Northampton - 19 May - Sold!

Friday 18th May. AP on a train from Glasgow, in sunny Scotland to Milton Keynes, in the soft English south. 

 AP spent Friday night in Milton Keynes, which was, so he says 'very shiny'. The office blocks and restaurants of the central business district, near his comfortable Jurys Inn hotel filled him with envy for how the soft southerners live.

 Sat 19th May
On Saturday morning AP headed over to Northampton, to be introduced to the Delica. She is a five metre long, 4-wheel drive, Mitsubishi babe from 1994, with retro-styling to match. Technically, she is a Vantech JB500 body on a Mitsubishi Delica, almost identical to this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BeRgHyRExY

 An extensive test drive and an examination of the engine, and fixtures and fittings, made him certain that this was the bus for us! A short tour round by the previous owner to show where everything is kept (not including the battery, which we found much later) recorded by video on his smart phone, means that he has something to refer to when trying to figure out which key (of all the twelve) is which. 

 After internet banking the reasonable sum required, AP set out on his first 300 mile journey, back up North, stopping off in Northumberland. At first the bus was only going at 40 miles per hour, so gingerly did he operate her. Would he get further North than Pontefract before dark? But once on the A1M AP's confidence in the old girl grew and grew as she eventually made it all the way to 66 mph! Not that you would know, because the speedometer is in klicks. 100  kph - whee!

 Meantime, SP hopped on a train and trundled down the lovely East coast rail line with its marvellous views of fields, beaches and the sea.

 We rendez-vous'd at the station in Berwick-Upon-Tweed. While pulling out of the station dropping off point, AP commented how oddly the bus had behaved while he was waiting. She had failed to start properly, but it had only been a little glitch. Little were we to know.....

 Wooler, with the campsite just outside the town. The site is spacious, and quiet. The town is a short walk away, and has a pub and co-op for all the necessaries. And we slept like logs. 

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