Awaycation Autumn 2023 - France

I saw last year on a forum that there is an overlay for Google Maps that shows where there are veterinary clinics across Europe that can handle the need for animals coming to the UK to have their paperwork stamped and also administer their worming tablet.

It has to be done between 120 hours and 24 hours before travel.  The grey area seems to be whether that 24 hours in before they get on the ferry or train to the UK, or before landing in the UK. No one seems to answer this question with any authority.

So we have always done it around 48 hours before travel. That means that I have been looking at Day 14 or the 16 day trip for a vet.  One that appears to be popular (and too popular if you read the reviews on Search4sites!), is the clinic at Buchy in Normandy - Clinique des Cateliers. I have the co-ords in the Ohrex satnav already.

It's on the east side of the Seine in Seine-Maritime. Department 76..  I emailed them as their online booking wasn't working properly,  I have booked us in at 5pm.  This gives us plenty of time to make our way to the area.

Many of the "regular" Moho travellers recommend staying in the free aire in Buchy itself. As I am expecting to stay in a few Camping-Car Park (CCP) aires  on the way across from the Ile de Ré. CCP aires in general have no loos or washing facilities other than in the van itself, I'd rather have a campsite.  I have found one in nearby Neufchatel en Bray - Camping Sainte-Claire! Reasonably priced and so I have reserved a pitch. It should work out at about €22 with electric hook-up.

So where to go when we leave the Ile de Ré?  It will be the morning of Day 9 and that will give us 5 overnights to look at before we have to be in Buchy.

We have talked about the Loire Valley. So many places and chateaux to see!

I read on a forum (!) that it is possible to stay in the parking area at the Chateau de Chambord. We have been in the car before, with Reggie, and walked around some of the grounds and I thought that this might make a nice stop. It will be off-grid though!  

There are CCP aires at Saumur, Bléré, Chenonceaux, Montrichard and Amboise and all of them on or near the River Loire. Some might get crossed off if there are fewer EHU's that pitches.  It avoids the rush to get on that pitch!  It's tantamount to rushing down in the morning to put your towels on the sunbeds...

I need to have the map books out to see where everything is and decide later.  Nothing to be booked!!

Awaycation Autumn 2023 - France

I know. I know. I said that maybe this holiday would be less booked and more impromptu, but then again in the popular areas a booking is essential. 

We decided that after Normandy we would start to move south to hunt for the weather.  I was looking at the west coast again with maybe a few nights on one of the islands this time.

Once again I was on Search4sites and came across some Flower Camping sites on the Ile de Re.

The one at La Flotte couldn't do the dates I was after but the other at Loix fits the bill. With Reggie and our loyalty card discount it's €77 for three nights. At the current exchange rate that's around £66 or £22 a night.  The site has EHU on every pitch as well as bar/snack bar etc should we want them.

From there I am thinking about maybe a little further south before looping back up through the Limousin and the Loire Valley.  We still have to book Reggie in for his worming and Pet Passport.

Staycation - Afternoon Out

We only had Molly back since Wednesday and we have had a few things to sort out like the TV and the Amazon Fire Stick!

A quick run out was needed. We had only had one run and that was to the BP at Dover to fill the lpg tanks. It's cheaper in France but I wanted to use the setup I can actually work!

So today we decided to have a run out to Dungeness to give the van a run. As it is the Sunday of August Bank Holiday and it was rammed. With nowhere to park a 7m van we made our exit and headed to Camber Sands and then Rye. Camber was packed and although there is a sign for coach parking there's a height barrier. No coach could sneak under that!

So we made our way to Winchelsea Beach. There were loads of cars along the way and we eventually found a space.

Whilst we had a cup of tea I tuned the TV into preview. The sound quality isn't that wonderful. It did find 166 channels. Many are the HD or +1 versions of other channels.

Then we had a walk on the beach. The tide was way out and Reggie enjoyed the water and dipped down a few times. As he was on the lead it was difficult for him run free.

Whilst on the beach we were treated to an acrobatic display from a lone Spitfire. Swooping below the cloud, the evocative sound of the Merlin engine....

Not easy to photograph with a phone. Claire did well to see it ...

Once back in the van we headed towards Hastings and made the turn round by the Red Pig food van.  We have been here a few times in the past.

As a run out to get used to things it was a good run out.

We now have TV!

RCA 22" 12v/230v 1080P TV

We have finally gone and done it. Matt our neighbour bought our old van and he has been spending money to get it as he wants it.  

One of  hs first jobs was to get a TV for when he's away and takes his Mum with him.  I had been looking at these for a while and on Amazon they are priced at £99.99. A penny under the spread the payments threshold of £100!

As I had bought the Maypole Wheel Clamp a week or so ago, Claire bough the TV and the bracket to go on the wall.  Matt did the fitting yesterday!  All we were missing was the aerial cable!  He brought along his one to get the TV working.

The freeview element found 160 TV channels!  I have no idea that there would be that many free ones! Then he said he had bought an Amazon Firestick.  

