Wow what a beautiful start to the day

Woke up this morning to a thick covering of white fluffy snow. I was like a little kid, of course, scooped up huge handfuls and piffed it at Sammy. He didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did.
This is in the carpark of the hotel.

This is our little car parked in the parking lot at the hotel.


This just looked pretty so I asked Sammy to take a photo.


We are having a few issues getting motorhome insurance at the moment, with people backing away from us as soon as we say we are Aussies. Not sure what our next step from here will be. May have to sweet talk the caryard into hosting an address for us. Good Aussie wine is quite cheap over here. Maybe a few bottles will persuade him. Fingers crossed.

The sun is out today and despite the fact that there is snow everywhere, the weather is really quite nice. The sun is warm if you get into the right spot and I only have 1 jumper on with my thermals instead of the usual 2.

Britain - Closed for the winter

We headed off nice and early to have a look around Dover (the white cliffs) and have a look through Dover castle. Drove through the snow only to find the castle closed due to inclement weather. There were 2 other castles close by so we went to have a look at them, only to discover that they are closed during the winter months. So instead we went to a cafe that over looks all the ferries, had a coffee and watched a huge snow storm blow in.

Had a little shopping spree a Ikea yesterday, bought lots of goodies for the van. We are really looking forward to "shifting in" and getting our lives a little bit organised.


Dover Caste - closed due to poor weather

On top of the White Cliffs of Dover, looking over to France. They were extra white today - that's snow coming down on the left!

David Brent's lovechild - just for Richard back at 'The Office'

David Brent's lovechild - just for Richard back at 'The Office'

Back in Canterbury

We are back in Canterbury looking around until early next week when the motorhome is all ours. We had a look around the Cathedral today via an audiotour - it was interesting to hear about things that predate Australian history by so many years.

The snow has melted quite a bit since yesterday's heavy falls, it was pretty slippery driving last night. We huddled back inside a Cafe Nero - there seems to be one in the main street of every town here, and we can get our wireless broadband and keep in touch with folks back home.

We're off to the pub for an English pub tea and beers - should be nice. Tomorrow we might go hunting for an Ikea to start kitting out the van with all the things that make you feel like you're at home.

Ciao
-Sam.

We found our new home

Sammy relaxing on Eggy's Bed.

Rancho Relaxo downsized. Welcome to our new home for the remainder of 2005

Well we have had a very busy (and cold) couple of days. Found a motorhome dealer in the centre of Herne Bay and found a camper that we were very interested in. Sammy checked back through his documents and found there was a similar camper in Helston (about 7 hours drive away). So we headed off to compare the campers. Much to our disappointment the 7 hour drive was not fruitful, as the camper was damaged, filthy and mouldy. Not where we want to spend the next 12 months. So we headed off back towards Herne Bay. The distance and direction was sort of like driving from Portland to Lakes Entrance. Arrived back in Hearne Bay, test drove the camper this morning and put a deposit on it.

It has quite a large bathroom, a fixed rear bed, a dinette with 2 seat belts, this folds down to create "Eggy's Bed". It is left hand drive and immaculate inside. Sammy even managed to talk him down 1000 pounds (a lot in Aussie dollars). Paid our deposit and the van will be ready to drive away on Monday. We are really looking forward to this. We are both sick of living out of suitcases and basic accommodation is frightfully expensive. Looking forward to a bit of space to call our own.
Paula

Our lodging for last night - not bad for 50 quid! I dont think I've ever seen a Best Western like this back home!!! Canterbury is so great to look around, we're stuck in the area until monday when our camper becomes ready. We're off for a dose of Indian food tonight.

UK roads, good even when there's snow..

Thats me doing 100 mph, and the Audi doing about double that number!

The roads are well signposted here, optional indicators make it interesting. And the direction signs are at 90 degress to Australian ones, which has caused a us to go right around a few roaundabouts twice...

Houston, we have a problem!

Its really snowing hard here now. We picked a great time to visit!