The last few days since getting back to the Netherlands have been hectic.  Paul will be starting work at sea again soon so we had to do a few things:  clear out the caravan and take it to storage facilities (a former greenhouse), take a load of stuff in the garage for recycling, fetch the quad bike and put it in Paul's mum's garage and then finally take the car to an underground garage for safekeeping until we return to the Netherlands.

Gwenny, Paul's sister, came to visit us before we left and then it was all systems go with sorting and packing things that we will need for the next 3 months.

To Mo'orea from the Netherlands

Today we are staring our journey to Mo'orea, Tahiti, and sitting at Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam, waiting for the call to board our flight to Heathrow Airport and then on to Los Angeles, Pape'ete (Tahiti) and then on to Mo'orea (French Polynesia, just across from Tahiti).  It is going to be a very long day ...

First leg of our flight - heading to Heathrow.

A taxi picked us up from Rijsbergen at around 7am.  Traffic was bad all the way to the airport.  I guess everyone is going back to work after a long weekend.  Just as well that we had set off early to the airport - we made it with plenty of time to spare to drop our luggage off, go through security and passport control as well as the long walk to the gate.

Now we are just waiting for the call to board our flight.

Moving stuff again.

Time to get back into action again, putting our stuff from France into storage facilities not far from Rijsbergen in the Netherlands.  Before doing so, though, we went to a DIY shop and got some shelving.  Paul thought it would be a good idea to help make storing some of the things a bit more easier and accessible.

We had to put the shelves together before we could put anything on and it was easy enough and didn't take too much time.

Offloading it wasn't too much of a problem - the storage box was inside the building but it was situated in a drive-through area.  So we simply parked the car so that the trailer's drop down ramp could be lowered right next to our storage box and started to offload.  A few things were too heavy for me to lift so I had to leave Paul the heavy ones, and I left him to store things in an easily accessible manner.

Fortunately we could drive in the storage place because it started to rain...

Whirlwind trip to France.

It has been a very hectic two days.

On Monday afternoon we collected a box trailer.  The owner was going to rent us one that had double doors at the back but no ramp or hydraulic lift.  Fortunately a trailer with a ramp had been returned earlier than expected so the trailer rental owner was able to give it to us instead, and give our original trailer to someone who wouldn't be needing a ramp.  Whew!!


around 4pm.  Paul had to take the roads carefully because of rain.  Unfortunately the wind direction was not in our favour so our car was a thirsty girl, guzzling up diesel = burning a hole in Paul's wallet 😐. 
The journey took 3 hours longer than what Google Maps estimates.  Towards midnight Paul got tired so we stopped at a service station to rest.  We rolled down the backrests of the car and slept for about 4 or 5 hours before hitting the road again.

Still more to squeeze in!

We arrived at Aire Box in Angoulȇme around 9 or 10am, put on coveralls and got to work.  Moving things in a storage place should be fairly easy but at Aire Box we had to deal with small trolleys and a tiny lift.  The lift could only squeeze in one trolley at a time - and not a highly piled up trolley at that.  We didn't feel the cold as we worked and actually worked up a bit of sweat from the 'exercise'.  It took us about 2 or 3 hours to move our stuff out of the storage locker and pack the trailer.  We were knackered by the time we finished and handed back the keys.  Out of sight of the storage place's cameras we changed into more comfortable clothes to drive back to the Netherlands in.
We could have rested properly after having driven such a long way and then packed but decided to 'get the show on the road' and head back to the Netherlands.  Towards midnight Paul got tired so we stopped at a service station to rest.  We rolled down the backrests of the car and slept for a few  hours before continuing our journey to the Netherlands.

We could have rested properly after loading up the trailer, having driven such a long way with little rest, but decided to 'get the show on the road' and head back to the Netherlands.  Paul drove all the way back, tanked up on red bull or 'monster', but we did stop now and then to fill the car up at the service station and to stretch our legs.

It seemed to be an epic journey and it was good to get to Rijsbergen.  We decided not to offload the trailer until tomorrow but rather have something to eat, have a much needed shower and hit the pillows 😫.  It was near enough dinner time when we surfaced again.  I think the nap was well deserved!

 PHOTOGRAPHS

Tidying up the boot before we leave.

One last item and then we can 'close up shop'.

All done!

Caught with my trousers down whilst changing ☹️  Don't peek!

I got my revenge - Paul with his trousers down!