Friday 21st November 2008

It's a horrible day today! Really really windy and has been raining all day. We were planning to visit the town where we're staying - Stockach - today, but have decided it's far too horrible to venture out of the van. So we've made you a video of the van as not everyone got to see it before we set off (Andy thought this was a bit geeky but Kylie thought other people share her interest of seeing inside people's houses!), and writing this blog, playing games, reading and watching TV will make up the rest of the day. We left Bad Bellingen on Monday and drove to a place just outside Braunlingen in the Black Forest with a campsite set on a lake. The drive there was quite scenic as the main road was closed and we had to do a bit of a detour into the hills. The campsite here was one of the most security-obsessed we've been on - we had to use a key to get past two gates just to get from our van to the sanitary building and then a key to get into the building! (Thankfully neither of us needed the loo in a hurry). And we were the only van on site. It was cold but dry here so on the Tuesday we had a walk around the lake and through the forest - most of the leaves are off the trees now so it felt very wintery. Wednesday was not a fantastic day. We got up in the morning and started packing up to leave when we noticed a puddle on the floor - never good! We've obviously got a leak somewhere so packing up stopped while we emptied under the seat where the water boiler is and under the sink where all the pipes are. There was also a puddle of water under the fridge where there's a little drawer and some water under the sink. Andy was looking at the water boiler when the hot water outlet pipe popped off and sprayed the whole van (and Andy) with water. This made it very difficult to find where any leak was coming from as there was water everywhere anyway! So we emptied the tanks, dried everything up as best we could and carried on packing up planning on investigating the leak further when everything had dried off a bit. At least we were heading to Tengen today - a site we'd been looking forward to. We visited last year when we came in the car and stopped in one of their on-site caravans. It was, and still is, one of the nicest sites we've been to. It's only a couple of years old and all the sanitary facilities are brand new - the showers are proper enclosed showers in your own little room with a sink and you can even hire bathrooms with a bath! The restaurant on site is a real treat and people come to eat there that are not staying on the site. There's an indoor swimming pool, also new, with Jacuzzi, sauna etc, a lake on the campsite and mini-golf. As it is in our ACSI discount book we decided to treat ourselves with a week there - chilling out in the pool and treating ourselves to a meal out one night. So, we headed off there which cheered us up after a not-so-good start to the morning. So after an hour or so's drive and a bit of shopping we got to the campsite around 1pm full of anticipation - and it was shut. The woman that met us said that they were having some work done on site and so had shut for the week. We could stop for one night if we wanted to but the shop, restaurant, reception and the swimming pool would all be shut and the sanitary facilities would be open but no one is cleaning them. So much for our treat! After a think we decided to head to the next town of Engen and check out the campsite there - thinking we could stop there for a few nights then go back to Tengen when it re-opened. So we drove there, found the campsite, and quickly left after working out the cost would be over 20 euros a night which would blow our budget. The plan was then to carry on to the next campsite on our itinerary in Stockach and decide what to do from there - at least it is only 22miles from Tengen. As we left the expensive campsite in Engen we were driving down a narrow little street when we saw a lorry blocking the whole road. It looked like it was off-loading something and was going to be there a while so we started reversing back up the road looking for somewhere to turn round - we found a driveway but as we reversed into it the exhaust caught on a missed kerb and there was a horrible scraping sound. Then it was one of those situations where you can't go forward and you can't go backwards without making it worse and as we drove off the kerb there were even more horrible sounds, and then a clanking and popping sound as we pulled the van back onto the road. Andy couldn't get under the van to have a look where we were so he pulled the exhaust to one side a bit to stop the horrible clanking and we decided to carry on to Stockach praying that it didn't fall off altogether. We got to Stockach and decided on the stellplatz that was on site rather than the campsite as it had hard standing pitches which are always a safer bet in potentially wet weather! As soon as we were parked up Andy got under the van - a couple of cold hours later he'd managed to rig the silencer back up as the rubber bit that joined this to the chassis had snapped apart, also two other rubber supports along the exhaust had snapped - thankfully we had two spare ones which Andy managed to fit, and he also tightened a couple of joins which were blowing - phewee. It's still blowing a little bit but is at least secure and fixed enough for now. After that we called it a day as it had been such a crappy one - the leak could wait until tomorrow.The next day the van had dried out enough everywhere to go leak investigating so everything got emptied again and we started again - we (Andy) eventually traced it to the water boiler (which is fitted on the floor under one of the seats in a very tiny fiddly space(!)) - both the cold water inlet and the hot water outlet were leaking. So it was taken apart and the pipes re-fitted. We think the problem may have stemmed from us not emptying the tanks and opening the taps when travelling up to a high altitude - this is advised to avoid pressure build-up. And we have been doing some mega-hills. So we'll be doing that from now on!So that was yesterday. And today is rain-day. So not a great deal of fun to be had so far this week. But we have decided to go back to Tengen on Monday when it re-opens and have our week of relaxation (and wi-fi). The plan is also to get some snow-chains delivered while we are there as we have found a few places on-line where we can order them from. That will take us to 1 December - eek! That'll be time to decorate the van and dig out the advent calendar (Kylie's). Then we'll have one more stop-off for a few nights before getting back into St Johann and finding out where we'll be spending this Christmas! We are both in a good frame of mind whether we find work or not. If we do, that's great and we can carry on with our adventures and also experience working abroad - and also hopefully save up enough to go ski-ing. If we don't, we come home and find work - we won't be distraught - we've done a hell of a lot and 20 weeks out of a planned 26 weeks will not be a bad achievement. And we are missing everyone soooooo much that'll certainly take the blow out of it, seeing everyone again. And there's nothing stopping us working for a while, saving up, and then coming back out to do the things we've not yet done! There may yet be a part two!!Will blog again soon, hopefully from Tengen! Bye for now, Andy n Ky xxx :)

