We're all going on a Winter Holiday.

Tuesday 16th October 2018 - Henley on Thames.

I should wash my mouth out...mentioning the 'holiday' word in the title.  You well know that we don't have a holiday, we call it a 'lifestyle' but we woke up singing, 'We're all going on a Winter Holiday to the music of the Cliff Richard song, 'Summer Holiday'.  It seemed appropriate today!

This is our first proper trip in the new van.  We had packed it up yesterday and washed it off....checking the windscreen for leaks.  Thankfully the van is fully watertight.

One new innovation for the trip was to try an extra mattress topper on the bed for sumptuous comfort, however, we managed to drive only two miles from Kendal when the overhead bed came down from its position (stowed over the driving seats) to hit Janice and I on the head.  It's a good job that I have a big thick head that took most of the weight.  We managed to get to a lay-by and thought that the extra thickness of the topper + the duvet and pillows meant that the bed didn't fully raise to its proper position.  For the onward journey we removed the duvet and pillows and it seemed to stay put and we used a strap to hold it up.  I obviously used my 'head' to get us out of a dangerous situation!  The topper may not survive the next journey!

Our journey was otherwise fairly good.  We had never been to Henley before and we fancied using our free Caravan Club staff pass to get two free nights before we cross the Channel.  The site looks pleasant and is walkable into the town.  We were in the process of filling up the van's water tank with drinking water when we had our next funny moment.  I connected the hose and turned on the tap and then went to monitor the inside water gauge.  I commented that it was taking a long time to fill and Janice told me she had just turned the tap on full!  After about another five minutes, I commented again that it was taking a long time and when we checked Janice had actually turned the tap off!  We saw the funny side.

After setting the van up we had a walk into Henley.  Very nice too.  We thought it would be a well to do town, with several rowing and boating clubs.

We didn't risk walking over the bridge as several drivers ignored the sign and were crossing the bridge simultaneously.  We didn't want to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Who taught the fish to climb ladders?  I hope they are fully Health and Safety compliant!  They should be wearing hard hats and be fully trained in working at heights!

Our riverside walk was very pleasant and peaceful.  The town itself was lovely.  We looked in the Estate Agents' windows to see the prices especially the riverside properties....my eyes are still watering!  We considered that it was  a 'quintessential' English town but when we thought about it we didn't know what quintessential meant.  I thought it had something to do with 'five', from the 'quin' part of the word but that didn't make sense in the context we were talking about.  We have since looked it up and it seems to be derived from Latin meaning 'fifth sense', but is used in English to mean a perfect or typical example of something.  It must have been my sixth sense telling me the word meant 'fifth sense'!

Back to the site for our tea.  The van seems to be in good order...everything is working.  We are looking forward to missing a lot of Brexit news as we won't have a TV or listen to English news whilst we are away.  Please don't tell us what's going on....it will be a surprise when we get home in January. Not sure if it will be a nice surprise or not.....probably not, irrespective of what opinion you hold.