Sunday morning

It's Sunday morning and I have a little time to add a couple of recent images. First is a dusk image looking across the lagoon to La Manga strip, it was a still night. My second one is Sue later on that evening singing along to Rod Stewart and Sailing. We were at a music quiz which we didn't win but we didn't come last either.

Looking across the Mar Menor to La Manga strip at dusk

Sue helping with the singing at the Music Quiz (Rod Stewart, Sailing)

Off to the coffee morning now.

Friday 20th January

I have had a reprimand from our daughter over the lack of photos on the Blog recently so I am trying to make up somewhat on this post.

Here we are, it's now Friday and I do not know where the time is going. Rallies organised by The Camping and Caravan Club seem very good as they allow you to participate in as many activities or as little as you want.

As an example, listed below are the activities we have taken part in and done independently so far:-

Sunday              Coffee morning

                          Street BBQ

Monday             Our first Spanish lesson

                          Line dancing (Sue), Boules (Dave)

                          Whist drive

Tuesday             Cycle ride to the local village (Los Belomes)  and Bodega visit

                          PM Sue and I walked to La Manga strip (about six miles)

                          Quiz night

Wednesday        8 mile walk over the hills to the Mediterranean coast opposite site

 'The Lions Head' part way along the walk

 Lunch on the beach during the walk, after a windy night!

Thursday            Spanish lesson

                           Boules (Sue and Dave)

                           Cycle ride of about 6 miles

                           Crib evening

Friday                 13.5 mile cycle ride to Cabo de Palos

                           Boules

                           Evening dinner and Pointless themed quiz

If it carries on like this we will be exhausted soon !

Tapas with a view from the Beach Bar on site

Some people take their TV viewing very seriously !

'More Time' on her berth, or should that be pitch

Now at La Manga

We arrived here early afternoon on Saturday after a 265 mile drive from Aranjuez. Again we started off in freezing fog but visibility was about 100 yds or so and the roads were virtually empty. A very easy route via Albercete and Murcia brought us to Cartagena then La Manga, our destination. We have found so far on this trip that stopping every hundred miles for a coffee and something to eat works well for us leaving whatever the odd distance is left at the end of the day. This ensures we are a bit fresher when looking for our destination. I have to say though that with using our Tom Tom and entering the latitude and Longitude of the site entrance has worked perfectly.

We chose our pitch from a few on offer when we arrived and set up the MH, cleaning the road dirt off before anything else. Very friendly neighbours around us and by five pm we were in an adjoining caravan enjoying a glass of wine with Elizabeth and Gordon from Northern Ireland.

Sunday, we woke to clear blue skies and sunshine with a breakfast temperature of about 14^oC. This is what we have come to Spain for, by lunchtime it had picked up to 22^o.

Following a coffee morning with other Rallyers we went back to the MH and erected our awning. This has only been attempted once before properly so it took some time but we are fairly happy with the end result. It had a good test last night after the wind got up and heavy rain followed. By this morning it was all over and the sun came out again, just how it should be.

Monday has been a full day with a mid morning Spanish lesson and then Sue went off to some Line Dancing while I went for a game of Boules, we lost. Tonight it is off to the local club for a Whist Drive.

It's all go here.

Aranjuez (12th & 13th January)

We are currently at Aranjuez where we are stopping for two nights.

Yesterday we arrived about two thirty having left Bilbao at about eight, right in the middle of the rush hour. Our TomTom worked perfectly, safely navigating us around Madrid and directing us right to the Campsite gates. What surprised us was the weather en route. As we left Bilbao we had a clear sky but as we climbed the hills behind the town it became frosty with thickening cloud. By the time we went through the first pass (750m) e were in thick fog and heavy frost. This remained with us for a good distance before we dropped down south of Burgos and the sun suddenly came out again. A couple of breaks on the way and we arrived in time for a relaxing coffee by the banks of the Rio Tajo where we pitched about thirty yards from it's bank.

