehicle occasionaly down to
first gear. The views were absolutely without equal but we were always
aware that this was the road tens of thousands of starving troops walked
while being straffed and bombed, to get to the evacuation point.

We wound down from the mountains directly into the tiny villge port of
Sfakia. Its harbour, no bigger than a football field evacuated thousands
of soldiers over 5 nights – all rowed out to destroyers and other ships.
They had to get away before light to avoid the German bombers who strongly
attacked sinking many ships and costing the lives of 2,200 sailors on top
of the thousands of soldiers who had already died.

We soon found out it was forty kilometres over more winding road to the
expected camping site. Lang, seeing a sign on one of the small whitewashed
hotels went in and negotiated a bulk deal with Stavros for thirty people
in waterfront balconied rooms for the same cost as the camp ground. Not
only that we got free drinks and 10% off all meals.

When the mob started filtering in, saw the absolutely clear water, tiny
village with its couple of hotels and waterfront tables, all thought of
camping went out the window. My suggestion that we move on instead of the
two planned nights here put me in serious danger of lynching.

There was some small worry about vehicle security but the local policeman
said crime was non-existant in the town. Lang asked the good-looking girl
in the bakery if we could use their next-door car park and as she was
Stavros's cousin she readily agreed.

The memorial to the soldiers evacuated from the port was looking a little
sad so Lang had Stavros's second-cousin ring the mayor (Stavros's uncle)
and within minutes two fellows arrived with ladders put new ropes on the
flagpoles and pulled up Greek, British, Australian and New Zealand flags.
All the vehicles were parked alongside for photos.

Gallipoli to Mount Olympus

2009-05-07T00:10:00.006+10:00

Lang and Bev Gallipoli

Gallipoli Turkish memorial

Alexandroupolis and in to Greece

Early in the morning the whole team left our camp at Kum Hotel near Kapatepe and assembled at ANZAC Cove for a photo shoot. We managed to have the whole place to ourselves and got some nice photos of all the vehicles lined up together for the first time. Well known Gallipoli features such as the Sphinx and North Beach formed the background to our shots.

Three couples with their vehicles decided to stay on the Peninsular and the rest of us headed for the Turkish – Greek Border. We had to go through four checkpoints on the Turkish side and one on the Greek side. Other than it was pouring rain, all went very smoothly.

We had an overnight in Alexandroupoli where most of the group decided to stay out of the rain in a motel and we stayed in a beach front campsite with the self contained truck owners and braved the down pour.

From Alexandroupoli we had an easy day down the highway to Keramoti where we boarded a ferry that took us over to Thasos Island. Lang and I had been to the island previously and thought this would be the perfect spot to enjoy two days of typical Greek scenery and hospitality away from the cities and highways. On our free day we went exploring and climbed a hill at the back of Thasos town to see a 2nd century amphitheatre and Lang managed to get to the top where there was a medieval castle.

Most of the group fanned out in all different directions and some of the brave even hired motor scooters to do their sightseeing.

Some of us left the island by a different ferry direct to Kavala while the others went back by the slightly cheaper original ferry to Keramoti to cut us off on the highway. I had trouble finding any of the camping sites around Thessaloniki open so early for the summer so we opted to drive the extra distance (about 300km) and camp two nights at the foot of Mount Olympus.

It appears that because the weather hasn't been so great so far this season along with the economic downturn a lot of seasonal camping areas have elected to delay their opening until well into May. The upside of longer daily runs is that we are finding two nights in the one spot is great for running mechanical repairs, more thorough sight-seeing and the usual domestic chores. It is nice not to have to pack up every morning.

On our free day near Mount Olympus, Lang and I drove up an amazing switch-back road to the little village of Karya where we had a great lunch of fresh salad and char grilled lamb, so close to the snow covered peak. This remote, narrow laned, village is closed off by snow for many months of the year and the 2 or 3 little bar/coffee shops were full of old boys playing with their worry beads while chatting, smoking or playing cards. We created quite a spectacle in our old Chev and after reading the Greek translation of our journey they welcomed us profusely.

Again our camp site was beach front, and on the first night, although the restaurant was not operating, the pizza man was able to satisfy our appetites with beautiful hot pizzas straight from the oven. We even had an impromptu musical recital from Sam Cutajar on his saxaphone and a fairly tunefully woeful but energetic sing along.

Today was an easy run of 150 kms to another beach site campsite outside Volos. This is the best camp site yet – parked on fresh grass beneath 400 year old olive trees 20 metres from the water. We have been so lucky that any rain we have had seems to be on our motoring days and the sun shines on our relaxing sightseeing days.

All the vehicles are running well, with just general maintenance being done. We have our fingers crossed that this pattern continues.

Istanbul and Gallipoli

2009-05-04T03:52:00.010+10:00

Line-up North Beach ANZAC

Lone Pine memorial

Bev in Istanbul

View of North Beach and The Sphinx Gallipoli

The containers are opened Istanbul port.

ANZAC Cove

Lang and I arrived in Istanbul on Saturday at 6pm after 24 hours
travelling. Three couples had already arrived and the rest of the group
arrived over the next three days.

On Sunday we had the luxury of one day sightseeing in this beautiful
exotic city, and then it was to work.

First thing Monday morning Lang and the drivers who had arrived early went
off to the Maritime office with all their vehicle paper work and wads of
money to secure their release forms for the containers that had been
unloaded from the ship five days previously.

A group of women and I went to work to source the 3rd party insurance
required for Turkey and not covered by our European Green Card Insurance.
With the help of the hotel reception staff we made several phone calls to
various insurance companies and had lots of waiting for ten minutes for
the return call, which inevitably turned into well over half an hour.
Three hours later we received the message "sorry these vehicles are just
too old to insure, can't be done!" In desperation we went to the Turkish
Motoring Club who gave us an address and again all drivers with their
clutch of paperwok headed off to be processed.

On Tuesday early a string of taxis with a group of expectant travellers
went off to the wharf to hopefully see their vehicles for the first time
in two months. Lang had asked our shipping agent if we could have a
special dispensation and unpack the containers on the wharf to save extra
charges. Fortunately they had granted us this arrangement. So from early
morning the wheels turned ever so slowly but with no major hiccups. When I
rang Lang at 7pm he told me they were all lined up at the entrance to the
wharf and after a short ferry trip across the Bosphorus they drove into a
car park we had organised nearby the hotel.

As everything had gone so well we were 3 days ahead of our program. We
decided that as everyone had their vehicle and there was a lot of anxiety
in the group about travelling in Istanbul the best thing would be to get
the show on the road. So on Wednesday we packed up and headed to Gallipoli
Peninsula where we stayed for two nights and tested our camping
arrangements for the first time.

