Eight weeks to go

Hello, we're Neri and Nick. This was us in France in May last year, coming to the end of a three month trip in our motorhome, Florence, with our two English Springer Spaniels, Max and Elsa. We drove across Northern Spain and into Portugal, getting as far south as Lisbon before heading towards home. We loved it so much we started making plans to go back on the road for a longer trip. Since then Neri has given up work (Nick retired last year) and plans are now well underway for a year-long trip around Eastern Europe, followed by three months exploring the British Isles.

It's now eight weeks until our departure. The house is on Rightmove and we have had two viewings already, so we're hopeful about finding tenants soon. Our house is built around a 17th century stone cottage, so it needs to be lived in. And it's almost impossible to insure a property that's empty for more than 90 days, so tenants are a key part of the equation. Of course, the money would help too!

The house is up for rent

I'm not looking forward to packing up all our belongings to store in the attic, but we'll get it done. There's also a fair bit to do to prepare Florence for the trip, but we are ticking off the jobs one by one. Today I fitted a new handle to one of the kitchen drawers. We also had a call from a local upholstery firm to quote for replacing all the faux-suede panels on her cushions with something a little more wipeable and spaniel friendly. I love living in Darwen - you can find someone to do anything. I dropped off five large cushions the other day, expecting a quote of £300-400. The wonderful Carl called today to say it could cost as much as £160 if we chose a more expensive material. The swatches should be in soon so we can make a decision.

It's okay when they are clean...

...but faux suede and muddy spaniels don't go

Eight weeks sounds like plenty of time to get ready - but we have some more excitement first: a long planned trip to Australia to celebrate Neri's 50th with her old friend Julia and her husband Peter. We'll be letting someone else take the wheel for most of this holiday - the driver of the Ghan train from Darwin to Adelaide, across the heart of Australia. Our house sitter Julie has made the journey from the southern hemisphere in the other direction, and will make sure Max and Elsa are well cared for while we're away. 

A little light reading

This blog will be fairly intermittent over the next few weeks as we prepare, but just to let you know what's in store, here are our plans: leave the UK on 8th July, and head fairly quickly up to Norway, via the bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo in Sweden. Travel up to the Arctic Circle, via the Lofoten islands. Start heading south by the end of August, making our way to Greece for the winter. Cross on the ferry to Italy in the spring, and get back to the UK by the end of June for the MOT. 
We then plan to spend July, August and September next year heading up the East coast of England, around the north of Scotland and into Ireland, coming home in October next year.

Of course, all plans may change, that's the beauty of a motorhome.

Bye for now,
Neri