Away

We've come up to Scotland for a couple of weeks.  We first got away as planned, but our final departure was delayed slightly, as 10 minutes down the road someone (and it wasn't me) realised that they had left their waterproof jacket behind.  And it seemed in the current weather conditions that such a jacket was essential, not just desirable, so we had to turn round and go back.

Because we drive electric, it's important to plan the trip as recharging takes 30 to 60 minutes, depending on a number of variables.  And although charging facilities are getting better, they're still not as common as fossil fuel stations.  So W had spent some time planning our drive, and it certainly paid off.  

Instavolt, seen in the extra, are unusual in that you just flash a contactless debit or credit card to start and finish - no messing around with special RFID cards, or linking to a website.  But of course there is that risk with all contactless payments that a stolen card could be used.  I recall many years ago, when "pay at the pump" was first introduced in the UK, you just inserted your credit card.  It was in the days when you signed for payment - pre pin number, so rather vulnerable - I seem to recall one of my daughters having a credit card stolen, and used like this.

But all in all, a much less stressful trip than last year.  The Instavolt set ups were in pairs, or even more, so there were no issues with availability, and were in the car parks of coffee shops/fast food outlets, so there's somewhere to sit whilst the car charges.  Once into Scotland, we were able to take advantage of the Scottish Government initiative, which has seen single chargers installed in many small towns.  The first one we planned to use was occupied, but we were able to move on another 10 miles to an alternative.  And the Scottish recharge was free!

And now we are safely installed in our accommodation.  The main blip is the view from our front door.  The sheep across the road are a bit noisy, but I don't think they'll disturb our sleep.