| Luxembourg Thur. 13th
Aug. Left Reims and drove into Luxembourg - country nbr 8 (if you include principalities as countries). Checked out the underground tunnels and wandered around the city - having pizza at Pizza Hut for dinner. Camping tonight near a reservoir near
Vianden where we will visit a castle tomorrow. Thurs. 13th Aug (again?) Visited the castle at Vianden. Pretty
good as far as castles go but we've discovered that a big building is just a big building
- chateau, castle, palace or church -we're becoming a little blasé. Left Luxembourg and
drove towards Brussels, Belgium - Country number 9. Saw Brussels big attractions -
Mannequin Pis - a statue of a boy taking a leak, then comic strip museum (boring) and the
main square, which certainly is the most spectacular square we have seen so far. Drove out of Brussels towards Brugge
and spent the night in the parking area off a motorway. Fri. Aug. 14th. Visited Brugge, a pretty little town
absolutely swarming with tourists. We did a great little canal cruise
(Brugge is known as the Venice of the North), visited the church which supposedly has some
blood of Jesus (but it's not on display). Of course we had to buy some chocolate and eat
at least one waffle while in Belgium. We finished with dealing with crowds around Brugge
and headed off towards Amsterdam. Camping tonight in a parking area on
the motorway towards Amsterdam. Sun. Aug 15th. Arrived in Amsterdam and visited the
Rijksesmuseum - full of the best of Dutch artists - most noticeably Rembrandt. Spent a long time looking for a
campground and finally found a pretty good one on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Mon. Aug. 16th. A full day in Amsterdam which is
really a pretty cool place. After visiting Amex where Hels got a letter from her mum we
did a tour around the Heineken brewery/museum where we were allowed lots of free beer - 4
or 5 in quick succession. Had pancakes with a loud American girl and then visited the
house where Anne Frank lived during the war. From there we had a change of pace,
checking out the red light district and a sex museum - really! A proper museum on sex.
Pretty weird. Our dinner was Dutch French fries with mayonnaise. Tues. Aug. 17th. Today we did a few more touristy
things - the Van Gough museum which was pretty good - containing more pieces of his work
than the Louvre in Paris. I still find it hard to believe that his work ever really became
as popular as it did. Although he was capable of doing normal stuff - very well - his
popular art is the very childish impressionistic stuff. We also did some other things
which I can't recall even though it was only 2 days ago. For dinner we had Indonesian food
which was pretty good but not as we were expecting based on what we had read. Oh yes! Booked Vanessa in to be
repaired next Monday. Wed. Aug. 18th. Bought a couple of cheapish second
hand novels from some bookstalls and did lots of window shopping before heading to a
cinema to see the American film Basic Instinct - our first film in 3 months. In the
evening we met another Australian kombi couple - Neil and Delice in an orange van to whom
we chatted for a couple of hours along with Penny & Peter another couple in a nearby
van. Thurs. Aug. 19th Left Amsterdam temporarily to visit
the Floriade in Zootermeet, a nearby town which we will visit tomorrow if it is not still
pouring like it did all day today. Camping tonight in a parking area on
a motorway just near the Floriade. Frid. Aug. 20th. Visited Floriade - kind of the 'Expo'
of the flower world. Pretty good as far as flower expos go. Drove north past Amsterdam
towards another little Dutch town and spent the night next to a canal in a place called
Zadaam. Sat. Aug. 21st Visited Zann Schaans (or something
like that), a little re-created village. Watched clogs being made then climbed inside a
windmill which was being used to grind pigment. Left there and drove to Edam - home of the
cheese by that name. Couldn't find any reason to stay and left for Vollendam but returned
when we couldn't find a suitable freecamp. Camping beside another canal in Edam.