The departure was done on the planned basis of a short briefing then each
person proceeding to the destination at their own pace. Lang and I left
Istanbul at what was "gentleman's hours" for us but several vehicles were
still being packed. We rescued a vehicle out of fuel 3 kilometres from the
start! Proceeding at our leisurely pace we arrived at our planned campsite
at Kapatepe just south of ANZAC Cove to find it closed despite confirmed
reservations.

Recovering the situation, we found a very nice camp ground 4 kilometres
further south and set up camp at 1630. At 2130 NOBODY had arrived! Slowly,
little groups started arriving, the last coming in at midnight after
completing only 250km from Istanbul. A huge lesson on time and motion was
learnt by the team. Moral was very high despite the late arrivals and
several drivers are awaiting their Victoria Crosses for their journey
through Istanbul.

Gallipoli National Park is the first significant stop for what is a
sightseeing cum battlefield trip from Istanbul, Turkey to Normandy,
France.

At many of the memorials that dot the whole area the scaffolding was being
dismantled following the ANZAC day celebrations. The whole area is
beautifully maintained and we should be very grateful to the Turkish
people who embrace their enemies memories equally with their own.

Mustafa Kemel Ataturk said in 1934

"Those heroes that shed their blood and died and lost their lives
you are now living in our soil of a friendly country, therefore rest in
peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where
they lie side by side now here in this country of ours.

You the mothers who sent their sons from fareaway countries wipe away your
tears your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.

After having lost their lives on the land they have become our sons as well."

The two nights on Gallipoli gave everyone a full day to drive the area.
After the wet run from Istanbul we were rewarded by the most perfect sunny
day. Far into the evening one could see 60 year old Australian and New
Zealand vehicles cruising up to Lone Pine, ANZAC Cove and dozens of other
significant points from 1915.

3 of the vehicles felt they must see even more and decided to stay an
extra night and do a double day to catch the rest later. This pleased us
greatly as we always wanted people to do their own thing with minimum
guidance from us and to find a few willing to break away at this early
stage showed some initiative was growing already. There will be a few who
never leave the flock but most appear keen to delay or divert from time to
time to get the absolute most out of the trip.

At this stage it seems we have a pretty happy and compatible group and
have high hopes of a fun journey.

Bev

Participants

2009-04-23T12:53:00.044+10:00

Potsy, Zeb and Ken Victoria

Jenny and Ray, New Zealand

Marilyn and Tony, New Zealand

Jim and Sandy, Western Australia

Dale and Karen, Queensland

Rene, Belguim and Hans, NSW

Dave and Maggie, Victoria

John, South Australia

Mark and Herman, USA

Fiona and John, NSW

Anne and Robert, Queensland

Nigel and Leisa, Queensland

Lorraine and Sam, South Australia

Lang and Bev, Queensland

Graeme and Mick, NSW

Karen and Mike, Queensland

Seems everyone is keeping records of the trip. It will be very interesting comparing reports!

http://www.sewellnormandy.blogspot.com/
http://www.sydney-normandy-2009.blogspot.com/
http://www.anzacconvoy.blogspot.com/

ANZAC Convoy Program and Route

2009-04-21T08:45:00.007+10:00



Date	From	To	Distance	Hours	Notes

May-01	Istanbul	Gallipoli	270	5.5	Starting from Selimpassa Camp to Gallipoli National Park camp site
2	Gallipoli	Layday			Day in Gallipoli. Can take 15min ferry to Canakkale and Troy and return if desired.
3	Gallipoli	Alexandropolis	187	3.5	Enter Greece
4	Alexandropolis	Thassos	130	2.5	Get 30min ferry from Keramoti. Stay in one of several beachside camp grounds
5	Thassos	Layday			Day off on rugged island of Thassos. Spectacular views and great seafood.
6	Thassos	Thessalonika	230	4.5	1hr ferry trip to Kavalla then on to the pretty second city of Greece.
7	Thessalonika	Volos	222	4.5	Via magnificent scenic route past Mount Olympus
8	Volos	Athens/Piraeus	292	6	Board ferry to Crete at 2000. Arrive Iraklion 0630.
9	Iraklion	Chania	125	2.5	Lunch at Rethimnon. Outdoor café dinner on ancient harbour wall.
10	Chania	Sfakia	95	2	Morning Maleme airfield/war graves then mountain drive south coast evacuation point.
11	Sfakia	Chania/Suda	105	2	Walk up spectacular gorge, winding drive to Souda (Main Crete war Cemetary)
12	Souda	Iraklion	125	2.5	Explore ancient harbour town and lost city of Knossos.
13	Iraklion	Iraklion	148	3	Drive the beautiful coast - lunch at Agios-Nikolaos. Return to ferry at 2100/ Piraeus at 0630
14	Piraeus/Athens	Korinthos	60	1	Day exploring Athens then short drive over Corinth Canal to camp site.
15	Korinthos	Patra	120	2.5	Relaxed costal drive. Visit ANZAC evacuation ports. Board ferry at 1700/ Ancona 1300
16	Ancona	Layday			Arrive 1300 rest and explore. Meet up with Italian Military Vehicle Club members.
17	Ancona	Scarperia	200	4	Cross Italian mountain spine to Scarperia. Picturesque Tuscan village 20kms from Florence.
18	Scarperia	Pisa	82	1.5	Sightseeing Florence and Pisa.
19	Pisa	Garlenda	268	5.5	One of the most beautiful coastal drives in the world. Garlenda village welcome.
20	Garlenda	Turin	180	2.5	Pretty drive to probably the nicest big city of the whole trip.
21	Turin	Feriolo	160	2.5	Drive up the picture-postcard Lake Maggiore. Camp ground on the lake waterfront.
22	Feriola	Layday			Day off to catch up on washing, shopping, sightseeing and swimming.
23	Verbano	Seelisberg	200	5	Winding Semplon Pass, Furka underground railway, Seelisberg mountain-top lake camp.
24	Seelisberg	Mulhouse	160	3	Three great museums - Automobile, Firefighters and Railways.
25	Mulhouse	Verdun	250	5	Enter France
26	Verdun	Layday			Visit the Citadel, untouched WW1 battle sites and French National War Memorial.
27	Verdun	Bois de Boulogne	280	5	Night visit to Paris if desired
28	Bois de Boulogne	Layday			Paris day. Drive or catch train. Visit French Military Club large workshops.
29	Bois de Boulogne	Bagnoles de L'Orne	170	3.5	Beautiful small spa town nestled in forested hills.
30	Bagnoles de L'Orne	Pontorson	80	1.5	Straight on to Mont St Michel (9kms) for day before returning to camp.
31	Pontorson	Periers	60	1	Nice drive to Peter Tomb's farm. Clean-up. Look at Peter's collection, BBQ
1-Jun	Periers	Etreham	50	1	Join British MVT at campground.
2 - 7 Jun					Normandy Activities
8	Etreham	Dieppe	220	4.5	Via coast road and outstanding scenery.
9	Dieppe	Villers-Bretonneux	100	2	Australian national War Memorial.
10	Villers- Bretonneux	Amiens	130	2.5	Ancient cathedral town. Many war cemetaries and museums enroute
11	Amiens	Eiper/Ypres	180	3.5	Canadian Memorial Vimy Ridge, tunnels. Last Post/ Lowering of Australian flag Eiper Menin Gate
12	Eiper/Ypres	Zeebrugge	60	1	Loading, customs etc. expected 1-2 days before train to Brussels or Paris etc for trip home.

