Here, there, everywhere and some other places too …

Preparation

Saturday, March 16, 2013

16/03/13 10:58

So far an interesting day…Read on.

We are still on the Isle of Man, exercising the option to wait until tomorrow. I think there was just too much exertion yesterday coupled with too little sleep. As a result I felt quite unwell at departure time and common sense dictated that we rest up for a day and do it tomorrow.

Unwittingly we learned a very interesting lesson which people should take note of.

Firstly, what would the cost be for putting everything back by 24 hours? Well, we were unable to get in touch with the Steam Packet company to cancel till 9:00am, one hour after the boar had already sailed, and to my immense surprise there was not a single problem…They switched everything over to tomorrow’s sailing and the cost? Nothing at all. So well done the Steam Packet Company.

Next phone call was to the Plassey leisure Park neat Wrexham. We were booked to stay there for tonight. Not so lucky this time They read me the rules and I forfeit my £19:00 fee. There was no compromise. What they don’t need to do is lecture you on the need to have adequate insurance cover to manage the cost of cancellations. Do they really think someone would make an insurance claim for £19:00? So a bad taste from a site which I have visited many times and recommended many times. My view? Bad public relations even though they were well within their rights. Can’t see us going back.

“Day 1 of our 2013 motorhome adventure got off to an alarming start. We were up early, and began preparations to leave our home at 6:45a.m. to catch the ferry which was departing at 8:00. Frank had a few last minute details to deal with on the motorhome, and I was upstairs finishing the few things I had remaining as well before leaving. Frank came upstairs and laid back down on the bed...which for those of you who know Frank, is very unusual. He was excited about beginning our journey and so the fact that he needed to lay down was worrying. Good sense dictated we wait and soon made a decision to put everything back for a day.

Frank has mentioned the Steam Packet Company, kudos to them, no extra charges for tomorrow’s crossing. As a side-note, we had to cancel one of our long-time favourite campsites; Plassey near Wrexham, Wales and were shocked to learn, even in the event of a health scare, they would not refund our £19. Frank was very polite, and explained, in detail the circumstance of our cancelation, the receptionist’s response was very businesslike, and even though we've stayed with them many times, did not offer even the most cursory comment regarding his health, instead commenting that everyone should have good insurance cover for cancellations! Obviously no one would make an insurance claim for £19, and if they did their increased premiums would more than make up for any advantage such a claim might have given them. Needless to say, we are both surprised at the cold attitude of the receptionist, as well as the companies’ policy - we will not be returning”

Everything is prepared, the Van is as ready as it has ever been. We have checked all the systems and they seem to be functioning properly.

So today is a bit of a bonus in that all the work is done and some good rest is now available and we will capitalise on that!

So this is the view of Port Erin that we are leaving behind tomorrow morning. No matter where we travel, home is hard to beat.

Friday, March 15, 2013

15/03/13 12:57

Here we are with less than 24 hours to go to the start of what, we hope, will be an exciting trip. Today has been spent loading the Vinny Van and discarding stuff that we have accumulated over the last few years.

Dougal has gone to see Rod, his groomer and should be a smart looking young puppy. He gets very excited as the van is being prepared as he clearly knows that we are soon to be back on the road. He loves travel and is incredibly funny carting his toys from the house to the van in case we should forget! As if!!!

It will be an early night tonight as we are up at the crack of dawn to get to the ferry in Douglas for the first leg which will take us to Birkenhead. After that we will stop off at the motorhome storage point where we will leave our car and then its on the road with the first stop being the Plassey leisure park near Wrexham. We have stayed there many times before and it is one of our favourite stopping off points. It gives us an opportunity to do all of our final checks before the serious travel.

Whilst we have checked out all of the systems to date it is always handy to recheck after actually living in the van for a night.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

12/03/13 22:00

The preparation continues with a big battery check requiring a run into Douglas. Acquired a new leisure battery and some good advice about how to ensure the battery won’t run down when in storage for a few months. Feel a lot happier about things. This was todays driving time.
2013-03-13_at_11.56.40