Poland continued

It seems that Poland is under siege by roadworks…every town has major works happening and many country roads are being upgraded from very ordinary to OK, from 2-lane to 4-lane, or from major road to motorway.  In one day we are held to ransom for about 2 hrs by ‘one-way-at-a-time’ traffic lights, or men with red signs, or just plain ‘inch-along-as-best-you-can’ sections.  Toll ways exist on motorways, but the cost is minimal compared to elsewhere we have experienced in Europe.

We are in Elblag when the first opportunity arises to buy a phone SIM for Poland.  Surprised to find that my phone is SIM locked!  We need to purchase a pre-paid phone and the kindness of strangers manifests…we ask a young woman at traffic lights where we might find such a place.  She speaks very good English, having worked on around-the-world cruise ships, and interrupts her shopping to take us to a shop, negotiate our needs with the staff, and help us out with costs of calls, etc. 

The Lake District is a huge area of some 2000 lakes of all shapes and sizes, formed by glacial activity.  It seems the best way to find a camping place is to watch for signs along the road…and stay away from the larger centres.  Even when you think you are driving away from a lake, you will be driving towards another one!  This is how we find a place in the area of Mazury where the temperature is a balmy 24C and we have our quietest night so far.

Our first National Park visit in Poland is to Biebrzanski.  The end of summer is probably not the best time to be visiting a wetland area, and on a day of 36C we should not expect that the birds and invertebrates, or anything apart from humans, will be out and about.  We have a couple of nice walks across the ‘wetlands’ boardwalks, and return to our somewhat rustic campsite for a quiet sit in the shade.

Our next National Park experience is quite different – Bialowieska, where the beaver, European bison, wolf, red deer, lynx and a hybrid wild, native horse (about 50/50 with domestic horse at the moment, but the hope is to improve the wild horse percentage through a selective breeding program.)  We go beaver spotting in the evening, successful through night vision binoculars, hear large animals, probably bison, moving about in the forest, and see a large red deer stag majestically make his way across the road in our headlights.  At our camping, we meet George and his grandson Peter, visiting from near Warsaw.  George is a Loppet skier and has met many Australians at ski races in Poland.  Anyone out there know George?

Wayside stops, or roadside parking areas, or picnic places…whatever you choose to call them…are virtually non-existent in this part of Poland.  Consequently we have had our ‘elevenses’ in some interesting places…beside a churchyard, near a cemetery, under a bridge, down a farm road where we meet a group of motorcyclists with pillion passengers and one sidecar…containing a very large dog!  Basically anywhere we can fit a medium size camper and two chairs.

After talking to many people on the road, including George and Peter, we decide to bypass Warsaw and make the best of our time in Krakow and Auschwitz before heading for Slovakia.