Mission Completion

Hi, reader

The home stretch, one more big push to get from Calais to Dover, was a real mission.

I spent my last two nights in France in a lovely little place called Bergues, about 9km to the south of Dunkirk and 15km from the Belgian border. My luck held out with the weather and it remained mild during the night. Not so lucky is my missing charger cable for this laptop I'm working on right now. I've wracked my brains trying to think where I've lost it, but can't work it out. I've searched through the van three or four times. I even drove about 12km to a big computer shop to get a replacement, but when I found out it was 56 Euros, I passed. 

I can actually charge the laptop to some degree from the van's cigarette lighter, but it's slow. It takes most of the day to get the battery above 50%. I've ordered a replacement from eBay for 15 pounds. Let's hope it works.

I think my son, Hugo, would like the library in Bergues. It has a whole room of board games and card games.

For those of you here for the travelogue aspect of my blog, here are some pics taken as I wandered around Bergues. It was an overcast, chilly day.

In order to get on the ferry, I had to achieve four elements: get a certified negative COVID test, book a ferry ticket, book a day 2 COVID test for my arrival in Wales and complete a passenger locator form. I won't bother you with the details, but with my computer battery down to 7% I finally got all four things I needed by about 6pm on the 3rd of January and ready to board at 8:30 am on the 4th.

The next day was a breeze. I enjoyed standing on the deck of the ferry, watching the coast of northern France recede into the distance. The drive from Dover to Glamorgan was uneventful and easy and I'm now camped out once again at my Mum's, ready to face my next challenges (finding a home in Scotland and finding a job).

So ... Said the mechanic (in Rouen) was wrong when he predicted the van wouldn't make it to Valencia and back. In fact, the van made it in style, with only one mechanical problem in the whole round trip. Much better than the journey around Scotland. And here's the fun bus, back outside my Mum's house, all ready for the next adventure.

Strange to think that since September this van has been to Cardiff, York, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Brighton, London, Calais, Bordeaux, Huesca, Valencia and lots of other places in between. 

Where will it take me next? Tune in to find out!

Thanks, as always, for reading,

Brian