And finally

It’s quite amazing how much gear we carry on our trips – it took us getting on for 2 hours to fully empty the van and then put things away. We reckon there is about 17 machine loads of washing; because of the dust a lot of our unused clothing needs “refreshing” too. We decided to leave cleaning the van itself for the moment and concentrate on sorting out, not only what we’ve unloaded but all the other things that have accumulated over the 3 months we’ve been away such as mountains of post, getting bills sorted and paid, both cars need MoTs etc. etc.

Once again we’ve enjoyed the trip – we don’t call it a holiday as there is still the cooking and washing and cleaning, it’s a “relocation” – although we are happy to be home. We’ve travelled 6323 miles, seen many new places as well as revisited old favourites and both got nice sun tans. Perhaps not everything went to plan and it’s made us think seriously about how we go about it next year, and there will be a next year all being well, but we’ve learned to take things as they come and not get upset. However one thing we have noticed is that, apart from Morocco, it’s been decidedly colder and wetter than the last 3 years. But we haven’t let that bother us too much.

Of course the main difference this year has been having Jamie along and it’s caused us to make a few changes in how we go about things, especially storing and moving round the extra accoutrements a dog needs. But he has actually been brilliant, absolutely no trouble at all, settling down quickly to the new routine of living in the van. He travels well in his cage, mainly sleeping all the time we were on the road, and never complaining, even for quite long periods. Obviously we have had to keep him on his lead, except for beach excursions, but he has been happy enough tied to the door handle and allowed to roam the extent of the lead. But he’s now really scruffy so a priority is a session at the groomers.

Next outing is our regular visit to the Funsters “meet” at the Peterborough Motorhome Show, where we’ll be doing a bit of shopping. After that we are planning 6 weeks in Scandinavia – but that will be the subject of our next blog terryandbren9.blogspot.com

Thursday 31 March

Early start achieved, we got away by around 9.20 into a nice bright day and much more traffic than we are used to! Our plan was to call in to Terry’s Mum at Navenby for lunch then head home, which is effectively what we did. Only two small holdups and we made good time arriving at Mums at exactly 1.00 p.m.

A pleasant couple of hours and then back onto the road for the final leg. We won’t go into the boredom of it, except to say that about halfway home the van, having performed perfectly for the last 3 months, decided to get the hiccups! Occasional hesitation and then the advisory engine warning light came on, but we kept going and eventually it seemed to clear itself although the light didn’t go out until we were at home.

A quick comfort stop at Washington services and we arrived home about 6.40 p.m. after refuelling at Tesco as, unsurprisingly, the fuel warning light illuminated with about 5 miles to go! Having invested in modern technology the house was nice and warm so a quick cuppa then take out what we needed for the evening – we’ll leave emptying out completely tomorrow.

And so endeth the 2016 Snowbirding trip!

Wednesday 30 March

With nothing to rush for we spent a leisurely morning, tidying up and part-servicing the van ready for our planned overnighter at Canterbury. At around 1.00 p.m. we set off for the Eurotunnel terminal, noticing a huge increase in security round the place but no evidence of illegals.

First stop the pet check-in to get Jamies documents checked; all done very quickly without fuss, it was one of the things we were a tad concerned about, not having done this before but no worries. Vehicle check-in was fine and we were offered a train 30 mins early, which we took and which would give us time to have some lunch. Customs and Immigration, however, was another story. We had been told that there were now substantial queues and we found this to be true although they did have four booths open and we were lucky enough to only have a ten minute wait – we wouldn’t wish to come through at a busy time……..

Then the usual smooth and efficient run through to the train and through the tunnel. Emerging to bright sunshine we programmed the satnav to take us to the New Dover Road Park and Ride at Canterbury where there is one of the very few motorhome “aires” in the UK. For the princely sum of £3 you can park for 24 hours with access to all essential facilities and also unlimited travel to and from Canterbury for up to six people – what a bargain! Shame other towns and cities don’t follow suit, it’s got to be good for trade.

We settled in for the afternoon, chatting to other folk who were on their way out, then around 6.00 p.m. walked down to the Old Gate pub at the entrance, a very nice hostelry serving excellent meals, if a little expensive. Then a (slow) stroll back to the van and another enthusiastic welcome from Jamie!

It’s a long drive tomorrow so we’ll try for an early start.