Hi all and happy new year etc. Well christmas came and went and then New year arrived. We thought we would give the van a good test prior to going skiiing in the alps. We thought we would do this by getting ourselves ashort ski trip to the Lecht in Scotland. Firstly we would wild camp as this is our preference when abroad. However strictly speaking it;s not wild camping for we decided to visit Nikki;s brother Mark who lives in the middle of nowhere in perthshire. Always a good time to catch up with Nikki's brother and his family. So parking on his drive way without any electric through choice, sort of means wild camping? We left home on new years day and set off on the 260mile trip to Marks. On arrival we came accross the first shock of the new van. The roads had been very clear, hardly a car in site. Therefore I had decided that doing a steady 70-75 would get us there quicker. It did of course do that but also drained the balance out of my bank balance. 19-20 mpg was really poor. I did though stretch it out to 25mpg once i slowed down.
On arriving at Nikkis brothers we sent the kids in to see our nephews of a similar age and they got down to playing. I onthe otherhand got down to sampling some home made rasberry vodka. The van is superb. Far better than i ever imagined. It really does suit our style of motorhoming. The only minor critic would be that it is deffinately bigger. This makes it slightly more difficult to manouver but only just. However with it's taylor made seats and its lovely comfy driving position its gret to drive. The old van had the complete ducato cab including the cheap seats. The new van apart from electic mirrors/windows/ is like an a class whereby the cab has been incorperated in to the living accomadation.
After the first night at Nikkis brothers we then headed off to the Lecht ski area through a load of ice, snow and whever else the elements could throw at us. The van again held up and took it all in its stride, although I am so glad to of had the new snow chains.
We skiied all afternoon on some pretty decent snow and the lecht, although not fully open is anothter secret Scottish ski resort to have a bit of fun on. More so it gave us the opportuntiy to test our new skis and gear out prior to our main ski holiday of the year in 5 weeks.
We returned back to Nikkis brothers for some evening entertainment and drinking before retiring for another nights sleep.
In the morning we decided to go and see some new wind mills that had been placed behind Marks house. Out of site and a good 3-4 mile walk up very steep hills. Off we went and George (my oldest) decided he would race me. It was a long race uphill and my heart was coming out of my mouth at some points but, ,,,, he won. Despite not having smoked for some 3 months, i Was unable to catch him in the final sprint. However having made it to the top at all was a massive achievment and further more proof that kids who play xboxes can also enjoy good fitness levels if allowed.
We then set about returning home and the drive home was about as much pleasure as the drive north. On arriving home it was an indian takeaway which is followed by 5 weeks of alcohol free, junk food free living. the normal January detox.
we hope to get away for a night in January but in reality I expect our next trip to be the big ski trip.
