On to Assen

Friday 29 June 2012  - On our way to MotoGP number 4

Day 77 and 82 to go

Paul was up and awake before I eventually stirred at 7.45am I laid in bed not wanting to start the day too early. We watched CNN news and I checked the net. Our parcels have arrived in Perth. I eventually got out at 8.40am and when I was ready we went down the long and winding stairs to breakfast. The small dining area was packed but we found a seat and enjoyed cereal and pastry. We returned to our room packed up our things, dragged them down the stairs and returned to reception. I am glad we don’t have to do that again. 

We checked out and then walked around the corner to the tram stop to wait for the number 3 to take us 2 stops down the round. It didn’t take long before it arrived and we heaved our bags onto it and then heaved them off again 1km down the road. We then followed the GPS to the car hire. While we took a wrong turn and walked further than necessary we still walked in at 10am when we had elected to collect the vehicle. We were given an upgraded car to an Opel Corsa 4 door rather than 2 so that was good. We were shown through the bits and then at 10.30am we were following the GPS to our hotel near Assen an hour and a half away.

The drive through the city was fairly easy as it was not too crowded though the drivers didn’t like us cutting into the lane when we realise we were in a right hand only and not straight. Oh well.

Once we were on the highway it was a cruise for 70 km. It is lovely being able to do 130km on straight, flat and well maintained roads. We passed over large canals and waterways and once off the motorways passed the potato fields in flower and beautiful flower farms.  It was really lovely.

At 12.20 we arrived at our hotel in Doldersum. It is located in a national park popular with cyclists and boy did we pass plenty of them dawdling along the road! We were able to check in and go to our room and unload our things before heading to Assen half an hour later. 

We continued the winding drive through the forest mainly on brick paved roads before driving through the town of smiled and on to the circuit. We found parking in a paddock and then walked to the entrance to find out where we needed to collect our tickets. We had a walk ahead of us to find the booth but eventually we were directed in the right direction and collected our tickets. We then had to return the 500m to the ticket booth to buy a general ticket for today. With them in hand we were finally able to enter the circuit.

We made our way to the food stalls and bought a kebab roll then wandered part of the track watching the GP qualifying race. We then wandered on. The race stopped during a brief shower that didn’t require us to duck for cover.  We stood on a hill watching the race where we could see a few corners. At the end of qualifying Casey had taken pole. We hope that keeps him in front for tomorrow. We continued to walk around the track. We stopped at the merchandise store to pick up badges and shirts from Assen. We located the entrance we needed to come in to tomorrow on the other side to where we parked today. With that sorted we then located our stand and sat down. It was a great spot to watch the start finish as well as the first few corners. We watched the beginning of the Moto2 qualifying before making a move again.

We decided that we would walk a full lap of the track. Walking behind the main straight stands was busy. There were a lot more vendors and people. There was also a lot more rubbish and too many men taking a slash wherever and whenever they felt like. It was just feral.

Our walk continued and continued and continued. The walk around was a long one and my feet and legs were calling out to stop and sit down. I paid 25 Euro for this torture! It seemed like forever before we finally found our entrance and I dragged my feet the final metres before falling into the car seat.

We decided we would try and locate the parking area closer to our stand so we went on a bit of a hike, as we couldn’t just drive around the outer edge. We did eventually end up where we needed to be so I added it to the GPS and then we returned to our hotel at 5.30pm

When we got in we unpacked. I crashed on the bed working on the net and watching the TV. I was so buggered. It was lovely having the sliding door open so we could hear the twitter of the birds. It was so peaceful. 

At 7 we went to the restaurant attached to the hotel. It was all a bit fancy but we were limited for food options out here. The menu was a bit of a guess as it was all in Dutch and while the host went through it the best he could it still left us guessing. In the end I went for fish and Paul had angus beef. Both meals were delicious so we were happy with our choice. We followed it up with a chocolate brownie and I was absolutely stuffed.

We returned to the room and flaked it again.

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