Wednesday 9th July 2008 – Mamaia-Sat, Constanta, Romania

Late yesterday evening we heard the rumbles and saw the flashes of an electrical storm in the distance. This morning, just before dawn, it was our turn and we were woken by very loud thunder and flashes of lightening. Soon it was overhead, the van shaking with every clap, buffeted by the sudden wind and the rain started to come down in torrents. We were fine in Henrietta but we did feel sorry for the majority of the other campers who were in tents, often with those flimsy plastic gazebos designed to provide shelter from the sun and not designed to withstand a storm. In the morning we found our neighbour attempting to repair his gazebo that had been blown down but the tents seemed to have generally survived even if they were a little soggy. There was however a long queue at Reception of people checking out.
The sun was shining brightly and it was already getting hot, so we rolled out the awning and staked it well in case we had more sudden wind. Breakfast was then taken under the awning before we tackled the chores. We had hoped for a site with a washing machine but we were not in luck. This meant that Jane had to tackle the considerable pile of washing by hand. With washing strewn over lines from the wing mirror to both awning poles and then on to the small tree, it was early afternoon when the dark clouds gathered. They came from behind us and over to one side and we thought that they were going to miss us. Our neighbour, having completed his repairs that had taken him all morning, had just put his awning back up again. The storm clouds reached the sea and seemed to take a sharp right turn and track along parallel to the beach. The wind increased, becoming quite violent and drops of rain started to fall. The neighbour exchanged looks and gestures with us and started to dismantle his gazebo whilst we took the washing in and retracted the awning. It soon passed with very little rain and no more damage.
Photos: The beach at Camping S.