Eva...The arrival.

As I said in my last post, the drive from the Eriba dealers over to my daughter's house was uneventful.

Not having towed a caravan for many years meant that I was more than a little apprehensive but as it turned out I need not have worried as everything went pretty smoothly.

The last mile of the shortish journey was up a reasonably stiff hill..... 
I have cycled up this hill a few times in the past and on the bike it presents a nice tough workout, particularly if you want to maintain any decent speed. 
Towing Eva up this gradient was no problem at all and I barely noticed that I was actually hauling a caravan up a stiff gradient...

When I arrived at my daughter's home I drove straight on to the drive.... There was no way that I was going to mess around trying to reverse it......Anyway I had already sorted the manoeuvring aspect of caravan ownership as I will explain shortly.

I unhitched the caravan and then the 'magic' began......

(When I ordered the caravan one of the extras that I had added was a MOTOR MOVER.
Everyone I had talked to at various campsites who owned a caravan advised me to have one fitted and that was a view that was supported in the caravan magazines I had read.)

Trying to remember all the instructions that Jason the dealer had given me during the handover regarding the operation of the motor mover I switched this bit of kit on and using the handset supplied proceeded to  manoeuvre the van.

Initially I couldn't get Eva to respond correctly to the handset instructions.... and then I realized that I had made the number one beginners mistake... I had not released the handbrake!! 

Actually it was not me who realized the handbrake was still on, it was my daughter who was watching  from one of her windows.
She was filming the whole thing on her smartphone ready to play at a later date for all other family members as a form of comedy entertainment !!.....

Once the handbrake had been released, moving Eva around on the drive was an absolute dream.
I moved her away from the car and then managed to do a 180 degree turn and slot her into the chosen spot to one side of the house entrance....

So....... Eva has now been parked up, already for our adventure starting in a couple of months time.
I know for some people their idea of a retirement adventure would be an around the world cruise or something like that....but that's not for me. 
After a lifetime of camping...backpacking....cycling etc... a caravan is a bit of luxury but still allowing us to enjoy the outdoor life...and that includes still doing a bit of all of the above.

Eva's first dusting of snow.

Since parking Eva up and putting her cozy winter coat on, my daughter has sent me this picture above showing that Eva has experienced a light dusting of snow....

Eva slotted into her temporary home

Eva and the car from where she had been manoeuvred

All you need to move a caravan...My motor mover handset control.