Well we didn’t get off to a good start. Halfway up the Ridgeway as we were accelerating to undertake an idiot hogging the middle lane doing 30mph, the engine started spluttering. Fortunately we managed to pull safely into large lay by at the top, where the engine just about gave up completely. (the car doing 30 hogging the middle lane was by now totally oblivious to the unmarked police car immediately behind it with blue lights flashing telling it to pull over for a chat!) An hour later an AA chap turned up and without even lifting the bonnet diagnosed…

This year was a big one for us, we got married 😀😀😀. So no detailed Panda blog, other than to say, immediately after our wedding we crewed on Sea Essay from Plymouth and back to Plymouth a week later and then did a short tour in Panda taking in Farnham, Kenilworth, Stratford upon Avon and finally a few days on a site in the shadow of the Malvern hills, so a chance to catch up with ex colleagues from the 30+ years ago when I worked there.

Summer 2023, we decided to stay in the Ionian on Jacana, so no summer Pandering this year.

So back down to Dorchester (Dick’s plot at Winterbourne Monkton) to meet up with Pauline and Rohan, and Kevin for a meal in the Wise Men at West Stafford and on Monday morning , empty Panda’s poo tank, drive to Weymouth, park on the new drive, cover the van, taxi at 0740 to the station, 0803 to Woking, change for Guildford, Guildford change for Gatwick, arrive at Gatwick at 1130 for the 1525 flight to Preveza to begin the second part of Jacana’s travels! We need a holiday!

The traditional Varlow family bbq hosted by Jeff and Christine, with us, Philip Ellie and Rory (17 months), James, David, Emily and Jago (2) and not forgetting Nana, with a toast to Jenny, John, Ted and Suzy and 1 day old Pippa Rose in the Netherlands.

A couple of days earlier we’d succeeded in getting a couple of tickets to watch Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford, and equally successful a night on a delightful and very friendly Campsite just along from the Racecourse. So in the afternoon we cycled to Stratford and had a good walk round before dinner in a pub followed by the play. All in all an excellent evening although I (Paul) will admit to not fully following the plot!

A couple of nights at Brownhills, only because its free and allow free access to their swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna. Also cycled into Newark for breakfast, where unfortunately our favourite Italian cafe was closed for the week, but on the recommendation of a local went to another café (Balmforth) where the breakfast was even better and painfully larger!

En route to North Norfolk we stopped for a break in Swaffham where I went to grammar school and left in 1976, after which the school became a 6th form college for a few years and has been closed and largely unused ever since. The boarded up windows and overgrown lawns were a very sorry sight. Once settled into West Runton it was a chance to catch up with David and Murial who, on Friday took us on the North Norfolk Steam railway where the highlight was definitely the short ride on the foot plate as the steam engine was…

Finally a chance to relax slightly. So a gentle bike ride round the country lanes of Suffolk and on Wednesday a cycle ride into Bury Saint Edmunds where we had a picnic in the monastery ruins where local artists had tiny sculptures almost hidden in one of the outer tower walls. Then called in on the market where we bought some Jamaican jerk chicken bread on one stall – feelin hot, hot, hot! And ginger cake, just in case we needed extra spice😂. We also wandered round the church with its beautiful colourful quilted tapestries. On the way back we…

Another non stop few days. This time, seeing ‘ABBA Voyage’, a virtual ABBA concert featuring holograms, which although good was not as good as the hype suggested it would be. Also met up with Joanna and Kevin for a few drinks in the Bermondsey area followed by a meal with them both plus James and Hayley. Plus visits to the sky garden at the ‘walkey talkey’ building, the Postal Museum, a bbq at J&H’s and a visit to the Horniman museum.