Staycation Summer 2023 #1/2

A short update on the last posting about a CL near to the Bosworth Battlefield. I got an email from them this morning to say that due to escalating costs that they wouldn't be taking booking for their certified location this year.

It was a bit of a surprise as they are still showing up on the CAMC booking site as being available. This CL is only 3.5 miles from the battlefield.

I dropped a line to the CAMC office that deals with CL's to let them know. No reply.

So it's back to the drawing board.  

I have found another couple. One that's only 11 miles away and another around 15 miles. Again it's not bookable online and so I have emailed both to see if one of them can accommodate us.  Both another with EHU.

So it's a bit of wait and see.

The Motorhoming Devalls

I couldn't get a logo with a motorhome or RV so have to make do with a VW.

Staycation Summer 2023 #1

So here we are.  Spring Staycations give way to Summer Staycations!

This time we are going away for a special occasion. Claire has been invited to the "Guide Dogs Experience Day" at the centre near Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. It's a Friday in July.

Our first thought was to check that weekend was free and that we could take the Moho! It is free and she enquired whether we could park the Moho in their car-park.  Both have positive answers!

We will have only been back from Awaycation Summer #1 to France for a fortnight and so we need to careful about the pennies we are spending. On the other hand, Having a motorhome and not using it isn't that cost effective or value for money either.

I checked to see what sites there are near to the Centre.  There's really only one, and it worked out at £44.50 a night for the three of us. Reggie obviously has to come.

Once Claire received confirmation that she was on the guest list, I set about looking for places at a more reasonable price. I don't mint paying a little extra to cover an electric hook-up (EHU) as it means we have power and light in the evenings.

So for now I have enquired at a CL about 10 miles away from the Centre about a one night stay the night before the event. It is priced at £17.50 with EHU.  CL's don't have showers/loos but I am sure that we can make use of publicly available facilities.... Even though I went through https://clbooking.co.uk/  it was an enquiry not a booking. We know need to wait for them to get back to confirm. The "availability" calendar showed there was at least one pitch free.

The event finishes at 3pm or so and so I need to look for another night away rather than drive all the way home to the Kent coast.

I have recently been reading about the Wars of the Roses and the various battles that took place. As a Lancastrian I would like to visit the battlefield at Bosworth. This is where (evil) Yorkist King Richard III was killed in battle against Henry Tudor. Henry became King Henry VII in August 1485. The Wars of the Roses came to an end on that battlefield.

Checking on the CAMC site I was able to find a CL very close to the Bosworth battlefield.  It's also not bookable online and so I have emailed to see if they have pitches free to tie in with the trip...

I will also check to see how much of the battlefield is accessible to motorhomes and dogs!

Staycation Spring 2023 #4

Sadly this trip isn't purely a pleasure trip as part of it is so Claire can attend the funeral of her Uncle in Salisbury.

I had planned to get away over the May Bank Holiday weekend anyway. Part of the weekend, Saturday, sees Arsenal at home against Chelsea. A "can't miss" session.

So I was looking at Sunday onwards. I checked the places we like and none of them had any pitches free for Sunday onwards.

Salisbury is about 150 miles from home. It's a bit of a long way in one day. We also need someone to look after Reggie. He's not the easiest though.

We could go in the Moho and see about parking later. The church looks to be near the Cathedral and it's double-yellows everywhere.

So when we got the funeral date I looked for a site near Salisbury. The Caravan and Motorhome Club have a site about 10 miles away. 

I think a site would be better as there's facilities rather than CL's where we would have to use the onboard washing facilities.

So I have booked it. Two nights for £63. The night before the funeral and the one after.

Then back to the first idea. I had another look. Arriving in the middle of the bank holiday weekend rules out many sites.

In the end I went onto Pitchup. Tried Dorset adult only. A couple but none grabbed me. Changed the filter and the site we stayed at near Chesil Beach came up. 

So I booked East Fleet Farm Camping that as well for the two nights before the Salisbury stay.

Both sites dog friendly. 

Suki's Last Trip

Yes. The day has come where Suki, our Elddis Majestic 115, has gone to the dealers in Rye for the last time in our ownership.

Let's go back a few weeks .... ⏳

Suki was booked into have her annual service, MoT and habitation check. We had stripped everything out of her that might get in the way when the mechanics need to get into all the tight spaces to check the body for damp etc.

