Look at the size of the foo--- trailer!!! This didn't help with my anxiety as I wondered if it would fit on the tunnel train or would I be able to tow it all the way to Austria, would there be anywhere to pull up and have a rest in France and Germany and what about the fuel stops? Having not driven abroad for too many years I had forgotten what to expect and I made a big mistake by looking on AA AutoRoute to give me an idea on how long it would take to get from my house to the Hotel complex in Austria.... It said 17 hours but that was at car speed and towing a trailer you are restricted to lower speeds.. Going over it took 25 hours total due to roadworks and the slower speeds and about half an hour sleep....
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The real Astra 4s
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Look how much room was left between the trailer wheels and the walkway on the train!! I had followed a bus onto the train and unfortunately had parked between the carriage doors so I had to reverse about 10 metres before they could close the doors..... I had set off with the idea that I wouldn't be doing any reversing lol..... More from this expedition later
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Despite all the forward planning and long drive Mick this looked like an event you just couldn't miss and guess you just had to accept the invitation and be there to soak up the atmosphere and I'm sure it was all worth it in the end. Living close to the tunnel I take the car over fairly regular but must admit it is a bit daunting the first time you drive on the train especially with the size of the van and trailer you had. Apart from the driving on the other side of the road to get used to I actually enjoy driving abroad as you can actually get about pretty much event free and the traffic and any congestion is generally a fraction of what we have to put up with in the UK.
Nice reading your updates on this thread and looking forward to further updates from your trip.
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Part two of the Austrian Adventure.... One thing you don't get time for on the short trip under the channel is 'tunnel fever' cos your out the other side in no time at all. It's brilliant... As soon as they come down opening the dividing doors your off again so no time for sleep.. We hit the French roads in the early hours of the morning and within a short time you were merrily trundling along on your own at 90 ish kph... We were restricted to one driver (me) for various reasons so it was a case of getting on with it.. Around dawn and I was starting to get tired and the van needed filling up but no problems as there are fuel stops every 50 kilometres or so and I tucked into the caffeine tablets.. Around 8am and I was getting complaints as we all were getting hungry so again, no problems as there are rest halts everywhere along the route with loads of parking space. Had my one and only power nap after breakfast.. 30 minutes and we were back on the road. See the photo below, they really do know how to look after travellers unlike in the UK...You do not have permission to view this gallery.
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As we skirted Strasbourg and crossed the border into Deutchland the sat nav burst into life with live traffic updates... It was back home lol.. We just kept rolling and headed off down through the black forest with only a fuel stop to break the fun. By now I was fully awake despite not having slept properly for for a day and a half as I was full of caffeine tablets.. Oddly enough in the Reich max speed was down to 80kph but we ploughed on and by half four in the afternoon we were approaching Munich. The major roadworks in Germany caught up with us here and an accident on the A8 had us diverted two or three times before we were sent through Munich city centre in rush hour!!! Two hours later and we were finally rolling again but the inevitable toilet and food stop just south of Munchen stopped us again..You do not have permission to view this gallery.
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By now we were late as the Austrian rally organisers would have liked us there mid afternoon but we kept in touch with them and they were very good about it..
We finally got there at around nine o clock and there were about 20 people waiting so we quickly fired the car up and backed it out of the trailer and into the showroom. It was all very impressive and the car looked great alongside the Opel Kadett and the other cars.. It was good to see our hosts faces when the 4S spluttered into life lol, they all seemed very pleased.. Did we have a cover for the car? Nope..lol. They had gone to a lot of trouble and the Opel and 4S looked great against the backdrop curtain showing the Zakspeed Opel in Africa testing.. We had a quick squint at the other cars there, under their covers and all looking very menacing before leaving the trailer and shooting off to a nearby village and our hotel which had all been arranged by the organisers. All the Brits were in the same digs for some reason but before bed we managed to get some food and a couple of steins of beer .After all the travelling it was heaven..
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We woke up on time in the morning as we needed to be back at the event HQ in time for the big unveiling of the Group S display.. God I love Austria, just look at the view from our room below.. Leaving the hotel I did the usual and set off down the wrong side of the road and only realised when the local tourist road train came round the corner.. The guy driving was having a proper chuckle to himself.. We got to the showrooms where the cars were, all on the site of this very posh hotel which had a golf course and a race circuit in the grounds amongst other things and got ready for the unveiling of the cars... If you are a child of group B as I was then the sight of all these cars lined up was fantastic..You do not have permission to view this gallery.
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