MOT's, Insurances, Flights and return to France

Bill & Owen in a "Drag" - Owen won

We returned to our wonderful hosts at Nobs Crook in Winchester to renew vehicle, travel  insurances, MOT ( equivalent to an annual WOF), a full service on the van, road taxes ( equivalent to vehicle registration), minor maintenance & clean the vehicle in preparation of another 5 months travel in Europe before returning to sell the van and head home for Xmas in NZ.

It was an expensive week (this time last year Bill had a rant about the Insurance companies wanting and arm and a leg to cover our vehicle for 12 months, and now we have renewed it only for 6 months and they still wanted an arm but only half a leg)
While sorting all these issues over the week, we also managed to sort our return flights home via Perth (to check out Rocky and her life in Perth) then home. And Rocky is also flying in over Xmas. It will be a jolly old time for sure.
During the week Bill managed a few jobs for our hosts (Kath was going mental with squeaky cupboards) and their lovely neighbour Chris who had a few issues to sort with her campervan. As well as a few social evenings with their friends and just enjoying the evenings in the back garden with Hobbs, Ella, Ruby and Pip (their 3 dogs & cat - but don't tell them they are animals as  they don't think they are!) Also added to the Reeve's menagerie are 4 hens (with lovely upmarket hen house) and 6 baby chicks, so cute and fluffy. I went with Kath to get 3 of the chicks from a Poultry Farm and had quite an education on cocks, hens & baby chicks

I also enjoyed doing some gardening after having quite a break from doing any, and cooking the evening meals most nights (great to have access to a full kitchen again). You should have seen the Game Pie Kath suggested I make from Owens earlier hunts (rabbit, pheasant, guinea fowl, and venison (the only bought ingredient). It was very tasty and huge.
So after a busy week we headed off on Sunday to spend the night just out of Dover before crossing over to France on the Monday.

La Vonne in France

Cunningly we arrived in France (crossings are uneventful, cool and not so scenic) with little diesel in our tank as it 25% cheaper in Europe. But un-be known to us there was a fuel distribution strike on, 20% of stations out of fuel already and queues at many places. We got lost leaving Calais and drove into suburbia,  fluking a

Bill with more Dolmens in France

reasonably quiet station allowing full fills and virtually no queue, then we found out about the shortage!!! Whew.....Down the coast, weather warmer, still not brilliant but only 20miles from England so what do you expect. The history along here is visibly WW2. Gun emplacements and bunkers run from the Spanish border all the way up to Norway apparently, the "Atlantic Wall" to deter invasion from Britain and assist an Invasion of Britain. We all know how the story ended but the devil is in the detail which generally comes as a eye opener for us.

Bill made me move a rock or two

One area, Cape GrisNer, was spectacularly pocked to this day as over 6000 bombs from 600 planes had been dropped in one day to silence the guns that were firing into England. The plaques on site don't actually say how successful this was, there are still intact bunkers etc, so .......
We bided are time as we had a few days to get to Echallat to meet up with Gman & Claire so dawdled directly down so as not to waste fuel. Arrived at our  Gite during a raging electrical storm (S wouldn't leave the van) only to find they weren't expecting any one till the next day.... and where in the world were G&C.......to add to our woes our phone was not cooperating at all. However with the sun once again shining (did I mention once we got away from the coast the weather picked up many degrees andit now toooo hot) we made contact, to be informed we were a day ahead of ourselves, embarrassing to "She who is seldom wrong", but not an issue with the myriad of camping spots in France. So within the hour we were ensconced in the small village Aire of Hirsac for the night eagerly awaiting our rescheduled scheduled rendezvous with G&C. Life is never dull. Ironically awakened in the morning by the smart phone reminder that we were scheduled to meet G&C at Echallat during the day.........