Sun. Aug. 22nd. Visited Vollendam, a very busy but
boring town, and left for Amsterdam again driving to the same camp ground and meeting a
couple of vans - a pair of Kiwis , Mike and Mary, in a Ford Transit who have been
traveling for 10 months. Mon. Aug. 23rd. Dropped Vanessa off and checked into
the Christian Youth Hostel - $10 each per night including breakfast. Visited the Troppo
Museum, a museum devoted to showing 3rd world countries, with re-created
streets and stores and movies all over the place. Goulash for dinner at the hostel. Tues. Aug. 24th. Saw "California Man" at the
cinema - known as Encino Man in the States. Made Hels feel right at home with all of these
young dumb Californians running all over the place. Wed. Aug 25th. Visited the Stedbck(?) Museum in the
afternoon after spending a couple of hours in the library reading some newspapers. Vanessa
was ready in the afternoon - 1080 guilders - (about $US700). New clutch and an almost
working handbrake. Camping tonight outside Amsterdam in
a rest area. Thur. Aug. 26th. Popped into the mechanics to have an
additional pipe fitted then drove out into Germany, through Hamburg towards Denmark. Camping tonight in a rest area -
100kms from Denmark. Fri. Aug. 27th. Drove into Denmark and straight to
Legoland where we spent a few hours. It was pretty much as I expected but with a few cool
towns and stuff with cars, planes and trucks etc that actually drive around - taking
ferries, stopping for trains - very clever. From there we drove to Odense where
we spent a night in a very good campground. Sat. Aug. 28th. Visited the Hans Christian Anderson
Museum which was pretty interesting - full of all sorts of junk about him. Ate a pastry -
a Danish pastry! Left Odense and checked out a pretty good castle south called Egborg
which had an interesting car museum and a fun maze/labyrinth. Camping tonight by a marina 20kms out
of Copenhagen. P.S I never knew you have to take a
ferry to get to the island of Zealand - for Copenhagen. Sun. Aug. 29th Copenhagen today. An interesting war
museum and a not so interesting workers museum. The stupid "little mermaid"
statue and a pretty interesting amusement park - Tivoli. Too much rain! An OK city
however. Camping in another good campground. Mon. Aug. 30th. Carlsberg brewery - very good!! All
you can eat vegetarian & pizza for lunch. Kristina Commune - NO, I don't want to buy
some hash thank you! Camping again in the campground. Tues. Aug. 31st. Visited Viking Ship museum in
Roskilde - quite interesting although the ships themselves were little more than shells
rescued from the bottom of the sea. Then - another castle. This one is supposedly the
castle Shakespeare describes in Hamlet. Caught a ferry to Sweden and drove forever. Camping tonight in a very noisy
roadside parking area. Glad I have ear plugs! Wed. Sept. 2nd. Drove to Norway and spent most of the
day in and around Oslo. A very kind Norwegian gave us 11 Kroner ($2) for a dumb road toll
outside Oslo. Scored my visa for Czech before we went to visit the Fram Museum. The Fram
was the boat used in numerous Arctic & Antarctic expeditions including the first man
to the South Pole - Rohl Amundsen's voyage - pretty cool to see the boat which is huge.
Also checked out the Ski museum located at the base of the ski jump used in the 1952
winter Olympics. Drove out of Oslo towards the fjord
country and camping tonight in a cool turnout beside a fjord!! Kept driving along some of the most
spectacular scenery we have seen on the trip. Had to take a couple of ferries which criss
cross the fjords. Absolutely spectacular driving. Camping tonight next to another fjord
near Bremsted. Fri. Sept. 4th. Caught a ferry & bus across a
fjord where we visited a pretty interesting glacier museum then checked out a couple of
actual glaciers - really just huge amounts of ice which don't unfreeze from winter to
winter. Blue snow! Drove out of the area of Sognefjord, south towards Kristandsand Camping tonight by a fjord somewhere
in central Norway. Sat. Sept. 5th Continued to Kristandsand dodging
some goats then some sheep which wonder on to the road (and sometimes sleep - and in the
tunnels too!). A couple of days ago some 'bambi' deer even ran across the road. Arrived at
the ferry and sneaked Vanessa (over or under 2M?) onto the boat for Denmark which arrived
at 12 midnight!. Camping in a rest stop in Nth
Denmark. Sun. Sept. 6th Drove all day down through Denmark
past Hamburg to Bremen where we are camped in a rest stop on an autobahn. We did stop in
Arhus to see the Gramulen Man who we nicknamed Peat Bog - a man dug out of a peat bog who
was so well preserved they could even tell what he had eaten for breakfast on the day he
died in 80B.C Mon. Sept 7th. Drove from Bremen, checked out
Germany's biggest tourist attraction - a not very impressive cathedral and made camp in a
quiet campground outside Cologne (Koln). Tues. Sept. 8th. Left Cologne and drove to Koblenz and
camped in a pretty cool campground on the banks of the Rhine outside Koblenze. Wed. Sept 9th. Drove the famous stretch of the Rhine
- Koblenz to Manz and stopped at the museum dedicated to Guttenburg - the guy who invented
the printing press. Drove to Heidelburg and found a reasonably good freecamp by the river. Thur. Sept. 10th. Wandered around Heidelburg and up to
the nearby castle on the hill. Heidelburg seems like an OK place although the central part
consists primarily of one very long shopping street. After lunch we left Heidelburg and
drove to the area called the Romantic Road for all the quiet little villages on it. Camping tonight by a river outside
the town of Rothenburg de Tauber where we had a couple of giant German beers at a nameless
beer garden across from our freecamp. Frid. Sept. 11th. Left Rothenburg which was a quaint
old well preserved medieval village (except for a poor little cat stuck down a drain) and
continued down the romantic road before again heading to the autobahn and straight to
Munich. Camping tonight in Thalkierchen. Sat. Sept. 12th. Spent the day cleaning then van
inside and out. Sun Sept. 13th. Did our first sightseeing in Munich -
the Alte Pinotech art museum - some Rubens and Duher's famous self portrait. Mon. Sept. 14th. Got a late start and went to the huge
Deutches Science Museum with actual and reconstructed mines, caves and heaps of everything
including the very first cars and bicycles. We got tired out without seeing half of it. Tues. Sept. 15th We had a day apart in the city today.
