Late Break

We decided to have a late break in the motorhome from November 24th. in North Norfolk. Because we were not sure how we would cope we tried to find a site with a pub nearby. After a long search, most of the sites were closed this late into the year, we did find such a site  near to Cromer on the main Cromer to Holt road. Moorland Park site was fine but there were few people there and due to its location we had to use the motor home to travel rather than the bus as we were not keen about walking with the dog near to the main road.
The first full day we spent some time in Cromer, this is certainly a nicer place than it used to be many years ago and a lot of money and time has been spent improving it.

After Cromer we visited Overstrand and Mundersley finally visiting North Walsham before returning to the site.
On the second day we went to Holt. While parking in a small bay, the wing mirror was about an inch from the wall, a kind Warden came and suggested we park in a much larger bay in the corner of the car park.
Holt is packed with shops and we had a good time looking around the town. Later on we tried to walk along the beach at Waybourne but the high winds made it very uncomfortable. Eventually we decided to visit the National Trust Sheringham Park. We tried one of the smaller walks and enjoyed the walk in the more sheltered area rather than the beach.
We had decided to visit the Dun Cow pub at Salthouse for a meal but it was quite early when we arrived. We parked nearby and read. It was about then that we started to realise that Helen did not really like being in the motorhome for so long on dark nights.
We had a very good meal at the dun cow and then headed back to the site.
We did not have a pleasant evening and night with Helen's increasing unease at being 'confined' to the motorhome for so long and the high winds. The motorhome was being continually buffeted by the wind and as our pitch was under a large tree we had visions of a branch crashing down on us!
The next day we decided to shorten out break by a day and headed off home, visiting the craft show in Sandringham on the way back.
We have certainly learnt that we will not make another trip so late into the year.

October Holiday

Monday 10th
Gosh what a start to our holiday. We started at about 10:00 am and headed for Lymington so that we could catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight. As we head south on the A34 the wind was really strong and the motorhome was shaken and jarred for many miles. Helen was somewhat worried with all the lurching about and I thought that we had an engine problem as we seemed to be struggling to keep going at 50 mph. However, we kept going, just stopping at Sutton Scotney for a toilet break and arriving at Lymington quite early for the ferry.
We then discovered the problems of parking a motorhome in a car park. the signs said that it was ok to park our size of ‘van. But when we tried the car we parked alongside would not be able to get out. We moved and found free on street parking near to the library. After a pasty looking at the boats we wandered a little round the town and then headed off for the ferry.
While waiting for the ferry we tried to get water for Sugar, the Jack Russell/Springer Spaniel cross. The pump did not work!
A bit of rapid investigation showed that because we had travelled with a full tank of water some had leaked out of the tank connection and caused the connectors to get wet. After I had dried them off we managed to get water from the bathroom tap but not the kitchen tap. The water and electric system were to become quite a topic during the next few days. They continued to go wrong all through the week!
The ferry journey was easy but we found the journey from Yarmouth to Ryde quite slow and we managed to take a long time going through Ryde. Eventually we found our way to the campsite, not helped by a sign saying no access for vehicles greater than 6’ 6” wide. At last we had arrived. It seemed to us to have been a long trying journey. The campsite at Rosemary’s Vineyard was very nice and relaxed.

Tuesday 11th
This was the day we visited Helen’s friend who is not very well and so well travelled to Shanklin and returned to the campsite in the early evening.

Wednesday 12th
After visiting the Vineyard shop and sampling some of the produce we intended to visit the Needles at the other side of the Island calling at Godshill. After Godshill our journey took a difficult turn. We somehow ended up in Ventnor even though we did not want to be there. After a couple of trips round Ventnor we discovered that our problem was that the coast road was closed to vehicles greater than 6’ 6” wide. Eventually we found the alternative route but it seemed to take ages. We were feed up and really hungry when we saw the Isle of Wight Pearl premises which had a cafe. The food provided was really welcome. Eventually we arrived at our destination the Needles Battery. This is an interesting Victorian fort or battery guarding one of the entrances to the Solent.

We had to park in the Needles car park and when we had seen the battery and returned

Needles lighthouse

Don't Jump

Alum Bay Cliffs

we brewed a cup of tea and read our books in the motor home. The journey back to Shanklin somehow led us through the centre of Newport, the islands main town.  After visiting our friends again we returned to the campsite around 10:00 pm.

Thursday 13th

Morning in the vineyard

We headed back to the ferry at Yarmouth at about 10:30. The trip to Yarmouth was uneventful and we arrived early parking in a carpark overlooking part of the yacht basin. This was the most relaxing time on the Isle of Wight for us as for a little time there were no pressures on us.