Claire took a turn around the used and new vans on the kit and decided that we should see what trade-in we could get....

The figure was pretty decent. We could probably have got a bit more privately but would we have sold when we needed to.

She also saw an Elddis Autoquest 175 on the lot. It's a 2019 model. So only 4 years old in June this year. The 175 is based around the Peugeot Boxer front end. This is the face lived version that was introduced in 2016.

Where Suki is a Majestic model made for a dealer and comes with unique decals and a silver front cab, the Autoquest is plain white.

I looked at a van conversion based on a 2017 Renault. It was in good condition and had the loo/shower that we want but was a little pricey. It would though get us through many height restricted parking 🅿️ places.

In the end the Autoquest was in really good condition. As it ought to be. It's 7.2m long compared to the 115's 5.71m.  

So we decided to buy it! Gulp.

A deposit was paid. We decided that as the road tax and insurance on Suki needed to be renewed on April 1st that we should have the handover on the same date.

So instead of leaving Suki for her workshop visit, we took her home again. She is taxed until the aforementioned April 1st and the MoT until March 24th...

I spent a few days trying to get insurance for the 175.  What should be easy was nade very difficult. Online and then hours on the phone finally got a quotation we were happy with and paid.

Forward a week. We packed most things back into Suki for our trip to Fen Farm at East Mersea - blogged elsewhere.

Forward another week...

We arrived home too late on Friday 24th March to take Suki to Rye. We spent a hectic hour unloading everything personal and stacking it up in the hall and garage. 

I took off the Milenco mirror guards as we will need these on the 175. I almost forgot the Emovis tag from the windscreen. The clip is stuck solid but the tag slides off. I have a spare to put it in the 175.

On Saturday morning we had a quick look around and decided that we would leave the window blinds and the drinks tray that fits into the top of the central locker/glove box.

We have the external screen cover and the 175 has a different central space between the front seats.

The drive down to Rye was pretty straightforward. Parked up. I put the Milenco steering wheel lock on. After all Suki is still ours until the handover. 

We went to the office and they brought the 175 around.

It's still waiting to go into the workshop to have the solar panel and reversing cameras fitted. It looks as all Elddis' since 2020 have a camera fitted into the Elddis badge on the back of the van. Not on ours!

We had pointed out a few things that need looking at. One is a chipped step. How the previous owners managed it is a mystery. Hopefully that can be fixed.

I took a last photo of Suki's dashboard to show the last mileage on the odometer.

And that's all for Suki.

So now we have to wait to see whether April 1st is doable. The finance is in place and we need to make a bank transfer when we know things are ready to go ahead.

I have already paid for the cameras to be fitted. The solar system is included in the balance to be paid.

So. What are we going to call the 175?

Our last trip away with Suki

After packing the van in dribs and drabs over the last few days we were finally ready to leave at 11am.  

Our destination was Fen Farm on East Mersea.

  

Paul worried me en route saying that we were on a grass pitch.  With all the rain we had been experiencing I had visions of us getting stuck on the pitch.  The campsite confirmed that the wardens would take care of us if there was a problem and tow us off if necessary.  

We had a good run up to Essex.  Even the Dartford tunnel was kind to us.  We stopped at Thurrock services to let Reggie out for a pee and we had some coffee and cake!  We weren't in  too much of a hurry as we could not cross the causeway until the tide had gone down. 

How exciting!  

So a good run up to Mersea with the satnav taking us through Colchester.  Once on the island we headed for the Company Shed where I had high hopes of getting some nice fish.  

We managed to park Suki in a nearby carpark as the road came to an end.  On arrival at the shop/restaurant I was a little disappointed but was aware this was a rough and ready kind of place where you had to bring your own bread and drink.  There was very little in the display cabinet and after being ignored for 5 minutes or more we were served and I asked if they could prepare a dressed crab for us.  They could, for a price of £16!  I was a little taken aback but hey.... 

We took our crab and went back to the van to find our campsite which was at the other end of the island.  

On arrival we were met by a friendly warden who took us to our placement requesting that we back in to the space in case we needed to be towed off.  Even though it had been raining it did not feel at all boggy.  Parked up we had a lovely view of the grey sea!  

We fed Reg and made a cup of coffee.  After his dinner had gone down we took him out for a walk down to the beach and had a lovely walk over the oyster shells into the wind!  The tide had gone out a long way so there was plenty of beach to walk on.  On our way back we popped into the shop situated on the static caravan site adjoining our site.  We bought some biscuits etc!  

