2016 – Our 1st Gypsy Summer
A Year of Hope and Disappointment
The year started in NZ and ended in Northampton – not what we had hoped for!! We had hoped for an early acceptance of our Expression of Interest in NZ residency but that didn’t happen until mid-Summer … and worse news was to come in October.
The New Year at Point View House
The year began with us once again staying in Mike and Linden Johnson’s apartment at Point View House.
At the beginning of the year, we were helping Dougal and Jacqui prepare for the move to their new home in Tauranga. The selling and buying could not be perfectly synchronised, which led to a short hiatus between mid-January and mid-February. This gave us the opportunity to spend some time with Lexie and Rowan while still on their summer holiday and to explore some areas in and around Auckland that we had not yet seen.
With Lexie and Rowan at Auckland Zoo
Out & About – Saying Farewell to Auckland
Moving to Tauranga
Lexie and Rowan would need to start new schools in Tauranga at the beginning of February so it became necessary to find temporary accommodation for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, Roger and Christina had found, during their earlier visit to Tauranga, a conveniently situated motel who could accommodate the six of us for 2 weeks. While we were there, school term began and Lexie enrolled at Otumoetai College. Rowan later started at Tauriko Primary after the move into Cambridge Road.
The move into Cambridge Road duly took place and the rest of our visit was taken up helping the family move in (with a few side trips out) until it was time to return to the UK in March.
Cambridge Road
Out & About – Exploring the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato
Back in the UK
It was good to see Ciaron, Naomi and Taylor again but after a short stay with them, it was time for us to move on.
We had, while in NZ, formulated a plan to spend the UK spring, summer and autumn touring the UK in a motorhome. This was not something we had tried before so was a new adventure. Being motorhome newbies, we joined both the Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravan Club to ensure that expert help was always available. Their sites were always to a guaranteed standard.
After a bit of searching we found our first motorhome at Wellsbridge Motorhomes on the fens near Ramsey and took it out for a trial spin to the CC site near Peterborough.
Satisfied that we were getting to grips with our new toy, we set out for our summer tour proper intending to explore Scotland up the east coast and down to the west.
Unfortunately the tour was cut short!
Heading North
Leaving Bromham, our aim was to journey towards John o’ Groats in easy stages, spending 2-3 days at each stop. The first stop was Bolton Abbey by the River Wharf, thereafter travelling to Berwick-on-Tweed with a quick stop to look at Bamburgh Castle and Holy Island.
Into Scotland
Crossing the Tweed and leaving Berwick, we crossed the border and entered Scotland. Our first stop was at the Maragowan Caravan Club site at Killin on the River Dochart in the Tay valley. Leaving Killin, we headed up the A9 towards Inverness and the Caravan Club site at Culloden Moor. After Inverness, we travelled to Brora on the east coast before heading to the Dunnet Bay site, just 5 miles shy of Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain and just a short bus ride from John o’ Groats.
John o’ Groats and the Orkneys
Rising early, we caught the first bus to John o’ Groats and booked the ferry crossing to Orkney Mainland and a coach tour of the island’s sites, including the neolithic sites at Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar. The return ferry arrived just in time for us to catch the last bus back to Dunnet Bay and a late meal at a nearby restaurant. It was the end of a lovely day, though at this latitude at this time of the year (late May/early June), it was still light. Nights were only a couple of hours long.
Going South (and West)
Leaving Dunnet Bay we headed for Dunnet Head before setting off south to our next planned stop at the Kinlochwe CC site. We stopped at Thurso to buy some cold weather coats. When we had set out, we had anticipated warm weather and only packed summer clothes. However, throughout the journey north we had been met with a chilly north-easterly wind and finally bowed to the reality of Scottish weather.
We judged the journey to Kinlochwe too long for one day so made an overnight stop at the Wood End site in Lairg. Moving on the next day, we passed through the beautiful Glen Docherty and arrived at Kinlochwe to settle down for a planned few days stay.
End of the Trip …
It was at Kinlochwe that things began to go wrong!
On the journey down to Lairg, the television in the motorhome had become damaged. Identifying a caravan sales and accessories site on route from Lairg to Kinlochwe, we stopped and bought a replacement TV. However, it wasn’t until we had arrived and set up at Kinlochwe that we realised that we had bought an analogue TV that was incompatible with the digital service provided by the CC site. The next day we resolved to return the TV and exchange it for a digital set. This we did and on the way back stopped at the ASDA superstore on the outskirts of Tain for lunch. Setting off again, we had travelled only a few miles south of Tain when we got caught up in a road traffic accident. A collision on the opposite carriageway pushed a car directly into our path and a collision was unavoidable. Our offside front wheel collapsed and we careered across the road to end up against a wire fence.
Apart from a seat belt bruise to Christina, we were unhurt but the motorhome was a right-off. We found overnight accommodation in a B&B in Tain and the next day caught a train to Inverness, hired a small van and set about collecting our possessions from the CC site in Kinlochwe and the motorhome (now stored in a recovery yard in Tain). We then started the long journey back to Bromham.
