Wardrobe

I can't wait for this house sale to be over so we can get going on our adventure. One benefit to having extra time is that we have been able to work on little tweaks to the van that might have been more difficult to do while on the road.

For example we discovered that our 10 litre water tank really wasn't big enough. So we upgraded to a 25 litre one. The curtains I made let far too much light in around the gaps so I made some modifications (made them longer, added magnets and sewed multiple small curtains into longer ones). The small fold down cupboard door made a good table so I painted and varnished the inside. 

And, we really needed to sort out our clothing organisation. Everything just got chucked and piled into our back corner cupboard, which is fine for a weekend but not for a couple of months. 

So we added a rail and a few storage boxes, and voila!

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Nick and I do not consider ourselves religious, in the sense that we do not believe in any form of deity or follow a system of beliefs. Contrary to popular belief we are not even pagan... although you could call us sun-worshipers of a kind. Not as in we like to sit on beaches getting tans but that we appreciate and acknowledge that without the Sun, there would be no life on our planet. The solstices are a reminder of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, and our solar system's place in the Universe, and an opportunity to be grateful for all we have.

Who knows what went on at Stonehenge, but the Sun must have been important to the people who built it, as the monument is aligned to the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset. So for our last summer solstice in the UK we decided to watch the sunrise from Stonehenge.

Although Stonehenge is normally open to the public, you can't actually get near the stones. But at the solstices, you are allowed to go right up to the stones and touch them. That privilege alone is worth going for, as you can't fully appreciate their size until standing right beneath them.  

We went before, in 2009, when the solstice fell on a weekend. 36,500 people went that year and we queued for five hours. The place was overrun with people and we didn't stay for the sunrise. This year, with the solstice falling on a weekday and heavy rain forecast, we thought it might be worth another go. 

Arriving at 23:30 there was no queue to get in (only 14,500 people went this year) although the car park was still full of noisy people blaring out music as if it were a festival, or passed out on the grass. Over at the stones things were quieter and there was more of a spiritual atmosphere. Unfortunately, then the rain came, and we knew we couldn't spend the next few hours out in it as it was so heavy so we went back to the car for a nap.

Walking back to the stones at 4am the rain stopped and there was an air of anticipation. The crowds looked decidedly more sober. We watched some handfasting and other pagan ceremonies. The sunrise at 04.52 was greeted by a cheer although a thick layer of cloud meant we didn't catch a glimpse of the rising sun. We realised we had left the memory card from the camera in the car so couldn't take any pictures, doh. Click  here to see some nice ones from the Guardian instead.

As we have the longest day in the Northern hemisphere, the Southern hemisphere has it's shortest day. Six months later in December, the situation is reversed. That means this year, as we will be in Australia for December, we will experience the longest day in the Southern hemisphere too. 

Geocaching

One of the good things about not having a job is that it frees you up to go off Geocaching. Emma and I went out the other day on a circular route of 24 caches a short drive from our house. Unfortunately we only found 11, largely due to not writing down all the clues; we only took the coordinates with us.

We're planning on doing lots of Geocaching when on our travels, as it adds an extra bit of adventure to walking the countryside.

For those of you who don't know what Geocaching is; it's a network of hidden caches, the coordinates of which are published on www.geocaching.com for other people to find. A normal cache will consist of a log book for you to log your visit; you can then also log your visit on the website. Some of them have small items in, and you can take one as long as you replace it with something else; or you can just add to the items without taking anything, or you can just sign the log. It is also important for people who are not "cachers" to not see what you are doing, in case they go over after you're gone and disrupt a cache.

It's a great thing to do for those who don't like walking aimlessly without a purpose, but want to get out and about in the countryside. However, not all Geocaches are in the countryside; they are also in cities and suburbs, and there are over 67,000 caches hidden all over the UK, and 1,798,456 worldwide.

Time for a spot of tea on the way.

  

Coastal Cottages near Meon

We went for a walk near the mouth of the Meon river today near Stubbington as it finally stopped raining! We only wore walking shoes when we should have worn wellies though - all the paths were flooded. 

This is another interesting stretch of coastline as you can see Cowes and the Isle of Wight, the industrial chimneys of Fawley, and all the private yachts and commercial boats and ships that go up and down this passage to Southampton.

We also came across a row of little beach hut-style houses. There are a lot of beach huts on the South coast, but usually they are just little sheds and you can't sleep in them.

