Monday 19th June 2017 – Turnhout, Belgium

It was hot when we left Horsley and it got steadily hotter, except when we had the cooling breeze on the ferry. We were early for our crossing and were lucky enough to be given a place on the ferry that left nearly an hour earlier. This meant that we had a good start from Calais and we followed the AA recommended route via Bruges, Gent, Antwerp, Eindhoven, Duisburg, Munster, Osnabruck, Bremen, Hamburg and north on the A23 towards the Danish border. The idea was to push through France and Belgium and get as far as Eindhoven tonight but luck was not with us. The motorways were busy, not a problem but it was fiercely hot, into the 30’s. Then we hit a major jam approaching Antwerp. We had 40 minutes of stop/start, mainly stopped, traffic, the temperature was rising and there was absolutely no breeze. It was 37°C inside the van and the outside thermometer (affected by the engine temperature) was reading over 52°C. The engine cut out at the worst possible moment. We were on the inside lane of our motorway but another very busy motorway was joining from our right. This meant that we were in the middle lane of seven lanes of traffic …….. and stationary. With the hazard lights on, I desperately tried to restart the engine. It would start but as soon as I put any load on it by letting out the clutch it would stall. We phoned our breakdown recovery company but were advised to phone the police because of our precarious position. At this point I was very glad of the emergency information on our Garmin satnav, which gave me GPS coordinates, nearest junction and nearest address so that I could tell the Belgian police exactly where I was. We were supposed to put out a warning triangle but, with six lanes of traffic flowing around us, that would have been a very risky procedure. After a few minutes I tried to start the engine again and this time I was able to let out the clutch without it stalling. Other drivers, aware of our situation, allowed us to cross the three lanes to the relative safety of the hard shoulder. We phoned to police to cancel our call and told them that we were no longer in a dangerous position. We allowed the engine to cool for a few minutes before starting off with the intention of getting out of the city as quickly as possible. We made it to the outskirts still on the motorway when the engine cut out again. With the warning triangle out, we stopped again for a few minutes before we could start the engine again and head for the services just a couple of kilometres away. There we stopped for 40 minutes in the shade with the bonnet up by which time the engine was considerably cooler. We decided to head for the nearest campsite at Turnhoot about 30 km away. The traffic was flowing well and Henrietta (the motorhome) drove beautifully, as if there had never been a problem. It appeared that the problem was simply caused by the extreme temperature – at least that is what we hope!

The Baaise Hei Campsite reception was closed and the entrance road barriers were down but, after a bit of detective work, we discovered that there was another entrance and area specially for late arrivals. And very pleasant it was too – peaceful, views across fields and electric hook-up and toilet block provided! We were knackered by this point and a simple meal and cold beer were most welcome.
Photos: The Banksy at Dover painted after the vote to leave the EU; Henrietta (in the background) was in good company on the ferry; The 'late arrivals' section of the Baaise Hei campsite.