I have no idea:) I got a shock when I looked at the last blog date...so terribly sorry yáll...it's been far too long. :) I think the last blog was about Edinburgh...we went back there because it's a brilliant city ...buzzing.... I was quite intent on finding a strip of beach, because I saw on the map that Edinburgh was near the coast (duhhhh), up till then we had mainly been going to the Fringe Festival which was in the middle of the city, so when we jumped in the van and tried finding the "waterfront" I wasnt impressed to find is was mainly a harbour, but 5mins out of the city we arrived at a strecth of beach...and ended up playing soccer on the sand with the kids, eating fish and chips and leaving at about 5pm, with a few hours of daylight still to kill. We made our way from Edinburgh to Coldstream, about an hours drive, intent on attending a Mass Band day at Floors castle the following day, which we eventually did.... was great....toured the castle, watched the piper bands, falconry display, ....and Jesse even volunteered to run down the field, eagle descending on him from the sky to fetch a piece of meat he was holding on a plate above his head while he ran.....it was hysterical! The eagle dived, Jesse dived, and almost had his head taken off, but all was good fun and no harm done.
We left Coldstream and travelled 3hours the next day to a small village called Kircubrite, on the coast of Scotland. Not much in the village, but a real community vibe. They had a small military Tattoo that evening, which we REALLY enjoyed, with Scottish dancing in the street, the Welsh Guards military band ( really smart) and a Welsh choir. The local "parish" had donated the chairs for the evening...a nice touch. They had all the kids walking up and down with flags of the world, with Thomas the steam engine leading them... Tanner got the SA flag, but I noticed Jesse had swiped it from him by the end of the parade...:)
We stayed at "Cur-coo-bree" 2 nights and then I found some events we want to attend, on the web....a jousting tournament in Stevenage, a motorway event with drag bikes, in the middle of England somewhere(I forget) and an airshow on the west coast, 75% up England. (jee whizz I need to improve my memory/geography.!)
To get to the jousting, we have spend a night behind a farmhouse in Buxton, in the Peak district...lots of beautiful scenery. I saw a horse getting new horse shoes this morning while emptying the grey water for the van....a task which involves putting a bucket under the van, opening a handvalve, letting the bucket fill, and then carrying it to the drain area. In most campsites these areas are centralised, but on a farm they can be anywhere....although most CLs are really good.
We have decided that we need to jack up our website of travels thus far, so the plan is as follows:
1. To stick up a big map.
2. To put numbers for each area we have info on.
3. You click on a number, and a list of photos will load up.
On the technical side, we want to have a load of technical info (plug point pics etc) on a different section of the site, for people who want to see this type of info. We'll load our site blog and pics on a few travelling forums, and capitalise on selling advertising banners on various sections of the site. :)
We left Scotland yesterday....and saw a sign saying Welcome to England. It was a bit depressing. Scotland for us, is a brilliant place...we loved the towns, the people, and the culture. Nothing wrong with England at all..but Scotland has a special place in our hearts. Och Eyeeee!!!
Friday, 31 August 2007
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Parked / Laundry
M is doing laundry in a launderette in an Edinburgh suburb while I'm parked with the kids in the van in the street. We moved things around again yesterday. The kids, and the tv, are now back in the bed area above the cab, and Jetan has his own "room" in the small area at the back. This leaves the central eating area as M and my evening chill out area, which converts to a bed...not the most comfortable, since in the middle of the night Jetan ends up shoving inbetween us, and I end up curled on one side....but, at least all the kids can be sent to their "rooms" when I need them out of our hair. It seems to work well...according to the past 12hrs anyway :) Living in a van is all about management ;-)
We're back in Edinburgh, and looking forward to see-ing more of the Fringe Festival which runs all week, then we go down to Keslo for a mass band competition with pipers and dancing, and another at Kirkubrite on the coast on the 27th. We'll most likely travel right down to Wales for a few days, and Cornwall area and back across to London around the 5Sept, and across to France around the 10th. Later than we had planned, but we can make it up later. Internet access in France is our biggest worry...if we cant find it, we wont stay long....but campsites should provide it if we do proper Internet searches.....
I must say that none of the actual itinerary plans we made before leaving have actually worked out :) Mostly because when you get to an area, your tastes at the time change. We dont really want to see another castle for instance.:) Lakes...seen those. Stone buildings.....done that. We're having a great time, but it is difficult to see something new every day, when you travel for so long..Things become familiar quite quickly, so you start seeking out things that are really different... like EURODISNEY. We havent booked yet, but going to soon. I'm looking forward to our next 2 weeks, but dont really know what to expect of France at all. Does it have anything that England, Scotland and Wales dont have for instance. Oh Yes....it has the French :) That should be something to grasp...the language gap. I can just see myself... excusem moi??? Wherrrreee du eyeee finddd La der Internetttt connectioneee Sil vu Ple?
ok, M is back with the clean clothes. Gotta go. Bye.
D
We're back in Edinburgh, and looking forward to see-ing more of the Fringe Festival which runs all week, then we go down to Keslo for a mass band competition with pipers and dancing, and another at Kirkubrite on the coast on the 27th. We'll most likely travel right down to Wales for a few days, and Cornwall area and back across to London around the 5Sept, and across to France around the 10th. Later than we had planned, but we can make it up later. Internet access in France is our biggest worry...if we cant find it, we wont stay long....but campsites should provide it if we do proper Internet searches.....
I must say that none of the actual itinerary plans we made before leaving have actually worked out :) Mostly because when you get to an area, your tastes at the time change. We dont really want to see another castle for instance.:) Lakes...seen those. Stone buildings.....done that. We're having a great time, but it is difficult to see something new every day, when you travel for so long..Things become familiar quite quickly, so you start seeking out things that are really different... like EURODISNEY. We havent booked yet, but going to soon. I'm looking forward to our next 2 weeks, but dont really know what to expect of France at all. Does it have anything that England, Scotland and Wales dont have for instance. Oh Yes....it has the French :) That should be something to grasp...the language gap. I can just see myself... excusem moi??? Wherrrreee du eyeee finddd La der Internetttt connectioneee Sil vu Ple?
ok, M is back with the clean clothes. Gotta go. Bye.
D
Monday, 20 August 2007
Aaaaah A nice hot shower.
Welcome back loyal blog readers:) THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS. Sorry if we dont email anyone back individually, but between managing the workings of the van, maps, gps, business, fun, kids etc, we are really bushed at the end of each day, and even writing a single mail to a single friend becomes a difficult thing. Living in a camper is a bit of an experience. Each day you have to balance the input (tyre air, oil,diesel,water,gas) of the van, the output(old shower and washing water, toilet stuff) as well as the input (food,dry clothes) and outputs (toilet times, showers, eating, clothes washing) all around the same 5x3metre area, inhabited by 5 bodies. On top of this, roles change, and furniture arrangements change depending on time of day, and our location in the world is adjusted day by day. It all makes for a VERY interesting existance, VERY different to the normal life in a house back home. After spending about 60days travelling , we have done well adjusting to this mobile existance, but can be honest and say it takes a very special mentality to cope:) Luckily as you all know, Marielle and I have probably spent the past few years working together within the same office space, even at home, so we have learned to live together without killing each other. I wouldnt suggest anyone try this without first locking themselves into a room with their spouse for an entire weekend, and see-ing how it goes...and I dont mean any hanky panky.....get your minds out the gutters!
We spent the morning walking up a beautiful forest pathway leading to an old stone tower, overlooking Perth. The kids had a great time riding on their bikes, but on the way down decided not to heed our cautions, and Tanner ended up sliding into a patch of stinging nettles, which grow wild here. Fun fun fun.
ok, I have to go shower. Here is M to take over the blog for today :)
Hi everyone! Talking about showering, I have just had a really nice hot shower for a whole 5 minutes. It cost me 20p (R3.50) but was worth every cent. Showering AND dressing in a space that's just over a metre squared each night is NOT my idea of fun. This is how it goes each night: Spray with the shower hose (that is dribbling most of the time), switch hose off, lather, rinse, dry. By now that's not that easy cause the floor is wet!When it comes time to brushing teeth: it's rinse brush, switch tap off, put toothpaste on brush, brush teeth, put tap back on, rinse mouth out, switch tap off. Of course this is all done hoping that the water tank doesn't run out of water mid-way. Fun Fun Fun!
Dean mentioned that we walked in a forest area today. It was absolutely stunning so you can imagine how disappointed I was when my camera battery went flat. I managed to get one or two photos of us walking up but couldn't take anything when we reached the tower. Of course I wouldn't have had much time because between trying to feed the boys (yup, we carted the rolls, ham etc... up with us) and stopping Jetan from running along the clifftop, taking photographs wouldn't have been top priority anyway.
We are at CL in a place called Upper Largo (East coast of Scotland), the view is beautiful however we are parked rather close to the main house which is a bed and breakfast - we kinda like the places where we've stayed and we've been in a farmer's field. Dean STILL hasn't bought levelers for the van, so we are currently on a slight slope which is not fun at all. Supper was Roast chicken and pasta for the boys and some healthy cous cous for us grownups. I really need to start laying off the junk we are eating. Junk food i.e. biscuits are WAY to affordable here... AND everything is like 3 for a pound etc... I decided to buy some water to drink today which I have been seriously neglecting to drink but our 3 year old!!!!!!! yup he turned 3 a few days ago, decided the grass needed watering. So down went 3 bottles of the water.
At this moment I am not sure of our plans for tomorrow. Oh yes, Dean is just reminding me, we've run out of gas so Kircaldy is the one place we can get a new bottle (according to the internet). So that is where we are heading. We drove over an hour to get here today and haven't actually seen anything in this little town so I think that we may explore tomorrow otherwise it's been a waste to come here. I am just feeling so exhausted though and I must be honest and say I LONG for my king size bed back home and my Friday night TV. Sob!
Well on that note. It's time to go to sleep. Boys are still awake but not for long. I am hoping that we can watch the dvd "The Queen"now.
We'd love to hear from you all. Till Next Time then.....
Sunday, 19 August 2007
From a wet Scotland patch of grass
Well ello everyone. We've pulled in for the night at a CL site in Perth, Scotland with no real plans for the next few days, but to restore some energy, and then attack Glasgow with recharged batteries. Of course the kids dont suffer from this affliction, and right now find our need to settle in one place for longer than 3 hours, a bit of a bore. Luckily they can play Playstation in the campervan, since we are hooked up on 220V for the night. (something that has obviously become more important to them since we borrowed the tv from our friends in England). Yes, we know we might be bad parents allowing them to play tv games while sitting under a lovely Scottish rock cliff with a castle perched on the brim, BUT, YOU try spending 24x7 with our 3 lovely lads, and believe you me, you would have considered buying them each PSPs by now...a temptation we have successfully avoided...so far....ha ha ha ...aarrghhh.
ok, some info on the past 2 days? We visited the Loch Lomond area, Stirling, Stirling castle, the old jail, Crieff, and walked behind a mass piper band as it moved down the high street of the town, police cars leading with flashing lights. Tanner looked like a camoflaged Smurf, since it was pouring with rain and we were all decked out in our plastic ponchos. (spot the tourists!) Of course we were the only ones who walked to the top of the street and proceded to join the back of the band. This was purely to extract every ounce of entertainment from the rain-sodden day, no worries that we had to walk a hell of a long way up the hill to start with...just to come back down again....:)
The old jail in Stirling was cool, ....they had a live jailer/actor who popped out unexpectedly and we almost peed ourselves :) ( did you read our last blog about the pee-ing misunderstanding?)
Which brings me to the next subject. Pee-ing. Our camper van toilet is almost over-flowing. CLs, dont have toilet discharge points, so it is getting a little cramped. Tanner keeps needing to peee. We keep telling him, he cant! Next minute, kid number 2, needs a number 2. We tell them, you cant!
They are looking kind of bloated this evening :) We hope to deliver our natural products back to nature in the near future, but we can guarantee, we have only digested chocolate biscuits, bran cereals, and a few chemically enhanced foodstuffs.
Marielle has told me to move off this crappy subject, so without getting myself deeper into it, we shall trudge on.
We are still in Scotland. We are not leaving Scotland, ever.....until Marielle has had her fill of Pipe bands and short kilts. We estimate that we'll be leaving this beautiful part of the world, in about a week, after seeing 200 pipe bands in Kelso, do their thing :)
We peeked into a caravan today. It had a full size bathroom with a glass shower door. That might not sound special to you lot, but after making do in a cramped shower/toilet/dressing room, the caravan looked VERY enticing. Yes, there were lots of reasons to go for a motorhome in the first place, but having travelled from SA, the exchange rate meant we had to lose some of the luxuries. (Please send donations, so we can buy a bigger van :))
We are all doing fine. Kids are in good health. I have the sniffles and a bit of a cold, but M is well. Tomorrow we head for the Fife area just to do some sightsee-ing. (east coast of Scotland).
missing friends and family, but having a grooovy time :)
bye for now.
d
ps...pleaseeeee mail us.
ok, some info on the past 2 days? We visited the Loch Lomond area, Stirling, Stirling castle, the old jail, Crieff, and walked behind a mass piper band as it moved down the high street of the town, police cars leading with flashing lights. Tanner looked like a camoflaged Smurf, since it was pouring with rain and we were all decked out in our plastic ponchos. (spot the tourists!) Of course we were the only ones who walked to the top of the street and proceded to join the back of the band. This was purely to extract every ounce of entertainment from the rain-sodden day, no worries that we had to walk a hell of a long way up the hill to start with...just to come back down again....:)
The old jail in Stirling was cool, ....they had a live jailer/actor who popped out unexpectedly and we almost peed ourselves :) ( did you read our last blog about the pee-ing misunderstanding?)