Back in the van we had the crab with some brown bread and a glass of cider.  We had been reading and nibbling on crisps etc so dinner was a small brand on toast affair.

We packed up and went to bed around 11ish after Paul had taken Reg out for his final pee. By this time the wind had got up and the van was really shaking.  I did wonder if we might take off during the night!

Staycation Spring 2023 #2 Fen Farm Day 2 & 3

I guess there's not much to say about Day 2. 

We had an early start to the day as Reggie behaves differently when in the van to when he is at home. He generally has a last pee at about 11pm and then settles in for the night until getting on for 7am.  

In the van?  No. Last pee, then 2am he was up. Another pee. Then he wants to get in the bed with us. Then 5am awake again. More outside activities. So we don't get as much relaxing sleep.  Taking him out on these occasions is a Paul job. At least with the long lead I can stand in the van doorway and let him mooch about outside. I still have to throw some clothes on!

So all we did today was go for walks. Read our Kindles. I read the entire Rebus #22 book in a day. The walks we did were to try the dog walk and into the exercise field. We chatted with a guy that moved to the island a while back. He was walking three dogs. After a coffee we went out again to the beach. This time the tide was in.  

The wind was still blowing the same hooley as the night before and we were surprised how far up onto the land the sea actually comes. 

Our third walk was sans dog to the shop in the neighbouring site for some more snacks. They do sell wines and beer but their licence doesn't allow to sell to anyone not staying on their site!  

So we spent another evening reading and eating snacks!  All not very Slimming World approved of course!

Day 3

Another disturbed night with Reggie up and about and then trying to get into the sleeping bags.  Up at 830am to try and leave by 1030am.  The high tide wasn't due until nearly 2pm so we had plenty of time to get off the Island.

Breakfast out of the way. Screen-cover wrestled into the bathroom as it was too ungainly in the wind to fold into its far too small bag! We chatted to the guy in the Elddis 185 next to us. He had been on the mainland side of the causeway at high tide and had to wait over an hour to come across. It seems we share an interest in motorhome and vanlife vloggers!

We then set off via the water drain where we dumped both the clean and grey water and whilst that was happening I dumped the toilet cassette in the Elsan point.

Then we were off, pretty much retracing our steps Home. An accident on the M20 had us sitting in traffic for over half an hour before we were released.  Arriving home around 2.15pm.

Then we spend a hectic hour unloading Suki ready for her trip to JC in Rye tomorrow. One quick check that we haven't left anything personal in her and then we are off!

So another really nice and for the most part relaxing few days away. Even the Dartford Crossing couldn't cause us any hassles!

Until the next time.....

Staycation Spring 2023 #2 Fen Farm

We were finally packed up and ready to leave just before 11am.

The drive up towards the Dartford Crossing was very odd as the Ohrex Satnav seemed to think we needed to go through London. Even once we ignored it and it kept recalculating it seemed to think we had more than a hundred and thirty miles to go.

A quick cancel and reprogram and it cut that to 36! It still took us through Colchester itself.

Amazingly the Dartford Crossing was flowing traffic. Even though we planned to stop at Thurrock Services I got in the right tunnel. The left one was held at a red light.

Our left turn off the M25 was done easily as there was no traffic in the roadway. What the hold up was I have no idea.

From there it was plain sailing. The satnav reboot had us arriving at the entrance to the site just after 3pm.

By the time we arrived the tide had dropped and the causeway was open. There was plenty of evidence that when high tide the sea covers a large part of the land.  

I had fitted my brother's GoPro Hero and hoped to get some footage. The screen stays on for a few minutes and I have no idea how long it actually records for. If at all.

Our first stop was a a seafood place called The Company Shed.  Luckily it is near the car-park as the road is a dead end.  Although the car-park says that the first hour is free, how you prove this seems impossible as both machines are out of order? We almost fitted in a space.

At West Mersea

I tried not to look too surprised when they charged £16 for a dressed crab!  GULP! You can eat in but it's a BYOB type of place. The latter B could be bottle and it could be bread!

Once we had spoken to the warden and shown to our pitch I hooked up the electric and we had a cuppa before exploring the nearby beach. 

Of course. I took the Sony Cybershot with me. Anyone remember the curse of Sony's MemoryStick?  