Carpark at Yarmouth

Yachts at Yarmouth

After arriving in Lymington we lunched at the Filly Inn near to Brockenhurst. The food was good and it was really pleasant to be able to eat outside in October.
We managed to park alongside two other motorhomes in Lyndhurst and enjoyed our stroll around this village. Our campsite for the night was the forest holidays site of Setthorns. This was a really different site set in the woods. What amazed us was how full it was but also it was really quiet. The time there was relaxing except that I managed to reverse into a log and break one of the rear lights. This was unfortunate as I then spent some time worrying about where or how to get a new lamp fitting. We had a couple of good walks with sugar the dog on the Thursday and Friday.









Friday 14th
And off to Southampton to visit our son who has just bought his first house with his girlfriend. On the way to the campsite we visited a motorhome dealers but did not find any light fittings, nor anything else.
The campsite for the next two nights was SunnyDale Farm. this was a really well equipped site with level pitches and a new shower and toilet block. Unfortunately we did not spend a great deal of time at the site as we spent most of the time at our sons. On Friday afternoon we walked to Netley Abbey and spent a short time walking along the shorefront at Southampton Water.

Liners at Southampton

After a pleasant evening at our son’s new house we returned to the campsite.

Saturday and Sunday 15/16th
A lot of the time during these days was spent helping put up shelves, change locks and put handles on wardrobes.
On the Sunday morning I thought it was really cold when I woke up. when I managed to look at the thermometer it was 2^o C brrr.

And so back home, we arrived at about 7:00 pm. this may be the last trip this year, we have not decided yet.

Surprise Trip

This trip was rather a surprise. We had originally decided that we were not going away for any more weekends because we are going for a week away in October.
However, we have both had rather stressful weeks at work and home and we thought it might be good to go away.
We visited Olney on Saturday and came across this small site which we rather  liked. So we shot home, rang the site and booked in for Saturday evening!
We quickly filled the ‘van with water, I won this time! I had changed the connection so that the pipe could not fall off the tap, and prepared the toilet cassette. After getting the motorhome out of the drive Helen drove all the way on her own and I followed in the car.
We arrived before 5 and received a really friendly welcome at the site at Ekeney house. It is a very small site but has electric hook-up and hard standing and we parked in a spot with beautiful views. We tried one of the walks which had been suggested to us on Saturday afternoon after we had the ‘van sorted. It was a pleasant walk through woods but we tried to extend it thinking that if we went a particular way we would be able to cut through, we could not! We had to return from our extra section and follow the marked path. still we had a decent walk and exercised both ourselves and Sugar the dog. It was good to get away from the cares of the week. It was quite strange that so few people were on the site, there was just one occupied caravan there on the Saturday. It was just so quiet and peaceful.
Sunday dawned quite dull but not cold, after getting ready we decided to try a different walk, this was through the woods and then to a small hamlet of Petsoe End. Unfortunately we did not have an map with us so we tried to go in one direction, but although the footpath was marked it seemed to peter out in a field that was set out for horse jumping. We then walked in a different direction and discovered a place where country pastimes were conducted. We returned from there and went back through the hamlet.
Gosh, it was such a surprise that a place so close to a large conurbation could be so rural.

We came across these pigs very close to the small road we were walking on.
Shortly after this a chocolate Labrador ran out of a drive and stayed with us. It was a little bit of a nuisance as it was very boisterous and kept jumping at Sugar and Helen and I. It was not long until I had to carry Sugar.  The dog managed to follow us all the way back to the motorhome however hard we tried to turn it back!
Sometime after this I was about to put the shoes outside. I opened the door and there was a hen quite near to the door. Unfortunately Sugar managed to jump out of the doorway quicker than I could react. I ended up chasing Sugar round the field in my socks while she was trying to catch the hen. She nearly succeeded because there were a lot of feathers all over the field. What she would have done we do not know, but think she might have enjoyed a tasty snack! Fortunately the hen took refuge under the car, Sugar could not follow and Helen managed to catch Sugar. Blimey was I worn out from chasing Sugar.
After a well deserved sleep we discovered that a small aircraft was taking off from what seemed to be a local field.



At sometime later we set off to take Sugar on another walk.

There were really good views of Olney and the local wildlife!

 

We stayed on site on Sunday night and I went to work on Monday after visiting home to get changed. It was really strange waking up in a field and being at work a little while later. Helen stayed for some time enjoying the countryside and being able to be on her own.

