Woodys Wanderings

A Journey and Travelogue

Buckle up and hold tight!

Foreword and Cautions:

I've never felt the urge to share my thoughts and travels with anyone other than a few family and friends. But, since purchasing Woody, our 2023 T6.1 LWB Campervan and approaching our first non-UK tour, for 2 weeks in 2025, I decided that perhaps I could and should.

I haven't set out to name, shame or otherwise offend anyone. However, I have few filters and my mind does tend to wander and shoot off in many directions, so keeping on point for me is a bit of a struggle. I'd also mention that some of my views may not reflect those of some of the characters involved in this blog and I may change some names just to respect this.

I was terrible in English, well the classes at least, but that could be said of most classes I attended. My spelling is probably above average, but my punctuation may let me down a bit. In this blog I'll probably over use comma's, apostrophes and brackets. I often use brackets after something or someone's name just so I don't have to type it all out time after time. One of my headmasters in a meeting with my parents (of which there were many), once complained that I only ever handed in single pages for my homework. To my surprise and satisfaction, my dad asked if it had all the information needed to show I understood the topic, to which the head replied "Yes but everyone else submits two or three pages." Dad looked him square in the eyes and asked "He's summed the subject up in fewer words, where's the problem?'. It never became a problem after that day. On the flip side, an old boss of mine asked me to keep my reports to just a couple of pages, as he never had the time to read them fully. You just can't win!

Time moves on and now I find the urge to lay down more words in one place than ever before so here goes...

I have included weblinks for many of the places we have stayed or services we have used. I have no affiliation to any of them, unless specified in brackets after the link. And if you're affiliated to any of those I have links to and feel like contributing something for the mention, please feel free to drop me a line. If I make a recommendation, it is purely a personal one and not because I have been paid to do so. I'm not a fan of adverts popping up and spoiling my browsing, so won't be adding any intentionally here.

Sarah "Doesn't Do Nature!"

It really started many years before, but never much more than a wistful eye at some of the wonderful VW campervans you see when out and about. In my current job, I use the A34 for some of my route to and from the office near Didcot, Oxfordshire. On many of the return home drives, I'd pass advertising banners near the Weston on the Green services, for 365 Campers and thought, one day, maybe, but whenever I broached the subject of jumping in a camper and hitting the road, Sarah would say; "I don't do nature!", meaning she didn't want to go on a holiday where there wasn't all the creature comforts and the toilet was behind a hedge or in a campsite loo. And that was that, no amount of reasoning would convince her otherwise.

Covid struck and we all stayed home, well most did. Not many parties and not much travelling (unless you were an MP), so the thought of getting out in a campervan went right out my head. When we came out of lockdown, we just wanted to go somewhere different but be as safe as possible. We booked a week at the lakes near Cirencester, in a wonderful lakeside villa.

Fast forward to June 2021, our very dear friends Conway & Jane invited us to Stratford Racecourse for the Campervan and Overland Adventure show. They own a Demountable (DM), which for most of the summers (and either side of it to be honest), spends it's time on their Nissan Pickup. It's unmissable and unforgettable in Bumble Bee yellow & black, and having spent a night in it myself, immediately saw the attraction, but it needed a big drive or somewhere to leave the DM when it wasn't on the pickup, which is something we don't really have. Whilst at the show, we got talking to a couple who had just bought a new VW T6.1 and had it converted to a campervan by Dirty Weekenders. Everything about their conversion convinced Sarah to give the open road a try. September 2021, we bit the bullet and rented Elsa from 365 Campers. She was a fully specced SWB auto in baby blue & cream, with 'barn doors'. 

Elsa courtesy of the now dissolved 365 Campers

    

Our first trip was to Penzance and from there to Leckford, the John Lewis / Waitrose holiday campsite, (Sarah is a Waitrose Partner), via Lyme Regis. 

Due to the traffic on the M5, we felt a bit like being on a sub or destroyer, looking for it's prey; 'Sprint and Drift, Sprint and Drift'. Almost literally, as Elsa was equipped with ACC, something that resembled what I'd seen many years earlier on Tomorrows World; a RADAR (or in this case LiDAR), on the front of the van, that allowed us to activate the Cruise Control and take both feet off the pedals and not have to worry about running up the exhaust of the car in front, as we would keep a safe distance at speed and crawl up to the back of it when slowing or stopping. Obviously, for the first few miles I was a little weary of this new tech, but pretty soon fell in love with it and made a mental 'add this to the wish list'.

We chose Penzance as we know the area quite well as my father lives in St. Just and we'd been down there countless times with the boys. For the first couple of nights we'd booked into Stream Valley Holiday and Caravan Park, not sure what to expect, but hopeful all the same.

Hmm! 'Motorhomers' or more like 'Motormoaners', what a strange bunch. There were quite a few and around our age, but older than their days... They were quite a territorial bunch too in that park; little fences and matting outside their 'home from homes'. A couple of them had Smart cars or similar for run-arounds too. Not that they did much running around, most of their days and evenings were spent inside their little fenced off domains. Whatever floats your boat I guess.

The first couple of nights went without a hitch and Sarah even used the campsite loo's. We packed up, waved our farewells to the Motormoaners and hit the road heading for our next destination. This time enjoying the A & B roads from Exeter to Lyme Regis and the way Elsa just felt as easy to drive as a large car, even round Lyme Regis. We parked up in the top car park and after a walk down to the town for some lunch. We strolled along the beach/rocks and eventually made our way back up to Elsa for the drive to Leckford.

If you are members of the John Lewis Partnership, we urge you to check Leckford out. Not only do they have pitches for campervan / motorhome / caravans, some laid to gravel with electrical hookups, but also for tents, but they have big glamping tents and lodges. Well kept facilities and a restaurant also add to the attraction, as does the JLP 'Partners' price; 2 nights with electrical hookup and dinners for under £70 (2021 prices).

The first night was good, we ate at the restaurant, had a couple of drinks and we laughed ourselves to sleep listening to the love songs of a couple of owls. The next day we went for a walk around the Longstock Park Water Gardens. Returning to find a group had turned up with their Discovery and Caravan. Pleasant enough, but quite snooty, as their holiday on wheels was 'far more practical', bless 'em!

The following morning, we packed up and made our way home, a little sad to be handing Elsa back, but vowing to give it another try next year.

Sarah "Still Doesn't Do Nature!"

2022 came knocking and after one of many nights in the pub with C&J, decided we should plan a holiday together, them in their DM and we'd hire another campervan. After a couple of 'planning committee' meetings with a takeaway, we decided on a mini tour of Norfolk with a few overnight stays. 

This time,  in mid September, we rented one from CamperKing, who are based just a few miles up the road from us. A little black T6.1 SWB, with all the spec again. The first stop was at Walnut Farm near Waxham, where we stayed a few nights. We took a walk to the beach and back and thoroughly chilled the first evening. We slept well, had breakfast and paid our respects to the Queen whilst watching her state funeral, followed by a picnic lunch in the sun. Walnut Farm was a lovely stop over, good clean amenities and decent enough Wi-Fi (we streamed the whole of the ceremony without any buffering). The next day saw us taking a boat out for a cruise on the Broads from Sutton Staithe Boatyard on the river Ant. Top Tip 1001: Don't go for the electric boats, they steer from the centre and are a right bugger to get used to. We had a lovely day and a meal at roughly half-way through our 'voyage'

at the Maltsters in Ranworth and a visit to St. Benet's Abbey (not quite as impressive as it sounds).

The Maltsters in Ranworth, Norfolk (courtesy of Google maps)

    

St. Benet's abbey. Looked like some kind of kiln or oven in the centre and probably not an original feature, unless that was the the fireplace, as it would have needed one that big without a roof or door     on the place. At least they'd still have their winter allowance though!

   

The next day we had a wander around the Windpump at Horsey and a quick look at Horsey Mere. I think we went out to dinner that night too, but my memory has faded.

We packed up and moved on towards our next stopover, but not before taking a cruise on the river Bure from Wroxham lunching on a pint and food at the Hotel Wroxham.

 A view from the Hotel Wroxham (courtesy of Google maps)

   

From Wroxham, we made our way to Reedham Ferry, where Jane had booked us in at the Archers touring park near the Ferry Inn, where we had dinner that evening. We wandered back after a couple of drinks and eventually made our way to our beds.

6:45AM we woke up to the unmistakeable sound of C&J winding up the legs of the DM, their daughter had gone into labour and they needed to be back to look after their grandson. We all knew there was a baby due soon, but 'soon' should have been a week or so later. Ah well, undaunted, we carried on the planned tour. Into Southwold we drove, played a round of Crazy golf, where Sarah showed her skills and I tried to outwit her with physics. Pah, hit n hope beats angles of incidence and reflection every time! We walked along the pier, read the story of George Orwell on a wall and gazed at Sizewell from a safe distance. The following day, we crossed over the River Yare on the chain ferry and went to Burgh Castle, where just like so many other places these days, has a parking by phone or app meter only. In the middle of Jeffing nowhere, so you can't download their app and have to rely on their purposely crackly, automated phone system, which on a windy day wasn't the easiest of processes to get along with. I ended up paying for some other vehicle that had never been anywhere near the bloody place as the registration I gave was one letter different to the van we were renting. A couple of weeks later, I get a fine through from the owners of the car park, who regardless of my proving that I had paid to park at Burgh Castle, from my bank statement, refused to acknowledge the fact that the registration I paid for had never been to their car park, and would have been evident by the ANPR they used to identify the van we had. Gotta love technology... So using the one wrong letter clause, I now refer to them as Bankers...

Still, onwards an upwards or downwards as it was, to the Fishermans Inn on the side of the banks of the River Waveney for a drink and some lunch. What we should have done, was parked here, had some lunch and then walked the 500M to Burgh Castle along the river bank. But if we had have done that, we wouldn't have found the little church of St. Peter & St. Paul. Don't get me wrong, I'm not religious or anything like that, but I do like odd architecture and it's round tower was certainly quite odd. They probably nicked some of the bricks from the even older and now odder castle.

A view from the Fishermans Inn (courtesy of Google maps)

    

St. Peter & St. Pauls Church near Burgh Castle and it's odd tower and brickwork

    

Sarah nicking some stones for the garden from Burgh Castle

    

No, Sarah didn't really nick any stones from the castle walls, just in case English Heritage are reading this. Although, that would be somewhat ironic, as our English heritage has DNA from the Vikings, who made a point of stealing quite a bit in their visits to the UK.

After all this excitement and wandering around, we returned via the ferry to the campsite, had some tea, had a couple of drinks and retired for the night ready for the trip home.