The Start Of The Adventure

2009-04-21T08:27:00.003+10:00

Well, after only 12 months from inception, there are now 15 restored World War Two vehicles sitting on the dock in Istanbul awaiting our arrival, appropriately on ANZAC Day.

I must say that the administration to get to this stage was considerably more than anticipated (you would think we would know by now!) and a number of bureaucratic hurdles were placed in our path that had been clear runs on previous expeditions.

Unfortunately, while the rest of the Western World is achieving something of a streamlining of administration in international customs and movement, Australia is descending into a growing morass of mindless regulations and employing an expanding army of lethargic public servants who have the efficient operation of the business of the nation as the furtherest thing from their minds.

Anyhow, as they say, we didn't let the b....ds beat us and are on our way. Bev, as always, carried the brunt of the burden and, while I cast aspersions on some Canberra mental-pygmy's parentage, she calmly chained herself to the computer and carried on. Bev, has only half her baggage allowance as the rest is taken up with vast amounts of paperwork and files required to take 15 vehicles and 35 people on a trip across Europe from Australia.

The variety of vehicles, 13 from Australia and 2 from New Zealand, is wonderful. We, have 5 Jeeps and also 3 Canadian Pattern Chevrolet "Blitzs", a Ford and a Chevrolet utility (pick-up), Chevrolet 1 1/2 ton, Studebaker 6X6, Chevrolet 3 ton, Dodge weapon carrier and Harley Davidson motorcycle.

All these vehicles have an Australian or New Zealand history and carry their full wartime markings.

This web site has been changed from our previous set-up and may need a little tweaking so bear with us while the glitches are sorted. Quite a number of other trip members are doing blogs and putting up photos and as these become available we will let you know the blog addresses.

OUR NEXT EXPEDITION!

2007-12-13T08:26:00.008+11:00

Anzac convoy to 65th D-Day celebrations in Normandy, France.

(The team is now full)

Bev and Lang will lead 15 restored World War 2 military vehicles shipped from Australia and New Zealand to Istanbul, Turkey. The convoy (very loose with people able to do their own thing) will then visit ANZAC Cove on Gallipoli before travelling to Greece. All the vehicles will go to Crete to see the WW2 battlefields before returning by ferry to Athens. They will then drive through Greece, across to Italy and all the way north to Switzerland.

After crossing France to Normandy, the Australian and New Zealand vehicles will join 3,000 others spread out in delightful camping grounds for a week in this beautiful countryside. Leaving Normandy they will travel into Belgium to see the WW1 battlefields before shipping the vehicles home.

Bev and Lang will coordinate all the shipping, camping etc. All the participants are expecting to have a great adventure on a wonderful 4,500km journey from 1 May 09 until late June. It is not all military but a fabulous European trip at a leisurely pace going off the beaten track. in our 65 year old vehicles. The arrival of the Anzac convoy in Normandy will be a highlight of one of the world's great historic vehicle gatherings.

How to Read the Full Story of the Fiat Trip

2007-11-20T07:49:00.003+11:00

The entire daily trip notes and stories as well as all the photos can be brought up by going to the "Archives" on the top right of this text (You might have to scroll up a little).
There you will find each month listed. Click on the month and every entry and photograph for the month will pop up.
Note. The entries for each month start at the BOTTOM of the page and each entry is on top of the next.
If you click on a photo they will pop up full size.
If anyone wants to use any of the written text or photos (non-commercial eg club newsletters or magazines) we are normally happy for that - just send an email to tell us where you are going to use it.

Lang and Bev

2007-09-04T14:58:00.000+10:00

Anchorage 3 sep 2007

2007-09-04T14:56:00.000+10:00

As our last report stated. WE HAVE MADE IT!!!!

We had a great drive from Tok, our last overnight stop, before arriving in
Anchorage mid-afternoon on Saturday 1st September, 99 days out of
Vladivostok.

The drive yielded more magnificent scenery, three glaciers reasonably
close up, the spectacular Matanuska Valley and many small lakes with the
last of the birdlife getting ready for their migration to the south.

Today is Labour Day here in North America, and it seems this is regarded
as the end of summer. A lot of shops and attractions close in the next few
weeks for the long winter period.

Anchorage is quite an expensive place and some of the motels we first
checkedt, didn't quite live up to the description in our travel book. We
luckily happened on a very nice apartment that had changed to winter rates
and we feel we are in a home away from home, and a far nicer way to end
the trip.

Now to the star of our trip, our Bambino.
The smallest car to ever go around the world.
The cutest car imaginable (actually voted the sexiest car ever, last year).
The car that has put a smile (or even an outright laugh) on so many
peoples' faces.
The car that has introduced us to so many wonderful people in so many
countries whether we had a common language or not.

We have had some other assistance on this trip. As a radiographer I have
had to upgrade my skills regularly as technology races along, but this
trip has seen quite a steep learning curve. Unlike many of our previous
trips we went hi tech this time. With us we had a lap top fitted with WiFi
, Skype phone and the ability to download onto a flash drive. We also had
an I Pod which we could plug into the car radio so we could both listen to
our downloaded music. Along with cameras and phones all this required a
huge bag of connections to keep everything fully charged.

Our greatest assistance though came from Penelope (she is of British
heritage). Lang calls her the best marriage guidance councilor of all
time. She remained unruffled while being abused, for she did have her
failings, but she had the ability to remain calm at all time and just tell
us she is recalculating or alternatively she could be turned off at the
press of a button. We have become very fond of our companion and I am not
the least bit jealous, I would strongly recommend a similar GPS to all
travelling couples.

I must admit home is beckoning, but we have a few administrative things to
attend to regarding the shipping of the Bambino back home and also
returning ourselves, hopefully by the end of the week.

The trip I guess is not complete until we drive the Fiat back into the
driveway at home, but that could be almost another two months. For Lang
and I though, psychologically we have cleared the final hurdle.

Einstein posed the question
"Is it a Friendly Universe?" and our trip has definitely enforced the
answer as ,YES.

