Welcome back, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy & Healthy New Year.
Just before New Year we had a couple of days catching up with Julie’s sister Karan, Damon and our nephew, Devon, and niece Lillie, who taught us a few moves on their scooters. We spent New Year’s Eve catching up with Julie’s mum & dad, Karan, Damon and cousin Sue and husband Paul, it was a nice evening just sitting and chatting.
However the year didn’t start off very well for us as sadly Dad passed away peacefully on New Year’s day, although it’s very sad we are both very relieved that we made the decision to come home and we were able to spend some time with him, we are sure that on his up days he knew we were there. He had a fantastic innings as they say and if I am as active as him at 87 then I’ll be happy. We have the funeral later this week so I am sure he will get the send off he deserves and his passion for motorcycling since the 1950’s will be celebrated and remembered by many friends and acquaintances from the motorcycling clubs that he was so involved with over the years.
Dad having a "magic" time at another motorbike trial
And in more recent years a flying visit to the family on his Triumph Tiger Cub
We had a day down at Camber Sands and walked and talked for a few hours, it was a beautiful crisp, sunny day and it was nice to get out for some fresh air and reflect on Dad’s life and his final few weeks. Although Camber is a nice beach with dunes at one end we have seen so many other beautiful beaches during our travels it just doesn’t quite compare somehow!! There are currently new sea defences being built using huge granite boulders which we hope won’t have too much of an impact on the area where we kite surf, hopefully they will make it a safer place by removing the existing wooden groynes but I guess we will have to wait and see.
We got the keys back to our house a few days earlier than expected so had a busy few days moving back in but to be honest it wasn’t as bad as we expected and it only took four trips in my van to get everything out of our storage unit. Although at first it felt quite depressing and marked the end of our adventure it actually seemed much easier than when we moved out which I think is mainly because we had been so organised and also moving stuff back in to the same house is easier when you know where it all goes!!! The house has been very well looked after by Andy & Lesley and their two children, Ben & Lucy, you’d never know that anyone else has been living here so that made life much easier too. We shall certainly keep in touch with them as they are buying a house locally so I am sure we will meet up for a beer or two at some point when they have settled in.
When we were in La Franqui last summer we met Marc & Kitty from Belgium and their two young children, Brielle & Remi. They kindly invited us to their birthday party on our way home but obviously as our plans changed we weren’t sure if we would make it or not but after a busy week moving back in we did manage to find time to go and visit, it was great to catch up with them and meet some of their friends and it seemed just like yesterday that we saw them last, not 5 months ago.
Sometimes life seems to be an adventure for us so sods law it was the weekend that we were going to Belgium via the Eurotunnel that all hell broke loose, first with a small fire causing delays on Saturday which thankfully we missed but on Sunday the day we were returning there were even more delays caused by an electrical fault. To cut a very long story short and 6 hour wait we ended up catching a ferry home courtesy of Eurotunnel - even though were went in my van and not the motorhome thankfully we had everything we needed and were able to make ourselves comfortable and a make a few cuppa’s!! So another country, Belgium, ticked off the list and another unplanned ferry, we eventually made it home.
So it’s been a really busy month as I am sure you can appreciate how busy we have been with funeral arrangements and family meetings etc, etc but life goes on. We managed to catch up with James and Charlie who we last saw during our “sleepover” in the early days of our trip back in February when we were in Meribel. The same weekend we also headed up to Northampton to catch up with Claire, Andy, Paul, Twiggy, Dave, Sue, Ash & Sal, all friends that we last saw in December 2013. It was a lovely evening catching up with everyone and exchanging stories.
We’ve received a couple of emails from guys we met on our travels too, it’s really nice to hear what they have been up to and you never know we might even bump into them in the future somewhere…..
It seems really odd being back in the house and I know we keep saying it but it doesn’t seem like we have spent the last year travelling around Southern Europe…..sometimes it’s the simple things that mean so much like a nice soak in the bath as that is the only thing that our house has that the motorhome doesn’t!!!
Before we go, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Julie’s mum & dad, Dave & Brenda, for helping us with paperwork etc while we were on the road and for putting us up since our return, we hope that they enjoy our little thank gift when they go and see Neil Diamond at the O2 in July. Oh and I am sure they are missing the butler and handyman now that we have moved back home……!!
Anyway that’s all for now, we’ll do another update in February.
Take care.
J&J
x