Life Is Too Short. Lets Buy A Campervan

Most of 2023 was taken up with all sorts of other travel and things unrelated to campervans.  More trips to Cornwall, one unforgettable long weekend in Bath with C&J, and yet another stay at the Cirencester lakes, this time a larger affair, with our sons Isaac, Lewis and our new daughter Eleanor (Lewis' girlfriend), as it was Lewis' 25th birthday. Dad came up too and we all had a wonderful time, but his visit made us all realise how cruel life can be:

Sarah went with 'the Kids', to the water park for an afternoon of terror (she's not the best of swimmers), on what she would describe as the assault course from hell. The kids loved it and were in their element. Meanwhile dad and I took a leisurely stroll around Cirencester. This is where it became clear that dad wasn't well, he could walk about 200 to 300 metres but then needed a short break to 'catch his breath', as he'd been a smoker for forty years or so of his life, I initially put it down to that. We toured the town by instalments and visited the museum, then had tea and a cake in one of the many cafes around the town, before returning to the car and heading back to the villa. Once back we all caught up with the various adventures of our day out, from Sarah's nightmare of having to swim across to a floating island in 'green water' and the other three thoroughly enjoying catapulting each other off various inflatable structures, to my wanderings with dad around the town. The following day after a bit of digging, dad told me how bad his health had become, at least as much as he wanted to tell me or understood himself. But it wasn't until later that I got to find out quite how bad he actually was from one of his neighbours and best friend. Dad had a bad heart, kidneys, osteoporosis and myeloma, along with his COPD, Sciatica and Shingles, but no Partridge or Pear Tree. I asked dad why he hadn't told me the full extent of his problems; "I didn't want to worry you", was his reply. We chatted about it some more and said we'd start to look into options and I'd go with dad to his next visit with his doctor. We spent the rest of the week a little subdued but carried on with our plans and packed up and split off on our ways home.

Dad came up Christmas and we discussed finding somewhere closer for him to move into. He had a large(ish) house in St. Just, but since the passing of his wife Carole, had lost the will to keep it up and with his health deteriorating, it might be better to be up near Oxford, where the NHS waiting lists were far shorter than those in Cornwall. We had found a flat just a few miles from us and dad wasn't adverse to the idea and liked the look of it. We arranged a viewing and dad fell in love with the place. An added bonus was he could also have his dogs with him, both Jack Russell's. 

I went back to St. Just in February 2024 so I could visit dad’s specialist for his myeloma where it became clear just how bad dad's health was. One of dads heart valves had a tear in it and he'd need that replacing, the osteoporosis was eating away at his spine which was causing quite a bit of pain and discomfort, but the myeloma wasn't yet at a point to warrant treatment. However, they wanted to start dad on a regular infusion of Zoledronic acid, for his osteoporosis, which also has a beneficial effect on myeloma too. Dads specialist was in agreement with me and made a referral to the Oxford heart clinic, so dad could get a quicker full diagnosis and hopefully treatment. I left dad in a happier mood, knowing that we could help get his health back to a level that wasn't great, but at least better. I drove back home, picking up a speeding ticket on the way. Dad put the house on the market in preparation for moving up and was looking forward to having a more manageable place to live in. He was sad he'd have to leave his friends and memories behind, (he'd been down there for over 30 years), but if all went to plan, he'd be well enough to go visit whenever he wanted or needed to.

Sarah and I decided life was too short and fragile and working our socks off until retirement before enjoying the fruits of our labours, was stupid. "Lets make the most of what time we have left and buy a campervan!" We started looking and even looked at Motorhomes for a few hours, before deciding that wasn't what we wanted. We needed something more practical and that could be used as a daily driver, as we might need to PX one of the cars to afford one. We scoured the web for inspiration and prices, found several that we really liked, but then got our heads in mission mode and decided what we really wanted; A Long Wheelbase VW Campervan was our clear winner. LWB, as the two previous renters were SWB and we found it a bit of a squeeze, especially if you wanted a quick overnighter. And VW because they just looked the better option to most of the others, and having rented the other two, felt more comfortable owning. To get a better idea of what we could get, we decided to pop back to CamperKing just to help us decide what we wanted and with no intention of buying one that visit. 

We rocked up, wandered around the ones on display and whittled our choices down; No to a bench seat for the front passenger as turning it round was a right pain. No to an oven, as on both previous ones, we found them more of a food warmer than an oven. No to high mileage. No to anything older than the T6.1. Yes to Auto. Yes to ACC. Yes to a fridge. And yes to a rock n roll bed. We found one toward the back of the lot that almost matched our spec, but Sarah wasn't convinced on the flooring, it looked like someone had unrolled a stick of rock; all candy stripes 'would be a bugger to keep clean'. We loved everything else about it though, so we enquired about getting the flooring changed, but the sales guy said that wasn't really an option and asked if we'd consider a brand new one of the same spec. Hmm, the one we were looking at was £67K on a 21 plate with 7000 miles, this is gonna be way over our budget we thought.

We were introduced to Woody, a brand new conversion, in Pure Grey with Yellow mirror caps. On opening the doors, we were almost blinded by the abundance of yellow, it was like staring at the sun. We loved it! It had everything we wanted and a couple of extras too; Fridge, Sink, Hob, Cupboards galore, a Rock n Roll bed, all on a well specced T6.1 T30 150PS platform, with a Wine Rack to boot. And only an extra £3K for a 73 plate and 25 miles on the clock. We were smitten and that was the start of the rest of our lives.

Woody's first music festival. (It was decidedly average)

    

Why Woody? Sarah has named all her cars and since we'd PX'd Evie, her Evoque, had every right to name the camper. We went over several options and ruled some out as ridiculous or just boring and eventually settling on a mix of 3 things; The yellow bird in the Snoopy cartoons was called Woodstock. Woodstock was a Hippy festival and the early VW campers were often called Hippy vans. So Woody it was. Plus in Toy Story, Woody was Andy's toy! We took delivery on 13th March 2024. Our first weekend away or 'Woody's Shakedown', was in late April at Leckford again. Sarah spent some time talking to other JLP members with campers and motorhomes, getting ideas and tips while I cooked dinner one night. We soon found that even though we had a LWB, having a bit of extra room for any stay longer than a single night, would be advantageous, so we bought what we thought was a drive-away awning from Go-Outdoors at Basingstoke. It turned out not to be a drive-away, but by the time we found this out, it was too late in the day to take it back and having a (GO) just down the road from us, we decided to leave it till we got home. They didn't have any in stock in the Banbury store so we took the refund and bought one from Funky Leisure, who it turns out have just about anything you could want for your VW/any Camper. We bought a microwave and a few other bits and pieces that would make our travels more comfy, including a blow-up mattress, (R&R beds aren't that comfy and nor is the top bunk mattress). and then we had another travel committee meeting for another UK trip with C&J.

Between all the to and fro's to St. Just and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, we'd moved forward with a plan for getting dads heart sorted. They decided the best option would be a valve replacement. A regular op these days and they just needed a few other checks before they would be ready to set a date for this. Early May 2024, saw me back in St. Just to go with dad for an Echocardiogram (ECG) and a better look at his heart. Dad hadn't been feeling too well for a number of days before and on my arrival, I was shocked at how he looked. His skin was almost grey and he was quite weak and got breathless quite quickly. We had a couple of days until the ECG so I spent time going over things with dad and making sure he was eating OK and just helping out in general. Come the day of the ECG, dad was looking far better than I found him and we drove to Truro hospital in Woody. We parked up in a disabled spot that wouldn't cause any obstructions with Woodys bum sticking out. Dad has a 'Wobbly Badge' as he refers to his disabled parking permit. I call them 'Space Hopper Stickers', after a page from a 'Not the Nine O'clock News' calendar I was given in 1980, which had the icon from a then Orange Badge, with the caption; 'I've got a space hopper'. Some readers may think this is in bad taste. However, when I was given this calendar, I was in the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre after having a major motorbike accident and not knowing whether I would be keeping one of my legs. I came across this page and burst out laughing, and have always referred to them as that since.

Back on topic; Dad and I arrived at the outpatients for his ECG and he got all settled in a lovely open backed outfit, he looked quite the part and was already chatting up the nurses. The process would take a couple of hours and needed dad to remain calm, so I went and got some lunch and sat out in Woody reading my Kindle. A couple of hours later, dad messaged me to say they wanted to keep him in for the night. I went back to the ward and was told his heart was far worse than they originally thought and he needed some rest, fluids and medications, but would know more once they'd had a chance to discuss with the JR Heart Clinic. They kept him in and a week later, dad was transferred to the JR. 

In all the time dad was in hospital, we packed up his house and on the last day had a rented Luton and Woody to move dads belongings to storage, ready for the move to his flat once we purchased it. Zac and Lew came down with Sarah in the Luton, as I had been staying on and off whilst working from home, albeit dads home. Just as we were taking one final look over the rooms, dad called; "The specialist has advised me not to buy the flat, as he doesn't think I have more than a year at best." he said. We were knocked for six. "OK, we'll deal with it all as best we can, we're just leaving and will come in and see you as soon as we get back." was all I could think to say. All the way up Sarah and I talked over the options, but there was no way, we would let dad move to the flat with that news. When we got back after unloading the Luton and Woody, I called dad and he dropped another bombshell; "It may only be weeks to months.". That was it, we decided he'd come and live with us and we'd take each day as it came.

We spent our time sorting out the spare room and visiting the JR, where dad had stayed for almost a month before they finally decided to just put a clip on his valve, as that was the only safe option. Eventually dad came home with us and we took things steady and a day at a time, whilst he got used to having a slightly better circulation and hopefully easier breathing, now the Oxygen was able to get into his bloodstream. 

July 2024 Sarah 'Did Nature!'

A whistle stop tour from our home, via Snake Pass, to Ullswater and returning via Chatsworth House and Matlock Bath. Lakes, Weirs, Waterfalls and Cable cars, with Woody and our great friends Conway & Jane.

This was the culmination of the travel committee's work of the past few months. It started as a suggestion of going to see what the Heights of Abraham was all about. I'd seen the tourism signs on many a trip up the M1 for work or to visit friends. A brown sign with some cable cars on it, you may have seen it too and wondered like me what that was all about, and like me probably forgot to look it up afterwards. We Googled it and were intrigued to find there really were cable cars and boy would you need them. However, we decided to make a bit more of the time by starting in the Lake District. Lew and Ellie would be home to make sure dad was OK and cook dinners. As C&J wouldn't be able to make their way up until later in the day, Sarah and I decided to take the scenic route, via Snake Pass / Snake Road or the good old A57. What a road and what a view, well worth the detour. We were even impressed with Glossop, who's High Street was seemingly unadorned with the usual plethora of Nail bars, Charity shops and Turkish barbers or empty windows, we're used to in Banbury. We eventually arrived at Ullswater or just outside Pooley Bridge, to be more precise at a site called Park Foot Holiday Park. A great site with plenty going for it, which sadly we didn't really make the most of as we're all pretty self sufficient. There is a lovely pathway at the bottom of the site, that takes you to the lake and from there you can walk to Pooley Bridge, which many will remember lost it's 18th century bridge to the floods caused by storm Desmond in 2015. There was also quite bit of damage done to some of the properties around Pooley Bridge too. The bridge was eventually replaced and the Guardian covered it with the headline "Sheep and Land Rovers Rejoice: Pooley Bridge Reunites the Lake District". One of the Ullswater steamers, the Lady Wakefield, was also beached and several people lost their lives because of the storm.

