The End - Molly has gone

When we returned from Spain in November 2024 we decided that although we loved being in Molly, that maybe it was time to move on.

Three weeks of making the bench seats into beds every night was a bit of a chore.

On top of that the ongoing hassles with the warranty claim for the damp we needed to sort out something!!!

So on November 8th Molly went into the dealers in Canterbury in part-ex for a Ducato van conversion.

This means that this blog is now gone to blog heaven or blog hell.

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

Another update!

I have been relying on the MyRouteApp website to plan where to go and this will tie in with the additional Navigation App when I pay for it.  For the simple A to B trips I can still use the Ohrex  as normal.

Of course I am hoping that the Navigation part of MyRouteapp will work okay and it is supposed to allow the downloading of maps so that it doesn't need to use the internet to work.  I have a 30gb allowance on my mobile phone but don't want to eat that up with the navigation.

At the end of the last update we were in Avila where we are staying for two days in the new aire near to the city walls. I opted for a EHU space and hopefully we can charge everything up.

From here we have a decision to make. We will have 12 nights left before we return to the UK via Eurotunnel Le Shuttle at Calais. So which way back? Do we go north of Madrid or south of Madrid? I still like the idea of heading up through Aragon and taking the Somport Tunnel, with maybe an overnight at the new aire at Canfranc Station. Either way around Madrid will bring us eastwards.

One of the recent vlogs we have watched shows a stop overnight an Consquerga where there is a castle and the Don Quixote windmills of La Mancha. I thought this looked more like a stop off rather than an overnight.  The nearby town of Alcazar de San Juan has a couple of aires that look pretty decent.  It does look a "dead" area for campsites though.

From there? East! I have booked three nights at Camping Valencia. It's owned by Sandaya and I was able to use the credit from last year gained by amassing loyalty points to get 3 for 2 nights. It works out at about €25 a night including the €5 a night for Reggie! I doubt he'll use many of the services or the pool!

From here I think it will be time to look at it nearer the time!

 

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

Since the last update I have given up pretty much on looking for raw food for Reggie, and have concentrated on a few more overnight stops and scenic drives around the Basque and Cantabrian mountains.

Distances on the map turn out to be far less when transferred into the satnav app and into the Ohrex satnav.

One thing I am going to look at is using my phone in conjunction with the Navigation app that comes as an extra to the MyRouteApp that I use, and have for years, on the TomTom for bike trips. The TomTom 410 was also used in the car before we got the Nissan with the built in navigation.

I have read that some people have used this app successfully on their Android tablets. 

I had already booked two nights at Plays de Regatón on the coast between Bilbao and Santander. This was basically to recover from 30 hours on the ferry from Portsmouth.

The plan is to try and locate a Tienda Animal store to see if they have any raw food. I have also found a motorhome parking area that should give us a chance to see the Guggenheim and the big flower dog statue (https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-collection/works/puppy).

After Regatón? I have mapped out an eastern loop that will bring us to Ramales and so I booked a site overnight there. 

The following day we have a second mountain loop, central mountains, ending on the coast again at Camping Oyambre. Two nights here with ehu. A chance to charge up everything and try out the beach ⛱️. It's allegedly dog friendly.

The next day another loop, this time a longer one around the western Picos d'Europa and then via Potes ending at a small site near Cervera la Pisuerga. One night.

We stayed at the Parador there in 2014 when we were on the Explorer and on our way back to Santander and the ferry.

From there to Avíla.  We have been before and it's a place I'd like to see again. There's a relatively new "area autocaravanas" opened near the northern walls. I have booked two nights there. It's €18 per night inc EHU.

That's as far as I have got. I was thinking about simply going and looking for a stop "on the hoof". There are plenty of free aires but the reviews are mixed. 

I am hoping that as we work our way around the loops that there will be places to stop and take in the views and simply enjoy what we are doing and seeing.

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain - Basque Loop 1

Over the last week or so I have been looking through the atlas to check out the roads marked with the green "scenic" lines and the places along it (POI)  to stop and be amazed by the views and the sights/sites.

I made a list of a loop through the eastern mountains to the south and south east of the first overnight stop in Laredo. Without stops it worked out (on Google maps) at just under 3 hours.  Today I have been on the laptop and checking some of the roads and POI.  

The first two, Pozalagua Cuevas and the nearby Dolomites Museum are closed except for weekends. This is fortunate for us as we leave Laredo on Saturday morning....  The loop will bring us back towards the coast again. I have also looked at some miradors (viewpoints) and waterfalls/cascades.

Altogether there are 10 waypoints in the MyRouteApp route. I have planned it here as the latest upgrade allows routes to be created for motorhomes.

