Now as it’s Easter weekend it’s time for the third and final installment of Ian Harpers recent road trip to Rhodes in Greece with a little Renault Midlum 7.5 tonner on removal duties. Over to Ian for the final installment;

Day 10
I arrive back in Piraeus not a bright sunny morn but mild and misty. I depart the ferry and take to the road traffics relatively light 30 minutes and I’m on the motorway. Stop at the first toll €8•10 its gone up 20 cents, oh well. I trundle along the 3 lane motorway until the road splits for either Tripoli or Patras , through the second toll which was still the old price of €7•90 then into Patras. I still come in the old way pass the BP right and down to the waterfront as all the immigrants have moved to the new way in there are the odd few this way but whichever way you will come across them. At a set of roadwork’s they all popped out, 2 jumped on the tail lift and onto the roof in full view of a police car with 2 officers watching, fag in one hand and a frappe in the other. I looked over and they say €100 and we will get them!! I just laughed. Pull into the marina and they jumped off and onto the port passing a few more along the way. In the port, ticket collected catch up with emails etc on the free wifi and wait for the Superfast XII to arrive, load and set sail.

Day 11
Once all the rattles and squeaks were either suppressed or eliminated, shower, food, internet then quick look at Ingoumenista, mainly freight getting on Turks, Bulgarians and Greeks. Woke up not to bad a nights kip quick shower and see what kind of day it  is, warm but foggy my phone springs into life with a message from the Croatian tourist board so at least I have an idea where I am. Off the ferry normally it takes around an hour and a half to get off and out of the port as the port is way too small for the amount of vehicles that use it, anyway as I’m one of the last off not too fussed, Surprise! No queue so by 17:00 I’m out the port on the autostrada adriatica heading all points north. I get to Dirkendorf Germany for 04:00 in 9:25 and call it a day.

Day 12
Woke up about 09:00 freezing night heater on and must of nodded off I get up go for a shower and coffee time is going so slow I’ve started to get that “just want to get home” feeling. 13:00 eventually comes around and I’m away through Stuttgart just before it starts to build up with evening traffic. I pass a Davis International, we wave he flashes me in and I’m gone. I pull into the Standehoft total garage and guest house, As I’m getting out the cab “Mr Davis” pulls in and asks “You going for something to eat?” my reply prompted him to park and follow me in. A beautiful curried schnitzel with onions and potatoes and a coffee to swill down we departed, only to catch each other up at Capellen Luxembourg in the queue for fuel, 1hr 20 it took for me to get fuel and away will I make it to the tunnel / All4trucks?

No! I didn’t with the combination of wind rain and heavy sleet that slowed me down the as I pull on to the A8 around Tournai. Traffics stopped. Luckily we all reversed down the road and took another junction to get round the hold up , which was a wide load that had wedged himself between the concrete barriers in the roadwork’s. 01:16 bed.

Day 13
I woke up to some inconsiderate Belgian with his radio on full pelt playing euro pop! 10:30 comes and I’m away, only to make it as far the other end of the car park and one of the Belgian douanes flag me down quick check of passport load and manifest I’m away again, Lille is pretty quiet and up the A16 then again! a French douane flags me down into the lay-by near the house with the WW2 memorabilia all painted in pshycadellic colours. 10 minutes I’m away after explaining I was removals so didn’t need a CMR. On pulling into the tunnel the queue started at the roundabout by the x-ray machine 20 minutes and was in a lane waiting 51 minutes after that onto the train we go. Back in Blighty Woo Hoo!! I ring the customers to see if they will be in today one was in Bentley NR Ipswich and the other North Elmham just outside Dereham.
20:30ish the drops off will I make it back to Manchester? it will be close, as I’m crossing the A17 heading for Newark the trucks owner rings ” how’s it all going” and I said “I’ll be 30 minutes short of getting back to the yard,” no worries ring me and I’ll come and meet you”, with that I’m on my way A1, A57 Sheffield and then the snake pass. I had mentioned earlier in the week that I kept getting the whiff of diesel and when the truck go’s for its 10 week check see if there’s a leak. I prefer the snake pass it’s a lot quieter than Wood Head, so trundling along and I hear a different tone to the truck. The exhaust was blowing “there’s the fumes issue solved”! As I drove as quietly as I could through Glossop the meeting point was arranged at the McDonalds at the M67 we grabbed a brew and then on our way into the yard. By 00:30 that morning shower and in my own bed.

Excellent Ian, thank you very much. I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s a good read and some great photo’s as well. If you didn’t get them, please use the links to go to the other parts of the story. Just to let you know I Have another of Ian’s stories ready an waiting to show itself on the blog, so keep checking back, it’ll be here soon.