Pooley bridge, pre storm Desmond

    

 The new Pooley bridge an architectural wonder

   

The Lady Wakefield

We took a 'Steamer' trip on the lake from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding, jumped off there and had a coffee and sandwich lunch, before jumping on another boat to the Aira Force Waterfall. It was quite a trek up to the falls but worth it. We timed it just right to get the last boat back to Glenridding and from there back to Pooley Bridge, where we had a wander around the shops and found a brilliant Gin Gift shop (Chestnut House, The Big Shop with the Little Door), where they sold many alcoholic beverages including some very nice Gins and Whiskies amongst other things, including some very nice Gins. Did I mention, they also sold some very nice Gins, including their very own and tasty Cumberland Saucy Gin. After almost spending my monthly allowance in one store, we made our way to a grocery shop and bought something for our dinners, and one of their many homemade ice-creams. A slow amble back to the campers was followed by dinner and the inevitable Gin tasting session, hic! This was where a trip to Ireland was first discussed. Irish holiday 2025 planning began. We thought an anti-clockwise trek around the coast from Dublin, through the north and maybe even a figure of eight route, to take in some of the central sights. Conway also wanted to see Liverpool, so that would be the departure point. More to come on this later.

Ullswater from the road before the Steamer jetty. 

   

Aira Force Waterfall, there was quite a bit more than this too.

    

    A video doesn't do it justice

 Filed under 'all things quirky', 'Knobbly Knee' tree roots on the trail from the waterfall

  

The next day we packed up and took a slow amble to Chatsworth House. Whilst not a massive fan of stately homes or supporting those that should have downsized some time ago, again I do admire the architecture and some of the quirky things to be found in and around them. From Chatsworth we made our way to a pub carpark, where we would spend a night. It's amazing the places you can stay, for the price of a dinner and pint or purchasing their goods: BritStops has it pretty much covered in that respect. We stayed at the Derwentwater Arms at Calver, just a 10 minute drive from Chatsworth. The pub was a gem of a find and the food was very good. This was our first carpark stop and Sarah was forced to 'do nature' (or at least the 'PortaPottie'), or try to break into the pub for a pee at 4 in the morning!

Chatsworth house, a reasonable day out for the price

   

The Derwent Water Arms. Great food and a carpark they'll let you stay in, if you dine there

    

The following morning, we woke up, had breakfast and had a wander to the Calver Wier on the River Derwent. It was probably a lot nicer years ago, before the water quality had deteriorated. Sadly this is the case for too many rivers and waterways. Would have been great in their day, but now with so many councils either corrupt and lining the councillors pockets or not spending on the things that need it, but other 'Worthwhile' causes, that needs looking after more, these things are set to decline further.

We stopped for a coffee and cake break at Cafe 19 at Whites, (no link as they only have a 'Faceache' page and I refuse to promote that form of social engineering media). Then across the road to another Outdoor pursuits store - Regatta, for 'just a look', and another £50 on things we might need or use.

Then off we set to Matlock Bath or actually a camping park just to the north of it, Packhorse Farm, where we would spend the last couple of nights of our trip. After setting up camp, we set out on a walk to Lumsdale waterfall. On Google Maps, it was just a short walk from the site, a half hours trek at the most. A trek it turned out to be, the public footpath across a field was closed due to some ongoing work preventing access to the pathway, so we took the road around... adding another mile to the walk, but down a fairly steep roadway. (I'm not very good at going down slopes as one of my knees is fused and my ankle doesn't like them. Conversely, going up I'm fine), but as it was the reason we stopped at this campsite and not others, I grinned and beared it, (not much grinning or bearing actually). I was knackered by the time we got to the falls, but it was worth it. It was quite a site and sight. The falls were fed from a couple of 'Ponds', and powered some mills. Photo's and memories captured we decided it might pay to get a taxi back to the campsite as I was in quite a bit of pain by this time. As we walked down the road from the falls, we found a pub and decided to stop for a drink and call a taxi. We got in just in time; the heavens opened and very quickly turned the road outside into a stream. Eventually the rains abated and we ventured out to wait for the taxi. The driver took us on quite a route back to the campsite, but if you saw the area, you'd see why; the roads are a little on the tight side. We got back though and after drying off most of the awning and other bits, cooked our dinner and had a chilled night with a few Gins and some music.

Next morning, after breakfast we drove to Matlock Bath and the Heights of Abraham, the place that started the whole trip off. It was quite a remarkable place. We parked up in the station carpark bright and early and were some of the first to arrive at the Cable Car 'Station'. It was a first for me but will not be the last trip on one. We passed over the Derwent and on up the 169M ascent which is over a 568M distance from entrance to exit.

We decided as it was early, to grab a coffee. The Heights are an attraction for many, including Guy Martin, who was just in front of us in the queue, with his family. Then for a wander around the gardens, exhibitions and cave tours. The heights have a couple of large caverns in the ground, which were once mined for lead, and much of the site is devoted to the history of the lead mining in and around Matlock Bath. We had lunch there and eventually made our way back to the carpark and back to the campsite. We had the area to ourselves and sat around a fire with some gin and tonics, before retiring for the night. Bright and early, we awoke, had breakfast and packed up for the return home, with our phones full of

photos and our heads full of happy memories.

The River Derwent from the bridge near Calver looking toward the weir

    

The Lumsdale Falls

Just in case you didn't know where you were

  

Sarah 'Aving a Fag!' whilst enjoying a view of the Matlock Dales

    

 A view on the way back down from the Heights of Abraham

   

Back to where it all began (at least for Sarah)

Mid September 2024 saw us back to the Overland Adventure show at Stratford Racecourse for a two-nighter, and a chance to see it all again, but from an owners perspective, we pitched up next to C&J and made the most of the good weather. Whilst not much different to the one in 2021, we were now owners and looking at things with a different mindset; how do they do that, where does that go, how can I fit that in there and so forth. We bought quite a few things, that we either needed, wanted or just fancied; a festival pole and spinner, was the just cos we I fancied one buy, a Cadac Paella pan, cos we wanted one and some LED bars, cos Woody needed better lighting for the high beams (although, fitting them and finishing off the end caps, was a different matter). We came away with more ideas and questions than we went with. But we'd wandered, looked at, under, over and up, just about every vehicle there, discovered more about leisure batteries and solar systems, heaters and vents, than we thought possible. We'd danced to a Ska band and drank plenty of Cider on the Saturday night

A late break in Dorset

Our son Isaac, bought me a voucher for a visit to a vineyard or brewery for fathers day. We found Dorset Nectar a Cider farm near Bridport that looked like it would be fun, but their camping options were limited, so I looked around until I found Pineapple Estate Holiday Park just a 5 minute drive up the road. We were booked in for two nights, and after a slow drive down, with a stop for lunch just past Marlborough we found our way to the site. It was tucked away in the Dorset countryside and only accessible via some very narrow lanes, which made it a bit of a trek, but worth it in the end. We made it to our pitches, setup for the night and got ready for our dinner at the Pymore Inn. The food and most of the drinks were lovely, but I'd skip the Damson Cider if they still have it, unless you want some on your chips. We took a taxi there and back as it was quite a way out and with the roads like they were, wasn't worth the risk. We slept well that night.

The next day we drove to the Cider farm (you may think that's a lazy option, but the roads were so narrow, walking there wasn't really a safe option), had a wonderful tour and a ploughmans (I won't spoil the tour, as I couldn't do it justice in words, but it was a delightful experience). On into Bridport and down to West Bay where we took a wander around. There was a bike meet by the marina with many old school bikes from the UK but also Kawasaki's, Suzuki's & Yamaha's. We had a quick look at a few of them before the girls wanted to do the girlie things and so an hour later we came out of the Customs House Emporium, sans a few quid. We ambled to the beach and along the quayside. I then remembered where I had seen the beach before; Broadchurch! Not too many bodies to be found early October and thankfully, those that were there were very much alive. We went a little further west to Eype beach for a better view. We wandered along the beach admiring the views and fresh sea air. We wound our way back to the camp site and cooked our supper. We had free firepits with our booking and made full use of them. A little experimentation with one, then two and at one point three (there were quite a few to play with), But a third one made it look a little like Marvin and didn't give off as much heat so we came to the conclusion that two was the perfect balance of heat and smoke. (While not very scientific, our videos of the twin-stack showed far better heat output and our eyes were not complaining of the smoke).

The Sunday morning, we had our breakfasts and broke camp for the return home, this time stopping for Sunday lunch at The Rising Sun in Lacock village and then on to home. That was Woody's last trip for 2024, except for domestic travel at least.

Beware of the stream at Eype, it's infested with Crocs

Marvin the paranoid fire-pit!

Pretty soon after the Dorset trip, C&J broke the news that the trip to Ireland would have to go on hold, their daughter, who lives with her husband and daughter in Australia, was with child again and she was due some time in June... Irish trip now on hold, Sarah and I decided we'd do a grand tour but not in Ireland, as that will come later once C&J are back.

2025

Too cold for the campers

We had a spur of the moment, winter sun break in Lanzarote in mid January, staying in a villa on the South end of the island and touring everywhere from top to bottom and all points in between. It was possibly the best week of the year there so far, especially as they had freak floods in April. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and we made good use of the pool and hot-tub too. We went on a Submarine and took an off-road buggy trip, along with some cave tours and markets.

All Change!

By this time, dad had made a significant recovery and after several visits to St. Just and the area, found himself somewhere to go back to Cornwall and live. In the final visit to the Churchill hospital to see how his Myeloma, and bloods were looking, he was told the one treatment for the Myeloma he had had, had improved his stats somewhat. Even though it may have triggered a reaction that could have been a heart attack and necessitated a few nights in the Horton and a haemoglobin transfusion, his blood count was good, his Kidneys were also improved and the Myeloma hadn't progressed in any noticeable way. Whit that news, dad asked to be referred back to his original specialist at Truro. And so on the 14th February, dad went back to St. Just, in a far better condition than he left it and back to his beloved dogs too!

Getting Stoned, (Our first trip of the year with the campers)

With C&J on their way to Aus, in a month or so, we all thought we should have a couple of weekends away before they go. Jane found a lovely pub stop in Broad Hinton near Avebury and it's stones. We spent two nights at the Crown Inn, they have a good area for parking your camper or even full size Class A motorhomes and it's free to stay if you are having a meal. Our first night turned out quite expensive, but was well worth it as the meals were very good and plentiful. They even had a selection of Thatchers ciders from the reliable Gold, with several flavoured ones, of which my favourite was Blood Orange, which could be quite a dangerous tipple. If you get the chance, try some and you'll see what I mean.

