setting out

It’s your money Ralph, well not according to some banks. As much as we tried we could not access our money, thanks ANZ and National Australia Bank.
Between ANZ travel cards, National Bank Visa/ access card, ANZ access savings card, we were not able withdraw more than ₤500 per day so we had to change money at bad rates and withdraw money from all these accounts at extra cost in order to access our money. Whoever said banks were out to screw you at every opportunity was dead right.
Lucky we got such a good deal on the camper. Banks although being very hard to get along with still need to be bigger pirates if they wish to be more do difficult than insurance companies. No insurance company in the UK it seems will insure our motor home as we are not UK residents. After 3 hours on the phone being told that no one will give us insurance, except 1 broker who said we just wont tell them you are not residents, ( I hung up on him ) I moved to the internet and started to contact caravan clubs.
Somewhere in the UK I knew there had to be somebody who would insure us as I know we are not the first Aussies to purchase a camper in the UK, besides you cannot get Road tax (registration) in this country without it.
Finally I contacted an insurance company called Downunder Insurance who specialise Australians buying campers, AT A PREMIUM of course, but we are happy now we can be on our way.
Do you know what a 13.5 tog duvet is? Neither do I but I bought 1 long with some cutlery, crockery, cleaning implements, pillows and some food, now we are set up to travel, So I book a ferry from Dover to Calais on the internet with Ferry Savers. ₤33.00 for a 6.310 meter long, 2.250 meter wide and 2.708 meter high campervan, 2 adults and 2 kids was much less than I anticipated. So we load up the kids and we are off at 8.50 in the morning for a 12.30 boarding. 186 miles/ 300 km, I haven’t checked out it’s top speed yet Let's hope we make it.

!2.45 and guess who is the last to board, no not us there is 1 vehicle behind us but they load all the trucks last, we only had a 10 minute wait before boarding so our timing was impeccable.
Beautiful skies and calm seas ensure a pleasant trip across the English Channel and an hour and a half later we are in France.
This is where our adventure gets interesting as we now have to navigate the opposite side of the road as well as communication skills will have to be very sharp if we are to enjoy as little stress as possible.The children are buckled into the back with strict instructions that total concentration is required in order for me to safely transport them onto the motorway where we can then acclimatize ourselves to driving down the right hand side of the road