Glad you got there safely Peter. sounded like quite a journey ! Now for the unpacking😴

JB

Peter, glad to hear you arrived safely , pity about the mirror ,still I expect you have the makings to sort it out!
Now relax whilst you can, expect there is a lot to do.

Thanks Doug “wishful thinking?”

Glad to hear that everything went nearly OK for you Peter, and pleased to hear that your Puddy cats are fine, it must be a terrifying time for them, such a big move, make sure you keep them safe and in house for the first few weeks.🙀😼

Cheers, Pete

I'm glad to see this topic here 😊 I might have a lot to say at some point 😜

Well done Peter.
Glad all is beginning to settle down.
Keep us updated please.
Nice and sunny in the Bay today 👍
Regards Bill.

Wonderful news only minor scrapes and all safe and sound in the new home.Good move missing the guns in Munich and nap time is needed at times.
Rick

Well Peter if there is life after death remind me not to come back as a car wing mirror LOL!!
It is good you made the trip safely.
I am sure you will get your Wi-Fi sorted out soon.
Stay safe.

Martin555.

Well done sir, I only use Wing mirrors to judge gaps for my trailers. Rear view camera looks Back for me.
Cheers shipmate, best wishes for the future, Colin.

We have been here for nearly four weeks now. My apologies for the delay in writing an update but my Wi-Fi is very intermittent at best. I should soon be getting a connection to the superfast broadband and get an eye watering 15mb with a guarantee of 1mb.
Bet you are all jealous now. We did try a company who could supply 60mb with a guarantee of 20mb but they could not get a signal because of the trees. It is 2021 I presume? Budapest has 5G at 2Tb.

The journey was reasonable free from trouble.
We left an hour later than planned as the filling of the transport vans took much longer than expected. We were on the road by 3pm with a 9.20 slot for Eurotunnel.
The trip to the M25 went really well and we arrived on the junction from the M3 at just before six. Then we joined the car park.
I finally made it to the M20 at around 7.15 and arrived at check-in for the Tunnel at around 8pm. Plenty of time.
I had to check the two cats in separately as their health certificates and their microchips needed checking. One chip would not read so I had to take one cat into the booth with the border guard and remove from the carrier. That was fun.
We passed through UK checks with no problems and I was expecting the same but much worse in France. As we drove to the train, we had our passports checked again but this time by French border guards. Strange I thought.
We boarded the train and had to travel up through its entire length inside.
There were toilet areas reducing the width on one side every carriage.
We reached the first one and SCRAPE. I was not used to the size of the Q5 mirrors and lightly scraped it along the wall. Sorry mirror.

The trip through the tunnel was just 35 minutes. Zsuzsa felt rather closed in during this time. Not sure quite why. We reached the other side and drove off of the train. We proceed up the road following all the exit signs and we were out. No further checks at all. I was really happy now as we were in the EU without trouble.

We drove through the night with the wife taking over at about 2am. We reached Germany before daybreak. We kept on driving as the roads were remarkably clear of traffic. It was now Saturday.
We passed Munich in the early afternoon and we managed to sneak past all those guns Doug had trained on the motorway. I think we caught him during his afternoon nap.
We then hit our first major traffic jam. It was the Austrian border and they were doing checks. This was the first border with visible control. After about 90 minutes of stop start, we reached the border guard who just waved us through. Didn't expect that.
We continued our drive on the Austrian motorway through several areas of roadworks with reduced lane widths.
On what turned out to be the last one, I was following what turned out to be three very large trucks in front of me. They started to slow right down over a few hundred yards to almost a stand still. The outside lane was clear and I joined on the back of several other cars moving out to overtake. As I was passing the first truck, he decided to pull out into my lane when I was level with his cab. SCRAPE number two. Sorry mirror.
It turned out that the first two trucks must have had an incident and the front one slowed to almost a stop to carry on the argument. The one that didn't see me was caught up in it. There was no way I was going to stop so we just carried on.

