This involved using more of the skills acquired whilst fundraising to persuade an incredibly kind bus driver of a certain national coach company to give us a lift into London central bus station. Now in many ways this was breaking a cardinal rule of Hitchhiking, which is: avoid at all costs going into population centres to get lifts, because you have to work your way out again. By this stage we didn't care, we just needed a lift! And so we found ourselves at 8:30 on a Sunday morning begging a French bus driver for a lift all the way from London, direct to Amsterdam, we saw it as our golden opportunity, but unfortunately after a rough nights sleep at Gatwick, my silver tongue felt more like lead, and we were stonewalled.
--Desperate Times, Desperate Measures --
Desperation set in after 4 hours waiting at the bus station as we could see no obvious way out, until we came across a bus going to Dover... surely our only option! In many ways this was our last hope, but after 15 hours of going nowhere, and with very little sleep, i felt it important not to show just how desperate we felt! Despite our best efforts, the bus driver was understandably worried about his job and so sent us to talk to his boss. Once again i had to go and give our pitch and suck up the desperation, so that i could try and persuade a complete stranger to give us something for free, that others have to pay for. As hard as I tried, the boss sitting in his office was having none of it, and told us that he had got into trouble in the past for a similar situation, but we should try and talk to the general manager.
Unfortunately we had already run into the general manager who had skillfully passed us off with a phone number which only led to a labyrinth of numeric options, and never ever actually gave you the option "speak to a human". This appeared to be it. Nobody would help us. We were well and truly stuck. Instow to London. Not good.
And so with a huge grin on my face I left the bosses office and wandered over to the bus driver to tell him.... " um... yeah, the guys in the office, erm.... they reckon its ok.... they ....erm... they said its pretty much up to you." Well, the bus driver didn't look too impressed, or indeed completely believing and replied..."well i best go check with the office", (which obviously led to panic on my part.) but just as he walked off, he said, "so I'll turn my back and you get on the bus".
Now due to my heavily fatigued state, i didn't immediately pick up on this.... i thought he was inferring that i look like the type of person who would just stow-away. Now i might be the kind of person who will tell a little white lie for a good cause, but I'm far too much of a wimp to stow away on this (scary looking) guys bus! and so to a look of blank incomprehension he repeated comically slowly.... "So. I'll. turn. my. back, and. you. get. on. the. bus." wink wink nudge nudge.
Eventually, thanks to a small white lie on my part and a very good natured bus driver (who has since donated to the cause... thank you!) we made it to Dover!
-- The Final Stage --
On arrival at Dover, we just wanted to keep the momentum up, and keep going, and so i have to confess we suffered a moment of weakness, and rather than try and hitch a lift across the channel, we were offered a special deal by the ferry operators, which was just too good to refuse..... Thom kindly paid two pounds for our ferry fare across. (however this did come with a free bottle of wine, which we planned to sell to recover our costs...... but it went somewhere....Thom kindly agreed to pay for my fare and so i am still travelling with principles intact!)
Once on the ferry, we finally felt much better, as we had achieved what had seemed like such a difficult ambition, getting across the country, and finally across the channel without spending any money on transport! Once on board, we knew we had to work hard though, as everything we had read warned how hard it is to hitch from Calais, and so I ended up traipsing through the truckers cafeteria asking for lifts, which was pretty flipping humiliating, as each table would see you coming and prepare their rejection. Not a position i want to be in again, and it was defiantly one of those moments which was made easier by the knowledge that what i was going through was for charity! Fortunately just as i was about to give up being totally and completely and humiliatingly rejected over and over again, an absolute hero came to our rescue.
Many an awesome story can be told about our journey with Paul, but they will have to be told in person! Suffice to Say Paul was driving a truck loaded with guitars, drums, lights, amps and equipment belonging to the Killers(!) who had just performed at Glastonbury and he was driving to Helsinki with their gear for the next gig!
Our fortunes improved immediately on meeting Paul, who pointed us in the direction of a free shower on the ferry, and just as i was returning, thinking things couldn't be much better, (especially considering our state 8 hours ago at Gatwick!) i found Thom receiving a free massage, from a stunning girl, who turned out to be the daughter of a Costa Rican ambassador's to the UN. Lucky git.
Paul dropped us off at a service station outside Ghent, and Thom and I treated ourselves to a proper meal at the service station. An hour later and we were back on the move with an incredibly kind Belgian couple who not only drove us to Antwerp, but then set us up with a lift with their friend, Erik (a marketing manager for an awesome dutch television station!) all the way to Amsterdam! We finally arrived to meet Alex and Patrick in Amsterdam, at midnight, 43 hours after leaving Instow!
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