Greg and Dee' s meanderings

[GregnDee]

Hi everyone!

No photos yet, but we've survived the flight to England, in fact Royal Brunei is one of the better airlines I've flown with. No dramas.

Picked up a Ford Transit, the tow vehicle, from my ex husband, had a hilarious couple of days, now getting the Bailey sorted ready for touring...winter wheels coming off, outside cleaned...(some moss), but inside, no damp at all. Not bad after being abandoned for two English winters.

Planning to head north to Scotland on Friday.

We have two house sits booked, one in August in Devon, and another in early October in Ireland. The rest of the time we shall just wander.

It's cold and wet, but as expected!

Cheers
Dee
And Greg.....

[GregnDee]

Those Chinamen!

So, I guess it's our fault, but we go to check out the English van, the Bailey we have stored over here, to find that it's had lodgers! Mice have chomped on blanket, a sheepskin rug, a sleeping bag, some disposable plastic containers, paper, bags, and to cap it all, one of the cupboard doors! There's mouse poop all over the van too, of course.

It's been stored on a farm so it's our fault. We've just been to find another storage facility and he has a cat and two Labradors which love mice, so we've arranged to take it there after our touring in the UK. He reckons the mice would've gone up the legs!

So today and probably tomorrow we'll be cleaning up! On top of that, we have a transit van to pull the caravan, but Greg thought he'd save money and fit the Towbar and electrics himself....and so far he's been at it two days! I am not saying a thing! It has saved about £150.

Weather great. We are doing some touring in the Northamptonshire area until we feel ok about heading north.

Happy days!

Cheers
Dee

[Dot]

Bloody mice hey? Atta boy Gregg, watch out, the "experts" will getcha.

[GregnDee]

Thanks for that, Dot! I'll expert him! I've spent two days clearing away mouse poo, and scrumpled paper, and ....you don't want to know!

Then he had trouble with the electrics. Then the gas isn't coming through....

Bugga bums

Dee x x

[Dot]

As usual fun and games with you two. No gas coming through hey? hang on a mo and I shall go and book just the right fella for that job . Pics soon please.

[GregnDee]

Hiya

Finally got rid of the mouse poop and found the main nest....my fur boots!

Got the local Romanian car cleaning lads to clean the caravan, and now we're sitting by the canal watching the boats come by on their way to the Crick Boat Show. Plus ll the other wildlife!

The cider is helping me to relax....and G has a Bombardier beer!

Lovely.

Cheers
Dee and Greg
Cleaning the van

View from our campsite

First visitors

[Dot]

Next yr for us so keep all the good places logged. Enjoy yourselves x

[GregnDee]

UK adventure 1. May, 2014

So here we are finally, sitting by the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire, relaxing after a crazy crazy week.

Our Nissan Patrol in Australia started to complain that we were going to abandon her for six months, so decided to have a cracked head the day before we left. Took her to our trusted diesel mechanic who will look after her for the six months. Hope she's happy when we return.

Getting to Melbourne airport is quite a rigmarole from where we live...a bus, train, the Skybus, then shuttle to a local motel, so it took nigh on a day just to get to Tullamerine! The flight with Royal Brunei was fine, uneventful and the seats are quite roomy. Greg is 6ft 4inches so needs legroom! Have also made a note to use my own headphones in future for movie listening etc., as the ones handed out are useless.

Usually on arrival at Heathrow my son meets us with a decent cup of tea in each hand, but this time as he's now in Sydney we were booked on a coach to get to Swindon, where my first ex husband had kindly bought a Transit van on our behalf. Two days of laughter followed, we get on so well with him and his third wife, which is bemusing for all but us.

Then to Northampton to pick up our English caravan from storage, and luckily I have a brother nearby. Who has a spare room!

Discovered that the caravan had had lodgers at some point! It had been overrun by mice! This is quite a horror story, bedding, clothing, papers, bath mat, blankets, even plastics, had been chewed and poo'd on! Even one of the cupboard doors. So for four days we were cleaning out the caravan; I became sick...allergy meds didn't help, must have been the dust etc. but we soldiered on, and within five days we were ready to get on the road. Just one more job...check under the bed!

