Well everything has gone better than hoped for in Ashdod. On Tuesday, 20th, after a couple of hours sitting in Zipi's office with the boss of the Customs Forwarding agents, Chris had all the formalities sorted and most of the questions answered. Meanwhile I sat out in the busy street double parked in the Enterprise, as many Israelis were doing, and moving backwards and forwards to let cars out of side roads and parking spaces which we couldn't fit into. By late afternoon with all completed until the following morning when the ship was due to arrive, we drove to the sea front overlooking a lovely sandy beach and the Mediterranean.
We were up early yesterday morning to go out into the countryside to find a quiet place to finish emptying 2 of the balloon gas cylinders so as not to cause any problems for going on the ship. We were caught up in heavy traffic on the 3 lane motorway to Tel Aviv. Errand completed we found a truck jet wash and had a professional clean for the first time in 2 years. We had been deliberately travelling dirty to be less noticeable in Africa and it was a joy to see the Enterprise clean and shiny again but with a few more scars than when we left Europe.
Returning to our spot near the beach we went for a walk along the sand and a paddle. The early morning haze had cleared and the temperature had risen to a pleasant 24C. At shortly before 11am we spotted the Grande Ellade ship coming into the port close by. Giving the batteries a bit more time on charge from the sun (the interior batteries are really struggling to hold electrical charge these days), we went back into town to do some last minute shopping: mainly alcohol!
At 1.30 Zipi zipped us off to the port entrance where we had to have an interview with the Security officers, a payment of port fees (much less than we had feared), passport check and by 3pm we were on the dockside at the ship. Unloading had only just started and it was interesting to watch the stevedores driving the cargo ashore. There are 8 decks of new cars aboard but also JCB diggers, Isuzu road sweepers and quite a few huge containers. Unloading continues this morning.
At 4.30 one of the Second Mates took us up to our cabin. We were a little disappointed to find that it is an internal cabin with no portholes or windows and will be a little claustrophobic for 8 days. However, we are happy to be aboard. The Enterprise remained on the dock overnight but we are back in it this morning waiting for loading to begin and we missed it overnight!
We are not the only passengers. A young Polish/Australian woman with a huge motorcycle has come on the ship from Salerno to travel south through Africa and had been refused permission to enter Israel as she had an Iranian stamp in her passport. She was getting desperate yesterday evening but before bed the Israeli Immigration relented and she has left this morning. We have been able to give her lots of advice on what to expect ahead. The other 2 passengers are Peter and Ingrid, a German couple in their 80s who are having a 'cruise' aboard the ship from Esjberg in Denmark and back. Yesterday they were ashore when we arrived on a visit to Jerusalem. In the past they have done a lot of Overlanding on various Continents and been to many of the same places so we have a lot in common. At one time Peter had worked at the banana port in Bremerhaven and correctly guessed that Chris had been a Chief Engineer with Salen. We will enjoy their company for the next week. We have been told that the ship should leave here late afternoon but we expect that will depend on when loading begins.
Hope to update the blog when we are in Alexandria if our Egyptian SIM card still works.
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