He also said "All time is now" and I believe that is what travel is all
about. It takes you out of the everyday routine – the leaden weight of
routine, the fetters of habit, the cloak of cares and slavery of home. It
allows you to experience the here and now, whether that is the people or
the experiences of Siberia, Europe, or Northern America.

I have just finished reading "The Secret" by Australian author Rhonda
Byrne. What a powerful but very simple message it portrays. Something that
I have heard Lang express for the whole 39yrs we have been together –
always be positive, there is always a way to make things happen.

And while into the quotations I will end with one of Lang's favorites from
Robert Louis Stevenson

I travel not to go anywhere
But to go
I travel for travel's sake
The great affair is to move.

Bev

2007-09-04T14:48:00.000+10:00

2007-09-04T14:46:00.000+10:00

2007-09-04T14:43:00.000+10:00

Anchorage, Alaska 1 Sep 2007

2007-09-03T04:16:00.000+10:00

WE MADE IT!

99 days Vladivostok to Anchorage

17 countries

31,123 kilometres/ 19,338 miles

2,070 litres/ 546 US Gallons of fuel

2007-09-02T02:09:00.000+10:00

2007-09-02T02:04:00.001+10:00

2007-09-02T01:58:00.000+10:00

2007-09-02T01:50:00.000+10:00

Alaska 31 Aug 2007

2007-09-02T01:46:00.001+10:00

Our intention to continue up the standard route to Alaska was changed at
the last minute. We had previously tried to get a spot on the Alaska
Marine Highway ferry that runs from Prince Rupert to Skagway up the inland
waterway but were told it was booked out. I was quite disappointed, as was
Lang who was very keen to drive up the famous White Pass to Whitehorse. We
made a late night final call and got a spot!

Instead of heading north along the ALCAN Highway we headed over 800km west
to Prince Rupert on the Yellowhead Road through the mountains and lakes to
the sea and there boarded the MV Matanuska late on Tuesday night. We
tucked our Bambino into the hold for a well-earned rest and we adjourned
to our cabin on the next deck. Although we traveled due north and got no
closer to Anchorage, we disembarked after two very relaxing nights and one
full day, which made for a great birthday present for me.

It was a fabulous experience, on a truly beautiful waterway. The first
part of the trip was wet but it did fine up later in the day in time to
see a Humpback whale putting on a display especially for us. At each
fishing village stop you are allowed to disembark just for the time it
takes for the unloading and loading of the vehicles. Now, as it is the end
of the summer holiday period, the numbers are well down and I think there
were more crew than paying passengers.

An interesting happening was the refund of $169 at the ticket office. We
had been booked on in the "Smallest Car" category, which is 11 to 14 feet.
Everyone gets measured on boarding and, when they found we were only 9" 8"
long, they could not find a car category so concluded that we were a
"Motorcycle".

As well as being able to experience both the Alaskan Waterways and the
Alaskan Highway we did in particular want to visit Skagway and the White
Pass to learn more about the part it played in the 1897 Klondike goldrush.
As many as 50,000 people arrived at Skagway over the next two years and
then in unbelievably harsh conditions either treked over the Chilcot Pass
from Dyea or straight out of Skagway over the White Pass. Jack London said
the common name was "Dead Horse Pass" and graphic photos show piles of
some of the 3,000 horses worked to death carrying supplies up the frozen,
rock-strewn gorge.

Even though it is still summer now the weather is cold with lots of fog on
the mountains. It took three months in the dead of winter for those
stampeders to reach the Yukon goldfields inland near Whitehorse. In an
amazing engineering effort a single narrow gauge railway was later built
to connect the two towns and this is still used to take tourists for the
trip up the gorge.

The town of Skagway is maintained as a frontier town with wooden
boardwalks and all shops with old-fashioned facades. For nine months of
the year it is a cold tiny village. But for 3 months of summer it is a
full-on tourist town and during our visit there were four cruise ships in
the narrow fiord so, the long main street was crowded with hundreds of
tourists.

The scenery was fantastic and the little Fiat staggered up the slopes
trodden by thousands of hopefuls as we went up the Klondike Road and
linked back onto the Alaskan Highway. The snow capped mountains, the
forests, the lakes, the wildflowers and the wildlife just continues to
amaze. We had to slow for our fifth bear of the trip crossing the road in
front of us. While we were travelling through Northern British Columbia
and the Yukon we kept commenting how the forest area looked so much like
Siberia. This really surprises the local people in Canada but,looking at a
map, the two countries are not so far apart.

Soon after boarding the boat in Port Rupert we passed into Alaska and then
on the way up the White Pass we crossed back into Canada to spend another
two days travelling the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. Late today, just
before Tok we reentered Alaska, which had already been marked off, as our
16th American State. Crossing the border between USA and Canada involves
little more than a 30 second passing of the time of day with the
respective customs officers.

Some mention should be made of one of the greatest unsung engineering
feats of all time – the Alaska Canada (ALCAN) Highway. In 1942 the
American Army began construction (before the Canadian Parliament had
approved their presence) of a road as long as Seattle to San Diego or
Brisbane to Melbourne to get supplies to Alaska for the also forgotten war
against the Japanese in the Aleutian Island chain.

Starting from several points, 30,000 soldiers and 20,000 American and
Canadian civilians began carving a path through frozen swamps, forests and
lakes, over hundreds of rivers and several mountain ranges. At the rate of
8 miles a day the road was good enough in around three months for the
first trucks to start rolling. Photos of the troops staggering through
waist deep mud, bulldozers sinking and trucks being washed away – all in
sub-zero temperatures, remind one of the Egyptian slaves building the
pyramids! The road today is a fast, smooth sealed two lane affair but many
monuments along the way remind travelers of those forgotten heroes.

The Bambino has only one more day to go before we roll into Anchorage. For
the last few days we have been leaving oil behind us which, if the ground
is wet, creates quite a trail. Lang thinks he knows what seal is leaking
but at this stage it is easier to keep the oil filled rather than do a
major overhaul.

Bev

2007-08-27T15:10:00.000+10:00

2007-08-27T14:53:00.000+10:00

2007-08-27T14:49:00.000+10:00

2007-08-27T14:42:00.000+10:00

Prince George British Columbia 26 aug 2007

2007-08-27T14:36:00.001+10:00

We have been covering quite a bit of ground again in the last few days,
and are at present in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.

California was left behind after 8 days. Driving north through the
redwoods of California, and Oregon we entered the beautiful waterway
areas of coastal Washington. The magnificent Columbia River and rugged
coastline around Crescent City were indeed spectacular. Washington was our
15th state in America, with Alaska still to go.