On the Saturday we drove through Avebury and down to the South Kennet Long Barrow, past Silbury Hill. A gentle walk up to the barrow, gave us a wonderful view of the North Wessex Downs, with Hares and Skylarks abound. On the way back to the vans, we met a walker who had been all round the area for the last few days and told us there would be some Druids at the Avebury stones that afternoon as it was the closest weekend to the Equinox. Armed with that information we headed back via a stop at Silbury hill, a neolithic man made mound of epic proportion. Yes the Egyptians may have their pyramids, but we have a mound of chalk and mud in England so stick that up your mummified nose Tut!

Wow, a Druid celebration of the older and more widely spread stones and circle, we couldn't wait...

It turned out to be more like a meeting of rainbow snowflakes, hugging stones and making out they could feel the vibes or whatever it was they were feeling through their pudgy mitts. Some of them were more serious about the ancient rituals than many of the others, who looked more like they were praying for a better benefit payout, than a better harvest. I swear one of them had taken the Waynetta Slob disguise to another level. I remember visiting Stonehenge many years ago, when you could walk amongst the stones for one of the solstices, I say one of them, as I don't rightly remember which, mostly due to the fact that I used to enjoy some of natures finest illegal smoking products. Whilst Sarah, Jane and Conway, did a bit of clapping and wailing, I kept my distance. It just felt cheap and nasty compared to my memories. There were a great number of other would be worshippers in the pub opposite, that probably felt the same as me too.

We had lunch at the barn near the information centre and then made our way back to the Ridgeway just above the Hackpen White Horse, albeit more of a White Pony, but none the less one of Englands many White Horses. We walked for about a mile or so toward Barbury Castle, but the time was getting on and my ankle was starting to ache, so we turned back. Whilst walking we noticed little bags of pooh hanging from the barbed wire fencing. Why do people pick it up in a bag and hang it from a fence, do they think it's better for the environment leaving their pooches turds, wrapped in plastic, dangling in the breeze, than taking it home? Just leaving it to break down naturally would be far better than that... 

Apparently you can stay for free on the Ridgeway in a camper, but we'd rather have the small luxury of a nearby toilet thanks, so we made our way back to the pub for the second and less expensive night. Then after a cuppa and some cake/biscuits in C&J's camper, retired for the night. A good nights sleep ensued and we all woke around 8ish and after breakfast made our way home.

The Crown Inn at Broad Hinton, our base for the weekend

There are many boards like this, to help you understand the many historical wonders in the area

The Barrow Girls

Some Druids prefer beer to stones

Ludlow (Mostly Highs, No Lows)

Thursday evening and Friday morning we packed Woody for the trip to Ludlow, using the less is more mantra we'd need for Europe, although there were still a couple of things we didn't pack that we should have. 11:00, we drove to C&J's to travel in convoy to the site we'd picked and paid for. With Conway leading in their DM, we set off via Stratford on Avon. That's as far as the convoy made it, by the third roundabout, we lost sight of C&J, due to traffic volume and although Sarah has Jane on her 'Find-My' app, the signal was crap and where Conway took the first exit, I went straight over, following my SatNav. Ah well we were heading in the same direction so we thought we'd catch up fairly quickly, but alas no, so we continued on the route provided by Google Maps. We went through some lovely country side and small towns & villages. Past some Hops fields, now referred to as 'Vlad's Garden'; (the frames that are erected to support the hops as they grow, reminded Jane of Vlad the Impalers stakes). So that's their name from now on. 

We eventually arrived at Monstay Farm Campsite about 20 minutes ahead of C&J, but they did stop off for fuel. We checked in with Les and Angela (the owners of the farm/site) and let C&J know they could just drive straight in. We had a quick scouting drive round the site to find a suitable pitch for both vehicles and one that didn't mean a trek to the facilities or the collection point for the taxi Jane had booked to take us into Ludlow for our evening. Once everything was setup for tour stay, we took a walk around the site and were in awe of the wonderful views of the hills and valleys.

We didn't realise the Ludlow May Fair was on, but don't let that put you off if you're not a fan of fairs. The taxi driver dropped us just behind the Blue Boar and pointed the way, agreeing to pick us up at 22:30 for the return. Our meal was booked for 19:30 and we arrived pretty much on time for our meal and meeting with some other friends David & Sandra, who sadly couldn't join us for the camp out, as they were going touring in their camper on the following Tuesday. We all met at the Blue Boar and were a little apprehensive at first, as there were a number of young families with noisy kids fresh in from the fair, but they soon left and everything settled down. We all spent some time catching up, drinks were ordered and menus perused. Conway prefers Gluten Free options and we weren't sure about the Devilled Whitebait, our server said she'd check with the chef, and promptly returned to say that the whitebait is dusted with normal wheat flour and paprika, but he was happy to test changing the wheat flour to cornflour if Conway wanted to go with that. A few minutes later and the chef was happy with the results, and our orders were delivered in short order. In all, a very good night was had by all and the Blue Boar gets a 5 star review. We had a quick wander round the fair, said goodbye to D&S and got the taxi back to the campsite. The driver thought he might be a contender for Pike's Peak, all that was missing were the handbrake turns and roaring engine sounds, which left the girls feeling a bit alarmed, especially once you take the road through Mortimer Forrest into account. We were all pretty shattered, so said our good nights, without the normal sitting around drinking and chatting.

Sarah and I slept 'Up-Top', as this is how we planned to tour Europe and leaves the bottom of Woody in a fully useable condition without all the hassle of clearing off the bedding and returning the Rock n Roll bed to seating. The first night on any strange bed is usually less enjoyable and we had a mixed experience, with me having a pretty good night and not even needing to get up for a pee. Sarah said her sleep was not as good as mine, but when I woke at 5 there were definite sleep noises coming from her side of the bunk.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we decided to get another taxi back into Ludlow for the day, Jane tried to original number for the one we had the night before, but they weren't picking up, (maybe as the only tip we'd have given the driver would have been 'Slow the f*** down'), Another number Jane tried had problems with reception, so I looked up Uber, but by the time I'd found one for £25, Jane had got back through to one and at £15 was a far better deal. A much more refined trip with a very nice chap, who came from Ludlow, again the return trip was agreed for 16:30, as we'd be cooking our own meals tonight.

What a lovely town Ludlow is, it's medieval and earlier heritage clearly visible in the architecture and citadel walls; hardly any Nail bars, charity shops or hairdressers/barbers again either. We wandered through the centre, stopping at Taste (a coffee & cake café, that also sells many Gins, which I didn't buy. They don't have a website, only a Faceache presence, but really nice cakes). We carried on looking in shops and generally passing the time on the way to the castle. 

Ludlow Castle is mostly in ruin, but is well worth a visit. A Norman castle where from 1473 to 1483, was the home of Prince Edward (known as one of the ’Princes in the Tower’). He was in residence here when he learned of the death of his father, Edward IV, and assumed the title of King Edward V.

Prince Arthur spent a few months at Ludlow with his wife Catherine of Aragon before his death there on 2nd April 1502. Who knows, maybe Catherine had bigger plans and didn't feel Arthur was up for the job of king, but went on to marry his brother, who became Henry VIII. That didn't go well for her though either, but a divorce was a better option than losing your head... There was even a dragon in the castle, to remind you that Ludlow is very close to Wales.

With time to kill, we wandered the town and many of it's walled streets, down to the river Teme, via Dinham Gate, to Dinham Bridge by one of the Mills, then again to the river, through Broad Gate onto Broad Street and it's bridge, before a swift drink at the Wheatsheaf Inn and making our way back to the taxi collection point. The same driver took us back to the campsite and we got ready for dinner. Whilst we were in town, many more campers had turned up, including a small team of junior football players and their families. The kids played for hours, with apparent boundless energy and no signs of animosity toward any of their team mates, a rare thing these days, whilst their parents socialised. There were a few campervans and tents near us and a few others in another field, including a roof tent on a 4X4 and also a Mazda Bongo, the latter being a 'cute' campervan, better suited to the vertically challenged, IMO. There were also a couple of caravanners just behind us.

C&J's daughter had won a BBQ meat pack from a farm shop, that was more local to us than them, so we were gifted our dinners, so to speak if I collected, although I did buy a couple of extra steaks to go on the griddle too. (Clever marketing really, win a BBQ pack and unless you're really tight, buy some other bits from their shop). The steaks were good and thick, as were the Chicken breasts and amply fed the four of us. We ate and drank, then Conway got the firepit going, whilst we got everything cleared and washed up. 

We quickly saw the benefit of a Marvin over the raised bowls of the firepits at Monstay, and devised some cunning plans for our next trip together. One involved fixing the washing machine drums to the wheels of the trucks to look like custom rims! Or mounting on the roofs as turrets, with plungers and whisks to resemble Daleks... Yes, the Thatchers Blood Orange, is as dangerous as I thought! We ended the night with a cuppa. The 'Up-top' bed was far more comfortable this time and we were asleep in no time, although this time I did end up getting up for a trip to the toilet at 5am. Rather than wake Sarah, trying to get back into bed, I read my Kindle for a while before dozing off on the seating for an hour or so. I woke up pretty cold and tried to get the cab heater running, but to no avail, without us moving for the last couple of days and running the lights etc. the leisure battery had dropped to 10.9V and wasn't happy enough to run the fan that blows the warm air round the van. Solar will be the next addition to Woody, if I can decide which kidney I can do without. So I made a cuppa for Sarah and myself, which did add a little warmth to the van for a while. Conway emerged from the DM and we all got up and sat outside for a warm drink and chinwag. Decided we'd have dinner on the way home and found a place that allowed online booking, The Wheelbarrow Castle, with such an odd name, we had to give it a try. We plotted a route via Google Maps and after packing up, were away by 11:15am, arriving earlier than we had booked by 45 minutes, but they were happy to accommodate and we had a lovely Roast Beef dinner followed by desserts. @ £22 per head, it was a bargain, especially if you saw the food, it's just a shame we don't live closer. Yet another 5 stars for the service and food. From the Wheelbarrow Castle, we said our goodbyes, hugs and thanks for another wonderful weekend with C&J, and made our way home in convoy for a short while, until our roads diverged and we went our separate ways to our homes.

Unpacking Woody has become second nature now and we were all done in very short order. 

Outstanding in our Field

A view down the Wigmore Valley to the Welsh Hills

The River Teme from the Bridge at the bottom of Broad Street 

A pretty impressive Fireplace was a must in the days before windows, but halfway up a wall?..

Part of St Mary's Chapel, very round.

Why did Norman have so many castles?

The Broadgate, the last gate remaining

We waited all day to see if there was Black or White smoke

The oldest swinger in town

The steaks were coming on nicely

With Ludlow done and dusted, we discussed our next UK trip with C&J; Shell Island near Harlech, Wales. But that will be after Woodys European tour.

Lets go to Europe!

Sarah has wanted to go to Lake Garda for many years, so that would be our destination. I did a quick google maps look at the lake and found a lovely campsite right on the shore; Camping Park Garda, it looked perfect on their site and the reviews are good, so we decided that would be perfect. However, why don't we make more of the trip and take in some more sights and scenery... after many iterations, we had a plan; twelve eleven countries (Venice isn't a country!!! Doh!) in two weeks... Three of them are somewhat smaller than the Isle of Wight, but they still count!

