Travels in the 70s

 

By Harry and Elsie Zant

 

This is a transcription of the diary kept by my father of the travels from England to Australia by him and my mum in their Ford campervan known as ‘Florrie.’ They started in 1974 and their travels lasted for about 2 years.

This diary was found by me when I moved my mum from her house to a retirement home in September 2011.

It consists of several books, handwritten mostly by my dad.

Please remember that this is written in the 1970s, and these are my parent’s opinions on what they saw and found at that time. Much of what they saw has changed vastly in the 48 years since they started their travels.

My dad was Harry (Van Der) Zant and my mum was Lily Elsie Zant nee Burrows.

I, Brenda Christine Wheeler, am transcribing it faithfully as written by them in remembrance of them both.

[Comment; My father used a ‘Challenge Duplicate Book’ which means that each page is numbered with the same number twice, so I have made them page a & b. As far as possible, I have used his spelling, but some place names I have put in brackets for clarity and also some spelling corrections where it is difficult to understand.]

[Explanation;

Whitecross was where my parents lived, 2 Parc Shadey, Whitecross, Cornwall.

Brenda is myself, at that time living at Connor Downs, Hayle, Cornwall.

Nell is Alida Petronella (van der Zant) Nicholls, my father’s sister, at that time living in Godalming, Surrey with her husband, Len.

My dad used the next line in the book for the date, but I have left a line space between each dated entry for clarity.]

Book 1

Page 1a

2975

We left Whitecross at 11.30AM on the morning of Sept 2^nd 1974, we filled up with Petrol

at Crowlas & then went on to see Brenda, left Connor Downs at 12.30 to start our long

journey to Australia. We headed for Nell’s place & spent the night there. We started off in

driving rain with gale force winds & when we left Nell on Tuesday at 10.30 the weather

continued to be bad. We called in at Dormobile of Folkestone & then went on to the

Hovercraft Car Park. There had been no flights by Hovercraft on the Tuesday because

of the rough seas, so we slept in the Car Park & we ready for our crossing which was

booked for Wed 4^th 9AM. The weather was still bad but the wind had moderated

slightly. Our milage at the start was 2975 & by Tuesday evening had reached 3377.

 

Sept 4^th

We learnt that everything was in order for our crossing so after boarding we left Ramsgate

& arrived in Calais at 9.50. Passed the checkpoint & headed for St Omer, the weather was

now really bad & the gale force Winds made driving difficult, we continued as far as we could

& got the other side of Hirson & pulled in a Lay by for the night. It was still strong Winds 3513

 

Sept 5^th

After a night of Lashing rain & Terrific Winds we had breakfast & went off. The French

have very Poor Road Signs, they appear around the corner & its up to you to select the

right road & then verify it by looking for the Road Sign. Another point is that the

French roads have no Toilets along any of their roads, the weather cleared up a

bit but it remained Windy, we were having trouble with the gears, it was difficult to

engage 1^st & 2^nd gear so when we reached the Luxembourg border we checked through &

pulled in at the first Garage to get attention the trouble was located & was right

the trouble was due to the poor quality of Workmanship of West Country Motors of Exeter

In fitting the Cable they rested it against the Exhaust. This trouble solved we went on

 

Page 1b

towards the German Border. We stayed at a Camp site on the Luxembourg side for the

night, we arrived here at 5.10 got placed & then after a Wash & Brush up, the weather has

now cleared & it became quite pleasant & we walked along the River bank & through the Town

we got back at 7.00PM & after a meal retired (3666)