We almost own a camper van

 

We have bought a campervan or motor home depending on who we are speaking to. In the end we bought a new one as the tax advantage if we 'export' it to NZ is good and to get what we wanted second hand was getting more expensive. The downside with buying new is the time it is taking to arrange insurance for our situation and then to get it registered. We should be able to pick it up in about 2 weeks. It is what is called a Fiat Decato van conversion and has 2 berths a shower and toilet oven gas hob and microwave. It is fully insulated so we should be snug.

 The setting up in the UK 'to do' list is getting shorter as we set up bank accounts, join camping organisations, buy guidebooks, get our phones working etc. We are being looked after wonderfully by my brother Doug and Isabel and their friends during all this.

Over the 2 weeks since we arrived we have been exploring the area around Harrogate. Apart from some cold and rainy days in our first week it has been perfect weather with no wind and temps up to 22 degrees. So we have been on some short and longer walks on the excellent public footpath system that covers the English countryside. We are loving all the Yorkshire scenery with dry stone walls with complicated styles to negotiate, bluebell woods an amazing spring sight. Apart from farm animals we have spotted squirrels, pheasants, rabbits, storks and ducklings. We have walked passed castles, old mills, alongside the river Nid and of course stopped at old country pubs.

All very civilised compared with tramping around Welly. The other great thing is that it is still not totally dark at 10pm. One walk close to here is through a valley called Crimple, and we all know of this as ICI had a plant near here in the 60s and 70s and named their new fabric after this valley!

To get a good look at the spring flowers we spent an afternoon at one of the Royal Horticultural Societies gardens, Harlow Carr in Harrogate. It was set out in a relaxed style with lots of wild gardens. One very interesting section had 7 gardens done in the period style of gardening over the last 200 years.

As there is still a while before the van is available we are thinking of hiring a car and exploring more of Yorkshire. At least the wait has meant that we have had more time to research the rest of the trip.

Blog 7.5.14

Greetings from Yorkshire
What a wonderful couple of weeks it has been travelling to the UK. We arrived last night from Brussels and we gave spent the day setting up bank accounts, phones etc. Spring is in full blossom and it's all good.

Sydney turned on a day with 30 degrees and we swam at one of the harbour beaches. The rest of the time we caught up with what is going on in the lives of our nieces and nephews, went on some of the great walks around Manly and explored some yummy restaurants. We were wonderfully looked after by Colin's sister.

Istanbul was everything we remembered with a type of energy that is hard to describe. We met up with our guide from 2 years ago and spent the day together. Ali is guiding around Istanbul now that he  and his wife have a baby and he wanted to refresh his memory of some of the museums so that was great for us.  A high light was seeing the oldest recorded peace treaty, Kaddesh, between the Egyptians and the Hittites in 1200s BC. The same language could be used today. Colin wanted to buy a cymbal for his drum set and Ali was a great help in finding the area on the Galata side where all the music shops were and doing the negotiation. We indulged in a Turkish bath at one of the oldest hamams, Cagaloglu. It was different from our one on the last trip and the surroundings were amazing. There were separate areas for men and women and apparently in the 1700s a man could be put to death if he entered the women's baths. The marble slab you lie on could take 20 people and you look up into a huge dome. Takes your mind off the fact that you are naked with all these strangers!

Sarah met us at Brussels airport and as we had not seen her for over a year we had a great few days catching up. She and boyfriend Matty are sharing this large apartment fairly close to the centre of Brussels. The other flatmates are from Morocco, Italy and Belgium. It was not uncommon to hear people talking in French, Italian and English all in the same conversation. Fascinating. We got to see a rehearsal of a dance that Sarah is in and then they asked us for our feedback! So we did not expect to be experts on dance. Of course we explored the chocolate, beer and frites the city is famous for.

Soon serious campervan shopping will begin and the adventure continues.