Escape from Europe and Covid19: 14 - 17 March 2020

Its taken me three weeks to feel up to writing this next post!

Our trip of a lifetime to show our boys Europe and the UK, has taken a turn that no one could have ever believed possible!

Things changed quickly in Europe right about now due to Coronavirus, or Covid19! This word/virus that the world had never heard of until 31 December 2019!

On 14th we drove 550km from Aranjuez to Biarritz which is 5km over the French border. What a relief, or so we thought!

Campsite in Biarritz when we arrived.

Campsite in Biarritz when we arrived.

Campsite in Biarritz when we arrived.

And, Campsite in Biarritz the first morning we were there. Loads of vans kept arriving into the night having escaped Spain!

After deciding that we couldn't wait for our scheduled ferry crossing from Calais to Dover on 31 March, we spent the day of the 15th at camp in Biarritz planning, searching, calling people, and with relief managed to book a camp site in Le Mans for the night of the 16th, then another near Calais for the 17th, ready to get the Eurotunnel to the UK on 18 March. We had hoped not to travel on the 16th, being Cale's 12th birthday, however we felt strongly that we needed to get to the UK as soon as we could, rather than wait until the 31st, so we made our move.

After some morning birthday celebrations with presents we drove out of the campsite in the pouring rain, and headed for Le Mans, a drive of 450km.  On arrival at our camp ground in Le Mans we found the gates locked, and several other British people parked up in the car park outside the gates. A French lady came out and advised us all that they were told by Government they had to close at 12noon that day, and that France was going into lockdown, and that we couldn't stay. She also said that the Police were coming to check they were complying with the lockdown rules. After some discussion and a call to her boss, we were allowed to stay in the car park, however we had no access to power. Thankfully the French lady did take pity on us all and filled up a couple of bottles of water for us all. It was a cool night though with no heating! We used our camping lantern for lighting (thankfully we had bought this with us from NZ!) Once settled, party celebrations were had with balloons, cake (in the form of chocolate brownie) complete with candles, party food and singing!  A birthday not to be forgotten!!

Birthday celebrations! (above and below)

Later that night we read that France was shutting down, and from 12noon the following day (17th) everyone had to remain home (great for those that only had one on wheels), and were only allowed out with good reason. Also, you had to carry specific documentation otherwise you would be fined. As a result we decided that we should get away early the following morning to try and be off the road soon after noon. We drove 420km on this day from Le Mans to the Eurotunnel in Calais.

Time to board!

Driving in the train.

Aboard the train. You are normally allowed to wander between carriages, however due to Covid19 we had to stay in the vehicle, except for the photograph :)

Driving off the train in Folkestone, England (above and below)

As we weren't due to travel until 11am the following morning (18th) we drove around for a bit to try and find somewhere secure to camp for the night within the security of the port.  There didn't appear to be any 'office' as such, so we asked an Englishman what they were doing and if he knew where we could park. He suggested trying to check in early. 

We didn't really have any other option due to the many migrants that hang around and try any way they can to get to the UK for asylum.  We didn't want to have to try and camp overnight on the side of the road, or in a supermarket car park.  They really are desperate, and will try anything to get into your caravan/motor home and hide, or tie ropes underneath your car and suspending themselves until you arrive in England.

After driving to the check-in area we pulled to the side of the check-in lanes, and I walked up with the boys to ask someone at one of the booths. We didn't really want to drive on through, just in case we ended up having to back the caravan all the way out again.  The young lady I spoke to was lovely. She suggested to try driving though the check-in lanes, punching our booking code in, and seeing what happens, which we did. The message we saw on screen made us emotional - there was availability on the 5:20pm Eurotunnel that day! Phew!! We then had to go through French border control which wasn't an issue, then on to British Immigration. We hadn't considered this part, so when asked what 'our intentions were while we were in the UK', we didn't really have an answer!  In these uncertain times, who really has a plan!  Anyway he asked to see the boys in the back and check them against passports, then asked us to wait while he closed his window and went to talk to his superior. Great, we thought, we get this far then won't be allowed in! He came back to the window with a smile and was so lovely, again very emotional when he let us go on. He even advised us to take some time before rushing into any decisions etc once we arrived in the UK.  Off we drove to a waiting area before boarding just after 5pm. Such an emotional time - relief to be leaving Europe in some ways, but very sad knowing that there was a high chance we wouldn't be able to go back there on this trip.  45 minutes after boarding we were on English soil - huge relief to know we were now in an English speaking Commonwealth country with many people here who can support us.  There was even a lovely British couple in the vehicle parked in front of us on the train, who gave us their two 'goodie' dinner bags with baguettes, fruit, nuts, slices, chips, water etc in them! So so lovely of them!

After driving off the train we had 315km to drive to our NZ friends Chris and Charmyn's home. We were able to park our caravan in the driveway on their wee farm, and decide what to do from here!