Today started in a gloomy fashion, such that it has since been referred to as 'misery morning'. It's never a good feeling to lie in a tent listening to the rain falling outside, and this rain was heavy and persistent and we had had a cold night. The bench bench and fire pit where we had so much fun last night, were sitting in puddles and everything was soaked. The damp clothes and boots from yesterday's walk were still damp in the front of the van.... A cup of t...

Another surprisingly comfortable night in the van. We fell asleep last night snuggled up in our sleeping bags and duvets, watching the glowing embers of our fire pit through the open side door... And listening to the loud snoring of the man in the text next door! Van life hit a bit of a low this morning, with repeated fruitless searches for lost belongings in our crowded home and cold water in the ladies shower block. After a full and frank discussion regarding...

Surprisingly, we felt quite bright and breezy and up for a challenge when the alarms went at 4am (11am UK time) and so by the time Chris appeared at our door we were already dressed in winter running kit with backpacks ready and bear spray in its holster! On our way from the cabin in the pitch darkness we bumped into a startled yurt camper called Heather, on her way to the facilities clutching torch and bear spray! Excited and optimistic about our early morning ...

Woke up at 8.30am after a remarkably comfortable night, sleeping three in the van. Chris cooked avocado and egg for breakfast. Today's plan was to prepare the van got our road trip so first stop was Lisa's house to drop off various bits of excess luggage ( bike, ice axes / crampons etc) in her garage, and then to prepare our vehicle. B and C fitted the tow bar and luggage rack and invertor which unfortunately started smoking when connected. K washed up all the ca...

Gatwick Airport, UK Chapter Two - The Canadian Adventure. An auspicious start to my 56th birthday with the 6.15am shuttle from Copthorne Hotel to The South terminal of Gatwick airport. Just us and our 138kg of luggage, courtesy of the Option plus upgrade (£15) with Air Transat. They accept our four large hold bags, Chris's bike and a large bag of camping equipment without a murmur, and don't even make fuss about the kilogramme of French cheese that we are expo...