It has been exactly 1 year since we started sending cars out to Ukraine!
Hard to believe, that the first car seemed such a struggle, and yet here we are one year later due to take 3 cars out!
So, I was planning on talking about numbers, and kilo’s and all sorts of boring stuff, when I suddenly had a lightbulb moment!
What about If I tell you about what these missions are actually like. Not routes and miles, but actual stories. Things that you might actually want to read rather than feeling obligated to read!
So here goes, what actually happens on these trips!
Normal crossing is around lunchtime, our timings are very carefully planned, so that we arrive at the border around lunchtime the following day. So how does it feel sitting in the car, about to leave home knowing that the next time you see a bed will be over a day away!
Strangely enough, you don’t think about it. I tend to break down the trip into manageable bit, get to Dover, cross the channel, get the hell out of France etc!
Once you get off the Ferry, you knuckle down and get France and Belgium out of the way as quickly as possible. Not because I hate them, but just because you don’t really feel like you are properly on the way until you get to Germany. Odd I know, but that is how my mind works.
The relief when you see the first Ausfart sign is quite something!
You drive and drive, and the first thing you really notice is how built up Western Europe is. You pass many big towns and cities, and before you know it the sun has gone down and you feel you are making progress.
One thing I have noticed is that Germans love Contra-flows! No cones, just vaguely fluorescent tape on the road and a distinct narrowing of the lanes! Fine if the road is empty, but with a couple of HGV’s to pass, a certain clenching of a certain area of the body is required.
If everything is working as it should, we normally pass Dresden around 3AM, and you start to notice the traffic really thins out and the amount of civilisation reduces once you get deep into what used to be East Germany. Shortly after Dresden, we leave the Ausfarts behind and enter Poland.
Around this time two things happen, the first is that the sun comes up and for some reason any tiredness you have suddenly goes.
The second thing you notice is that the miles remaining which you have been deliberately been ignoring for the whole trip suddenly stops looking so impossible!
900KM seems manageable and an ETA of half a day seems almost silly compared to what was showing at the start of the journey.
Breakfast is normally a quick stop for fuel and a strange sausage in a bun. Now this I have to talk about as it is the norm in Poland and Ukraine. A large sausage is slid carefully into a bun with a hole in it, carefully filled with ketchup and mustard.
I have been told you should under no circumstances make eye contact with the person whilst they slid your sausage into the bun. It is just not the done thing to do!
They are strangely nice, although I am sure they are not good for you at all. After that, a coffee and more fuel, we are on our way.
About half way into Poland, you get another lift when you start to see UA appear on the road signs. A strange feeling indeed.
You pass the Tyske factory, you pass Wrocław which for nearly all of last year, I pronounced it totally incorrectly (have a go!) and eventually Krakow.
The airport runs parallel to the A4 Motorway and if you steal a glance you get an odd feeling knowing that in a weeks time you will be there heading home on a Ryanair 737!
Around this time, the nerves start up a little as you know you are near to the border. So many things can go wrong, is my paperwork right? will we get through? and also some excitement at the thought of getting into Ukraine and doing good!
But that is a blog for the future.
I will leave you with a few questions and statements.
1. Don’t eat on the Ferry!
2. Get out of France as quickly as possible!
3. Make sure your playlist is long and varied
4. Always listen to Google Maps, it is never wrong
5. Never use Waze, it is always wrong!
6. Don’t listen to Audiobooks, they send you to sleep.
Until next time, I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings, and don’t forget, have a look at the beautiful items in the store. Please buy something, help us to do good.
Now more than ever, Ukraine needs our help.
Thank you and much love.
Ukraine UK Aid.