The plan is to travel from home on the Friday, stop somewhere near Dover and have some dinner and spend the night, before boarding the first ferry to Dunkirk on Saturday morning. From there the intention is to make our way into Belgium via Steenvoorde to Poperinge, skirt Ypres and Kortrijk and down to Mons, to a little town called Dinant on the river Meuse. Nope, I'd never heard of it before either. However, there are a couple of reasons I chose this as a stop; 1. It has a Cable Car, (yep I've fallen in love with them). 2. There is a Gloucester Meteor in the park at the top of the Cable Car run. As soon as I saw that plane I knew I had to go there;

When I was young, my dad used to work in a foundry in Wallingford called Walter Wilders. Most people will not know the name, but one of their primary products were road drain and manhole covers, when Britain made things, so some of you may have seen the name. One of dads friends at the foundry, made a cast alloy model of a Gloucester Meteor and dad brought it home for me. It was huge and heavy, about 50cm wingspan and weighing in at around 10Kg. Needless to say it couldn't fly, but that didn't stop me from trying it a few times and much to dads annoyance, the craters in the front lawn from the failed attempts at flight from my bedroom window got me in a bit of trouble.

There's not many places to stay near Dinant, so we'll be moving on from there and making our way down through Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and into Italy from the Tyrols, via as many mountains, lakes and breath-taking sights as we can cram in, including some weird and wonderful diversions along the way. After a few nights in Limone sul Garda, we'll make our way to Venice, leaving Woody for the day near the ferry terminal, then on to Maranello to the Ferrari Museum. Then on to San Marino for a night and another Cable Car ride... From San Marino to Florence and then Pisa, Genoa and on to Monaco via Menton, as the views along the road between the two are quite something. In Monaco I'll try to do a more sedate lap than Jules Bianchi when he got his one and only point for Marussia F1 Team. One of my happiest memories of that place. #Forza-Jules #JB17.

From Monaco to Nice for a night and then on toward home. We'll be taking some of the 'Route Napoleon' with a few stops like the Citromuseum, a museum of Citroens, yes we all laugh at the 2CV, but they were pioneers and made some stunning cars with some really advanced and often quirky tech, that was sometimes way ahead of the curve. On then to a little citadel called Sisteron, which sits on the river Durance. Then we will make our way to Grenoble for a final ride on yet another Cable Car. From there we'll make our way home, possibly stopping at Lyon if time allows. 

The 2025 European Grand Tour route

This was the primary reason for this blog and I shall try to do a daily/nightly update with photos of our trip, so keep following us on our travels.

All Packed and Ready to Roll

Day One in the Big Bother Bus!

Although we're going for 2 weeks, this must have been the easiest pack-up so far, Sarah had pretty much done most of it by lunchtime. We had a quick catch-up with C&J in Australia, where they're the proud grandparents of grandchild number 4. We left home around 18:30 and arrived in Dover 3 hours later. I can't remember which forum we found the car park on, possibly the T6 forum or maybe California Club. But top marks. An overnight stop in a decent public carpark that allows campers and motorhomes. But not only do they allow you to stop overnight, It's free from 6pm to 8am. However, as we were driving down the M20, the sky above Folkstone started flashing. the weather app on our phones did say there may be a thunderstorm... Well, it sure kept its promise, Thor must be mighty annoyed! Maybe, with all the rain thats currently falling, we could just get the ferry to come to us. Who knows if we'll get some kip tonight, but I doubt if it will be till the early hours and we need to be up and out of the carpark by 4:30 to start queuing for the ferry. We've booked priority boarding and the lounge for the way over, so breakfast will probably be a full English. After disembarking, we'll make our way into Belgium. 

Nighty night.

30 mins into the rainstorm and the carpark was starting to flood. We were just under that lamp

Another 10 mins and we moved for the second time (we were next to the blue van)

Day Two in the Big Bother Bus

We started early this morning. Noah, had obviously buggered off without us, but fortunately the tide was on its way out and with a careful crawl out of the carpark, we made it to the road. There were still some people outside their homes; the houses on the other side of the road to the carpark all had basements and many were converted to flats, of which it appears got flooded. That would explain the fire brigade being out on the road with pumps running till 2ish. 

We booked priority boarding and the premium lounge, so by 5:30am we were sat down have an early cuppa after a bacon butty and another cuppa, I laid my head on the arm of the sofa and got another hours kip. 

Belgium and the route to Dinant is mostly flat and green. However, you know you’ve left France as soon as the border changes; their roads are almost as bad as some of ours. But you can forgive the roughness as the lane etiquette in Europe is far better than the UK and getting stuck behind a queue is a rarity. 

Dinant

Facts:

There was a famous battle fought in Dinant August to September 1914. The German army pretty much massacred the townsfolk after taking the citadel/fort. 647 of the local people were murdered by the German army as punishment for allowing the French to assist them.

Adolphe Sax was a born in Dinant in 1814. Who, I hear some of you ask! He invented the Saxophone, without which, there would have been a load of blank sections of many 80’s ballads. You could have made a cuppa waiting for Gerry Raffertys Baker Street or Hazel O’Connors Will You to restart! You can’t get away from this fact in Dinant, there are Saxophones everywhere, big colourful ones with unique designs and a big gold one at the bottom of Rue Ste Jacques. 

Dinant is joined to Leffe, a famous Belgian beer, so nice they named a little town after it. 

It has a fully automated Cable Car, which you’ll need if you plan on doing the town and Citadel in a day. 

Belgian waffles and Ice cream in Dinant have a mind of their own and will leap at the opportunity of dribbling down your trousers or tops. 

We finished our afternoon in Dinant with an uncomfortable walk back to Woody, as lunch consisted of Chicken Fried Rice at one of the riverside bars and an aforementioned waffle and ice cream. Uncomfortable due to the 28 degrees and sticky hands and face from waffle scoffing. 

An hours drive later and we arrived at Camping Park Arlon, just outside Luxembourg and very well hidden from the general public. With more thunder and rain forecast and both knackered from last night, we’re thinking of tucking down for the night. C’mon Thor, bring it on. 

A Gloucester Meteor. One of the reasons for stopping at Dinant

Sadly, much of the view is a little restricted for anything other than closeups

A view of Dinant from the side of the Citadel. Bottom centre is the Cablecar station

Some of the crosses to commemorate those that gave their lives trying to hold Dinant

Sarah, at the entrance to the Citadel

And another view of Dinant. You may be able to make out the Saxophones on the bridge

A golden tribute to Adolphe Sax, Dinants most famous son that not many know

Arlon to Strasbourg 

Well, Thor did his best and by the look of the surrounding countryside so did the gods of rain and wind. However, we mostly slept through it, except for a couple of massive crashes which echoed up and down the valley for ages. Even the rain didn’t bother us much and before we knew it 7:30 arrived. We wanted to get up and sorted by 10am latest as it was a bit of a trek to Strasbourg and we also needed some fuel. (Handy hint 3002), buy fuel in Belgium not France, it’s cheaper by about 20 cents a litre. Apparently Luxembourg is cheaper, but I wasn’t sure and Woody probably didn't have the legs to make it, so we stopped in a little town just short of the Belgian / Luxembourg border: €1.39 (£1.18) instead of €1.59 in France (£1.35, roughly the same as UK), now that will do nicely. (We didn't pass a fuel stop in Luxembourg that was open, and couldn't see any signs for the prices either.

Through to France and some lovely roads between towns and villages, one of which, Azoudange, appeared uninhabited by anything other than Storks, lamp posts and telegraph poles seemed like a prime spot for a nest for them!

We stopped just up the road in a small aire, for a spot of lunch and were amazed by the few cars on the road, but of those, many of them, tooted and waved at us as they passed, I wonder if they knew we were Brits...

On we went and soon made it to Strasbourg, where yet again we were amazed by the lack of traffic in and around the city. So much so, that we just dawdled through, looking at the architecture and checking out whether it was worth a proper visit one day, (possibly).

We carried on through Strasbourg, to our stop for the night at CampingPlatz Kehl, just on the German side of the Rhine. As we approached the entrance to the site, we spotted a line of motorhomes and caravans, with many of their owners stood on the riverbank talking and smoking, thinking they were there for a free stopover, we drove past them. One grumpy looking chap stuck his head out and frowned at us, but we drove past slowly and turned into the site... As we pulled up near reception, it became quite clear that they were actually queuing to get into the site, but being much longer than any of the parking spaces, had to wait outside to be called. Oh well, I jumped out and joined the short queue of people lined up to book in... Poor Germans, they never had their towels out, so the spot was mine. We booked in, and were shown to our pitch, before most of them made it to reception.

We hadn't even finished getting the awning wound out before the next rain and thunderstorm arrived. Having put paid to our walk along the river, the rain decided to dampen our hair as we walked to the restaurant, but not our spirits. We had Weiner Schnitzels mit frittes and a dessert, before another damp walk back to HMS Woody for the night. 

We'll be getting up early for our next stage of the trip; Via Liechtenstein and a little ski resort called Zurs, where we will stop for lunch, before the rest of the twisty turny route to Natterer See in Austria.

This was pretty much most of our trip; pleasant views and little traffic

What could be more French that a tree lined road

Some of the residents of Azoudange

Is today Monday?

Kehl to Natterer See, with several Via's 

(Some by design, others by Google glitches)

With a plan to get up and out before the Panzers came rolling up to our pitch, we were all showered, shaved and shoe-shined, with the roof down and everything stowed just after 7:30am. With a slow roll through the tree lined streets around the site and the distinct smell of honey in the air, we made our way out of Kehl and on toward Natterer See. We were too busy chattering and I missed a couple of turns, but due to the precise route I'd planned, we found places to turn around and get back on track. The first was just a couple of Kilometres from Kehl, so things started well... But as this was possibly the longest stint for the whole trip and one that took in quite a few sights, we wanted to get it right. So back on track we carried on; through Germany, most of which was names I couldn't begin to pronounce but consisted of just a few very traditional houses. We reached the first stop and sight Bodensee or Lake Konstanz/Constance, which forms part of the German/Swiss border and has lovely views of some of the Swiss Alps. We stopped at Wasserberg am Bodensee, for a walk and some refreshments. The lake looked idyllic, with small boats and a couple of RoRo ferries running to and fro between Switzerland and Germany, (possibly as many different crossings as the UK to Europe and Ireland).

From the lake, we made our way to Zurs, a small ski resort, via Liechtenstein. Where it turns out is no cheaper for fuel than France, so we decided not to fill up and take a chance on Austria being cheaper.

Not much to say about Liechtenstein, as it looked pretty much like any industrialised part of Europe.