These little houses we saw had letter boxes and council dustbins so it looks like they are lived in full time. They back right onto the beach - one had an artist inside drawing the scene. Very jealous.

What I love about these little houses is that life looks so simple to live here. Minimal cleaning, low running costs, and you just don't have the space for lots of useless stuff. You can only have a limited number of items so it makes you think carefully about what you buy and where it goes, things need to be both beautiful and useful. Being by the coast and having a view is a an extra bonus for these homes.

Nick and I will be moving to Australia with literally two suitcases each, and I have no desire to start accumulating more stuff when we get there. Luckily we can live with my parents for a while so we can suss out the area and decide what to do with our lives - but living in a tiny home (be it static or mobile!) definitely seems appealing.

Patchwork

I love patchwork, I find it very therapeutic especially when doing it by hand. It's a good way of using up scraps of fabric and old clothes.

Here is a patchwork cover I made for the toilet! It's padded so can be used as a foot rest too.

Everything has to be multiple purpose in the van.....

Week 4 Hair Update

I thought I'd put on a quick photo showing the state of my hair after four weeks of not washing it. It hasn't magically cleaned itself  - although the roots no longer feel greasy.

I think the key now is to keep brushing it to distribute any remaining oils down the whole length of the hair, and hopefully my scalp won't produce loads more.

I'm pretty pleased with it, it's definitely less frizzy  and really easy to detangle after just washing with water (and my hair usually gets full of tangles being long and curly).

So I'm going to keep going for another month or so to see if it gets any better.

June Happenings

Well somehow it has become June. If I had known at the start of the year we would still be here in Waterlooville in June I would not have been impressed. But life weaves in unexpected ways and it's up to us to make the most of it.

The good news is we do have a buyer for our house and so fingers crossed it all goes through quickly and easily. Our house is looking so very empty now. Which makes it a bit boring to be in so we have been out and about as much as possible. 

This is a little coastal village called Bosham that we visited in the rain. Some of the roads get flooded at high tide, I loved the little raised doors on some of the cottages to stop the flood water entering the houses.

It was the Queen's jubilee weekend but I'm afraid we were not very patriotic and didn't partake in any celebrations (mostly because it was Nick and his brother Sam's birthday on the 5 June and we celebrated that instead). I did love all the bunting everywhere, our street held a big party that carried on into the night.

In our continuing mission to visit Hampshire's landmarks before we go we recently went to Winchester Cathedral, one of the biggest in Europe.

Nick's phone went off rather embarrassingly (ski sunday theme tune) when we were stood right next to the grave of Jane Austen (where lots of people were gathered).

We hope this goes to show that we haven't just been bumming around for the past few months - well not everyday anyway. At the moment we still don't have any dates confirmed and so it's difficult to make plans.  But we feel we are getting closer to hitting the road with every day...

'In the end, it's not the space that counts, but the life you live in it'

Been watching 'Ade in Britain' with Adrian Edmondson who has this quote on the inside of his minature caravan. Thought it was pretty cool!

The New Forest

While most Britons have been enjoying the warmth and sunshine over the past couple of weeks, poor Nick has been stuck inside after a widespread bout of heat rash. So when the weather forecast predicted some lower temperatures, some cloud, and even a possible spot of rain, we got excited and took the van out. To make extra sure it would be cool and shady we headed to the New Forest.

The New Forest is one of the last remaining patches of ancient English woodland, which was saved from the chop by William the Conqueror decreeing the area as his hunting ground (and kicking out all the locals that lived there).

Anyway we headed to a site called Hollands Wood (which is massive) and it being a Wednesday was mostly empty and quiet. 

Nick decided he prefers woodlands to the coast. Myself I think I prefer the coast. So I think we will be taking it in turns to pick campsites (or, better still, looking out for woodland campsites next to the coast).

We set up the windbreak and table to create a sheltered cooking area.

Animals such as horses and ponies roam wild around the New Forest, and wander throughout the campsite munching on grass.

We picked up some local strawberries in nearby village Brockenhurst.

We packed up on Friday as the campsite was starting to fill up for the Jubilee long weekend. 

The van seemed to be running ok, a bit chuggy when the engine was running cold but fine after that.

However we did then discover on the way home after completely filling up the fuel tank that there is a leak somewhere. It must be near the top, as we have half filled the tank before and never noticed it leaking. 

Something else to get sorted before we go!