Which brings me to the next subject. Pee-ing. Our camper van toilet is almost over-flowing. CLs, dont have toilet discharge points, so it is getting a little cramped. Tanner keeps needing to peee. We keep telling him, he cant! Next minute, kid number 2, needs a number 2. We tell them, you cant!
They are looking kind of bloated this evening :) We hope to deliver our natural products back to nature in the near future, but we can guarantee, we have only digested chocolate biscuits, bran cereals, and a few chemically enhanced foodstuffs.
Marielle has told me to move off this crappy subject, so without getting myself deeper into it, we shall trudge on.
We are still in Scotland. We are not leaving Scotland, ever.....until Marielle has had her fill of Pipe bands and short kilts. We estimate that we'll be leaving this beautiful part of the world, in about a week, after seeing 200 pipe bands in Kelso, do their thing :)
We peeked into a caravan today. It had a full size bathroom with a glass shower door. That might not sound special to you lot, but after making do in a cramped shower/toilet/dressing room, the caravan looked VERY enticing. Yes, there were lots of reasons to go for a motorhome in the first place, but having travelled from SA, the exchange rate meant we had to lose some of the luxuries. (Please send donations, so we can buy a bigger van :))
We are all doing fine. Kids are in good health. I have the sniffles and a bit of a cold, but M is well. Tomorrow we head for the Fife area just to do some sightsee-ing. (east coast of Scotland).
missing friends and family, but having a grooovy time :)
bye for now.
d
ps...pleaseeeee mail us.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Marielle 14Aug Blog :)
Hi All. My turn to blog. It's 11:45 our time now and Dean has passed out. Yup, can you believe he is sleeping before I am.
Before I move on to what we did today I have a little story to tell which Dean didn't mention in his last blog.
The morning after we had stayed on the Rugby Field in Alnwick, Dean had gone for a walk out the van leaving me tucked up in the upper bed cab with the 3 kids squabbling over something or another. He had been gone a few minutes when there was a knock at the camper door. I asked Jesse to open the window to see who it was. The man on the other side of the window promptly looked up at Jesse and said "have you pee'd yet?" - Jesse dropped the curtain and gave me this really blank confused look. So I told him to ask the man what he said, so the man said "have you pee'd yet?", now at this moment (while I'm laying up in the bed), I think, gosh this man is either being just rude or is joking with the kids. So I stick my head down through the window and say "No I have not" - still wondering what on earth is he going on about (of course you now know what I am thinking). He then says "well I think it's about time you do"- I don't know what he thought when he saw the shocked look on my face, but then the penny did drop - he was asking me "have you paid yet?" to which I promptly said, yes my husband did last night"- All I can think of is he must have been thinking - "these foreigners!!!!"- when he left I was in absolute hysterics and couldn't wait to tell Dean.
Okay back to today.
Today we got off to a fairly late start, Dean had some work to do, then we had to find a place to do some laundry - well 2 hours later and after the kids had done some schoolwork we finally made our way back into Edinburgh and parked our vat at 4pm. Ridiculous I know!
We walked into the main city centre. This time of year in Edinburgh is absolutely amazing. There is a festival called the FRINGE Festival (don't know what it stands for) and it includes, street mimes; music in the streets; balancing acts and so much more. There is something new every which way you turn and about every 30 metres. We have taken lots of photos which we hope to share with you soon. Of course my favourite. is the bag piping, sadly though I have note seen any full band processions just a lonesome piper on the side of the road.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city - very dark, because all the buildings are dark, but the buildings are absolutely stunning. The weather is also another story altogether. One minute the sun is shining and the next minute it is raining, then in the next minute it's shining again with not a single cloud in sight. We are very glad we bought our raincoat ponchos before we left the U.K. the first time. We look like something like the Adams family with them on but they are keeping us dry.
Our two days in Edinburgh have left us with wanting to stay longer but we know that we have to move on.
Today we stayed from 4pm until 9:30pm walking around and really just enjoying ourselves. We stopped for a bit to have some supper. Treated ourselves to a meal out - K.F.C. - whoopee!!!! and we sat for about 45 minutes while we ate but other than that we have walked a slow pace all day.
We eventually walked back to our van at about 9:45pm, made the boys some tea and made up the beds and headed back to the CL (Certified Location) that we were staying at hoping that they had kept a place for us. We got here at about 10:30pm only to find there was place but we could not reach the electricity plug point.
The boys are fast asleep which is where I am about headed.
Oh just one more thing.
As we reach the camper van tonight after our long walk, I'm about to take Jetan out his pram and he looks up at me and says "Have you pee'd yet?"- Well this just finished us off and kept us chuckling all the way back to the farm.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, Dean will blog soon I am sure.
Before I move on to what we did today I have a little story to tell which Dean didn't mention in his last blog.
The morning after we had stayed on the Rugby Field in Alnwick, Dean had gone for a walk out the van leaving me tucked up in the upper bed cab with the 3 kids squabbling over something or another. He had been gone a few minutes when there was a knock at the camper door. I asked Jesse to open the window to see who it was. The man on the other side of the window promptly looked up at Jesse and said "have you pee'd yet?" - Jesse dropped the curtain and gave me this really blank confused look. So I told him to ask the man what he said, so the man said "have you pee'd yet?", now at this moment (while I'm laying up in the bed), I think, gosh this man is either being just rude or is joking with the kids. So I stick my head down through the window and say "No I have not" - still wondering what on earth is he going on about (of course you now know what I am thinking). He then says "well I think it's about time you do"- I don't know what he thought when he saw the shocked look on my face, but then the penny did drop - he was asking me "have you paid yet?" to which I promptly said, yes my husband did last night"- All I can think of is he must have been thinking - "these foreigners!!!!"- when he left I was in absolute hysterics and couldn't wait to tell Dean.
Okay back to today.
Today we got off to a fairly late start, Dean had some work to do, then we had to find a place to do some laundry - well 2 hours later and after the kids had done some schoolwork we finally made our way back into Edinburgh and parked our vat at 4pm. Ridiculous I know!
We walked into the main city centre. This time of year in Edinburgh is absolutely amazing. There is a festival called the FRINGE Festival (don't know what it stands for) and it includes, street mimes; music in the streets; balancing acts and so much more. There is something new every which way you turn and about every 30 metres. We have taken lots of photos which we hope to share with you soon. Of course my favourite. is the bag piping, sadly though I have note seen any full band processions just a lonesome piper on the side of the road.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city - very dark, because all the buildings are dark, but the buildings are absolutely stunning. The weather is also another story altogether. One minute the sun is shining and the next minute it is raining, then in the next minute it's shining again with not a single cloud in sight. We are very glad we bought our raincoat ponchos before we left the U.K. the first time. We look like something like the Adams family with them on but they are keeping us dry.
Our two days in Edinburgh have left us with wanting to stay longer but we know that we have to move on.
Today we stayed from 4pm until 9:30pm walking around and really just enjoying ourselves. We stopped for a bit to have some supper. Treated ourselves to a meal out - K.F.C. - whoopee!!!! and we sat for about 45 minutes while we ate but other than that we have walked a slow pace all day.
We eventually walked back to our van at about 9:45pm, made the boys some tea and made up the beds and headed back to the CL (Certified Location) that we were staying at hoping that they had kept a place for us. We got here at about 10:30pm only to find there was place but we could not reach the electricity plug point.
The boys are fast asleep which is where I am about headed.
Oh just one more thing.
As we reach the camper van tonight after our long walk, I'm about to take Jetan out his pram and he looks up at me and says "Have you pee'd yet?"- Well this just finished us off and kept us chuckling all the way back to the farm.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, Dean will blog soon I am sure.
Sunday, 12 August 2007
Dean's Catchup Blog - North to Scotland
ello ello ello :)
Well, we attended the long awaited wedding of Sam and Matthew in Norton, Stockton-on Tees, and spent a wonderful 2 weeks recharging, making new friends, and fixing up the camper van. I made a few changes to make our lives on the road a little more comfortable, like bolting the invertor behind one of the chairs, re-assigning storage places for the outside table and chairs, sectioned off the shower/toilet floor so water no longer gets caught under the toilet if the van is on a slope, and put in two new speakers for the sound system so we can enjoy better sound quality. I built a small shelving area for the kids playstation games, and small DVD player we bought. (Silly actually...because we have ended up playing DVDs on the laptop anyway.)
We left Norton 2 days ago, first stop was Durham, and Olde Worlde medievil town with a beautiful river, and an even more awesome cathedral, built a thousand years ago, and still operating today as a church, with services every week. I had the feeling that just as some people travel to Mecca for their spiritual needs, this Cathedral was, for me, one of those places...a place where people have prayed for a thousand years. The awesomeness of the building itself, was greater than the Eifel tower. The ceilings , pillars, and carvings were from another time. It was one of the highlights of my trip.
We stayed overnight on a CL near Durham, and woke the next morning at 10am. It was a farmers field with haybales strewn all over, so the kids had a lot of fun. Left at 2pm, and made our way further north, drove through Newcastle, but decided we didnt want to walk through city streets at this point, so we carried on driving, and reached Alnwick, another small old town. We found a bunch of motorhomes and caravans on the local rugy fields, and paid 8pounds for the luxury of a spot alongside them. The van leisure battery was by now starting to fade fast (kids insisted on playing playstation while the van was on the road), so luckily I quickly grabbed a spare electrical point when an early leaver packed up their tent, and the battery recharged before we left. We booked in at a CL in Scotland, in Haddington. Looking out our window right now, we can see fields of wheat, a stallion in a field, an angry goose, and ten motherly hens. Marielle is cleaning up the remains of some dirty dishes, and the kids are banished to sit and wait, till cereal is served. Glad to say we still have Internet access in Scotland, although the weather has gotten a bit chilly. We decided to stay here 2 nights, and begin a few days of seeing Edinburgh. No rush to leave this part of the country. It is really beautiful and my expectations are high.
more from me soon:)
D
Well, we attended the long awaited wedding of Sam and Matthew in Norton, Stockton-on Tees, and spent a wonderful 2 weeks recharging, making new friends, and fixing up the camper van. I made a few changes to make our lives on the road a little more comfortable, like bolting the invertor behind one of the chairs, re-assigning storage places for the outside table and chairs, sectioned off the shower/toilet floor so water no longer gets caught under the toilet if the van is on a slope, and put in two new speakers for the sound system so we can enjoy better sound quality. I built a small shelving area for the kids playstation games, and small DVD player we bought. (Silly actually...because we have ended up playing DVDs on the laptop anyway.)
We left Norton 2 days ago, first stop was Durham, and Olde Worlde medievil town with a beautiful river, and an even more awesome cathedral, built a thousand years ago, and still operating today as a church, with services every week. I had the feeling that just as some people travel to Mecca for their spiritual needs, this Cathedral was, for me, one of those places...a place where people have prayed for a thousand years. The awesomeness of the building itself, was greater than the Eifel tower. The ceilings , pillars, and carvings were from another time. It was one of the highlights of my trip.
We stayed overnight on a CL near Durham, and woke the next morning at 10am. It was a farmers field with haybales strewn all over, so the kids had a lot of fun. Left at 2pm, and made our way further north, drove through Newcastle, but decided we didnt want to walk through city streets at this point, so we carried on driving, and reached Alnwick, another small old town. We found a bunch of motorhomes and caravans on the local rugy fields, and paid 8pounds for the luxury of a spot alongside them. The van leisure battery was by now starting to fade fast (kids insisted on playing playstation while the van was on the road), so luckily I quickly grabbed a spare electrical point when an early leaver packed up their tent, and the battery recharged before we left. We booked in at a CL in Scotland, in Haddington. Looking out our window right now, we can see fields of wheat, a stallion in a field, an angry goose, and ten motherly hens. Marielle is cleaning up the remains of some dirty dishes, and the kids are banished to sit and wait, till cereal is served. Glad to say we still have Internet access in Scotland, although the weather has gotten a bit chilly. We decided to stay here 2 nights, and begin a few days of seeing Edinburgh. No rush to leave this part of the country. It is really beautiful and my expectations are high.
more from me soon:)
D
Friday, 10 August 2007
Marielle's catchup blog - about the 20July.
Well Dean has rambled on and on about his shower experience tonight so I have decided to update you on what we've been up to.
The last time I blogged, I left off when we were goint to drive down to South Hampton. The next 3 days or so are going to be very brief because I actually can't remember everything, as we have stopped at so many places. SO here goes.
