Jambo Monday...

Jambo Monday leaves a bad taste in the mouth probably because it's all over for another year and also because you do have a bad taste in your mouth!!! It was good to get home and wash properly. And use a toilet that hadn't become a health hazard after four days! We packed up and started the journey home, now getting outta Cornwall isn't easy at the best of times, but on a Bank Holiday!! We tried the A30 and sat in stationary traffic for an hour. I say sat we got out, passed sweets to each other, waved at people passing on the other side, took pictures and some people even pulled their T-Shirt over their head and ran up and down the central reservation running into the barrier at one point. He was asked if "Anyone ever said your an idiot?" by one motorist, but I fear in Martin's case this was not the first! ;0) I was quite happy in my new hat that Beth won me in the bingo... if think the consensus was that it looked OK but I should give the lasso above my head a miss!

Fed up we found a break in the barrier and did a u-turn narrowly missing two lanes of on coming traffic! After that if was a fairly trouble free trip, in fact we managed to stay together (all eight of us!) as far as Exeter City Centre.

Spent the rest of the day sleeping!

Jambo Sunday...

Jambo Sunday is always a chilled out affair will people getting up very late ... or very early to polish their VW's ready for the Shooow and Shhhhiiinne. We got early fairly early to put Stan in the for sale section, no takers on this day and it was kinda strange to see people rolling around under him, climbing in the back or fiddling with his engine!

There was a country show on at the same time at the showground, Jon thought it was the worst £2 every spent although the girls did seem to enjoy the tug of war. My personal highlight was when we returned to the VW side of the fence. From a distance we could still enjoy the falcon display (we did get to see the sheep dog herd ducks!) ... already chuckling from the Cornish announcers "there an orse in ere an he's shoes falin orf!" we watched at the falconer lose both his birds. They obviously had other things to do! He desperate calls for them to come back fell on deaf ears, and the whole thing was summed up by the announcer who followed up with a "I ope you get yer burd back Graham!"... priceless!

In the evening we managed to turn the music down and eventually off by doing some generator terrorism not satisfied with winding Martin up (Sorry mate!) we then pulled the plug on the main lights! The fire log was lit eventually and the scene was set for Exeter Aircooled bingo. Everyone was ordered back to their tents and vans and told to return with a prize. What a response... sliced mushrooms and an empty can were some of the highlights. I was allowed to call the numbers, but was to easily distracted by the events of the day to take it seriously or be professional! On a later trip to the toilet I returned with a foldable bike taken from a skip and attempted to ride it across the field, after Malc, Martin and Ben had finished with it it was nearly rideable! Another great day....

Jambo Saturday... Christmas Eve!

After the sleepy afternoon and it was party time again as people disapeared into to their tents and vans only to emerge as all your favourite Xmas characters. A little music and beer was followed by dancing and more beer in the tent. Snowmen, Angels, a shepherd, Santa's Helper, numerous elves & Santas danced the night away. I went as a vicar to remind people of the true meaning of Xmas ;0) ... and the Exeter Aircooled choir did a grand job on Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. Sorry for the lack of pictures guys... strangely the rest were very blurred! On the way back to the vans we stopped off at another dance tent where a very irrate Angel (not from Exeter!) came storming in to cuff her Elf around the ear (he was trying to get in on with a couple of our Angels!) and drag him off. What a night!

Jambo Saturday... the day!

The Saturday is always the big party day at Jambo. Although this one got off to a slow start as many were feeling delicate from the evening before. As the cool weather continued we wrapped up warm and took the opportunity to do some shopping in the trade stands, sleep and watch and listen to the Belfast Busker. He's living proof that a rock and roll lifestyle will catch you up in the end. We were amazed (as was he!) that he was invited back this year, although he seemed to continue where he left off drinking beer inbetween the increasingly infrequent music. The sight of him running to the portaloo later in the evening wearing nothing but a pair a very low hipster jeans was enough to put you off beer for life.

Jambo Friday

Friday started early with a trip to Newquay to meet Jon and Helen for a camp breakfast. With bacon and egg butties polished off we packed up and made the way to the other coast to Falmouth for Cornwall Jamboree 2006. It was a fairly uneventful trip for a couple of Volkwagens and we arrived to set up camp. The club had a club camping area so we could all get together. There was a Christmas theme this year hence the Xmas trees and decorations, despite it being August the weather was still festive! During the evening we had some drinks, a BBQ and some music as the club members came together. The first of three late nights!!!

