First off we apologize for the lack of post this last week, it’s been so jam packed we haven’t been able to get to the internet very often!
We left Maggy and Graham’s all packed and ready to go. We’d got all of our things inside the van, everything with its own little place, and we were quite happy with ourselves that we made it all fit. Our bedding fits perfectly in the back, all folded up, so that we have the backseat while driving and extra space behind the bedding for a box of jackets, scarves and a couple of extra suitcases. When we are ready to sleep in Vincent, our pack up and set up will be very fast and easy.
After checking our rooms upstairs about five times each to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything we started to make our way to London, me doing a very good job of directing and mum doing a great job following my instructions. A slightly less stressful experience now that we are getting used to the English roads, although Vincent still needs nursing along a little and sometimes first gear can’t be found. All in all it was a good trip in with little traffic.
About 15 minutes from the end of the trip Mikayla suddenly shouted, “did we put our boots in?” Mum and I looked at each other, no we hadn’t! The day before we had discussed that we mustn’t forget our boots because they were in the utility room (laundry for the Aussies) and we hadn’t been wearing them. We should have put them in the van when we thought about it!
All the signs were pointing towards the fact we had forgotten something. Mum suddenly forgot how to set the house alarm, even though she’s set it quite a few times before. About twenty minutes of trying to set the house alarm, then trying to deactivate it when it went off, before getting into Vincent to go.
I had set up Google maps with our route to London, since I don’t have a SIM card at the moment I don’t have internet access unless near Wi-Fi. But, because we backed out of the driveway, causing a reroute whilst in Wi-Fi range, when we did proceed in the correct direction it tried to reroute again without internet connection causing us to lose all maps anyway. So, back we went to get the map again, reversing in this time so that there was no chance of reroute, giving us another chance to remember our boots.
Anyway, we arrived at Matt and Kelly’s late afternoon. Maggy and Graham were already there putting up new curtains Maggy made for them, they look fantastic! We had afternoon tea with chocolate chip banana bread, also made by Maggy, that was delicious! I’ve been craving banana bread since having Chloe’s too. Chloe and Maggy’s banana breads are equally the best I’ve ever had and that’s saying something. In my third year of uni I would have chocolate chip banana bread from the Science Café about twice a week, it was my favourite and I thought the best. Not anymore!
When it started getting late Maggy and Graham set off for home and we ordered pizzas for dinner. A quick walk up to the pizza place and we had our dinner. It was freezing outside and the pizza man said that it was going to be -4°C overnight. We stayed up most of the night talking and I hope Matt and Kelly weren’t too tired for work the next day!
Our journey to Plymouth started with an early wake up to see Matt and Kelly off to work and say goodbye, again, for the next 6 months or so. We wish they could come with us! Mum then checked her emails and realized that the travel insurance we had organized the day before was not valid and so the search began again to find the right insurance for us. Still on the search but hopefully this will be sorted soon because we don’t want to travel without insurance.
A quick trip to Sainsbury’s for lunch, salad and fruit, we set off, weaving our way out of London. I’m gradually becoming more relaxed whilst giving directions as I learn how the roads work and begin to trust myself. Once out on the A303, it was very straightforward, literally, and I began to enjoy the beautiful countryside. England really is the home of the hedge. Paddocks, or should I say fields, are lined with hedges and trees creating a patchwork quilt of green, brown and grey. Add blue sky for most of the way and it’s just stunning!
We also passed Stonehenge along the way and plan to stop and take it in on the way back. Mum saw it last year and said you can no longer walk in and around the landmark, only stand and look from a distance. Still worth stopping as this is one of the most famous landmarks and tourist destinations in the world.
We made it to Ivybridge in about four and a half hours. This is a really great effort considering Vincent’s top speed is 65mph on the flat and 70mph if we’re lucky and going down hill. Speed rapidly decreases when we hit even a slight incline and there are quite a few hills along the A303, luckily most have overtaking lanes so all the cars and even lorries (trucks) can pass the little VW making his way up the hill at 20mph. I can just hear him chanting, “I think I can, I think I can!”
Mikayla and I met Mum’s cousin Paul and his wife Jan for the first time. Paul is the closest cousin in age to mum being only two years older. They are such lovely people welcoming us all into their home. We keep saying that we’re so glad our English family is family, as we probably wouldn’t have the chance to meet them otherwise. We’re very lucky.
We had dinner at The Sportman’s, yummy food again, then came home to watch the football. We are very grateful to this pub as we are allowed to park Vince behind. We also saw that the Tri-series Netball Tournament, between England, New Zealand and Jamaica, was being played at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. I’ve been following the results of this tournament and didn’t realize it was being played just down the road from us the night before. Opportunity to watch live netball between three of the four top teams in the world missed unfortunately. We’re missing the netball but will watch a replay on TV in the next few days.
Here We Come World 