Offgrid Day 2

Day 2 started at 0730 when I set the alarm, made coffee and washed and dressed.  I found I had no towel. Luckily, I had the brand new dog towel from Dock and Bay. It's actually better I think as it is hand towel sized!!It was also brand new.

Then at 0800, they came to look over the van to decide where everything would go. The battery us too tall to go under my seat. So it was decided that it would go under the bench seat in the dining area..... The inverter would then go under my seat.  The rest of the gubbins under Claire's seat.

With nothing else to do I got a jumper and my man-bag and set off for a walk to the bus stops on the main Wantage to Faringdon road.

My luck was out and I missed the buses in both directions by minutes.

Molly on the right!

I basically went the way I had driven in.  I sat and waited for the 67 bus to come. Wantage wasn't that far, but I was already hot after walking a mile. 

Once in Wantage I decided to go into Oxford. Here I had two buses to choose from. The S9 that had just departed (!) or the X1 due at 1010. I got a coffee from Costa and waited until that showed up.

It terminates at the railway station in Oxford. A short walk from the touristy bit. But it goes around the houses! It was gone 1130 when I stepped off and made my way to the centre. It was very crowded.

I chose the Ashmolean Museum. It's free. It has a restaurant with views over the city, it has loos.... I could accomplish two of them. The museum was lunch only. 

I ended up wandering around a few galleries, then lunch in the café in the basement. I chose a BLT on granary. It was a bit lacking in B but there was plenty of LT. 

More wandering and then I decided that given the bus takes an age, I'd get the 1335 back to Wantage. I chose to get it at the stop outside St Aldates Police Station. It meant it was basically a straight line past loads of interesting building that I have no ides now which colleges etc they are!

Martyrs Monument

This is the order I took them on the little Sony Cybershot.

The X1 was even slower on the way back. Traffic was heavier and they decided after we went through earlier, to did up part of Abingdon High Street. If only Oxfordshire had known about temporary traffic lights.....

It meant instead of a comfortable cushion at Wantage for the 67, it was already on the stop. A little fast walking and I was on it.

Instead a taking the roads I decided to take the footpath. It's signposted off the road. There are no more signposts! The first stile looked like it was in someone's front garden. I could see the stile on the far side and headed directly to it.  Into the second field. Almost landing on top of a cow and her suckling calf. She just stared. I couldn't see the stile and walked across to the far side before working my way down the side of the field. Another stile! Once over I was met with a wall of rapeseed.

The van and Off Grid are by those trees. In the end I followed the path back to the lane I came out on. Had it saved ne anything. I doubt it.

By the time I got back to the farm, it was 1545. They had said that the job would probably take until around 1700. I had a chat with my neighbours, got my water bottle from the van and tool a couple of photos to send to Claire.

The inverter

The other blue things!

I settled down in the sun to read my Kindle until the job was finished. They have an old caravan to use if the weather is not very good and I went in there when it started to rain. It was quite cosy.

Then they came to get me. We went through everything. All the Victron stuff has Bluetooth to an app on my phone. That was set up. It shows what's working etc.

The other app is the Fogstar app. This one basically shows the state of the battery. It was showing 49% full. 

I took some pictures of the van back in the field.

Then after a play with the apps and the sockets with the inverter turned on, I had some snacks and rather than cider, I had a low alcohol radler from Austria. I will be driving tomorrow and I didn't want to drink.

Stiegl Radler

After a few YouTubes it was getting late and the darkness had come down quickly. 

Tomorrow, once we have checked that everything is working and that the new solar panel glue and sealant has cured okay, I will drive home.  Still slowly to ensure nothing gets damaged on the roof.