The alarm wakes us at 6.30am, it is still dark and feels odd to be getting up this early to make our coffee.

We need to be at the Shuttle check-in by 8.24 for our crossing 09.24. We hear the first mohos start to leave about 7.00am. We wash and dress have a quick breakfast, then onto the service area to empty our tanks. We are on our way from Gravelot by 7.45am driving the few miles to the tunnel check-in arriving at 8.00am. Automatic check-in, and onto the waiting area where Mr C. takes the Auchan receipt and his passport into the office to organise a tax refund for the large shop, including the wine. The tax refund process is relatively painless, as long as the self-service terminals are working. The supermarket or other shops must give you a completed form with a bar code, you need to produce your passport and bank card for those to be recorded. When you arrive at your departure point from the EU you scan the form and take photos of the screen that shows confirmation, just in case.

That done, we wait to be called for our crossing at 09.24. We follow a coach (it looks huge even by our standard) but he drives straight onto the train without hesitation (only inches each side of his wheels) and we follow. Anchored in place we do not have long to wait before we leave (on time). Arriving at Folkestone at 9.05am we have to remember first and foremost to drive on the left! Straight onto M20 which is not too busy and the traffic is free running.

We stop at Folkestone Services around 9.30am (but in our heads we are an hour ahead) and have a short stop for coffee. Back on M20 the traffic is running freely all the way to M25 at Swanley. At the Dartford crossing there is some congestions as we have to queue for the tunnel. Here traffic from M25 and A2 (seven or eight lanes) have to squish down into three but once through the tunnel and north of the Thames we are on our way (still on M25) to the junction with M11 at Epping. We stop at Birchanger Services about 11.40 for a lunch break, where we change drivers from A. to G. Back on M11 about 12.45 to A14, past Cambridge joining A1M near Huntingdon.

Just past Peterborough we join a long queue of about a mile (due to a collision) and have a delay for about an hour. Now back on A1 (non-motorway but good dual carriageway) it is very busy and slow past Grantham and Newark up to Doncaster. Joining M62 at Ferrybridge it is now around 4.00pm and traffic is getting heavier, as it does all the way around Leeds. Over the tops to Saddleworth Moor, where there is some stop-start queueing along our descent to Rochdale. Now we meet the Manchester traffic about 5.30pm and queue around the M62 to M61 at Farnworth/Bolton. Somewhere along this section (while traffic is stationary) we have a change of driver, G. having driven about 200 miles (but Mr C. did manage a sleep) and is now feeling refreshed. He drives the remainder of the journey: M62 and M6 back to Lancaster, arriving home at about 7.45pm: 378ml/608km in 12 hours.

As you can see from the photos we got another rock chip on our windscreen on the way back from Calais, unfortunately the windscreen can’t be repaired again, so it will have to be replaced. Three weeks later as I build this web page we have just had confirmation that the windscreen has been ordered and as soon as it is available an appointment will be scheduled to replace Hymer’s screen. 

We cook fried chicken and potato cubes and fall exhausted into bed! It really is much more relaxing to break that journey from the south coast to Lancaster as we did on our outward journey.