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photo page 12 |
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We spend the summer months in Holland, emptying the ground
floor awaiting repair of the foundation or selling of the house, and
making a study in the living room for Henk and generally clearing up
the house.
We had this plan to bring even more household effects than the 180
kg of our first stay, and, having a mini-van, it was rather logical to
go by car. However, all ferry services to Haifa have stopped since 2001,
and it took 10 weeks of emailing and calling people all over Israel and
Haifa before we found a solution to sail the Mediterranean: going over land
is not a very good idea because of resentments against our destination.
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Our brave "Shai" (Ivriet for "Gift") almost collapsed under
the weight of 5 movers boxes, a huge crate with computer stuff, transformers
and batteries, a drawer packed with books and food stuff, a double bed
with electrically adjustable frames, a table and chair, 2 garden chairs,
4 bottles of Famous Grouse, 2 air tanks and 30 kg of lead for diving,
a bin filled with kitchen utensils, 3 cupboards in kit form, a telescope,
dyson vacuum cleaner, spare parts for the car, and last but not least Sonjas
safari hat. On the back seat we stowed 2 travel bags, a small electric
fridge, a crate with sweets and food for the road, a laptop computer locked
to a chair, 20 liters of water and a heavy duty wheel lock. The windows
in the back of the car were guarded with bars. We were quite well prepared!
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Sonja usually feels a bit "unheimisch" in Germany. Just before crossing
the border in Venlo she takes the wheel to have something to keep her
busy. Driving goes perfectly, and when we change after another 2 hours,
she feels already quite relaxed, sitting with her feet on the dashboard.
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Shai eats his way through Europe. Driving goes very well,
although there is lot of side wind and, because of the weight in the back,
the car has a tendency to sway a little. We keep the speed low at around
110 km/h. Late in the afternoon, after passing Stuttgart, the mountains of
Austria appear in the distance.
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This must be the right way: A is for Austria, I for Italy, and
the hotel is near Innsbruck. Can't go wrong from here.
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Crossing the Austrian border: it is still a bit strange to cross
so many borders in Europe without a single passport check and without
changing money. This first day we drove exactly 1000 km, refueled twice
and did this in 10 hours.
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After sleeping in hotel "Heilig Kreuz" we collect the mini-van
early from the hotel parking, and leave at 8 o'clock for Italy. Sonja
roars through the "Brennerpass" (well hardly: with all the weight in the
back Shai won't climb any faster than 80 km/h). Shortly after that, we
pass the Italian border.
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After about 7 hours we reach the town of Ancona. The ferry
crossing to Greece was booked for the next day, but Sonja manages to
change that into an immediate crossing, so at 4 o'clock we enter the
ship. Temperature is already very nice here, so we go to the heli-deck
to enjoy the scenery of Ancona.
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Henk strikes again: a bubbly bottle of rose Moet & Chadon appears,
chilled perfectly in the little fridge of the car. Time to celebrate
the successful first leg of the journey.
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Shai takes a nap at the camper deck of the ferry. Campers and caravanners
can use this deck and sleep in their own van. There is even electricity
from overhead sockets. We did consider to buy a camper just before we
left, but the one we liked most was sold just 2 days before we would test-drive
it. Well, after all, the mini-van is more handy to go shopping and has
an automatic gearbox, so this is not a bad alternative. Perhaps we do the
trip with a camper somewhere in the future.
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We have a good sleep on board of the rather luxury ferry, only disturbed
shortly by some aso German teenagers. The next morning, the ferry makes
a short stop at Igoumenitsa, a Greek town some 150 miles north from Patras.
There is no wind this morning, and the smoke from the ferries rises in
straight lines.
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After arriving in Patras it is a further 3 hours to Athens. Unfortunately,
the Greek write the name of Pireas in a least 3 totally different ways,
and we merrily get lost in the center of Athens during the evening rush
hour. Lucky for us that we have practiced this kind of traffic already
in Israel, so we finally arrive in Pireas without dents or scratches. From
the hotel room we overlook the marina of Mikrolimano.
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Food at last (well actually, we have dined quite well during the
trip). Henk gets a piece of gamba-art, while Sonja spears a swordfish.
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After an extra day in Athens, visiting the Syndagma square and the
National Archeological Museum, and a splendid meal in the harbor of Mikrolimano,
we go to the ship that will bring us to Haifa: a real freighter for Roll
On/ Roll Off. The Trader1 is being loaded with truck trailers and containers
on flat cars, loose pallets, and a bunch of automobiles.
