Thank you all for your kind comments. I am experiencing great difficulty with my internet connection at the moment. We hope to have it sorted in the next few days when I can update you on the trip and the adventures of my passenger side wing mirror. I think the wing mirror would like to return to England. Mind you, it was nearly got left in France and again in Austria.😁

We arrived in Hungary this evening. It was a longer drive than I thought. We did the 1287 miles reasonably well. We left on Friday afternoon at 3 in the afternoon and arrived here at 7 this evening. The Q5 was faultless. Cannot say the same about me. I will explain all soon.😀
We did pass Munich at around 2.30 this afternoon. We gave a big wave to Doug but I don’t think he saw us.😎

Thanks Colin. I can only hope.
Lloyds somehow managed to get my replacement credit card to me this morning. Almost exactly 24 hours after I had told them. Still waiting for my Debit card though. Could be a very clever business move if you think about it.
The packing is really close to being completed. I have to get the inventories to the carrier tomorrow. Should just make it on time.
We go to the vets tomorrow to complete the health certificates for the cats. They have had their rabies shots so all should be ok. PCR Covid tests on Thursday. Only £210 each!!
We have a weight limit of 2800kg for the carrier. We are going to be on the limit and will be forced to leave a few things at home. Never mind.
Finally for today, I used Martins Chinese Restaurant phone number and managed to change my subscription of the Model Boats Magazine to Global. Now to find out how well that goes. 21st May I should get the latest issue. We will see.😁

Chinese Restaurant Martin. I had to order two number threes, three number eights and a spring role to get rid of them.





Not really. Perfect. Thanks Martin.
Peter.😀

Thanks Martin. I will give it a go.

Bet Noah didn`t have an Audi though.
The car is now registered correctly at DVLA. The second key is being looked into.
I had a full inspection carried out on the car before I bought it and it passed with flying colours. The two keys were present then so I think it has been overlooked.
Bad news yesterday. For the first time in my life I lost my wallet with all credit and debit cards. There was only £20 in it. What perfect timing....not. I have cancelled the cards and can only hope that replacements arrive in time.
Packing is nearly completed. The good lady is washing the carpets as we empty rooms. I am running out of storage space in the garage. Happy days.
We go to buy two pet carriers soon as my original plan has fallen flat. I bought two nice holders but they are too big. The cats would be flying all over the place.
I need help please. I want to change my Model Boat Magazine subscription to global but have packed all of my magazines so cannot find the subscriptions phone number. Can anybody help please. Thanks.
Peter.😀

Not having a good time with this car so far. I now find out that the spare key is missing. Another warm phone tomorrow.
A very busy week this week. I have cancelled everything I can think of but cannot get in touch with my house insurer. They have just moved and joined LV. I cannot contact them to see if my house insurance requires a change now that it is about to be rented. The new web based system to contact big companies is very good at time but totally useless if the system is down over a long period.#
Nearly have all of my boats boxed now. I will probably take the PTB and the Submarine in the car with me.
Busy day again tomorrow. We have to complete the final bit of packing. Life is quite difficult with only two cups, plates, knives, forks and spoons.😁

I must be honest, I have been a tool maker for 47 years and it took my business partner to want to retire on health grounds to make me realise I had had enough as well.
A slight, possibly major glitch, has come to light with the Q5. I have no log book (V5) as the DVLA classed the car as an Opel and not an Audi. I need this document to travel but worse still is that I looked up my car on the Government web site and it clearly states an Opel. This could give us a major problem. I think my phone will be getting a little warm tomorrow.😁

It has been a bit of a sad few days. I finished my last job a week ago and from Tuesday, all of the machines, except one, have been collected. Only a full tidy up to do now. I retire on Friday. It was very interesting watching the machine removers at work. They certainly know how to do it.
Today my Q5 finally arrived. The sad part was that I took my car, the ST3, to the garage who bought it and had to say goodbye. I had it seven years from new and had been my favourite by far. I have just driven the Q5 home for the first time. What ST3.
I have bought a winch to help to get the 320kg package with my milling machine down my steep driveway. I have drilled some 14mm holes to bolt the winch down with.
The garage is really getting full now. Only a few boxes to go.
I have to complete the Health Certificates for my cats next week. They have already had Rabies vaccinations and just have to have a final vet’s inspection before we can get the documents.
My wife and I have our PCR tests next Thursday ready for a Friday departure.