Where we discovered where the mice had nested. In my UGG boots! How dare they! Words fail me trying to describe the horrors in that tub where I kept my wooly warm boots and shoes. We picked up the whole plastic tub and threw it out.

Seems if you store your caravan near fields, with the legs down, the little monsters climb up the legs! We still can't find where they got in.

All clear now!

We were keen to head off, but then on checking the power....it didn't work! Off we went to the local caravan joint and the specialist told us it could be a few things....we went back to the caravan and reset everything and it worked! Then we found the gas didn't work! Now, in our Australian van when we want to put the fridge on gas we just switch it to gas. This didn't work! Off we went back to the caravan joint! Put this down to jet lag, as we used this caravan for nearly a year in 2012, but if the cooker top is down none of the gas appliances work! We knew that!

We moved the caravan from storage to a small site by the canal, one mile from the caravan joint...just in case! On the way we decided to have the green moss washed off by the local Romanian lads...they hardly speak any English but they could say £20 with ease!

Not over yet! It was quite easy to get a new shower head ...the original one having split in the inclement English weather I guess. We found this out the first time we had a shower! Plus all our drainage pipes are clogged up (not with dead mice I hope!). We still have the rear lights to fix, but we will be sorted with no more dramas by tomorrow, Monday. Maybe.

I had hoped to be wowing everyone with exciting tales of travels....but watch this space! Next weekend we are going to the Crick Boat Show, which is a huge event, with boaties (narrowboats) and travellers from far and wide, plus music, lots of activities. THEN we head to Scotland. Maybe.

On the plus side, the weather is glorious. The English people are now a shade of pink. We arrived just over a week ago, and needed coats. One day it was coats and scarves, the next day shorts and skimpy t shirts....and in some cases no t shirt! We watched as one mans back got redder and redder as he sat out in the sun. And we have bought a large parasol to sit in the shade!

Lots of lessons learnt. And we will dine out on this for years to come.

[BruceS]

Love reading of others dramas and experiences!! Thought that sort of stuff was all mine!!
It'll all be worth it in the long run Dee & Greg!!
I love the description of Pink Englishmen!!! I thought there were none left over there... bit like very few Aussies over here!!!

[GregnDee]

UK adventure 2

What was that I said about the weather? Too soon! It's now 28 May and in spite of the weather, we've had a terrific...if wet...time.

We moved camp to a farmers field, not far from Daventry, with a lovely view over the fields. For a while we wondered why there was a fairly constant "boom boom" until we were told that they are shooting deer, as there are hundreds of them on the farm. We did see the most massive pheasants, but only a few deer wandering around.

First day out was to the Crick Boat Show, even though it was chucking it down...we mistakenly thought there wouldn't be many people there. But they all must have thought the same thing, as it was crowded. The first challenge was to park! As so many others had been before us, the parking field was already a quagmire. The car that parked next to us slid on the mud and how he missed us I don't know. The boat show was a great success, so many beautiful narrow boats, some vintage, and the new ones, well, the cheapest was £69,000. But a lovely way to live in England, and very economical...once you have your boat. We bought a new marine battery for the caravan, plus I splurged out on a frypan that needs no oil. (It works well, too). However, our first purchase was a pair of wellies for the man who said he would never ever wear them again, and the last time he had gumboots was when he was ten! The English weather has changed his mind. We also bought a pair of waterproof over trousers for me. Now we are all set!

The next day, rain again...but I had planned a treat for Greg. The Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire, only 15 miles away. He was chuffed when he saw the sign as I kept it secret til we arrived. Well. He was in his version of heaven! And of course some of the cars brought back memories....mine were the Mini Cooper S from the sixties...Gregs memories were of so many different cars, but he couldn't say any particular car. We saw the Range-rover that Angelina Joli drove in Tomb Raiders, specially fitted automatic as she cannot drive a manual. We were there five hours! The first Land Rover ever built. A prototype. Green, yes, but not Land Rover green. In those days they bought up all the left over green paint from the army after WW11! And the first Morris Minor. Jaguars. My red E-type was there! I wish. I could ramble on.......

