Not long now

Spaniel proof upholstery...hopefully

Five days to go and the pace is going to hot up. It's that time when you begin to worry about what has been forgotten. We just did a couple of nights in Shrewsbury to shake down the van after the full service, cam belt change and  new shock absorbers. Great job by Lodge Bank Garage in Darwen. Since our last big outing we have fitted a 3G/4G aerial booster to give us more efficient wi fi, had the seats reupholstered in spaniel-proof material while Neri has made new and thicker curtains for the front window. Oh, and we installed reading lights in the cab area. The ones that came fitted to the van were not that efficient.

Neri spent two whole days putting down a new floor covering as the old one was beginning to look a little tired. Florence really is looking smart now.

Posh new flooring...just waiting for muddy paws

We think we now have all the permits and paperwork. We already had a French Crit'Air sticker, now we have the German equivalent so we can go into cities where there are restrictions on vehicle emissions. We also have a permit for Antwerp. Our engine is Euro 6 so we don't have too much problem but some cities are talking about banning diesel engines with Euro 1, 2 and 3 emission controls over the next couple of years. We don't intend to go into many cities but Hamburg and Antwerp are on the list as is Copenhagen. The latter only needs a permit for taxis and buses at the moment but I guess that will change.

We also registered for paying road tolls in Norway online. They use ANPR cameras rather than the toll tags we have used in France, Spain and Portugal in the past. Once registered they send us an invoice via e mail for whatever tolls we incur. I just need to check that we have all the adaptors to enable us to top up with LPG in all the 16 or so countries we will be visiting. That's except Finland which doesn't allow LPG for vehicles so we'll be rushing through before we run out.

Despite the best efforts of the EU, five of those countries don't use the euro so we have been loading the currency card with Norwegian Krone to get us up to Nordkapp. We have also equipped ourselves with International Driving Permits just in case we have left the EU before we return.

The house is now pretty much packed up, just a few things to go away and Florence to be loaded. Our new tenants are arriving two days after we leave which is good and means the house won't be empty for long. Mind you, our eagle-eyed neighbours will be keeping a watchful eye.

We are going to take a leisurely 4 days to drive down to the Channel tunnel so the dogs won't be stressed by a longer journey. After all, we have a year to do this trip!

That should be powerful enough to pick up the Rugby World Cup

Three weeks to go!

There's a drum kit under there somewhere

We arrived back from our long planned trip to Australia feeling a combination of jet lag, panic about all there is to do, and eagerness to just get going now. It was wonderful to see Max and Elsa again, and, as usual, they are keeping us on track.

We were able to celebrate some good news this week, we have found tenants for at least the first six months of our trip. A very charming neurosurgeon and his fiancée - an ob-gyn doctor we’ve yet to meet - will be moving in. He says he considers them less tenants than custodians of our house. Well, that suits us, let’s hope they end up staying longer than the minimum term.

What's going on Mum? Don't like it

Our first few days back were a bit full on. I had blood tests, hospital treatment and a tooth extraction lined up. Nick also had a dentist appointment, and I had a sight test. All these things need to be fitted in before leaving the country for a year. Then I suddenly realised that yesterday was three weeks before our departure date, now inked in as the 4th July. Three weeks sounds like plenty of time, but next week will be taken up with sorting out Florence’s MOT, cam belt, tyres and habitation check, and the following week we are taking a few days out to meet up with my Mum and her husband in their van for a goodbye trip. So this week we needed to get cracking with packing up the house.

We are lucky enough to have a large attic room, in which we’ll be storing all our belongings, and we have spent the last few days packing boxes and carrying them up the stairs. Thank goodness it isn’t a ladder! We’re left with a rather empty looking house this evening, but we have moved house often enough to know that there are always lots of last minute things to pack, and we haven’t even started on the kitchen. We have, however, had to take numerous breaks to cuddle spaniels who are very concerned by this activity.

The attic is now looking quite full, and the house quite empty. It's Saturday tomorrow. When we both stopped work we agreed to try to keep weekends different from weekdays, so no packing over the weekend, a little relaxation, some longer dog walks, and lots of spaniel cuddles. 

Room for a few more boxes