It Never Rains But it Pours!

Friday October 1st
Today we woke up to heavy rain again and the prospect of driving up the motorway was daunting. Liz told Mary she should try and start me up the night before to make sure I would start after sitting for a few days but Mary said it would be fine as I always start. Mary and Alan went over to visit some elderly neighbours before coming back to leave in the rain about 10.30. Andy was home as it was not a suitable day for painting outside. I started perfectly and they set off but at the corner decided to take a detour to TESCO to get some groceries as they were unsure of how they would be placed finding a supermarket near Northolt and the weather was nasty. All went well until they got up by the Infant School and I started to cough and choke like I had in the Czech Republic on a cold wet morning. Mary somehow managed to drive me as far as the TESCO carpark and then rang the RAC. They were great and took all the details and said they would call back when they were near to arriving.

She then rang Andy who had visions of them saying they were stuck in the New Forest. She said she would call back once the RAC had called and they would decide what they do after that. It took an hour for the RAC to turn up which was good as in that time they made plan B which was under no circumstances would they attempt to drive me to London in bad weather today. So Mary packed a little suitcase of essential items only and they discussed getting to London on a train.

When the RAC man arrived I started perfectly and he said it was not a clutch problem but he did suspect it was caused by the damp. Just over the road form TESCO was the garage they had used for the last campervan when they had lived down there, so the RAC man suggested they drive me over there and talk to them and he followed. I was fine but deep down they all knew that the problem could come back. So it was agreed that I would stay there for the weekend and the kind man would look at me on Monday. This suited them fine. They always run off to London when this sort of things happens and I go to the hospital. So Mary rang Andy and he and Liz came and picked them up and took them home. Mary will have to tell the rest of the story as I have once again been left locked in a yard with other vehicles.

Liz suggested that the National Express would be a cheaper way to get to London so she jumped online and found there was a coach going from Ringwood at 1.55 which would get us up to London about 4.20pm. This was going to be heaps cheaper than the train, so she set it all up and Alan paid for it with his card. The E ticket was sent to her email address and she printed it. While she was doing this Andy had made us a cut lunch to eat on the coach. So armed with ticket, lunch and a small bag we all set out for Ringwood. We got there in plenty of time and parked where we could see the bus shelter but stayed in the car as it was still raining. When the coach arrived we all got out and Alan handed the ticket to the driver who looked at it closely and announced that it was for tomorrow; Saturday! And it was a FUN ticket, ha ha! These are non refundable and not transferable. Liz was devastated and pleaded with the driver to let us on the coach, telling him how we were from NZ and our campervan had broken down and we had to get to London to see our son. The driver wasn’t even sure he had room on the coach, but said he would check; after all this was the last pick up; next stop being Victoria Station in London. He finally agreed to let us on but of course only if we paid again, which Liz insisted on doing as she had made a slip of the mouse. Andy was finally allowed to put our bag on the coach and we took our seats, not together of course and we waved goodbye with grateful thanks and saying we would be in touch about our return journey on Monday.

The trip on the coach was uneventful and pleasant. It rained the whole way, but there were no delays and we each had a paper to read. We both remarked that this had potential for a future trip because if you book up to seven days in advance some of the fares are as low as £1. Although we didn’t try it the coach has WiFi on it.

Of course all through this drama I had been texting Hamish. He was tied up all day getting ready for a live broadcast out of Northolt that evening on BBC radio 2. He had unsuccessfully tried to get us tickets, which in the end was a good thing. He had originally said he had a small window of opportunity to give us the key to the house between 2 and 2.30 or 6.30 and 7.00. Obviously we had missed the 2.00 slot so we told him we would make sure we are out at the base by 6.20ish.

The coach actually arrived at the Victoria bus station at 4.10 and from there it was a short walk to the actual Victoria Station. So we collected our thoughts, sent a text to Andy and Liz to report our safe arrival and sent a text to Hamish who confirmed a 6.20 meeting. It was still raining everywhere so we decided it would be best to go as far as Shepherd’s Bush to get out of the London rush hour. There we found a pub and sat and had a quiet drink and then continued the journey towards Ruislip. We did jump on the tube that branches to Ealing but that wasn’t a problem as we were able to change and get back onto a West Ruislip one easily. At Ruislip Gardens I was completely unable to get Hamish to answer his phone which I thought was weird as he was expecting us. Tried texting and phoning but no luck and it was now 6.40. Knowing he had to be back getting ready for the broadcast by 7.00 and that it went live from 8-10 the prospect of standing in the rain for over 3 hours wasn’t pleasant. He finally rang to say that his phone for some reason had decided to drop off the network and he had been expecting a call. We had walked on to the house but he knew he couldn’t leave the base in the rush hour traffic and get back on in time, so I left Alan with the bags and ran back and met him at the base to get the key so that we could get into the house. So he meets me and almost his first words were you have no idea what a crazy busy day I have had, to which I said, well ours takes a bit of beating as well. However there was no time to talk and we made quick plans to do stuff together on Saturday and went our separate ways.

So we got into the house and made a cup of soup and toast and settled down to listen to the radio broadcast on BBC radio 2. It was bizarre to think that it was being broadcast only 10 minutes walk away. However it was probably a good thing we were not at it as we were able to crash into bed when it finished at 10pm. Then I read in the Evening Standard that there is going to be a tube strike from 6.30pm Sunday until 6.30pm Monday! Now this throws up a new set of problems for getting back to Victoria to get the National Express back to Ringwood, but there will be a way and I will find it.