Royal Palace at Aranjuez

Today we have explored Aranjuez with it's Royal Palace and lovely gardens although you have to imagine what they would be like in Summer as everything is currently quite bare. Lots of squirrels though. Some lovely buildings are around the town which give it quite a special feel. Back on site now for an afternoon glass of Rioja. On to L Manga tomorrow.

Red squirrel in Jardin de Principe, Aranjuez

Ferry to Bilbao (10th& 11th January)

Well, we arrived in Bilbao right on time.

After a crossing of the Bay of Biscay that can only be described as like being on a river cruise we disembarked from the ferry and drove to just by the Terminal building where we are camped for the night, along with about a dozen other motorhomes.

Loading at Portsmouth took forever it seemed. We arrived at about 14.30 in plenty of time for a 16.30 departure. At this time however we were still on the quay waiting to be loaded. Eventually we got on after wondering if they were running out of space (someone kept coming round counting how many vehicles were still due to board). There were only five after us and by 17.15 we had cast off.

The Cap Finistere ferry that we were on is about 32000 tons and can do 28knots so we made up the time easily especially in the calm conditions seeing very little other shipping on the way. Lunch on deck made a very civilised start to our trip while about five hours out from Bilbao.

More news when able to update.

Off at last !!

Well, that’s it. Off to Spain tomorrow (10^th January)

We are getting the afternoon ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Northern Spain. After spending a night at the ferryport we are then heading to a town just South of Madrid called Aranjuez which is the site of some spectacular Royal Gardens and a Royal Palace apparently. It sounds delightful. We plan to spend two nights here before heading on to Mar Menor, La Manga where we will be stopping for almost four weeks.

We then head North to just outside Valencia to another site where we are staying about three weeks before heading back to Bilbao via Zaragoza. We should arrive home in early March.

I will try and update here from time to time to let you know how we are getting on with our travels.

Adios

Home Again

We are home again now!

We had had difficulty finding a site that suited us to use on the journey back to Devon from Suffolk  so decided to do the entire journey in one day.

Leaving the campsite we topped up the fuel tank at a garage handily situated just as we turned onto the A12 where we headed South West for the M25. This was in a rather benign mood fortunately and we kept moving virtually the entire stretch of this notorious road. This was followed by the M3 then onto the A303 where we decided to stop.

We were ideally looking for a lay-by with a hedge or at least an island between the traffic and us. All the ones that fitted the description were on the far side of the road (I think there is a well known law that applied here) so we gave up in the end and pulled into a normal lay-by for a break.

More Time was swaying as lorries and buses roared past a few feet away and even cars caused her to rock. Although I had turned on the gas on arrival because it is on the offside of the vehicle I was glad to get back to safety after doing it so did not turn it off as we left. One holdup further down the road saw us home by mid afternoon ready for a coffee while we opened our post.

Saturday saw us cleaning and emptying More Time and winterising her ready for storage.

Next trip – Spain in January, I can’t wait.

Thursday 20th October

After visiting Southwold we had another night at the Kessingland site as we had arranged to meet the editor of our sailing association quarterly newsletter who lives at Beccles, not far away. Although we had communicated by emails for some years we had never met so thought we would take the opportunity to do so.

Richard spent a couple of hours with us and it was a really pleasurable time chatting away as if we had known each other for years. He had to go to a meeting in Wymondham so after he had left Sue and I took a walk through the village and down to the beach. Oh dear, a pub overlooked it so we stopped for lunch as well. I am sure there are lovely beaches along this coast but at high water only the shingle bank at the top was visible.

Wednesday saw us heading for Wickham Market where Ian Clays (a good friend of ours) sister lives. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours with Sheila before heading on to our site for the night at Polstead. This was another lovely site and after a walk around the village / area we headed for the pub about two hundred yards away from the site to take advantage of their steak night offer, it was delicious.