In Port Townsend, on the peninsular opposite Seattle, we met up with Eric
Durfey, who we first met when he did the electrical outfitting on the Vimy
back in 1993. Eric has recently purchased a 100 year old 40' wooden boat
just perfect for the surrounding area. He is currently moving from his
fantastic home in the woods to a house in town but we did manage to spend
a couple of wonderful sunsets on the deck he has built on the cliff above
the ocean overlooking the surrounding islands.

Lang had been concerned about the Bambino's alternator for some time so
took advantage of having some experts around with the equipment to remove
and repair the bearing. Eric and he removed the alternator and had it back
(well overhauled) from the very helpful auto electrician late in the
afternoon. The car now does not sound as though there are a dozen parrots
trapped under the engine lid.

Early on Friday morning we travelled to Port Angeles and caught a ferry
that took one and half hours to Victoria on Vancouver Island, and entered
Canada. Our passports were stamped when we landed and that was the only
formality required.

From there it was just a short trip to Sidney and a wonderful meeting
with my father's 93 year old cousin with whom I have been corresponding
with for over 10 years, but have never met. Alfred (Fred) is hale and
hearty and was able to give me loads of information about our family
roots a century ago in England. His daughter Christina and her husband
Norv, who also live in Sidney came over in the evening. Their children
are both married and live elsewhere in Canada. I have always enjoyed
researching our family history, so to have had a family reunion this far
from home was just fantastic.

From Vancouver Island we caught another ferry at Nanaimo back to the
mainland just north of Vancouver. We decided to push the little car over a
few more high passes so took Highway 99 north passing pristine lakes and
spectacular mountains, many still snow covered, passing through Whistler,
which is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. We have already found that
Canada does not have fuel available on lesser roads every few miles like
USA.

Today travelling through the Cariboo region of British Columbia we have
followed the historic Gold Rush Trail which runs adjacent to the mighty
Fraser River. Many thousands of gold seekers in 1858 made their way into
the interior using this route. We stayed last night at Lilooet, which in
1858 was the second largest city west of Chicago, and north of San
Francisco (after Bakerville further north). It, along with Bakerville, now
boasts a few hundred people. The towns along the highway are still named
100 Mile House, 150 Mile House etc. distances measured from Lilooet.

We are now just above the 53rd parallel and the weather has turned quite a
bit cooler, so we have unearthed our long sleeved clothes and jackets
again. Today for the first time since we arrived in America we had rain,
fortunately the wipers still work after being idle for so long.

Tomorrow we actually start on the ALCAN (Alaska Highway) proper with the 0
mile post in Dawson Creek. Looking at the information available it seems
we will have to plan our stops as the little settlements are a long way
apart from now on – plenty of camping spots but not many motels.

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California 20 Aug 2007

2007-08-21T12:17:00.001+10:00

We have had such a great week here in California. We have not driven many
miles but have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves catching up with old friends
and making many new acquaintances.

We left Peter and Tessa's house on Wednesday and, accompanied by a
neighbor in his sporty Lotus 7, we set off to Monterey down the scenic
Highway 1. We had not gone too far when we broke our clutch cable. Lang
managed to get rolling with the starter motor and we got ourselves back on
the freeway and sailed along, driving without a clutch for the next few
hours until we got into a traffic jam. We were able to peel off into an
industrial yard where they had a large jack and did a temporary repair
that saw us the rest of the way to Carmel Valley.

We had been lucky enough to be invited to attend the exclusive Quail Lodge
Car display, which is part of the Concours Week held in the Monterey area.
It is described as a display of all things elegant which includes not only
the 120 entrant cars and 3,000 spectators who pay $200 a ticket to attend,
but also the food and wine that is available all day featuring French,
Italian and Californian themes. The garden party setting is arranged on
the lush grass of the driving range of the Quail Lodge, Resort and Golf
Club, accompanied by appropriate music and the most perfect weather
imaginable.

The event director Mathias Doutreleau, a Frenchman, and also a Fiat 500
owner, made our little Bambino very welcome into this most prestigious
company. He insisted we bring the car unwashed and had it displayed in a
very central position. He also arranged accommodation with his friends
John and Vickie Edwards who were wonderful hosts and made as feel as if we
had been their friends forever.

Over the weekend there is also the Concours d'Elegance held at Pebble
Beach , Concorso Italiano, vintage car racing, air shows, etc. We
certainly had the most fantastic three days, sightseeing, eating,
drinking, and meeting so many wonderful people from all over the world.
In between all this Lang was able to use the golf buggy workshop at the
Lodge and do a more permanent repair to the clutch cable with some
clothesline wire, and also more running repairs and maintenance that had
been needed.

We again headed north meeting up with John Lanoue, at his hanger in Novato
before going up to St Helena in Napa Valley to join his wife Brenda who is
a Chief Instructor Chef at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). We had
a wonderful Indian meal cooked by Shyam and Andrew two of Brenda's
students. On Sunday we were given a tour of the college which was
renovated in 1995 on the site of the former Christian Brothers Winery. The
100+ year old building was preserved with its cathedral ceilings and
massive hand cut stone walls.

The whole of the Napa and Sonoma Valley area north of San Francisco is
covered in vineyards, many of the vines with bunches of grapes hanging
ready for picking. There are hundreds of wineries and wonderful
restaurants, it is very much a tourist destination.

Bev

2007-08-16T03:28:00.000+10:00

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San Francisco 15 Aug 2007

2007-08-15T04:59:00.001+10:00

Last night I lay in bed and listened to the fog horns in San Francisco Harbour, bringing back memories of the year we had previously spent here. It was thirteen year ago almost to the day we left San Francisco aboard a United States C5 Galaxy with the 1919 Vickers Vimy tucked into the cargo hold and the Vimy entourage on the upper deck bound for England. Again we were sleeping at Peter and Tessa's house, but now with the addition of three gorgeous children.

Yesterday we stopped off at John Lanoue's (builder of the Vimy) hangar at Novato airfield where he helped Lang fix the broken starter cable on the Bambino. For the last few days we had been push starting the car.

From there we drove into San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge and had our first glimpse at the Pacific Ocean that we had left behind 77 days ago, and 20,000 kms back at Vladivostok. We really feel as if we are now over a major hurdle and even though we still have 5,000 kms still to go we feel we are on the final stage of our trip.

To get here to San Francisco we travelled from South Dakota into Wyoming crossing the Powder River Pass in the Big Horn Mountains at 9,666ft. The poor Bambino struggled at these altitudes with drastically reduced power, but the scenery was spectacular.

We continued west going through Yellowstone National Park, somewhere I had always wanted to visit. While we were driving through the park we saw a herd of buffalo at close quarters also a coyote, and numerous varieties of birdlife. We drove around Lake Yellowstone and out the southern entrance then through the Grand Teton National Park with it's awesome mountain peaks still with glaciers visible.

