Help - We've Never Towed A Caravan Before

---

Reality has set in as it dawns on us that it's not long until we set off on our long awaited adventure in Australia. Alas we still haven't been able to practise what could be critical to the success or otherwise of our trip. We need (that's the Royal 'we') to practise reversing and manoeuvering a caravan as although we have been camping for over 25 years it's always been in a campervan and in all that time we've never towed anything. Right on cue Sarah and Darryl's great drag racing pals, Emma, Gos, Ben and James (complete with caravan) diverted to Moira whilst on their way to North Yorkshire for their holiday. Off we went to the nearby YHA car park, sent Sarah, Emma, Gos and the boys off geo-caching and the tuition by the expert teacher Darryl Howells began. The intricacies of the connections and wiring were patiently explained, we were given a reversing demonstration and then it was Graham's turn. Luckily the car park was fairly empty and there were newly painted white lines to guide him. 'Left hand down a bit' I shouted whilst waving my arms frantically and after three reasonably successful manoeuvers he was pretty confident and the caravan was very well parked each time within the white lines. Driving in a busy town will take a bit of getting used to but we both felt relieved that we'd had the opportunity to practise. Thanks very much Emma and Gos.

Gos showed us how skilful he was as he reversed the caravan on to Sarah and Darryl's drive, next to our campervan. After that we needed a bit of relaxation so off we went to pick wild raspberries and blackberries which grow just a few minutes walk from the house. Sadly, many people had beaten us to them but we managed to get enough for jam maker extraordinaire, Sarah, to get cracking and make her second lot of jam. The boys were great at fighting their way into the thick bushes to get at the fruit that dangled tantalisingly just out of reach. The jam was tested the following morning and the unanimous decision was that it was delicious! This latest acquisition to Sarah's skill base is fantastic and follows closely on the heels of the most wonderful cake made recently for the occasion of our 40th Wedding Anniversary. A lovely day ended perfectly with Graham and Sarah singing a few songs and giving some hints to the boys on playing the guitar.

It was great to spend a bit of time with Emma, Gos and the boys and we hope they have a good holiday. Sarah and Darryl had gone to work in the early hours of the morning so it was left to us to wave them off and wish them a good holiday.

Next thing to do is extract the suitcases from the loft and make final preparations for the trip. We have been making lists for a while but now it is all getting a bit close. We have been very lucky as another great friend of Sarah and Darryl's, Ed, has rebuilt our laptop so it's in tiptop condition to take with us. Hopefully this will help us keep in frequent contact with everyone back home. We'll be in touch again soon.

---

Comments

[Emma]

Yippee.....
Was feeling at a loss since Sarah and Darryls travel blog had come to an end, but no more will enjoy following you two around on your travels. Enjoy your trip and hope you had a great wedding annv sorry we missed you for that. Take care Emma XXX

[Pootling Possums]

Hi Emma, don't get too excited as we're not planning to do daily blogs and they probably won't be anywhere near as interesting as Sarah and Darryl's! Jan xx

[Pootling Possums]

Hi Claire - yes we've been absolutely amazed and impressed with the cake and jam making and I think Darryl has been impressed too!! Jan xxx

[Pootling Possums]

Hi Annette - good to hear from you. We'll email you with details of when we'll be up your way so hopefully we can meet up. Jan xxx

[Mac Cullen]

Glad to see you're progressing your plans though I'm not sure I want to receive your blogs. They will only make me jealous! I hope you're taking a guitar with you Graham so that when you come back you can drop back into the group. We now have a fiddle player in the line up so it will get crowded in The Anchor but we'll find a way of squeezing you in. Don't forget to look out for some gigs down under. Mac

[Darryl and Sarah]

Welcome aboard!
So impressed that you've got your blog underway before we've even finished ours! Where does the time go! Thanks for the compliments on the cake and the jam .... at least they went better than my dutch attempt!! x x x x

[mo]

reversing/jam making/trip
great blog now you know how i felt reversing those tankers up every alley in the country and i still cant make jam. or play guitar as well as you have a good trip we,ll stay in touch MO SUE STEVEN

[kangaroojack]

Pootle Away
Hi there, Glad all is well after the triple heart bypass and of course your long awaited opportunity to take Sweetie and Pie out for a trip, I am sure that they are both lonely and bored after the Wallaby Wanderers had to abandon them, still a whole new adventure awaits all of you! We look forward to reading your blog and following your journey, especially as our journey has stalled whilst we do that four letter word called 'work' still we are living the dream so no grumbling from this quarter. Give us a shout when you are around Canberra and hopefully we can hook up for cup of billy tea. Safe journey and hope the reversing practice goes well. Kangaroo Jack.x

[Joanne]

Happy blogging and travelling
Hi Jan and Graham Just a quickie to say 'Bon Voyage', have a great trip. Don't worry about 'your' garden we'll keep a discreet eye on it for you! See you next year. Hopefully the garage will be one by then!. Happy blogging, Jo, David, Jonathan and Patrick (them across the road!)x