{"id":37,"date":"2012-04-01T04:27:34","date_gmt":"2012-04-01T03:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?p=37"},"modified":"2025-11-23T05:06:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T05:06:02","slug":"we-have-a-new-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/","title":{"rendered":"We Have A New Home&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>We&#8217;ve bought our campervan!!!! Or should I say, our new home\u2026..\u00a0 We\u2019re very excited and can\u2019t wait to collect it. We arrived in England on Monday 19 March and spent a day with my brother, including a visit to a motorhome dealer near Bedford.\u00a0 We then planned to visit\u00a0three dealers in Huntingdon, Northampton and Wellingborough on Wednesday 21st, but on the day we never got further than Huntingdon.\u00a0 Wellsbridge Motorhome Sales at Ramsay Forty Foot (yes that\u2019s a real place) had a huge selection and after spending ages hopping in and out of vans, opening cupboard doors, checking cookers and fridges and comparing layouts, we finally settled on a 2001\u00a0VW Autosleeper Gatcombe.\u00a0 All the stars seemed to be aligned; there was free soup, tea and coffee, a beautiful friendly fluffy cat and the salesman, Lance, was pleasant to deal with; definitely an unexpected bonus.\u00a0 It was at the top of the price range we were hoping to pay, but it had low mileage and all the extras that we wanted like a bike rack, TV aerial, full oven, heater, etc.\u00a0 We had a little test drive (unfortunately no time to have a test sleep) and generally enjoyed the feel of the\u2019 home on wheels\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 So after 2 \u00bd hours at the showroom we were the (hopefully) proud owners of \u201cEileen\u201d our new home away from home.\u00a0 The dealer now checks everything is fully functioning, does a full service, valet, fixes up anything that needs fixing and an MOT for a year, all\u00a0before they will let you take possession, so we\u2019re waiting, waiting, waiting until Thursday 5 April. \u00a0 They do include a year\u2019s warranty in the price, so it\u2019s probably in their interest to make sure you\u2019re not going to be returning it too quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_71\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/vw001-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-71\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71\" title=\"VW001\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0011.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0011.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0011-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <em>Our Campervan home<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_72\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/vw002-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-72\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72\" title=\"VW002\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0021.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0021.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0021-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <em>Looking forward from the kitchen<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/vw003-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-73\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-73 aligncenter\" title=\"VW003\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0031.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0031.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/VW0031-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <em>Looking back toward the kitchen<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>As we were very close to Peterborough that day, we tootled up to my stepmother, Val, for a sandwich and to share the exciting news.\u00a0 We were still stunned that we had managed to find exactly what we wanted at only the second dealer we visited.\u00a0 When we woke up the following morning we were relieved that we didn\u2019t have to spend more time looking and we started thinking about kitting out the van \u2026.. so started \u2018the list\u2019\u2026\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019ve spent every day carrying around a small pink notebook and pen and am constantly make note of things we have to do and items we have to buy before we can go anywhere.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>So many days full of frustrating hours have been spent on the internet and phone, sourcing insurance, sat navs, solar charges, power inverters, legal requirements\u00a0of what has to be carried in Europe, \u00a0details on re-taxing the vehicle early (it\u2019s due to run out while we\u2019re in France), ferry routes, prices and timetables.\u00a0 We also needed to buy two bicycles so we looked on-line and in various shops. Rodney wasn\u2019t fussy at all, apart from wanting a fairly comfy saddle, two wheels and some gears. On the other hand I had a problem finding anything small enough for me to reach the ground with my feet and to be able to sit fairly upright.\u00a0 I\u2019ve ended up buying a junior 8 to 10 year olds bike that\u2019s white with pretty bubbles on it and a big fat soft seat.\u00a0 I\u2019ve only done a test run around the shop and can\u2019t wait to actually get on the road with it.\u00a0 One recommendation I would make when trying to buy a bike is that one shouldn\u2019t wear a long skirt, it does make it a bit tricky!<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>We sourced iPod speakers, another task fraught with real problems. One set was so bad we returned them the next day.\u00a0 One set threw out some smoke rather than sound, when tested it\u00a0in the shop and then we couldn\u2019t find any others that we liked in stock anywhere. Fortunately my brother, Neil, has now given us a set that he no longer uses ( and thank you Andy for the power cable ).<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Buying a Garmin satellite navigator, a bargain in the sale in PC World was a much easier job.\u00a0 We have managed to test it out on our drive down south to Sussex.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to use, warns us when Rodney is speeding, finds petrol stations and so far has found all the addresses we needed to get to.\u00a0 I still like my maps though and will use them too, especially when the woman in the box really starts to annoy me with her directions to \u201ccontinue driving for another 5 miles\u201d\u2026.. I do love the start up menu; we received\u00a0twelve paper\u00a0copies in almost every European language.\u00a0 Some of them are brilliant.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve joined the Caravan &amp; Camping Club, which really makes us feel like a couple of grey nomads. We\u2019re now waiting for the Caravan Club book of campsites to arrive, then we have to start thinking about working out a route to take us around France.\u00a0 Meanwhile I knew I was in England on Wednesday when drinking \u201cBritish Water\u201d from Harrogate, Yorkshire at a posh caf\u00e9 in The Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_136\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-136\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/?attachment_id=136\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-136\" title=\"Daffodils in Caroline and Steve's garden\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/P1060492-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-136\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Daffodils in Caroline and Steve&#8217;s garden<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I have also successfully purchased a pair of black knee high boots to keep me warm in England.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had a chance to test them yet as the weather has been unseasonably, warm, dry and sunny, every single day.\u00a0 We cannot believe the weather here, some days it has been warmer than Sydney.\u00a0 I have to admit that I have exclaimed, 3 days in a row, that I\u2019m too hot!!!\u00a0 We had lunch with my Auntie Susan and Uncle Tom at the Golden Galleon near Seaford on the South Downs last Thursday.\u00a0 It was such a beautiful day that every table outside was full and the pub was mostly empty inside.\u00a0 All the tradesmen on building sites are topless and getting sunburnt and girls are walking around wearing clothes they would wear at the beach.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/p1060480\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-91\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-91\" title=\"P1060480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/P1060480-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-91\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laura, Uncle Tom and Auntie Susan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Everywhere we go there are daffodils in every shade of yellow, orange and cream.\u00a0 Gardens are full of them and there are wild ones along roadsides, they look so pretty.\u00a0 On Friday, for the first time in 10 days we saw clouds in the sky and remembered what they looked like, after not seeing any for so long.\u00a0\u00a0But today (Saturday), the first day of the Easter school holidays, the weather has cooled down a lot, so we may have to pack away the summer clothing again as we\u2019ve had to pull out the boots, gloves and jumpers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_93\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-93\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/2012\/04\/01\/we-have-a-new-home\/p1060502\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-93\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-93\" title=\"P1060502\" src=\"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/P1060502-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-93\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Steve and Laura&#8217; worrying&#8217; sheep near Horsham<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;ve bought our campervan!!!! Or should I say, our new home\u2026..\u00a0 We\u2019re very excited and can\u2019t wait to collect it. We arrived in England on Monday 19 March and spent a day with my brother, including a visit to a motorhome dealer near Bedford.\u00a0 We then planned to visit\u00a0three dealers in Huntingdon, Northampton and Wellingborough [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pre-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8116,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions\/8116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petersphotogallery.com\/rodneyandlaura\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}