Part 1 – Click HERE.
Part 2 – Click HERE.

Here we go again, time for Part 2 of Ian Harper’s trip to Rhodes in Greece. In PART 1 we got to day 4, sitting on the Minoan Lines ferry in Italy waiting to set sail for Patras, Greece and onwards toward his final destination, the Greek Island of Rhodes. Hop into the little Renault and enjoy part 2 of 3;

Day 5
Quite an uneventful crossing. The food is not the best and some of you may be asking why I didn’t get the Superfast ferry instead, well it doesn’t sail on a Monday that’s why. We dock in the new port at Patras just up the road from the old one. I had time to kill as there wasn’t a ferry that day so there was no rush to drive to Pireaus, so I went in the terminal used the free wifi and then got on my way.The immigrants were out in force looking at new ways to get in and on to vehicles for their free taxi to pastures new and benefits a plenty! They are still building the motorway from Patras to connect with Athens and if anyone has driven in Greece they know that even a single carriageway has 2 lanes on it as you drive on the hard shoulder. I pull into gate E1 at Pireaus docks as it is the gate I need and is the easiest to get in too. My ferry is in but it’s not sailing for another 20 hrs so round to gate E3 weigh off and park up where I can. A quick walk to the cafe, kebab n chips, a couple of bottles of beer to take away and into the cab as its blowing a gale and starting to snow. From where I’m parked I watch the unorganised mayhem of the Crete boats loading then slipping away into the darkness of the night.

Day 6
Why is it when you don’t have to get up that you can’t lie in or in my case wake up early and can’t get back to sleep? I have a wander about take some pics of old Volvos, Scania’s and anything else that was worth taking.

My phone rings it’s our other driver Paul he’s in a sprinter van and catching me up as we are both heading for the same Island. Paul had another 6 removals on, all small deliveries for the regulars we deal with. As you do, first thing is a brew then book in as we were both booked in on the same number. Tickets acquired we joined the mayhem of loading. If this was the UK health and safety would have a field day, how no one gets run over is amazing.

Cabins on our own, showered, then some food. Blue Star Ferries are part of the same company that own Superfast but the food on these ferries are run by Goodies which is a fast food outlet in Greece. Saying that the food is cooked warm and plenty of it. We arrive late but considering that the boat had 3 other stops and struggled getting on the docks with the wind they had done well.

Ok we better do some work so the truck was being emptied first then parked up until Sunday when we leave, as the collections were in tight spots etc not very accessible even for a 7.5 ton truck. A phone call and an hour later we are outside the new home, which wasn’t (as usual) finished. The Greeks don’t seem to comprehend time and completion dates.

Any way we could still unload and with extra hands we were done in 2 hrs then a brew and some sarni’s we said our good buys and onto the next job. Luckily all the drops were pretty local to where we were based at Lindos 3. We’re in Lindos itself and if anyone has holidayed there, knows how narrow the streets are so up to the amphitheatre, and take it from there. One drop was in the florists opposite the amphitheatre and another was picked up in a car the last was to a bar on the top road things were going great. 2 more drops in Lardos up the road and the last was where we park the truck at blue line villas. 9pm and we were both empty, shower and bed.

Day 7
It snowed throughout the night and the was still a smattering of flakes on the floor the sun warmed up and it had gone. First job a collection for the truck some people moving back to Whitehaven, it was even tight for the van to get in. 2 hrs and 1 very full 4.3 metre sprinter van later and it’s back to the truck to tranship. Thats the big one out of the way back to Rhodes town, 8 small boxes. Then Falaraki 18 boxes and Krematsi for another 24 boxes we got back to the truck it was cold dark and blowing a gale so shower Chinese couple of beers and bed.

Day 8
As we had done so well with all the collections and deliveries all we had to do was tranship 2 of the collections on to the truck and that was that done. So nipped round to one of our regulars for a couple of hrs for a brew. Graham the manager of the villas came down and said how do you fancy a night out with us, we said yes please so we all went to Lardos meal and a few jars.

Day 9
No rush today so up give the truck and van a wash check them both over then say our goodbyes and a hour drive back to Rhodes town to catch the ferry that night. Nowhere is open at the moment so we had a wander around and Paul has an interest in the last wars so a visit to the war memorial and he takes pictures of the headstones. You may think this a little morbid but Paul is helping the Commonwealth War Graves Comission in a program of logging who is buried where. It helps relatives see and find out where they are laid to rest in peace. It took us an hour or so to do the job and if this helps 1 person out then whats a couple of hours in our lives? Back to the port, kettle on, tickets collected, wait to get on the ferry. Paul was only going as far as Kos as his main collection was on the Island.

