I’ve done it. I’ve booked the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland as the first stage (or is it the second?) of a summer trip to Romania, repeating the trip of last year though more leisurely and with a rather different, less direct, route to the Romanian border (yet to be finalised).
Definitely to be avoided is Budapest, a beautiful city along the Danube but a nightmare to navigate, literally life-threatening. The M0 motorway around the city is a death trap with some of the worst driving you’ll see anywhere in Europe, tailgating at 100km or more (last year I just avoided a 5 car pile up). We’ll also avoid a camp site near Munich where a left-over from the Nazi regime almost had me abandoning my usual peaceful disposition; in fact the facilities at the site looked not a lot different to an imagined WW2 concentration camp.
For bloggers who do not regularly read my posts I should explain why the decision to go is a momentous one. I was waiting for my medical consultant to say it was OK (you’ll find things about my medical condition in past posts) but, in the end, I thought I’d go anyway and made the ferry booking. Romania has superb doctors!
Recording on film and digital
Having made one momentous decision, I thought I’d go for broke and make another – begin to post again on my almost abandoned classic camera/film photography blog, grumpytykepix. But I’ll be recording our trip here, having abandoned the horrible Facebook which I used for previous trips. For this I’ll use digital camera or iPad (and perhaps a little C41 film which, both monochrome and colour, I can get processed and scanned in Romania). So I might be able to do one or two posts on grumpytykepix, or when using ‘legacy lenses’ on a digital camera.
We (ie my wife Petronela (P) and I) first did this trip in 2006, in a classic mini, camping – not a single problem so the toolkit, just a screwdriver and 1/2in spanner, were not needed!
VW camper: Lofty2Romania
In 2015 we did the 4,635 miles round trip in Lofty, our 1972 VW camper; a few problems – part of the ‘fun’ of the ‘dub’ – but P didn’t appreciate it much. And we had mother-in-law shouting to be let out as we navigated multiple one in three hairpins in the mountains. Unfortunately I can no longer handle him for long journeys.

Lofty with me, having just caught the ferry back as the stern door closed. Late arrival resulting from a ‘little’ problem solved im record time by a superb Dutch garage
In 2016 we did it by flying (I hate flying, or rather I quite enjoy flying but hate the waiting, often chaos, and being ripped off in airports now). It’s a pity as Jet2.com, which I like, is only 15 minutes away at Leeds-Bradford airport. Hiring cars when in Romania also was not good, not financially nor for the nerves with 1,000 Euro deposit possibly to be lost thanks to some crazy Romanian driver.
Dacia Duster: Dusty2Romania 1
Last year we did the trip in Dusty, our 2013 Dacia Duster. Really wonderful but taking both our two-man tent and a large one with kit for 6 people to take P’s parents to Transylvania strained even the really capacious Duster. This year we’ll take just our 2-man tent and put the parents in ‘pensiune’ (B&Bs) when we take them somewhere.
Why not Hull ferry?
As we live in Yorkshire you might wonder why we don’t use the ferry from Hull to Holland. It’s a night sailing so apart from the fact that we enjoy a daytime crossing (I love the sea), the mandatory cabin makes it expensive. The disadvantage of using Harwich is the long drive, the most obvious route, A1 and A14/M11, being dreadful. So we’ll leave early in the morning and take a lazy drive down through Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, camping for the night a few miles from Harwich at a pleasant camp site behind a pub (Stranger’s Home) before taking the morning ferry. The pub has decent food so no cooking for me!
First stop over the other side, for a night, will be Arnhem, on one of the excellent Dutch camp sites (Camping Warnsborn) – only matched by those in Austria and some in Germany. We used it last year on the way there and back.
July 2, 2018 at 2:38 pm
Enjoy Romania – Transylvania is fantastic!
July 2, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Thank you Anca. I think we shall not be visiting Transylvania this year though we did in the past three years. I think this year it will be Maramures where I have not visited other than in passing for about 25 years. However, as you may have gathered my love in the Bucovina, where we will be much of the time.