Something Different

This weekend, the August Bank Holiday, was a little different. We went on a Church weekend with about 50 to 60 people from Church. The journey was our longest to date and my wife, Helen, drove all the way. She really enjoyed driving the motorhome because the driving position is so high up. It looks like I can enjoy being the passenger in the future. It is time I improved my map reading!

 We did not stay at a regular campsite but in different locations at the retreat centre which was near to Broadway in the Cotswolds.
This was the first time that we had not had electric hook up and so we had to rely on gas and the leisure battery.
Our allocated parking place was right next to some friends in their motorhome, but it was very difficult to  get into and we had to have assistance to park. The first night was quite scary as there was a thunderstorm and we were parked under trees! It was quite alarming to be lying in bed and see the flash of lightening through the roof light followed almost immediately by the crack of thunder.

Tucked in under trees

The format of the weekend was very relaxed with the purpose being for Church members getting to know each other. There was an organised walk on the Saturday, we were to have joined it for part of the way but the weather rather put us off.
Instead we visited the National Trust premises at Snowshill, there was a queue for the house so we enjoyed the gardens instead.

Enjoying Snowshill

Rather than the walk we had a cream team in Snowshill village hall. We followed this by visiting Broadway and looking at the shops, followed by an ice cream. This motor homing is rather fattening! 

Sunday started with an informal service, then we went decided to visit the small village of Stanton and walk on the Cotswold Way. We made a mistake in getting there and ended up on really small roads. Was I glad that we did not meet anyone, the road did not feel to be much wider than the motorhome.

Stanton is a really pretty village.

Following our walk along a small part of the Cotswolds Way we set off back to the retreat centre with the idea of stopping on the way. We were fortunate to stop in an unused farm gateway. Here we were able to take advantage of the motorhome, we had a cup of tea and lunch while parked in the gateway.

The following day was Bank Holiday Monday and we all returned home. On the way we spent a few hours at the National Trust garden at Hidcote. This is a really wonderful garden and we spent quite some time there before returning home.

Here are just a few of the marvellous flowers on display even at the end of August.

And this is just a fraction of those displayed there!

Just in case anyone wondered what had happened to the hosepipe, I filled the water tank at home this time. It was a more equal battle on home ground!



Snowshill Manor

The Next Installment

Well for our third trip we decided to try something different. Instead of just being my wife and I two of our grandchildren came with us as well. They are twin 11 year old boys.
This time we visited the Caravan and camping club site at St. Neots in Cambridgeshire. This was quite a short run for us so that we managed to arrive at the site at around about 7:00 pm on the Friday evening. After registration we were shown to our plot but could not fill up with water because the fish and chip van was in the way. We thought 'OK, we will have enough water in the tank', we were wrong!

Swing ball preparations

My wife prepared the evening meal using our new Halogen lamp cooker which is a very efficient and clean method of cooking food. We did discover that although our motor home is a four berth the extra two do seem to make the space available rather small. After our meal we had a walk around the site, the boys played swing ball and then they prepared for bed. The boys could sleep over the cab a lot easier than we could!

A better nights sleep was had by all!

This was mainly because my wife used a mattress topper so that the bumps in the cushions were smoothed out.
The next day dawned wet and misty but fortunately the rain stopped quite early. We had just about got ourselves ready to go out when we discovered that we had run out of water. This meant the gas had to be turned off and the 'van disconnected from the electricity hook up and off I went to fill up.
What a performance! Yet again the hose did not let me down in being extremely difficult, the connector would not fit on the tap. the water pressure was so low that the kinks in the pipe would not straighten out. After a disagreeable fight with the hose my wife went to reception to ask if the water pressure was always like this. Yes it is at this time of the day! the campers are having showers.

We postponed filling up with water and walked into St Neots. There was a lively event happening in the market square being conducted by the Riverside church. After a few minutes we walked on and found a park near to the river where we could get a coffee and an ice cream for the boys. After they had finished playing on the park we headed back through St Neots to the site.

A more successful attempt at filling the water was made, still with a lot of difficulty!
Later on we took the boys to a skate board park and play park on the other side of the river. We stayed there for some time before returning.
After the evening meal they boys went and made friends with some others of their age. Hurray!

And so to Sunday. Like most sites we had to leave this one by 12:00 so we decided to go to Grafham water just up the A1. This was a really nice place to park, except I missed the entrance to the car park so we had to go on for a mile or so until we could turn round. I was not the most favourite person at that time!
We went for a walk on top of the dam for a while then we had a picnic sitting on the grass near to the motor home and the boys tried to fly their kite.

