We’ve Headed South Across The Border……….To Sussex

Saturday 21 April 2012……….a momentous day, well it was a bit exciting for us. We packed up everything that was still in our bedroom at Andy & Carole’s and drove it up to “Eileen”, then we returned the car to Andy & Carole.  Before it started raining again, we cycled our bikes up to “Eileen” and strapped them on to her back.

 

So there we were, all ready to leave the Warehouse and Hertford, to start our adventures at last.  We drove round the M25, over the Dartford Bridge and pulled in to the Bluewater Shopping Centre (again).  I needed more drugs to try and clear my still painful sinuses and ears.  Rodney decided he needed a new pair of jeans and got a bargain pair at Marks and Sparks and we treated ourselves to a very patriotic, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tin of butter shortbread for our travels.

We arrived at Lynda & Mark’s outside East Grinstead and parked “Eileen” on their driveway.  We  tucked in to a yummy, home cooked spaghetti bolognese and spent the evening chatting.  Then despite still having no water on board, we said goodnight and walked across the driveway to “Eileen” to make up our bed for our very first night on board.  It was a cold night, but we felt warm and comfy snuggled up under our duvet, until we needed to walk back across the driveway for a ‘middle of the night wee’. Well at least it wasn’t raining!

 

So we spent all day Sunday out there.  Rodney was flushing out the water tank, filling up with water, getting the taps and toilets going, hooking up the electricity cable to the shed and getting the fridge and heater operating.  I pulled everything out of the cupboards and got a bit more organised; clothes here, food there, books on the shelf, etc.  We finished the day off with a good roast beef dinner at The House At  Home pub in Dormansland.

 

Monday was spent getting all of our washing done, testing out the cooker and hot water system and then a trip in the rain to Sainsbury’s to stock up on more food for our journey.  We booked our Dover to Calais ferry tickets for Wednesday and spent another evening relaxing with the Bradfords before dashing over to “Eileen” in the rain for our second night in our new home.  The indoor, now functioning toilet was a definite improvement on dashing across the driveway in the middle of the night.

Today we popped into Royal Tunbridge Wells with Lynda.   I had a pedicure and eye lash tint……perhaps my last bit of luxury before we become real grey nomads.  We then went for a stroll through the bluebells in Lynda and Mark’s woodland, before a very tasty home cooked paella and our last night in England for a while.

 

So this is it, we’ll drive across Kent tomorrow morning and sail across the English Channel on the 13:30 crossing to Calais.  Not sure how far we will drive through France tomorrow.  I think somewhere near Amiens might be a good first stop; I don’t want Rodney driving too far on the wrong side of the road on our first leg of the trip.

So the show will finally get on the road tomorrow…….