No longer in Kansas, Toto

With Friday being 4 weeks since we left Australia, I can definitely say, ‘We’re no longer in Kansas, Toto.’

In Turkey there was an accepted understanding that things would be different, the main barrier being the language. Overall, the time in Turkey was wonderful, a great mix of Western and Middle Eastern cultures.

So far in the UK has been great. I didn’t realise it before but Dee doesn’t like the crowds of a big city and wasn’t enthused to travel on the buses and trains every day. On top of that, Dee was recovering from a sinus and chest infection that she picked during the waiting period prior to the Anzac dawn service. Dee spent a few days in the warmth of the apartment whilst Gene and I traipsed through London. Luckily, Dee was better to see The Tower of London on the last day.

We were able to find a campervan under the budget ceiling we had. Obviously, it isn’t perfect but it’s still good and suits our requirements. We are putting it in for a full service and a tune-up so we’re fully aware of the potential problems. I did learn not to keep the choke out for too long, unlike the advice given by the person who sold us the camper.

One of the strange things that I’ve realised when drawing the cash to pay for the camper is that most UK businesses don’t like handling 50 pound notes I was able to get some of the cash converted to 50s but the rest are in 20s. I think that most 50 pound notes have a high risk of being counterfeit and won’t take them unless they know the person well. Asking for 100 pound notes, even in a bank, is like suggesting to purchase an item with livestock..

I think we figured out most of the peculiarities of the camper van by now and are looking at doing small improvements to make sure it’s in a good condition when we sell it in September. I really don’t want to run it into the ground.

Me being me, I’m trying to figure out the fuel economy of the camper. I think we were being too optimistic with 10km/litre but we’ll see how we go driving at a more sedate pace and with a tuneup. I think we’ll be getting half the efficiency I expected which will increase the fuel expenditure but that will simply come out of daily budget which is fairly robust.

I’m also keeping track of our expenditure and dragging Gene into to do some extra math. *Insert evil grin here*

I’ve always had a fascination with Meerkats and we were bitterly disappointed that we couldn’t get Meerkat insurance. We’ve been practicing the accent and everything! As compensation, we found that the UK has Meerkat jelly babies and we adopted a Meerkat doll from a charity shop (read Op shop). He hasn’t been named yet but that will occur sometime soon.

And Gene has a monkey onesie which is adorable. It’s also started conversation

We finally worked a way to run the MP3 player through the camper’s stereo, so we now have our music instead of the local radio or any dodgy CD we may purchase.

Leaving London to the village of Widdington went well, even if the GPS wasn’t letting me pick a locality outside of Albania. I’ve finally figured out how to change countries, so it’s all good now. The Fleur de Lys pub at Widdington was what you expect for a small village. After the barman served us, he then served his grandmother, a gentlemen then his father. Nothing like hording DNA in a village……

A walk in the morning saw a fox, rabbits and a herd of deer. It was very exciting. The path in the forest I was following had signs suggesting that I should stay on the path and not wander off it. I’ve read enough Grimes’ Fairy Tales to know not to.

The area is full of flint! It makes me just drool. They build fences, churches and houses out it! I just want to run a tempered steel bar down a flint fence to see how many sparks I could make.

We were hoping to catch up with an Australian who has made home in Ely, Cambridgeshire. Unfortunately, with the lack of internet connection and the will of the Gods, he wasn’t available to catch up on the day we were passing through. It was a great shame as he was one of my groomsmen in 1999. We did see the amazing Ely Cathedral and visit the home of Oliver Cromwell, more by luck than anything else.

Tomorrow after the tune up, we’re off to Nottingham. I’m trying to talk the girls into dressing up in medieval clothes for the day but I don’t think I’ll have much luck….
L

Update: When the camper van was being serviced, it was noticed that a extra coil springs have been very dodgily attached to the body and rear axle to give it more lift. We’re trying to get a costing on replacing the springs and how long it will take. We may not do it here but further down the road. We’ll find out more this afternoon.