Any photos you see in this blog will have been added once I got home!

On the pitch at Fen Farm

We had a walk along as far as we could towards West Mersea and then back. There's another caravan site that stops any further progress. Some of them have a very close view of the sea....

The beach is covered in oyster shells. Some single halfs but many where the shells have stuck to others. All empty of course.

The tide was out by now.  It was getting on for 4pm.

On the way back we stopped at the shop of the next door site. Just for a few "essentials". The Quavers and cheese biscuits were very nice. But expensive!

Once back it was time to eat the dressed crab and bread.. washed down with Thatcher's cider. Very nice.

It turned cold and I turned on the gas. We had a few teething problems with the Whale Space Heater switching off and flashing a red light at us. Solved? Don't know.

It's dark as I write the blog and coming up to 7pm.

Reggie is fast asleep in his bed and we are reading. Or would be had I not been doing this!

We had beans on toast for dinner, after scoffing too many snacks and biscuits during the evening.

Tomorrow, we'll have a whole day to relax and take a few walks.

Staycation Spring 2023 #2

After quite a bit of rain we had been wondering about the condition of the grass pitches at Fen Farm. I did email to thank them for the information pack and to say that due to the tide, we wouldn't be able to get to the site before about 2pm. I added a note about the grass pitches.

They replied to say they had good drainage and the wardens would make sure there were no problems. Phew.

Then I happened to look in "spam" and find a later email. As follows:

Hello

Due to the recent rain, we have several areas that are unsuitable for pitching

Please ensure you check in with our Wardens on arrival so they can pitch you accordingly

 Although the fields are starting to dry up, we have more rain forecast, but we will do our best to accommodate you safely

Best Regards

Gulp. Looks like suck it and see!!!!!

Awaycation Summer Sun 2023 #1

After hitting the books and the apps, I finally picked Camping de Mon Village of Mantenay-Montlin for the second overnight of the trip. This one is a former municipal campsite. So it will have loos and showers to save us using Molly's onboard facilities! It's also a little more expensive, with local tax added, it's a tad over €14 for the night.

I wanted somewhere booked rather than letting it go to chance and this place popped up on the Camping-Car Park site and app.  It's far enough down towards Macon and we can decide which way to go from there.

I had been looking on the ACSI website and found one that looked good, but the booking page kept throwing up HTTP:4 errors so I couldn't be arsed to wait about for them to sort themselves out. The site with the them is €19 as the base price but by the time it had added on EHU and a dog it was €24. Still cheap compared to UK sites but that extra is a couple of beers or pizzas! Looking forward to a pizza machine agin!

We can either go southwards to the Mediterranean or maybe a little eastwards to the mountains. At some stage we need to pay a visit to Claire's friend neat St Etienne and that can be on the way down or the way back northwards. We need to find out when she is there to meet us.

Once I know that I can start to work out where to go. 

I would still like to see the vet at Mons to see what sort of money it would cost to get Reggie a pet passport as it may work out cheaper in the long run. It currently costs us £69 each time we take him away with us. We have another trip in September as well.

So that's two nights sorted.

Short trip to Dungeness

Today we picked up Suki from the storage and site so we can get her ready for the trip to Mersea Island in the week.  We drained off the water and I ran the pump to get some clean water through the waste water to flush that out too.

It means we currently have no water onboard. We'll need to fill up or at least have some onboard when we set off on Wednesday. 

So today, we took coffee made in the Bosch Tassimo machine in the Waitrose Travel Mugs and a hot cross bun each!  The drive was about 20 minutes to the parking at Dungeness.  We had a walk over as far as the Polish Airman's Memorial.  

We didn't go far as I started to get a migraine. This manifests itself with flashing/flickering in my eyes and a rather strange problem where I can't read and I can't remember words!  Back at the van I took a couple of paracetamol as I didn't have any migraleve with me.

We had our coffee and I went to have a look at the steam engine that had pulled into then station. On the way back I took some photos of Suki and the Old Lighthouse.

The drive home was quite quiet and we came the longer way through Lydd and the A259.  

Awaycation Summer Sun 2023 #1

I have been hitting the books/apps today to look for a second overnight stop on the way south.  I booked some places in advance last summer as it was our first trip away in the motorhome.

