Shirley Valentine and Slovenia...

Well, we are slowly settling in to living away from home. We are still in our hotel, nice and warm, with Anthony living on the boat and working in zero degree temperatures. We have spent a few days travelling around Slovenia, which is (surprisingly) very beautiful. It is not somewhere I would think of for a holiday, however we are really enjoying the sights. There is still a lot of snow inland. Went to a castle at Predjama yesterday. No vampires spotted, just lots of beautiful winter scenery (photos on facebook).

Provisioning a boat in a foreign country is proving to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. They don't have shopping malls here like we do and sourcing stuff is hard! We drove all the way to Llubljana (the capital of Slovenia) which is about 100kms from Koper to visit Ikea where we thought we would be able to buy all our bedding etc (Craig's idea!!). We had looked it up on the internet and got the address and everything. Craig thought that we would find it easily as Llubljana is only a town of 200,000 inhabitants. After 4 HOURS of driving around looking for it we had to give up...... BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN BUILT YET! Anyway, back to the drawing board. We are heading off into town in Koper this morning to provision as much as we can then will do the rest as we go. As long as we have warm bedding and somethijng to make a cup of tea with I will be happy!

It is so surreal sitting here. Craig is driving Anthony mad by playing with all the electronic equipment and setting off alarms. I am waiting for the washing machine in the marina to finish doing it's thing and then we are off shopping. The heater is now installed, however we have found out this morning that there has been some confusion with our sound system and we won't have music until we get something sorted.... maybe in Monfalcone! We may have to stay in Koper for an extra night due to some delays, however this suits us as it means we can keep our hire car till Monday morning, meaning shopping will be easier.

Things I miss so far are not surprising..... I am finding it hard having only Craig (much as I love him!) to have an in depth conversation with in English. Anthony's English is very good, however I don't think he would be up for a 'girly' conversation about how dry my skin is etc. Also miss regular stuff such as shopping in the supermarket and knowing what I am buying. I did a real touristy thing and went and bought English Breakfast Tea so that I at least had a decent cuppa! Take my own tea bags to breakfast and everything....

Anyway, lots of love. Need to go and spend some money. How exciting!!

xx

Lesley

The meeting!!!!

We have finally met our girl, all be it in the snow!!! She has arrived from Germany and is sitting currently in Koper Marina. Anthony Camilleri, the broker from Malta is currently with the boat working on her and doing the final fitting out!! Hopefully photos will follow tomorrow. We are having problems with our internet connection at the hotel and are currently in an internet cafe. Thank god for internet cafes in the middle of nowhere in Koper old town. Just stumbled across this one by chance!! Anyway, our girl is beautiful and Anthony seems very capable. It is freezing and Anthony thinks we are mad! Everything appears to be going to plan (although not quite sure what the plan is at the moment). Popped over to Venice last night and forgot my camera!! To add insult to injury there was a carnival on and photo opportunities galore were missed! We will just have to return soon......

Are we there yet???

Is anyone else thinking the above..... It seems like we are never going to get there! Waiting at London Gatwick for the flight to Venice. No idea how we are getting to Koper tomorrow and we have enough luggage to sink a ship (hopefully not literally of course)!!

Craig got intensely questioned at Glasgow airport as he only has a one way ticket to Venice. Luckily we anticipated this and he pulled out the boat registration papers which got him out of trouble.

Running out of money for the internet cafe so will blog some more later or tomorrow.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet..........?

xxxx

Lesley and Craig

Still counting the sleeps....

One More Sleep!!!! We leave for Venice in the morning where we overnight before travelling down to Koper (somehow) to meet our new home.... As far as I am aware everything is going to plan, however I am still a little bit dubious that things will go off without at least one hitch. With the best will in the world, we are dealing with European winter weather and although the sun is shining here at the moment it is not quite the same as the sun we are used to.

Have spent the last few days tidying up loose ends - like insurance for the boat, buying safety gear over the internet and having a few glasses of red with friends and family (got to do something to keep warm).

Watch this space....... it's getting closer!

xx

Craig and Lesley

Snow.....

Well, we have now experienced some real snow. Very pretty, however cold and wet and slushy when it melts (which it did fairly quickly)! Luckily we took some pictures while it was still fresh as it had all but melted by the time we woke up in the morning.

Still having problems uploading pictures so will have to try in another post again!! Hopefully you will see some snow.....

Leaving!! :-((

Well, we have now started our journey in earnest. To be honest, I think it hit me sitting on the plane in the middle of the night just how enormous a change this trip is going to make in our life. I still haven't quite processed it all and probably won't until we are actually on board Shirley Valentine. Things are moving fast now and we are in regular contact with our 'man on the ground', Anthony Camilleri, with regards to final touches. Shirley Valentine is arriving in Slovenia the same day as we do all going well (10th of February) and Anthony thinks we are mad to be considering commissioning in the middle of winter. I must admit that right at this moment I am beginning to agree with him..... (Craig is worried at all!).

We are currently sitting in Scotland looking at snow falling. It is not particularly cold, just wet and slushy!! Leaving Australia was extremely difficult. The last few months have been so busy and traumatic that I didn't really have time to think about getting on the plane and how hard it was going to be. We had so many friends and family contact, visit us and help us with our last minute preparations that we were very humbled. Why is it in life that we don't realise how much we mean to others until we are preparing to leave them for a while??

I bawled my eyes out when I said goodbye to the dogs and also (luckily) as we farewelled our lovely friends and family at Brisbane airport. If I hadn't, my daughter would have told everyone that I loved the dogs more than my kids!! We got some both lovely and practical gifts which we will treasure while we are away... Kathleen and Helen - I am glad I opened yours on the plane as I cried for about 30 minutes after I opened it! Thank you so much, what a great sentiment. Maggie - we have already used the clock and I have now learned how to turn off the alarm. It is fantastic! Kim - Mum is going to inscribe the front of our log for us to make it look really fancy. Can't wait to record all our adventures!

Must admit, writing in our blog makes me realise that all of this is actually happening! Anyway, plenty more to do and people to see before launching so I better get on. Will talk to you all soon. Take care and thinking of you all!

PS... can't get any images to load today. Will try again tomorrow!

xx

Lesley and Craig