JAZ Adventures

Our journey back was not without incident

From Slovenia we began our long journey west back to the UK. We had booked our Eurotunnel return crossing for 6 months minus 1 day from our departure last November. Our 6-month visas were due to expire so a return to the UK to apply for new visas was a logical break from our Europe adventures.

We gave ourselves 4 days to do the circa 1300 km drive from Bled to Calais. This meant we could do it at a more leisurely pace, and have some contingency time for unforeseen events. In hindsight, this turned out to be a crucial decision. We drove through Austria and much of Germany without incident. While crossing through Germany we noticed Zeus had a swelling spot on his bum. We assumed it was a reaction to something like an insect bite. After a long day of driving we stopped in a parking spot outside a campsite in Kirkel for the night. Zeus’ swelling spot was looking a lot angrier, and he was constantly licking it. We got worried, discussed the option of finding an emergency vet, but decided to see how things went overnight and find a vet in the morning.

Around 3 am, Aileen awoke to the sound of Zeus licking the spot and decided to check on him. She found the swelling spot had ruptured. We did not get any more sleep that night. We packed the van up, and headed to a vet hospital in Saarlouis. They were open at 7 am, and we were there at opening without an appointment. We were seen pretty quickly. The staff were professional and highly competent. They assessed his wound, told us he had a ruptured anal gland, cleaned the wound and administered some strong painkillers and antibiotics, emptied his other anal gland, and told us to visit a vet as soon as we got to the UK. We were out by 8 am with Zeus dozy on painkillers and antibiotics, and a supply of meds and saline solution. We expected our bill to be around £400+ given our experience of UK vets. They charged us EUR 80-something. We were exhausted, but so grateful we found excellent vet care in Germany. 

We spent the rest of the day at a campsite resting. The whole team needed some rest. 

We continued our journey to Calais the following day, and thankfully without further incident through Luxembourg, Belgium, France and back to the UK!

Visa matters

Our main priority in the UK, aside from catching up with family and friends, was to apply for another visa which would grant us a further 6 months leave to explore Europe. 

We booked the earliest appointment we could get at the France visa processing office. We prepared our application and reams of supporting documents. We had done the process once before and felt confident we were providing sufficient supporting evidence to be granted another visa. 

When we finally got to see a visa processing officer, he very kindly informed us that unfortunately we could not apply for another visa until 6 months AFTER our last visa expired. Ruh roh. He apologized and acknowledged the visa website was clear as mud. He said we could return to Europe on the standard 90 day allowance, and then apply for another visa in November.

So….back to the drawing board. We hatched a plan and decided to use our 90-day allowance and do as much of the Scandics as we can.

The rest and recuperation bits

In between visa matters, visits to the vets, and admin such as catching up on post and tax returns, we did manage to enjoy catching up with friends and family:

• We spent several days in London catching up with some friends. James also got a haircut and a crucial supply of his favorite coffee beans
• We enjoyed a relaxing week in the Peaks with James’ parents, which involved walks, cycling, climbing and lots of nice home-made meals
• We went on a camping weekend with Ed, Dorothy and family where food was catered. The food was delicious and it was nice not to cook for a change. We enjoyed walks, camp fires, a little too much alcohol and lots of yacking
• We enjoyed relaxing downtime in Somerset with James’ parents. There was much watching of French Open tennis, and IFSC Climbing comps, much cooking and enjoying of nice meals, much knitting, cleaning of the van and restocking of supplies. Aileen also completed a beginner route climbing course.
• We had the pleasure of catching up with Candy , one of Aileen’s oldest friends who happened to be in London when we were!

What’s next?

We have booked a Eurotunnel crossing for 13-June. We plan to drive over to Sweden as fast as we can, then drive up Sweden, and down Norway making it to Copenhagen for 13-August for a Boygenious concert. Then we’ll have a month to play with before heading back to the UK in mid-Sept.