Sunday 6 February 2011

Contingency Planning

We do have concerns about whether the van is going to be up to the starting block on time. I don't doubt the old girl's ability to get us round, in small, gently coaxed increments but it seems the forgone conclusion of an MOT certificate isn't quite so forgone. I'm hoping this is Doom Mongering Mechanic rather than a true fact and keeping fingers firmly crossed that once we get Willow back from DMM we can pass her along to Happily Bodging Mechanic and he will get it through and sorted. My car once 'barely scraped through' an MOT with a recommendation of about £400 worth of 'urgent work' needing doing on the exhaust. I decided as we didn't have £400 I'd drive it til it actually stopped me from doing so and find the money then. To date (and this MOT was about 5 years ago) I've still not had that work done and it's sailed through all subsequent MOTs. I'm rather hoping this is the same sort of scenario.

But, I like to have a Worst Case Scenaio Solution so have been looking at Zone One hosts and coming up with a plan to ensure we can still head off, vacate our house and start on schedule if we are not able to get Willow ready in time. Our very first host is 2 weeks in a tent (yes, a tent. In March), following that we have two weeks split between three farms where there is possibly room for us in the house anyway but if not certainly room for a tent, then we're at a campsite so def tent space if not room in their pretty big house. This means we do have time to get the van properly sorted left in the care of my Dad while heading off in my car instead which is now running really well, MOTd for a full year and still taxed til June. The car is very big, it'd be a squash but we could even all squidge up and sleep in it at a push, certainly with enough storage space to take tents, sleeping mats and bags and the clothes we'd need. At those hosts we'd not need the cooking facilities etc that the van provides anyway so a car would make no difference.

I have my fingers very firmly crossed that DMM gets the van back, not too expensively dealt with in the next day or two and HBM gets it fully sorted in plenty of time for not a lot more money too. But if not, we have WCSS there in the wings waiting, like a rather grubby white people carrier of an understudy.

5 comments:

  1. Was wondering about the car. Well, that sounds like a reasonable contingency. Really hope Willow gets her bum fixed though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rooting (ha!) for Willow, but know that you will manage whatever comes up. x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fingers crossed about being sorted in time, and not as expensive as the mechanic says.
    I'm not looking forward to camping in March either- does your tent take a stove? Lets just hope snow isn't on the cards!

    ReplyDelete
  4. No! We're only taking a small tent so I'm really hoping it won't come to sleeping in that. The first hosts are loaning us a tent so I'm not sure what the arrangement will be there. We do at least have very good sleeping bags and thermals and will take a little stove and hot water bottles.
    Am also fretting about snow, had hoped the early and harsh winter from November onwards would mean we'd get a nice early spring...

    ReplyDelete
  5. You probably know this already but Martin Lewis aka Money saving expert . com always recommends using the department of transport MOT centres that are totally separate from any garage or car business.

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#find

    ReplyDelete