LEAVING AMSTERDAM

The day finally came to leave Amsterdam, thankfully the rain decided to stay away this particular day (one of only a few occasions). However the weather was the last of our worries, after meeting in Amsterdam there was a five strong group (Alex, Tom, Thom, Pat and Claire) of us all heading in the same direction to a little village in Belgium for a festival they hold there every year - Rock Werchter. This had been our initial driving force behind deciding to travel through Europe this summer, three days of rock 'n' Roll in the sun (the sun didn't cooperate!)

We eventually made it to a suitable hitching location late in the afternoon, far from ideal, but luckily within 5 minutes of arriving a car pulled up willing to take myself and Pat down the motorway to a service station just outside of Breda. Squeezing in to the back of a Fiat Punto we said our goodbyes and made vague arrangements to meet in Brussels later that night!!! Needless to say we didn't see each other again until the first day of the festival. Getting dropped off in the pouring rain at a non-descript service station, outside a Dutch city did not fill me with confidence about our task but i was surprised to be offered a lift before we'd even had chance to ask.

So there we jumped in to the second car of the day, a much larger and more comfortable Volvo estate!!!!! The couple in front were kind enough to give us a lift to Antwerp where we made our way into the centre and somehow found ourselves in a pub with lots of china sheep everywhere and two enormously friendly bar staff. We sat, took stock of the situation and enjoyed some fine tasting beer recommended to us by our new friends. Very quickly it got dark and we realised we needed to find somewhere to sleep. With vague directions from the landlord and his mate we set off to find the tram which would take us to our destination, a campsite outside of the city centre. Arriving late we pitched the tent and got down to some serious rest after what was a surprisingly tiring day.

Waking early with the sun was quite a shock to us (after almost a week of wind and rain in Amsterdam), but knowing we had to be at Werchter as early as possible, we quickly tidied our stuff away and made our escape. With free transport promised by the event organisers we were prepared to take full advantage, hopping on the short train ride from Antwerp, followed by an even shorter bus ride, we found ourselves at the entrance to camp site B1. Our elation over arriving was dampened somewhat when we realised we had to find, Tom, Thom and Claire in a sea of about 10 000 tents, we prepared for a long day!!!!!

Miraculously i spotted the Union Jack Tom had hoisted into a tree and there camping below were, Tom, Thom and Claire waiting dutifully for our arrival.