The next hurdle was going to be the Hungarian border. We knew that there was a checkpoint here. Once again, to our total amazement, we were just waved through.
We arrived at our house at 7pm, 28 hours after starting. I was very pleased with our journey. The mirror is only mildly scratched, which is a surprise considering the noise the scraping made.
The cats were as good as gold. They were very quiet for the vast majority of the journey.
My internet will be improved soon as they told us 30 days maximum. That was 21 days ago. Same for the TV.
I will update on what we have been doing since next time. I am sure most of you are sleeping by now having tried to read this update.
Peter.😊

Looking forward to seeing your road trip log. And hope you get your Internet sorted quickly.
Cheers Colin.

Hola Bombero Len,
It's Peter who's just emigrated to Hungary not me!
My emigration to Germany was done and dusted 35 years ago.
Now, thanks to BREXIT, I'm having to do a whole lot of re-registering! GRRRR😠😠
I imagine you had much the same in Spain?
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi Peter.
Hope that all is well and you are getting the Internet sorted.
All is well in Sunny Devon especially in the bay,apart from the heavy rain and howling winds over the last two days.
As promised,keeping you updated on the shipping at anchor.Took a walk along the Dawlish wall today and we have...
Arcadia.
Queen Victoria.
Queen Mary 2.

No signs of them moving at the moment.
Take care,stay safe and keep us posted.
Regards Bill.

Well done Doug, hope you settle in and relax
Len

Mirror mirror on the wall watch my Audi mirror fall. Peter hope your internet service gets fixed soon
Rick

Hi Peter,
A site seeing mirror, what will Audi come up with next LOL!!!

Martin555.

Thank you all for your kind comments. I am experiencing great difficulty with my internet connection at the moment. We hope to have it sorted in the next few days when I can update you on the trip and the adventures of my passenger side wing mirror. I think the wing mirror would like to return to England. Mind you, it was nearly got left in France and again in Austria.😁

Peter glad to hear you got to the new home base .
Rick

Hi Peter glad to here you arrive safely, don't be too long unpacking the workshop we look forward to your next blog entry😂

Well done Peter, it's a long old drive, but I would love to do it again. The last time was about fifteen years ago as I had been invited to a wedding in Brasov, Romania. I drove to France first and stopped off at my sister's in Eastern France for a few days and to collect her. We spent several days over the trip, stopping off in Salzburg, Budapest another town on the Great Hungarian plain, the name of which I cannot remember, then on into Romania. A wander around Western Romania, where I hadn't been before, then on to Brasov. We had booked a hotel in Poiana Brasov where I had stayed many time before and had a pleasant week with friends in that area culminating in the wedding. Then on into Northern Romania to visit the painted monasteries, then to Mara Mures, a region full of Romanian folk lore and custom. Crossing the border into Hungary, we found the biggest Tesco we had ever seen, complete with Skoda car dealership, on across Northern Hungary then back through southern Germany and spending a few days around Lake Constance, watching the airships flying out of Friedrichshafen. Then back to my sister's chateau in the Jura. It was a lovely holiday, even though the roads in Romania ruined the suspension on my car. How I wish I could do it again. I envy you Peter and the very best of luck. Postscript. The marriage broke up a couple of months ago.

Nerys

Well done Peter.
A job well done in preparation for a new life.
I will keep you updated as to which Cruise liners are in the Bay 👍

Glad you arrived safely Peter.
Looking forward to your story.

Martin555.

Rats! I was watching the snooker (World Championship) at 2.30 🤔
Oh well, I'll just have to pack the 4.7" away again🤔
That was good going. Well done Shipmate 👍
Know what it's like driving across Europe-
Munich Barcelona, Munich Nottingham (Barcelona was more fun😉)
Munich Dieppe several times, Munich Cherbourg, Munich Croatia, Munich Venice, Munich Vienna. Etc etc.
All good fun, but when you arrive all you want is a beer / wine and bed!😴💤
Cheers, Doug 😎
BTW Colin, there's some great scenery along the way 😀 and a lot of BORING tunnels 🤔

Well done Peter, as an exlong haul driver that's a journey I wouldn't relish.
Any dash cam footage you can post would make a good travelogue.
Rest up shipmate, cheers Colin.

