Now for some advice for anyone scheduled for an MRI scan and who, like me, suffers from claustrophobia! It’s all very well keeping your eyes shut but unless you’re very slim the chances are your shoulders will touch the sides of the machine and remind you that you’re in a narrow tube. Having gone through it previously, I decided to hunch my shoulders and that did work. It meant folding my arms across my chest but that was no bother and with my eyes closed, I could to a large extent forget where I was!

Or at least I would were it not for the noise – it’s deafening! The scanner makes a whole range of different sounds, from a roar to a high pitched scream to rapid clicks and throbbing noises, and all very loud. So you’re fitted with headphones (if you weren’t, your hearing would be damaged). The team will offer to put the radio on for you but you probably won’t be offered a choice of which station you want to listen to. I finished up last time listening to a pop music station with an over-enthusiastic DJ who thought a mid-Atlantic accent was the height of cool.

However, you can also take a CD with you if you prefer. Choose ABBA or a military brass band – they’ll both be loud enough to help drown out the noise of the scanner!

Apart from all that, the experience is fairly benign. You can eat and drink normally beforehand and there are no after-effects from the scan. When it’s complete, you just get dressed again and walk out.

And that’s it. What could possibly go wrogn.

Mandy and I have said it before and we’ll say it again – do the people who design caravans ever use them themselves? Another case in point – we looked at one Lunar model (can’t remember which one now, might have been a show special) but the width between the cooker and the unit on the opposite side of the van was so tight that it would be impossible to get anything in or out of the oven; there simply wasn’t the room to bend down. Unbelievable!

So we went there this morning. It’s only 10-12 minutes drive from where we live, so we set off at 9.45 for the 10.00 opening. Half a mile from the venue, we hit gridlock! Every man and his dog was going the same way and we had to fight for each inch of progress along the way. The carpark was full so we had to divert into one of the Trafford Centre carparks instead, and then walk across. Our carpark was covered but as we emerged into the daylight, the heavens opened and we arrived at EventCity ever so slightly damp! The irony is that if the event had still been at Manchester Central, we could have taken the tram (free with our bus passes) and been dropped off right outside the main entrance without any of the aggro!

Anyway, what of the show? Lots of caravans and motorhomes were on display of course as you might expect. The largest dealerships represented were probably Campbells Caravans and Glossop Caravans, both of which seemed to have acres of floor space. Campbells (where we bought our current Lunar Clubman from) had Lunar, Swift and Bailey models, whilst Glossop were displaying Elddis, Coachman and Swift/Sterling. Irritatingly, the one model of Lunar Clubman that Campbells didn’t have on show was the one we were interested in seeing, the CK! Our current one is the 475CK but they recently dropped the 475 bit from its name. One salesman we spoke to admitted he was surprised by its absence because it’s always a steady seller at the exhibitions. (But sod it, we weren’t looking to buy anyway!)

Anyway, by the time we left the place, the rain had gone and it was bright and sunny (for a short while anyway until the rain returned later!). We then drove over to our son and daughter-in-law’s place to spend some time with our 2 grandsons and to have a pizza tea later. Good time had by all.

So we’re ready for the off. All we need is a week of guaranteed good weather and ambient temperatures in the low 20s. Not too much to ask for, is it?

Nevertheless, I suspect everyone who crosses the Channel will now be affected to some extent. Although the company went into receivership in 2010, it continued to operate until November and therefore next summer will be the first test of any reduced capacity on the route. It’s almost certain to drive fares upwards, on both the ferries and the tunnel, especially on the more popular daytime crossings.

On a personal note, we unfortunately can’t book our crossing until the end of the month because we’re waiting for the next set of Tesco vouchers to pay Eurotunnel! I’m just hoping any major increase in fares in the meantime doesn’t wipe out any saving from using Tesco!

And on a non-personal note, let’s not forget the SeaFrance employees, on both sides of the Channel, who are likely to lose their jobs. That’s the real tragedy.

Meanwhile I have a decision to make. We bought a new car a few weeks ago and because we don’t know how much longer we’ll be keeping the Lunar Clubman, and looking to the future, we decided to have the new-style 13-pin euro socket fitted to the car.

Which leaves us with an interim mismatch between the car and the caravan. We could buy a 12N/12S to 13 pin adapter, which would undoubtedly would be the cheaper option but neither convenient nor elegant. Or we could get the caravan rewired to a matching 13-pin plug, more expensive but maybe not all that much. Only one way to find out; I feel a telephone call to my friendly caravan service man coming on.

Edit, Tuesday 10th: I’ve been in touch and he’s coming next Wednesday to rewire the caravan.

Happy New Year everyone!

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