Feeling quite disorganised on my side of things. Still have to rent the house out so we'll have a small pot to supplement any savings. This weekend, I started The Big Clear Out, in preparation for The Big Clean. After despatching own bodyweight in shoes to the local Save the Children, I braved a look under the bed where I'd inexplicably accumulated 3 tents over the years. This is roughly one for each camping trip I've undertaken in the last decade. Clearly an upgrade-obsessive...must be down to many a childhood trailer-tent holiday in Morecambe.

As for the latest upgrade, still haven't yet managed to spend a night in Vera. Jon bought her in October since when we've endured the seemingly endless wet cold winter.... We are planning a night away in our closest campsite somewhere in Kent to do some 'snagging' - last minute fault-finding and remedying of fixtures and fittings. Better to discover lumps, leaks and squeaks in Sevenoaks rather than Albania.

On another ill-prepared point, I have yet to drive Vera, and in fact have not been behind the wheel of any vehicle since I sold my (much smaller) Mini in the 90s (and I had trouble parking even that.) I plan to overcome this drivers' block when I take over the wheel on the streets of central Roma...or maybe a quiet stretch of country lane in Belgium...

We are both learning rudimentary Italian too. Happily Jon's has passed beyond this point and he should now be able to converse reasonably well, albeit only in the current tense. Mine has stayed at the rudimentary stage, despite the 11 weeks intensive course at City Lit reaching its finale next week. I am practicing saying: Mi Scusi, ma non ho capito. A lot.

Makeover

Vera's at Elite VW in Basildon now. I really hope everything goes well as we're cutting it a bit fine now. Brought the folding bike with me which was an excellent idea - the station was almost 2 miles away.
All work should be done in about 2 weeks time. Looking foward to a new and slightly bigger engine (big bore 1641cc), and we'll finally have electricity.

New engine

The bad news is that Vera needs a new engine. Tests revealed quite low oil pressure, although the cylinder compression was fine. Together with some significant movement on the pulley stronlgy indicated worn bearings. This also explains the knocking sound when accelerating under load. I've arranged to have a reconditioned 1641cc engine to be put in at Elite VW in Basildon., as Jack's Garage's quote for fitting a new engine was a bit steep. They'll also undertake all the necessary electrical work; leisure battery, mains hook-up, relays, Zig unit, fridge connections and extra fuses.
The only consolation were the mechanic's positive comments about the body work.

After we have Vera back we'll crack on with the interior work: converting the existing Dormobile buddy seat into a box seat to create more storage; some repairs to the rock'n'roll bed wood work; making shelves and drawers for the existing cupboard; getting new foam cut for the bed, and sewing new covers. I'll also want to line the back (boot) with some insulating material, both as heat and sound insulation.

Our estimated date of departure is now the week commencing April 21.