Thursday July 7 Boston

July 08, 2016

Thursday July 7 Boston

A good walk to blow the cobwebs.

Steve and Kathy are perfect hosts, understanding what we need to quietly get our heads back in the right space. Sat over a late breakfast then Steve took us off in a car to the nearby Maud Foster River where we had a very welcome walk to blow out the cobwebs. Steve has lived in Lincolnshire all his life and has a strong interest in the history – some fascinating stories about the early times. This area is in the fens and as we walked along the stop banks learnt that the early ones were hand built by the romans from approx. 100 BC, quite unbelievable…this history is something that we find hard to understand as our NZ history does not go back very far.
Steve told us about the link with Boston, USA. Found this piece online “So far as can be trusted from historic records there is no doubting that the Pilgrim Fathers sought to make their first escape bid overseas from the Lincolnshire coast, close to Boston in 1607, were betrayed, arrested and locked up in the Guildhall. Escape from religious persecution was their aim; their crime was seeking to leave the country without the permission of the King”. It was finally in 1620 that they left Plymouth on the Mayflower and arrived in “New England”. ..Today’s history lesson!

Boston with its rich alluvial soil is a huge market gardening area, and grows much of UK’s potatoes and brassicas, reminds us a bit of Pukekohe.

Home for lunch, and very nice pinot gris, followed by an afternoon siesta…much needed.

First introduction to the local supermarket, very impressed with the meats and cheeses. A few French wines “fell” into the trolley as well.

Steve and Kathy have recently bought a large 1950’s property on an ace of ground and they have been very busy with architects etc designing a major makeover starting in October. It’s only 5 minutes from here so we went and had a good look around, it is going to be amazing. They have already put a spa in, so we spent an hour soaking and relaxing, with a little glass of wine.

Home to a beef and Guinness casserole…we are getting thoroughly spoilt.

Ruakiwi 2 is currently in Lincoln at Camper UK where it has been all checked out and had a “Fantastic Fan” installed. To complete the registration papers the speedo which is only in km’s needs to have mph incorporated. A part is being ordered from Mercedes and will be installed later next week. We are in a “which comes first situation” of The chicken and the Egg. We need to have insurance to get the vehicle registered, but to get insurance we need the registration number!!! The ups and downs of buying an imported vehicle

Things are happening, but it all seems to take time so it may be a couple of weeks before it is all ready for us to head off.

In the meantime we are being spoilt rotten by Steve and Kathy, and next week we are going to stay in their “barn” about 40 minutes away and rent a car and will go exploring around this area as well as buying what we need for the van. All in all it is probably a real bonus as we will get to see some of UK and have time to get into travel mode.