The Great Motorhome Hunt

Sometime in early Feb (probably about when I penned my last blog) we decided we’d had enough of our secret squirrel motorhome hunt and let the cat out of the bag. Only a select few had been privy to our plans. But after several phone calls home, including one to Ryan’s folks from Plymouth where we nearly let slip on what we were really down there for, we decided to let people know what we we’re planning and to take the inevitable parental concern and questions in our stride! Our weekends since the beginning of the year have largely been occupied by looking at motorhomes, in our quest to buy one to travel round Europe in for 3 – 4 months this summer/autumn. Our travels in January yielded nothing better than leaky sieves or rusty junk buckets. Into Feb and we struck one that was in great nick inside, fairly tidy outside, bar one exception but had quite high mileage and they weren’t willing to take the price we offered. We didn’t push closer to their price tag because of the mileage so carried on looking. Struck a couple more dogs when we popped into a dealer north of London after we’d looked at another private sale north of the city at the start of the month. Despite recovering from a strain of manflu, where it hurt to live (I was infected with manflu, not Ryan!) we looked at a couple the weekend before last, again striking out with some unloved and run-down campers. The middle weekend of Feb we saw one that looked promising, but on a second look the weekend of Ryan’s bday we discovered a massive amount of oil under the engine, and the owner wouldn’t take it half a dozen miles to an independent garage for a pre-purchase inspection, so we went with our gut and passed on it. Also looked at one some Aussies were looking to sell, but it had a few engine leaks, oil and coolant and was overpriced for what it was. First weekend of March and we didn’t do a great deal, which was nice for a change. Saw just the one camper for a change, and it only required a tube ride to north London. One of the oldest ones we’ve seen, 1984, but really a bit big for just the two of us. Searching for what’s right for us, is proving trickier than we thought! After our mini break in Copenhagen we took a look at a camper in southeast London, which took a mad hour and a half to get there, we driven miles out of London quicker than that bus/tube/bus ride! The AA had to come and start the van, and we still haven’t heard what’s wrong with it, so have crossed that one off. This weekend we’ve inspected one that looked and sounded promising in pictures, but was another water damaged camper, so will be steering clear of that one. Looked at one down in Brighton as well, but the mileage was wrongly advertised as kilometres when is actually miles, making a significant difference! We thought it had 120,000 kilometres on it, but that actually the mileage, so has over 208,000 kilometres, which is quite, quite high. Highest we’ve seen. Have lost track of how many we’ve seen, somewhere between 10 and 20. Hoping that next weekend we’ll be able to see one that we heard about a month ago, the owners are sorting a new MOT at the moment, so fingers crossed. Also know of a camper coming back into London owned by some kiwi’s who are heading home in first week of April, so will take a look at that one. So for now, on we hunt...

She was a day tripper

Okay, so as promised as promised I’m letting you know whether we survived the much talked about English winter. We survived with flying colours. February warmed up gradually and the days got progressively longer, with time passing so quickly that we are now almost knocking upon the door of daylight savings. Yahoo, ice cold ciders and Pims in late evening sunshine here we come!

The early Feb massive snowfall (of a good 12 inches) took a whole week to disappear, but it was definitely best on the Monday when I got a snow day and Ryan got half one (see my Facebook album!). After that it turned first to icy snow, and then to icy slush. I feared greatly for my limbs and wished I had a pair of wellies. Ha during the big snow it was good to see these Brits can laugh at themselves. Some clever bugger put a camera near the pavement outside one of the central city tube stations the day after it snowed (the first day of icy snow) and then footage of lads and ladettes of London losing their legs out from under them was played on prime time news. Good for a laugh!

One weekend on our way back into London from inspecting a camper, we stopped off for a nosy round Windsor Castle. HRH was in, with the royal standard flying. As we’d stopped in on the spur of the moment, we figured she wouldn’t have any Milo and Timtams to hand so we didn’t visit for a cuppa. Instead we had a good look round the grounds and castle staterooms (amazing). Windsor is the home of the Order of the Garter so we got to see Sir Ed’s name in the castle in a ballroom dedicated to the Order, with all the Knights names from the founders to those who are knights today. Sir Ed was Knight 981 and has been replaced by Prince William.

The next weekend was Ryan’s birthday and we celebrated with dinner and drinks with a group of friends at Hell Pizza. A great night and great pizza. On the Sunday after again hiring a car (luckily fairly cheap to do!) we stopped off for the day in Oxford, the city of dreaming spires. Have a good wander round the town, similar vibe to Dunedin, bustling with students and a great variety of people. Could have happily people watched for hours.

A fortnight later and we headed off to Copenhagen for a long weekend break (blog to come at some stage...). Last weekend Sunday dawned bright and beautiful so we headed into town and up the London Eye (finally!) We took advantage of the beautiful weather by spending a few hours wandering round Hyde Park amidst all the daffodils in the spring sunshine. Bliss. Today we’re just back from a day down in Brighton. Another beautiful spring day meant we spent the day wandering the coast, downing some fush and chups by the seaside and tucking into our first icecream in a cone for ’09 after sunning ourselves on the pier (album just up on Facebook).

It’s been good to get out and about in the sunshine and see some more of London and nearby towns. Windsor is just on the outskirts and Brighton was only a hop, skip and jump down to the coast.

Work is going well, Ryan is still beavering away at the Natural History Museum which is expected to last until May sometime. I’m getting another contract come the end of March which will take me through for another 3 months til end of June. Perfect.

Only a month until Turkey, which we’re super looking forward too! Easter in there before that too. If we have a camper by then might look to go up to the Lakes District… After Turkey we’re back at work for a couple of weeks then off to Greece for a couple of weeks to do some island hopping. We’re looking to have an action packed June with Ascot Races, Wimbledon and other bits and bobs before taking off round Europe at the end of June. Now, just to find a motorhome...