With Dusty (our campervan) all packed, we said our farewells to London for the next 5 months,
heading direct to Dover. We weren’t catching the ferry until 6am the next
morning so we took the opportunity to see the White Cliffs of Dover and drive
around the town. Unfortunately the weather was foggy and rainy so it wasn’t
long until we parked up on the waterfront for the night; our first night of
free camping. We had mixed reviews from friends about whether the advice I
found online (saying we could park on Marine Parade over night was legal) was
in fact true. We took and punt and found that there were 10 others who were
doing the same. Power in numbers!
After a sound but
short sleep, we rose early and drove to the port-which is about 6 times the
size of Wellington’s port and checked in. Two hours later we arrived in
Dunkirk, north of Calais and drove straight out, no customs at all! Brilliant,
until we realised that although we handed over our passports, we did not get
stamped on either side. This could pose a problem for returning back to London
and when moving into other Shengan countries that have boarder control (as it
will be difficult to prove we haven’t been overstaying). Ah well, we will have to deal with that
as it happens (and we have proof with our ferry crossing tickets too).
James did a great job
driving on the opposite side of the road, driving us all the way to Brussels,
where we found a camping ground and bussed into Brussels for a meal of moules
and frites. Day one ended with a chilled out afternoon resting in the van,
knowing we were heading to Rock Werchter
(a four day rock festival) the next day. So far, so good.
The next four days at
Rock Werchter were awesome. We got to see bands, old and new, including Blink
182, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Incubus, which we had rocked out to in
our teens. My personal favourite was Jack White, followed closely by Ed
Sheeran, but it is difficult to choose when you had so many great bands
playing. We managed to get our friends, Shannon and Sean, Kirk and Eli and Mads
into our campervan ground too (despite the fact they were in tents) which meant
it was a lot less muddy for them and great company for us. Apart from the port-a-loo situation, we
loved Rock Werchter and hope to be back next year.