We arrived in Hungary this evening. It was a longer drive than I thought. We did the 1287 miles reasonably well. We left on Friday afternoon at 3 in the afternoon and arrived here at 7 this evening. The Q5 was faultless. Cannot say the same about me. I will explain all soon.😀
We did pass Munich at around 2.30 this afternoon. We gave a big wave to Doug but I don’t think he saw us.😎

Thanks Colin. I can only hope.
Lloyds somehow managed to get my replacement credit card to me this morning. Almost exactly 24 hours after I had told them. Still waiting for my Debit card though. Could be a very clever business move if you think about it.
The packing is really close to being completed. I have to get the inventories to the carrier tomorrow. Should just make it on time.
We go to the vets tomorrow to complete the health certificates for the cats. They have had their rabies shots so all should be ok. PCR Covid tests on Thursday. Only £210 each!!
We have a weight limit of 2800kg for the carrier. We are going to be on the limit and will be forced to leave a few things at home. Never mind.
Finally for today, I used Martins Chinese Restaurant phone number and managed to change my subscription of the Model Boats Magazine to Global. Now to find out how well that goes. 21st May I should get the latest issue. We will see.😁

Peter I had a similar issue when we last moved house 1995, we had downsized temporarily and a lot of stuff didn't get unpacked till we moved into our current home in 2000.
One day I came home from work to find wife in garage unpacking some of the boxes, low and behold 1 wallet with enough cash to treat us to a restaurant meal.
I hope you have similar luck as you have had enough bad luck.
All the best for your move, cheers Colin.

Chinese Restaurant Martin. I had to order two number threes, three number eights and a spring role to get rid of them.





Not really. Perfect. Thanks Martin.
Peter.😀

Thanks Martin. I will give it a go.

Hi Peter
RE :- Bet Noah didn't have an Audi though.
No and by the sound of it you nearly didn't have one ether LOL!!

As for loosing your wallet, well if it wasn't for bad luck you would have no luck at all LOL!!

Not sure but i think this is it.

0344 243 9023
If you would like to upgrade or subscribe to a different package then please call our customer service team on 0344 243 9023*.

Martin555.

Bet Noah didn`t have an Audi though.
The car is now registered correctly at DVLA. The second key is being looked into.
I had a full inspection carried out on the car before I bought it and it passed with flying colours. The two keys were present then so I think it has been overlooked.
Bad news yesterday. For the first time in my life I lost my wallet with all credit and debit cards. There was only £20 in it. What perfect timing....not. I have cancelled the cards and can only hope that replacements arrive in time.
Packing is nearly completed. The good lady is washing the carpets as we empty rooms. I am running out of storage space in the garage. Happy days.
We go to buy two pet carriers soon as my original plan has fallen flat. I bought two nice holders but they are too big. The cats would be flying all over the place.
I need help please. I want to change my Model Boat Magazine subscription to global but have packed all of my magazines so cannot find the subscriptions phone number. Can anybody help please. Thanks.
Peter.😀

Very cryptic Martin😁

JB

I am sure it will all come good in the end Peter.

Re :- two cups, plates, knives, forks and spoons.
I heard of a guy that had two of everything and he had a big boat LOL!!

Martin555.

Sorry to hear that Peter 🤔
I must admit that I was apprehensive when you said it was coming from Saudi!
For an outlay like that I would have wanted a good 'butcher's 'ook' to make sure everything was there, in the right place and condition.
🤞🤞 for you that all turns out right.
Sok szerencsét barátom! 👍
Cheers, Doug 😎

Not having a good time with this car so far. I now find out that the spare key is missing. Another warm phone tomorrow.
A very busy week this week. I have cancelled everything I can think of but cannot get in touch with my house insurer. They have just moved and joined LV. I cannot contact them to see if my house insurance requires a change now that it is about to be rented. The new web based system to contact big companies is very good at time but totally useless if the system is down over a long period.#
Nearly have all of my boats boxed now. I will probably take the PTB and the Submarine in the car with me.
Busy day again tomorrow. We have to complete the final bit of packing. Life is quite difficult with only two cups, plates, knives, forks and spoons.😁

Hi Peter,
Not good.
Hopefully it is just a paperwork cockup, and you get is sorted out pretty quick.