However, Due to another Google Glitch, we found ourselves on the wrong route to Natterer See, which took us over the top of Zurs, rather than the bottom, which was my preferred 'angle of attack'. Given how long it would have taken to re trace the route, we plodded on. However, we're very glad we did as this gave us some even more spectacular views and a couple of other places to stop and burn some electrons with our memories (take some photos). We eventually reached Zurs and found it a ghost town, with very little open out of season. But the town was not the target, it was the very long and old tunnel and a very winding stretch of road on the other side. Which of course, had to be done in both directions due to the earlier technical detour. Wow, I was smiling all the way down and back up again, after a short photo shoot. It was a total joy ride, from the entrance to the end of the tunnel and then the switchback road. No photo's could do it justice and even though Sarah did her best attempt on the cameras, the videos will not give you the sense of how close you are to the edges and the rush I felt driving it.

What we didn't realise though, Austria has many of these types of tunnels on the side of their mountains, but mostly newer and shorter than the one on the Zurs road.

Totally happy, we made our way toward Natterers and Sarah took a turn behind the wheel, so I could grab some photos too. She took to it like a duck to water and was very soon confident at junctions and roundabouts, although the first couple were taken closer to the speeds she drives her car than what I'd have done in Woody; we weren't on two wheels, but it felt like it...

We arrived at Natterer See camp site at 7:30pm having taken a full twelve hours of some of the best scenery and roads we've ever come across, Thank you Austria.

The campsite is also a very good example of how they can be done.

Wasserberg on the shores of lake Konstanz

Woody posing under a mountain after a trip through a 'windowed' tunnel

The 'Windowed' tunnel

Woody under the tunnel to/from Zurs (looks like a train on the side of the mountain

And under the switchback road to it

Our back garden for the night

Day Four and a Half

Natterers to Limone sul Garda

Before we left for this trip, I made a couple of modifications to Woody. I made some drawers for the cupboard behind my seat. These needed to have a curved front, so I made some bendy plywood using my laser cutter and produced 3 custom made drawers which now makes that space far more useable. I also extended the bed; Woody is a long wheelbase (LWB) and the pop-top is for a LWB, but the bed was sized for a short wheelbase (SWB) we found it way too short to be comfortable. As the temperatures are likely to be in the high 20's to 30's, sleeping up top would be far better. Also, it means we can leave the rear seat as a seat and not keep having to pull it out at night and back again in the morning. 

Being as we didn't need to leave Natterer See site until 11am, we had a lazy morning, not getting up till 8:30 and just having a chilled cuppa and some cereal, without a rush, made all the difference to our day. Another advantage, was that we only had about a 4 hour drive to Lake Garda. However, Google decided that actually it would be preferable to send us there using the route it preferred rather than the one I had planned, yet again. I'm not sure if Google get paid to drive you through places or their AI decides that it knows what you really want and where you wanted to go, as we missed several waypoints I'd setup. After realising we really didn't have much say in the matter, we just went with the flow and took in as much of the scenery as we could. I don't think there would have been much difference, if it had used the route I wanted, as we still had loads of twisty switchbacks and mountains and lakes, and perhaps this route was actually more scenic than the one I'd planned...

Anyways, via Bolzano/Bozen, (many of the Italian place names in the Tyrols have Austrian names too as through the years they have changed hands several times), then through Trento and finally into Limone sul Garda. We drove through so many tunnels, some short, some long and one about 5km, but all well lit and signposted. Some were just tubes some were the ones with just columns on one side and many were portals to other dimensions... You would go in one and be looking at a fairly mundane view and emerge the other into a place of beauty. Some just took your breath away and left you gawping. Pictures can't do it justice nor could my words, so I'll just post a few of the best we could do to capture some of it's beauty and leave the words to poets or other greats that have been through here over the centuries.

Lake Garda, looking South from our pitch

And North from Limone sul Garda

Our view for the next three nights

And at dusk it looks like this.

What no travelling

Today, is Wednesday and we thought we'd just have a bit of a touristy type day and go see some sights;

So after a  late sunrise from above the opposite side of the lake, (Sarah has the side with that window), we had a leisurely rise and breakfast. Once showered and dressed, we took a stroll back to Limone, bought a ticket for the ferry to Malcesine. The ferry we bought tickets for must be in cahoots with Google, as to get to the landing for it, you had to wander through the markets and storefronts, all laden with lemons, Limoncello and every type of Italian fashion possible. That's good marketing and tourist trapping at its best, and you can't blame the locals for that. After queuing for almost an hour, we finally boarded the ferry and chugged across the lake, which was almost as flat as a millpond. Once off, we grabbed some refreshments. We had a couple of Granite's (Slush puppies for grown-ups), Sarah had mint and I had lemon, both were totally refreshing and much needed as the temperatures were starting to soar. Whilst sitting drinking our Granite's, we checked out the route to the first station of a two stage cable car to the top of Monte Baldo, a combined run of 2183 metres and an elevation of 1189 metres. We didn’t even know this was here until I spotted it whilst scanning the other side of the lake. Each gondola could hold 45 people or 24 with bikes. Yes, there were many and they had allotted times for taking bikes, and they were one way trips, some could take the red route back, which was for seasoned mountain bikers or there were others for general cyclists or not so brave. There were quite a few Para-gliders in the queue for this too and they were joining up with the many others that were already up there. You could book to do a tandem para-sail back down to Malcesine, we took the less adventurous option. We booked a slot for 2pm and they said to arrive at least 10 minutes early, we were 20 mins early and still ended up queuing for well over an hour, but boy was it worth it. the views as you went up got better and better, but also the second gondola stage, rotated 360 degrees as it ascended, so everyone got a good view. Once we got off, we had lunch in the SkyWalkers lounge bar, before having a wander around the summit and taking more photos of the lake and the surrounding mountains. All thoroughly breathtaking. We had to queue again to come down but there were far less than going up, at least until the midway station, then it was Sardine time again. We got out and had a wander around the narrow streets of Malcesine, and had some gelato and other refreshments, before queuing again for the return ferry. The Italian service operators need to go visit Switzerland, they would certainly learn a thing or two about organisation and timekeeping.

We got back to Limone and grabbed some dinner, Sarah a salad which was huge and I had seafood spaghetti, washed down with a bottle of water and some other drinks. Absolutely knackered, from the walking and heat, we made our way back to Woody, me to type up this bit and Sarah for a read of her Kindle. Whilst I took many photo's, I really can't be doing with all the faffing tonight, so here are a few for now;

Queue No1. Waiting for the ‘bus’.

Just in case your mobile signal was rubbish...

A view from the Skywalk lounge bar

From the other side of Monte Baldo

If you look very carefully, you'll find Woody in that square

The ride back to Limone
 

Thursday is Chillday 

I woke up just before 5am and there was a quarter moon above Monte Baldo. The sun was rising, but not for us yet and hadn’t risen above the mountains yet so an ethereal glow was bathing the mountains opposite us. If I could retire and live just here for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. Although, I’d need a few extras than we bought with us, like an old Alfa Spider to run around in or a scooter, as Limone sul Garda has a fair few hills and slopes to tackle and with the humidity, I would be sweating like a snowflake at a benefits means test. 

So this morning we had an even lazier start, although we were up by 8am and apart from Sarah doing some washing, we chilled until 12:30, as that was the published time the on-site shop reopened after their lunch break. We needed some milk and a few other supplies, but didn’t want to trudge it all back from Limone, as we’d be going there after dropping the shopping. But as we’re beginning to find in some parts of Italy, time is like music; some people remember the tune but not the words, some remember the words but not the tune, and others wouldn’t know it even if it was played to them. So, what should have been reopening time for the shop was actually closing time and they would not be back until 15:30. So we trudged down to Limone. Our lazy day was screwed, and so was our wallets after an impromptu spending spree;

We’d spotted some Ducati trainers that our son Lewis would like, as he has a Ducati bike and loves trainers, but one of the pairs of trainers I bought with me, were smelling like they’d been a target for a tomcats scent marking, so I also found a pair for me. The lovely lady in the shop did her level best to satisfy our needs but alas, the trainers that Lewis would have really preferred were not available in his size. We were about to leave it at that when she offered us a discount if we bought two pairs of Ducati trainers. Unable to get hold of Lewis to check which ones we ummed and aahed but then the lady noticed how wet my t-shirt was and suggested some linen shirts, and they were genuine Italian styled and made and would suit me so well. Hot, bothered and in agreement somewhat, I agreed to take a look, but they only had ones with collars and if you know me, you’ll know I prefer Neru or Grandad collars, so I declined. Undeterred, she sent her assistant out to her other store and minutes later I was presented with three options and again she would do a discount for two or more. They were nice shirts and fitted my ample midriff well, so I bought one with stripes to camouflage that part of me and another plain one. Having still not heard back from Lew we chose for him and hoped he’d like them. They were a better price than he could find in the UK and he was getting free delivery too. True to her words; we got a discount on both pairs of trainers and shirts, and I wore one of the shirts and my pair of trainers for the rest of the day there. We also bought a few other things and enhanced Sarah’s wardrobe somewhat. We had lunch and some drinks before calling into the store in Limone for the things we’d need. Although our needs had changed since lunchtime, as we decided a salad would be better. The so called Supermarket we found, had only basic food and drinks but more shoes and bags and leather jackets than all the stores we’d already seen, combined. We needed milk and had grabbed one of the two remaining cartons on the shelf, but at the checkout I spotted it had yesterdays date on it. I pointed this out to the lady on the till, who looked at me with daggers but then picked up a microphone and let burst with a torrent of Italian, that would make a builder blush. She apologised and said to go and pick another, which Sarah did, and came back saying there was a bit of a commotion at the fridge where the milk was. We paid and scarpered just in case we were followed, (it’s bad enough Sarah has to wake up with my head on the pillow. A horses would really pee on her cornflakes). 

We eventually got back to Woody at around 16:30, knackered and in need of a sit down. Not sure who was first, but we both nodded off for an hour in a bit of a panic as we hadn’t noticed what time the site shop closed. They had everything we wanted and a few other bits too, but we got back to Woody happy and ready to test the new Italian Cafetière we'd just bought. Dinner done and washed up, we are going to retire for the last night at Garda. 😞

Friday morning at 5am. The Moon was up and the sun about to break over the horizon, but not the mountains

Arrivederci Garda, Buongiorno Venice

After a wonderful few days by the lake, it was time to say a sad farewell to Lake Garda. We didn’t need to leave before 12, so another lazy morning before packing up and pushing off. We made our way south down the lake from Limone to Salo, where we finally parted company with Garda. We will be back though. We thought we’d seen some long tunnels but the ones on the west side of Garda are epic. Eventually, we ended up in clear running without another mountain in sight and joined the first toll of the trip. Having bought a ‘Pan-Europe’ Toll-Tag, we just cruised through the T lane and a little ding, to acknowledge our transit, was all we had. Easy peasy Limone-squeezy. 

