A Triumphant Return

As most of you will know by now, we made it back to Rickmansworth last night just after 8pm , after the final leg of our journey from Amsterdam that morning.

The night before had been a great ending to a fantastic trip, and definitely the best place to end on. After settling in to our accommodation we hit the town, starting with a funfair ride and ending up in a gay bar. Not sure how we accomplished that, but needless to say it was a great night in a great city.

Our drive back across the north of France to Calais was fairly uneventful, and we booked ourselves into the Club Lounge aboard the ferry, thanks to the deal Helen had struck with P&O. The Club Lounge allowed us free champagne, coffee and newspapers, and was altogether a more civilised way of crossing the channel.

At Dover, we climbed into the cars for the last time on the trip, headed for home after what seemed like weeks away. Two hours later, we pulled into Batchworth scout hut for a fantastic suprise reception, organised by friends and family. Drinks, food, music, a specially made cake and a sing song had some of the boys (myself included) feeling a little emotional. Not least because we were treated like heroes, having had one of the best holidays of our lives. We may just have got away with the greatest scam of the century. Still, by the time we add up the money collected through the website, and the other amounts pledged offline we may be hitting close to £20,000 for Christies, which makes us feel a little less guilty.

We toasted the loss of the van several times during the trip, but there are loads of people who have helped out immeasurably both before we left and along the way who also deserve a huge 'toast' to say thank you. In no particular order, and praying that I've missed no-one out, we'd personally like to thank the following people for making the trip what it was:

- Helen Webb for leaving Quent in our hands for a week, and doing all our publicity
- Chris Gordon for giving us the van, and his support with its resurrection
- Barry and Angela Schnabel for the accommodation in Brussels, and the loan of what proved to be indispensible guide books
- Marion Patterson for our lunch on day 1
- Jason and the boys for their work on the van to get it through MOT
- Our reception committee last night - what a fantastic surprise, and thanks so much for a great treat upon our return
- P&O for our free return crossings
- 8build and NGK for their support
- And, of course, everyone who sponsored us or supported us in any way.

So what now? Well, the BMW looks like being Richard's new company car - it ran without a hitch and has proved itself as a reliable workhorse. The Jag is a bit the worse for wear - something needs doing on the brakes, but we're not sure what. The engine seems fine, so hopefully we can sell it on. Both cars hopefully will be at the Rickmansworth May Fair to try and raise a bit more cash.

And the van? It's a sad ending to what looked like a promising 'phoenix from the flames' story, but unfortunately it will be scrapped in Austria. Hopefully we'll get some of our gear from the back returned to us, but we're not sure at this stage.

We'll be getting together all our photos at some point in the near future and let you know where you can view them. We'll also put together a ten minute video of the trip, which will also be available online, so watch this space.

Same time next year?