Tuesday night - Haven't got a clue where we stayed!!!
On Wednesday we went to Portsmouth and went to the Historic dockyard. This was a lot of fun especially the tour on the HMS Victory. This is the ship on which Lord Nelson died during the battle of Trafalgar. The kids enjoyed this day out. We also went on a ferry ride around the harbour. Later that day we were once again on the hunt for a place to sleep. We eventually found a little farm in a place called Chichester. It was just an open field but we had electricity so that was good.
On Thursday we had decided to drive through The New Forest. This was beautiful and we would recommend it to anyone. Lining the roads were cows and sheep and horses all living as one happy family. I must say that the cows were very bold and promptly came right up to the van and just stared at us. We were able to get out the van and sit about 1m away from the cows. We were a bit nervous at first until we saw a little old lady walking amongst the cows with her little dog.
On Thursday night we parked the van at another CL - Sorry can't remember where! . In the morning, we decided to empty our toilet but this was easier said than done. The waste "bin" was not the same as the ones we are used to (normally you can just drive over them and empty your bin directly into the ground), this one was slightly elevated off the ground, so we had the problem of having to find something to lay on the ground that Dean could drive onto in order to make the van higher. Well this never worked. It had rained a lot the night before and as Dean tried to reverse, the tyres spun round and round and the harder he tried to either go backwards and forewards he just kept on sinking deeper. So he says to me - can I please go to the back of the van and push!!!! I stared at him open-mouthed but decided I had better do what he says - of course my attempts were futile. We eventually decide that I am going to push from the front and Jesse and Tanner jump out to help. We manage to push the van back and then quickly jump out the way so that Dean can accelerate forward. Well we never got to dispose of the contents of our toilet that day.
We found a CL to stay the night on Friday night in a place called Brockenhurst.. Unfortunately we could not have electricity for the night as these sites were all taken up. It poured with rain and we were pretty much housebound or should I say Car-bound.
Dean woke up at 6am in the morning and drove from Chichester to Weston-Super-Mare.By now I was desperate to do some washing in a machine and NOT by hand so I insist on sleeping in a proper camping site for the night. We make our way to one and are told that they have no hardstands left and cannot accommodate us because the ground is too mushy. After our experience the day before, we don't argue but they are kind enough to let us go in and use the laundry facilities. This takes about 2 hrs in total and about R75.00 later I come out smiling with clean and dry laundry.
We finally make our way to Bristol which is bringing us closer to our destination which is Bath.
In the last 6 days we have stayed at a different place each night, with last night being the first time we have chosen to stay in the same place for 2 nights. I guess I kinda insisted on this as the moving about each day was getting a bit tiring especially for Jetan as this has really intereferred with any routines. Okay to go back a bit...
Yesterday we arrived in a part of Bristol called Weston.... We found a CL here called Gorselands (this is a cheaper version of a campsite and you can camp here if you are part of the Caravan Club. Still pricey at 10 pounds a night but much better than spending 22 - 30 pounds in a caravan parkThis is a nice CL as it does have a toilet/shower block as you would have already heard about in Dean's blog which he has just posted tonight.
Today we woke up at about 9:30am - terrible I know!!! and Dean made us scrambled eggs and bacon - (I guess we can expect some snow very soon). At about 1:30pm we decided we had better visit a bit of this town. We headed towards the beach and found a parking. Overseas you pay for ALL parking, even if it is not covered parking. This one today cost us 1 pound per hour - that's R15.00!!! When we were in the Netherlands, someone complained that they had to pay 20cents (R2.00 per hour) for parking. Well they would get a big shock if they came to the U.K BUT at least in the U.K. the jolly toilets don't cost an arm and a leg like they do in the Netherlands. Anyway back to today..... The parking we found already had quite a few camper vans parked but boy were they GORGEOUS vans. Some of them looked like a hotel on wheels.
We took a walk to what they call the Grand Pier. This pier was lovely and the tide was about 300-400 m out. Will ask Dean to upload pics of today. We spent a few hours walking around and eventually came home - well that's a joke, HOME was parked in the parking lot :) Decided to cook a decent supper at about 7:30 pm and now all our little "angels" are fast asleep. It is now 1am and Dean and I are both sitting with our Pc's playing catch up.
Tomorrow we need to empty our loo (proving to be rather difficult if not staying in a caravan park) and then we head for Bath and thereafter Cardiff in Walesnand by Thursday we will be making our way back up to Stockton-on-Tees. Need to be there by Friday for Sam's bridal shower.
The last time I blogged, I left off when we were goint to drive down to South Hampton. The next 3 days or so are going to be very brief because I actually can't remember everything, as we have stopped at so many places. SO here goes.
Tuesday night - Haven't got a clue where we stayed!!!
On Wednesday we went to Portsmouth and went to the Historic dockyard. This was a lot of fun especially the tour on the HMS Victory. This is the ship on which Lord Nelson died during the battle of Trafalgar. The kids enjoyed this day out. We also went on a ferry ride around the harbour. Later that day we were once again on the hunt for a place to sleep. We eventually found a little farm in a place called Chichester. It was just an open field but we had electricity so that was good.
On Thursday we had decided to drive through The New Forest. This was beautiful and we would recommend it to anyone. Lining the roads were cows and sheep and horses all living as one happy family. I must say that the cows were very bold and promptly came right up to the van and just stared at us. We were able to get out the van and sit about 1m away from the cows. We were a bit nervous at first until we saw a little old lady walking amongst the cows with her little dog.
On Thursday night we parked the van at another CL - Sorry can't remember where! . In the morning, we decided to empty our toilet but this was easier said than done. The waste "bin" was not the same as the ones we are used to (normally you can just drive over them and empty your bin directly into the ground), this one was slightly elevated off the ground, so we had the problem of having to find something to lay on the ground that Dean could drive onto in order to make the van higher. Well this never worked. It had rained a lot the night before and as Dean tried to reverse, the tyres spun round and round and the harder he tried to either go backwards and forewards he just kept on sinking deeper. So he says to me - can I please go to the back of the van and push!!!! I stared at him open-mouthed but decided I had better do what he says - of course my attempts were futile. We eventually decide that I am going to push from the front and Jesse and Tanner jump out to help. We manage to push the van back and then quickly jump out the way so that Dean can accelerate forward. Well we never got to dispose of the contents of our toilet that day.
We found a CL to stay the night on Friday night in a place called Brockenhurst.. Unfortunately we could not have electricity for the night as these sites were all taken up. It poured with rain and we were pretty much housebound or should I say Car-bound.
Dean woke up at 6am in the morning and drove from Chichester to Weston-Super-Mare.By now I was desperate to do some washing in a machine and NOT by hand so I insist on sleeping in a proper camping site for the night. We make our way to one and are told that they have no hardstands left and cannot accommodate us because the ground is too mushy. After our experience the day before, we don't argue but they are kind enough to let us go in and use the laundry facilities. This takes about 2 hrs in total and about R75.00 later I come out smiling with clean and dry laundry.
We finally make our way to Bristol which is bringing us closer to our destination which is Bath.
In the last 6 days we have stayed at a different place each night, with last night being the first time we have chosen to stay in the same place for 2 nights. I guess I kinda insisted on this as the moving about each day was getting a bit tiring especially for Jetan as this has really intereferred with any routines. Okay to go back a bit...
Yesterday we arrived in a part of Bristol called Weston.... We found a CL here called Gorselands (this is a cheaper version of a campsite and you can camp here if you are part of the Caravan Club. Still pricey at 10 pounds a night but much better than spending 22 - 30 pounds in a caravan parkThis is a nice CL as it does have a toilet/shower block as you would have already heard about in Dean's blog which he has just posted tonight.
Today we woke up at about 9:30am - terrible I know!!! and Dean made us scrambled eggs and bacon - (I guess we can expect some snow very soon). At about 1:30pm we decided we had better visit a bit of this town. We headed towards the beach and found a parking. Overseas you pay for ALL parking, even if it is not covered parking. This one today cost us 1 pound per hour - that's R15.00!!! When we were in the Netherlands, someone complained that they had to pay 20cents (R2.00 per hour) for parking. Well they would get a big shock if they came to the U.K BUT at least in the U.K. the jolly toilets don't cost an arm and a leg like they do in the Netherlands. Anyway back to today..... The parking we found already had quite a few camper vans parked but boy were they GORGEOUS vans. Some of them looked like a hotel on wheels.
We took a walk to what they call the Grand Pier. This pier was lovely and the tide was about 300-400 m out. Will ask Dean to upload pics of today. We spent a few hours walking around and eventually came home - well that's a joke, HOME was parked in the parking lot :) Decided to cook a decent supper at about 7:30 pm and now all our little "angels" are fast asleep. It is now 1am and Dean and I are both sitting with our Pc's playing catch up.
Tomorrow we need to empty our loo (proving to be rather difficult if not staying in a caravan park) and then we head for Bath and thereafter Cardiff in Walesnand by Thursday we will be making our way back up to Stockton-on-Tees. Need to be there by Friday for Sam's bridal shower.
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Having a shower
Yes I know, I havent blogged for a while. So sorry ;-)
Decided tonight I should really shower...we're parked at a CL site in the UK, near Bristol, in a town called Weston..on the way to Bath... anyway, this CL has a small shower/toilet block, so I decided I would feed the gas burner machine with 10pence coins and enjoy myself, so I tried creeping out the van, about 11pm, with M still sitting in the front seat doing some work...I had to move her washing line contraption we bought today, which fits perfectly into the shower section of the van, but for varying reasons was tonight blocking the front door, so I moved it outside for a few secs so I could get to the showers......crept out the van in the pitch black of night and made it 10metres, before a motion detector lit the entire campsite in halogen lights, with me caught in the beams with big eyes...anyway, nothing to do but carry on another 10m, into the dark shadows until once again, whoosh....detected and more lights..... I decided to make a go of it, and endured another 2 detector sessions, and finally got into the toilet block, got undressed (censor-ed here), fed the machine 10p, and jumped into the shower....fiddled with the knobs until I had a lovely stream of hot water...shoved some shampoo in my hair, and.....brrrRRRRRRRRRRRR, ice COLD water shot out and caught me against the wall..no where to run, I screamed...GOD HELP ME.....and switched the %^&*()**)) shower off...wondering, what to do...quickly decided to shove in more 10p before I froze to death......switched the shower back on, and HOORAY, got some hot water once again...this time I shoved on some shaving cream, and shaved at the same time as rinsing the shampoo..just in time to catch the next wave of cold water, which I avoided...ha! ....got dressed, feeling quite pleased with myself...opened the toilet block door, and peered out into the darkness...it hadnt detected me yet..."right I thought....here we go...perestroica....I stepped forth...missed the top step completely in the darkness and ended up spralled on the slippery cobbled English garden path, with my shaving cream rolling down the path to the CL owners kitchen door....and as the lights all came on at once, I shouted into the night...GOD HELP ME.... trying to catch the shampoo bottle. As I picked up all the bits and pieces, I suddenly remembered....I had left M's rack of washing, outside the camper standing in the rain...GOD HELP ME, I thought...ran back and tried to get it back in without her seeing me ;-)
It's been fun. Will write again soon.
D
Decided tonight I should really shower...we're parked at a CL site in the UK, near Bristol, in a town called Weston..on the way to Bath... anyway, this CL has a small shower/toilet block, so I decided I would feed the gas burner machine with 10pence coins and enjoy myself, so I tried creeping out the van, about 11pm, with M still sitting in the front seat doing some work...I had to move her washing line contraption we bought today, which fits perfectly into the shower section of the van, but for varying reasons was tonight blocking the front door, so I moved it outside for a few secs so I could get to the showers......crept out the van in the pitch black of night and made it 10metres, before a motion detector lit the entire campsite in halogen lights, with me caught in the beams with big eyes...anyway, nothing to do but carry on another 10m, into the dark shadows until once again, whoosh....detected and more lights..... I decided to make a go of it, and endured another 2 detector sessions, and finally got into the toilet block, got undressed (censor-ed here), fed the machine 10p, and jumped into the shower....fiddled with the knobs until I had a lovely stream of hot water...shoved some shampoo in my hair, and.....brrrRRRRRRRRRRRR, ice COLD water shot out and caught me against the wall..no where to run, I screamed...GOD HELP ME.....and switched the %^&*()**)) shower off...wondering, what to do...quickly decided to shove in more 10p before I froze to death......switched the shower back on, and HOORAY, got some hot water once again...this time I shoved on some shaving cream, and shaved at the same time as rinsing the shampoo..just in time to catch the next wave of cold water, which I avoided...ha! ....got dressed, feeling quite pleased with myself...opened the toilet block door, and peered out into the darkness...it hadnt detected me yet..."right I thought....here we go...perestroica....I stepped forth...missed the top step completely in the darkness and ended up spralled on the slippery cobbled English garden path, with my shaving cream rolling down the path to the CL owners kitchen door....and as the lights all came on at once, I shouted into the night...GOD HELP ME.... trying to catch the shampoo bottle. As I picked up all the bits and pieces, I suddenly remembered....I had left M's rack of washing, outside the camper standing in the rain...GOD HELP ME, I thought...ran back and tried to get it back in without her seeing me ;-)
It's been fun. Will write again soon.
