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| 08:37 - Everything was packed into the car and we left the camp site. This leg of the journey will take us back up to Germany and the camp site at Winninger (the first site we camped at). This would be quite a long trip (around 400 miles). |
| 10:54 - Petrol stop. 20.25 litres purchased. Brian also decided to stop for a food break. A chocolate bar and an apple pie each. |
| 11:14 - continued. |
| 11:56 - Crossed the Switzerland/Germany border. |
| 13:57 - Reached Karlsruhe. |
| 15:42 - Petrol stop. Another 18.05 litres tanked. |
| 17:30ish - We arrived at the Winninger camp. The wife of the camp owner recognised us from the first visit and we had a pleasant chat. We even received a set of complimentary shot glasses. *Landmark Event* - While chatting to owner, Brian fainted and was caught by the owner and I. The owner and his wife quick arranged a chair for Brian and he came around almost instantly. While sitting Brian’s complexion went deathly pale, his temperature dropped and he started sweating profusely. After a few minutes Brian’s sweating stopped and Brian said he felt OK, but the owner had already called an ambulance as they wanted Brian checked out. They suspected that Brian had a heart problem, but the lack of chest pains, etc, probably suggestion something else. After a short time the ambulance arrived and Brian was strapped onto the dolly and loaded into the back. The camp owners gave be a card with their phone numbers on it, so we could call then once we knew the results of Brian’s check-up. I grabbed the paperwork and climbed into the back of the ambulance for the trip to the hospital. The hospital the ambulance was heading toward was apparently one of the best in Germany and was the same one that Lewis Hamilton was taken to when he had his Grand Prix crash at the Nürburgring track earlier in the year. |
| 18:30ish - Arrived at the hospital. The facility is run by the German army. Brian was taken straight to the examination room, while I was lead to the waiting lounge. The only thing to do while waiting for the doctor to give me an update was watch a Germany channel running programmes dedicated to trucks. Waiting for an update of Brian’s situation was bad enough, but this channel was awful. The highly of viewing was a custom truck which trick was to keep all wheels on the ground even when driving a single wheel over a two foot high ram (yes it was that dull). |
| 20:00ish - Brian was given an all clear. The hospital could not find an obvious cause, but did provide details of the examinations, so Brian could give this to his UK based GP. As Brian was scheduled to leave the country the next day, the hospital decided not to keep Brian in over night. We had to pay a €10 to cover seeing the doctor for the first time (admin fee), before being discharged. A nice couple, who Brian meet on during his various examinations, had visited the hospital as the young woman had a neck pain. After a short chat and hearing that we where going to phone the Camp owners, they offered to give us a lift back to the camp. They were sympathetic to foreigners being ill on holiday, as the young lady had been ill while on holiday the year before. They walked us to their car, which was located in a near by car park no parking available at the hospital. Once we entered the car and found an exit from the unfamiliar car park, we started the journey south around at the west bank of the river Mosel. Unfortunately, the road was cambered and the front of the car struck the curb. Luckily we were able to reverse and continue on with the journey. After a short drive, the front fender was starting to make a noise, as something was rubbing against the wheel. A give roadside repair, involving a bit of pulling and push of the rubbing part, appear to resolve the problem. |
| 21:00ish - The car pooled into the marina at Winninger and we dismounted. The couple would not accept any money for the lift. After a brief thank and a goodnight, the couple left to continuing their homeward journey. We walked the short distance to the camp and visited the owner in his restaurant. After a quick chat to confirm Brian was OK, we confirmed that they were still serving (most of the staff we on a break and eating their own meals). we left to put up the tent. This was quickly aborted as Brian was feeling hungry and so we popped back to the restaurant for an evening meal. Once sated, we paid and gave our thanks to the camp staff (especially after the events of the evening). We then put the tent up in the dark, which by now we were quite good at doing. In fact this was the best setting of the tent that we had done this holiday, with all parts of the tent taut, providing the best water protection. After a quick shower, we retired for the night, to watch some downloaded TV on the laptop. |
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