kellyjo70

Well, Ollie has a new starter motor now and, although the battery wasn't too good at first, we have now managed to drive locally a few times. Geoff put the starter motor in himself on New Years Eve whilst I was preparing the house for a party. As the van had been shut up for most of the winter so we got a bit of a shock when we looked inside for the first time. There was black mold all over the ceiling - ooops! However, after a bit of elbow grease and lot of spray, we managed to clean it all off. Note to self: Let the van get some air every now and then. Anyway, we are booked into a campsite in the New Forest at the end of May and then hope to ... read more

Ok so we're back in France... (8 hours drive from Italy to here!) We couldn't find a campsite on the web in Germany that had static mobile homes and plus none of the sites were in English which made it a problem. Hotels near Munich would have been quite expensive so, sadly we missed a couple of countries form our plans. We're now in Langres and living in a nice chalet right by another large lake. Theres an outdoor and indoor pool, bar, restaurant and shop so all we need. Yesterday was a scorcher so Geoff and Adam did a spot of fishing whilst I caught some rays and then we went to the pool for a while. Today it is raining a lot so I am in the bar and they are back on the ... read more

Well, yesterday we went for a really lovely walk for 2 1/2 hours. (yep, we actually walked that long - US!!!) It was really scenic and surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. Then we were told that the van would be ready for collection in France at 4.00 so we set off lunchtime and got to the garage with 1/2 hour spare. BAD NEWS AGAIN.....they had ordered the wrong starter motor so it hadn´t been done. All that driving for nothing. We got a few bits we needed out of the van and, as it was raining in France we decided to head back to Switzerland and find another place to stay. This morning we are doing some well needed laundry and whilst the washing is being done, we're having a hot chocolate and checking emails. The ... read more

Ok, so, Ollie wasn't fixed for a couple of days so Neil and Lesley kindly let us stay for 2 nights - Thank you!! Then we were finally off!! Dropped the hire car back and headed down towards Bern in Switzerland with a possible stop in Langres, France.....or so we thought!!!!!! We were doing great and made it passed Langres, however, a couple of times we needed to stop for breaks and each time, me and Adam had to push the van to bump start it...not ideal!! Anyway, we got down to a place called Besancon (quite close to Swiss border) and there was a problem. A tunnel that the lovely Tom Tom wanted us to go through was blocked off for repairs - the alternative route was up a narrow windy road over a steep ... read more