I gave Helen money for clothes shopping and I wandered around doing my own stuff. We met
up again for lunch - Helen having bought a new pair of jeans and a sweater. Back at
Thalkirchen we met a Nzer - Warren and then were kicked out of the campground, not before
Helen gave the guy on the desk a piece of her mind. Arrived at the Octoberfest freecamp
and set Vanessa beside a NZ couple - Vanessa (!) and Steve. Met the Jiggi Jig people (from
Spain) again. Wed. Sept 16th. Did nothing today and it was great. Thur. Sept. 17th. Visited Daccau concentration camp
today, the site where 200,000 prisoners lived at one time. During the war 30,000 deaths
occurred here. Most of the camp no longer exists but you could still get a feeling for
what it must have been like there. Very eerie. We had a lovely sunny day. For some reason
you don't expect it to be sunny in a concentration camp. Fri. Sept. 18th. This was the big day for the
Oktoberfest freecamp. The time for the annual 100s club. About 180 people drinking
themselves silly - 1 minute per film canister of beer until they one by one, threw up or
had to have a leak. Very bizarre entertainment especially as they each threw up or 'pissed
out' onto an appointed person - the rat. The winner drank over 240 film
canisters - 4 hours without taking a piss. The object as the name suggests is to drink 100
canisters and it seems that most people made it despite the strong sun. Sat. Sept. 19th. At exactly 12:00pm the first keg was
tapped for the beginning of the Oktoberfest. We went with Steve and Vanessa, Grant &
Jayne to the Hoffbrauhaus tent where all the Aussies and Kiwis go to get silly. 8.5 marks
for a 1 litre of beer. I had 3 and Hels got through a couple even. We met 2 U.S couples
from an airforce base in Germany then staggered back to Vanessa. Sun. Sept. 20th After such a big day previously
everybody got a late start. A big group of us headed off to the Olympic swimming pool for
a quick swim and a long shower. In the evening we returned to the Oktoberfest where Helen
and I tried a couple of exciting rides before returning to the beer hall for a couple more
steins. Mon. Sept. 21st Our anniversary. Were woken at
12:20am by Steve and Vanessa & Grant to eat an anniversary cake decorated with
condoms. Went back to sleep after freezing our tits off. Left early in the morning for our
appointment with the mechanics where I had asked to get a few minor things done and the
distributor looked at. Much to our horror they did a compression test and found 2
cylinders are no good. The mechanic laughed as he told us to just drive till it stops. No
point spending money on it he said. Happy anniversary. I forgot to mention our little
adventure leaving the freecamp. Guards had been put out front to collect money as people
entered and left. They wanted money from us and after an unsuccessful attempt to use
somebody else's ticket we drove out the back way to avoid paying. After the news from the
mechanics we returned. To find everybody leaving the freecamp by every possible means.
Many people balked at paying the 45 marks ($30 U.S) and tried every means possible to get
out including breaking down a barrier. Steve and Vanessa sped off that way. A van was
caught leaving through the back and the driver taking off to the police station. Very
shocking as we knew the people in the van they caught. We never went back to the freecamp
after that and drove out of Munich to Stuttgart where we found a campground. (We did have
our champagne tonight which we had bought from Reims some weeks before.) A very sad end to
Oktoberfest. Tues. 22nd Sept. Tried another mechanic in Stuttgardt
who told us it would cost 2500 Marks ($1700) plus labor for a recondition engine. We
decided to head back to England as soon as possible. Went to a good (free) Mercedes Benz
museum which had all of the different Mercedes up to the present day. Left Stuttgardt and are freecamping
30ks out of Strasburg on a motorway. Met a lost Russian truck driver with a horrible map -
gave him ours and pointed him in the right direction. Wed. 23rd Sept. Went to the cathedral in Strausborg
and briefly wandered around before heading for England. Stopped at a tiny town and
wandered into a pub to use the telephone to call Anne and Jeremy. Had fun trying to
explain that we would use our calling card! Camped on a motorway near Luxembourg.