Kenilworth Castle was also visited on a drizzly day. The day before we went, they had had jousting and all sorts of activities, but we were happy just to wander around imagining what life would have been like there.

We started the next part of our journey north the following day, but not before we had to call the farmer for help getting out of his field, it was so sodden. Along came the biggest tractor I've ever seen....no problem, we were back on the road!

Up the M1, busy busy, and rain! In England it is the law that caravans travel at 10 mph below the speed limit on motorways, so we were in the inside lane travelling at 60mph while big trucks thundered past us. We were aiming for the Peak District, as I was keen to see Arbor Low, Peveril Castle, and Eyam (pronounced Eem). Found a Camping and Caravanning Club park...with hardstanding! Cost more but we didn't want to sink into the soil. The small village nearby has four pubs, two butchers, and a post office. No supermarket, but Bakewell is near (of Bakewell tart fame), with all the normal shops, plus bakeries claiming to be the home of the "original Bakewell pudding".

Still the rain came down, but we are making like the English and ignoring the bad weather and dressing accordingly. And we had the BEST day out! This area is called the Derbyshire Dales, and some of the villages haven't changed since Medieval times. Solid stone homes are the norm, and small fields dotted everywhere, enclosed by drystone walls. The work involved in building those walls......but they are still there today. The fields are an ideal size for the cattle and sheep. .

Peveril Castle came first. This is high on the hill overlooking a medieval village called Castleton, worth a visit in its own right.

We all know about 1066, but did you know that this castle was founded by William Peverel, one of William the Conquerers trusted knights, mainly to guard the Peak Forest? Now to get there we had to climb a very steep hill. Fortunately every 100 yards or so there was a bench to sit on and catch our breath. But the reward is once you get there a breathtaking view over the village and the Peak District. It certainly wouldn't need a moat. By the time anyone got to the castle they'd be too exhausted to fight!

We drove on to Eyam, which is called "The Plague Village". In 1666 it lost almost half of its population of 778 to the bubonic plague, the first victim being a tailor, who had brought some cloth from London. The cloth was wet, so he warmed and dried it by the fire. The cold and wet had made the fleas dormant, the warmth brought the infected fleas back to life, so to speak. What's interesting is that the village rector, William Mompesson, organised a self imposed quarantine of the whole village, arranging for food to be left at parish boundaries, paid for by coins soaked in vinegar, in holes chiselled into the boundary stones. Thus he saved the surrounding villages from the same fate.

Then our biggest challenge of the day...to find Arbor Low. It's often described as the "Stonehenge of the North". Originally built during the Neolithic period (my interest), it was still a well known landmark thousands of years after it was built. The stones are laying down, which is so different that it gives the circle a really distinctive atmosphere. It's on a plateau some 335 m high, with a 360-degree view of the surrounding moorland.

The weather was turning nasty. The wind was bitterly cold, and even with our warm raincoats on, we were shivering. But being the intrepid explorers we are, we were determined to find this henge monument. All we knew was that it's in a farmers field, there are no signs to it, and the farmer charges £1 for you to traipse across his fields. We had a postcode. We found the farm that was the postcode...and a very ancient sign pointing to Arbor Low..... in the opposite direction. Greg took a walk, while I stayed warm in the car....came back..no sign of it! We continued up the road and there on the right hand side was a small English Heritage sign....so up the rickety road....small car park. Tin for your £1. (It had £6 in it already). Oh the MUD! Actually, it was mud mixed with cow and sheep poo. You have to be intrepid to go through a field full of cows, then through the soggy mud to a field full of sheep! But we did it! And found that it was all worth the effort. It's exactly as described, and better in some ways....as you can touch the stones, soak up the atmosphere, just....be.

So....onwards we go...I think we'll be sampling the M6 soon!