It would not move far. I think it has stalled in Swindon.🤔

You have done a fabulous job. She looks perfect. You must be really pleased.
Peter.👍👍

You have done an excellent job of the restoration. She looks so much better.
Peter.👍

Stunning. You have once again done a fabulous job Sy. 👍👍

The renting of my house has been a bit of a challenge. I have had to get an environmental certificate, a gas certificate and an inspection of the electrics. The environmental was a formality and the gas was good as I had a new cooker fitted and the boiler serviced at the same time. The electrical inspection was rather thorough. 85% was good but one double socket failed and the bathroom ceiling lights. I fitted them in 2017 but now they are not good. The spots have to be fireproof. The only solution is to replace. Costly I think as there are six of them. Good job I am renting to a friend or I might have to do many other things.
I have been busy this weekend making two large, secure boxes amongst many other things. One box is for Dusseldorf, the other for my 3d printer. Not quite to the standard of JB`s but they will do the job. All of the smaller Dusseldorf assemblies are in a box I made last year to transport the Pilot Boat Cabin.
I am nearly as far as I can go with packing until the final week. I still have to paint the sides of the shed, paint 20 wooden posts and fit 30 metres of security chain. The better half wants to wash all of the carpets before we leave.
Still no news on the Q5. I am confident that it will arrive either late this week or early next week. We will see. It seems to be quite expensive to insure a LHD car in the UK. The only thing the company that I bought the car from have left to do is to fit an update to the SatNav to cover Eastern Europe. At the moment it is on back order with Audi.

No problem Doug. I will leave the Q5 at home and take my other car with forward facing brownings, bullet proof screen, oil sprays and an ejector seat. Watch out!!
James, ooo I mean Peter.😁

Great to see you back Martin.
Looking forward to the friendly banter and access to a mine of knowledge.
Peter.😊

Great to see you back Martin.
It is really unusual to have no replies. I am sure it just slipped under the RADAR.
Martin is a superb researcher so I think he will give you some valuable help and pointers.
Peter.

Really nice work as usual Mike.👍👍

Even the box is the Bees Knees. I will be making a box to move Dusseldorf to Hungary. There will be a picture on my retirement thread but I almost feel embarrassed to post it even though I have not made it yet. I am afraid that yours is much nicer than my effort will be.
Peter.😁

Great photos JB. That really looks perfect.
Peter.👍👍

Wow. You must be very pleased with the result. Stunning.👍👍
Peter.

Thanks Geoff and Bill. Time is really running out now but I think I will just about get everything done.
Soon be waving at you from the Autobahn Doug.

I cannot believe the amount of lifting equipment I have had to buy to get the milling machine moved. I first purchased a 2 ton engine crane to assemble the machine onto its base for use here. My big problem, now that I have to move it, is getting it down my rather steep driveway onto an even steeper road, 1:5 or 20%. For this I have bought a pallet truck. I was thinking of edging it down the drive on the pallet truck but this could be dangerous. Today I took delivery of an 800kg winch. I am going to use this in future in Hungary so not money wasted. I will securely bolt the winch to the garage floor and connect the cable to the pallet truck with the machine on board. I can then slowly let out the winch with person 2 operating the pallet truck to drop the load in case of trouble. I will post pictures of this operation on 30th April.😁