Prior to the trip, we’d watched a few documentaries on Italy by Stanley Tucci and Clive Myrie, but the one with relevance for today’s leg was Tucci’s, where he stopped in one of their service stations for a bite to eat. If you’ve ever stopped in an AutoGrill before, you’ll know that rather than a run of the mill Moto, Granada or whatever we have in the UK, these establishments are almost a gastro-stop. The Italians have taken what we’ve come to expect everywhere else, raised it to the ground and started afresh. Each one is architecturally differently outside, but inside the formula is the same. Great food, great service and great value. The sandwiches were a million miles away from the triangular boxes that adorn the UK fridges of our service stations; Foccacias, and other breads, filled with some of the best meats and cheeses Italy has to offer and coffee by illy. The latter got Sarah’s approval, especially as she’d not been too impressed so far. To get your food or drinks is a little different to how we do it back home; Stand drooling at the food counters, eventually decide what you want, go to the till and pay for it, take the ticket to the food counter and then, ( if you’re having a coffee), take the ticket to the drinks counter and watch in awe as they deal with another twenty or so orders before yours, each prepared how you asked for it and with love and pride. You can then sit at a high table and consume your food at your leisure. We were thoroughly impressed. 

Onwards and sideways we went, eventually ending up in what appeared to be a remote area of Italy with loads of industrial units and other heavy plant places and with only a couple of Km to go, didn’t fill us with much joy at the prospect of staying here for the night. Again, I was wrong, Camping Fusina, is a fully recommended stop for Venice. Loads of pitches with power, well maintained if slightly dated facilities and their own ferry terminal for Venice, plus, you don’t have to pay the admission charges for Venice. 

We met some fellow. Brits tonight that were taking six weeks to work their way round Italy from the west coast and round before stopping at Como before home. We chatted for a while and swapped a few sites and tips before making our way to the beach-side pitches for a quick snap of Venice at night, before tucking down. 

Venice from Camping Fusina

Captains log, Stardate: 20250621-The longest day. 

After a 29C and what felt like 200% humidity, 7 hours wandering the streets and canals of Venice and no let up in the humidity from 8am to now 10:50pm, we’re off to bed. Hopefully, I’ve found all the b*****d mozzies that snuck into the van last night, so we won’t look like teenagers covered in zits. 

We put in around 15,000 steps each yesterday in 7 hours, not enough to see even half of Venice, but enough for a first visit, knowing there would be more to come one day. Having been told by quite a few people that Venice smelled rotten, we were amazed to find nothing of the sort. Considering the heat of the last month or so, you would have expected some kind of smell in the air, but nothing of the sort. We had no real plan for where we went first and only a smattering of knowledge of Venice. We both wanted to see St. Marks Square and the Basilica and Doje's palace, maybe the Rialto Bridge and Bridge of Sights, but nothing set in stone, so we ambled and people watched, grabbed some lunch and shopped as we made our way around. We found the Rialto Bridge some time after the Santa Maria della Salute, then found our way to St. Marks Square, where we stopped for a coffee at one of the many Cafe's. We knew it would cost a kidney or at least one limb, but it's iconic and had to be done. We ate more Gelato and drank more Granite's than we should have done, but it was so hot and humid, we needed them. We posed for selfies and other photo's as you should in Venice, but by 6pm, we were both wiped out, so got the ferry back to Fusina. (if you ever want to visit Venice and don't want to pay the astronomical prices to stay there or in any of the hotels aroiund, Check them out, they even have their own ferry and if you stay there, you don't have  to pay the 5 euro tourist fee.

Once back, we unloaded our purchases and made our way to the Pizzeria for dinner. Sarah had a Primaverde and I had possibly the best Fironcino (folded pizza, like a Calzone, but with Brie as well as the normal Mozzarella), and not expensive for a fresh pizza. We were back at the van by 10pm and after a couple of cups of Caramel coffee made in our new induction ready Caffettiera, we retired for the night.

Selfie number three on the Punta Academia

Selfie number eight on the Rialto Bridge

The worlds most expensive Cappuccino 

St Marks Basilica (Everywhere had the builders in though)

The Tower of St Marks Campanile and my Tower of Strength

From a City in a Lagoon, to a country on a single mountain

Another early pack up and near run in with the campsite staff (I took an aerial video of Woody with Lewie's drone. I kept it below 100 metres), we left around 9:30am and made our way, to San Marino. Google kept glitching and sending us off at tangents to where we wanted to go, but we got there. We went straight to Car Park 12 at the base of the cable car run and with a ticket each for just 10 euro's we took the gondola to the top, all of one minute twenty five seconds of a run or 300 metres. we wandered around on the slopes, did more shopping and ate more gelatos and drank more mint granites, again it was hot, but everything was either up ancient stairways or hills that would make an athlete pant a bit (IMO). The views from up on the castle hills are stunning and we'd have loved to have seen all three towers up close and personal, but we were flagging and had to get to the night stop to setup Woody. When we tried to find the site on Google or Apple maps, we couldn't as there was next to no signal, and had to drive about for a while until we eventually got a good enough signal to find the site and get directions. We had a good idea where it was, but San Marino, is also a maze, and it would never have been apparent where we needed to be. However, we found the site, levelled up and had dinner (Paella done on the Cadac), had a quick wash up and spotted the castle and towers all lit up, so quickly got some shots of it before it got too dark. That's it for the night and tomorrow is another trek to Pisa for a couple of nights to take in both Pisa and Florence.

Where did I get that stupid grin from. That's the Adriatic in the far background

The top cable car station

Tower number two

The castle and towers all lit up

Nothing like the Italian Job

This morning we packed up and San Marino was already at 26C by 9:30am and Woody was like a blast furnace before we even turned the key! However, the aircon soon kicked in and by the time we'd gotten part way down the hill, we were comfortable again. We topped off the tank at the lowest priced garage we could find €1.45/L or £1.26/L, still nowhere near as cheap as it used to be back in the nineties / early noughties, but still better than ours. We hadn't even got out of San Marino before the traffic started crawling and by 10Km up the A14, we were stop start for another 15Km. It was nothing like the get out and have an espresso, chat up the girl in the car next to you or anything like the afore mentioned film, it was just bumper to bumper traffic, and the woman next to me certainly wouldn't have been open to a chat-up, she could barely stop chatting on her mobile and gesticulation like only the Italians can...

Eventually, Waze (I'm giving it a go, despite all the smileys and social crap that comes with it), found us a way off the A14 and we were soon bouncing along (their non toll roads are pretty poor), through several little towns and villages, along a road that was barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass, with steep banks, our side down to a river, the other just wetland. However, Sarah got to see some wild Flamingos on some of the marshes and plenty of Egrets too. But before long we were parched and hungry, so found a retail park with a huge CoOp, (you even get CoOp stamps there too). We had a wander through the aisles looking for things we actually needed and not just wanted. Chicken, Beef, Bread, Yoghurts, pasta and water. Sarah went white when I told her the meat that looked a lot like Venison, was in fact Horse. Strange, we would rather eat Bambi than the loser of the 3:10 at Ascot...Just wait till she finds out what sweetbreads are! We got back onto the road and eventually Waze got us back on the A14 where we trundled along at a slightly better pace than previously. We made it onto the A1 / Variante di Valico and must have driven through some of the longest tunnels in Europe today, a couple were well over 5Km (one is 8.7Km),  and great for keeping the beating sun off the van, but we made good time in them, at leat until we got onto the Livorno road, then we slowed again, as a truck had lost a wheel and was causing the rush hour traffic to squeeze onto one lane... All clear, we found the last 5Km of our trip less full of traffic and the last 2Km fun... The road track to the site; Lago le Tamerici, was a single track affair, that could only be accessed by a very tight turn and a squeeze through some concrete barriers, then a very narrow lane and eventually a wider avenue of cedars. But the site is worth the fee for the 2 nights we'll be staying and they have a restaurant that has people driving miles to visit.

Tomorrow Florence for the day and Pisa for the evening, (we would have done Pisa today, but we had to check into the site and we were both knackered yet again but this time from the drive in the intense heat of midday Tuscany. Just one pic tonight;

Sunset at Lago le Tamerici with Monte Pisano in the distance.

A tale of Two Cities

We did Florence and Pisa today. Florence was mostly shut or had the builders in, which rather spoiled the visit, so we went to Pisa too in the same day. Either way, if you want to go, use their Park and Rides. Both cities have a different way of doing it but it’s not expensive and so much easier than trying to get any other parking;

Florence has a Tram system that runs from Villa Costanza to the central stations, get off at the second one for easier access to the City sights. Make sure you park in the Tram car park otherwise it’s an extra €5-€7, we didn’t find this out until afterwards but still a €13 park and ride in a safe car park was worth it. 

Pisa, was a different affair again, and I got another unexpected ride on a cable car (of sorts). You park at the Aurelia car park and get on a shuttle train that runs between the airport and the central stations they run on a rail of sorts but are pulled along by cables and fully automated. You then either walk to the tower or as we did, bus it from the other side of the station to the market place outside the tower.  We checked out the baptistry and the tower, which defies gravity. We stopped for dinner in a local restaurant which was decidedly average before wandering back to the bus stop as the sun was setting over the walls of the old city.

We were both totally knackered and having sweat so much, were almost desiccated. So we had an early one, especially as tomorrow has the longest run. Pisa to the other side of Monaco (8-9 hours). 

Ponte Vecchio, it was rammed so we just skirted it

It must have been a cold day in the studio for David, but Zeus, didn't seem to care and I don't want to know what the other two were at...

Playing the game, Monty Python style

Sarah's new hat

Sunset behind the baptistry

From Pisa to Death Valley, via Monaco

After a 2 night stop near Pisa, we got up early and were all packed and ready to roll by 9:30am. We wanted to take the costal route as much as possible so from Pisa to Genoa round to Menton and on through Monaco. 

We drove for some miles, just gawping at the Alps and then past Genoa as there was quite a bit of traffic, but joined the costal road just after and gawped again at some of the lovely coves and beaches. We eventually came to Menton where we used to stay whilst I was with Marussia F1. It's quite a lovely little town, with a casino and a museum dedicated to the work of Jean Cocteau amongst many other things. And finally the drive into Monaco from Menton, is quite stunning.

Well the plan was to do a lap of Monte-Carlo and then onward. However, fuel was getting low and whilst we could have filled up at Menton or any number of fuel stations on the way, I decided to go for a top up at Monaco, where it was sure to be a lot cheaper than the €1.60/L average given the tax-haven status it has. We did the almost full lap but found Casino Square was closed to traffic as they were filming something. So the time for an almost full lap of Monaco in a camper currently stands at seven minute, thirty seven seconds, with a speed trap through the tunnel clocking me at 37Km/h (oddly enough, there was a lot of traffic) and a Bentley and bloody Renault van, were on cool-down laps. I did register a complaint with the FIA for them impeding, but the stewards decided to look at it after the race.. You will no doubt notice that Monaco looks quite a bit different on a non race day than you see when the F1 circus comes to town. Although, some of the curbs and markings are still evident year-round.

