GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk5 => Topic started by: illyun on 02 February 2007, 12:43
-
Right thenÂ… IÂ’ve delayed this for a while because it was too much to write and the fact that I was so tired after the trip that I could hardly string a sentence together either verbally or in print. As I cannot copy and paste everything in, it will have to be done in stagesÂ…
Trip Summary
Day 1: Ipswich to Antwerp
Distance Travelled: 269 miles
Day 2: Antwerp-Brussels-Paris
Distance Travelled: 252 miles
Day 3: Paris-Geneva
Distance Travelled: 355 miles
Day 4: Geneva-Chamonix Mont Blanc-Turin
Distance Travelled: 208 miles
Day 5: Turin-Montpellier-Barcelona
Distance Travelled: 561 miles
Day 6: Barcelona-Gibraltar
Distance Travelled: 415 miles
Day 7: Gibraltar-Rabat
Journey Time: 6.5 hours
Day 8: Rabat-Casablanca-Rabat
Journey Time: 2.5 hours to Casablanca and back
Day 9: Rabat-Marrakesh
Journey Time: 4 hours
Day 10: Marrakesh
Day 11: Marrakesh-Fes
Journey Time: 8 hours
Day 12: Fes
Day 13: Fes
Day 14: Fes – Gibraltar
Journey Time: 8 hours
Day 15: Gibraltar-Granada
Distance Travelled: 182 miles
Day 16: Granada
Day 17: Granada-Cordoba - Madrid
Distance Travelled: 396 miles
Day 18: Madrid –Bordeaux-Poitiers
Distance Travelled: 607 miles
Day 19: Poitiers-Versailles/Paris-Calais-Folkestone-London-Ipswich
Distance Travelled: 590 miles
Day 20: Ipswich-Newport – not part of the trip, but the final killer blow which knocked me for six – I could hardly stand up at work… lucky I work in IT then, behind a keyboard
Distance Travelled: 240 miles
-
very impressive - would love to do something similar but maybe spread over 6 months!
-
Yeah... it would have been nicer spread over 6 months but finanically suicidal!
Photos with captions/descriptions for each stage to follow as separate posts
-
Over 4000 miles in 11 days driving - you're a mad man :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
-
Over 4000 miles in 11 days driving - you're a mad man :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I know I'm slightly crazy, but then you should met my 2 year old daughter - she's so extreme its scary... :evil: :evil:
-
December 21st, ANTWERP, BELGIUM
Parked opposite Antwerp town hall and cathedral after a drive from Ipswich the night before...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01270.jpg)
-
you should of done a top gear style race and got one or two of your mates to go the same route but via hovercraft or something equally as random :laugh:
-
Ohhh, I was also in Marrakech, from 24th to 30th December! :cool:
Maybe our paths crossed??? :smiley:
Rgds
-
I stayed in the Medina - the old city - in a Riyad. Only met an old Australian couple who were heading for some food on our first night and I tagged along.
-
I stayed in the Medina - the old city
Did you get lost in the Souks - I got lost in em every time. :evil:
- in a Riyad.
Who did you book that through; if you don't mind me asking. I was staying over in the Palais de Congress - a supposedly 5* small hotel; but was a ginormous dump. :sick:
-
Sorry for the late reply Teutonic... I booked it through some guy who owns a Riyadh in the Medina - his name is Phillip. He has offered me cut price stays for friends and family - I think you come in the first category :wink: - so if you go to Marrakesh again, then I will forward his contact details and prices and put in a good word for you. Phillip is from the UK by the way. This thread will have some photos of the Riyad and Marrakesh...
Rest of the Antwerp pics....
Thursday, 21st December
I went well prepared - these nappies come very handy if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere.. just strap on and do your thing. :grin: :grin: :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01273.jpg)
Thats the Antwerp Catherdral and Town Hall in the background....