The packing is in full swing. The garage is now almost full of boxes to transport. My machines are packaged and also ready to go. We have packed so much that life will be a little difficult in the remaining four weeks.
My car is coming along nicely and I hope to take delivery in the next two weeks. I now have two cars to sell. The better half wants me to sell her car first. I asked her to clean it for photos as I already have too much to do. Wish I hadn`t. She used one of those cleaning sponges with the green scourer on the back. She used the scourer side on the Seagull mess. Oh dear!!!. T Cut needed immediately. Not too bad now. We will have another go before advertising.
The first two machines were removed from my factory today. I will finish the last tool this week. Feels a little strange knowing that this is nearly it. No more having to be at work by 7.30 and no more customers demanding quicker deliveries at lower prices. Bliss.
The house is being prepared for the tenant. I have put a new roof on the shed and painted it. Still lots of things to do but slowly getting there. I have just had the gas and electric inspections done. Gas was good but a couple of things to do with the electrics.
I had to arrange for the final bills for gas, electric, council tax, water, TV license and Vergin Media today. It was easy to do all of them except for Virgin Media. They have you on hold whilst transferring you to the leaving team then cut you off. I was not happy. I got so fed up with them that I wrote to them and sent it using registered mail. I hope that will make a difference. I looked them up on forums and this seems to happen a lot.
The cats go for their final health check at the vets in two weeks to get the necessary health certificate. They had their Rabies shots before Christmas. They will not like being in the car for 24 hours but they will love the new home by the river.
I now have to concentrate on getting all of the required self assessment documentation together so that I can drive through several European countries. We have to get 24 hour Covid tests done on 29th April. I have to go to Exeter for these. They cost £210 each.

Hi Doug.
I was looking for a LHD Q5 with a petrol engine in Hungary but all of the available cars were Diesel. I could not find one in UK either. There were a few RHD but that would be no use. The one I bought from Dubai is 3 litre. 272HP. Will keep me happy as I will have to sell my Focus ST.I have not noticed any car dealerships at Tescos. I will look in a few weeks and report back.

Hi Nerys.
Our house is on the Pest side of the river about 20 miles south of Budapest near to the village of Aporka, I agree. Hungary is a lovely country.
They do Clubcard now but not my English one.

Thanks for your interest and kind comments. I will update as soon as I get a minute to spare.
As some of you will know, my wife is Hungarian. She comes from Budapest. We bought a house on the Danube four years ago and have spend a lot of time, and money, preparing it for the move when we retired. The date for this was seriously shortened as my business partner needed to retire early due to his health. At first, I was very concerned about this but it wasn`t long before I was ready to pack up and go. My wife cannot wait to get home. She retired last week. I, on the other hand, plan to retire on 23rd April. I have managed to sell most of my machines from the factory so all should work out well.
In January, I ordered a second-hand Audi Q5 from Dubai. This will allow me to transport my pets in comfort. It is Left Hand Drive and has a petrol engine, quite rare in Europe.
We have been packing for months now and the house is quite a mess. I am renting the house to a friend at a reduced rate which will give me peace of mind.
It is a big move Nerys but as Doug said, my boating pond is at the bottom of the garden. This is my back yard in my Avatar. I have already built my shipyard and am really looking forward to installing my machines as soon as I arrive, well almost. My wife has a list of jobs for me to do which gets longer by the day, so I am not quite sure where modelling time will be fitted in.
I just heard today that my car has arrived in UK and will go through all of the processes for registration very soon. I ordered it in mid January with a six week delivery. Eleven weeks now so I was starting to get nervous.
I will soon update with some pictures. I have started to make a larger transportation box for Dusseldorf. I have a lot of new models to take with me, enough work for ten years…..six weeks for Simon.
Just a note Nerys. There a several Tescos in and around Budapest. They are all enormous.

Good Grief Sy. I thought I had only been away for a couple of weeks. You have been making stunning progress on this model. It is looking fantastic. Great workmanship as usual.
Peter.👍👍

I was talking to a good friend of us all the other day and he suggested that I keep a short log, for the next six weeks or so, of my retirement and move, with all of my models, to Hungary. I would add a couple of pictures and update when there was something new to show.
If members think this inappropriate for the site, please say here and I will not do it.
Thanks.
Peter.😀

Very nice job you have made of the Lifeboat.
Can I ask where you managed to find the figures at 1:16 scale.
Thanks.
Peter.👍