Thur. Sept. 24th. Spoke to Jeremy at work who gave us
the OK to hang out with them for a while. Camping tonight on a motorway in Belgium. Fri. Sept. 25th. Arrived in Dunkerque and got tickets
for the ferry to Ramsgate, England. Spent all day in a supermarket carpark listening to
the same 5 songs on the loud speaker. Got the 8:30pm ferry and slept in the parking lot of
the ferry terminal at the other end. Sat. Sept. 26th. Met a weird pommy guy on the beach at
Ramsgate while we had breakfast. Drove via Canterbury Cathedral to A+J's house in
Toddington. Gave a big cheer when we finally made it. Vanessa survived!! Enjoyed a big
lasagna dinner and my first shower in 6 days. Sun. Sept. 27th Had a lazy day and ate too much all
day. We had a drink at a local pub to celebrate Helen's birthday. Sun. Oct 4th Went into London - visited Camden
Market, Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park which was good and found the Aussie/Kiwi combi
market on Market Rd near Caledonian Rd Station - 20-30 vans there. Picked up the car - 280
pounds ($560) mainly for MOT welding along the sides. Car still sounds bad. Thur. Oct. 8th Visited Auntie Kay which turned out
to be a pleasant afternoon. Kay is doing very well for 86. Still drives her car. Lives in
an old mansion converted to apartments. Fri. Oct. 9th Caught a ferry from Holeyhead in
Wales to Dublin. Did a freecamp in a carpark next to a cemetery. A police car kept coming
by to check us out. Sat. Oct. 10th. Visited Dublin. Saw the National
Gallery, saw the "Book of Kells" in Trinity University & saw a statue of
"Sweet Molly Malone" with her wheelbarrow. Had a couple of drinks in a pub. Sun. Oct. 11th. Went to find a flea market which
didn't exist but found a circus instead which filled the afternoon. Mon. Oct. 12th. Went to the Guinness factory to see a
film and explanation of how Guinness beer is made, before having a glass of the stuff. Got
a free bus ride from a very helpful bus driver. Left Dublin and went south to Waterford. Tues. Oct. 13th. Visited the Waterford crystal factory
and was shocked to see how the crystal is actually blown & engraved - cut by hand
which is incredible to see in a Western - modernized country. Also shocked by the prices!!
Drove to Kilkenny & got a great tour of the castle which isn't so impressive in itself
but the tour guide was very interesting. Left Kilkenny and drove to Cashel. Camping tonight in the carpark near
the "Rock of Cashel". Wed. Oct. 14th. Check out the Rock of Cashel which
had a good film but the ruins themselves weren't that interesting - but very cold. Drove to Cork & found a deserted
campground near the airport. Thur. Oct. 15th. Wandered around the sights of Cork
which are not very numerous. Had pizza for dinner then did a mini pub crawl, looking for
traditional Irish folk music which we couldn't find - did find some American country music
quite strangely. P.S Ireland gets the Oz T.V series
Home and Away as well as Neighbors and the BBC. Fri. Oct. 16th. Kissed the Blarney Stone and strolled
the grounds of Blarney Castle before driving south to visit the village of Kinsale. Found a good freecamp near another
cemetery, the ruins of an old cathedral and a lake (& public toilets). As we drove
through the countryside, through the back roads, everyone waved to us as they obviously
assumed we were locals. Everyone waved to everyone. A very friendly place. Sat. Oct. 17th. Drove along the coast and then around
the Ring of Bere, just south of the Ring of Kerry. Camped in Kenmare. Sun. Oct. 18th Drove to Kilarney from Kenmare along
part of the Ring of Kerry beside the Kilarney lakes. Walked around a large house called
the Mukross Estate while fending off "Horse & Buggy" drivers who wanted to
take us on a jaunt. Drove a little further and stopped at
the Gap of Dunloe which we walked for 3 hours. Absolutely spectacular countryside and we
were able to near lots of mountain sheep who we talked to as well as climbing into lots of
ruined houses. Returned just before dark and slept in the parking lot. Mon. Oct. 19th Drove the rest of the Ring of Kerry
which was very scenic but had little to get us out of the car along the way. Continued