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Shai at the quay, just before the gaping mouth of the ship. It is
equipped with a huge lift that brings trailers to the upper and lower
decks. When these are fully loaded, the cargo deck is topped up with trailers,
containers, private cars and about 30 cars for Cyprus, where cars drive
on the left-hand side as in England.
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Finally Shai is on board. Next to us is another adventurous Dutchman
who is traveling al over Europe in his landrover, and now wants to spend
some time in Israel and Jordan.
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Sonja feels immediately at home on board. Foot on a bollard, sitting
on the railing, we watch the hassle in the harbor and the loading of the
trailers on the upper deck.
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Meal in the officers mess. Within 2 minutes of sitting down, the
steward will drop the meals in front of you. No choice: it is the same
meal for everyone, but the food is not bad and the grapes aplenty.
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Steward Ibrahim gave us the "owners cabin", probably to safe guard
the lady from burly truck drivers. The room was big, featured with heavy
leather furniture, two beds and a shower and toilet. Everything you touch
is sticky and salty, but not very dirty, and we slept like babies.
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Report of a sea journey: Sonja is typing a piece of her report into
the laptop computer, while sitting outside on a bench and while Greek
Islands slowly pass by in the distance. The GPS receiver and route planner
of the laptop showed exactly where we were: cruising due east at first
to go north around Rhodos, and going south towards Cyprus. The sea was
a bit rough this morning, the ship lurching, and Sonja was keeping well
away from the cooking scents of the kitchen, but with the aid of a tablet
of Primatour everything went well.
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And these are the consequences of playing sailor: sun baked,
wind swept, but thoroughly happy.
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Sun down over Rhodos. It was just a few days after new moon, and
the night was dark and clear. For the first time in our lifes we could
see the milky way: what a spectacle!
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The pilot is coming on-board when we approach Cyprus.
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The port of Limassol is not so big, and a tug assisted in turning
the ship around. Next to the ship were 3 cruise boats, that one by one
left for Haifa during the day.
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In Cyprus, the mini-van has to go from board to allow unloading
of the trailers. While all other cars are baking in the sun, Henk finds
the only shaded place in the harbor. Quite a relief for the chocolate
flakes in the car!
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In total there are 5 passengers on this trip: 2 truckers with humanitary
aid supplies for Jerusalem and Gaza, the bloke with the landrover,
and we. Coincidence? all from Holland.
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When we leave Cyprus in the evening, two Israelis join us. Itschak
and Roshanna have spend 3 months on Cyprus. We share the last bottle of
bubbly, enjoy 3 falling stars and again the milky way, while Cyprus disappears
in the distance. Early to bed, because the ship is expected to reach Israel
early in the morning. When Sonja looks through the porthole at 6 o'clock
she already sees the promised land. We rush to deck to witness the sunrise
over the Carmel mountain.
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The Trader-1 slowly shifts through Haifa port, assisted by a tug
and a pilot. The sky turns deep purple. Just a little more time, and we
are there....
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Well actually, a lot more time. Everything in the mini-van
had to be unloaded for the security check: all the boxes, cupboards, crates,
beds, even the spare tire was dismounted and put through the X-ray. Nevertheless,
we had a lot of fun and a lot a good humored cooperation from the security
personnel, who did say nothing about the excessive amount of whiskey
or food stuff. We didn't even have to pay any duties for the car or for
its contents: we simply received a temporary license for the car for 3
months, with the option to extend it for 12 more.
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The camera already had
80 pictures, and we wanted to drive home as fast as we could, so there
are no pictures anymore from our trip in Israel. We left the port at 11h,
payed a short visit to a former citizen of Dordrecht who lives in Haifa,
left some "sheep head" cookies, and then left to drive the last 7 hours
to Eilat.
We started in the direction of Hadera, took the brand new highway
6 to avoid the traffic around Tel Aviv, and got to Be'er Sheva in no
time at all. Accidentally we missed the road through the Arava, the rather
flat and boring road along the Jordan valley. In stead we got onto road
40, the other and more difficult road to Eilat. What a joy this was to
drive: spectacular desert scenery, the gigantic crater near Mitspe Ramon
in which you descent through hair-pin curves and then fully cross to the
other side: really superb!. We will do this trip another time, with an empty
camera.
Ruth and Yuval had been looking after the apartment, so we
found it clean, already stocked with some supplies, and so we could
move in right away. The noisy lady from upstairs had gone,
the leakage stopped, but that will be explained in later reports.
More information about how we booked and experienced this trip can be found in the detailed travel info
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