Our new ‘truck’ came in two parts – a 4wd chassis and cab from Italy
and a habitation ‘pod’ custom-built in China
and shipped in a container
to a commercial vehicle workshop near Lavenham, Suffolk,
where Simon, of Barrett-Lee Overland,
and his team united the two parts.
Further work involved creating a ‘crawl-through’ between the cab and the pod,
a sliding stair system for accessing the pod from the outside,
and a ladder at the back
to allow us to reach the solar panels on the roof of the pod.
Inside, the pod is clean and light.
When we finally got our hands on the finished vehicle,
I took it away for a few days – taking the opportunity to visit family (brother Vic and his wife Christine,
Mum,
sister Liz and niece Clare)
and friends (Paul, Sharon and Bertie
and Ronnie)
before putting it into temporary storage in a very large barn near Canterbury.
As with our previous vehicles, preparation has taken much longer than we had hoped. It gave us the chance to spend time in Barcelona with François, Danielle’s nephew and godson, his partner Lisane and their new baby, Nathan.
It also gave us the chance to enjoy another Christmas at home
and to watch yet another litter of foxes (conceived very publicly on our garden table!) grow up in our back garden.