After a while we decided to walk to the shop to get an ice cream, Sugar the dog was allowed to run free and almost immediately found a dead fish to roll in. Whew did she stink! While the others were busy I found an outside tap at the shop and tried to wash the smell off, but she still smelled, which she did all the way home.

So we look forward to the next adventure, who will win me or the hosepipe?

Second Adventure

For our second trip we decided to go to a Camping and Caravan Club site at Chipping Norton for Friday and Saturday night. What a rush it was to get out of work much earlier than usual. One thing we had not expected was that we have to arrive at the camp site before 8:00 pm. Well we started before 6:00 and arrived about 7:15. We were fortunate that traffic was not bad for a Friday evening. As we travelled along smaller roads I discovered that I had a queue following me. Because the road surface was bad, which caused many things to rattle and I was not too certain at what speed I should take bends I had slowed down to about 40 mph. Eventually we arrived.
After we had booked in the first task was to top up the water. What an embarrassing event that was! We had bought a new food grade hosepipe to enable the water tank to be filled, but it was like fighting a serpent! there were so many kinks and twists in the pipe that it seemed to take ages to get the water to flow. At least it was innocent amusement for the camp site manager.

When we had parked at our site the warden mentioned that we should use a levelling device. We though that we knew better and did not. Yet another learning situation. We should have leveled the motor home when we got there as we stayed all weekend in a slightly tilted van, in which the water would not flow easily out of the sink.

We had re-arranged the sleeping arrangements since last time. I slept on a single mattress and my wife slept on a small double bed. This worked for me! But my wife found the cushions somewhat bumpy. The second night she tried lots of different arrangements with sleeping on duvets and blankets while I slept through it all! We will have to come up with another idea about this.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and so we decided to go to Witney on the bus, I must get a bus pass,  to save moving the motorhome. This was a good idea as the journey took us though villages and a town that we did not even know existed so we saw a lot more than if we had gone on the major roads. Witney is a very pleasant town to visit, but we did not see Mr. Cameron!

After a pleasant snack lunch in a Portuguese bar, where I could drink Portuguese beer at lunch, very strange as I usually have to drive, we looked round the shops and market and had a little while to wait for the bus to get back.

It was so hot when we returned to the camp site that we had to put out the awning. Another first time for us. We managed to wind the awning out but the edges were too floppy. My wife had to ask another motor home owner as I was too embarrassed or shy. Yet again a learning point for me, the campers seem to be very friendly and are very happy to share their knowledge!

Awning in use

Sunday was another hot day. We had planned to go to Batsford Arboretum but the weather was so nice we asked if we could stay on the site a bit longer. We walked to the nearest village which had a cafe, it was 1 1/2 miles each way so the coffee was well deserved. The walk back was quite hard as it was mainly uphill in hot sun.
We then lazed about, had lunch and enjoyed doing nothing for a couple of hours.
Then it was time for home and back to work. Oh for the next time!

Here we start

We were really excited when we finally got our new (second hand) motor home. Unfortunately we had a week's holiday booked in Cornwall just after we took delivery of the motor home so we were not able to go anywhere in the first few weeks. We did spend the time getting various bits, like water hose and gas cylinders, and becoming more exited.
Our first trip was to be a Saturday night only at at camp site near March in Cambridgeshire. We planned to stop in Huntingdon near to the river and to have breakfast looking out at the river.

Breakfast Preparations

It rained! and the carpark was such that we had to park in the middle of a wet carpark with no view of the river.

Carpark in the Rain

Still onwards to March for our first adventure.
We arrived at the campsite, Fields End Water, at about lunchtime. We had lots to learn, how to park the motor home, how to connect to the electric and how to dispose of the waste water. Even though it rained we really enjoyed the peace and quiet of the campsite. We managed to take the dog for a walk during a break in the rain and then much to our surprise we played scrabble during most of Saturday evening.
We had thought that we would sleep on the double bed over the cab. This is reached by a removable ladder. But when we tried it we discovered that it was very small and very claustrophobic! It ended up with my wife sleeping over the cab and I went down to a single bed in the lounge of the motor home.

The next day the weather was better so as we had to leave by 12:00 we decided to visit Ely and Wicken Fen on the way back to our home.
As we approached Ely we wondered where we would park as we had read that it can be difficult to park motor homes in towns and cities. Ely was really easy, well signposted and free! We enjoyed a stroll round this fine city and a coffee.
Afterwards we set off to Wicken Fen. We had checked with the National Trust that it was OK to park the motor home while we visited.

At Wicken Fen

After a snack we had a good walk round one of the paths at Wicken Fen and then started off home.