D
Monday, 16 July 2007
Marielle's catchup blog
Hi there. Dean hasn't posted a blog for a while so I thought I would have a go. The days are so long at the moment and 2 days ago literally feel really like a week ago. This morning I was asking Dean where we slept on Saturday night and we really had to think about it. So I will be writing this blog fairly slowly as I need to think. (no comment needed from anyone!)
On Wednesday, we were still at the campsite Houttrak, in Holland. This site really became a base for us because of the relatively affordable internet access. We took the kids to a place called Tun Fun. It is an old metro rail station that is underground. It has been converted into a kiddies playground. Kids heaven, parent's hell. The boys were going in 3 different directions which was really quite scary. They had lots of fun.
On Thursday we needed to go do a bit of shopping and found a shop called IKEA. It is basically a huge Makro but instead of it being one big Warehouse, it's a huge building with different arms to it, so you go through the one section (which could be the linen department) and then the one arm goes off to the kitchenware and so on... The point to this story is that Jesse thought he would go for a little walk. Dean, me, Tanner and Jetan were looking for duvets not realising that Jesse had drifted away. Dean had to go to the van to fetch something. It was at this point that I did hear some crying and just knew it was Jesse. I called for him but there was no way he could hear me. I didn't know which direction to turn in because of all the different sections of the shop and I didn't want to leave where I was because I had to wait for Dean to come back. After about 5 minutes - an announcement came over the interkom, that Jesse Squire, 11 years old was at the front, please can his parents pick him up. I was so relieved but as you can guess was furious with him. I had to leave where I was, drag Tanner and Jetan to where he was (it took quite a while to get to him). When I got to him he was seated between 2 security guards and I really felt that I was given the look that said "you really need to pay more attention to your children!" I had visions of them locking me up. I then had to hurry back into the shop but fortunately as I was walking in I saw Dean. Well I am glad to say that Jesse didn't let go of me all day.
On Friday, we had to go into Amsterdam, because our second born decided to leave Jetan's little sachel at BW Campers. I wouldn't have really minded leaving the nappies and clothing but my BRAND NEW prescription glasses were in that bag and there was NO WAY I was leaving them. There is a history to these glasses but to cut it short, 6 weeks ago, the first pair got stolen, 5 weeks ago I replaced them, 4 weeks ago I lost the replaced ones and and then had to replace those.
Anyway I've gone off on a tangent....
On Friday night, we found an Aire in a place called Gorichem. (Still in Netherlands). For those of you who don't know - an Aire is a camper stop (not a campsite). It is either free or very cheap but may have no services such as water, toilets, waste dispoal etc. But the place we stopped was gorgeous, right on the beach. Jesse and Tanner swam in the sea (Waterpoort) until about 9:30 that night.
Saturday, we then made our way to Calais. Dean had to ask a Frenchman to put petrol in our car and then we paid him cash because we didn't have a card.(SA credit cards dont work in french petrol pumps) A long drive of about 5 hrs (should have been 3!) Got to the Ferry Terminal at about 4pm, bought our tickets to Dover. Joined the line to drive onto the ferry at 10:30pm, witnessed the most beautiful fireworks display I have ever seen. It went on for about 45 minutes. I guess it was some kind of holiday in France. At 11:45pm we drove onto the Ferry. ALL the boys were awake and very excited! Tanner drifted off to sleep on my lap at about 1pm. We left the ferry at about 2pm and found a place to park for the night. In a parking lot, in a marina, just outside the ferry terminal. We would NEVER dream of doing that in S.A.
On Sunday morning Dean woke up at 6am - that's right!!!! I was shocked to! He went walking around looking for a tap so that we could fill up the van. His findings were good and we didn't even have to pay for it. After being in the Netherlands, that was a relief. You pay for EVERYTHING in the Netherlands. I really started to get annoyed when the boys kept asking to go to the toilet when we were out - at 50c a time (R5.00) it was getting kinda expensive.We then went to breakfast at the Premier Inn. By then it was bucketing down with rain. I eventually got to wear my new Pink wellington boots so it was fine with me :)Then we ventured to the entrance to the gates of the white cliffs of Dover. So far, I have to say, that this was the highlight of Dean's and my trip. Only God could have made something so beautiful. After a bit of walking, we eventually decided that we would pay the 25 pounds and go to Dover Castle. It was worth every cent that we spent. We had a tour through the secret wartime tunnels - the boys really enjoyed this. After a lovely day out, we came back to a 30 pound fine on the van. Unfortunatley we couldn't park in the normal parking because of the height restrictions of the van so we parked in the coach parking - Bad move!!!
Sunday afternoon, we were exhausted and couldn't bear to drive around looking for a place to sleep. So we drove to a town called Folkstone. Found a campsite at 24 Pounds. I also needed to do lots of washing. I am going to kiss my washing machine and tumble dryer when I get home! But at least we could stay in a place that was really clean and the boys could play.
That brings us to today. We left the campsite and were refunded 6 pounds because we decided to sign up and join the caravan club - at a fee of 30 pounds of course! But that entitles us to stay in lots of places at reduced rates.
We have finally settled for tonight at a farm. Only 4 pounds this time but no toilets or showers- just an open field.Dean is making a braai at the moment. It is quite late already, almost 8pm, but broad daylight outside although fairly chilly.
Tomorrow we head towards South Hampton to go to the New Forest area. We plan to spend a few days there and then on about the 21st head back up towards Norton, Stockton on Tees, back to Sam.
So on that note, I will love and leave you.
M.
On Wednesday, we were still at the campsite Houttrak, in Holland. This site really became a base for us because of the relatively affordable internet access. We took the kids to a place called Tun Fun. It is an old metro rail station that is underground. It has been converted into a kiddies playground. Kids heaven, parent's hell. The boys were going in 3 different directions which was really quite scary. They had lots of fun.
On Thursday we needed to go do a bit of shopping and found a shop called IKEA. It is basically a huge Makro but instead of it being one big Warehouse, it's a huge building with different arms to it, so you go through the one section (which could be the linen department) and then the one arm goes off to the kitchenware and so on... The point to this story is that Jesse thought he would go for a little walk. Dean, me, Tanner and Jetan were looking for duvets not realising that Jesse had drifted away. Dean had to go to the van to fetch something. It was at this point that I did hear some crying and just knew it was Jesse. I called for him but there was no way he could hear me. I didn't know which direction to turn in because of all the different sections of the shop and I didn't want to leave where I was because I had to wait for Dean to come back. After about 5 minutes - an announcement came over the interkom, that Jesse Squire, 11 years old was at the front, please can his parents pick him up. I was so relieved but as you can guess was furious with him. I had to leave where I was, drag Tanner and Jetan to where he was (it took quite a while to get to him). When I got to him he was seated between 2 security guards and I really felt that I was given the look that said "you really need to pay more attention to your children!" I had visions of them locking me up. I then had to hurry back into the shop but fortunately as I was walking in I saw Dean. Well I am glad to say that Jesse didn't let go of me all day.
On Friday, we had to go into Amsterdam, because our second born decided to leave Jetan's little sachel at BW Campers. I wouldn't have really minded leaving the nappies and clothing but my BRAND NEW prescription glasses were in that bag and there was NO WAY I was leaving them. There is a history to these glasses but to cut it short, 6 weeks ago, the first pair got stolen, 5 weeks ago I replaced them, 4 weeks ago I lost the replaced ones and and then had to replace those.
Anyway I've gone off on a tangent....
On Friday night, we found an Aire in a place called Gorichem. (Still in Netherlands). For those of you who don't know - an Aire is a camper stop (not a campsite). It is either free or very cheap but may have no services such as water, toilets, waste dispoal etc. But the place we stopped was gorgeous, right on the beach. Jesse and Tanner swam in the sea (Waterpoort) until about 9:30 that night.
Saturday, we then made our way to Calais. Dean had to ask a Frenchman to put petrol in our car and then we paid him cash because we didn't have a card.(SA credit cards dont work in french petrol pumps) A long drive of about 5 hrs (should have been 3!) Got to the Ferry Terminal at about 4pm, bought our tickets to Dover. Joined the line to drive onto the ferry at 10:30pm, witnessed the most beautiful fireworks display I have ever seen. It went on for about 45 minutes. I guess it was some kind of holiday in France. At 11:45pm we drove onto the Ferry. ALL the boys were awake and very excited! Tanner drifted off to sleep on my lap at about 1pm. We left the ferry at about 2pm and found a place to park for the night. In a parking lot, in a marina, just outside the ferry terminal. We would NEVER dream of doing that in S.A.
On Sunday morning Dean woke up at 6am - that's right!!!! I was shocked to! He went walking around looking for a tap so that we could fill up the van. His findings were good and we didn't even have to pay for it. After being in the Netherlands, that was a relief. You pay for EVERYTHING in the Netherlands. I really started to get annoyed when the boys kept asking to go to the toilet when we were out - at 50c a time (R5.00) it was getting kinda expensive.We then went to breakfast at the Premier Inn. By then it was bucketing down with rain. I eventually got to wear my new Pink wellington boots so it was fine with me :)Then we ventured to the entrance to the gates of the white cliffs of Dover. So far, I have to say, that this was the highlight of Dean's and my trip. Only God could have made something so beautiful. After a bit of walking, we eventually decided that we would pay the 25 pounds and go to Dover Castle. It was worth every cent that we spent. We had a tour through the secret wartime tunnels - the boys really enjoyed this. After a lovely day out, we came back to a 30 pound fine on the van. Unfortunatley we couldn't park in the normal parking because of the height restrictions of the van so we parked in the coach parking - Bad move!!!
Sunday afternoon, we were exhausted and couldn't bear to drive around looking for a place to sleep. So we drove to a town called Folkstone. Found a campsite at 24 Pounds. I also needed to do lots of washing. I am going to kiss my washing machine and tumble dryer when I get home! But at least we could stay in a place that was really clean and the boys could play.
That brings us to today. We left the campsite and were refunded 6 pounds because we decided to sign up and join the caravan club - at a fee of 30 pounds of course! But that entitles us to stay in lots of places at reduced rates.
We have finally settled for tonight at a farm. Only 4 pounds this time but no toilets or showers- just an open field.Dean is making a braai at the moment. It is quite late already, almost 8pm, but broad daylight outside although fairly chilly.
Tomorrow we head towards South Hampton to go to the New Forest area. We plan to spend a few days there and then on about the 21st head back up towards Norton, Stockton on Tees, back to Sam.
So on that note, I will love and leave you.
M.
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
last few days in Holland
check out pics at www.clientpanel17.com/squires
Sorry for the short blog, but I wrote for 5mins and the page bombed.
We are well.Leaving for Belgium, Luxembourg and France in about 4 days, ...hoping to move back into UK from July17 to Sept1.
Chat soon.
D
Sorry for the short blog, but I wrote for 5mins and the page bombed.
We are well.Leaving for Belgium, Luxembourg and France in about 4 days, ...hoping to move back into UK from July17 to Sept1.
Chat soon.
D
last few days in Netherlands
Hello all. Sorry for no blog updates. Have been busy creating a bit of a website to make things easier, and also found a gallery program so we can upload images easier. Check out some images of our UK and Netherlands first 2 weeks at www.clientpanel17.com/squires (will post a better address for everything soon.)
This is our last few days near Amsterdam before moving south towards Maastricht (bottom of Holland), into Belgium, and Luxembourg, and then across from Calais to Dover around the 17July...and slowly back up the east coast of the UK to get to Sam's for the wedding at end of July.
We took the camper in to get a few things checked out..the gas heater wasnt working but we found (after they had replaced every part) that the reason for it was that the previous owner had sealed the exhaust chimney which is common during winter months...ha ha. our hot/cold water issues turned out to be a kink in the shower hose...;-)
So the camper is doing well...we are coping fine...but Internet access is always a problem, but we are doing our best...and trying to balance work and play. Netherlands is a LOT more expensive than the UK. Let's hope Belgium, Luxembourg and France are cheaper :)
Chat soon.
Dean
This is our last few days near Amsterdam before moving south towards Maastricht (bottom of Holland), into Belgium, and Luxembourg, and then across from Calais to Dover around the 17July...and slowly back up the east coast of the UK to get to Sam's for the wedding at end of July.
We took the camper in to get a few things checked out..the gas heater wasnt working but we found (after they had replaced every part) that the reason for it was that the previous owner had sealed the exhaust chimney which is common during winter months...ha ha. our hot/cold water issues turned out to be a kink in the shower hose...;-)
So the camper is doing well...we are coping fine...but Internet access is always a problem, but we are doing our best...and trying to balance work and play. Netherlands is a LOT more expensive than the UK. Let's hope Belgium, Luxembourg and France are cheaper :)
Chat soon.
Dean
Monday, 09 July 2007
First week in Netherlands !
