Not as easy as originally thought...

After thinking that biking from Lands End to John O'Groats wouldn't be too bad, my opinion has now majorly changed! Dad and I went for a ride yesterday and ended up covering 80 miles. Check out the route that we went on...



I think I have been a bit naive about the ride as a whole. Biking 20 miles and thinking "it's only another 40 miles on top of that, it'll be easy" however it's the first 20 miles that are by far the easier.

Today I haven't felt too bad which is always good, especially knowing that when we do it we will have to be biking another full on day again, and again, and again!

A post wouldn't be a post without a picture of the van, so here you go.

Here's the interior as it stands. I worked on the unit behind the drivers seat at the weekend because work was goin on elsewhere and I couldn't get to the back.





It has been discovered that the van must have had a big old knock on the back of it. Where the rear hatch closes down there is a big gad when the new door is fitted on. Luckily (if this can be called luckily) someones van had been set alight and Steve's Landlord bought it and was cutting it up, so he could salvage the parts needed and weld them in place. It has done the job perfectl and sorted out the huge dent and also made it watertight!







Here's some of all the other panels in place...







I have got next Friday off as a holiday, so am hoping to get more done then, as well as this and next weekend so should be a lot more progress to see soon.

X

Snow, Easter and stuff...

It's Eater bank holiday weekend here and it's been snowing also!





It's pretty deep!

On the travelling front we are thinking that we will be booking our ferry ticket tonight. Aiming to leave around the 15th May time so that we have a few days after Grandads Birthday to get things ready.

On news regarding the bike ride, Desira (Nissan Dealers) are going to supply us with a Nissan Nivara for the two weeks which is awesome! Big Pimping!



Also on further car news, Becky is doing a grand job of well and truly finishing off her little Dorothy (her car!). This is what happens when you put Becky with a car in the Riverside Car Park...



I almost forgot to mention that we have both handed in our notices at work! The time is coming ever closer and very quickly also. We have also been thinking about the route a bit more and looks like we will do things the reverse to our initial thoughts, i.e starting at France and finishing in Amsterdam. I think the first few things that we will do will be go to Brussels, then drive towards Paris, going to Disneyland, Reims, Troyes, Champagne region and then potentially head to Barcelona and carry on to Italy via the South coast of France...!

I think that's about it for now.

Once I have more news relating to traveling I shall update more.

X

Van-age...again!

So, this is currently more like a Van Diary rather than a traveling blog. Oh well...deal with it.

Some pictures of the current update.

The drivers side rear quarter...


The passenger side rear quarter panel, battery tray, rear arch and sill under the sliding door...


The passenger side rear arch...


The passenger side rear quarter panel and battery tray...


And here's the current picture of the interior...


The material for the cushions has arrived, so Mum will be getting the sewing machine out and cracking on with them - good luck!

Now for things non-van related. The date for departure (which is yet to be set) is drawing more and more closer. So is the date for the bike ride. And so is the date for my exam. All is coming up very quickly. It's pretty much a week of biking to and from work, biking at the weekends, working on the van at the weekends and studying in the gaps (which hasn't been much at all!).

Easter is coming up soon so it will be pretty awesome to have some extra time of work. I think a visit to Jenny's is being arranged soon also.

We're going to check out Sarah and Ash's new house tonight and then getting a bite to eat in the city so will end this thing here and get ready.

X