Big Day 19.08.2022
Before we could leave the UK to sail off on our new boat we had decided to sort Wills and A Civil Partnership, we booked the earliest date with the Registry Office and instructed the Solicitors to draw up our Wills and started the waiting period for the big day to arrive.
The pile of stuff we wanted to take with us started to grow and after the offer was accepted in June Stuart a long time friend offered to take us with our belongings to the South of France in his camper van.
Over whelmed by his generosity we asked if he was sure ….. 900 miles! …. in a small van with Garry, George and I….. This van is his pride and joy what if we were to break it.
A few weeks later Stuart was still insisting on driving us to France, so we took him up on the offer and booked the Ferry tickets for the morning after the big day.
The weeks started to fly by, leaving the UK day loomed over my head. Our new life was starting on the 20th August 2022 and i felt like I had to say goodbye to my old life. We organised catch up time with some close friends and family as the weeks sped by. Garry told them all that if he got Ill I was instructed to push him over board as he has no intention on returning to the UK.
Stuart brought the van over so we could get an idea how much space we had to stash our belongings. He took us through the van’s cupboards and then we took him to the pile of stuff. The look on his face was priceless, how the hell are you going to fit that in my van and the pile was not finished.
We started to plan the journey google said 15 hours of driving, easy with the 3 of us. We had booked the Ferry that leaves at 7.30am, so with our house 4 hours away from Dover, needed to arrived 90 mins before to get through customs and an hour for a toilet stop, put our leaving time at 1am.
Stuart wanted to drive in daylight hours so that puts him driving 2nd, Garry does not mind driving in the dark, he gets 1st and I get 3rd being the spring chicken of the bunch needs less sleep.
Me the caterer sorted food, snacks and drinks to take in cool box with frozen water bottles to keep everything cool, then drinkable when defrosted.
The big day came Garry and I signed on the dotted line and then fled the Country in a VW Camper Van loaded high with George, Stuart and all our chosen belongings.
