I don’t like to post negative things on the blog but its all part of the experience. We have run Into trouble with the van after we decided we should get a habitation check (gas, electricity, appliances etc) done before we leave England as it runs out In 4 months and we didn’t want the hassle of getting one done in Scandinavia. We organised one in Harrogate. We have been told the gas can’t have been checked in 12 years as there is no test valve so we cant quite understand how it has been ticked off in the past. However this is being rectified tomorrow so the gas system can be tested fully before we head to Europe. Also had the side wall of the van pull away from the toilet and cupboards inside. We were told the side of the van could fall off if not fixed . I don’t think the weather lends itself to open air living here and I don’t fancy being caught on the loo in the open either so we are in the process of doing some fixes for this. We are confident it will all be resolved this coming week. We didn’t expect to have a problem free vehicle either as it is 15 years old and one can’t expect it to be perfect.
We still love our van and have had the best sleep in years. It got down to 2 degrees last night (and will be 1 deg tonight) and its warm as toast (or as warm as English beer…lol). Scot has been cooking up a storm. Tonight is seafood chowder….can’t wait..yumm.
The silver lining of having to stay in Harrogate are the beautiful flower gardens and old buildings. Scot is happy because he gets to try all the English beer and guess what Ruth he’s having a black sheep right now. Harrogate is such a clean non-graffitied town and obviously everyone seems to have a lot of pride in it. I adore the flowers – they are so colourful and brighten everything up. We had our first day of rain/drizzle yesterday but today is back to blue skies and sunshine …but cold only 10 degrees.
We love Whitby and would loved to have stayed longer but we’ll be back one day. We went to Cooks museum which was a little disappointing as it seemed to be a little sparse on information about Cooks actual life. Had scrumptious Whitby fish and chips and a lovely local man sat down to firstly check that we weren’t feeding the seagulls and secondly to find out where our accent was from. The abbey was amazing….this is where we got in free just because we were Kiwis. I don’t think they get many Kiwis visiting somehow but it saved us £20 which Scot spent on beer.
We are going to try for London this coming weekend all going well and will then book the ferry to France.
At least every photo shows the sun-shining! Once you are on the road, these issues will be a distant memory.
Hey Guys! Sounds like you’re having a blast. Things that need fixing and sorting are all part of the trip I reckon and gives you a good excuse to stay at places and see more. Pics look like a blast and sounds like scot has discovered the wonders of the great British pubs!