Surrey – Guildford & Alderstead Heath

During our house sitting assignment in Puttenham, we cleaned out the motorhome and tidied everything up.  D’Hobby got a well-deserved wash and polish, and we advertised him for sale on a few websites and a motorhome magazine.  We got a lot of enquiries quite smartly, from as far afield as south of England, Edinburgh, Norway and Denmark, and a few low offers by people trying it on, but no definite sale yet.  We also sold the bikes separately on eBay for pretty much what we paid for them in Holland in 2012.

Saffy supervising Jan’s cross-stitch

Saffy & Sidney “cats in baskets”

Saffy & Sidney – fascinated with water

It was a pleasure to look after Saffy & Sidney again for two weeks, and we waved a fond farewell to them, and their servants Sarah & Stuart, on 16^th September, and returned to Alderstead Heath campsite for a few days.   While here we completed doctor appointments for blood tests, check-ups and prescriptions, and also picked up new glasses for Jan from Guildford.  We also unloaded all our personal stuff out of the motorhome, and stashed it temporarily in our friends Christine & Peter’s shed in Tadworth.

Surrey Hills – Box Hill near Tadworth

A week in Kent, and bye-bye d’Hobby !

Then it was off to Kent to see a dealer who had made a good offer on d’Hobby.  He upped his latest offer a little more on seeing the good condition of the van, which we accepted, so d’Hobby changed hands on the spot.  The dealer already has a customer lined up – another couple from Australia arriving in UK in the spring of 2014 to embark on their own adventure around Europe.  It was sad to leave d’Hobby in the yard, but we know he will be off again on travels soon – spruced up and re-equipped for the new owners.

bye, bye d’Hobby – safe travels

The dealer gave us (and all our baggage) a ride into Maidstone to pick up a rental car, and we then went and spent a very pleasurable weekend with Mike’s cousin Pam in Tonbridge.

Back to Tadworth
We then headed back to Tadworth to stay with Christine and Peter for a week while we sorted ourselves out, packed up our personal stuff for shipment back to NZ, organised the despatch of the crate, and booked our travel home.

Brighton
As a last fling as tourists in UK we spent a day in Brighton on the south coast, as we had always wanted to visit the Royal Pavilion there.  It is an amazing place with (mock-Indian) architecture outside, and stunning Chinese decoration throughout the inside. The opulence has to be seen to be believed.

“Built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in stages between 1787 and 1823, the Royal Pavilion is remarkable for its exotic oriental appearance both inside and out. This magnificent royal pleasure palace was revered by fashionable Regency society and is still a distinctive landmark for vibrant Brighton & Hove today. The Royal Pavilion is also home to some of the finest collections and examples of the chinoiserie style in Britain”.

Brighton – Royal Pavilion

Brighton – Royal Pavilion, main entrance

To USA via Iceland
At 1.00 pm on Tuesday, 2^nd October we took off from London Gatwick by Icelandair, heading to Minneapolis-St Paul in Minnesota, USA, via Reykjavik in Iceland.  Not exactly a direct route but pretty close, and the cheapest option to get to Minneapolis without going through other hubs like Chicago or Atlanta.  A short stopover at Reykjavik, after a 3 hour flight, then another 6 hour flight to Minneapolis, arriving at 3.00pm same day – a 6 hour time difference to UK.

Our Boeing 757 at Reykjavik airport

Snaefellsjokull volcano (we think)

Snaefellsjokull volcano is on far left point

We think the volcano in the picture above, which we took on the way out of Reykjavik, is “Snaefellsjokull”, on the far western tip of Iceland, and one of the smaller of the 130 volcanoes on this icy land.

Minneapolis, MN
We had two nights in Minneapolis, and spent one full day at the Mall of America, nearby the hotel and the airport.  This is the biggest shopping mall in the USA with 520 shops; 50+ restaurants, bars & cafes; cinemas; and an aquarium; plus a Nickelodeon theme park in a huge atrium at the centre of the mall, with three roller coasters, mini-golf and lots of other rides and attractions to entertain the family.  We were there on a weekday (and a school day), so it was pleasantly un-crowded.  As we were looking for particular things for the grandchildren we planned our tour by the shopping map, and really only skimmed the other shops. Despite this we filled in a full day from 10.00 am until getting our 4.00 pm shuttle bus back to the hotel.

Minneapolis skyline

Mall of America – Nickelodeon theme park

Lego store – Mall of America

Spirit Lake, Iowa
Next day we picked up a rental car and drove south for 3 hours through pleasant countryside in Minnesota to Spirit Lake in Iowa, to stay 2 weeks with daughter Maree and her family of boys.  Spirit Lake and the adjoining towns of Okoboji and Arnolds Park form a resort area, as an oasis of lakes, trees and holiday homes amongst the endless acres of cornfields that typify southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.  Much of the corn grown here nowadays is used to produce ethanol bio-fuel, with less and less devoted to feed.

Zip code 51360 – Spirit Lake, Iowa

Spirit Lake, Iowa

Autumn colours, Spirit Lake

We have been enjoying nice warm weather here, with sunshine and temperatures around 22-24oC most days, with the occasional thunderstorm coming on through, plus a tornado warning the first weekend, which went around us instead of straight through.  However it did significant damage in Nebraska to the south west of us, and was accompanied by a blizzard in North Dakota (just to the west) which killed nearly 20,000 cattle left out in the cold.  Really weird weather in this neck of the woods!

Spirit Lake sunset reflections

Spirit Lake High School football ground

It has been fun catching up with the family and seeing all the boys growing up.  The eldest Troy (15 yesterday) is at Spirit Lake High School, playing football (grid-iron) in the 9^th grade team, and also wrestling at State level.  Caden (8) is at Middle School and loves reading, dinosaurs and making quite extraordinary models with Lego.  Kyle the youngest, at 3½ years old is a typical rug-rat – running everyone ragged with high spirits and constant chatter.

Sunday walk by the lake – Maree, Jan, Kyle, Caden & Bucket the chocolate lab

Troy’s 15th birthday dinner

Just as a matter of interest, Spirit Lake is also home to one of the Polaris “Indian” motorcycle factories in the mid-west.  The Indian brand was established in 1901 in Minneapolis, and is probably the only serious competitor to Harley Davidson in American made motorcycles.

Polaris – Indian motorcycle factory, Spirit Lake

Original Indian motorcycle

Latest Indian motorcycle

Heading home
We leave here on Friday, 18^th October, driving back to Minneapolis for our flights out to Los Angeles, via Denver, on Saturday, then onward to Auckland on Saturday night, arriving AKL on Monday morning, 21^st October (we lose Sunday 20^th October along the way).

So, unless we get seriously diverted somewhere else en route, I guess this is our final travel blog.

It has been fun folks, and as we look forward to catching up with all our family and friends back in good old NZ, we also look forward to keeping in contact with all those family we met and good friends we made during our travels in Europe.

A bientôt !
Arrivederci !
Au revoir !
Auf weidersein !
Caio !
Cheers !

Mike & Jan

On the London Eye, Sept 2013