When we went again in November, I only booked the first night in advance and then we left it to the morning to book the next one. The PITA with Camping-Car Parks is that when you book online it doesn't eat into any balance you have on the card, but wants you to pay separately.  This in effect means you have €'s sitting the account that aren't used until you rock up at a site un-booked.

As we are planning to meet Claire's ex-work colleague at her home near Sainte Etienne, I am looking for somewhere near Macon on the way down and then maybe neat StE on the next night.

Camping-Car Parks aren't that wonderful in this area.

So I checked the ACSI book. Some choices for both areas. But the need to pay in full now is a little off putting.

I'll give the France Passion app a bit of a bashing later and see what we can come up with .

Suki to become Molly!

After a trip to JC the other day we decided that we would trade Suki in for a newer and slightly larger model. Enter Molly. The price was right to make the deal.

Molly is a 2019 Elddis Autoquest 175.  She is a little longer at 7.2m and comes with a larger lounge and a rear bathroom. What she didn't some with was solar panels on the roof and a reversing camera.

We opted for both these to be added as the solar kit enables the leisure battery to charge when you aren't running the diesel engine.

The reversing camera comes in handy when reversing!  Suki wasn't fitted with one but she had reversing sensors fitted to the read bumper area.  Although, when reversing, other than off the drive at home, I use my co-pilot to see where we are going and I generally do a manual check first.

It seems that one of the questions asked by insurance companies is about whether one is fitted.  Of course, a year ago when we bought and insured Suki, no one said a damned thing.

Some companies want a tracker fitting. An other expenditure that I can do without but I have found a fitter than can do one for around £200 plus it costs about £11.50 a month for the company to keep an eye on it for you. It's cheaper if you pay for a year or more in advance.

So we have a choice to make.  A Tracker does sound like a good idea and it ought to actually reduce the cost of insurance, especially when it is in conjunction with the physical devices on the steering wheel and the pedals.

So we have to decided what to do.

We have a £1000 deposit already paid on Molly and we are due to collect her on April 1st! Yep. April Fools' Day!

New home for Suki?

It looks as though Suki, who has served us very well for the last year, is destined to be going to a new owner soon.

After we get back from Staycation #2 next week she will be going to JC for the last time as our Moho.

The 115 is a perfect "starter" motorhome for anyone looking to get into the #moho lifestyle. Or simply want to be able to pack up their things, their dog if they have one, and just go away. 

We have successfully had trips to Devon for two weeks, to France for a fortnight and later in 2022, to Spain for three weeks.

So what will replace her? All will be revealed.

You may have noticed the blog name has changed..... 😉

A couple of photos of Suki!

 A collage created by Google Photos.

Staycation Spring 2023 #2

The second staycation this year will be at Fen Farm Caravan Park on Mersea Island in Essex. We have stayed in Essex before on a "tester" stay in a pod near Clacton. This was before we had a fortnight in Scotland and a week in a glamping pod.

More and more places are installing this type of accommodation. They appeal to people that want to camp but don't want a tent or don't have a caravan or a Moho! 

Even our local Camping and Motorhome Club site has loads of them now.  A bone of contention with members that own a touring caravan or Moho/campervan as facilities for tourers are now seeing up to twenty or thirty non-members using the facilities and they aren't getting updated or improved.

Anyway back to Fen Farm. It's £20 a night and that includes the EHU. It's relatively cheap even for late March.  

I know what an island is! What I didn't realise until the site emailed, is that the island is cut off at high tide. There is a webcam so that you can see if the traffic is moving.

Check-in at the site is from 1pm.  Having a look at the tide tables show that on the day we arrive it is expected that the high tide and the road inundated, will be around 12.34pm.  So we either have to arrive well before that or of course, after the water recedes.  I think the latter seems more likely.

What to do when we are there?  There's loads or walks to do and I am hoping desperately that the weather will have improved. Although saying that today has been around 11° to 13°C all day. It has been windy but sunny.

We are there to use the Moho and to have a few days away. Somewhere different!

The high tide for the return journey is looking like 1.55pm. We need to be away long before that as we have a three hour drive home and then the van has to go to JC Leisure in Rye at the MoT runs out at midnight that day!

I'll update the blog when we are there and hopefully have some photos to show everyone that sees the blog.

Awaycation Summer Sun 2024 #1 - Norway?

So quickly following up the last blog entry. Looking way into the future to 2024.

Has anyone done Norway in a campervan or motorhome? Advice or links to blogs in the comments please.

