The Start of the 2014 Trip to Europe

31st March 2014
Our flight left on time and after flying over Fremantle Harbour,

 crossed the Indian Ocean en route to Dubai, an eleven hour journey.  To amuse ourselves we each watched a film, listened to music, read, did crosswords and I entertained myself by taking a few photos of the clouds.

Sleep was out of the question, we encountered a fair bit of turbulence along the way so by the time we reached Dubai we were just a little bit tired and grumpy.  A 3 hour changeover and we set off again on the 7 hour leg to London, arriving at 6.00 a.m. and after going quickly through immigration and a long wait at the carousel for our bags, we emerged to welcome fresh air and not so welcome fog.  Mabel, the Hertz shuttle bus driver took us to the nearby car rental office and by 7.30 a.m. we had joined the west bound traffic on the M4.  An hour later we stopped at Membury Services for a cuppa and shortly after, the fog lifted a little so we were able to finally see the lovely English countryside.  On to the M5 at Bristol and the sun came out, albeit briefly.  We detoured off the motorway to the Highbridge Caravan Shop to buy a clothes line and a red/white reflector for the rear bike carrier, a requirement in Spain and after stopping at the supermarket for beer, wine aand toiletries, continued on to Stogursey where we were welcomed by our good friends Marion & Mike M.  After an afternoon of catching up it was an early dinner and an early night.
Wednesday, 2/4/2014.  Mike M drove us to nearby Holford to collect Boris from his winter home.  Not surprisingly the battery was flat and needed to be jump started and a tow was needed to pull him out of the tyre grooves but once on the road, he drove beautifully. 

Unfortunately, once in Mike M's drive, the battery died so the Mikes sped into town to buy a new one, installed it but because of an immobiliser problem which took two days to sort out, the MOT appointment scheduled for Thursday had to be changed and so Boris has been sitting around doing nothing as he is not yet taxed.  In the meantime, Mike has installed a new light and a power point in Boris' house and cleaned the roof in preparation for the installation of a solar panel (we're just waiting for a dry day to do this), we have been to a cider tasting afternoon at the farm of a friend of Mike M's, the same  farm where the Mikes helped press the apples for last year's batch, a tractor rally starting from the farm which was Boris' winter home,

the pebbled beach at Lilstock and the pretty little  church nearby 

with a brief stop at the Plough Inn at Holford for a glass of Doombar, one of Mike's favourite beers.
Once again, we've been well and truly spoiled with lovely meals...both Marion and Mike are excellent cooks and have catered to our appetites extremely well.
Monday, 7/4/2014.  We took Boris in this morning for his belated MOT and are waiting for the call to collect him.  All being  well we will tax him tomorrow and be on our way.