2016 Calls – Plans in Team Zagan
Hi all!
Hope your plans for Christmas and New Year are all lined up. Easy on the sherry folks. We’ll be busy attempting to quaff the vats of wine and beer we picked up on our way through Spain and France. Having said that, my case of Leffe has already taken quite a beating…
On the way home we nipped into Bluewater Shopping Centre car park to meet up with David, half of thegreygappers.co.uk who will be chronicling their motorhome adventures around Spain, starting in Jan 2016 when David turns 55. He and his wife Karen quit their jobs and are off out into the world in an Elddis van they’ve only just picked up. We’ll be keeping an eye on their progress, especially the local eating they plan to get done!
Arriving back at Zagan’s storage location about a mile up the road from us, rain pouring down, we couldn’t get the Smart Car to start. Guessing the battery was dead, despite the whacking great solar panel attached to it, reinforcements in the form of my Dad were called in. Much attempt at jump-starting and scratching of heads: no movement of Smart. With some huffing and puffing we shoved it out of Zagan’s space, parked Zagan up, headed to my folks for fish ‘n’ chips and Dad loaned us his car to nip to Halfords for a replacement battery.
The next day, in goes the new battery, out comes the same result: the engine wouldn’t spin. Phone comes out and ADAC is dialled. With a combined Ju-Jay effort we got the message across to the lady on the other end that we’d broken down, where, how, age of car, shoe size etc. An hour later the AA called to say they had arrived: somewhere. Fortunately the addresses were only 30 mins apart, so the chap popped up in no time. Arms crossed he listened to the story, declared the alternator to be seized, got us to attempt to start it to confirm and then sliced off the belt. Voila, started first (fourteenth) time. As the water pump runs off the same belt, Ju had to nurse the Skate (as we call the Smart) to our nearby garage, AA man a short distance behind. Couple of hours in the garage and the problem was sorted.
Conclusion: we’re planning on being away a fair bit of 2016, so it’s time for the Smart to go, it’s on eBay. We’re on great bus links here, are within walking distance of shops, pubs, restaurants and (you never know) sporting facilities. At the moment, we don’t need a car.We have Zagan for visiting folks any distance away. If we need a car for a couple of months in future, say, we’ll hire one. If we need one for a longer period, like if we decided to pick up work which needed one, we’d buy one. The Smart costs about £600 a year for us to insure, tax, MOT, replace consumables and service, plus maybe £200 a year depreciation. It makes sense to sell.
After a couple of runs up and down the road our food and booze stashes and a few clothes were transferred from Zagan to Cooler (in future we’ll park Zagan near to the Cooler and carry stuff in). The log burner in here was raging, the wee fridge was cold and we were back in. As we’re not looking for work, that’s it, from touring to day-to-day living, a couple of hours transition. The tenants sharing the house are happy and have held onto all of our post for us, and there are only one or two minor jobs I need to do in the yard to tidy it up before we leave again.
The plan now is to share Christmas and New Year with family and friends, then we have a mate’s wedding to enjoy in late Jan 2016 before heading off out again into wide blue yonder. Zagan needs cleaning, bulbs swapping for LEDs, a freezer door hinge replacing, fridge vent covers finding/buying, and a fettling at the garage (cambelt change, look at squealing alternator belt again, fix problem with temperature gauge, service and MOT).
The 2016 plan is, basically, to get to the North Cape in Norway. Since it’s up in the Arctic, we’re going to try and hit Scandinavia in spring/summer. The current thinking is we’ll kill a few weeks in the Alps and slowly head up through Germany, Poland and the Baltics to Finland. Up Finland and up, up and up to the North Cape before heading south through Norway, Sweden, Denmark and finally through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and back home via France. Unless we come up with another plan that is…
So, thanks for all of your support in 2015, have a cracking Xmas and new year, and here’s to a fantastic 2016!
Cheers! Jay, Ju and Charlie (Team Zagan)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the 3 of you (4 if you include Zagan). May 2016 bring many new wines to taste, sights to see and lots of new and exciting stuff. I look forward to reading all about it.
Like the sound of the 2016 plan(A) looking forward to your updates.
Merry Christmas to All
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas to you both, we shall be heading south in January for 3 months, our longest journey yet. I have been following you for years, it has given us great inspiration, many thanks. Suddenly your emails have stopped coming through, I think i read something from you about that so I’ll check the box below again.
Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year
PS email notifications have stopped again
It was really great logging into into your web page. Life will not be quite the same without your daily news. We are off to Morocco on February 1st but before that Spain and hope to find plenty of aires! We are still trying to come up with a name for your 2013 Hymer. Any help appreciated!
All the very best for 2016
Richard & Helen Weston
Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year, really enjoyed following your last Tour…great you finished on a Big Visual Video Feast, I’ve been saving up for a Motor home to buy late 2016 but the Tax man is getting double off me next year so been set back 6 months or so and then I think I want to buy in Winter for a better deal?,,,so maybe winter 2017?…Ah Well I’m now having a beer or two (said I would’nt post on this when I’m having a drink…but it’s Christmas so I’ll forgive myself)…Anyways…
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!
Naughty tax man! Delaying your adventure, what a cheeky chappie he is! Keep at it Marcus – no-one can stop you when you’ve got the blinding light in sight. Party time now anyho – xmas and NYE blast to be had- enjoy! Jay
Merry Christmas guys. Thanks for the blog. We are off to Morocco on Jan 13 for 6 weeks, mostly due to positive inspiration from you both. Good, bad or indifferent, it will be an experience. Have a nice family time. Wayne and Angie
With the right mindset Wayne (which I reckon you have), you’ll have a pretty awesome time guys! It’s Africa, and you’ll be a sudden celebrity once you arrive, as you’ll be LOADED compared with nigh-on everyone around you. That was the hardest part for me to deal with, but I really loved the overall experience, it was something I’m so pleased I did. Cheers, Jay
Merry Christmas and a Happy and safe New Year for your travels in 2016
Still not getting your emails/blogs
Even if not on the road your blog is a great read! Sorry to hear about the Skate not starting. Wise decision to sell! Enjoy your friends and family time!
If passing through Belgium know you are very welcome here for a glass or two or three… Always Leffe in the fridge … ;-))
Hi all. We jumped off the merry-go-round this year and at 55 years young feel blessed to be able to. We have done our first 5 week Euro trip, and are off again into France and Spain on the 25th Jan 2016. We have 4 beautiful grandchildren, so will probably do 6 weeks before we need to cuddle them again, but Facetime is a good fill in. We have followed you for years now and like many others were inspired. We have liked your Facebook page using our page (Betty Bolero) and will keep a keen look out for you as we travel. All the very best for 2016 and safe travels.
Regards, Glyn & Lesley Jones aka Betty Bolero!
Thanks Glyn, congratulations and enjoy the spoils of your labours guys. Cheers, Jay
Been great following your adventures. Hope you had a tasty Xmas and enjoy the New Year.
We are hopefully off full-timing April ‘ish, we are aiming for the North Cape over the summer, so might bump into you guys there. Good luck getting Zagan sorted.