London to Bamburg:

With a final glance around my room, I’m ready. After months of anticipation, its finally here. April 15th. A normal Tuesday for millions of Londoners, but for the 23 of us it’s the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime. Today we leave for Darwin – overland.

As Penelope – the enormous blue truck that will be our home for the next six months – is to meet us in Dover, we all clamber aboard the awaiting bus and hit the road. London is putting on a show for us as we head out of town – sunshine! - and it is with some sadness that I farewell my home of the past 12 months.

With nerves and excitement consuming the group we get to Dover. Penelope and Pete, our intrepid leader, are waiting for us. Having the group all together for the first time is exhilarating, and after the short ferry ride across the channel we are on mainland Europe and en-route to Belgium.

Upon arriving in Tournai, we are all given a crash course in the procedure for setting up camp. By the end of the six months we will be absolute pros, but for the moment it’s quite amusing watching everyone trying to be helpful. Penelope has so many hidden secrets – I’m sure some of us will never discover them all!

After a freezing night (throughout which the radiators in the bathrooms were utilised to there full extent), we are loaded up and on the road to Cologne. Arriving in camp by mid-afternoon – a beautiful little spot on the banks of the Rhein – we set up tents and hit the tourist trail. Catching the tram in was a lesson in German efficiency, and after being told off in German for standing on the automatic steps (we assume), we arrived at Cologne’s main attraction – the Dom Cathedral. It’s spires towering over the rest of the city, we set to climbing the 509 steps to the top. The views made the effort worthwhile, and the dinner awaiting us on our return exceeded all expectations for the second night running.

Following the river into the city the next day in brilliant sunshine was beautiful. A day spent wandering the city streets and then it was off to a traditional German beerhall for dinner, where Andrew set the bar for food consumption by devouring a 1.4kg pork knuckle – solo.

Due to new regulations regarding Penelope, we wouldn’t be able to go to Vienna, and so instead were heading for a German town called Bamburg. Although slightly disappointed that we would be missing Vienna, Bamburg is a town steeped in history, and was a pleasant surprise. The cobblestoned streets, and picturesque setting made for a nice stop. After sampling the local beer – smoky, with an almost bacon-like aftertaste – most of the group headed for a night on the town.