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01272.jpg)
A quick trip to the local stealer to get some windscreen wash.... they're completely clueless just like in the UK :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01279.jpg)
-
Paris
Friday, 22nd December
The Tower - strange colour - I had always thought it was black :undecided:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01287.jpg)
In the evening, just before I left for Switzerland - left Paris at 9.30pm got to Geneva at 2:00am
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01375.jpg)
-
Geneva and Chamonaix-Mont Blanc
Saturday, 23rd December
Although the Swiss were the nicest people I encountered in Europe, Geneva was a dump - like some Eastern European city in the middle of the Soviet Era - so I only took a photo of an underground car park next to Lake Geneva...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01380.jpg)
Left Geneva at 2:30pm and drove to Chamonaix Mont-Blanc near... Mont Blanc
Shell garage at the Swiss-French border in the Alps
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01399.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01402.jpg)
On the way to Chamonaix...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01429.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01440.jpg)
Left Chamonaix at 7:30pm - winds too high for a cable car ride...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01451.jpg)
Although it was minus 5 celsius outside, once I entered the Mont Blanc tunnel, it got warmer and warmer until I started to get a bit worried
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01459.jpg)
Inside the tunnel
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01458.jpg)
Got to Italy an hour or so after leaving Chamonaix...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01461.jpg)
-
Great pics, keep them coming. Did you just go on your own? And, what inspired you to do it? I'd love to do something like this but my girlfriend doesn't quite see the enjoyment as a passenger!!
Geeky question - is that the midline computer as looks v similar to mine and that's what I think I have but would love to find out I have the high line and just haven't spotted it yet!?
-
Great pics, keep them coming. Did you just go on your own?
No, I went with my wife and 2 year old daugther - did you really believe that those Pampers were for me? :grin: :grin: :grin:
-
My wifes been moaning at me for a holiday for the past 4 years.. been married for 9 years and was a broke student/graduate fir the first 5 years of marriage. However, I didn't fancy catching a plane to South Spain or Morocco where she wanted to go as you miss so much like that so I decided to drive and have a look at different sights along the way.
As for my MFA, it is the highline one and its easy to spot as it takes up the whole screen whereas a midrange one is only half of the screen - the bottom half - like the Mk4 GTIs
-
Ahh yes, good point on the pampers!!
Strange as my display looks the same but all I can do is cycle though two lots of displays for fuel consumption, temprature, miles left in tank etc but don't think I can do any adjustments to light delays etc.
Anyhow, not the end of the world. Will have to plan a Euro trip instead!
-
OK... I had the same confusion when I had a highline MFA on my 06 GTI and I saw Doc bring out some really detailed info like light adjustments etc... which I couldn't do on mine. Thats because you need a multifunction steering whee, to acces those functions.
-
Great pics and great story - keep em coming.
PS - I hope it got better than 21.3mpg!
-
well, I had a go and found new functions! A button on the bottom of the stalk that means I can now set the time delay on the lights or set the display to always show the radio station, but, despite having a MFSW I don't think I can adjust things like the locks etc?
-
Great pics Illyun, and looks like a great trip. I'm thinking if doing a small scale UK road trip for my hols this year.
A Euro road trip looks like a lot of fun though. However, think I need DSG for that - maybe next year. :wink:
-
Yup DSG was invaluable - as was the V6 musical orchestra :evil: :evil: :evil:
-
Turin, Italy
24th December
Outside the local stealers in Turin - wife was bemused :grin:...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01474.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01475.jpg)
This is called the Monte del Cappuchini and is a big big hill in Turin with lots of scary sheer drops - without a fence - on the drive up to the top. The first picture is halfway up and you can see the Alps in the distance. The second is a view from the top looking over Turin again with the Alps in the background. The last is around 6:30pm just before I set off back down the hill. Left Turin at 8:30pm and arrived Barcelona, Spain driving across France via Lyon and Montpellier in 6 hours :evil: :evil:.
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01500.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01516.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01524.jpg)
-
Barcelona, Spain
25th December
Didn't really plan to look around as I had a gruelling 12 hours drive to Gibraltar down the East coast of Spain - which took 13 hours eventually becuase I almost ran out of petrol in some very dodgy looking area in South Spain and had to drive 40mph trying to conserve the last drops... quite embaressing as all these other motorists that I had blasted past at 130+ an hour before drove past - and probably muttered w8nker in Spanish or French or whatever :embarassed:
Barcelona Christmas Day!!!