Martin555.

Peter I do hope you sort the car.Not a good thing to have to worry about.
Rick

Hi Martin fresh indeed.
Rick

Oh no!!😮
Typical civil 'servant' (🙄) cock up Peter 😠
🤞 for you!
Didn't the car at least come with the original log book?
Good luck Mate, Doug 😎

"Who'd of thunk when in teen years ..."
Who thunked as a teenager Rick?
Weren't we all running on 'basic instinct' and adrenalin!? 😉
😎

I must be honest, I have been a tool maker for 47 years and it took my business partner to want to retire on health grounds to make me realise I had had enough as well.
A slight, possibly major glitch, has come to light with the Q5. I have no log book (V5) as the DVLA classed the car as an Opel and not an Audi. I need this document to travel but worse still is that I looked up my car on the Government web site and it clearly states an Opel. This could give us a major problem. I think my phone will be getting a little warm tomorrow.😁

Hi Rick,
RE :- I became a fresh air inspector.
Nice job for the summer but not so good in the winter LOL!!

Martin555.

Hi Peter.
Such a good blog.
Most of us have been there and yep after a lifetime of working it is a strange feeling.
Whatever the reasons for retirement,there is a sense of loss,and,sometime a feeling of not being a part of anymore.
That will soon change as you relax and chill.
Must have been a wrench to see all your equipment going I imagine.
Take care.
Regards Bill

Who'd of thunk when in teen years you were so eager to work make money for girls, car, going out on the town.Some 45 years latter you get to think about retiring .Do I have enough money .What do I do if I retire.
For me it was not my decision but turned into the best thing to happen.
The first thing I did was get a new job.
I became a fresh air inspector.
Rick

Retirement is ..... 😊
😎

Peter with you finishing work and starting retirement it will be some time before you can see how much free time you will have. Packing up making sure you have done all the little things.You will be busy with the move from old to new home.Unpacking in the new home setting up the new home. When most of the move is over you have most everything you need or want put your feet up you are retired.Some time in the future you will wonder how you had time to work.
Rick

Sad day's indeed Peter.
But look on the bright side you are starting a hole new life and now you are retired you have more time to enjoy it.

Martin555.

Hi Peter, your experience with the Q5 vs the ST3 sounds like one I had years ago, when I had been driving a Hillman avenger Alpine then bought a Toyota GLi6 Cressida, - like moving from a loud kitchen chair to a silent recliner😁 That move looks like a lot of work, especially with all the machinery! I know what that's like, having helped install and move huge Italian cabinet making machining lines on skates and levelling them all precisely,- took days.

Boat boxes look good. An idea if they are travelling separately, is to buy a big bag of the foam pellets,( the 1.5 inch S shaped ones) and fill the box as you fit everything. A bit messy, but gives a bit more protection from the rough buggers during shipping. Might pay to do it with your printer as well, as they generally take no notice of instructions on boxes, (found that when I moved back from Fiji a few years back)

JB

It has been a bit of a sad few days. I finished my last job a week ago and from Tuesday, all of the machines, except one, have been collected. Only a full tidy up to do now. I retire on Friday. It was very interesting watching the machine removers at work. They certainly know how to do it.
Today my Q5 finally arrived. The sad part was that I took my car, the ST3, to the garage who bought it and had to say goodbye. I had it seven years from new and had been my favourite by far. I have just driven the Q5 home for the first time. What ST3.
I have bought a winch to help to get the 320kg package with my milling machine down my steep driveway. I have drilled some 14mm holes to bolt the winch down with.
The garage is really getting full now. Only a few boxes to go.
I have to complete the Health Certificates for my cats next week. They have already had Rabies vaccinations and just have to have a final vet’s inspection before we can get the documents.
My wife and I have our PCR tests next Thursday ready for a Friday departure.

It would not move far. I think it has stalled in Swindon.🤔