We stayed overnight in Idaho Falls in Idaho, famous for their potatoes as their number-plates extol. Here Lang discovered a problem with the alternator, which he thinks is the bearings. Being the weekend no workshops were open, so we crossed our fingers and continued westward. Fortunately we have got this far without it causing any further trouble and over the next few days we have a Fiat expert going to go over the car for us. Also we will have the ding on the side repaired.

From Idaho we went across the hot, dry and very barren landscape of Nevada. The monotony only relieved by crass casino settlements forming artificial oasis along Route 80. We overnighted in Battle Mountain not quite by choice. Here we filled with fuel and as we were going to leave and do another hours drive the car stopped dead and no persuasion would get it started again. I booked into a conveniently placed motel and we pushed the car back to their parking area and Lang fiddled until dark to no avail. He sent out e-mails with the symptoms to our fiat experts, and Dave in California, Torsten in Hamburg and Damen in Melbourne all came back with lots of possibilities but each ended his email with the same question - have you checked what went in at your last fuel stop? Petrol engines don't run too well on diesel!

None the less it was a sense of relief, after a restless night, that it was not a major problem, and we did not need to arrange trucking for the car. After draining the tank we filled up with the good stuff and managed 750km to San Francisco Bay area. It was a pity to find that after 5,000km of great roads the I-80 freeway from Reno to Sacramento over the Donner Pass had a surface as rough as the worst Russian efforts. Maybe all those California taxes should be directed a little more to road maintenance.

We intend to enjoy a few lay days here in San Francisco and catch up with many of our friends in the area.

Bev

2007-08-10T13:54:00.000+10:00

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South Dakota 9 Aug 2007

2007-08-10T13:26:00.001+10:00

In my last report we were in Cleveland, Ohio heading west on Route 80. From there we starting thinking how boring this was going to be, so after our next overnight on the outskirts of Chicago we decided to take Route 90 further north..
We contacted Greg Herrick (who now owns our 1927 Avro Avian) in Minneapolis, and after passing through Wisconsin and into Minnesota we drove north along the Mississippi. Here we visited Greg's fabulous collection of historic aircraft at the Anoka County airport. He had just returned from Oshkosh where he had six of his aircraft on show.
After a nice dinner we stayed the night at Greg's 100+ year old house, with the boys up until all hours of the morning reliving their many previous flights in vintage aircraft.
Along the way passing through into South Dakota we were seeing more and more cruising bikes. We learnt from the riders that this is the week that the Sturgis Rally was being held, so this gave us a purpose to continue on Route 90. While crossing South Dakota we stayed one night at Chamberlain on the banks of the Missouri River and then the following day we stopped at a Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo. This is a private collection of the Geisler family and is a pioneer village as well as a collection of over 300 cars. Dave Geisler the current owner manager was there to greet us and took a real interest in our Bambino.
On Wednesday night we managed to find some accommodation in Keystone and took the opportunity to go to Mount Rushmore to see the gigantic sculptures of the four presidents' heads. It is very well presented by the National Parks and not over done like a lot of other tourist attractions.
Keystone was an attraction all on it's own, with wall to wall bikes and the riders taking over the entire frontier type tourist town. We were impressed by the cleanliness and behaviour of such a large group of people.
On Thursday morning we drove into Sturgis and spent the morning enjoying the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bikes of all shapes and sizes. The main road through the town is closed to all cars with only the bikes having access. Every store seems to be selling memorabilia or bike accessories. There are hundreds of stalls along the streets again selling bike-related gear. They get over half a million entrants to the rally which started in 1938 with only 200 riders. When I say we were being passed by thousands of bikes along the interstate it is no exaggeration.
For about a radius of 200 miles around Sturgis for this whole week, there is a huge concentration of people, bikes, trailers, caravans and mobile homes. The majority of bikes are cruising bikes and all fairly new. Most were Harley Davidson with a percentage of Honda Goldwings . We saw no antique bikes and very few sports or trail bikes. Many riders in the burning sun showing large amounts of bright red skin, both male and female, and few wearing helmets just amazed us.
The countryside has been ever changing from the heavily treed hills of Pennsylvania to the corn and potato crops right through to the Missouri River. From there the main crop becomes wheat. As we travelled more inland we passed into the grasslands. Here on the Prairie is where the Sioux lived, buffaloes roamed and "Dances With Wolves" was filmed. As you progress through South Dakota you go through the badlands with it's moon like appearance and this is bordered by the pretty Black Hills around Rapid City.
Even in this extreme heat – over 100 degrees - the car has been performing well and Lang and I, although uncomfortable in the heat, find it tolerable as long as we are constantly moving with the air conditioning on!!!
Bev

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Ohio 4 Aug 2007

2007-08-05T13:08:00.000+10:00

After marking time for the last two weeks while the Bambino enjoyed it's
sea voyage across the Atlantic, we are on the road again. We were reunited
on the dock in Newark, New Jersey on Friday 3 August, with the car looking
as good as when we left it in Zeebrugge.

Lang and I arrived back in New York late on Wednesday and Lang went
straight to the customs office in Newark. He had feared that we may have
trouble clearing the car but he was gone barely half an hour when he came
back beaming with everything stamped - first hurdle crossed. Apparently
everyone in the office was a car buff and after being shown a few photos
they were extremely enthusiastic and helpful.

This just left the clearance from the shipping company who had already
told us that we would not be able to take delivery until after the
weekend. Lang rang Dudley Waterman, Operations Manager of Wallenius
Wilhelmsen who had his staff make a special effort for us and we drove
out of the yard at lunch time on Friday, only hours after the ship
arrived.

On Thursday before the ship arrived we went into the city to see the
sights. Lang's patience for such things faded after a few minutes so I
headed off to go to the top of the Empire State Building while he went off
to do something "more constructive". Two and a half hours on the open-top
bus allowed me to get a shallow but wide-ranging "must see spots" overview
of New York – far from the cleanest city in the world.

After collecting the Fiat on Friday we then had to return the hire car. So
we ventured across the middle of New York with me driving the hire car and
Lang following in the Bambino on Friday afternoon with the temperature at
100 degrees. Thank heavens for our GPS and the lovely voice that, when
you make a wrong turn, just so calmly tells you that it is recalculating,
no gritted teeth or raised voices - a truly marvelous invention. It took
us hours to drop off the car, repack the Bambino and then retrace our
steps back into peak-hour traffic out of New York. Quickly across New
Jersey, by 7pm we had crossed the border into Pennsylvania, where we
stayed for the night

For a number of reasons we have now decided to cross USA on Route 80.
Today we have driven right across Pennsylvania and are overnighting in
Cleveland, Ohio. In all we will cross twelve States.

