Epilogue
October 2009After leaving Blackhorse Farm, we headed for Luton and Watford to see the three different cars that Paul had singled out as being suitable. The first was a Black S Type Sport and it wasn't in very good nick. There was also a problem with the gearbox so we said no thanks and went on to the next dealer who was Watford Jaguar. The one they showed us was a dark midnight blue with a cream interior and I liked that one a lot. Paul drove it and it was fine.
We then tried to find the third dealer but the post code we had for them took us to the middle of Luton town and we got stuck in a bus lane, then couldn't turn round, it was a nightmare. Paul phoned the dealer who gave him directions but this was even worse so we gave up and started to drive back to Watford Jaguar who had the dark blue one. Paul's phone rang and the Luton dealer said, look if you're having trouble, stay where you are and I’ll come and meet you, which was nice of him. Only problem was when he arrived in the car I didn't like the colour which was light metallic blue. Nevertheless, Paul took it for a test drive and he said it drove okay. It was £2,000 cheaper than the dark blue one but you then had to pay extra for a warranty, extra for administration etc. etc. so we said no thanks.
We drove back to Watford Jaguar and put down a deposit after negotiating a bit off the price. There were loads of questions I wanted to ask but as the dealer was closing and we were late for our next campsite, we shot off. We'll have to deal with these questions and other things on-line. One thing they did agree was that they’d deliver the car to us in Devon at no extra cost. Great, now we own a nice dark blue S type Jaguar, it's gorgeous!
 |
| Our beautiful S type Jaguar |
 |
| Hurley Riverside camping |
We stayed there for three nights and then went on to Littlehampton as we'd heard that our poor friend Tony had suffered a heart attack and was in hospital. I had been talking to Sandy on the phone about Jo's wedding and she just dropped into the conversation that Tony had a heart attack and was in hospital. We were both shocked, he's a couple of years younger than Paul and a good deal fitter as well. Having visited him, he seemed to be okay and the doctors were going to insert a stent into his blocked artery, much the same as they did for my Dad when he had his heart attack last year. So having stayed the night in Littlehampton and sorted out our mail and a few other things, we left to head down to Devon and find a house to rent.
On the way we stopped at Martins Caravans at Exeter who said in an email that they’d be very interested in buying the van off us. We let them look over it, and the guy said, ‘how much do you want?’ Paul said. ‘the first to offer us what we want, will get it,’ and mentioned a figure we’d already been offered. Without quibbling the guy added another £500 to it and we sealed the deal on a handshake. He said we could keep the van until we’d found a place to rent, so that was perfect.
Paul had also found a small town house to rent right in the centre of Tavistock and made a viewing appointment for the next day, so we headed off to the campsite at Tavistock, a Caravan & Camping Club site just outside the town.
 |
| Our House in Tavistock |
We saw the house and it was perfect for us, so we said okay we'd take it and paid our deposit.
The next thing was to arrange to get all our furniture and things out of storage, so we phoned the removals and storage company to be confronted with a bombshell. We’d used an internet based company to arrange our removal and storage, and they hadn’t paid their bill, so the storage firm said, very sorry but unless you pay us, we can't give you back your furniture.
We were absolutely astounded, and the first thing we did was to seek legal advice only to be told that the company were within their rights to keep our stuff until they’d been paid. We tried phoning the internet company and we sent them some emails but we didn't get a response. Oh no, we'd been scammed!
On the 24th September, they delivered our Jaguar to the campsite, so at least we now had a means of getting around easily to try and sort out the mess we were in. We decided to contact the police as we felt that we’d been subjected to a fraud. We went to the police in Plymouth who were not too hopeful, but took all the details and said they'd get back to us.
We then got a call the next day from a female officer from Newton Abbott who said she’d managed to track the man from the internet company down, and had threatened him with arrest for fraud. Apparently the guy had been really scared and agreed to pay the removal and storage company immediately. Although we had a nervous few days waiting for the money to be paid, finally they confirmed they had the money and we agreed a date for them to deliver all our furniture to Tavistock. Phew! Thank you lady police officer, without your help, we’d have had a home but nothing to put in it. After we’d moved in, we drove to the Newton Abbott station with the biggest box of chocolates we could find and gave it to her to say thanks.
We also had a bit of a problem renting the house, as neither of us had jobs, we had no regular income so to speak and we couldn't provide them with proof of where we’d been living, like a utility bill, as we didn't have any. We tried to explain to them that we’d been travelling, but worrying that they might think we were vagrants, decided to offer to pay six months rent in advance, which seemed to satisfy them. The next issue was trying to get a previous landlord's reference as they couldn't get hold of our previous one from Reigate. She never answered her phone at the best of times, and was often away on holidays, so we just had to wait and see if she’d contact us. Luckily she did finally phone and once I’d explained our problem to her, she contacted the estate agents the same day and gave us the reference we needed.
So, here we are ensconced in our little town house in the centre of Tavistock. It's perfect for our needs and the neighbours are really nice. I’ll miss our van and the travelling, but to be honest I don't think we’d have lasted much longer on the road. I’m happy to be back near my family and we can see them every week if we wish. The countryside is beautiful down here too, so there's plenty to enjoy.
Paul: Well, it's been a long journey and one that we’ll always remember. I am pleased that Tina enjoyed it and lasted as long as she did. I have to say I didn't expect her to last that long. Would we do it again? We might. I think we learned a lot, and it’s been a once in a lifetime journey, even if it's all been On The Inside Lane.
Final note from Tina: I‘ve been editing this, and reading it has brought back some great memories, even the not so good times are funny looking back. Sadly, we don’t have any money now, but, if we won the lottery, I’d like to buy a decent car and a nice caravan and do it all again. This time, we’d know which campsites to stay in, and if money wasn’t an issue, we could stay in the more luxurious, adult only ones. I particularly enjoyed the social aspect of it, meeting different people and chatting over a bottle of wine, it was interesting and good fun.
We never did get to Italy, Italy is expensive and I can’t justify the cost, it would pay for our rent, so that’s another thing I’d like to do if we won the lottery. We don’t have the Jaguar anymore either, we couldn’t afford to run it so sold it not long after moving to Tavistock, and bought a small Mazda 2.
I will never forget our time travelling though and I’m so glad I got to do it with my husband Paul, thank you for all those months of driving and putting up with me. My love A&F, Tina xxx
***
No comments:
Post a Comment