It would mean using the phone instead of Ohrex. The additional cost can be paid monthly. I am tempted for £3.95 and use it only in May whilst we are away.  

With stops it becomes more like 5 and a half hours.  So not to rush I looked for a campsite and found Camping Ramales  that is nicely at the end of the loop.  It's on ACSI and is €21 per night with electricity charged on top. I booked one night only here.

So that's three days in Spain that are accounted for!

Awaycation Summer 2024 - Spain

With the Norfolking About trip over I am now starting to look at the main summer holiday trip to Spain and France.

Altogether we are away for 22 nights. The first two will be spent on the ocean wave going to Bilbao.

I have the next two nights booked in a site on the coast at Laredo. This will give Reggie a chance to recover from the trip. He has been on a ferry before but only for a couple of hours. This crossing looks to be more like 30! 

What then? I have been looking at the "scenic" routes on the map book. These are lined with a green line. In particular the routes through the mountains taking in viewpoints and places of interest.

What looks to be long distances in the "AA Road Atlas Spain & Portugal" is in fact around 60 miles.

The scenic routes criss-cross the mountains and the Picos d'Europa.  

I am using Park4night and Search4Sites to get an idea where there are parkups and camp sites.

It does look like that area is well served with both.

After that? I am thinking of a loop around to the north of Madrid and towards the Pyrenees.

By mid to late May I expect the winter will be well behind us. I would like to head up through the Somport Tunnel, the pass didn't look 7m x 2.9m x 2.3m motorhome friendly when we went over it in 2022 on the bikes, and check out the scenery.

The only fixed date is the return Le Shuttle train home and the night before overnight stay at Guines.

We will have to get Reggie's worming and passport 🛂 stamped between 5 days and 1 day before we arrive on UK soil.

Where to do that? I like the vets in Cavignac to the north of Bordeaux. We have also used others in Abbeville and Neufchatel en Bray.

I am leaning towards Cavignac at the moment. 

It all depends on when we cross from Spain into France.

Neufchatel and Abbeville are a little too close to Calais and the already booked overnight in Guines.

More to follow as the trip gets ever closer.

Norfolking About! Day 3

A little rain in the morning and we were late setting off. we had over two hours to do about 30 miles and so we needed somewhere to stop on the way.  

The National Trust gardens at Sheringham Park was almost on the way. So once we had done the chores etc, I set that into the satnav and off we went.  This part of the journey was pretty much straightforward and we easily found the place and parked in the coach parking area.  There seemed to be space for two coaches next to the electric car hookup spaces. As usual, there were cars parked in the coach spaces! Why?  The car-park was about 50% empty but there were few spaces to accommodate a 7m long van.

As is our habit we tried out the cafe first and were lucky enough to get a seat under cover as it was still drizzling. There were plenty of people there as it was a weekend and also lots of dogs. Reggie ignored them all.....

We decided as it was drizzling to do the shorter "yellow" walk. The park is full of rhododendrons and other trees. The rhododendrons were beginning to flower but not all at once. Another bugbear is when you see a sign that suggests that dogs should be kept in a lead in the park, and you are constantly getting approached by dogs running wild, it does p*** me off. Not everyone wants your dog running at them or jumping up at them. Reggie doesn't like being crowded and looked over by bigger dogs! Rant over.

The second part of the journey took us from here to the coast at Sheringham and then all along the A149 coast road via Cley next the Sea and Blakeney. It's very narrow in places. It's very bumpy in places too. I think I handled it okay though. :)

I missed a turning in Wells and we went around the block and approached the harbour from the opposite direction but I don't think it costs us more than a minute or two. We checked in at Pinewoods about 1430.  After the barrier opened for us I went straight on into the static caravan and glamping part of the park. The left turn that the receptionist told us to turn looked like a car-park behind reception.  It wasn't!  DOH!

In the end we found out pitch, no3.  All pitches are fully serviced and so we have water clean and waste as well as electricity on the pitch.  I need to get a waste pipe to connect to the outlet on the van so that we can make use of the drains for the grey water.  It would save having to use the motorhome service areas and time. Note to self:  check that out!

We had lunch and then set off for a walk to Holkham Beach. There is a gate at the back of the touring park that takes the walker to a path alongside the nature reserver and to the beach. I had expected to arrive on the beach and then walk along the sand to the car-park on the end of the river and then get back to Pinewoods. In the end we did a curious loop and ended back on the same path we went out on.  If we go again, we'll know better. The cafe and shop at the public car-park was closed by the time we got there in any case.

Another night of eating and watching stuff on the Firestick.  We found a series on Prime starring Alfred Molina as a French Canadian police officer in Quebec investigating murders and the running story is that of the missing First Nation women and girls. A scandal of huge proportions along with the forced removal of children to be "educated" away from their heritage.  