As it happens another friend has a 4K Fire Stick spare as his new massive TV does all that. So I connected that today and after some messing about it's connected and we have gone from nothing to loads of channels. We came to a deal and £25 it's ours. Tonight on Amazon they have cut the new price from £60 to £39!

For the money the TV is superb quality in picture. The sound isn't too good although not useless, but connecting my Betron Wireless Portable Bluetooth Speaker with a 3.5mm jack plug enhances it greatly.

I ordered an aerial cable from Amazon and it came today. We estimated that a .5m (50cm) would be good and unobtrusive. Sadly not. It's about 3cm too short! We were going to Tesco shopping and so I bought a 1m cable at Curry's and it works perfectly. Luckily, I was able to get on Amazon and return the .5m cable and get a refund.  Oddly, they don't want it back. I am supposed to get an email.... I took a screen shot though and saved it to the laptop!

I can now watch Bosch when we are away!  ;)

Molly is back!

YAY!

We went over to Rye today to pick her up. All the minor warranty work has been done.

I wound out the awning to check that the squeak had gone and also to see that they had fixed the rafter mount. Both done.

The Remis blind is fixed and so is the missing hinge bolt.

What is confusing is the situation with the Heki rooflight.  We had water come in once, and that seemed to be because the rubber seal looked to have come away. There is evidence that there has been a leak in the past as the ceiling looks a little stained. The habitation check showed there was no damp in March.

When we reported it when we came back from France they said they'd look at it. Initially they said that there was a crack and they needed to put in a warranty claim to replace it. Last week it seemed that the crack wasn't in the unit itself but in the seal.  They have done a fix and we have the van back and see how it goes. I would like the stained roof board to be replaced though.  It won't look good.

The odd thing is that it didn't leak at all during the heavy rainstorms we endured in the Auvergne and Belgium. 

Awaycation Summer 2023 - France

What difference a day makes...

Another booking. 

I was thinking about the last night. So I booked another CCP Aire at Flocques. It's in Seine Maritime near Le Tréport.

https://www.campingcarpark.com/fr_FR/sejour/aire-etape-camping-car/normandie/76-seine-maritime/flocques

This is for the last night of the holiday. The booking is from noon to noon but effectively 24 hours from when you arrive.

It's a fair way off the A28 and A16 so maybe need to be away earlier in the morning to make sure we are at Calais in time to check in and get on the boat.

Maypole 5435C Stronghold Wheel Clamp

Feeling that we needed to up the level of security on Molly when she is parked at home.

I researched and checked on many forums and this one came out to be the best choice. 

There's a bit of self-assembly when it arrives. Fitting the very heavy arms onto the very heavy metal plates!

Did I say it's heavy?

Molly still in the workshop!

As we didn't get a call back last week from Lucy at JC Leisure, we decided over the weekend that we would call today to see where the work has got to.

In the end we drove down there to have a look and speak face to face with her. She wasn't there as she is on holiday!  We did speak to Owen the Workshop Manager. He checked that the jobs we had taken it in for had been fixed. They were quite minor, but had all been done.

The one causing the holdup is the replacement of the Heki front rooflight.  It's on order but as the company is changing hands and administrator is handling the sale and transfer of assets to the new owners, the order was made but not authorised. The warranty claim they had made, that I assume is for the labour and the part had been accepted by the warranty company.

The other jobs to repair the bumpers, from  the accident I had with a bush and the other when some butthead had run into us and cleared off, are on hold anyway until we get back from holiday.

And that's the problem. Our trip to France is in a fortnight and we have no van.  We have agreed that we pick it up on Wednesday next week and if the part hasn't arrived, they will do a temporary fix and we will sort it when we get back.  

I am glad we mentioned the water coming in when we were in bed as it seems the leading edge of the rooflight has a couple of small cracks. Once water starts coming in, then it will keep happening.

Thanks heavens we have the two year warranty!

We are desperate to get Molly back so we can start loading all the stuff we need for the holiday and get things ready. It needs the LPG tank filled plus we need to have the fridge running on gas or EHU for a while to get it nice and cold. When driving the 12v system just maintains the temperature it starts off at.  

Fingers crossed.

Molly :(

Molly is still not back from the repair shop. I called today to see how she was getting on after the warranty work had been completed.

The warranty claim they had put through for the rooflight has been approved and they have ordered it from their suppliers. Lucy in the workshop admin was going to get back to us today with an update.

She knows that we are going to France on the 31st August....

Fingers crossed

Staycation - Dungeness Nature Reserve & Railway

Another staycation day between showers to take advantage of the dry weather that appears between them!

Molly the Moho is still at the dealers and so we are in the car again.  It's about a 25 mile round trip to Dungeness.  This is officially a desert.  I kid you not.

We had a walk on the shingle to the Polish Airmen's Memorial and then walked back to the station to have tea and wait for the last train of the day to arrive.

Luckily, when the train arrived it didn't hoot the horn.. If it had, Reggie would have gone mental. Instead he ignored the sound of it wheezing into the station.

Claire took a couple of photos on her phone.  Today the Sony A300 was left at home.....