In the owner's manual, written in 1950's, there is a whole chapter on air
conditioning, and as it was another hot day today we put it into practice.
First you roll down the window, then you position the quarter glass window
at an angle so you get a breeze, then the third step is to open the
sunroof – which is counterproductive in 100 degree sunshine. Actually when
we renewed the original sun roof, before we left Brisbane, Lang attached
an extra lining of light carpet, and today we decided that it was a very
smart move, as it has provided great insulation.

The reaction to the car here is amazing. Everything on the road is huge.
Unlike Europe, all the vehicles seem to be big pickups, large 4WD's,
monster Winnebago's and plenty of armchair style Harley Davidson's so we
really do stand out as "gee that's the smallest car I have ever seen."

From the web site written on the side of the car we have already had
people e-mailing who have seen us on the road, and one person, "Gooose (3
O's)Chicken", stopped and took a video and has already put it on U Tube. I
think that by the time we reach the West Coast we will have an incredible
following. As Gooose Chicken said it's all about putting a smile on
someone's face.

Bev

2007-07-27T06:02:00.000+10:00

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Modified Fiat

2007-07-27T05:25:00.001+10:00

The photo of the Fiat having a tyre changed has created a lot of questions. Yes, it has a bump in the side.

The Bambino and a Citroen tried to occupy the same point on the face of the earth at the same time in Reims. Nothing structural and it can be pushed out in a few minutes once the car gets to USA next week.

Lang

2007-07-26T07:34:00.000+10:00

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New York 26 July 2007

2007-07-26T06:13:00.001+10:00

We are now in upstate New York awaiting the Bambino which is at present
somewhere on its way across the Atlantic Ocean.

On Monday last week we drove out of Paris and headed east into the French
Champagne country. There at the village of Cumieres we met up with Tolly
and Jasmine Neil , who come from Brisbane, and at present are relocating
an 80ft barge from the Netherlands, for the owner, an Australian friend of
theirs.

The 105 year old barge has been extensively renovated and is very roomy
and comfortable. For years Lang and I have talked about buying a barge and
spending time in France on the canals, so our two days aboard were
something of a recce, and I must admit it's the type of boat and boating I
could get very used to - unlike sailing!

We were lucky enough to have beautiful sunny weather during the period on
board. Each day we did legs of only about 15 km, and had the thrill of
passing through six locks, on the canal beside the River Marne. Lang
followed along in the Fiat, stocking up on food and wine at the little
villages, then meeting us to hand it across to the boat while we rose
slowly in the filling lock. Unfortunately duty called and we then had to
part company in the very pretty town of Chalons en Champagne.

Again in the Bambino, we headed for Zeebrugge, Belgium where the car was
delivered to the dock, for shipping across the Atlantic. During this trip
we had our first flat tyre of the whole journey. The speedo has just
clicked over 15,000 km from Vladivostok so we thought it had been a pretty
good run of luck. We had to strip everything out, clean the car totally,
give away our camping equipment and then struggle onto the train to
Brussels with all our bags of gear.

We spent one night in this vibrant city, among the hordes of tourists,
enjoying the beautiful ancient buildings and the wonderful food for which
Belgium is famous.

While in Brussels, Lang managed to source some reasonable airfares, and we
booked to fly out of Brussels to Boston. For some reason it was cheaper to
fly to Boston changing planes in New York than a direct flight to NY.

This was not without a few glitches. Firstly arriving at the airport we
were told we could not enter the USA without proof that we would leave
in 90 days. After trying to argue our case we had no alternative but to
buy some on-going tickets, fortunately we were able to purchase some
refundable tickets

Next, our flight was late and it took hours to clear customs in New York
so we, along with many irate travelers missed connecting flights (not
because of security but because US Customs saw fit to only have two
officers dealing with ever increasing lines of hundreds of people as more
747's arrived). This actually suited us fine and we just tore up our
Boston tickets and walked out of the airport, with all our gear.

We will spend the time until the car arrives, doing some touring and
planning our 3000mile (we are now in miles) across the USA heading for San
Francisco. There will be week or so gap until my next report which will
describe our reunion with the 500 on the 3rd of August.

Bev

Blog Information

2007-07-22T21:59:00.000+10:00

We will put up some nice photos of Belgium taken by Lorent Matagne of
IDPhoto s.p.r.l. Belgium (+32 496 551 666). We thought they were a good
indication of the fun we had during our stay in Belgium.

A few people do not realise all the photos, both on the "Latest News" and
on the main web site can be clicked on to come up full size. These are a
combination of quality, depending on our camera setting at the time, but
many of them are high resolution magazine standard.

There are also some comments on getting photos out of the archives. If you
just click on "Previous Posts" on the right of the blogs (scroll up and down
until you see it) you will only get the last written information and possibly
no photos from before.

The best way is to click the Archives (on the right side of our written
reports) month name and everything we sent during that month, including
all photos will pop up in order.

Lang

2007-07-22T08:01:00.000+10:00

2007-07-16T23:12:00.000+10:00

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Paris 16 July 2007

2007-07-16T23:06:00.000+10:00

After Garlenda we returned to Torino to have meetings with Italian
companies regarding sponsorship. We put back our USA shipping date and
returned for four extra nights in the nicely situated Hotel Villa Gualino
with its very friendly and helpful Director, Claudio Gilli. Lang took
advantage of the considerable spare time to purchase new front tyres ready
for the little Fiat's USA leg while I packed two large boxes of equipment
(and gifts) that were no longer required and shipped them home.

On Thursday we went to Modena where we joined an interesting hour tour of
the Maserati factory, they produce about 35 cars a week in a very hands-on
operation. After the tour, their semi-retired historic collection
"curator" Ermanno Cozza, who has a lifetime at Maserati and restored many
of their historic cars, took us to see the private collection of Umberto
Pannini. This is situated at the farm, Hombre, where the cheese of the
same name is produced for which Umberto is famous. He has an impressive
collection of Maseratis as well as many other makes and a large range of
motorbikes and tractors. In his workshop he is at present building replica
steam cars.

From there we went to the Ferrari Museum. This is a very slick commercial
operation, well set out and full of beautiful bright red racing cars and
different model Ferrari's as well as a couple of their parent company
Fiats. Not far out of town was another private and very impressive
collection belonging to Mario Righini. This was a unique collection as the
majority of the of the cars were in original condition and consisted of
Italas, De Dions, Alfas and many other European brand names, dating back
more than a century. Mario is a very friendly fellow and we were invited
to join a busload of visiting Japanese car enthusiasts to sample the local
wine.

During the few days in Torino we met up again with Antonio Carella who is
a president and very enthusiastic member of the RACI – the Italian Vintage
car club. He has worked with Fiat all his life and is a wonderful fund of
knowledge on the history of the car and its manufacturing.

