Here we go again....

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND.........

Oh she's a bit of a state!

Bloody hell!

You see my friends, we recover well enough and then make the same mistakes more than once!

Let's face it, you were totally expecting another 'wreck' from us at some point and yes, this one is on wheels! Maybe the next addition to the family will be a pile of bricks! Now that would be a lot of fun and maybe wandering the globe in 'Wanda' can help us find her accomplice, the Forever Home, a wreck somewhere no doubt!

Three years ago, we got going with our first monster camper 'Big Bertha' and like a lot of things in our lives, she didn't make it RIP! We had just got her mechanically right and lovely inside when a French recovery company, cruelly murdered her and she was written off!

We did cry!

It was just a coolant leak and P to this day regrets not driving it to the nearest garage, rather than waiting for the recovery truck. He waited 3 days on the side of the road! He was just being careful with his investment, bless him!

We still haven't got the excess back and our insurance is still affected, because the insurer hasn't taken the French insurer to court! We paid the price in more ways than loosing our camper, because we only got the cost of the purchase back and not the money we spent on her! There wasn't a similar vehicle available in the Uk, so we put the money where it was needed at the time, new windows for the French Wreck!

Ouch.

I don't why folks don't listen when people say 'don't invest in a property in France because you'll loose money'......TRUTH! We learnt the hard way so you don't have to!

BB? She was a cosy lil chateau on wheels to us! So comfortable, but majorly disliked by French campsites!

To be honest, yes I am and I always overshare, the last 3 years have been full of loss and too much grief. Friends, family, human and animal and the camper gone, not to mention the French farce. It's been a LOT!! Some would just give up but we are made of stronger stuff!

We have rolled with the punches and tried to reset several times but the time, money and motivation wasn't there yet, it is now. When I say 'money', we just emptied that 1/4 full piggy bank on Wanda the Winnebago! This time round we had just the fifth of the budget we had for BB and so an auction was the only way to go!

Like an adventurers 'blind date' I suppose, there was a lot of trust, hope and faith involved. If we'd have gone on looks alone, maybe we'd have walked away! Fickle, I know!

We met her yesterday and in the dark of the storage unit, she looked rather worse for wear. I panicked and told P he had made a monumental mistake, because it can't possibly have been anything to do with me! In the cold light of day today, I think it's doable and not as bad as I felt it was on that first look!

I may even fall in love down the line, who know's.....anything is possible!

We all know anything with wheels and curves is gonna to be expensive but our tiny budget for renovation is already blown! All six tyres are illegal and yes, we've reported the MOT garage!

Wanda! The old dame is rather spent! Her fur coat is seriously tatty and she's very much in need of Phil's mechanical skills then Donna's interior magic! She'll be reet! I'm sure of it. I've just gotta get P to not swing out to the right side of the road! I drove behind him for many, many miles and watched him go over the lines a bit! He will soon get used to driving a left hand drive again with practice.

For now there are firefighting jobs that need doing asap and we are trying to find a carpenter to recreate the original kitchen for us but without the addition of many layers of grey gloss paint! Some people really should not be allowed a paint brush and whilst I am one of them, this guy needed to learn to colour inside the lines! Also wallpaper doesn't solve everything, it just papers over the cracks!

BB was very much in good original condition and there's nothing worse than a camper of a certain age messed with!

Wanda with new carpet, kitchen and other bits and pieces will be ready to rock and roll but the weather is a tragedy today, so not much will be done. Not today anyway!

It's now a case of ordering a cooker-hood, microwave, oven, sinks and taps, lights and swapping out old fittings. We need to order blinds and awnings, have some body work repaired and obviously carpets will be last!

The generator and the automatic steps don't work. Jobs for him!

Still, I'm still hanging on to the hope, of our first trip being the first week of November but I'm prepared for disappointment! She needs to be ready, clean tidy and functional. She is also smaller than BB by 4 feet and I think I will really feel that in the kitchen! We need some kitchen trickery I think!

He's happy with her mechanics so far and the under carriage is very tidy!

She really needs a good clean and polish and because we are ripping out the interior, we can clean as we go!

There's a lot to do but essentially the excitement is back in our lives and we feel that 16 months after throwing the French life towel in, we are coming back to life! Everyone needs something to look forward to and we are no different!

We knew we wanted another camper at some point but seriously couldn't afford it and also save for a house deposit at the same time. Sometimes my loves, we have to cut our cloth accordingly and maybe, downgrade our wish list? Maybe thats why so many of us buy 'wrecks'....! And lets face it, if you have to do the hard work, you become more connected to the project. There's a lot of pride to be had from a bit of DIY done well!

It's rather heartwarming to leave some of the negativity of the last few years behind and rewind a bit. He and I are not easily broken but I suspect we got pretty close. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, it just doesn't work out! I always think the universe tries to keep telling us it's not for us and we don't listen eh!

Listen.

The last few years have left scars but we have kept our sense of humour and will carry the fudge on regardless. Petals, we only get one life, there's no time for regrets is there?

There's a whole big beautiful world out there to play with and I can't wait to pack Wanda up and see where we end up! I suppose next summer we will just hit the road, he can work from the home on wheels thanks to Starlink and we can finally have the adventure we expected back in 2023!

Here's to getting to know Wanda and to hitting the road in the summer of 2027!

Love and gumption

D x

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

BIG BERTHA

BERTIE

PAM

MUM 

THE FRENCH WRECK