north and found a beach on the Dingle peninsular. Tues. Oct. 20th Drove to a small town called Dingle
then out to some "Bee Hive" caves. Caves made out of piles of stones -
prehistoric in nature (I guess that means > 2000 years old). Then drove Slea Head - the
end of the peninsular. Went back to Dingle for the night and found a little pub - with
traditional music and full of tourists which was very unusual for the time of year. Talked
to a guy from Templestowe and an American from Chicago. Camped by the docks. Wed. Oct. 21st. Left Dingle via the Connor pass which
was supposed to be spectacular but was fogged in and rainy. It has been raining almost
continuously for the last few days. Went through Tralee but didn't stop as there didn't
seem much to do and it was still raining. Arrived in Limerick which is quite
large for Ireland. Decided to find a campground as we haven't had showers for 7 days
almost. Thur. Oct. 22nd. Drover up the an area called the
Burren - a huge expanse of limestone plains. On the way we stopped in Lisdoonvarne where
Hels had a sulphur/mineral bath at the health spa which she enjoyed. Camped by a dock in Ballyvaugh. Fri. Oct. 23rd Visited Alwee Cave which was under
the Burren but only discovered relatively recently. Quite and interest and not a bad cave.
It was still raining so we skipped the walks and drove to Galway where we bought tickets
to visit the Aran Islands before wandering the town. Camped by a lake until Hels cared
herself and we moved beside the docks for the boat to Aran. Sat. Oct. 24th. Caught the ferry to Inishmore &
checked into the hostel before hiring bikes and pedaling to the "Puffin Holes" -
blow holes where we met 4 people from Dublin looking for the same thing. Then we cycled to
the other end of the island to talk to some cows and climb to the prehistoric fort of Din
Angus, high on the cliffs. The Aran Islands are famous for Aran sweaters and that's about
it. Had a couple of Guinness before eating a terrific meal of fish at the Dun Angus
restaurant. Sun. Oct. 25th. I woke up to discover I had lost all
my credit cards and drivers license which was great. We reported it to the Island's
policeman but were greatly relieved to find someone had found then on a road and handed
then in. Yeah. I did lose my drivers license however. After that we did a couple of walks
in the intermittent rain and watched the "The Man from Aran' film - 1933 before
catching the ferry back. Camped by a beach - somewhere near
Galway. Mon. Oct. 26th Drove north along the west coast
stopping briefly at Kylemore Abbey which was a non-event then past Craigh Patrick
mountain, scene of a n annual pilgrimage to it's summit. We decided against spending the 3
hours necessary to climb it. Instead we drove to Knock - another of those catholic
apparition sites like Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal. We camped on the road next to the
shrine. Tues. Oct. 27th Wandered around the shrine and folk
museum and were surprised at hoe few tourists or pilgrims were there. Continued north
through Sligo where W.B Yeats museum was closed. Kept going via Donegal towards Sleeve
League where we will walk the cliffs tomorrow. Nearly got stuck on an incredibly steep
road when we went down a side road off towards a beach looking for a freecamp. Helen offer
to try and push the van up the hill! Hiked for 3 hours up the supposed
hiking trail along the cliffs of Sleeve League. Due to the rain the path was more like a
stream and the ground felt like a giant sponge. By the time we reached the top it was
slippery and very windy so we decided the best thing to do was just to get down again. We
survived and drover around the base of the cliffs instead where we had lunch. Drove north and crossed over the
border into Northern Ireland. The armed guard seemed more interested in Helen being from
California than about security and asked us a whole bunch of questions before suggesting a
good route for us to take and finally letting us go through. We saw one armed patrol as we
drove by, arriving in the car park of the "Giants Causeway" which we will see
first thing tomorrow. Thur. Oct. 29th Woke to a perfectly clear day -
sunshine at last - walked the coast path passed the Giants Causeway which was very scenic.