The last few days have been a little hectic, but we've explored a few far corners of the globe:) We left our "wired up" campsite on Friday morning, because by then M was getting a bit irate at being in Holland but not seeing anything yet, due to me having to sit and sort out a few work issues all Thurs, which was a bit of a nightmare, but...on Friday we eventually killed the myth that Holland doesnt have any shopping malls, much to Marielle's delight and relief! We parked our van in the shop parking, and paid R2 (20 euro cents) per hour. We stayed there hours , stocking up on silly things like a wash bucket, a squeegee thing to clean the camper floor, etc etc. Marielle had a whole new happy look, and told me "this shop is the Dutch equivalent to the Crazy store!" I nodded in my all knowing way, but to me all stores look the same....
We found the store in the Tom Tom GPS ...clicked on nearest supermarket, and it guided us there. Problem is that we forgot where it was, so we cant put the info back into the Tom Tom and go back there....which is very strange. In fact, the Tom Tom is a lifesaver. Half the time we dont care where we are, or what road we are in, as long as the Tom Tom keeps shouting out directions, like 300 metres, turn left, after the roundabout, take the 2nd exit, and turn left...you have reached your destination!!!! :)))
The Tom Tom we got 2nd hand from BW Campers only gets you as far as a street number, which works well if you know the street number, but not if you're looking for an Aire in the middle of a farm, so we are still trying to figure out how to download the GPS module and install it...hopefully soon.
The heater in the camper is not working that great, so we'll be asking BWCampers to help with that. Everything else in the camper is working ok, but M is having issues with the water speed...almost impossible to have a shower, but somehow she is managing. So far I have only used the shower at the campsites, at about R5 a shot. (50 euro cents in Holland).
We managed to wild camp for a night and save ourselves 35euro, somewhere in a small back street in Alkmaar we think (not sure where it was actually). We were a little worried at first, but exhaustion set in and we slept right through the night, without a problem.:)
We made our way into Alkmaar central town on Saturday for a look around and found it to be the most fantastic small old world of flea market, fruit stalls, and really cute old buildings, small cobblestreets, music in the streets, a really old big church, and a TOYSRUS..haha. Actually the ToysRUs wasnt in the old part of town, but was a major part of the day for the kids...lots to see, and they could ride the bikes and things around the shop :) The poor sales lady had to keep putting stuff back on the shelves, but I didnt care:) M was stressed because Jetan had lost his one shoe somewhere between parking the camper van (down a side street), and the store. She came back relieved, having found it at the entrance :) We ended up eating 2 pancakes, (which we divided into 4 pieces), and 3 cokes, which all came to about 15euro...ouch... but we "had" to do it, simply because they had this large square with millions of chairs and tables, and M was looking at me with "that"look.
Sunday we woke up late and drove the camper to Haarlem, caught a train from Haarlem to Amsterdam Central Station, a tram from Central Station to the last tram stop (because we didnt understand the woman telling people where to get off), and then caught a tram back, to the Artis Zoo....got in the gates at 2:30pm, and left at 6pm. Kids had a lot of fun, and we made the journey back to our camper, which we had left in a side street in Haarlem (free parking on a Sun), 100m from the Haarlem station. We kept getting lost on the way back to the Houtrak campsite (Halfweg), because we had selected Halfway (Britain) on the Tom Tom and it kept telling us to go the wrong way :))) We worked out our mistake, and got back by 8pm (sun still shining), to the campsite. Tried hooking up on the Internet, and had a problem with the WiFi. Woke up at 6am this morning, had more luck, but have to wait till 9:30am when the office opens to correct the user/pass login on the wireless network.
In a nutshell, we have had a whirlwind weekend. Catching trains has been an interesting achievement.We spent a fortune yesterday, so the next week we are eating noodles:) Jetan is in a good mood this morning, but not much to do at this campsite. I have to whizz through my emails, and sort out the remainder of any issues, while M and the kids entertain themselves. Forgot to mention, we stayed in a different campsite close to Amsterdam on Sat evening. Very nice, but not Internet. Jesse made friends with 2 Italian kids and I ended up running around playing soccer (I realised that at 40yrs old, I am no longer the lean mean soccer machine I used to be)...any way, it was good to show solidarity with my 12yr old, rather than see him getting thrashed by two mafioso kids :) In fact I kicked the ball into a stinging nettle patch, and they ended up fetching it out for me...I pretended to be stung too, to show I wasnt scared, but actually I didnt suffer anything, while they were scratching their legs like mad..*grin*. (The things a person does when in a strange place). At this point we heard Tanner screaming, and I rushed back to the camper. He had gashed his head on a tree branch, but luckily a plaster sorted it out. (he might have a scar for life, but we aint paying for a doctor in Holland, so he can always wear the scar as a momento of his travels :))))
ok, chat sooon. Bye.
We found the store in the Tom Tom GPS ...clicked on nearest supermarket, and it guided us there. Problem is that we forgot where it was, so we cant put the info back into the Tom Tom and go back there....which is very strange. In fact, the Tom Tom is a lifesaver. Half the time we dont care where we are, or what road we are in, as long as the Tom Tom keeps shouting out directions, like 300 metres, turn left, after the roundabout, take the 2nd exit, and turn left...you have reached your destination!!!! :)))
The Tom Tom we got 2nd hand from BW Campers only gets you as far as a street number, which works well if you know the street number, but not if you're looking for an Aire in the middle of a farm, so we are still trying to figure out how to download the GPS module and install it...hopefully soon.
The heater in the camper is not working that great, so we'll be asking BWCampers to help with that. Everything else in the camper is working ok, but M is having issues with the water speed...almost impossible to have a shower, but somehow she is managing. So far I have only used the shower at the campsites, at about R5 a shot. (50 euro cents in Holland).
We managed to wild camp for a night and save ourselves 35euro, somewhere in a small back street in Alkmaar we think (not sure where it was actually). We were a little worried at first, but exhaustion set in and we slept right through the night, without a problem.:)
We made our way into Alkmaar central town on Saturday for a look around and found it to be the most fantastic small old world of flea market, fruit stalls, and really cute old buildings, small cobblestreets, music in the streets, a really old big church, and a TOYSRUS..haha. Actually the ToysRUs wasnt in the old part of town, but was a major part of the day for the kids...lots to see, and they could ride the bikes and things around the shop :) The poor sales lady had to keep putting stuff back on the shelves, but I didnt care:) M was stressed because Jetan had lost his one shoe somewhere between parking the camper van (down a side street), and the store. She came back relieved, having found it at the entrance :) We ended up eating 2 pancakes, (which we divided into 4 pieces), and 3 cokes, which all came to about 15euro...ouch... but we "had" to do it, simply because they had this large square with millions of chairs and tables, and M was looking at me with "that"look.
Sunday we woke up late and drove the camper to Haarlem, caught a train from Haarlem to Amsterdam Central Station, a tram from Central Station to the last tram stop (because we didnt understand the woman telling people where to get off), and then caught a tram back, to the Artis Zoo....got in the gates at 2:30pm, and left at 6pm. Kids had a lot of fun, and we made the journey back to our camper, which we had left in a side street in Haarlem (free parking on a Sun), 100m from the Haarlem station. We kept getting lost on the way back to the Houtrak campsite (Halfweg), because we had selected Halfway (Britain) on the Tom Tom and it kept telling us to go the wrong way :))) We worked out our mistake, and got back by 8pm (sun still shining), to the campsite. Tried hooking up on the Internet, and had a problem with the WiFi. Woke up at 6am this morning, had more luck, but have to wait till 9:30am when the office opens to correct the user/pass login on the wireless network.
In a nutshell, we have had a whirlwind weekend. Catching trains has been an interesting achievement.We spent a fortune yesterday, so the next week we are eating noodles:) Jetan is in a good mood this morning, but not much to do at this campsite. I have to whizz through my emails, and sort out the remainder of any issues, while M and the kids entertain themselves. Forgot to mention, we stayed in a different campsite close to Amsterdam on Sat evening. Very nice, but not Internet. Jesse made friends with 2 Italian kids and I ended up running around playing soccer (I realised that at 40yrs old, I am no longer the lean mean soccer machine I used to be)...any way, it was good to show solidarity with my 12yr old, rather than see him getting thrashed by two mafioso kids :) In fact I kicked the ball into a stinging nettle patch, and they ended up fetching it out for me...I pretended to be stung too, to show I wasnt scared, but actually I didnt suffer anything, while they were scratching their legs like mad..*grin*. (The things a person does when in a strange place). At this point we heard Tanner screaming, and I rushed back to the camper. He had gashed his head on a tree branch, but luckily a plaster sorted it out. (he might have a scar for life, but we aint paying for a doctor in Holland, so he can always wear the scar as a momento of his travels :))))
ok, chat sooon. Bye.
Wednesday, 04 July 2007
We are in Amsteram :) Sleeping in the camper!
ok, I know it's been a while since we last blogged, but if you knew the circumstances you would forgive us :)
We planned to leave the UK on Monday 2nd July, and duly arrived at the ferry terminal to be told that the ferry was cancelled, and we would be put up in a hotel for the night, with free "eat as much as you like" breakfast, and would have to catch the ferry the next evening. We eventually did get to the ferry terminal the next evening, but instead of taking a taxi at 4pounds, we decided to walk to the terminal....we made quite a picture. Jesse and Tanner were dragging suitcases on wheels behind them. I had to larger cases on wheels, one in each hand, while Marielle pushed Jetan in the pram, which had a carchair perched on top, on which Jetan found himself strapped to under my big jacket, and some surboard stretchies....haha. The ferry was a great experience...but Marielle didnt have much sleep...Tanner woke at 4, and then I snored all the way till 5:30, so she couldnt sleep, and ended up with sea sickness ;-) I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast, along with the kids, while Marielle sat looking a little blue...I fed her tea and watermelon...*grin*. Here comes a story that will make you laugh..... I let the kids go and get their own food from the buffet, so they decided to make melted cheese on toast. Unbeknown to me, they lumped a bunch of cheese slices onto their bread and sent it through the rotary toasting maching, which is a bit of a conveyor belt device that ends up sliding your toast down a slope so you can extract it. WELL..... when the boys cheesy toast flipped over to slide down the "ramp" all the cheese ended up smeared on the ramp, with none left on their bread. I noticed the panic on their faces, and ran to help, took one look at the cheese smeared ramp, grabbed their messy bread, and ran away..hehe. I could see people for the next 30mins, surpised to find that when they put in their bread, it came out as bread and cheese! ;-))
We got to Amsterdam from the ferry by bus, and actually saw BW Campers offices as we drove into central Amsterdam. (Thank God...hehe...for a while we thought they didnt even exist and we might have given all our money to a Nigerian scammer. :) But they do exist, and were very thorough in everything they gave us. The camper is by no means top of the line. More bottom of the line...but it has everything that we seem to need. We managed to drive it to a nearby campsite, which has Wifi Access at 5euro per 24hrs, or 15euro for a full week. The price for staying one night has been 29euro....although they are found in the ACSI campsite booklet, they dont actually give any ACSI discount. I know it's pricy, but I'm just relieved to be online, so I can keep things up to date on the business side, and we have electrical hook up, water, and the rest. The campsite isnt anything Bev would cope with....*grin*. In fact I have only seen 2 people on the entire campsite....the owner, and a lady walking buy an hour ago...although there do seem to be about 20 tents roundabout.
We dont know what our plan is for tomorrow. I have to plan that tonight. We went to a supermarket this afternoon so Marielle was able to cook us macaroni and mince for dinner tonight. Jetan is now passed out in a single bed at the back of the camper, and the 2 boys are over my head (above the driving compartment), drawing, and moaning non stop at one another...Today was hard, tiresome, and expensive, but on the other hand, we are sitting 15mins from Amsterdam, in the middle of Holland, in a remotely wooded campsite, as a family. Quite an accomplishment I guess :)
Will send pics once I resize and upload them.