Phase 2 – In the Tent
A new approach
Back with Ciaron and Naomi in Bromham, we set about recovering the cost of the motorhome from insurance. This was relatively painless (although the incidental expenses took the best part of a year to recover). We also had another task: shortly before the crash, we had received notification that our Expression of Interest in NZ residency had been accepted and we could submit an Application, which involved a lot of form-filling and gathering a number of documents and getting them notarised. We also had to arrange to have medicals at an approved centre.
It was during this period that the Brexit Referendum took place. We were dismayed by the result, which convinced us more than ever that we wished to leave England, preferably to New Zealand but, if not, to Scotland.
Before rushing out to replace the motorhome, we reflected on our experiences to date. While we had enjoyed the accommodation of what had been a quite large vehicle, we had found it cumbersome to use to get around whilst on site. Unlike NZ (where motorhomes are accepted and well catered for), UK car parks are not motorhome friendly and are often run by private car parking companies ever eager to slap a non-compliance notice on what they stipulate to be an ‘illegally’ parked vehicle or one that does not fit into a standard car park space. Consequently we had used public transport wherever possible; but not all sites we so conveniently located.
We had been keen campers in out younger days and thought: “Why not try ‘glamping’?” A large tent with all mod-cons would give us equivalent accommodation to the motorhome and we could use the car to get around the locality of the campsite. So we set about acquiring all of the equipment we need. We already had an estate car with factory-fitted rails so only a roof box was needed.
Travelling east and west
Our NZ medicals had been booked at the Spire Hospital near Sutton Coalfield. This was close to the CCC site at Kingsbury Water Park so we booked in there to test out our new approach. We liked it there and the weather was good so we stayed on until we heard from Spire that our medical results had been submitted to NZ Immigration. We headed back to Bromham and then set out for the Norfolk Broads, before returning to Bromham to finalise our NZ Residency application. Heading west, we then set up camp at Hereford before returning to Bromham via Oxfordshire to house sit for Ciaron and Naomi while they holidayed in Malta.
The Elvin Ancestral Home?
Ciaron had started investigating the Elvin family tree and had traced back our origins to the Norfolk town of Wymondham. Being not far from our camp site on the Norfolk Broads, we took a side trip to see what we could easily discover. Seeking out the war memorial, we found that name ‘Elvin’ was known in Wymondham. We also found in Wymondham church yard a grave of Daniel and Mary Elvin. It was only in 2020 when Roger started his own genealogical research that he discovered that they were in fact his 3x great-grandparents. One of their sons James Elvin I, for some reason yet unknown, moved from Wymondham to South Yorkshire and started the line of Sheffield Elvins, which produced Roger.
House Sitting – Planning for Phase 3
While housesitting for Ciaron and Naomi (with a side visit to Ascott House at Wing), we reflected once again on the tent experience and realised that it too had a draw-back. While great for extended stays in one place, it was not so good for touring with only short stays in any one place. With all the equipment we had included to replicate the motorhome experience, it took about two hours to set it all up and about the same again to take it all down and pack into the car. To do this on one day with a car journey between was just too tiring. We missed the convenience of the motorhome. There had to be a middle ground, a compromise!
Ciaron and Naomi in Malta
Phase 3 – A Second Motorhome
We returned to Wellsbridge Motorhomes and found what we were looking for – a small motorhome that would park like a car but with the cooking, sleeping and toilet facilities needed. With the addition of a smaller tent just for sitting and, maybe, sleeping accommodation we could have the best of both worlds. We set up the large tent for the final time in Ramsey on the Fens while waiting to collect the motorhome.
Goodbye to the Tent
The Last Tour of the Year
With our new setup, we set out on our final tour of the year, starting at Carsington Water near Ashbourne, then travelling via Oswestry, Lake Bala, Aberystwyth and Cardigan Bay to Abergavenny before returning to Bromham.
However, it was during the final stages of this tour that we received the bad news that our NZ Residency application was going to be delayed. The immigration quotas had been halved and ours was going to be pushed into the next year and would not be considered before July 2017.
A Quiet End to the Year
We had a UK winter ahead of us! Not wishing to inflict ourselves on the family, we rented a flat in Northampton for the winter and began to prepare ourselves for a second gypsy summer. After three trials, we now knew what we wanted. The small motorhome plus tent was the right approach but the motorhome chosen was just a little too small. We sold the motorhome back to Wellsbridge and ordered a new motorhome to be delivered in May 2017 ready for our second summer tour. The one chosen was a van conversion, large enough to be comfortable but still manoeuvrable and, being the size of a transit van, easy to park. With a drive-away awning, it should be the perfect setup.
Roger’s 70th birthday was celebrated with support from the family on both sides of the world and we bunkered down for the winter., keeping in touch with all members of the family for Christmas.