Our Elddis Moho in 7.2m long and about 2.25m wide. So we need to be able to get across to Norway and navigate the roads once we are there. Getting there? Ferry from Denmark or drive across the Øresund Bridge and then turn left (north)?

A trip that far would need us to go for longer than the traditional two weeks away. We'll have the dog with us and so we'll need to find dog friendly places on the way and when we get there. Tips? Advice? Please comment.

It's over a year away so things can change before then.

Awaycation Summer Sun 2023 #2

Another awaycation already!

The P&O ferry was booked for this trip whilst we were away last year. There was an offer that vastly reduced the fare and so I took up the offer.  It wasn't quite at the level of being unable to refuse though!

So where to go? We leave after the kids go back to school in early September, and so we should have a children-free adventure in the Moho. Well, that's what I am hoping anyway.

Personally I'd like to go to Norway. But with only two weeks booked that's not going to be possible.  I think Norway will become Awaycation Summer (Sun?) 2024! Sun in brackets as that depends on the time of year.  I think we'd be looking at June and maybe three weeks or more.  We'd also need to be more self sufficient by then.

Anyway back to #2 this year.

Since I went with some friends to the Czech SOC Rally last year and we came back via Fussen and some of the Romantic Road, I'd like to try Bavaria again. Once again we have two weeks.  Claire likes the idea of France and going across to Brittany.

So France or Germany? A trip along the Moselle and the Rhine could be enticing even if we don't get to Bavaria.  Of simply head across France.

Plenty of time for the thinking caps on.

Awaycation Summer Sun 2023 #1

After sorting out a few details and working my way through the various books from ACSI and France Passion, plus the websites/apps about overnight stops I eventually checked pitchup.com.

For the first night in France after we get off the Shuttle I want to have somewhere booked so that we don't have to start looking for a stop.

In the end I have booked one night with EHU at Camping de la Pointe near to Laon. 

It's to the north of Reims and easily accessible from the A26, should we decide to take the toll road route from the Shuttle at Coquelles.

Compared with many UK sites this is much less expensive. A pitch with electric and with even having to pay for the dog it's a few pence over £21. It's a grass pitch. So we have to keep fingers crossed it's dry!

That's all booked so far. I'll hit the books and apps for a second overnight.

The second night is more than liable to be at a Camping-Car Park Aire or France Passion.

I joined the latter last year but we didn't use the book. Partly as I forgot to pack it. Instead we did use seven of the Camping-Car Parks.

These proved pretty good and averaged about €11.50 across the entire stay. We also stayed at a council aire at St Cyprien on the Mediterranean coast. Another car-park style park-up.

Staycation Spring 2023 #3/2

What's the /2 in the title all about?

It's about an update to the original post about Staycation #3.

I have added a third night on the trip. We had a chat with some neighbours in Waitrose this morning and they mentioned they were going on a cruise. We agreed that when you have a motorhome you need to use it. 

So as soon as I could I got on the  CAMC app to look for another night in Suffolk. This one is a little further south and "on the way home" as such. 

I need to be back on Saturday to go to Arsenal at home to Chelsea.

So far.

Barn Owl Meadow CL

Waterpump CL

Garden House CL

Now back to planning the June awaycation!

Staycation Spring 2023 #3

I have been influenced. There I admit it. Influenced by something I saw on YouTube.

Claire and I watch a lot of motorhome vloggers on YouTube. Maybe too many to be brutally honest. It does save us watching anything involving Ant and Dec though in ITV. So that's a bonus.

This week we have added more subscriptions to our watchlist.

One couple, "The Frenchies' Motorhomies",  have been very good. We have watched a few of their vlogs as they tend to spend one or two nights away and in Norfolk and Suffolk. 

We like both counties and Claire's sister and some cousins live there. 

The only pain in the butt is that we have to go through the Dartford Crossing to get across/under the Thames! I don't mind the toll, but the traffic queuing each side. It's all done by ANPR but people still can't cross easily.

Recently the Frenchies' (and their two French Bulldogs) stayed at a couple of dog friendly Caravan and Motorhome Club (CAMC) Certified Location sites in Suffolk. One near Bury St Edmunds and a second near Southwold.

Both reasonably priced. Both in the sticks. Both with walks where there looks to be little chance of encountering Reggie's top hate, after squirrels, bicycles and the plums that ride them.

