We're committed now!!

We've gone and done it! The removal company has been chosen and the order for our removal with them confirmed. They are coming on April 28th and 29th to pack all our stuff and take it away in a container. Because we have downsized since selling our home 18 months ago and we now live in furnished rented accommodation we have a lot less than most people (thank goodness). There are no white goods, very little furniture and lots of clothes! Well you can only downsize so much can't you? We have chosen to go "groupage" which basically means that we share a container with others who don't have too much to move either. It cuts the cost and there is the benefit of the removal company keeping the container free of charge until another client appears. Otherwise we have a weekly storage cost on top of the removal cost. I will plug the company because they deserve it. They are European Van Lines (EVL) and we are very impressed with their service so far. Very professional and courteous.

Now we have a date to work to we have booked the ferry crossing too! This is really real. After completing the necessary inventory with the letting agents on 30th April and recovering our rental deposit (most important) we will set off for Harwich, stay overnight and then sail on the ferry to the Hook of Holland at 9am on 1st May. Isn't it great when a plan comes together. Next step is to book a campsite at or near Harwich and another in Delft for the first couple of nights so that we can start our exploration. The bikes will be on the car and the fishing rods inside the caravan. As Holland is so flat we should be able to see a lot of the area on our bikes which will give us some good exercise too after all the sitting in the car and on the ferry. It will be tulip season too so it should be beautiful and also very busy. Make sure you log into the blog to get the pics of the tulip fields.

Over the weekend Steve did some more work on Esmerelda (our caravan) and that is coming on well. He has had to replace some of the shell and insulation on the back after water leaked in. It will look as good as new when it is finished and we will then redecorate the shower room and toilet. Then we will put some vinyl flooring in the kitchen area to replace the grotty carpet that has been well and truly worn in that area. That will be so much easier to clean too. The caravan was owned before by a young couple who were renovating their first home and needed somewhere to live in the mean time. So they literally walked into it from a building site and the flooring reflects that. It will be replaced though and be ultra comfy for us. Everything else works very well. The cooker is easy to use and the fridge does what it is meant to do. The bed is 7 feet square - our main worry when planning this adventure as Steve is 6ft 6inches tall and needs his space. No worries here as the bed is bigger that the one at home. We hope to be able to eat outside as our journey progresses through warmer months and milder climates but if not there is plenty of space inside. The small living accommodation on our trip is more than balanced out by the freedom and economy that it brings with it. We really hope that the social life on caravan sites lives up to our expectations - that has to be better than meeting no one in hotels.

Also at the weekend we did our first farewell visit of the many we need to do. Guess what? I forgot the camera! What am I like?? The whole point of this is to create a memory file and I went and forgot an important part of that. It won't happen again and the pics I have attached to this blog are fairly recent ones anyway. We visited my darling younger brother, Graham and his gorgeous in every way fiancee, Sue. They invited us and some other friends of theirs to dinner on Saturday and we ate and drank and talked until very late. Thankfully we stayed over, talked even more on Sunday morning before driving back to do more preparation for our trip. It was a lovely evening - we toasted our future with champagne which we hope to do at each farewell visit. Graham and Sue want to travel much more in the future and our adventure has given them a lot of food for thought. More power to your elbow bruv - enjoy your lives and love each other to infinity and beyond! And please come out to visit us in Cyprus.

The other pic is of Graham's two children Matt and Holly - the pics were taken at Graham's birthday bash last August. Another lovely memory to take with me.