Right, lets look for a filling station and get back on our way! Hmm, it was at this point, our phone signals decided that even though we both had a good 5G signal, we couldn't get any internet and when we did, the signal would drop to Edge and for the life of us, we couldn't find any fuel stops. When we eventually got a signal and found a supposed filling station, there turned out to be nothing there or it was now just a charging point. (Even now, looking at Google maps from home, there doesn't appear to be anywhere to fill your Ferrari, Lamborghini or Bentley, let alone a humble campervan). Another lap of Monaco, was performed, with quite a bit of effing and jeffing and a few toots to boot; you don't give any quarter in Monaco, otherwise there will be a scooter or mini or BMW in the place you wanted to be. Still no filling station and we were getting low, 25 miles to be precise. OK, lets get to higher ground and get a better signal. So I headed toward La Turbie, which I knew was high ground. If you've ever been to Monaco, you may or may not have driven through some of the other tunnels that thread their way under the city/country. There's quite a few and they're murder at 5pm, but I kept the same resolve and just drove like a resident, eventually clearing them and heading up toward the top. Well, there was still no joy at finding a fuel stop, so I made my way back down and swung into Eze, where Google said there should be an Esso. Sure enough and with less than 15 miles of fuel left, we found one and had to pay the €1.66/L premium... But hey-ho, onwards and upwards (and upwards it was), back up La Turbie and on round Nice and then to Camping La Laune near Peillon through Vallon des Morts (The Valley of the Dead, which was nothing to write home about). For a last minute stop, this again was inexpensive and we could have hooked up to the electric, but with a full battery and it only being an overnighter, we never bothered. We did order some croissant and pain au chocolat for breakfast though and they were well worth the €6. We slept well that night for sure, after a dinner of Steak & Gnocchi with a red Pesto sauce all cooked on the Cadac washed down with a glass of Chianti, (shh, don't tell the French we were drinking Italian wine).

The lap started at Casino Square

Round the Lowes Hairpin (Bentley on a cooldown lap)

Through the tunnel (Checkout that speed baby!)

Through the Swimming pool complex and on to Tabac (Oh it was a Citroen not a Renault, still it was impeding and the FIA are still debating. It better be more than a 10 second penalty!)

One of the tunnels below Monaco

From The Valley of the Dead to Another Lakeside Stopover

We left Camping La Laune and set off toward Grenoble. The plan was to stop about half way to visit a little Citadel I had spotted on Google maps that looked quite special. So we joined the Route de Napoleon and headed for Sisteron. I know I told Sarah she would be bored with all the mountains and lakes etc. but that was before we got onto this road, within a couple of hours, we must have passed through twenty or more tunnels, some long some short and some just aspiring to be a little more than an archway, but they came thick and fast as we made our way homeward. eventually they were behind us and things levelled out for a while and then the mountains of Les Haute Apes, came into view. More stunning scenery as we drove on to Sisteron, where as luck would have it, fuel was the lowest we had found since San Marino; €1.55/L and with only 1/4 a tank left, we filled up. The Citadel, was quite a pretty place to visit, but it was so bloody hot that we spent more time finding shade and breeze than enjoying the place. However, I did get some photo's of what I had seen from Google too. No I'm not a geologist, but I found the rock formation opposite the citadel quite intriguing. Apparently though, the Citadel was running short of ammunition back in the day, and whilst they could have stopped a certain vertically challenged Emperor, they let him and his army pass without challenge. 

From Wikipedia: "During the French Revolution the town remained Royalist. Consequently, when Napoleon arrived on his march north after his escape from Elba in 1815, the town ignored him and let him through".

By the time we had visited the Citadel and got on our way, the day was quite late and whilst it pained me to miss the last cable-car ride, prudence prevailed and we headed past and onto our stop for the night at Camping Ser Sirant on the bank of the Grand Lac de Laffrey, where the mozzies were out in force again. But this time we were armed with fly-spray and the buggers got some good blasts. We'd stopped at an Intermarche for some stocks and snacks, so dinner tonight would be Sausages and Gnocchi, with a mushroom sauce, followed by another blast of fly-spray and a walk along the banks of the lake. 

The chapel in the Citadel at Sisteron

Happy campers

I originally found Sisteron on Google maps and the geology intrigued me

The Grand lac du Laffrey on our evening walk

Onwards to the Orient

The following morning, we spent an hour chatting to our Dutch neighbours passing back and forth tips on our travels and recommendations, before packing up and heading on toward our final stop. Camping le lac d'Orient, a popular stop for those travelling through from Calais or Dunkirk. We again had a fantastic pitch, thanks to Camping Card ACSI. We could have parked three Woodies together and still had room for more, included was electric and water for €23. The site was well laid out and had everything you could want, including kids areas, pools and a shop. We booked a table for dinner and had a quick walk to the lake. It's quite a big one and looks like it would also make for a great family holiday or great for teenagers as it has a massive water adventure area (or water torture, as Sarah would call it). We wandered back for a cuppa before dinner. The restaurant was large enough for about a quarter of the park at a time, so booking was essential and we were lead to our table which was on the terrace. The menu was quite restricted but there was a main for every palette, Sarah had the Salmon and I couldn't decide on whether to have the steak or go for the local dish, (I like to try the local dishes when I can, just to get a taste for something different). I asked the server what it was and he said it was his favourite and said it was from the pig and made a gesture that circled his belly. Perfect, I'll have that I said and he was overjoyed that I'd chosen his favourite and the local dish. Sarah's Salmon came out first and it looked fantastic, well cooked and with a great selection of veg and a dill sauce. Then came mine... It resembled a loose sausage, but looked quite appetising with the veg and potatoes and it's own brandy gravy. Well the looks were deceiving, it was terrible, I ran back over the menu with Google translate and then Wikipedia to find that the servers gesturing, was actually meant to represent the pigs intestines... I ordered a second Leffe Rouge to wash away the taste. Dessert couldn't come quick enough and I had a massive ice cream sundae to make up for it too. However, my stomach didn't suffer too badly overnight and the morning ablutions weren't quite as noisy or smelly as I had expected!

Le lac d'Orient it was an old stone works pit before they flooded it, like many of ours in the UK, just much larger.

Our last day in Europe!

We're dab hands at packing up now and the fine art of getting everything away and hitting the road comes so easy, we barely needed to co-ordinate our steps. We were all set and on our way to Troyes (Trwa if you parlez Francais), before 10am. We had Googled it a bit and seen some things we wanted to visit. It was a short hop from the campsite, and we found our way to what was reportedly the best place to park; La Cube. We were very impressed, not only was it close to the city centre, but it was large and there were plenty of spaces left even at 10:30 on a Saturday morning. Oh, and it was completely free for the whole day... Hmm, perhaps the city just isn't worth charging for then.

Stunned we were, after making our way past what must have been one of the best cake shops we'd ever seen; Pâtisserie Laurent Duparcq, (I had to keep checking that Sarah hadn't run back), we made our way toward the Canal de Trévois. The term canal is a bit loose as there was only one boat on there and that was a restaurant, but there were several fountains and also one of the things we wanted to see (I won't describe any of them but let you decide if they were worth a visit). We had arrived on a special day for the local fire brigade, as we neared the town centre, they were all lined up in their vehicles and each department or speciality had a very large representation of personnel waiting in their uniforms in the blistering heat to march into the centre of the city. There were probably a couple of hundred of them from cadets to veterans and at 11 o'clock on the dot, the band piped up and off they marched. We ambled along them, to have a seat with Lili and then saw a dog chasing some geese, before making our way to the city.

The crowds were breaking up and the pompier's were making their ways back as we got closer to the centre. The city was described as a 'medieval old town features narrow, cobbled streets lined with colorful, half-timbered houses, mostly dating from the 16th century. The town is home to several Gothic churches with striking stained-glass windows.' by Google. The whole city was striking! We wandered through a very large and thriving market, and many streets with busy shops and cafe's. Found the shop with the front door on the first floor and many other quirky places. We also found a Tea (thé) Shop, by chance, while we were looking for an ice cream or Granite. Hundreds of tea's and coffee's in tins and a lovely little back room where you could sit and marvel at the off-beat decoration and furniture / props. The owners were really lovely people and went out of their way to make you feel welcome, without being in any way annoying. I had a cup of Oolong and Sarah a very rich coffee. I also bought 200g of the tea (much cheaper pro-rata than the kilo I bought in China too, but not Oolong and Ginseng), and one of the cups I was served the tea in (double walled with a lid and strainer). Pleased with our purchases, we said au-revoir and made our way back to Woody, via the cake shop... and on to Dunkirk ready to be evacuated. 

The last leg seemed to take forever, but we arrived at the ferry terminal with forty minutes before final book-in. Visited the duty-free, where I couldn't resist the 2 x 1 litre offer on the gins (Roku Sakura Bloom and Ophir), better than half price.

Finally, after 45 minutes of waiting for them to refuel the ferry, we were allowed to board, and I managed to scare the crap out of a guy in a BMW who was a little eager to get up the ramp; there was a bit of fuel oil on one of the ramp joints and Woody refused to get over it, so I had to roll back a bit and have a little run up. Rather than just let Woody roll I selected reverse to give the guy some indication that I was coming back... I couldn't see the look on his face, but by the way he hit his horn, I could tell he understood what I was doing... With the extra six inches of run-up, and a bit of extra throttle, we cleared the oil patch and carried on up the ramp and never saw the guy in the Bimmer again.

An uneventful crossing and a dark Dover dispensed with, we made our way to the M25 only to find that at Junction 9, we were informed of closures from J10 to J11. However, typical of our mastery of traffic management, rather than stick a load of cones out, the bright sparks decided that it would be better to use arrows on the overheads to point midnight motorists over to the single hard shoulder lane they'd reserved for getting traffic off. We joined the five lanes of traffic just before Cobham Services and Google was saying we'd be there for another couple of hours, and judging by the way we were all crawling, I could believe it. However, I spotted that Cobham Services was only on our (clockwise) side of the M25 and they had an underpass for traffic going anti-clockwise, so I waited my turn to get to the exit, went down, round the roundabout and under the queuing traffic and back on the anti-clockwise section back to J9 and off round through Esher and eventually back on at J12, after filling up with diesel and grabbing some Haribo's. We finally made it home at 2am, totally knackered and without unloading anything other than valuable and necessities, had a quick cuppa and went to bed.

One of the sights we'd spotted on Google maps

Sarah and Lili, reading a book

A Basset chasing some Geese

Some fine examples of medieval architecture

You could almost be forgiven for thinking we were in York or Stratford.

The store with the first floor door. Apparently these timber framed houses are relatively easy to move. So when they moved this, rather than add an extra floor above the ground floor, they just added one below it to make the roofline match...

Mmmmmmmerci Becoup!

Lord of the Flies! 2,500 miles of bug-splat!

So what's next? We're already looking at a trip to Shell Island in North Wales, near Harlech for a September getaway with C&J, and who knows, maybe next year, we'll do the Irish trip that never was or maybe even back to Southern Italy. But whatever we do, we'll plan it better and learn from the Grand Tour 2025!

More photos here