Ideal for us.

So I have booked us in to both for one night each, midweek, after Easter when the kids are back in school! One I think is adult only.

I think April may still be Spring?

Staycation - Back of Beyond - CANCELLED

In the end as it was forecast to be raining heavily in the South-East (where we live) and snow in central Southern England, where Back of Beyond is, we decided to cancel.  

Rather than drive 350 miles round trip in the Suki and basically sit inside using the gas and freezing we decided to cut out losses. 

BUGGER!

I suppose it does mean I can get on planning for the next Staycation to Mersea Island in a fortnight or so. It looks as though Staycation 2 has become Staycation 1!!!

Stay tuned.

Update Wednesday 8th

No snow here yet, but Hampshire has a few inches. Friends near Aldershot had a couple of inches. 

Staycation - Back of Beyond

When we planned this trip we didn't expect the weather to turn so cold. 

With global warming being on everyone's minds (possibly not) and predictions from the early part of this new century that southern England would have a Mediterranean climate by now, we booked our first Staycation for 2023.

We chose Back of Beyond Camping and Glamping because we had been before, last May, and it was a good site. A safe pair of hands to use a footballing phrase. What we weren't expecting was the tales pf doom and despair and that we might get snow! We have the choice of cancelling it, and losing £60.  BoB aren't that good at letting you choose another date. 

At the moment we have the van part packed.  I filled up the LPG for the heating and cooking last week. We only have the perishable food to load into the cupboards and stuff for the dog. I guess we'll have to make a decision in the morning whether we are going or not?  If it's not snowing I reckon we go. We can always abort the mission!

There's no glory in getting stuck in snow. We don't have snow tyres and so we would be going nowhere. I'd rather be here in the warmish rather than stuck in snow somewhere! Perhaps that a discussion Claire and I need to have!

The Ohrex upgrade that kept failing on the older Dell worked first time on the newer Dell. The 6.8gb zip file downloaded at the first attempt rather than 15 hours of failing! It's installed and I have had to setup all the "favourites" again. There must be a file you can save that contains them. Where it is I have no idea!

So do we stay or do we go.....?

Staycation - Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Today we wanted to get Suki out for a drive. Since we picked her up last week we have been to get LPG from Dover and then up to the White Cliffs to walk Reggie and get a coffee.

So today. It was Sissinghurst Castle Garden.  It's not all that far away but gave us a chance to give Suki a run out to get some miles under the wheels.

I have a new Ohrex satnav they sent me as the last two have gone up the swanee!  So I have to set it up. It's still pretty poor locating places based on address or postcode. But Sissinghurst was easy enough to find from the map!

The run over was okay. No roads too narrow or low bridges, then  again, it took us the way we always go!!

We parked in the coach parking area, it's where over the years there have been moho's and campers park.

There's not much to be seen in the garden. The crocuses are out and the daffs are just appearing.

After a walk around the small lake we went back. Got a coffee and then had that sitting in the van as we ate the cakes we bought in Sainsbury's. Living the #vanlife!

The drive back was exactly the same way as out! 

So a nice little ride out.  Tomorrow need to drain the freshwater tank and refill.

Jobs!

Saturday

Whilst Claire was cleaning Suki she found a table mat that looked like it had been chewed, and what looked like a mouse turd. PANIC!

Not good. We checked all the soft furnishings for mouse infestation and found none. The vents in the floor around the gas and electricity inputs are all wired and covered with a plastic cover. 

We left a piece of biscuit on Reggie's food mat to see if it attracted the mouse. Nothing.

Something to mention as they do the hab check next week. Whilst they are checking for damp etc! 🐭

The other job was to fill the fresh tank and add the purifying stuff. Easier said than done! The funnel we had wasn't long enough or the right shape! We ended up using an ornamental watering can!

Next job to empty the tank and then refill twice. Each time draining and flushing with fresh water. So far we have managed to fill the tank to the top, add the Puriclean, and let it rest.

Sunday

Drained the tank off and it took ages to empty.  Next time I will run a stopwatch! I have filled it to the top again.  In the morning I'll drain it off again and maybe flush it for a while to make sure it is clean and safe to drink.

As soon as Daleacres opens we can get on their to drain the tanks at the service point. 

Awaycation Summer Sun 2023 #1

This is the trip we have planned for June. We decided to go earlier this year so that the end of the holiday should be over before the French school holidays begin.  It's not that I have anything against the French per se, it's just that once they get to a holiday campsite, the inner problem child escapes.

