Day 5 -- Munich to Amsterdam

This was the last but one stage of our journey. The big one. The one the cars needed to be on top form for, and the simple fact of the matter was, neither car was. We returned to see a soaking floor by the front of the Calibra, and a taped up Mondeo. I’ll be honest, I couldn’t see the Calibra starting or the Mondeo making it. Even if mechanically the Mondeo had survived, the bumper was held on with tape, which could have easily come off and cause the Mondeo to have a major crash.
We loaded up and started our journey. Within 5 minutes the Calibra was a kettle, spewing steam from the bonnet shut lines. It really was a scene written for top gear, and I’ll be honest, when you know you’ve got no money left, seeing your only hope of home steaming away isn’t something to calm your nerves. Still the boys, having started driving around found confidence in the cars. Pulling over at a garage, Mark Evans had an idea that the fan wasn’t cutting in on the Calibra, causing the overheating problem. A quick 5 minutes under the bonnect, and a bit a of wire later, we left Munich with the fan on permently and a very cool Calibra, temperature wise of course (I doubt a batman painted £50 Calibra would ever be considered fashion).
Heading towards Amsterdam, the sheer journey size soon became apparent. We drove, hard, for a very long time. Pulling over at a petrol station I took to the wheel of the Mondeo. The journey, I’ll be honest became a bit of a blur, driving quickly for a very long time, memories merge very easily. I was very aware of the speed limits going into Amsterdam, so lost the Calibra a few times, but after after a few minutes at 120 in the de-resricted zones had us back in a convoy, and the boys nervous. Reaching Amsterdam, the rumors of it all looking the same become all to evident to us. We had no idea where we were going, no sat nav, no map, no idea. Driving round and nearly killing every bike we saw we eventually found the Hostel. Mark asked me to follow him to put the cars in a long stay car park, and so I did, driving the Mondeo alone for the first time.
We drove round for about an hour, up one way streets the wrong way and even down cycle lanes, until, when Mark eventually threw in the towel to go home, the found the long stay car park, with an enterance sign about the size of a postage stamp. Pulling in, Mark wound down the passenger window and got his ticket into the car park. Luxeries of the Mondeo didn’t include windows that wound down, so I had to get out to get the ticket, forgetting the barrier would go up as soon as I had the ticket. Running back round the Mondeo screamed into the car park just in time. We parked up, and we back to the hostel, leaving as soon as we arrived for the final meet with everyone. A KFC was the final meal of the rally due to the late hour, and a quick expensive drink was the end of the rally. We got back to the hostel, tired, exhausted but happy the fact we’d done it, we’d made it Amsterdam and more importantly we didn’t have to drive anywhere tomorrow.