Day 1 – 5th May 2009 - Newhaven, to Dieppe, to Fecamp – northern Normandy.

Boarded the ferry at 9am after a tearful goodbye to Mum and Jon.
Ant slept most of the journey, whilst I invested in a new road map of Europe and we decided on heading along the coast towards Fecamp.
We set up at a lovely campsite, some clever hillside driving by Ant placed us on a small spot overlooking the sea. We walked into the harbour town/village to find somewhere to eat and watch the Champions League game (typical!!!) but ended up in a pasta place, drinking Italian vino and watched only the first 20 minutes of the game (Man U were up 2-0 – so Ant got down heartened with it - hehe!), before heading back to bed. Lets hope it doesn’t take too much longer to recover from the WOWO weekend, else we will see only eyelids through most of France!

We're Off!

Have had a fantastic weekend with you all and can’t believe it will be a year until most of us meet again. But thank you all so much for coming and giving us the best send off ever (and the best hangover for a while too!).
I have no idea how to explain ‘Beanman’ to the wider audience, but I can say he will be sorely missed over the coming year and I am already looking forward to next May bank holidays appearance.
It’s still raining here at the campsite in Sheffield Park, so we think we are going to have a little afternoon nap before our final meal on UK soil (if all goes to plan!). So it’s Au Revoir, adios, and goodbye. Take care and we will see you all soon. xx

The trial run

Well we made it home again - our trial run went very well, a few minor hiccups to sort out (small oil leak and washer jets that won't turn off!) but all in all a successful trip.
Only got as far as Chichester on Wednesday night (slight issue with my mums memory and some forgotten keys!!), but the campsite was great; simple, cheap and clean. Ant discovered the size of shower cubicles aren't going to be what he's used to when Thursday morning he managed to successfully shower, dry and then balance on one foot to get his underwear on, before accidentally knocking the shower button with his elbow and so having to go through the whole process again!! oops.
We set off again for the West on Thursday and made good progress with the engine running smoothly, fairly cool and consistent which was a good start. A night in West Buckland was followed by a minor panic from me (or was it a major eppy-fit?!!)about the whole trip - me thinks last minute nerves were surfacing! But we pressed on to Teignmouth in Devon and spent the afternoon with family and the evening letting our hair down with the local band ('36FF'!!!) in the Ferryboat pub. It's amazing what a good sing song and a few bottles of vino can do to steady the nerves and put things into perspective!.
Back to Bathpool for saturday afternoon where we set up under the apple trees at Tanpits Cider Farm alongside grazing bunnies and very vocal peacocks. Idyllic. We both slept off our hangovers at various points in the afternoon before cooking and preparing for round four and a hilarious evening discussing the ins and outs of 30-something relationships with some great friends. Gonna miss you guys. Thanks for coming along though, was much appreciated, especially to camp in such freezing conditions and to wake to such a grumpy farmer on Sunday!!!

The Rough Idea!

Well the rough idea so far is to board the ferry at Newhaven 5th May 9:30am and drive approximately 6,000 miles round the outside of Europe to arrive in Northern Cyprus by October-ish. Then we have a two month tour of the east coast of Australia throughout December and January, stopping off for a couple of days in Hong Kong on the return journey. We will then collect Bee again in Cyprus, and drive her back through the middle of Europe - About 10,000 miles in total excluding Australia! Of course it could (and probably will) all change again a few times over the coming days and no doubt change again as we get going. We hear books are running for pinpointing Bee's first breakdown - shame on you! - I have faith...... but one hope I hold on to, is that it should be somewhere sunnier and warmer than here!

Beautiful day for booting

Today we went to our first boot fair of the season, aided by Sarah and Ryan (whom we couldnt have done it without). We managed to get rid of a car load of junk and raise a whopping £185!! So thanks guys. Trouble is, it has only highlighted just how much useless rubbish I have accumulated over the years. A long task ahead to clear the house, but thankfully I am now officially a jobless 'bum' and so have full days to get stuck in. yee hah!