Last year we had a quietish holiday until the last longer stay at a campsite near a beach on the Atlantic coast.  Once the families arrived, and I mean families, it was bedlam.  Everyone from Grandad to tiny kids seemed to think that despite being allocated their own pitch to put their tent or their caravan, that walking across my little piece of holiday heaven was okay. Once they had fallen over the bright orange guy ropes to our wind-break a few times it was becoming a joke.

We use the wind-break to of course break the wind that comes off the sea or perhaps from the other direction, but also to save Reggie having to see passing mutts and bark at them.  Having neighbouring kids ignoring it and walking right past our windows and door was a PITA!  

So that's why we are going early. I am currently scouring France Passion, Camping-Car Parks and ACSI campsites to find a couple of nights on the way down to the Lyon/St Etienne area.

Maybe my idea to go to Annecy was somewhat knackered by an "animation" festival on when we would be there and maybe a little fanciful to get up to see the Gorges du Verdon again. I have been twice and weather was against me each time. Third time lucky might be another time!

Then I had thought of passing through the lavender fields in Provence before hopping across the border to Italy and up through Switzerland. That looks like it will be another time now.

Then we have the visit to Claire's friend near St Etienne. This actually takes us further west than I had planned. But we have to do it if we are nearby.  So somewhere to overnight in that area?

Claire has suggested that we head off northwards from there through the Auvergne. We crossed through it last summer as he went from the vineyards of Burgundy across to the Dordogne. Given that we have ten days to get back from there to Calais for the train hone. It needs a lot of thinking about.

One thing I'd like to do is to get a Pet Passport for Reggie. It would save all the hassle with getting an AHC each time. I have found a vet in Mons (Belgium) that can do it but need to get more information if I am to build it into this trip and make the next one simpler.

To be continued.....

Suki back home today

Today we had a run to Rye to pickup Suki from storage to bring her home. 

It's a bit early for our trip next week but we have a few things to do. We have to clean and purify the fresh water tank. I have a neutral chemical to do that.

So today the drive to Rye took about 50 minutes. We discussed the problem we are having with the replacement left side mirror.

The original was broken when we hit a piece of wood jutting out of a hedge. That was three days before we went to France last June. The cheap replacement works but there is a problem with the indicator when turning left. The system comes up with an error. The mirror indicator does flash okay though.

Hopefully they will have better luck than us in getting a genuine Peugeot version.

Amazingly after about a month or six weeks since she was parked up after the warranty work had been done on the leaky kitchen tap, she started first time. I had taken the dbPower unit with me to give the battery a boost if needed.

She ran well after I had exited the secure compound on the very bumpy driveway. It seemed like she had hiccups until warmed up.

Once home we had lunch and then out again to try and fill the LPG tanks. Or rather tank. The gauge was showing we had used about half of one. With weather next week expected to be hovering around 0°C at night, at best (!) I thought it best to make sure we were as full as possible.

First stop the BP at Dover Western Docks. It's 99.9p a litre. We filled up there last year with a little help from another Moho owner.

The same again. 😳

Pulled up at pump 22. Engaged the nozzle but couldn't get the latch to engage. First managed to get 5p in! Then 11p! The lady came out joking with Claire that it needed a woman's assistance. Shamefully she was right. In the end we squeezed an extra £10.51 in!

Maybe could have got a bit more in but it was taking about one second for every one pence of fuel.... Plus it was like standing in a wind tunnel in freezing conditions! 

From their we went up to the White Cliffs to give Reggie a walk. It was freezing still in the wind despite the gauge on the dash saying 8°C. Windchill.

We parked in the coach park! I thought it might be easier than the tiered car parks. It is that, but the surface is terrible. There is maybe enough room for two coaches to avoid the deep puddles! There was another motorhome their when we arrived.

I took a photo out of the front window when we got back and drank a coffee we had bought in the café.

Then it was back. Parking on the drive I fitted the Milenco anti-theft devices.

She's all locked up. The screen cover is on. 

I almost forgot that we had fitted the new seat covers. They are imitation sheepskin. Seem comfortable.

We also had the new cushions with Claire's birthday present covers on display. 

So a nice day driving around. Giving Suki a run to clean the cobwebs out!

Tomorrow? Is another day!!!