It rained overnight, it
was still raining and cold and grey when we got up. It was cold in Mabel but
that was soon rectified by firing up the heating. Campingplatz Grafenlehen
charges for electricity so we only used gas for heating. That was on the basis
that we assumed Mabel’s gas tanks would need to be empty when she is shipped
home, so we might as well use the gas rather than vent it off later. The gauge
on one tank had read empty for a while now but still continued to deliver gas,
the other showed full.
Jane was feeling less
than ideal and went back to bed for a while. When she got up she felt well
enough to go out so at just after 9:00 we set off in Smarty heading for the spa
town of Bad Reichenhall where we wanted to visit the Alte Saline saltworks. By
then the rain had stopped and there were patches of blue sky visible through
the clouds.
Jane became quieter and
quieter as I drove. Just before we got to Bad Reichenhall I asked if she was
OK, she wasn’t and we turned around and headed back to Mabel. Jane went back to
bed, I caught up with the blog. It wasn’t much of a morning outside, cool with
rain on and off.
For lunch I opened one of
the tins of Croatian grah (bean) soup. This one had the same spicy sauce as
previously, this time with pieces of pork, some of which were more fat than meat. We ate
that with a toasted slice of the very heavy bread bought yesterday. It was a
very good lunch, apart from the fat, that is.
The afternoon was a
repeat of the morning, Jane was feeling better but spent most of the time in
bed which we both agreed is one of the most comfortable and cosiest we have
slept in. We are not sure why that is because the mattresses are nothing
special and they sit on board. Possibly, it’s something to do with the space –
low ceiling and walls on three and a bit sides.
Mid afternoon we took
Smarty to MccDonalds for coffee, but mainly to use the wi-fi. As expected when
I checked my email MSD were not happy with their form I returned the other day.
They wanted it countersigned but have lowered their sights to ‘the local
teacher, police officer, postman, shopkeeper or someone of some standing to
witness your form’. Apart from not having any means of printing the form I had
serious doubts about my ability to convey what was required in German should I
be able to find someone of ‘some standing’. I struggled to think why MSD felt a
witness was important, after all the details I had provided could be a complete
fabrication. All they would have is some certainty I had signed it. I felt a
phone call coming on, but that could wait until next week.
Jane had lots of stuff to
do on line so I walked back to Mabel, leaving her to do her stuff.
While we had been
reluctant to accept the end of our trip wasn’t that far away, there were
arrangements needing to be put in place if we are to get Mabel and Smarty on a
ship back to New Zealand. Smarty was just about sorted out, I was waiting for
confirmation from Elite that they were confident they could do their bit for
Mabel in the week before she is shipped. That left her cruise control problem
to be rectified. While helpful, the Guildford dealer couldn’t do it because
Mabel was too big for his workshop and Thames, the Slough Fiat service agent they
recommended to me hadn’t returned my call from last Friday. I moved to Plan C
and called the Fiat service agent in Coventry. They were very helpful, they
will look at Mabel on 16 October when we are en-route to Ireland and if the
problem can’t be fixed then we have another window of opportunity when we are
back in the Midlands in November.
For dinner we had the
remainder of the chili con carne I cooked on Monday. We spent a quiet evening
reading. Jane was feelng a lot better after our quiet day.
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