Thursday 5th Jul: Move day – completed final pack
up and readied ourselves for the performance, true to form most of the site
turned out to see the beast move off its ‘tiny’ pitch. Even though I say so
myself I think we did very well, no damage, no contact and fully (both vehicles
+ trailer) into the car park at the gate within 20 mins – it would have been
quicker if we did not have so many so called ‘helpers’. All systems ready to
move by 11.30am and set off for Poland. Had a bit of lunch, a tiddle break for
Daisy and a power nap for Neil before searching for an overnight park platz. We had intended to overnight in Germany but
due to the lack of suitable places found ourselves at the border before we knew
it! GOODNESS the roads (so called ‘main roads’) in Poland are ‘different’ – the
worst so far and apologies to County Galway who we awarded the title to last year.
We did find a nice pleasant and secure stop point at Ilowa (32km into Poland) where
we spent the night for only 20 zolty (about £4) after entertaining 2 very nice Polish policemen. They
regularly check the truck drivers over here and they came and had a chat with
us and to if possible have a ‘look see’ at the RV – very impressed and thought
it was a house on wheels both physically and financially. Had a really nice
evening meal which was followed by a spectacular storm, it was not just Daisy
that was nervy. The rest of the day had been a bit overcast and 29C.
Aha a cup of tea!
Our overnight pitch. Stormy!
Friday 6th Jul: After a nice quiet and restful
night we set off for Jelenia Gora at about 8am. No improvements on the roads
and we had another bone shaking 35km of travel before the road improved and
then we made it to our turnoff in a more comfortable manner, however we were
then introduced to Poland’s A roads! Once again different, and with loads of trucks coming the other way it was a
bit hairy in places, certainly NOT helped by various detours (due to flood
damage) onto B class roads which we will
let you imagine the state of. Finally pulled into the site at 11am and started
to set up in blistering sun and 37C weather. Different type of site altogether
as this one is on the outskirts of the town so subject to those urban
peculiarities but is very convenient for the town and the places in this area
that we wish to see.
Auto-Camping Park
Jelenia Gora, Poland
Saturday 7th Jul: Guess what? Another
major thunder storm during the evening, with bucket loads of rain, which had
disappeared by the morning – another not a good night for Daisy. Finalised our
site admin and familiarisation and explored the shops – biggest surprise a
TESCO’s. We did notice that things here do seem to be much cheaper – Linda
filled up 2 big bags of groceries and spent less than £15, Neil noticed that
diesel is £1.00 a litre and vodka £6.00 a bottle, may stay here a while. The
site is very compact but still manages to fit in chalets, a few statics for hire,
a tent area, a touring camping area (where we are) and a secure car parking
area for the locals (they seem to have fingers in lots of pies). At least it is
a fairly pleasant hard standing site with access to water and drainage – our
pitch, car, trailer, electricity, WiFi and water is 72zl (zloty), which is about
£14 a night and that is in the peak season!
Sunday 8th Jul: Weather a bit cooler/less humid so time to get the walking boots out and investigate the local countryside - very nice, a bit Alpine ish with lots of villages nestled in valleys at the bottom of the foothills near the Karkonoszy mountain range which straddles the Poland and the Czech Republic border. The town of Jelenia Gora takes its name from the region of the same name and translated means Deer of the Mountains . Daisy of course thoroughly enjoyed having some new countryside to scoot around. The weather took a bit of a turn and quickly rocketed up to 31C and sunny so we cut short the 'walk about' and spent the afternoon relaxing - yes more!
The outskirts of Jelenia Gore Karkonoszy Mountains
Monday 9th Jul: Just had to walk into town and see the sights; not a wasted expedition as the town was very historic, quaint, scenic and pleasant to walk around. The town is much bigger than we expected and is a busy little place, we of course played the tourist and photographed all the landmarks. Unbeknown to us before coming to Jelenia Gora the town/area was hosting the 1st stage of the 69th Tour of Poland bike race and today was the setup day, with avengance. The race takes over the whole town and all the streets quickly became closed and barriered for the race - oh! excitement. We of course decided to have a 'day at the race' tomorrow and found out that the race goes past our site (we can watch from our pitch) and finishes 200m up the road. Needless to say with the race comes all the entourage and everywhere was a mass of support, PR and media vehicles and hoardings nice to watch loads of work being done by other people on a sunny 27C day.
Jelenia Gora Town Hall
Jelenia Gora
Tuesday 10th Jul: Race Day! The early morning races were for the amateurs and young riders - very entertaining as there were all sorts and standards of entrants doing a 40km circuit from the town into the hillside and back to the town. If the financial value of the amateurs bikes are anything to go by the professional race will have 'loads of money' worth of kit. Lots of build up to The Race - the professionals start at the next town south, Karpacz, and then do 4 x circuits (179km) and finish just up the road, of course most of the big names are at the Tour de France but there are still some good riders and we pledged our support to the Sky team seeing that they have had so much of our cash in the past. A good sunny/showery 23C day with lots going on, loads of new people met and some free entertainment.
'Jockey for position.' 'Leaders of the Pack.'
Wednesday 11th Jul: The trouble with eating is that you eventually need to go shopping again, so off to TESCO, Kaufland and Lidl we went, actually with things at these prices the shopping is not too much of a headache. As if by magic all the traces of yesterday's bike race had disappeared (apart from some of the rubbish still needing picked up) so all roads were re-opened. Sunny day with 25C, the last few days have been a bit cooler/more comfortable so they have not been so draining, the forecast is for a cooler spell - I cannot believe that we are feeling cold when it is in the low/middle 20's, looks like we have acclimatised.
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