It was great to see you ‘back’. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems quite a while.
June 21, 2018 at 1:36 pm
Sounds like a great trip!
June 22, 2018 at 10:31 am
I’m sure it will be but it’s a pity that Slovenia is just a bit too much of a diversion for us; I’d love to spend some time in your mountains having visited very briefly many years ago.
June 25, 2018 at 11:04 am
Yes, despite its size Slovenia offers many things one can feast their eyes on. Here’s to next year. 🙂
June 25, 2018 at 12:49 pm
😃
June 20, 2018 at 6:45 pm
Haven’t dipped into your photography site yet. Will do when I’m not visiting family. Looks like a great plan ahead. Will follow with avid interest. The Mini? I owned three (not all at once). Probably quirkier and more prone to trouble than the VeeDub.
June 21, 2018 at 6:10 am
Interesting about your minis; mine has probably given less trouble than almost any car I’ve had, but I’m lucky in having my ‘mini mate’ Mick who knows every nut and bolt in it. I say ‘mine’ but in fact I bought it for Petronela so it has the amazing auto box though now she will not drive at all. The usual ‘camaraderie’ of the mini community is enhanced by it being a fair twin of Mr. Bean’s. It’s now on SORN in the garage but I am to put it back on the road after the summer hol for a few days fun before the winter.
If you’re still interested in photography on film and classic cameras you should find more than one post on grumpytykepix of interest. Another ‘loony’ community!
June 23, 2018 at 11:53 pm
Got my fair share of film buff photography buddies from Flickr. My best contact, Michael, aka budderflyman, is a retired audiologist, and a very interesting person. His humour and love of life, with stories to me by email are a treasure. Very curmudgeon in nature but a one off. We get on like a house on fire. He lives in the grand old USA. He hates Trump with a passion and it’s an obsession with him at the moment. Keeps saying we’ll meet up one day. Not me and Trump!! Also…..He keeps trying to get me into digital. I’ve resisted so far. Will probably resist forever, but you never know. Looney film only community is of OCD nature. I’m in!! The Mini? So much time spent in the past of angst in repairs. Subframes rotten to the “nth” degree, back wells flooded with slopping water from rainstorms as I’m driving along and snow filled engines. And one brake from four that actually worked. Stories hey? Life’s little joys of struggles to get the little mechanical monsters in such order they they get us from A to Z. SORN status makes them sad. They have hearts like the rest of us and feel abandoned. Glad to see your intentions of making it happy again. But…..Get that armchair off the top pre MOT. Minis don’t have names like Dubs do they?
June 25, 2018 at 12:58 pm
I’m in the eye clinic at the mo’. Every time I visit an NHS place I’m reminded how much I love it. Great there’s now WiFi.
Yes, mini is ‘Mini’, Lofty’s little sister, being 3 years younger. She’s a very well behaved girl but will need a little tlc to out her back on the road.
Spent yesterday evening with Olympus – OM1 and OM1n. May choose those for trip. I’ll do a post about it eventually (grumpytykepix). I have all the OMs except OM3 – silly prices.
That’s it – drops in eyes due then I can see little.
June 20, 2018 at 7:18 am
Test
June 20, 2018 at 5:48 am
Bon voyage 🙂 Will be following when I can.
I took the tunnel last trip I made from the UK to Europe, I was surprised how easy it was.
June 20, 2018 at 6:48 am
Never thought about the tunnel – interesting. Look forward to ‘seeing’ you during our travels when you can.
June 20, 2018 at 6:57 am
PS. I see I commented when logged into my other blog. Sorry, I’ll have to watch that. One of the problems of running two blogs (it used to be three with the village one).
June 20, 2018 at 4:07 am
I love that you name all your vehicles. It gave me a smile. Thanks. Oh and I’m looking forward to traveling vicariously through you. 😊
June 20, 2018 at 7:21 am
Thank you. You’ll be welcome aboard (sorry reply coming from other blog. I’m trying to sort this out!).