Well would you believe it! I had this page ready to post and Google has lost it! Everything! Thanks Google! I still have the photos, the rest I will have to attempt to recreate, but inevitably something will be missed.
Sun 19th May - not a good day!
Leaving Camping Ruguni, we headed north up the Latvian coast, then inland to Kuldige. Kuldige boasts the widest waterfall in Europe, which we never got to see.
Lovely weather, bright sun, and we parked in a large and empty car park in the centre. We prepared to set off for the waterfall, Rosemary ahead of me, as I locked and alarmed the van. Wearing strapless sandals she got her feet in a tangle, tripped and fell heavily. From the way she fell, and the loud crack, I suspected she had broken her hip. With the help of a passerby we managed to get her into the van, laying on one of the rear benches.
Google maps gave us directions to hospital, not far away, but the directions were unclear. I asked a passer-by where the hospital was. He had no English, but understood what I was looking for. He waved his arms around giving directions, then offered to drive with us to the hospital. He hadn't realised we were right hand drive, and couldn't understand why I was trying to get him into the drivers seat on the left. His grown up daughter DID understand, and laughed like a drain at her father;s puzzlement. The hospital wasn't far, and the passerby went in to get help. Three strapping ladies emerged with a sheet, swiftly lifted her onto it, and carried her out of the back doors onto a strtcher.
An hour later X-rays showed her hip was indeed broken. There was only one English speaking doctor. Luckily he was there on a Sunday. He advised that our options were to go to Riga for a hip replacement, or be repatriated to the Uk for the same operation, and his preference would be the UK, where facilities are better. I rang the Caravan Club's Red Pennant insurance, to get advice, and they set wheels in motion.
After a few more phone calls to and from the UK - thank goodness for mobile phones! - they agreed that repatriation by air was the best option. Obviously, that is a bit more complicated than hailing a taxi, and would take a day or two to be authorised and arranged.
Meanwhile I parked Molly just 20 feet from the main entrance to await events, provide tea and other sustenance, and to await events. In the event, I was there 3 days, and unlike the NHS hospitals, there was no hassle from parking attendants, no car park charges, indeed absolutely no bother at all
Mon 20th May
Mostly spent waiting around. I walked into town for food supplies, and bought a replacement phone fpr €200 - and would you believe I dropped that within 10 minutes of buying it? The screen has a few cracks but is otherwise works fine.
Rosemary is in a small single occupancy room. Hardly any English is spoken. The English speaking doctor, who is not officially on the case, has been asked to stay around to translate. He says he welcomes the chance to practise his English. He was telling us there are a huge number of Russians in Latvia, most of whom speak only Russian, and have no Latvian, despite being long term residents. He hates having to speak Russian to them, in his own country, so speaking English was a welcome change.
Tues 21st May
More of the same, except I didn't shatter another phone. With luck, repatriation tomorrow.
Wed 22nd May
And repatriation is under way. The flight is planned for noon, And getting ready, and packed into an ambulance to get to Riga airport, all happened at a rush. Suddenly, she was strapped into a stretcher, loaded onto an ambulance, and was on her way. I could have accompanied her, with Red Pennant sending someone to collect the van and bring it home. However we elected to fly Rosemary home alone, and I would drive home in Molly.
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| and away she goes... |
I have plenty of time to get to the ferry, and looked for campsites along the way. The first one I tried was closed. The second one, at Karkle near Klaipeda, was grim, but the third, also at Karkle, was a little gem. Camping Olande Kepure - it seems to be primarily a rather nice cafe, with a small field for camping.
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| trompe l'oeil seen in a small village |
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| ...and directly opposite the trompe ''oeil... |
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| en route |
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| Camping Olande Kepure |
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| OK, probbly not THIS Learjet... |
Thurs 23rd May
The ferry is not until 10 pm tonight, and Klaipeda is only a few miles away. I found a supermarket to buy some supplies for the trip, food, fruit etc. I used Google maps to find the ferry port. When I got there it was like something out of a 1960's thriller. You drove across several unfenced railway lines, through rough and unkempt roads, to a desssrted terminal with weeds growing through cracks in the road, and buildings looking desrted, grey and forbidding - and not a ferry in sight! I did find a security guard who could put me right, DFDS has a new terminal a couple a few miles away. It is obviously a commonly made mistake - he had photocopied sketch maps to hand out.
In the real ferry queue in plenty of time, and cooked and ate a meal there. Check-in included not only the usual passport stuff, but I had to show the vehicle registration document. The motorhomes were the very last to be loaded - preceded by hundreds of lorry trailers, towed into place by an army of tractors, reversing the trailers at high speed up the ramp and snugly into place. When we boarded we had to do a U turn to face the way we had come on. I was right at the back - poll position for a quick exit. (Following the sinking of a ferry in a storm some years ago in the Baltic when waves tore off the bow doors, with a huge loss of life, Baltic ferries all have the bow doors welded shut, and all access is via the stern doors)
The ferry price included a reserved couchette for sleeping. I enquired about a cabin, but cabins started at €170, more than the cost of the ferry for myself and the van. You could tell the people who had done this before - they arrived equipped with airbeds and sleeping bags. I didn't get a huge amount of sleep, but enough
...meanwhile, Rosemary had a hip replacement operation in Dorchester hospital.
Fri 24th May
A full day at sea. Breakfast comprises breakfasts from all the Baltic states, so I tried them all. That was filling enough that I could skip the rather expensive lunch. We docked at 1700 German time (1800 Lithuanian time). As I hoped, I was first off (I probably beat the starting pistol on that). Again I had to show the vehicle registration to customs - they must have a serious problem with vehicle theft in the Baltic!
A lovely evening, and mostly clear roads with delays of only 15 minutes. I drove for 3 hours, and covered 170 miles, passing by 2 seriously good runs ashore - Hamburg and Bremen. I stopped for the night at an aire just past Bremen, at Vechta.
Sat 25th May
I have booked a ferry from Dunkirk to Dover for this evening. A 350 mile drive, almost all mootorway. I was at Dunkirk in plenty of time to visit a hypermsrkt, to buy wine, and shell on crevettes, as well as a large strawberry gateaux. This was when I discovered my ticket was from Calais to Dover. Big surprise - I had definitely entered Dunkirk on the form, but no matter - P&O is better than DFDS.
By 1815 UK time I was parked on Dover seafront for the night. In theory I could have driven home, but by then I had driven far enough.
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| Let the dismantling of the UK commence... |
Sun 26th May
The home leg. On the M20 there is over 14 miles of coned off motorway, and 50 mph speed limit, with absolutely NOTHING going on to warrant it!
Home by midday, quick lunch, then down to Dorchester hospital to see how my wife is progressing. Very well, it seems.
Final stats for the holiday (because Molly has a fancy trip computer)
Distance travelled - 3120 miles
fuel consumption - 28.8 mpg
average speed - 43 mph
hours on the road driving - 72 1/4
Tues 28th May
Brought Rosemary home, only 6 days after she flew home. We are already planning our next trips - locally for a while.