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01538.jpg)
On the Seafront
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01541.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01544.jpg)
Christmas Day Swim on the Beach...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01553.jpg)
Some dodgy fuel pump just outside Barcelona on my way to Gibraltar. Just after this photo, I got pulled by two plainclothes police officers asking me to pull up behind them... I didn't do that but drove up beside them and stopped, wondering what they wanted as their car was about 15 years old and they weren't in uniform - a bit suspicious... Some grotty looking Spainard pulled out a police badge that looked like he'd bought it from Toys R Us and asked me for passports. I asked on what grounds they had stopped me and he told me that they were looking for some terrorists - I'm muslim so he thought he'd play that card.. must have an IQ of 5 or something. The only terrorist I had was my 2 year old sitting in the back sucking her thumb :grin: :grin: :grin: Basically, I told him to copulate with himself and drove off - I figured that if they were police - highly unlikely - I'd be stopped further down the road anyway - but if they weren't I'd got my family out of a potentially very dangerous situation. 'WELCOME TO SPAIN' I thought to myself. Needless to say, they didn't even try to come after the R32 :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01565.jpg)
1:00am Got to Gibraltar - felt like home and a breath of fresh air after the last few days... even though the Spanish had tried to put roadblocks on the roundabout exit to Gibraltar. We've been there for 300 years plus but they still don't seem to understand :huh:.
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02542.jpg)
-
great pics, i wish i could do something like that
-
Amazing photos. You should put them all on a thread of their own, just as a gallery.
Try this thread for a bit of fun
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2918517
-
Tangiers-Rabat, Morocco
26th December
Ferry from Tarifa, Spain to Tangiers, Morocco early in the morning of the 26th...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01578.jpg)
One of many dubs that I saw in Rabat... I didn't want to get too happy-snappy with the camera so missed a lot of Mk1 and Mk2 Diesels...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01592.jpg)
-
Marrakesh, Morocco
28th-30th December
The Souks and Dubs of Marrakesh
Where we stayed....
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01836.jpg)
A view of the old city (Medina)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01842.jpg)
Mk3 - Marrakesh Style
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01846.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01847.jpg)
rear lights = :sick:
Street scene inside the Madina
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01851.jpg)
Spot the Mk3
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01863.jpg)
Cruisin' Local Chav Style
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01864.jpg)
I left this area pretty fast... :grin: :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01878.jpg)
-
Great Read illyun.
Is that horse really pulling the Clio along :wink:
-
Great Read illyun.
Is that horse really pulling the Clio along :wink:
Of course... what else did you expect? Its a Renault after all. :grin: :grin:
-
Marrakesh, Morocco
28th-30th December
A street adjacent to the Jamaa el Fn'a - Teutonic will know what I'm talking about :wink:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01892.jpg)
Roof of the Masjid al Sidi bel Abbas inside the old city
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01899.jpg)
Night scenes from the souk in Marrakesh - note the motorcyclists in amongst pedestrians :shocked:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01931.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01932.jpg)
The entrance to a shop in the souk
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC01933.jpg)
-
Marrakesh, Morocco
30th December
The Local Stealer of Marrakesh
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02029.jpg)
A Previous Victim of the Stealer :grin: :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02030.jpg)
Nice Alloys - ATS Cup methinks, very retro
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02031.jpg)
At last... a Mk5
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02034.jpg)
Outside the train station just before we left Marrakesh for Fes
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02042.jpg)
Inside view of the station and no, you can't/shouldn't pick the oranges off the trees :rolleyes:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02057.jpg)
-
Great pics, keep them coming.
-
Sorry about the delay... will now restart this thread because the journey didn't end in Morocco...
Fes, Morocco
2nd January
Just as I was leaving Fes, I saw THREE - YES THREE! - Old Skool VW's coming round the roundabout all in convoy - a Mk1 and two Mk2's
Shame I didn't get a frontal photo of the group, but I was fumbling around trying to get my digital camera out :grin:
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02330.jpg)
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02331.jpg)
Another Tornado Red sighted on the way out from Fes to Tangiers...
(http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o319/mudawana/DSC02348.jpg)