Friday – left home around 3.30 and had an uneventful trip to the C & CC site at East Horsley.

A very friendly welcome and much admiration for our new van! We were soon set up and off to Cobham for a few odds and ends in Waitrose. Paul had work calls to USA to make so I shopped alone. Bought some yummy things – including an intriguing pot of “Balsamic Pearls”.
We were both looking forward to our first night’s sleep in the new van and, as we had a pretty early start, went to bed early.
Saturday – up at 7-ish after a comfy night and in the shower (nice!) and breakfast before packing up our contribution to the day’s picnic – Scotch Eggs and Victoria sandwich (both made on Thursday evening) and hot beverages for the day. The night had been showery and the morning wasn’t looking a whole lot better with threatening grey clouds and a sharp and chilly wind. Great for a day’s boating!
We all (Bruce Mel, Lenny & Evie Carter and Kate, Paul and Holly Hansford)arrived at Farncombe Boathouse, near Catteshall Lock on the River Wey, within a couple of minutes of each other. We paid the damage deposit, picked up life jackets for the littlies and began our briefing. Soon we were on our way towards Guildford. The weather was very kind all day and our picnic would have fed double the crew. A lunch time stop for Pimms went down very well indeed. Stopped at Dapdune Wharf on the way back for a short visit and eventually made our way back to base. And reluctantly handed back the boat.

We drove back in convoy to the campsite so that everyone could come and admire our new acquisition. After a quick cuppa, everyone left us to our own devices and we passed a pleasant evening watching Pacific .

We very much enjoyed our first weekend away in Mr Munch and can’t wait for the next time. Some images from the weekend follow:

A 4 o’clock slot for pick-up saw us leaving home at 2.30 for the journey to Gomshall (nr Guildford). All went well until we realised that Paul had forgotten to bring the apparently all-important driving licence (paper part) which was required to finalise the transaction. A hurried phone call to our son, George, fortunately saved the day and we left towing our new pride and joy. A sad farewell to Sir Percy – our former van of almost 4 years and we were off. We decided on a name on the return journey – choosing Mr Munch after leading Expressionist exponent Edvard Munch – to be known as Eddie for short. We arrived home at around 7 pm and spent the rest of the evening putting all our effects in and familiarising ourselves with the new layout and cupboard spaces, ready for the weekend to come.

This is our new blog. Inspired by our blogging for our Canada trip, we decided we’d document – mainly for our own interest – our travels, mainly in the UK but, occasionally, abroad with our new caravan. So – here goes!

The new van is a “Swift Expression 554”, which is a special edition from Michael Jordan Caravans, based on the Swift Challenger Sport 554 but with more tasteful upholstery!! It looks a bit like this