Dean:)
We planned to leave the UK on Monday 2nd July, and duly arrived at the ferry terminal to be told that the ferry was cancelled, and we would be put up in a hotel for the night, with free "eat as much as you like" breakfast, and would have to catch the ferry the next evening. We eventually did get to the ferry terminal the next evening, but instead of taking a taxi at 4pounds, we decided to walk to the terminal....we made quite a picture. Jesse and Tanner were dragging suitcases on wheels behind them. I had to larger cases on wheels, one in each hand, while Marielle pushed Jetan in the pram, which had a carchair perched on top, on which Jetan found himself strapped to under my big jacket, and some surboard stretchies....haha. The ferry was a great experience...but Marielle didnt have much sleep...Tanner woke at 4, and then I snored all the way till 5:30, so she couldnt sleep, and ended up with sea sickness ;-) I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast, along with the kids, while Marielle sat looking a little blue...I fed her tea and watermelon...*grin*. Here comes a story that will make you laugh..... I let the kids go and get their own food from the buffet, so they decided to make melted cheese on toast. Unbeknown to me, they lumped a bunch of cheese slices onto their bread and sent it through the rotary toasting maching, which is a bit of a conveyor belt device that ends up sliding your toast down a slope so you can extract it. WELL..... when the boys cheesy toast flipped over to slide down the "ramp" all the cheese ended up smeared on the ramp, with none left on their bread. I noticed the panic on their faces, and ran to help, took one look at the cheese smeared ramp, grabbed their messy bread, and ran away..hehe. I could see people for the next 30mins, surpised to find that when they put in their bread, it came out as bread and cheese! ;-))
We got to Amsterdam from the ferry by bus, and actually saw BW Campers offices as we drove into central Amsterdam. (Thank God...hehe...for a while we thought they didnt even exist and we might have given all our money to a Nigerian scammer. :) But they do exist, and were very thorough in everything they gave us. The camper is by no means top of the line. More bottom of the line...but it has everything that we seem to need. We managed to drive it to a nearby campsite, which has Wifi Access at 5euro per 24hrs, or 15euro for a full week. The price for staying one night has been 29euro....although they are found in the ACSI campsite booklet, they dont actually give any ACSI discount. I know it's pricy, but I'm just relieved to be online, so I can keep things up to date on the business side, and we have electrical hook up, water, and the rest. The campsite isnt anything Bev would cope with....*grin*. In fact I have only seen 2 people on the entire campsite....the owner, and a lady walking buy an hour ago...although there do seem to be about 20 tents roundabout.
We dont know what our plan is for tomorrow. I have to plan that tonight. We went to a supermarket this afternoon so Marielle was able to cook us macaroni and mince for dinner tonight. Jetan is now passed out in a single bed at the back of the camper, and the 2 boys are over my head (above the driving compartment), drawing, and moaning non stop at one another...Today was hard, tiresome, and expensive, but on the other hand, we are sitting 15mins from Amsterdam, in the middle of Holland, in a remotely wooded campsite, as a family. Quite an accomplishment I guess :)
Will send pics once I resize and upload them.
Dean:)
Monday, 02 July 2007
Monday Morning: Our touring begins??
Hello hello hello :) Today is the day! We leave Norton in England via train from Stockton to Newcastle, and train via the Metro system to North Shields, where our ferry awaits us. Tickets from Stockton to Newcastle cost 8pound for adults, and 4 pounds for kids. We've got too many suitcases once again, but I'm sure we'll make it up the gangplank:) The wife doesnt feel so sure...! The ferry should be a wonderful experience for the kids. We've got an overnight cabin, and plan to arrive in Amsterdam at about 9:30am in the morning, catch a bus to central Amsterdam (I think the ferry provides one), and then a 300m walk to our camper dealer, www.bwcampers.com . We found a second hand motorhome on their website 5 months ago, and have already paid it off, ...very risky we know, but in this lifetime you cant distrust everyone you talk to. If they do everything they have claimed they will do (serviced the vehicle, arranged insurances, thrown in free bigger batteries, gas cyclinder, drilled 2 holes for my invertor cable, etc), then we should be on our way, popping along the Dutch side roads tomorrow, looking for shops to stock up on food, bedding, toilet paper, and the rest :)
England has been an experience. A good one. No fences on peoples homes. Women walking babies in prams at 10pm down the road. We're no where near London, so maybe that's the difference. I managed to pick up 2 huge map books for Europe and France from the corner cafe yesterday. Just in time too :)
Tesco is a large UK "Hypermarket" type shop, where you can buy anything and everything. I've been eye-ing out the latest glass screen Laptop computers...all in the region of 500pounds...which to me is really cheap compared to the same in SA. Wife told me I dont need a new laptop. I disagree...ha ha.
ok, let's see if this blog posts ok :) We should start posting some really cool pics from hereon out. Trains, Ferries, camper vans, Dutch canals, clogs, and the rest :) 3weeks and a bit in Europe, staying at a few campsites and Aires on the weekends. No tv. Havent told the kids yet. But in 3 weeks, we will have a tv, DVD player, and the rest for them to use just before bedtime :)
Signing out.Bags to pack.
Dean
England has been an experience. A good one. No fences on peoples homes. Women walking babies in prams at 10pm down the road. We're no where near London, so maybe that's the difference. I managed to pick up 2 huge map books for Europe and France from the corner cafe yesterday. Just in time too :)
Tesco is a large UK "Hypermarket" type shop, where you can buy anything and everything. I've been eye-ing out the latest glass screen Laptop computers...all in the region of 500pounds...which to me is really cheap compared to the same in SA. Wife told me I dont need a new laptop. I disagree...ha ha.
ok, let's see if this blog posts ok :) We should start posting some really cool pics from hereon out. Trains, Ferries, camper vans, Dutch canals, clogs, and the rest :) 3weeks and a bit in Europe, staying at a few campsites and Aires on the weekends. No tv. Havent told the kids yet. But in 3 weeks, we will have a tv, DVD player, and the rest for them to use just before bedtime :)
Signing out.Bags to pack.
Dean
We missed our ferry!!!
naaa...we didnt, BUT, the ferry was cancelled! Not all is lost however. They've put us up in a 55pound per night Bed n Breakfast close to the ferry terminals. Airconditioned, TV, a hot bath, breakfast in the morning and here's the bonus....they gave the kids a hotel room for themselves...!!!! If I was 12 or 7 and had a hotel room all to myself, I would consider that a REAL bonus. Of course we wont let them sleep in it by themselves, but at least we arent all crowded in one room. Our day today has been a little hectic. We started off catching a train from Stockton station which was an interesting start to our BIG ADVENTURE, because it was such a small piddly station, and we were the only people standing on the platform. Marielle kept asking me a MILLION times.....are we on the right station????? ...actually I'll hand the blog over to her now, so I can go shut the little 3yr old up...he's in the bath and making a racket.
Hello, it's me. Yes I did ask him over and over again if we were at the right station because men simply don't ask for directions do they? Anyway then we got off the station at Newcastle, had to walk through the town for about 10 minutes. You have to picture this, Jetan in his car chair, which is perched on the top of his pram and the pram full of stuff as well. Jesse wheeling one of the suitcases, Tanner carrying jackets and his little booster chair (it's law here for kids his age to sit in one) and Dean wheeling 3 suitcases - through lunch time traffic! We had to make our way to Monument Station, where we bought our tickets for the train to Meadow-well and a buddy coke for one pound (ouch!) We finally got to Platform 3 about 5-10 minutes before the train arrived. And yes, I did keep asking Dean if we were in the right place. The signboard showing the railway line showed that the ferry was at North Shields BUT we didn't buy a ticket to go to North Shields did we, we bought to go up to the stop before! We decided to stay on the train, which was a good thing cause that's where we needed to go. We were told by a young girl on the train, that it would be a 10 minute walk along the Fish Quay to where the ferry departs. Well, we walked for about 2 minutes and Angels dressed as black Taxi cabs appeared in front of us. We were exhausted and happily dished out the 5 pounds for the sweet taxi driver to take us to the ferry. It was quite amusing trying to fit all the luggage into his taxi but we managed.
Then we got to the Ferry Terminal and were asked "Are you catching the ferry to Amsterdam, to which I answered an eager "Yes!" and her response was "well not tonight you're not".
As it turns out, the ferry had had technical problems and was only coming into the U.K tomorrow so we will be boarding tomorrow night. So a taxi was summoned for us, which cost us 3 pounds 80 ! but it is really just up the road from the ferry terminal so I guess the Squire family will be making the trek tomorrow on foot back to the terminal rather than dishing out another R60.00 for the trip.
Supper tonight - is what we would have had aboard the ferry. Buttered rolls and cold chicken but now we have to find another meal for tomorrow night - bummer!
Dean and Jetan have just got out the bath, there is water everywhere!!!! I am now going to chase up my 2 older monsters who think they are on their father's yacht in the other room.
Hello, it's me. Yes I did ask him over and over again if we were at the right station because men simply don't ask for directions do they? Anyway then we got off the station at Newcastle, had to walk through the town for about 10 minutes. You have to picture this, Jetan in his car chair, which is perched on the top of his pram and the pram full of stuff as well. Jesse wheeling one of the suitcases, Tanner carrying jackets and his little booster chair (it's law here for kids his age to sit in one) and Dean wheeling 3 suitcases - through lunch time traffic! We had to make our way to Monument Station, where we bought our tickets for the train to Meadow-well and a buddy coke for one pound (ouch!) We finally got to Platform 3 about 5-10 minutes before the train arrived. And yes, I did keep asking Dean if we were in the right place. The signboard showing the railway line showed that the ferry was at North Shields BUT we didn't buy a ticket to go to North Shields did we, we bought to go up to the stop before! We decided to stay on the train, which was a good thing cause that's where we needed to go. We were told by a young girl on the train, that it would be a 10 minute walk along the Fish Quay to where the ferry departs. Well, we walked for about 2 minutes and Angels dressed as black Taxi cabs appeared in front of us. We were exhausted and happily dished out the 5 pounds for the sweet taxi driver to take us to the ferry. It was quite amusing trying to fit all the luggage into his taxi but we managed.
Then we got to the Ferry Terminal and were asked "Are you catching the ferry to Amsterdam, to which I answered an eager "Yes!" and her response was "well not tonight you're not".
As it turns out, the ferry had had technical problems and was only coming into the U.K tomorrow so we will be boarding tomorrow night. So a taxi was summoned for us, which cost us 3 pounds 80 ! but it is really just up the road from the ferry terminal so I guess the Squire family will be making the trek tomorrow on foot back to the terminal rather than dishing out another R60.00 for the trip.
Supper tonight - is what we would have had aboard the ferry. Buttered rolls and cold chicken but now we have to find another meal for tomorrow night - bummer!
Dean and Jetan have just got out the bath, there is water everywhere!!!! I am now going to chase up my 2 older monsters who think they are on their father's yacht in the other room.
Friday, 29 June 2007
Quick TitBit before bedtime
I tried posting earlier...but then my TMobile disconnected, so I lost the entire thing. Lesson learned. From now on I will blog offline and then just connect, post, and carry on :)
It's been great reading all the posts from friends to some of our blog entries :) Keep them coming. Thanks guys/gals! I'll try and make this a quick fun blog:
Summary so far:
We are all fine and happy, and picking up our motorhome next Monday, after catching a ferry (huge ship actually) from Newcastle to Amsterdam. Funny thing is that a month ago we were dreaming of this advanture, and here we are living it. Interestingly enough, a person's faith is really only tested when you're away from home base. In the UK I feel as though for once we get to exercise our faith a little...not standing on a T box and shouting out "You need to turn or burn", but it's more on a personal level. A relationship with God is more real when you're in a strange country. You either find yourself praying a little more, or a little less. I find myself praying a little more, but in really short bursts here and there...like when two big dogs came bounding towards me while I was walking across a bit of a field yesterday...ha ha. Luckily they stopped and listened to the little woman's voice shouting "cmere Killer...down boy...dont eat the man.. ha ha ha".
So far everything has fallen into place. I've even organised some cable from a family friend which I'll be able to use to connect up our invertor in the camper. It was one of the things I was a little worried about...but life is about trusting that tomorrow, someone will be there, with the answers. (Let's hope I'm still this positive when we get onto the Continent. If I feel there's a total lack of churches in the UK, I'm expecting even less in France and Holland.) For those of you reading this, who dont like God (wouldnt know why, he's really quite cool), I promise not to make a habit of getting churchy throughout this blog. Bear in mind that we do have a whole churchful of people back in South Africa, who really are interested in knowing whether we've "drifted away from the faith" hehehe.
We've been told our kids are really well behaved. I had to ask the guy twice.."are you talking about MY kids"....?..."mine"...are you sure????" It does seem that he was, so I accept the compliment :) Have I mentioned that on a few occassions, when engaged in a solid reprimand, my 3yr old has turned round and declared " Dont shout at meeeee ". You see when the kids sometimes forget there manners and shout at their Mom, she swings round and says "Dont you dare shout at me.. so of course the 3yr old now thinks it's a great term to use...haha.
yesterday I walked to a friends house to use their Internet connection, opened the door to their house, and set off the alarm. First thought was that the cops were going to come bursting down the road. I didnt have their cell number, and all the neighbours were peering out their windows. Jesse (my 12 yr old) wanted to take off running down the road. I had thoughts of trying to explain to the cops that I was just visiting the UK and I really did have passports...and the laptop I was carrying wasnt stolen goods. Luckily we made it back to where we had already walked from, and got back in the car, friend in tow, to switch it off. No harm done, and no weekend in a British jail while trying to explain who I was.
:)
more to come. Marielle plans to blog tomorrow. Watch this space.!
It's been great reading all the posts from friends to some of our blog entries :) Keep them coming. Thanks guys/gals! I'll try and make this a quick fun blog:
Summary so far:
We are all fine and happy, and picking up our motorhome next Monday, after catching a ferry (huge ship actually) from Newcastle to Amsterdam. Funny thing is that a month ago we were dreaming of this advanture, and here we are living it. Interestingly enough, a person's faith is really only tested when you're away from home base. In the UK I feel as though for once we get to exercise our faith a little...not standing on a T box and shouting out "You need to turn or burn", but it's more on a personal level. A relationship with God is more real when you're in a strange country. You either find yourself praying a little more, or a little less. I find myself praying a little more, but in really short bursts here and there...like when two big dogs came bounding towards me while I was walking across a bit of a field yesterday...ha ha. Luckily they stopped and listened to the little woman's voice shouting "cmere Killer...down boy...dont eat the man.. ha ha ha".
