Feeling a little broken but with a huge amount of fantastic memories, we packed up Ramrod, somehow adding two more people into the mix, and rode out of Kaunertal onto the open road. Didn’t get far though.  With blazing sunshine and stunning scenery, Austria had us firmly in its grip, and it wasn’t long till it had us driving past a beautiful lake …. Polly slammed on the brakes, and before you could shake a bikini we were out of the car and layed out on sun loungers soaking in the rays.

The lake was luring us in, so after hijacking a pedalo, the five of us took off across glittering waters and had fun jumping in the shockingly cold, but incredibly refreshing lagoon.  Getting back out was incredibly funny, as we had all oiled up and were as slippery as eels.

Back on the road with an adventurous spirit we decided to make a small detour  – to Amsterdam!  A quick change of SatNav directions, and with hours and hours of driving ahead our spirits were high and stayed that way the whole time.  As the sun dipped in the sky, we found ourselves at a German castle with a picnic, us girls being entertained by the court jesters attempting ridiculous back flips and stunts.

We drove into the night and pulled up an hour outside Amsterdam, booking ourselves into what turned out to be a pretty lush hotel.  A good nights kip and a proper wash was all that was needed to make us feel a little more human, and ready to take on Amsterdam. Parking Ram in a secure car park, we made our way on the tram into the city center.  I had never been to Amsterdam before, but it came very close to my expectations.  The streets, people, bikes and bustle all felt familiar, and I really enjoyed the slightly lost feeling of exploration.  We rented bikes, in itself a funny experience as Nadine hadn’t ridden one for over a decade and could barely reach the floor.  After a small bail outside the shop, she got the hang of it – you really don’t forget how to ride a bike for long.

They rest of the day was spent riding, exploring and chilling, until the early hours of the next morning had crept up on us and it was time to head back to the car.  Being cheapskates we all slept in the car, well four of us anyway, we erected a very damp tent in the car park for one of the boys to sleep in!  Surprisingly we all slept well, and didn’t wake up till past 10am.  We dropped of the bikes, grabbed a coffee and were back on the road again, this time towards the Calais ferry port.

As I have mentioned before, music always plays a huge part in the expereince of car journeys.  This trips soundtrack couldn’t have been more random, Mike Posner – Bow Chicka Wow Wow ft. Lil Wayne.  After a couple of listens you will be addicted to it.

It was sad saying goodbye to mainland Europe, for Polly it had been her first time over there, and we had so many great memories, but as the white cliffs came into view it felt good to be home.  Well that feeling lasted about 10mins, until we were met by a closed road and detour.  Polly was a star driving, and Ramrod did us proud, individually dropping members of Team Rad home.

And now I am sat in my bedroom, looking at photos and feeling restless.  Time to plan the next trip! Team Rad … ASSEMBLE!