A welcome break in Suffolk

 Summer is here and thankfully the start of a return to a normal (ish) life

Double jabbed and with a full tank of diesel we take the four hour drive down to Suffolk to stay on the site near Emilja and Richard for the next six weeks

Safely settled in and with the use of Emilja's car for the duration we start to make some radical plans about our future touring

Early on in our stay good friends Pat & Jane come to stay in the motorhome and a Suffolk itinery is planned to make the most of their stay

Obviously this was on the list!

Southwold too

An evening pigging out at The Four Horseshoes in Thornham Magna

Keith (Richard's Brother) runs a very nice cafe in Stowmarket so we take our chums to sample the delights of his establishment

After saying our farewells our next few days are spent soaking up the sun visiting the local parks and nature reserves to help with Nina's rehab

Nice to get out and about in the car as well after having made and executed a tough decision

So here's the thing.....

After much soul searching and facing up to the reality that Nina just isn't going to be comfortable riding the bike here or in Europe I ride to the dealership one saturday morning to discuss them selling the bike for me in their showroom

Totally top of the range bike with low mileage (thanks Covid) and kitted out with the very best it sells that first weekend and we are left feeling gutted...

Nina's ability to walk any real distance has been cruely taken from her and we have stumbled across an idea to return to touring both the UK and Europe effectively in the near future

Keeping us going throughout those long winter months with the bike tucked up in the garage was viewing many bike touring vids on Youtube 

One particular guy (Richy Vida) and his mates put out several touring vids of Norway and we noticed in most of his stills of bikes lined up there were campervans (Ducato Van conversions) parked up in the background at various viewpoints and stopovers...

An epic light bulb moment for us both!

A life changing injury and Brexit restrictions have really stuffed us so some creative thinking was required

Why not buy a van conversion, do three month tours of Europe in that and return for effectively six months in the RV set up in different UK locations?

Use the van as daily transport here in the UK and indeed discover the far flung areas of our own Isles as well as six months overseas

Two vans! Well why not?

Viewing suitable campervans in the UK at the moment is almost a non event as most available have been sold including the demonstrators leaving dealers with nothing to take to shows or have available on forecourts for prospective purchasers to view

With a mere 24hrs to spare we managed recently to secure the last available build spot for a Dreamer van conversion for 2022 so now have a very long wait until next spring/summer to take delivery

We feel its an excellent way forward for us to rekindle our love of travel and visit the places we could not get to even with our first motorhome

The possibilities for us are endless and it will enable Nina to make the best of the situation having had the freedom to walk all day where she wanted taken away so cruelly 

Flat Eric...bless him

Adorning the wall of neighbour Martin's barn where he kindly serviced Emilja's car which was long overdue

A day out in Felixtowe turned in to a really nice experience having begun with this monster of a meal at the Regal on the seafront

She's a lucky girl!

Sothwold pier on another gloriously sunny day

Old Felixtowe

In Nowton Park close to Bury St Edmunds

Several trips here for Nina to do her rehab

I'm let loose one day with Lola in nearby Bradfield Woods

A fine pooch...

Afternoon scones taken in Lavenham

Part of my daily walking route near the site at Beyton

A pleasant afternoon spent in Aldeburgh

Amid it all the drama of England's epic run in the Euro 2020 competition

Well done Lads each and every one of you!

Snape Maltings just outside Aldeburgh

Finally we get to enjoy our Christmas 2019 gift from Emilja & Richard

A 'Covid safe' Adnams factory tour

A shortened tour was amply compensated for by extra free beer at the end

RV dramas on the trip were:

• Constant high pitched low air warning buzzer on the way down
• 240v RCD tripping resulting in no sockets in use
• Windscreen shaking loose on our return

Thankfully the first two were fixed early doors on site and the latter very recently here back 'home' in Derbyshire by National Windscreens

Normality slowly resumes

Never have I left it so long to make a post and for that probably apologies are in order!

Our temporary lifestyle and Covid lockdowns mean of course that as a travel blog the content is almost non existant. This will change in due course no doubt and the heavily quoted "things will return to normal" phrase gets an airing here...we live and dream

So perhaps a brief resume of the past four months is in order to reset the blog and move on

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Our surroundings are blessed with the efforts of the late Ted's labours over the years in that the farm he ran was planted with all manner of seasonal flowers and bulbs

Snowdrops in their thousands surround us

My afternoon walks gradually move forward in to evening ones as the days lengthen and thankfully the worst of the weather is left behind

Late March sees some lovely sunny warm days and the ramp at the back of the dairy becomes our new sunspot

Most days we are out in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside grinding out the rehab for Nina

A magical day for us as we become two of so many lucky folk here in the UK to have our first vaccinations well ahead of most of the world's populous

Every morning the Brothers arrive and set to work about the farm and land. Jobs are a plenty and the bike is pressed in to action off road to deliver tea to thirsty 'drainage workers'

Mick, Phil and Dick

We owe so much to these guys for their collective hospitality

At last the little buggers arrive...

Our nearest neighbours

A word on Nina...

Nina's rehab progress is amazing and down to sheer painful effort on her part and six months full on physiotherapy in many forms at Oakwood Physiotherapy she is now much down the road from where she was last year

There is a long way to go however and a third operation is now likely but thankfully not imminent

After many hospital visits (and a false diagnosis which set her back) she now has learned that her bone loss issue is almost resolved and that at this stage she doesn't require further surgery to heal her femur

Tissue damage and lack of mobility combined with the obvious pain and constant discomfort remain but the Professor at QMC has a future plan which will be considered later in the year

A complex Op and a very painful rehab for her following the procedure but better flexion could be achieved ultimately

A long way off and for her to decide finally to proceed should the moons align medically wise

She has the love and support of so many good folk around her to get her through it

Simon and Mandy (not pictured lol) spend a few days with us on the farm once lockdown is lifted and their positivity and warmth is absorbed. Nina throws together a tapa style greeting and several beers courtesy of Simon are downed

Baz and Gina are but a stone's throw away and similarly we spent some happy times in their company

The time arrives at which Pat and Jane can no longer resist the charms of the Derbyshire Dales and they too arrive for a cracking few days of canasta playing, food consuming and forced beer drinking!

A cool day out but most welcomed with breakfast at Tideswell

A lovely shot of our first beer out having made the wise choice of visiting Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell

Back at the ramp the Mr Cathcart is desperate to consume the beer takeaway in a conveniently sized container 😃

Hey it was lovely beer and I made sure he shared it equally!

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Up next post is a month's trip down to Suffolk to see Emilja & Richard so we look forward to that and hopefully some good weather to go exploring