So far everything has fallen into place. I've even organised some cable from a family friend which I'll be able to use to connect up our invertor in the camper. It was one of the things I was a little worried about...but life is about trusting that tomorrow, someone will be there, with the answers. (Let's hope I'm still this positive when we get onto the Continent. If I feel there's a total lack of churches in the UK, I'm expecting even less in France and Holland.) For those of you reading this, who dont like God (wouldnt know why, he's really quite cool), I promise not to make a habit of getting churchy throughout this blog. Bear in mind that we do have a whole churchful of people back in South Africa, who really are interested in knowing whether we've "drifted away from the faith" hehehe.
We've been told our kids are really well behaved. I had to ask the guy twice.."are you talking about MY kids"....?..."mine"...are you sure????" It does seem that he was, so I accept the compliment :) Have I mentioned that on a few occassions, when engaged in a solid reprimand, my 3yr old has turned round and declared " Dont shout at meeeee ". You see when the kids sometimes forget there manners and shout at their Mom, she swings round and says "Dont you dare shout at me.. so of course the 3yr old now thinks it's a great term to use...haha.
yesterday I walked to a friends house to use their Internet connection, opened the door to their house, and set off the alarm. First thought was that the cops were going to come bursting down the road. I didnt have their cell number, and all the neighbours were peering out their windows. Jesse (my 12 yr old) wanted to take off running down the road. I had thoughts of trying to explain to the cops that I was just visiting the UK and I really did have passports...and the laptop I was carrying wasnt stolen goods. Luckily we made it back to where we had already walked from, and got back in the car, friend in tow, to switch it off. No harm done, and no weekend in a British jail while trying to explain who I was.
:)
more to come. Marielle plans to blog tomorrow. Watch this space.!
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Decisions Decisions Decisions
Well. Just a few more days before we catch the ferry to Amsterdam and pick up our campervan. Been visiting a few shops today....bought a small DVD player for use on the road, plus a 12v to 220v Invertor, so we can use the motorhome batteries for powering normal appliances. The biggest decision was to ditch the idea of buying a satellite dish, and rather use T-Mobiles 3G Wireless internet product in the UK, and put the rest of the savings from the sat dish, towards camping sites in Europe which offer WiFi. We have a CD which we ordered off the web back in South Africa, which shows where these camping sites are, so we should be ok. It's a bit of a risk, but one we have decided to take. Should mean we dont have to set up the sat dish each day, but instead just click a "Connect" button on the laptop. I think one of the things which put me off about Bentley Walker, was that although I was prepared to spend a huge amount of money on the sat dish hardware, they wouldnt give me any help or training to explain how it works. They wanted me to pay 150 pounds for an "engineer" to show us the ropes, and wouldnt budge when I mentioned that the exchange rate from the UK to South Africa was 15:1 . They told me that by giving me an hour or two of training, meant that they were losing business elsewhere, so needed to charge me. I'm glad to say I found another option, and they dont have to worry any longer. Right now I'm sitting using the T-Mobile connection and I'm very happy with it. Was simple to set up, and even though the guy in the "CarphoneWarehouse"shop told me to wait 12-24hrs, I got curious, and set it up after 4hours without a problem. Tomorrow we hope to go to a CarBoot market. Will let you know what that's all about :)
chow4now
chow4now
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Tuesday ramblings
Not doing much today. Marielle is off with Samantha for bridesmaid dress fitting and other stuff, while I sit with the kids and catch up on business. For the record, our cellphone cant make outgoing calls, Marielle hasnt had access to the web more than a few minutes since being here, so we're a little silent on the "keeping in touch" side of things. I enjoy updating this blog, rather than emailing everyone...so I guess blogging will be a new way of life for me after this trip :)
We pick up our motorhome from BWCampers.com next week Mon. I'm very excited. It will be our new home for the next 6months. We've bought a few plates, cups, knives and forks etc, but havent got any bedding yet. Might borrow some, or buy some in Holland. A family uncle (Brian) is lending us a small colour TV, so the kids will be able to hookup their PS2 game console in those "kids find something to do" times.
We still arent sure where we will be by the end of next week. If we find Internet access at hotspots is decent/cheap enough in the Netherlands and France, we might not worry about the satellite dish option. A big step for us. The success of our trip revolves around our Internet access. We might waive a long holiday through Italy, and just do Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland...maybe a weekend or two across into the Italian side. Eat a pizza. Leave. Visit Venice on another day. We plan to be back:) Maybe when wifi access has saturated the EU ?
ds
Monday, 25 June 2007
Monday and Rain
Here's some pics of the kids and family at Preston Park yesterday :)It's pouring down today. Not a hint of the sun.:) It's really nice not having to run around packing in a million things into a short holiday...we can take our time and meet people. :) The kids have been great. No squabbling. Flu they had in Durban, SA has cleared up in the UK...apparently the air is drier here? I think it's just that every house has double glass panes, and the moment you walk inside you strip off the jackets and enjoy the central heating that is part of most homes...we're in a council house......double story...bedrooms upstairs and living room, kitchen, bathroom downstairs. Quite a nice layout actually. All the houses are the same:)
Will upload more pics in another post
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Weekend in the UK
RightyHo, lots of news , will try to make it as brief as possible. :)
We're staying in Norton on Tees (which I discovered meant there is a river somewhere near Norton called Tees...ahem...), with our friends. Before leaving South Africa, we expected the worst, with an exchange rate of 15 to 1.... we expected the food in the shops to 15 times as expensive....BUT.....we can safely tell you, that if you shop at Tescos, or the little supermarket places round the corner, far away from the hussle and bussle of London, that the UK is CHEAPER than SA.... I swear it's the truth....:) Marielle (the wife) and I are amazed. When we planned a motorhome holiday, we really thought we would have to bite the bullet, but to be honest, SA's prices have escalated to levels, where we now find almost no difference when buying milk, bread, pastas, pizzas, and the rest. We dont normally spend a fortune in SA, and we havent had to worry in the UK either...fair enough we have only been here 2 days, but the sun only sets at 11pm at night, so we feel like we've already been here a week!
Got to tell a funny story at this point. We went off to a mall yesterday, only to find that the malls were built in areas where there were already streets filled with shops, so when you ask someone in a mall where the electronics shop is, he tells you its outside the mall. (strange). I went into a cellphone shop and announced "I am from South Africa"so that we could get past the strange looks I got when trying to communicate with a slightly strange accent. I asked for a starter pack /SIM card for our cellphone, explaining that we just wanted to get SMSs from SA, and not really make any outgoing calls. Cost was 10pounds for the SIM and I bought 5pounds airtime just in case. Here comes the funny bit. I asked them to charge me on my South African Nedbank Credit Card,,,, right.....the one Nedbank had told me was a VISA card that would be accepted ANYWHERE in the UK and on the continent. The woman across the counter looks at me and says...."Its not a chip and pin." I looked back at her, thinking back to our friendly Chip n Dip (chips covered with sauce in a cardboard holder...back in good old RSA) . I said.. "What? What is Chip and PIN " The woman looked back at me (thinking to herself...idiotic person from Africa) . Chip and PIN sir. Your card doesnt have the PIN on it. I thought....ahhh she thinks it doesnt have a PIN. In SA before I left, I sat with NEDBANK enquiries, and I told them I needed a PIN for the card, so I could draw money from the ATM in the UK etc. So I said to the woman...There's no problem.....The card has been activated for PIN.....and I know my PIN for the card....just swipe it and I can punch in the PIN and it should work fine. " She looked at me again and said.... There's no Chip and PIN ON THE CARD SIR! " By now, I realised...there was something wierd going on...her eye was beginning to pop out of its socket... you see, the UK, has CHANGED IT'S SYSTEM.... their credit cards now have a gold shiny rectangle embedded in the card......as an extra security check. South Africa doesnt have this yet, so I was buggered. I couldnt use the SOUTH AFRICAN NEDBANK CREDIT CARD to buy someone at a vendor in the UK, because our cards in SA are BEHIND the security used in the UK...and to top it off, the UK have been using this system for 6months, and NEDBANK in SA, didnt even mention it to me. HA HA. I handed the woman 15pounds cash, smiled, and left. Tried the same thing at T-Mobile, 3 shops down...same story. It's official. No Chip and PIN, you cant use a South African credit card in the UK. All is not lost, I could still draw cash from the UK ATM machine, using the card, but that defeats the point. I want to earn Voyager Miles using the credit card for buying items, and food etc etc.
ok, before I leave this posting, what else can I say :) We're having a great time. Went and saw a bunch of old fire engines at an outdoor family day thingie...was lots of fun. It's 8:15pm at the moment, and that means 3 more hours of sun :)
Marielle is having a ball. Kids are loving it. 190 TV channels to choose from, but we pick up our camper in a weeks time, so that will be the end of that ;-) I still havent decided what Internet access to use while we are here. T-Mobile is the best in the UK pricewise...but will know next week when on the continent whether we have to go for the 2 way satellite option, or find a 3G solution to work with round Europe. I bought a wireless network finder yesterday, at Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk ). I might get lucky :)
This part of the UK is just below Newcastle on the map...on the east coast. The weather changes 5 times a day. We put on and remove our layers of jackets 5 times a day. Jesse picked up a Playstation2 game for 97pence yesterday. Thats about R15. He was just lucky though. It was the only one at that price. Havent seen any churches around. South Africa has churches on every street corner. I havent seen one. Really sad actually. A lot of the UK kids seem to be quite angry....I would be worried about parking a motorhome outside where we're staying, would be worried that a kid would break in for the sake of having something to do. Hopefully we'll be parking in small village roads away from built up areas, so will post more about that in time to come. :)
If you need to email us, post replies on this blog and we'll mail you :)
Chow all. Love and leave you.
Dean
We're staying in Norton on Tees (which I discovered meant there is a river somewhere near Norton called Tees...ahem...), with our friends. Before leaving South Africa, we expected the worst, with an exchange rate of 15 to 1.... we expected the food in the shops to 15 times as expensive....BUT.....we can safely tell you, that if you shop at Tescos, or the little supermarket places round the corner, far away from the hussle and bussle of London, that the UK is CHEAPER than SA.... I swear it's the truth....:) Marielle (the wife) and I are amazed. When we planned a motorhome holiday, we really thought we would have to bite the bullet, but to be honest, SA's prices have escalated to levels, where we now find almost no difference when buying milk, bread, pastas, pizzas, and the rest. We dont normally spend a fortune in SA, and we havent had to worry in the UK either...fair enough we have only been here 2 days, but the sun only sets at 11pm at night, so we feel like we've already been here a week!
Got to tell a funny story at this point. We went off to a mall yesterday, only to find that the malls were built in areas where there were already streets filled with shops, so when you ask someone in a mall where the electronics shop is, he tells you its outside the mall. (strange). I went into a cellphone shop and announced "I am from South Africa"so that we could get past the strange looks I got when trying to communicate with a slightly strange accent. I asked for a starter pack /SIM card for our cellphone, explaining that we just wanted to get SMSs from SA, and not really make any outgoing calls. Cost was 10pounds for the SIM and I bought 5pounds airtime just in case. Here comes the funny bit. I asked them to charge me on my South African Nedbank Credit Card,,,, right.....the one Nedbank had told me was a VISA card that would be accepted ANYWHERE in the UK and on the continent. The woman across the counter looks at me and says...."Its not a chip and pin." I looked back at her, thinking back to our friendly Chip n Dip (chips covered with sauce in a cardboard holder...back in good old RSA) . I said.. "What? What is Chip and PIN " The woman looked back at me (thinking to herself...idiotic person from Africa) . Chip and PIN sir. Your card doesnt have the PIN on it. I thought....ahhh she thinks it doesnt have a PIN. In SA before I left, I sat with NEDBANK enquiries, and I told them I needed a PIN for the card, so I could draw money from the ATM in the UK etc. So I said to the woman...There's no problem.....The card has been activated for PIN.....and I know my PIN for the card....just swipe it and I can punch in the PIN and it should work fine. " She looked at me again and said.... There's no Chip and PIN ON THE CARD SIR! " By now, I realised...there was something wierd going on...her eye was beginning to pop out of its socket... you see, the UK, has CHANGED IT'S SYSTEM.... their credit cards now have a gold shiny rectangle embedded in the card......as an extra security check. South Africa doesnt have this yet, so I was buggered. I couldnt use the SOUTH AFRICAN NEDBANK CREDIT CARD to buy someone at a vendor in the UK, because our cards in SA are BEHIND the security used in the UK...and to top it off, the UK have been using this system for 6months, and NEDBANK in SA, didnt even mention it to me. HA HA. I handed the woman 15pounds cash, smiled, and left. Tried the same thing at T-Mobile, 3 shops down...same story. It's official. No Chip and PIN, you cant use a South African credit card in the UK. All is not lost, I could still draw cash from the UK ATM machine, using the card, but that defeats the point. I want to earn Voyager Miles using the credit card for buying items, and food etc etc.
ok, before I leave this posting, what else can I say :) We're having a great time. Went and saw a bunch of old fire engines at an outdoor family day thingie...was lots of fun. It's 8:15pm at the moment, and that means 3 more hours of sun :)
Marielle is having a ball. Kids are loving it. 190 TV channels to choose from, but we pick up our camper in a weeks time, so that will be the end of that ;-) I still havent decided what Internet access to use while we are here. T-Mobile is the best in the UK pricewise...but will know next week when on the continent whether we have to go for the 2 way satellite option, or find a 3G solution to work with round Europe. I bought a wireless network finder yesterday, at Maplin (www.maplin.co.uk ). I might get lucky :)
This part of the UK is just below Newcastle on the map...on the east coast. The weather changes 5 times a day. We put on and remove our layers of jackets 5 times a day. Jesse picked up a Playstation2 game for 97pence yesterday. Thats about R15. He was just lucky though. It was the only one at that price. Havent seen any churches around. South Africa has churches on every street corner. I havent seen one. Really sad actually. A lot of the UK kids seem to be quite angry....I would be worried about parking a motorhome outside where we're staying, would be worried that a kid would break in for the sake of having something to do. Hopefully we'll be parking in small village roads away from built up areas, so will post more about that in time to come. :)
If you need to email us, post replies on this blog and we'll mail you :)
Chow all. Love and leave you.