The Car Boot Sale...

Sunday marked the first of many car boot sales as we try to get rid of some of the stuff we have collected over the years. With a 5am start we were up bright and early along with Lou who very kindly came along to help and more importantly transport the stuff that wouldn't fit inside the van! We sold quite a bit making £155!... although Beth's earmuffs are still for sale if you are interested.

We've also managed to sell some furniture as Beth had the brilliant idea of taking pictures of some of the items and displaying them on the van! Ebay sales are also going well with winter wetsuits and ski gear bringing in the pounds... I even managed to sell some Argyle programmes!

Veedubbing at the Beach 2006

A short trip down to Paignton sea front took us along to Veedubbing at the Beach 2006. We started off with about nine of us in Exeter and considering only one of us broke down it was a good trip! Still a litle worse for wear 48 hours after the wedding of Sian and Pete we had a pretty chilled out day laying out on the grass looking at Volkswagens. Neil and Kim found a willing mechanic who happened to have a large roll along suitcase full of tools to repair their van and got home safely! Stan stayed at home as he was still loaded up with all the Dj-ing equipment from the wedding. A walk onto the pier saw Beth and Helen trying to get their fortunes told by a dummy in a glass case while Jon and I pretended we were truck drivers in the Gold Ole US of A before tackling the drum machine! We even bunched into a photo booth to get some mug shot stickers!! Just one more VW event for us and Stan now!

The Hamilton Trust

Here are a few of pictures of the office so that you can get an idea of where I'm working. As you can see it's quite small but gets very busy (when there are people in it ... and its not 7pm!) For those that don't know the teachers become Friends of the Hamilton Trust by making various donations, in return we provide resources and planning that they can use in the classroom.

I'm really enjoying my work up here, although it is really hard to be away from Beth. Still it's only for a few months before we move and I'm sure the experience will be a valuable one.

Iffley Lock... Oxford.

Most of you know that I'm spending much of my week in Oxford working for the Hamilton Trust, an educational charity. I stumbled across this lock while out on a run a couple of weeks ago on a run and thought I would come back and take some pictures for the ole Bloggy! What I didn't manage to capture on film were the Geese chasing me along the river bank.

The Wedding of Sian and Pete

A summer of Weddings that we would have missed if we had gone to Australia in April continued on Friday with the Wedding of Sian and Pete. It was a fantastic day and Sian and Pete looked so happy, we wish them every happiness together. The ceremony took place in a lovely little church accessed through a field. Come 2pm there was standing room only as Pete entered closely followed by Sian. The "teachers" amused ourselves with singing in the style of the kids at school adding additional words where they were not needed just like the kids! Which raised a smile!

The reception was held in the grounds of Killerton House a National Trust property just outside Exeter. The setting was stunning as was the inside of the marquee, everything had been thought of. The afternoon followed the usual Wedding reception format with drinking, food, drinking, speeches followed by drinking and the wearing of mint leaves as eyebrows... nice one Dan! The band took us off into the night before I brought things to a close on the decks. We all had a great time and I could remember most of it still in the morning... including the odd embarrassing conversation! Ooopps! Beth and I slept in Stan before packing the rest of the stuff in the morning and loosing the electronic key to Lou and Lloyd's car. It turned out that it had fallen out of Stan when I drove to the main entrance.... we returned later to find it on the grass... phew!

The Wedding of Sian and Pete

The Wedding of Sian and Pete

South West Splits

Jon and I paid a short visit to South West Splits a company that imports aircooled Volkswagens from Australia. While we were there another couple arrived and we had a good mooch around the warehouse. We hope that Gav might be able to use his contacts to sort us out with something aircooled in Australia.

Beth's Mums Birthday

It was Beth's mums bithday on Wednesday. Beth spent a lovely couple of days with her mum doing mother and daughter things as well as time spent stripping the Walker house of its assets! We took a large chest and a bookcase home to Exeter with us in the van so that they can start their longer journey in September!

In other Walker news we are delighted that Jean and John will be travelling to Australia for three months from December. The Walkers in Oz will have a very busy household over the new year!