Oostende

Had a very pleasant stopover in Veurne...stayed by the marina and would recommend it as a stay if you are heading from Calais to Belgium. There is a hose on the pontoon by the boats for water. Went down to Hondschoot which was ok but we decided to move on as there was not a lot going on there. Headed to Niewpoort aire but it was hideous so moved on to Oostende....we pulled up at a site just near the bus station which was a great location - close to the centre and the beach. A very tasty Belgian beer was had on the seafront and we headed back to Dickie for a rest after our excessive 'wandering the streets aimlessly' afternoon activity. I had noticed an 'overnight forbidden' sign which Mr Fluffy assured me did not mean motor homes so we settled in and Graham mistakenly wiped the campervan settings from the sat nav whilst updating the LPG alerts.

I happily played a few games of candy crush saga which I am not addicted to at all, then made dinner. As we munched into our first bite of pre cooked chicken there was a tapping on the door.
"Do you know you are not allowed to stay overnight here? The council has changed the rules and you will be fined 55 euros if you stay overnight. We have a place you can stay if you like." What luck!  Mark and Gwen turned out to be a friendly pair of locals who were annoyed with the council's decision to ban overnight stops for camping cars and in an act of 'solidarity' have decided to start their own aire at a house they are renovating. We moved to the address given as did 3 Norwegian vans and had a good old chat with Gwen and Mark who gave us a shot of calvados and told us their family history, recommending a cousin's cider farm in Normandy, a local warm bakerij and an LPG station. The Norwegians suggested we take warm underwears (sic) for our trip to Norway as it is snowing there. Great! May have to drop in to Damart on our way. Tell me why we are not heading to Portugal again!!?

Despite a forecast suggesting there will be massive thunderstorms all day the Sun has been shining merrily and the temperature is now 20 degrees at 11pm... but now a little rain is falling but we don't mind as we have had free calvados and a couple of Trappist beers down our necks. Day two of the European stint and we are meeting really interesting and generous people already. Don't tell Nigel Farrage.

Ooh there's some rather massive lightning happening at the moment. The thunder is interspersing with the mosquito that Graham would not let me kill earlier. The sky is lighting up with sheet lightning reminiscent of a storm coming in over Bondi Beach in Sydney when Mr Fluffy and I were eating at the Bondi Icebergs and he was being chatted up by the Drag bingo caller Penny Tration.

There is now hail coming in to the van as Graham refuses to close the top vent as he has his wifi aerial on the roof trying to rectify the sat nav disaster via an online download which is now reading 19 hours and 23 minutes remaining. He is currently reading A Parrot In The Pepper Tree and has been describing a scene where said parrot has been throwing scissors and other metal objects at the cat. I can say I am tempted to throw scissors and other metal objects at Mr Fluffy if he does not close the vent within seconds.

Having now closed the vent he is reopening it to adjust the aerial letting in just a few more pieces of hail. Am reaching for the scissors as I write.

Tension averted as vent again closed and hail subsides to a mere pelting of rain. Lightning has set off an alarm in a car over the road. This will be added to mosquito buzzing and thunder to ensure a peaceful night's sleep.

Green Man Carving

Green man in St Walburga Kerk, Veurne

Nous Arrivons

We went out for a full English breakfast with Scotty, Ruby and Suzy – this could be the last proper sausage I get in a long time. France, Belgium, Holland and even Germany – none of them can beat the Brits for sausage making! Arrived at the Channel Tunnel about an hour before we had to depart and everything went smoothly – the machine automatically reads the number plates of approaching vehicles – it welcomed us as ‘Mr King’ – Kerriann had to lean out of the window at a precarious angle to reach the ticket as it was dispensed – if she starts eating Belgium pastries and chocolate she won’t fit through the window on the return journey.

It’s absolutely pouring here which is, of course, fabulous as it will give our English sunburn time to heal. After driving off the train we followed the satnav instructions for around 40 miles and were in Belgium before we knew it. We had wanted to stock up with vino and cheese in a French supermarket but didn’t see one that was convenient – we obviously missed the giant pink shopping centre signs on the way out. We may pop back over the border tomorrow for some massive jars of coq au vin and cassoulet.

We are parked up alongside the canal in Veurne (Belgium) with 8 other motorhomes. There is water available (for a small fee) and a place to empty Dickie’s dunny. Once the rain had stopped we took a walk around town – it’s lovely and retains its charm despite having several direct hits in WW2. Why oh why don’t British towns realise that motorhome owners make good customers and spend money in the towns that welcome them? We (eventually) found a good supermarket and have stocked up on essential food items – mainly chocolate, beer and more chocolate.

