Please forgive spelling, tense, grammer and typos.


Day 1
As I climbed up the ladder at back of our truck I get the very familiar smell and I know that the adventure has begun. For those of you who have camped before you know that musty smell, which to me screams holidays. It settles a few of the butterflies in the tummy. We meet Karen, one of the organisers, who calms the rest of the nerves as she talks us through all the paperwork.  Our truck is a cross between a bus and our campervan on the inside. It has all the seats of a bus in a wood finished cabin with roughly finished presses (and yes a toilet but I think it will be a last resort!).
We pack all our things into the lockers and soon we are making our way to the ferry. This is where the last few late nights and the 6am start catch up with me. I wake to see the beautiful sight of the white chalk cliffs of Dover. We drive into the customs area to stunned customs officers. They are very interested in our trip and the truck but we sail through without a hitch.
The ferry takes just over an hour which gives the 16 of us time to get to know each other a bit. The majority are from England with one from Australia, one American and then three of us form Ireland with a ratio of 3:1 girls. The guys don’t seem to mind.
We hit the road again in France and we whizz throughout France and on to Belgium. As soon as we hit Belgium the first thing you notice is the windmills. Not the old fashioned ones the new ones used to generate electricity. They are everywhere!! But they don’t seem out of place at all. Some even have strips of green painted around the bottom of them to blend into the surrounding fields. 
We find our first bush camp (not a campsite) around 6pm just off the motorway. We drive down a very narrow road with trees brushing off the windows on either side. I’m a little worried that we’ll get stuck. The trees finish and we are between two fields one with a margin that has short grass. Will and Karen have asked someone in the farmers yard can we camp here for the night. We pull up and pitch our tents and try to locate our bed things in our overfull rucksacks.
By this time Karen has the kitchen sorted with the help of two of the girls. It is 4 gas rings on a metal table with big metal wind-blocks for around it. She has the biggest pot I’ve ever seen full of potatoes on and the girls are preparing our salad and meat. We have tea and coffee and enjoy the view across the fields while the potatoes cook. Dinner is delicious and there is plenty of it. I’m expecting this night to be a late one with plenty of drinking and storytelling but when we find out that we’re on the road again at 7am and that breakfast is at 6am that idea goes out the window!
The kitchen is packed up and all the dishes are washed and we’re heading to our tents when a car arrives at the side of the truck. He starts talking in French to Will and Karen. It quickly becomes clear that he isn’t happy. It’s the farmer who owns the land with a bit of translation form one of the girls on the trip, Karen explains that we were given permission and that we’ll be gone early in the morning. He still isn’t happy but eventually leaves.

Day 2
The next morning we are woken by “Breakfast’s Ready” at 5:55am, and I thought that 6:40 was too early to get up for work! Tea toast and boiled eggs await us along with some cereal. I didn’t mention the milk situation yet, it’s powdered! Something I thought I’d never drink but actually it’s not bad if you compare it to UHT.  I skip the cereal and head for the toast and tea. Breakfast is a quick affair and it’s time to pack up our tents and onto the truck before the rain clouds catch up with us.
On the road again, everyone is still tired and sleepy so we all catch a few more hours sleep. Today we drive though Belgium into Luxemburg and on to Germany. We are near Munich when we find another bush camp. It’s a fabulous spot just off the autobahn beside a lake in a little forested area. It’s very picturesque.
A quick dip in the lake to freshen us up after our long day and then dinner. We have one or two drinks and as it is getting dark we notice little lights in the trees. They freak me out at first, I think it is someone or something out there watching but soon realise its fireflies. They are everywhere. It is really enchanting watching them fly around the trees and undergrowth.
We have another early start tomorrow so we all head off to bed not long after dinner. That’s when it all started to kick off. Off in the bushes somewhere a frog starts the croak and almost in response a flash of lightning illuminates the entire forest followed by countless claps of thunder that sound like they are right above us. Brenda and I are just waiting for the rain to start and put our little tent to the test. We don’t have to wait long the heavens open and the rain sounds like it’s going to tear holes in the flysheet. The storm continues well into the early hours of the morning and just when we think it’s over it seems to turn around and come back for seconds. We eventually drop off to sleep with the rain hammering on the tent.


Day 3
We leave our little bush camp early and head for our first touristy stop, Dachau concentration camp. We arrive around 9am. It’s a lovely sunny day and birds are singing but we all have a healthy respect for where we are. After two hours of reading the horrible conditions and appalling treatment the people went through, we’ve had enough. It’s time to get out of there and have some lunch.
After lunch we head for Salzburg in Austria. The road trip is beautiful. The Alps get clearer the closer we get and the view is breath taking. We are in a campsite tonight and we are all dying for a shower! The tents go up in record time and it’s a mad dash to the shower. Everyone is in great form after and is looking forward to the England game later.
Dinner is over just in time and the lady in the campsite is showing the game I the bar so we all head up there. The game isn’t very exciting and soon we are only half watching the game and chatting. Two of the girls are planning a hike tomorrow up a huge mountain and are trying to convince a few of us to join them. I sit this one out, they are leaving at 6:30am and I want to see a bit of Salzburg.
Day 4
We go into Salzburg early. I had completely forgotten that The Sound of Music was set here but the minute you arrive into the city you can’t miss it. A tour bus passes us “The Sound of Music Tour” with pictures all over it. It takes us a bit of time to find the tourist information but it’s a nice city to walk around. A short trip to the internet café to catch up with Wacker and send a few emails and then the rest of the day is spent exploring. We visited the cathedral which was stunning. The art and plasterwork on the celling is amazing. Just after we arrive in the cathedral a choir start to sing in front of the Alter. They are magnificent. We then head up to the fortress overlooking the city. The views are fantastic and there are exhibitions on the history of the fortress with some of the rooms restored.

By the time we are finished in the fortress its after four and we are wrecked from all the walking so we decide to head back to the campsite but before we decide to get something to eat. We walk down the main street and come across a building that everyone is taking photos of, We’re a bit puzzled, yes it is the poshest looking spar shop I’ve ever seen but I didn’t think that was it and then I look up and see that Mozart used to live there. It’s a bit crazy that Mozart’s house is now a Spar shop.
The truck is full of activity when we get back, there is people hanging out windows, people holding poles and Will and Karen giving direction. It reminded me of setting up the caravan awning. They are putting up the tarp shelter; another thunderstorm is on the way. It hits just as everyone is in the shower and lasts about 3 or 4 hours. Dinner becomes a cosy affair with everyone huddled under the tarp trying to stay away from the edges. As the wind circles around it causes a waterfall on either side. It looks like it’s going to be a miserable evening. After dinner I’m seriously contemplating just going to bed (at 8pm!) when someone suggests tea in the bar. I jump at the opportunity. We scurry up to the bar and order tea. When you order tea away from home it usually comes in a tiny tea cup with no milk but here we got a giant mug of tea and a large jug of REAL milk. It was just what the doctor ordered. It was still raining when we headed for bed but not as heavily so it lulled us off to sleep. Another long drive day tomorrow but we’ll be in Budapest at the end of it in another campsite with free wifi (fingers crossed)