30th December 08

Date: 29th December 08
Location: Mont Blanc, France
Weather: Very cold with snow and sleet, -5°c overnight
Status: Within a day’s drive of home

Wow that was extreme camping….so cold overnight so we were lucky to have my two mountain climbing sleeping bags which are rated down to -25°c and gave us plenty of warmth in the cold tent.

We were back on the road by 8am and without Kees filling the mirrors could up the speed to 110kph when the conditions allowed, the weather slowly deteriorated and snow started to fall which even the fleet of salting trucks couldn’t keep from blocking the outside lane of the autoroute.

Our progress was constant and as we arrived in Reims I decided to head to the Mumm Champagne cellars and pick up a bottle ready for the New Year celebrations, having worked for them in the UK for ten years it was great to see where all of the fizzy stuff is made.

Late on in the afternoon we made it to Calais and after trying the channel tunnel which was full we headed to the ferry and booked the Colonel and ourselves on the next available crossing back to the UK.

On arrival at the famous white cliffs of Dover Bre and I held our breath as Baccus the Buffalo was facing his final test…could we sneak him through the final border of the trip and safely home to Hampshire? The police and customs stopped the Colonel momentarily to check our number plate and waved us through….we’d done it!!

The joys of the M25 and thick fog slowed our progress back to my sisters house in Guildford where we finally arrived at 1am, a quick chat and into bed ready for the alarm clock at 7am in order to ready myself for the final marathon home!

End of day location: Guildford, Surrey, England
Distance covered: 950kms