We found our first ‘green man ‘ in the church here – Graham will pop a pic up shortly.

Sunny Sussex

A veritable heatwave

Black Robin Farm

Dickie looking bushy

John Hooper and Graham looking masculine

Me looking miniscule

Long Man of Wilmingtin coming between us

Burling Gap

Photos courtesy of Jackie Hooper

Heading off

Beachy Head is lovely! We are staying at a CL near Eastbourne surrounded by the beautiful rolling South Downs. Our old friends John and Jackie Hooper recommended the site and have taken us for a fascinating tour of unknown East Sussex. Knapped flint and brick cottages, churches, the long man of Wilmington, ancient ewe trees … We often forget what a beautiful, interesting and magical landscape we have in the South of England – Thanks J&J for reminding us!

We are now in Deal before setting out for France - It’s lovely to see Scotty and Susie doing so well with their fabulous dining club and Paul in his gorgeous seafront home. Thanks for a lovely night out. 

Graham

Just Before We Go

Had a lovely walk in the New Forest this morning and bought some more of the delicious home baked bread from The Cider Farm shop at the (now my favourite) Brit Stop in Burley. We set out heading East and took a look at a Brit Stop in Peacehaven. It looked nice in the book but not so attractive when we got there so we carried on to another Brit Stop – The Golden Galleon at Exceat Bridge Seaford. It looked ideal but it no longer welcomes motorhomes overnight (they are happy for vans to park during the day but it was extremely busy and quite a tricky junction when leaving the pub. In the end we carried on to the CL which we have booked for tomorrow night at Beachy Head.  For the uninitiated a CL (Certified Locations) is a small Caravan Club campsite – they are usually in farms and this one, Black Robin farm, is in a lovely rural location and there are two caravans and one other motorhome parked in the field with us.

Graham

Day Two

Our sunset walk at Longleat was made even more special when we met a caretaker who suggested a walk through the forest, taking in a few sculptures including a blue plastic uprooted tree, a giant bear and a hare woman. A small deer bopped across our path and there was a mass of wild garlic flowers beneath the trees which added that little extra something to the night.

Next morning, after a leisurely ‘easing into the day’ we set off for Stonehenge. I bravely drove and after the initial panic I settled in quite well and even managed a rather superb reverse park at the Stonehenge carpark. It was great to see so many tourists at the stones – I can’t help thinking this was what it was like thousands of years ago with people from many different countries getting together to have fun, buy and sell stuff and generally have a nice time, although there probably was not the plethora of young Japanese girls in pink tutus and feathery hats taking selfies as there was on our visit. All in all a much better ‘visitor experience’ than on our last trip, the centre itself is more attractive than the previous one and the shop had some relatively tasteful t shirts and jewellery. The staff were very pleasant and we enjoyed the walk back past the curcus. The café was a bit of a nightmare so we gave up and scoffed sardine sandwiches in the van.

I bravely (again) drove on to Burley to The Cider Farm where we met Julie who worked in the shop there and was considering buying a van for herself and her whippets. This morning we had a good chat to our neighbours Nick, Melanie and their daughter Fay and did the obligatory tour through each others vans. A very nice Rapido indeed! They like a bit of a travel too and we hope to meet up with them somewhere in the future. As Graham said Black Robin Farm at Beachy Head was fab and John & Jackie Hooper took us out for a great day of sightseeing. 

We're currently visiting Suzi & Scottie in Deal and will be heading off on the Eurotunnel today.

Will put some photos on soon - we're only getting wifi sporadically at the moment so it's a bit difficult at the moment. More soon.

Britstops R Us

Last night we wandered through the grounds of Longleat and one of the team recommended a lovely walk through the woods. It was beautiful - deer, squirrels, birds and Lord Bath’s works of art. And what a lovely sunset – what more could one ask for?

Kerriann drove Dickie today from the Caravan Club site at Longleat to a very attractive Brit Stop at the Cider farm at Burley. I love this place and it’s free!

For those of you who do not know about Brit Stops, it is a listing of Pubs, Farm shops and attractions that kindly let motor homes stay overnight. There is no obligation on the part of the motor-homer to purchase anything but we always do. I love the trust and generosity of the people that participate in this scheme and am sure that they will reap both commercial and  karmic rewards. This (Burley) Brit Stop has given us a lovely field plot and we have donated £2 for an electric hook-up. We have purchased (and consumed) two bottles of the cider made here along with some very tasty bread, cheese and chutney. Julie from the cider shop is thinking of purchasing a motor home and visited us for a guided tour of Dickie. We hope she’ll get as addicted to this pursuit as we have. I have managed to get online in the field – thanks BT Fon!