I enjoy this trip and look forward to it although the all night drive is a bit tiring.
Roger is picking the group up at the college at 12:15 and Brian and I will drive to Clackett Lane services on the M25 and meet Roger and the bus at 13:30.
Roger's on time and we are soon on our way to Dover for our 15:40 sailing to Calais.
At Dover we pick up Chris and Simon from Premier Ski and Sports who help organise the tour in conjunction with Steve Eddington from the college. We also pick up Steve's nephew Jake.
We soon encounter our first problem in that we have these extra cases but no room underneath for them. So we repack most of the luggage and eventually squeeze everything in but it is a tight fit.
The plan was to catch a ferr yat about 17:30 but the only one available was the 15:40. Because of this we have to lose a couple of hours otherwise we would be at the hotel much to early.
The ferry (Pride of Kent) sails on time and we arrive in Calais at 18:15 local time. By the time we have unloaded and driven to the nearby Cite Europe shopping centre it is 18:30. This is where we wait while the group spend a couple of hours in Cite Europe where there are lots of cafes and restaurants, and a couple of pubs!
We just want to get going.
Departing Calais at 20:30 we begin our journey to Austria. The driving time from here is about 12 hours plus any stops we may make.
Brian does the first stint and drives the best part of 4 1/2 hours to a service area between Koln and Koblenz. We have a short break here before I take over and do the next 4 1/2 hours which takes us to between Stuttgart and Ulm. From here Brian once again drives to the Irschenburg service area south of Munich and it is here we stop for breakfast. As well as the restaurant there is also a Burger King and McDonalds which keeps everybody happy.
All the way from Stuttgart there has been a lot of snow which bodes well for the ski-ing. By the time we stop for breakfast there is plenty enough although the roads are nice and clear.
I do the last leg to our hotel, the Gasthof Pass Lueg Hohe in Pass Lueg, close to the town of Golling.
The hotel is situated all on its own at the top of the pass in a fantastic position. It is ideal for the children as there are no distractions or anywhere to go of an evening.
The hotel is run by David and Steffi and their family. David is English and has married into the familyand makes us all very welcome, as do all of the family. He is a top bloke and extremely helpful.
We arrive here at 10:30.
The cases are unloaded and taken into the hotel although the rooms aren't ready yet. We sit about for a while waiting for the ski's and boots to be delivered which turn up at about midday.
By the time these have been sorted it is time for a small, but very welcome, buffet lunch and thenI'm off to bed for a kip! It is difficult and uncomfortable sleeping on the bus and although you catch 20 minutes here and there it is not proper sleeping. This afternoon was a proper sleep!
Dinner is a small buffet again and I very much enjoyed turkey curry and rice.
Am still very tired so have an early night to catch up on the lost sleep.
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