The Sun Always Shines

The thing is, Amsterdam is like a coming home of sorts. It was the first country Jake and I moved to back in 1986 and we had a ball for a year and a half.  We revisited on many occasions, with very good friends and family who enjoy the Dam. So although not total newbies, we do still love being surprised by what the lovely place can offer.

The locals still remember me.

The area around which the campsite sits, is called Gaasperpark and it is beautiful. Miles of wooded pathways surrounding a large lake. And the sun is out!

It's an eclectic place. Not for the faint hearted or sensitive by nature. It's not that 'anything goes' is what the Dam is about. Oh no, everything's been done before and to death in lots of cases. No, what the Dam is about is the fact that it all works so Damn well. Give our North Sea neighbours their due, the Netherlands just ticks along. Buses and trams and metro and bikes and cars and people and delivery lorries, just all tick along together and all on time. No delays here, no siree!

And the secret to long life and good health is obviously riding a bloody bike. No chubby bums on seats here! All bloody long legged and willowy with flowing blond hair and natural tan and that's just the blokes!!! There's millions of them, bikes that is and just as many people on them. Exhausting is what I call it.

It's very warm here at vote moment. We've hit it right. Even the locals are stretched out enjoying the rays.

It is real, I promise.

And it's our wedding anniversary as well. Wow, that was lucky timing.........

We have lights. But that's not for now.

Amsterdamned

At long last, after years of dreaming, working and planning, we're off. The first bit, getting off our island can be traumatic, however, the gods smiled and it was flat calm. We decided to stay on the ferry overnight, so that we didn't have to get up early in the morning, like 2 or 3 am, and also it gave us time to make sure we'd done everything to close the house down. It's three months away after all. So we're awoken at 6 in the morning by the sound of ropes and chains and heavy metal doors being wound open, almost like being at home............and it was time for the first 'Jakeism' of the trip. On waking after a good nights sleep, still in Stromness harbour, Jake noted 'I can't believe this, all night on the worse ferry in the world and we haven't gone anywhere, we should be in Nova Scotia by now!!'

Lets just jump forward a bit and say that the trip from home to the ferry port at Newcastle was uneventful. A nice overnight stay in the Scottish border town of Melrose and fairly clear roads meant we arrived fresh and excited at the thought of crossing the North Sea to Europe on yet another boat, albeit a bigger one than before.

We set sail on the evening tide, the sails catching the wind and billowing like puffy white clouds against the azure blue sky. Ah the old Newcastle ferry takes some beating. For your evening entertainment, straight from South Carolina, is Mr. John Maze, with an array of electric wizardry on the floor around his feet, a guitar that has seen more roadhouses than all seater stadia and a face which could have placed him as Willie Nelson's long lost brother. John played from 7 in the evening until we went to bed late. Full of stories about drink and songs that needed singing along to, John ensured we all had a great time in the bar and vodka'd out, we rolled back to the cabin and slept till the morning sun.

The campsite at Gaasper in well sited, a five minute walk from the Metro, which whisks you away to the den of iniquity that is Amsterdam in around 15 minutes. As such, the campground is well used by all sorts of people. There is a section up the back, well shaded with high trees and hedges and lived on by the long termers, those that have a permanent caravan or motorhome. As you walk though the camp, there are the sections for the 'one weekers' like ourselves, graduating out to the outer fringes of the tented village, full of weekenders and overnighters, here for the craich that the city nights allow. The heady smell of Amsterdam's finest, drifts in the air along with that of a dozen bbq's and reminds us of where we are and what adventures lie ahead.

And We're Off

At last, here we are. The blog goes live and we go away. Depending on Wifi, Mifi, 3G and whatever else we hope to come across, we would like to update at least every week and hopefully more. As Lou Reed said, 'It's the beginning of a great adventure'.

Going Up Country

Need a road trip song and who else better than Canned Heat to lay down the licks.

The Route

So this is it, the Road Trip in straight lines! I've started the map in Amsterdam, which is where we get off the ferry from Newcastle. Before we reach Newcastle, we have a 450 mile drive from home. Only three weeks now, not enough time all of a sudden to do everything..........nah, we'll be ready.