This day had to come….sadly.

Today we said farewell to our camper-van, our home since Tuesday 12 June 2012 – that’s 227 days ago, or seven and a half months. There was almost a tear in our eyes for both of us – our 2004 Fiat Ducato/Adria Coral 650SP (rego WM04 NKS – how many times have we quoted that over the past few months….to camp receptionists, ferry boarding staff, border officials, and even one Latvian policeman??) has been a wonderful home away from home that we have just absolutely loved being in. We have had the odd little problem (nothing mechanical – it runs like a dream) and there’s been a few repairs necessary from time to time, but for 99.9% of the time, we’ve had a brilliant road trip around Europe and the UK. Now, for the remaining month of our travels – starting Saturday when we fly out of Heathrow on our way to Iceland – we will be back in the pack/unpack routine, suitcases in and out of hotel rooms (or a cabin on board the “Coral Princess” in the Caribbean for 2 weeks) and the security of taking our home with us pretty much everywhere we’ve been will be a thing of the past.

So, to mark this momentous occasion, here’s a few statistics and if you can be bothered getting an atlas, here also is the path around Europe. If you don’t like stats and lists…..stop reading NOW!

Start: Faversham, Kent, England – 12 June 2012
Finish: Faversham, Kent, England – 24 January 2013 (our 26th wedding anniversary)
Days on the go: 227 (including 54 where we stayed put and didn’t clock up any travel in the van)
Mileage: 22,665 miles (36,491km)
Longest day’s travel: Hyllestad, Norway to near Berkåk, Norway (331 miles – 534km)
Shortest day’s travel: South Ockendon, Essex to Abbey Wood, London (25 miles – 40km)
Diesel purchased: 3995.17 litres at an average of NZ$2.45 per litre.
Fuel economy: 25.8 miles per gallon (I only think in the ‘old’ terms, sorry)
Fuel costs: cheapest NZ$1.87/litre in Andorra; dearest NZ$2.91/litre on the M25 south of London. Single most expensive fill 71.46 litres at Waterbeach on the A10 in Cambridgeshire, at the equivalent of $2.85/litre. Interestingly, if we’d somehow been able to buy all our fuel at Andorra prices, we’d be around NZ$2,300 better off. Grrrrrr…..
Accommodation nights: Campsites 151, Roadside/Aires 35, UK farm or pub stays 17, French Passions 10, in Russia 6, in friends’ homes 5, Ferries 2
Border Crossings by sea: Dover to Dunkirk, Helsingor to Helsingborg, Helsinki to Tallinn, Barcelona to Genoa, Bari to Dubrovnik, Calais to Folkestone (Euroshuttle), Fishguard to Rosslare, Belfast to Cairnryan (in total, adding a further 841 miles, or 1,355km to our travels)
Countries visited: 31 (plus Russia in the middle, but without the van) with at least one night’s stay in 27 of these. We had day visits only to Liechtenstein twice, Monaco twice, Gibraltar and Bosnia & Herzegovina…..on the other hand, we crossed the border into Germany 8 times, France and Austria 6 each, and Switzerland and England 5 times each, plus others 2, 3 or 4 times each, although in such cases not every visit involved an overnight stay…..which is what the following itinerary lists:

England 1 – Whitstable, Dymchurch
France 1 – Locon, Boiry-Notre-Dame
Belgium 1 – Nieuwpoort
The Netherlands – Amsterdam, Wilsum
Denmark – Tønder, Jelling, Copenhagen
Sweden 1 – Motala, Orebro, Stockholm, Arjang
Norway – Borgund, Risnes, Berkåk
Sweden 2 – Krokom, Sorsele, Luela
Finland – Rovaniemi, Oulu, Vaasa, Helsinki
Estonia – Tallinn
Latvia – Riga
Lithuania – Klaipeda
Poland – Warsaw, Katy Wroclaw
Germany 1 – Colditz, Georgenthal, Ediger
France 2 – Verdun, Paris, Boiry-Notre-Dame (Patricia joined us in Paris)
Belgium 2 – Bruxelles
Luxembourg – Dudelange
Germany 2 – Heidleberg
Austria 1 – Bregenz
Germany 3 – Dietringen, Oberammergau
Austria 2 – Salzburg
Italy 1 – Campiolo, Venice
San Marino – San Marino
Italy 2 – Florence, Siena, Rome, La Spezia
France 3 – Cagnes-sur-Mer, Figanieres, Gordes, Lachassagne, Sancerre, Paris (where Patricia left us), Carrouges, Arromanches, Bresles, Lisieux, Mont St Michel, Leimburel, Penthièvre, Asnieres le Giraud, Hendaye
Spain 1 – Pamplona, Aranda del Duero, Madrid, Santa Elena, Cabra, El Bosque, La Línea de la Concepción, El Rocío
Portugal – Lagos, Lisbon, Viana do Castelo
Spain 2 – Pedrouzo, Castrojeriz, Gavin
Andorra – Andorra la Vella
Spain 3 – Barcelona
Italy 3 – Milan (where we picked up Katrina and Bernard), Maggiore, Sestri Levante (Cinque Terre), Assisi, Montecassino, Bari
Croatia – Dubrovnik, Split, Karlovac
Slovenia – Ljubljana
Germany 4 – Berchtesgaden, Oberammergau
Switzerland – Meierskappel
France 4 – Neydens (Geneva – where Bernard left to fly home), Veynes, Nice, La Motte, Avignon, Millau, Montignac, Bracieux, Chartres, Paris (farewell to Katrina), Calais
England 2 – Abbey Wood (London), Sandringham, Bicester, South Ockendon, Abbey Wood, Salisbury, Truro, Bridestowe, Glastonbury
Wales 1 – Newport, Cowbridge, Lawrenny, Tywyn, Betsw-y-Coed
England 3 – Liverpool, Whichford, South Ockendon, Abbey Wood
Wales 2 – Newport
Ireland – Wexford, Dungarven, Clogheen, Caherdaniel, Terryglass, Cong, Dublin
Northern Ireland – Cookstown, Bushmills, Belfast
Scotland – Greenock, Onich, Skye, Drumnadrochit (Loch Ness), Grantown-on-Spey, Edinburgh
England 4 – South Shields, York, Northampton, Kingsclere, Brighton, Abbey Wood

[And, yes, we’re aware that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are technically one country, but for this exercise, touristic licence has been applied]