Today was to be “new” tire day. After breakfast we loaded up the Tapir and headed off to
look for the garage we had spotted the day before. We drove through one small
town but the garage did not magically appear. However, in the next town it was
exactly where it was supposed to be and we pulled in. Gordon explained the
situation and showed them the problem where upon they told us to come back in
an hour. Gordon replied, “We are here on a
special mission and there are 3000 people waiting for us!” They said they would get on it immediately
and they did. The two front tires were taken off and the “new” ones put on and we were road ready and champing at the proverbial
bit.
Off we drove into the distance ahead of us. Things were going well but due
to the tire exchange we were running late. The afternoon began and we made it
to Broc, plugged in, ran to grab a sandwich from the catered lunch, nothing for
a vegetarian, the first time on this WAVE, grabbed a banana and an apple,
Gordon grabbed a sandwich and then 3 minutes later were told it was time to
leave. PANIC!!!!! We needed to charge, we needed to eat something but we also
didn’t want any penalty
points. So off we went in search of a plug and no penalty points. We stopped at
a furniture-building place in an industry area and the guys there allowed us to
plug in. The sun was absolutely brutal and we eventually left in search of a
less heated place. A couple of hours later we stopped at a gardening center.
Gordon spoke to a woman there who instructed us to drive around the back and
there we would be able to plug in. We did as we were told and, sure enough, we
could plug in and charge the phones as well. It was fantastic there, surrounded
by plants, veggie plants, fruit trees and the Alps outside. They let us stay
until they closed at 18:30 and we hit the road again. This was going to be an
epic plug in day whether we liked it or not! We had been driving for quite
awhile when it was again time to plug in and wound up at a refrigeration
company. We had literally just driven up and climbed out of the buggy when a
truck drove up and parked. A well-dressed woman got out and asked what we were
doing and offered to help. Once we were plugged in she went to the nearby house
and let out a young dog who ran around like a maniac. She needed to leave and
told us that her father would be coming home soon and that he knew we were
there and why and everything was ok. She drove off in a small car and 10
minutes later her father arrived. Jacques introduced himself and was very
interested in the Tapir. He told us he had driven on a motorcycle to China and
upon arrival they refused him entry. He was still intent upon making the
complete trip.
The batteries were
now charged and we could leave and so we piled in and off we went. We had been
munching on fruit bars, rice crackers and cheese and honey throughout the day
and we getting hungry for something more substantial. We arrived In Murten
fairly late, had missed the dinner and needed to find a place to eat. Our stuff
stowed in the youth hostel we wound up at a café where several other teams were enjoying a few beers and munchables.
Bread pizzas were ordered and we swallowed them whole. The rest of the evening
passed with much joking around and laughter and pretty soon we all headed back
to the youth hostel and some much needed sleep.