Mario Vannozzi, who has also spent his working life with Fiat, lives in
Torino and has an amazing driving history. In 1989 he drove the original
Itala from Peking to Paris, Paris to Dakar rallies, and a trip to the
Arctic just to name a few of his accomplishments. Mario accompanied us on
our 3 hour drive to Modena and also had to wait at a wayside restaurant
with us after a large truck and Paolo's VW Golf had a coming together at
a roundabout. Fortunately nobody was hurt but the VW has gone to the big
car yard in the sky. Paulo called Claudio Gilli at the Villa Gualino
hotel who dispatched his night porter with Paolo's other car. We
eventually got home at 3.00am!

Prior to our trip, the French Fiat 500 Club had contacted us to attend a
day of celebration of FIAT France's launch of the new 500 here in Paris in
the Place Vendome. While we were in Garlenda they met up with us and
personally renewed the request. On Friday and Saturday we traveled mainly
on the very expensive motorways to Paris. The trip over the mountains and
through tunnels many kilometres long was absolutely spectacular. Mont
Blanc reared up beside us, still covered in snow.

After spending the night in a small village hotel on the Bourgnone Canal
we booked into a Paris hotel in the La Defense area which is a very modern
business district with glass-walled skyscrapers, so unlike the rest of the
city. Although it sits right on the water on the Seine, weekend rates
(like most Paris hotels) make it cheaper than the village pub we stayed
in. Of course once Monday comes prices double and even triple and it is
time to move out of Paris!

Just 3kms away is the Place Vendome, a large square surrounded by ancient
buildings housing designer label shops and featuring a central Napoleonic
obelisk monument. This was where 100 French Club Fiat 500's of varying
colours and styles were displayed along with a number of new release 500s.
Fiat were offering test drives, so I took one for a spin around Paris, and
am seriously thinking of a swap for the rest of the trip, not sure if Fiat
will come to the party.

We were treated to morning tea and lunch and then at 2pm we did a
one-hour parade around Paris. It included a drive up the Champs Elysees
around the Arc De Triomphe Etoile, past the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame,
a very pleasant sunny Sunday drive (apart from the ten thousand tour
buses). I had a great camera outing and spent much time at each
significant point photographing people, photographing people,
photographing something over the head of the crowd.

We then returned to Place Vendome to sing Happy Birthday and cut the huge
Fiat 500 fiftieth birthday cake.

Bev

2007-07-12T14:58:00.000+10:00

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Garlenda 7 July 2007

2007-07-10T06:54:00.001+10:00

Garlenda was everything we had hoped for and more. The Tour Europa had
been a great lead-in to what was a high point of our trip and a party
worthy of the 50th anniversary of the Cinquecento. (Italian for 500). It
was interesting watching Martin and Anke Stein coping with the disasters,
complaints and plain hard work of leading a large group. We have so often
been in their position that we sympathized with them and the calm way they
kept the show on the road (while rebuilding their own engine at midnight
and chasing the world's most energetic two-year old) was outstanding.

The whole weekend was well organized by the Fiat 500 Club of Italy in a
small village 10 kilometres up the Lerrone Valley, which runs down to the
Italian Riviera seaside resort of Albenga on the Mediterranean coast. The
sun shone brightly for the whole time and the Northern Europeans wore
minimum clothing attempting to get a tan in 3 days – there were many
bright red lobsters in the crowd!

The entire village supports an event that was started 24 years ago by
Domenico Romano, as a small gathering of Cinquecento owners, which has
grown to the 1,400 Fiat 500s that were in the town over this weekend.

Garlenda is only tiny, and situated on steep ground with a shallow stony
stream running through. Because of the hilly ground there were several
small camping areas. Along side the stream there was a car parts and flea
market and a food area run by local volunteers with the best of Italian
fare, with tables and chairs for hundreds of people under cover. Each
night there was first class entertainment on an open-air stage.

Plenty of parking was available in a few small areas close at hand below
the ancient church so all the cars could be easily displayed. It is
amazing how you can cram a couple of hundred Bambinos into an area that
would only hold 50 normal size cars. All other car types were banned from
the central area and had to park further away.

On Saturday there were several runs of varying lengths to see the local
area. We opted for the 60 km scenic tour of the Ligurian area passing
through medieval hamlets, with romantic small churches and ancient castles
dating back hundreds of years. At Castelvecchio di Rocca Barbena, half way
through the trip, we were welcomed by the local mayor, all given goody
bags and had a tasting of the local products.

From there the 160 Fiats in the convoy wound down through the narrow lane ways of Toirano, another
small hamlet, where we were stopped for over an hour because a funeral was
in progress. We had no room to go forward or back but when we were on the
move again the gelati shop owner was beaming, I think we had given him
more business in an hour, than he had all year.

On Sunday all cars were assembled on the local horse racetrack according
to alphabetic order of their countries and just like the Olympics,
Australia was out in front. We were represented by three Fiat 500s, the
one Damon and Rachael had shipped from Melbourne, a borrowed Dutch one
driven by two members of the South Australian 500 Club, Athos and Tony,
and of course ours. There were 24 countries represented and well over
1,000 Cinquecentos, which made for a spectacular sight.

Prior to the grand parade a helicopter flew over with the new Fiat 500
slung from a cable and placed it in the middle of the oval. Then, with the
grand stands packed, we paraded country by country while our national
anthems were played. Most cars had their sunroofs open with their
passengers standing. Damon and Rachael had a blow up kangaroo, Athos and
Tony had the Australian sign and we sported a large Australian flag. I
found the whole thing very moving and must admit to shedding a tear.

We then stayed to watch all the other countries come through in large
numbers - 84 from Germany, 89 from France, 52 from Netherlands down to
smaller countries represented by just one or two cars. There were 680
Bambinos from Italy and they paraded region by region, each with their
provincial folk tune. As can be imagined these tunes were bright catchy
numbers and the crowd was clapping and swaying in time with the music.

The prize-giving ceremony started at Parco Villafranca (the main activity
area) late in the afternoon. We came away with the large trophy for the
longest distance traveled plus a gold-trimmed silver plate and bottles of
local wine.

During the weekend Domenico Romano who has been the mayor of Garlenda many
times, made sure we were well looked after and we stayed with his
co-organiser of the event, Sandro Scarpa and his wife Wilmy. They were
kind enough to accommodate us in a little self-contained cottage, part of
their 500 year old home on the side of the hill overlooking the whole
valley.

By the end of the weekend everyone was exhausted, but it was a wonderful
feeling to be part of the camaraderie of so many people from so many
nations coming together with just the smallest, sexiest car the common
denominator.

From Garlenda we are now back in Torino to organise the shipping of the
car across the Atlantic. From here now, we must focus on completing our
round the world trip with the smallest car ever.

Bev

2007-07-10T06:46:00.000+10:00

2007-07-10T06:45:00.000+10:00