The "New" Lighthouse

Staycation - White Cliffs of Dover

With Molly the Moho being in the dealers for some warranty work and a (possible) repair to the damage to the rear bumper, we are having to staycate in the car.

It also means that we can go away for a few days and so are based at home. The weather has been really poor. The "Mediterranean Climate" we were told to expect in the South of England as a result of climate change hasn't arrived. Instead we have had some really hot periods but not that long and wetter summers.

July 2023 has been the 6th wettest on record....

So this week we have been out between showers and some torrential rain where we can. Today we took a short drive to the White Cliffs of Dover to walk the dog and to have a look at Dover Harbour. The harbour under the white cliffs themselves.

I dug out Claire's Sony A300 DSLR and charged the battery. It seems a shame to let it sit unused in the case.  I had to format a 4gb compact flash card to get it to work, and a few test shots were fired off in the garden to make sure it was all systems go.

We had a coffee and a walk.  Despite signs saying it is illegal to fly a drone over the port area, there was a guy doing exactly that. A warden went off to locate him.  Maybe they need a jammer up there. I doubt they would get away lightly in another country...

We arrived home just in time for the rain to start again.  By then Reggie was tired enough to not need to go out again!

France on the horizon

Me caught almost unawares!

Langdon Cliff

Molly Warranty Work & Damage Estimates!

Molly has been at JC Leisure in Rye for almost a week and I dropped them an email today to see how they are getting on with the warranty work and the estimate for the damage to the bumpers.

I am quite happy to hold my hands up and admit that the damage and hole (!) in the left rear corner was entirely my fault. 

At the campsite in Chataigneraie on June 9th, I was a little flustered as we had tried to get on a pitch and due to the ground being wet, the wheels had spun a little and we went to look for another. Backing in, I hit the rear corner on the hedge and thick branch cracked the bumper. To tell the truth I was sick to my stomach at the damage. We had only had the moho just over two months!

So I knew that we would need to get it fixed as some stage.  What I didn't expect though was to come back to the van on the way home through France to find that someone had run into the right rear corner! There was signs that it had been bumped and repaired before but now it was cracked again. It was also covered in black paint or maybe rubber, on the bumper and up the corner trim. There was also another crack halfway across the right side between the number plate and that corner!

Today I got an email from JC to say that the warranty work has mostly been done. They didn't expand on that.

As well as a few small bits like the driver's side blind that had a broken runner, the door hinge missing a bolt, the awning rafter fitting at the top that had fallen out the first time we used it, plus the squeaking of the works when winding out.... I mentioned that when lying in bed we can see that there is a damp stain to the front of the forward rooflight.  It's dry and there doesn't seem to have been any further ingress. 

In France we had been caught in some monsoon like rain and nothing appeared to have come in. we were probably driving at 40mph on one stretch when the wipers were just coping! One night it was raining and water was dripping from the front edge onto the bed. I dried it with a cloth and it seemed the gutter was overflowing.  I checked the rubber seal and it wasn't seated properly.  Next day I climbed up in the step and checked it was in the right place.  I mentioned this and in the email today JC have put in a warranty claim for a new rooflight! Gulp.

I emailed back and said to go ahead with the bumper fixing and let us know when we can have Molly back as we are away again on August 31st - France again!

Fingers crossed.

Dometic Windbreak Support Poles!

Last year just before we went away to France in June, Claire ordered a windbreak from Amazon. 

It wasn't that expensive and when the package arrived there were two in the box. We were sure the order was for one. When contacted Amazon just said keep it the duplicate.  I guess it was more than they wanted to pay to have it returned.

So we have two. One has never been used and we have tried using one a few times! Perhaps I should see if I can sell it on eBay?

As you can see from the photo, the first time we used it it went up really well.  The guy ropes held the poles up nice and tight. That was the only time it worked!  In anything but grass and/or firm ground the pegs don't stay in the ground, letting it sag. As a result we gave up on it.

So imagine my interest that peaked when I saw a Dometic Air windbreak that had metal poles and instead of tie downs made of string/rope, metal support poles! 

I almost dribbled like Homer Simpson looking at a Krusty Burger.... BTW. Who would buy a burger from a clown! Madness eh?

I forgot all about it and then when we were away at Mersea Island and I took Reggie for his pee break I saw another one with the same adjustable metal supports instead of the ropes. It looked more sturdy.

So I had a look on the internet and couldn't see anyone selling them separately to the Dometic Air windbreaks. There was one seller on Amazon though, selling them at £45 a pair plus delivery.... Not Prime! So I let it slide again.

Then this week I tried another search, this time copying and pasting the description from Dometic's website and the internet revealed lots of sellers at a variety of prices.  Type in the right search and get the answers you want!

After some research into all the sellers prices and delivery options I have ordered two sets at £27.50 each. A set contains two support poles.  

As we only have three panels and four upright poles this should suffice.  I already have a new set of hard ground pegs that should cope with holding them in place.  And of course, I have the 24oz mallet,  I named "Knee Capper" on the last few Staycations, to bang them in!

All we need now is a motorhome to go away in!