Sunday 23rd November 2008

Big news!! - we've decided to find work at home for the winter and then carry on our travels next year. After the 'horrible rainy day' on Friday it started snowing in the night and didn't stop til morning - then it snowed all day Saturday too. It was great to see some 'proper' snow but the skies cleared Saturday evening - and then the temperature dropped big time. It was still only -7 (with a forecast of -17 within the next few days) but we couldn't get the van above 8c during the night, even with the radiator on full. The sides of the van started buckling on the inside, water was dripping into the plug sockets from the windows, and the water tanks and pipes froze up. There was still snow on our boots in the morning and they were stuck to the floor. And the puddle of water in the cab was ice. There were full-on icicles hanging off the van on the outside, big sheets of ice on the sides, and the windows were majorly iced up on the inside. So we came to the conclusion that it was going to be very difficult for both us and the van to cope in temperatures much colder for any length of time. And finding work in St Johann would mean much colder temperatures (up to -25) and braving them out for 12-16 weeks for the ski season and to save up enough money. So we re-focused on our initial goal which was to find enough work (needed to be started by mid-December when the funds run out) to be able to carry on our travels - the matter was now where we find the work, and although we could have given St Johann a try, we were thinking it more and more likely that we wouldn't last the full season and would end up having to come home. And if we would end up having to come home then surely it's better to do it now rather than spend more money and end up in weather that would make it more difficult to get home. Another choice we considered was to still find work abroad but in a different, warmer, place. We couldn't go too far south as our remaining funds were only just getting us to St Johann and lasting until 19 December so that limited our possible locations to fairly cold places anywhere. Also, seasonal work at this time of year is pretty much limited to ski resorts, which are all pretty darn cold. Apart from the south of Spain which brings us back to the distance issue. We did also think about going for work that included accommodation, but that would have meant we were okay, but the van would still have been open to all of the weather conditions that we worry would cause damage over the long term. So the decision we faced was to take a gamble and risk St Johann with the possibility of having to get home skint and in bad weather, or to come home to work and carry on next year like we would have done after the ski season. The pros for St Johann would have been the experience of working abroad, still being on our 'adventure', and experiencing a ski/snow winter and Christmas. The pros for coming home are not having the expenses of being out here (insurance, tax, campsite fees, electricity etc), being warm and comfortable, being home for Christmas, and catching up with everyone properly. So, we decided to come home. We will hopefully find temporary work soon enough and then save until we have enough to head back out - hopefully late spring / early summer. Then we can pick up where we left off and enjoy the weather that the van can cope with. And we will get our ski/snow winter and Christmas another year - preferably in a chalet with a nice warm open fire!!We have thought our decision through quite carefully, but in our usual style, now it's made we're acting on it straight away and ploughing up north now to come home. No point in waiting now and the weather's only getting worse! So today we set off from Stockach as it had stopped snowing and the roads at least were fairly clear. It started snowing again around tea-time and we got as far as the border of Luxembourg before the roads just got a bit too scary to be driving on. We're sticking to motorways and the snow ploughs are going back and forth but there is still a fair covering of snow on the roads and it's just not fun driving in the snow in the dark when you can't even see the lines on the road. Temperatures are well below freezing again too so ice is also a concern. So at the last motorway stop we got to at 8:30pm, as we stepped into 5" of snow, we decided to stop driving until tomorrow. We didn't want to risk trying to drive into the nearest town to find a campsite as the smaller roads are going to be worse than the motorway which is bad enough, and with no electricity for heating and the prospect of another freezing night, we have been completely reckless and treated ourselves to a night in the services motel!!! How exciting to be in a proper bed and have a proper bathroom!!! And be warm!!!So tomorrow we will continue the journey, weather willing, as far as Calais, hop on the tunnel and be back on British soil by tomorrow night. Our 107 days of travelling have been fantastic and we have had an amazing experience. We have seen so many places and travelled so many miles and also realised actually what a small amount of Europe (let alone the world) we have experienced, and how much more there is to see. We've definitely caught the travel-bug! We want to thank you all for keeping up with us on this site and sharing our stories and pictures, your words of encouragement and your messages that made us smile. We've missed you all loads and can't wait to see you again. And hope you're looking forward to following us through Part Two next year!See you SOON xxx