Wednesday 5th May 2010 – Home

An inauspicious start! This morning we collected Henrietta from the campsite where we store her and for the whole of the short journey the red battery light was lit. Although our Ford Transit handbook is in German (it is a left-hand drive German Hobby motorhome), I guessed that this meant that the battery was not being charged. This was confirmed when, having completed the last few items of packing (bike and fridge / freezer items), I tried to start the engine – the battery was dead. This was somewhat embarrassing as the neighbours had kindly agreed to my request the park Henrietta for “a few minutes” outside their house and blocking their drive. We explained our predicament and Julian assured us that it was not a problem and we could leave it there all night if we wanted. This was just as well as, after a visit from the AA (a fantastic 10 minute response), they confirmed that it was almost certainly the alternator. We were able to book her into Glastonbury Auto Electrics for the following morning and had to put the battery on charge overnight. This meant that we had to run an extension lead from Julian's garage, the one that he couldn't use because we were blocking the drive! It's wonderful to have such good neighbours – thank you Jackie and Julian.