Tomorrow, we are moving again. This stop was simply a taster for for site and we might come back.

Norfolking About! Day 2

Before we set off, the weather forecast for the weekend wasn't looking too good. On the way up it had rained until we left Essex and had brightened up. A little spit of rain as we approached Cromer but that was all.

This morning after breakfast we got our gear on, walking boots, and set off to find the beach.  It was much easier than we had made it the evening before.  Part of the route goes between two static caravan parks and there is no traffic, but eventually there's a 50m section of so that meant Reggie had to put up with the cars and buses!  There are bus stops right outside the site entrance and so with our senior citizens bus passes we could have used the bus for free.

East Runton has some shops and the de rigeur fish and chip shop and a cafe.  Ideal for the holiday maker staying a little nearer than we were. From the road there's a hill past the car park. Half of which has a height barrier (at the back) and the front half without. Guess where the cars were parked? Yep. In the bit where it was possible to park a camper over 2m high! 

At the bottom are a couple of fishing boats and the tractors that pull them from the sea. Talking of see. It was quite a way out and was popular with surfers and some swimmers. We turned right and walked along the harder sand, dodging the occasional wave that came up further. The walk to Cromer Pier is about 2 miles?  We didn't let Reggie off the lead, but he was on the longer 8m extendable lead should he want to run about. There were so many other dogs on the beach that we needed to keep an eye on him. As he has got older he tends to ignore most dogs unless they "rush" him.

Once at the pier we went on and found a cafe for a coffee and a sit down. It's quite a workout for the calves walking on soft sand. It was quite warm and the cafe had glass windbreaks that did an excellent job. Calire wanted to go into the town to look for an art cafe and so once we had "done" the pier and she had looked in the RNLI museum and shop we headed up into the town.   I had the Canon camera with me and took a few photos as we waited for her in the shop and museum.

(I'll add these to both blogs as soon as they are published and editable - this update is emailed in from my phone)

We found the cafe and while I waited outside she went in for a look. Then it was back to the beach.  We stopped and chatted to a couple who have a patterdale cross as well. Their dog was in their car as at 17yo he was already tired out!  Reg is only 13.5yo!

Walking back was more tiring than expected . The tide was still out but of course the damp hard sand of earlier was now drier and fluffier.

We basically retraced our steps earlier on our way back to Molly. Dinner and an evening of watching the TV using the Firestick.

Tomorrow, we move on to Wells next the Sea and another camp. Only for one hight to check it out for maybe a longer stay. 

Norfolking About! Day 1

Friday.  We finished loading the van up and set off about 1030 or so.  We had to navigate the Dartford Crossing and given that it was Friday, we were expecting a tough crossing.  

For some reason there are four lanes of traffic that approach from both sides. The Bridge coming south and the tunnels going north are also four lanes.  So why doesn't the traffic simply get in lane and drive through without miles of tailbacks on both sides?  There's a 50mph limit and that shouldn't cause any problems, but it does.  

Maybe the drivers that use it are too stupid for their own good!

Anyway although there was some traffic building up it wasn't as bad as we have seen it in previous occasions and we were through reasonably quickly. We usually stop at the services at Thurrock just after the Crossing but we had already planned a farm shop stop at one that had been recommended by The FrenchiesMotorhomies on YouTube.

To get there the Ohrex satnav had decided that we would take the M11/A11 route to Norwich and so this found us stopping for a comfort break at Birchanger on the M11.  It was okay getting in, but bedlam getting out as the roadworks around the junction allied with poorly timed traffic lights meant hardly anyone got out again onto the large roundabout each time they went green!

The next stop was that farm shop. The butcher's shop has some lovely local meat and we bought some of their Toulouse sausages and a pork pie. Some other bits and pieces including a local beer from the main shop.  Parking was easy enough.

Then we were off. The satnav then took us into the edge of Norwich on the laughingly named inner ring road.  Stop/start traffic until we got out to the airport.  We noticed that petrol and diesel is far more expensive here than at home. And that's unusual!

We eventually arrived at the Seacroft Caravan Club site at East Runton about 1630. Check in was simple and this is one of the sites that actually make a note of what  pitches are free.  As we were booked on a hardstanding but no awning pitch we had to look for a set of white pegs delimiting the pitch.  We had a choice of two.  We chose one nearest the entrance and less distance to walk through to the entrance and to the beach...

Once setup and the moho on the ramps and the electricity hooked up we had a cup of tea before venturing out to find the beach. We wanted to see how close it was for a day out the next day. In the end we managed to go the wrong way and ended up in a private area with the beach some 50 to 100 feet below us.  At least we knew now where we went wrong.