From there we followed the signs to the Bushmills Whiskey distillery for a free boring
tour and a sample of whiskey. Continued along the coast and looked for the famous 80 foot
rope bridge which was not there and finally settled on a lovely remote freecamp high on a
hill next to the coast near Fair Head. Fri. Oct 30th. Did a 2 hour walk after breakfast
through sheep fields and over fences and streams before getting back to the car for
morning coffee and cake. Drove into Belfast where we parked the car to wander about the
shops. Found the tourist office which had moved due to a bomb blast and had a pastie and
chips for lunch. Drove north looking for a camping ground which turned out to be nothing
more than a stupid parking area next to a fairly busy road. Talk about dumb! Vanessa is
sounding sick - like she needs a tune up but also lacks power which could be something far
worse! I hope not but plan to take her in when we get back anyway. We noticed a real difference between
the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is far more advanced
seemingly - the roads have obviously had much more money spent on them and it seems like
England whereas the Republic seems quaint but a little behind in comparison. P.S We had coffee at Bewleys. Helen
offered me the chocolate shaker from the table before sprinkling it all over her coffee -
except it was pepper!! What a Goob. Sat. Oct. 31st. Halloween. Wandered around the shops
and then visited the Ulster Museum which had a good mummy - looked like Pete Bog's wife
(See Denmark). Decided it was time for a shower and found the Belfast IYHA Hostel which
was OK. Visited a couple of pubs and people watched all the idiots in their fancy dress.
Halloween is bigger here than in Australia. Sun. Nov. 1st. Decided we'll take Vanessa in to be
looked at on Monday so killed time out to the folk museum where one of the guides rambled
on about life, the world and the universe after I asked about using peat for fuel. Zipped
back into town to catch Harrison Ford in Patriot Games - partially set in Northern Island
and about IRA and terrorism. Very fitting being in Belfast. The main things which set
Belfast apart from other cities of it's size are the constant security checks - bags being
checked as you enter shops and cinemas etc and constant armed patrols and army presence. I
sneaked a picture of one of the patrols and Helen scored a picture through a bus window. Mon. Nov. 2nd Took Vanessa in first thing to a V.W
mechanic and picked her up at 2:pm. Needed new points and the mechanic told us the
cylinder head was leaking and to drive very carefully back to England. 10 minutes away on
the road to Dublin she began making an awful noise. We decided not to sop and are now
camped the main road to Dublin. I am nursing her all the way. No idea if we'll make it. I
give it a 50/50 chance right now. Freecamping on a noisy road in Dun
Leer. A local policeman wanted us to move on but changed his mind. Tues. Nov. 3rd. Made it to Dublin and spent the rest
of the day around Dun Loaughrie ferry terminal where we also spent the night. Wed. Nov. 4th Caught a 9:00am ferry and made it to
Wales where we drove to Helen's friend, Sue and family near Chester in North Wales.
Continued towards home (A+J's) and free camped at a rest stop which turned out not to be
free as they charged us 5 pounds to stay overnight which we discovered in the morning. I
thought they were kidding. They weren't. Thur. Nov. 5th Paid the fine and carried on. Vanessa
wasn't sounding any worse than before so we took a diversion to Stratford-upon-Avon the
birthplace and home of Shakespeare where we visited his birth place house, his wife's
(Anne Hathaway) cottage and his gravest in Trinity Church where we met a very interesting
curator who told us the gossip about Bill. Surprisingly little info exists about
Shakespeare's movements as written records from the 16th & 17th
century are rare. Drove for home but were disappointed
when Vanessa began smoking and losing power 10 miles from A+J's house. Fortunately a
service area was nearby where we arranged for Sid and his tow truck to pick Vanessa up and
Jeremy kindly agreed to collect us. Fri. Nov. 6th, 7th
& 8th Back to a real house. A& J and
Anne's folks went on a weekend cruise to Sweeden and left us with the house to ourselves
which was terrific. Mon. Nov. 9th Began calling agencies to look for
work. Found that agents here are just like in the U.S - fast talkers, C.V gatherers and
become frantic if there really is work out there. Went into London for interviews with
agents on Tuesday. Was submitted for a job with Chase Manhattan Bank in Bournemouth and
set up and interview with NCC Charterhouse insurance project for an Insurance Broker. Sent
out about a dozen C.Vs during the week. Interviewed on Thursday with NCC. Went pretty well
especially with the project manager and pretty good with the technical side so I'll wait
and see. Will know Monday. Peter Fram called on Wednesday and visited him before my
interview on Thursday. We are both going to be competing for the same jobs. It was just
luck that enabled me to get the NCC interview before him. Vanessa came back from the mechanics
- Archies, the kombi specialists yesterday. Complete with 2 new cylinder heads and all
sorts of other things. 625 pounds worth of work - eek! She does sound pretty good &
hopefully will see us through lots of miles before any further trouble. |
[ Highlights
| Biography | Photo Album | Family History | Fun and Games ] |