It was dark and we were all very very tired when we arrived at the Poole terminal with our new boat to catch the Brittany Ferries ship to Cherbourg.
We were the first to arrive and we sat listening to our CD of 'Yes Minister' as we waited.
The neon sign was nice and clear, so we knew we were in the right place - it was just a matter of time...
Before we knew it, we were safe and sound in the hold. We checked her carefully like a mother hen checks her new chicks. Then we left her alone to find our cabins and get some much needed sleep.
There was to be a lot of driving the next morning!!!
La soleille est brille!!!
We were very lucky with the weather during our trip from Powercats Ltd, in Redruth Cornwall back to the Mediterranean where we live.
The sun shone down on a fresh new day and we set off full of hope and enthusiasm and with a very large burden on the back of the car.
We stopped for some petit dejeuner after a few hours.
The car we had bought in preparation for collecting our boat was chosen for its all round versatility, safety, towing capabilities and fuel consumption figures.
It is a Suzuki SX4 and it is a 4X4.
Where we live the roads are often rough and we like to go down to the little beaches that are inaccessible without an 'off road' vehicle.
The Suzuki was quite biddable whilst towing the boat, although reversing was a bit of a struggle as the trailer brakes came on and there was no trailer break lock off so the car had to push against the trailer brakes which made for a nasty smell of clutch burning. But the car couldn't be blamed for that, and indeed we were impressed at how it coped.
Otherwise the trailer handled very well.
We decided to take the Route National on the way back through France and down to Italy. We had used the auto routes on the way up to Britain and although fast, it had been a bit of a dull journey.
The N roads were anything but dull! We saw some lovely old buildings and scenery.
This section of the journey was a bit treachorous though. The pavements had little steps onto the road.
With the extra width of the powerboat trailer on the back this made this little stretch somewhere that the driver had to concentrate hard to avoid disaster!!!
Not far to go now, before the Mont Blanc Tunnel and Italy!!!