Tomorrow we will be out earlier and find the beach and walk along to Cromer pier and town.

Blog shutting down...

This blog has run its course as it is too much hassle updating here in Blogger and on Travellerspoint.

To keep friends and family up to date Travellerspoint has a much better email update system.

Blogger used to handle that well but the pissed it away. 

All future posts will be on https://invictamoto.blogspot.com/ and https://devall-travels.travellerspoint.com/

Thanks for viewing.

Awaycation Autumn 2023 - France

Day 3

Saturday.  Wow. It's ironic that for years our European cousins have joked about England (the mean the UK) being rainy all the time, and yet at home it's warm, hot in some places, and dry.

Here in Normandy apart from a brief period of sunshine it has been raining, sometimes heavy, and overcast.

We didn't venture out until it was too late to collect our bread order. The epicerie is only open from 8am to 10am in the morning. We got there about 1030am. Buggeur.

It started to brighten up around 11am so we decided to take a walk down to the beach and into the town again. This time I remembered to take the Sanyo camera with me. More on that later.

The path down to the beach is very steep. Our old knees complaining on the way down. Whole body complaining on the way up!

I took a few photos of the bunkers and gun emplacements that litter the area and of the National Guard Memorial. When will you see them.....

Not for a while. When I plugged the memory card into my Motorola G50 it reduced to read without formatting the card! 

We stopped at the kiosk that was closed yesterday and had lunch. A cheeseburger 🍔 and chips washed down with Diet Coke.

It was very nice and the burger was real mince not like a McDonald's burger at all.

Then the walk back. The sky was filled with hang-gliders taking advantage of the cliffs and the thermals created. 

The grass pitches are still very muddy and wet. It was supposed to be warm and sunny all day. By mid afternoon the greyness has returned plus a strong onshore breeze blew up.  This did nothing for drying the wet grass!

At least the site appears to have a workforce that can push and pull vans off the pitches. We saw a couple that needed both human and tractor power to get moving!

I am hoping we get some decent weather tomorrow to at least dry our pitch out. I am not looking forward to battling to get off this pitch on Monday morning.

Tomorrow is Sunday. The forecast is better.... But of course, the forecasters may as well close there eyes and choose what they think the weather will be with a stab in the dark with a finger!

Awaycation Autumn 2023 - Day 1 & 2

I started this blog for day 1 at Formerie and saved it as a draft. Sadly, it didn't save and so I have to start again.

Day 1

We were up around 0615 to finish the last minute packing of the van, breakfast, and get Reggie ready to leave.

We had to be at Dover to check-in about an hour before departure. So that would be 0905.  To make sure there were no surprises at the French Passport Controls we aimed to leave at 0800. 

We were on the way well before that and arrived at Dover Eastern Docks at 0820. The queues were quite reasonable and moved quickly. 

We had plenty of time for Reggie to do his thing and then we loaded.

The pet lounge was far busier than last time. But apart from a few freeloaders that were turfed out by the attendant. What is it that these people don't understand about signs saying "Pet Lounge- Customers Only"?

Once in France we unloaded and headed to Auchan to get supplies and to walk across to Picard for Reggie's "Dogador" raw food.

We opted for 5 kgs to last him the whole holiday.

Then to fill with diesel. The price is about comparable with UK.

Then we were off to the first overnight stop at Formerie. It's a Camping-Car Park Aire. At €11.30 a night it's good value. Hard surface and includes electric hookup.

The weather was terrible. Drizzle and at times pouring rain.

We eventually arrived about 1700. Filled the water and then picked our pitch.

The machine showed 2/6 spaces were remaining available. All four were British vans. 

It continued to rain all night.

Day 2

We had a lie in. It was drizzling when I took Reggie for his morning toilet. We had bought croissants and pan au chocolate in Auchan. These were breakfast.

As the van was showing a quarter tank used I checked the fuel app and it showed a much cheaper Intermarché just off the toll free A28. We did that. Bought some bread for lunch.

As time was getting away, despite not wanting to spend on tolls we stayed on the A13 to Caen. 

Arriving at Flower Camping Omaha Beach at just after 1600. We were quickly checked in and set up.

It's ironic that we have a sea view over the D-Day beach and we are surrounded by Germans....

Once we found the WiFi isn't free and 8s costly, plus despite deciding to spend €12 we couldn't actually sign up. There wasn't enough signal in the ten minutes of wifi they give you to cough up! Perhaps a warning how crap it was going to be?

We had a walk down to the beach and walked along the sand to a small bar for a beer. 

The walk back was a little knackering.

Dinner in tonight again. Pasta Bolognese.

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