Tonight we have a new guest writer on the blog. Ian Harper has recently driven a 7.5 ton Renault Midlum from Manchester to Ipswich to Rhodes, Greece. Luckily for us he has sent me his diary for the trip. This will be a 3 part story so keep your eyes peeled over the week and try and keep up with Ian on his road trip. These words are all his own I haven’t edited it in anyway as I thought it best to leave it as was. I hope you enjoy the read, over to you Ian;

Day 1
03:45 Get up cold dark wet and miserable even the cat didn’t move, kettle on flask filled brew made and last night’s left over sausages and a tin of beans warmed up in food flask and out the door.
04:15 on my way down the M67 A57 over snake pass through Sheffield and onto the A57 then the A1 the roads are so quiet for a Friday morning even the A14 at Huntingdon isn’t slowing down, into Cambridge services for my sausage and beans brew and an hour’s kip I’m well in front of myself not loading till 12. I’ll be in Ipswich early, ring the customer they are waiting for me that a result into Hadleigh Rd Ind Est, Ipswich find the storage unit and 3 hrs later all their worldly possessions were loaded and ready to move to their new house in Pyloma on the Island of Rhodes. Can I get round to the Eurotunnel without hitting any traffic? Yes apart from the Dartford Bridge I didn’t slow down.
16:15 Not to bad a wait for the train 25 minutes and were loaded on the train waiting for the bus to take me up front why some drivers don’t move up the bus for others to get on baffles me there’s enough seats for all of us!
17:30 off the train and on our way got an hour left on a 9 need a “splash of juice” to get me to Luxembourg so head for Vuerne.

Day 2                                                                  
03:30 Alarm goes off brew made checks and on my way at a foggy dark 04:00 morning I should make Luxembourg in 4:30 on a Saturday morning, 4 hrs 12 minutes later I’m pulling into Berchem services fuel up and round to the car park for a break and a free brew. The fog lifted and I was on my way the roads were busy but no problems a lot of Dutch cars heading south, off the motorway and through the hills and forests by Pirmaseans and down to Pforzheim and an hrs break taken, how far will I make it? I’ve set the sat nav for the Shell garage on the Germany – Austria border at Vils. I’m 25 minutes short of making Vils so the services at Dietmansreid will do for tonight as I know I can make Ancona in a day’s drive.

Day 3
00:30 Its freezing snowing and the night heaters got the little cab like an oven don’t really feel like moving, away we go into Austria some little snow flurries but the Austrians are on top of it the gritters and ploughs are out ,through the fern pass which is a lovely drive some excellent scenery in the day time. An hour and a half later I pull into the shell garage just off junction 3 at Innsbruck to fuel up. A free brew and 15 minute break I’m away down the Brenner Pass some little flakes of snow on the windscreen turned into bloody big flakes and for 15 minutes it was an interesting drive, the snow stopped and I was on the Brennero on my own for most of the way not many headlights anywhere.

An hrs break around Trento daylight was poking its head out over the Dolomites and on my way I go another break after Bologna and straight into Ancona get my tickets for tomorrow’s boat and a 26 hr break on the lorry park with free mix of Bulgarian and Greek folk music.
The Minoan ferry was loading as I walk pass and into Ancona town. There were a couple of Pulleyn trucks at the truck park so I had an idea where they would be having a pint, I recognised one of the lads and he clocked me so I went and said hi and was asked if I wanted to join them and grab a pizza later I accepted the invite we watched the 6 Nations Rugby and chewed the fat for a couple of hours.

Day 4
I was awoken with the combination of folk music loud talking and someone very kindly emptying the contents of his nasal passages. I couldn’t be bothered moving as I was warm and snug so I put the night heater on for 15 minutes to warm the cab up then eventually got up. To my surprise it had snowed through the night not a lot but enough to cover the ground. I got dressed and wandered up to the terminal used the facilities and got myself a coffee and a cheese pannini for my breakfast, on my wandering back the 2 Pulleyn lads were going so a quick bye, take care and they were gone, they were loading oranges near Rome so a nice drive over the tops but I didn’t envy them the drive up the A1 to Bologna it’s not the best of roads. I had 4 hrs to kill so I started this blog and had a sit in the sun on the harbour it was warm in the sun and I watched the world and the fishing boats go by, from where I was sat I could see the ferry terminal the Superfast had just come in then 2 hrs later the Minoan came in an hour after that I was on the ferry ,got a cabin to myself and went to watch us leave from the top deck and as usual we were an 1 and a half hrs late.