After a hectic final day finishing the van, and tidying up the garage of everything that has been used to make the van, I say an emotional goodbye to my family and finally hit the road.
I had planned to leave Cornwall by around 3pm, arriving at Portsmouth at 8pm. The reality was that I left Cornwall at 7pm.
However, I felt good finally hitting the road. It was a great relief. A number of jobs hadn’t been done on the van, but I had pack the parts and tools to do most when on the road. Preferably in a nice campsite with the warm sun on my back. There will be plenty of time for that.
I took the A30 from Cornwall and stayed on it for most of the trip to Portsmouth. The Sat Nav took me straight to Whale Island Way. A place, I had read, was a good place to park for the night when taking the ferry from Portsmouth.
I arrived just after midnight. Just as I pulled in Abby called me and I ended up sitting in the back, with the curtains not yet pulled when a Naval security van pulled up.
Whale Island is a Naval base, which is very well guarded. Whale Island Way is leads onto the island and is effectively a dead end. The guard looked into the van, but I wasn’t sure if he could see me or not.
I finished speaking to Abby and went straight to bed.