Dean
Friday, 22 June 2007
We have arrived in the UK !!!!!
Well...what can I say! We are on UK soil :) After an exhausting few days moving between friends homes, stupid bumper to bumper traffic in Joburg to the airport, chaos at Joburg International, (hot, no signs, normal SA unorganisation) we have endured :) ok, let's start at the very beginning.... we arrived at the Joburg airport and walked the entire length of building looking for British Airways check in desks...which we passed by without seeing, friends in tow, pushing 2 fully laden bags...so we had to turn around and walk back again, with Marielle murmering in my ear " I cant believe you didnt ask anyone when we started" to which I replied " why didnt you ask anyone" to which she replied" I thought you had asked!" ...It was fun, getting the suitcases wrapped in plastic...and then loaded back onto the trolleys...only to find that we had a quick route through the BA checkin, because we had already checked in on their website..yippeee.....technology works...:) It was an absolute nightmare getting to the actual plane.....they couldnt have made it more difficult if they had tried....easy if you are on your own, terrible if you have kids and a mound of handluggage to navigate . The kids were very excited. Jesse had a permanent grin. The take-off in the Boing 747 was fun, the British Airways staff were great, food was good, flight was fun, but didnt get any sleep, arrived in Heathrow in the morning, only to find that the interconnecting flight didnt allow you to carry a bag PLUS a laptop. Looking at the queue to get extra bags checked in cargo, we managed to repack our handluggage, from 7 bags to 5...(an absolute miracle I swear). We avoided the queues again and made it through to the final security stage where EU passport holders go left and I go right... only to find that I was quicktracked through the EU side as well, because they took one look at Jetan running all over the airport, Marielle saying.." my husband is in the other queue", ... and decided they needed me to restore sanity at the airport, and just pushed me to the front of the queue and out the other side before Jetan could finally break off the security chain holding the other 300 people in the queue ...it was marvelous...I recommend that if anyone wants to avoid the queues, just get yourself a small 3yr old with curly hair, with a glint in his eye, and a plane to catch....and teach him to scream PLANEEEEEE PLANEEEE PLANEEEEEE ...works a charm.
So here we are...finally, on a friends 3Meg adsl connection in newcastle, writing this blog. I have a nice cuppa English tea and biscuits next to me, and the kids are running around playing with their new accomplices.....Jetan is wearing a Shrek plastic mask....I dont see much of a difference? except maybe that Shrek has funny ears...ha ha.
It's the weekend coming up, and finally time to chill and relax...
Before I go, let me leave you with this thought. In the UK, there are NO mini buses, and NO car guards. *grin* . When we arrived we left the luggage in the back of the car, and I asked...is it safe? The answer was a typical English one. " Yeaa, of course....want a cuppa tea?????"
mmmMMMM ..nothing quite like drinking tea in England. It's like eating Biltong on a farm "stoep".
signing off: On a warm UK day:
Bye
So here we are...finally, on a friends 3Meg adsl connection in newcastle, writing this blog. I have a nice cuppa English tea and biscuits next to me, and the kids are running around playing with their new accomplices.....Jetan is wearing a Shrek plastic mask....I dont see much of a difference? except maybe that Shrek has funny ears...ha ha.
It's the weekend coming up, and finally time to chill and relax...
Before I go, let me leave you with this thought. In the UK, there are NO mini buses, and NO car guards. *grin* . When we arrived we left the luggage in the back of the car, and I asked...is it safe? The answer was a typical English one. " Yeaa, of course....want a cuppa tea?????"
mmmMMMM ..nothing quite like drinking tea in England. It's like eating Biltong on a farm "stoep".
signing off: On a warm UK day:
Bye
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
Chicken for dinner :)
Yup...believe it or not, we are having chicken for dinner. We're spending the night with some old friends , in Johannesburg, and spending the day tomorrow with some other old friends, before finally making our way to Johannesburg International Airport (the name has changed but anyway...we'll stick with it for this blog). We're really going to enjoy this chicken, knowing that the chance of having a roast in the next 6 months for a South African family travelling to Europe/UK is almost zero...although perhaps I will drop huge hints to Sam, our friend in the UK....hmmm....
I must admit, one thing I am very happy with, is that both our friends today and tomorrow, both have ADSL broadband internet connections, and so far so good.... I run an Internet business, and this 6 month holiday is not just about taking 6months out to relax. I will be working from the campervan, using some form of Internet. So far it's a tussle between T-Mobile 3G data card while in the UK, perhaps something similar in Europe, or else a satellite dish option from www.bentleywalker.com . My wife and I control different parts of our business, and although we have fantastic staff members back in South Africa and Australia (a virtual team) , we still need to "be there" to clear the more difficult issues which arise. To date I've spent months on the net reading www.motorhomefacts.com posts and other sites, and havent found a solid Internet solution at a decent price yet. Vodacom in South Africa wanted to charge R15 per Meg...on a 3G card...I downloaded a bandwidth tracker and found I was using about 50Megs a day....times that by 30 and again by 15, and you get a monthly Internet bill of R22500 per month....ARE THEY COMPLETELY MAD? It really is rediculous in this day and age, that we cant see roaming agreements where 3G suppliers dont expect you to sell your house to be able to get email?????????
Any way...if you follow this post, perhaps you will learn what experiences we pick up . hmmmm...I can smell the chicken. Gotta go.
Bye.
I must admit, one thing I am very happy with, is that both our friends today and tomorrow, both have ADSL broadband internet connections, and so far so good.... I run an Internet business, and this 6 month holiday is not just about taking 6months out to relax. I will be working from the campervan, using some form of Internet. So far it's a tussle between T-Mobile 3G data card while in the UK, perhaps something similar in Europe, or else a satellite dish option from www.bentleywalker.com . My wife and I control different parts of our business, and although we have fantastic staff members back in South Africa and Australia (a virtual team) , we still need to "be there" to clear the more difficult issues which arise. To date I've spent months on the net reading www.motorhomefacts.com posts and other sites, and havent found a solid Internet solution at a decent price yet. Vodacom in South Africa wanted to charge R15 per Meg...on a 3G card...I downloaded a bandwidth tracker and found I was using about 50Megs a day....times that by 30 and again by 15, and you get a monthly Internet bill of R22500 per month....ARE THEY COMPLETELY MAD? It really is rediculous in this day and age, that we cant see roaming agreements where 3G suppliers dont expect you to sell your house to be able to get email?????????
Any way...if you follow this post, perhaps you will learn what experiences we pick up . hmmmm...I can smell the chicken. Gotta go.
Bye.
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
a quick update
we are still packing to leave.
I have counted....3 kids, 5 big cases, 4 small cases, 2 laptops, 1 pram, 1 satellite dish stand, and 2 files with all our documents....all sitting in my dining room at 10pm at night... contemplating how to fit it all in the car...:)
somehow it will work.
maybe we should leave the kids?
I have counted....3 kids, 5 big cases, 4 small cases, 2 laptops, 1 pram, 1 satellite dish stand, and 2 files with all our documents....all sitting in my dining room at 10pm at night... contemplating how to fit it all in the car...:)
somehow it will work.
maybe we should leave the kids?
1 night to go
ok. We are officially into the last day. ;-) Having rented out our home to some of our special friends, we plan to spend today moving the last of our humble remains out of our living quarters, and stashing it in a storage facility without any known co-ordinates, and where robbers wouldnt dare to tread (rottweilers and electric fences etc). I also need a haircut. I'm not having another for 6 months, unless a very friendly french girl, preferably a brunette, offers to cut it for free. A haircut, is probably the same price as a months groceries in South Africa....
Into the last leg of our departure planning, and a few things left to do, like go online and book our plane seats 24hrs before the flight lifts off. We have already stashed the very large pram wheels into the check in luggage because we were worried the huge 3 wheeler pram we bought to haul the 3yr old round Europe might be considered to large for the plane, and somewhere we read of extra charges...which amounted to just buying a new pram overseas anyway...watch this space...I plan on chatting up the BA booking lady, preferably french, a brunette... ..
My wife just shouted..."I am french, and I'm a brunette"...so I guess I'm a lucky guy ;-) ...
Thanks to you who have posted some replies..... they are fun to read.
Into the last leg of our departure planning, and a few things left to do, like go online and book our plane seats 24hrs before the flight lifts off. We have already stashed the very large pram wheels into the check in luggage because we were worried the huge 3 wheeler pram we bought to haul the 3yr old round Europe might be considered to large for the plane, and somewhere we read of extra charges...which amounted to just buying a new pram overseas anyway...watch this space...I plan on chatting up the BA booking lady, preferably french, a brunette... ..
My wife just shouted..."I am french, and I'm a brunette"...so I guess I'm a lucky guy ;-) ...
Thanks to you who have posted some replies..... they are fun to read.
Monday, 18 June 2007
Basic Itinerary
I had only one blog in blogger.com at the time of writing this, so I wanted to make sure if I added a second blog, that it would appear at the top of the list...;-) I thought I should publish a rough itinerary for those who are interested.:
Arrive in the UK: June22nd, 2007.
Spend 10days with friends, and then catch a ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam.
Fetch our motorhome from a dealer in Amsterdam.
Begin our roadtrip.
Holland. Luxembourg.France.Back to the UK. Wales. England. Scotland. London.France.Paris.EuroDisney.Northern France.Switzerland.Austria.Italy.South of France. Holland.UK. Back to South Africa on 28Dec.2007. A total of 6 months and a bit.
I've purposefully left things a bit sketchy. Things will move around a bit. Have you ever tried planning your life 6months in advance? It's simply impossible :)
Arrive in the UK: June22nd, 2007.
Spend 10days with friends, and then catch a ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam.
Fetch our motorhome from a dealer in Amsterdam.
Begin our roadtrip.
Holland. Luxembourg.France.Back to the UK. Wales. England. Scotland. London.France.Paris.EuroDisney.Northern France.Switzerland.Austria.Italy.South of France. Holland.UK. Back to South Africa on 28Dec.2007. A total of 6 months and a bit.
I've purposefully left things a bit sketchy. Things will move around a bit. Have you ever tried planning your life 6months in advance? It's simply impossible :)
2 nights to go:
Well, this is nearly it. 2 nights to go and we leave Durban, South Africa, for a 6hr drive to Johannesburg International Airport. (It's now called Oliver Tambo airport, but I like the old name..seemed to make more sense...at least you knew what city the airport was in...remind me to tell everyone about the Munich international airport that simply disappeared when we travelled in Germany 10yrs ago. It wasnt where the map said it should be.) Getting ourselves to the Johannesburg International Airport, with the wife, 3kids, 500 suitcases, prams, and the kitchen sink, is a story on its own. God help us. God help the customs guy who has to deal with us. God help the motorhome that has to ferry us around Europe for a few months. God help the UK and French drivers. God help my wife if she tells me my driving is bad. :) In South Africa we drive on the left hand side of the road. In Europe, it's on the right...in a left hand vehicle. In the UK, we will have a left hand vehicle (we have bought a second hand camper van in Amsterdam) , but will be driving on the left again...but in a left hand vehicle.....I do so hope you are following this... ;-) . Anyway...one day before we are set to leave, I finally got to blogger.com and created this blog. I'll send the url to all our friends, family, and others, and hope it serves the purpose of telling everyone where we are, where we are going, and whether they should send money. I heard today someguy just got back from Europe, and he had paid R50 for a cup of coffee. I decided the best thing would be for us to make coffee in our motorhome, and sell it...ha ha.
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