Kersey main street with More Time 

Thursday (after a quite frosty start) we left site and headed for Kersey (just outside Hadleigh) which was described as ‘a postcard English village’, it didn’t disappoint. It even had a ford in the middle of the main street. From here we headed for Lavenham which has an abundance of medieval timbered buildings, some more upright than others. It was lovely walking around the town in the warm sunshine exploring the various turnings and side roads before heading on again.

Lavenham house

 Flatford Mill & Sue

This time we were heading for East Bergholt which is where the artist John Constable lived. It is on the edge of ‘Constable Country’ and after parking in the free car park (yes, they do still exist) behind The Red Lion pub we walked to Flatford Mill and explored a little around there. Coffee and a scone in the National Trust café there saw us ready to head back to More Time via a little artisan bakers we had spotted on the way out of the village. Arriving about 15 minutes before closing our choice was limited but the cakes we got were delicious. As we passed the church we were remarking about how odd it was for a church not to have a tower or steeple. It suddenly occurred to me why this was. In the churchyard we found the Bell cage, a strong timber house for the bells built on the ground. It was built as a ‘temporary’ construction in 1531 and remains in use today. What with this and the sundial on the side of the church instead of the usual clock it is altogether rather unusual.

Bell Cage at East Bergholt Church

We only had a short drive from there to our site for the night at Ardleigh, just across the border in Essex.

Monday 17th October

After Sandringham we headed for West Runton where there is another Camping and Caravan site. We travelled via Wells Next the Sea and hoped to stop there but it seems most Motorhome unfriendly and even had a car boot sale in the main car park so we kept on moving. We were very surprised at the large numbers of ‘twitchers’ that we passed along the roads, especially as we passed the numerous marshland sites.

Our site at West Runton was about a twenty minute walk out of the village, across open hillsides and the local golf course. We found a pub that did a Sunday roast which pleased Sue no end. We made sure that the walk we did on Sunday morning was such that we arrived back at the pub in time for lunch. Two roast beefs and pint of the local beer and a white wine ensured a relaxing and not too energetic afternoon back at More Time. We were entertained later in the day by some deer rutting in the woods surrounding the site, it seemed to go on for a long, long time but not something you hear every day.

At West Runton site

We left the site on Monday morning and drove towards our next destination at Kessingland, just south of Lowestoft. We stopped at Great Yarmouth on the – we were not impressed. It is not a town I would choose to return to.

Where we are now is right next to a zoo (Africa Alive) so you can imagine the sounds that come through the hedge from time to time. We also have the sounds of two huge wind turbines close by. I’m just glad we are not here when the wind is really strong. Norfolk and Suffolk seem into alternative energies in a big way, from a couple of offshore wind farms to a field or two of the biggest solar panels I have ever seen. All we need is a wave hub and we will have the set.

This afternoon we visited Southwold by bus. I had wanted to visit this coastal town as I had visited it about fifty years ago with my Grandparents (in their Austin 16). I found the house that their friend lived in at the time, it helped that it was right at the foot of the lighthouse which is situated in amongst the houses of the town. Despite the keen breeze we really enjoyed our visit there.

 Southwold Lighthouse - just as I remember it, end of house I went to just visible left of white garage doors

Lunch with The Queen

Well, not quite but we did dine at Sandringham today. What a delightful visit it was. Bathed in sunshine we had a lovely walk from our site through the woods and arrived at Sandringham House soon after it opened.

Sandringham from across the lawns 

It is a house that although large (110 bedrooms when originally built in 1870) it was quite homely and the guides were excellent. Sue can now place exactly where the main Christmas tree is placed (one of 12 around the house at Christmas) and everywhere you looked there were personal items on display. Apparently Sandringham is one of the few places actually owned by The Queen and not the State so it is very special to her. A walk through the grounds took us to a museum where a lot of carriages and cars are on display, even the half scale Aston Martin presented to the two Princes (sons of Charles and Diana) in 1988. They even had the very first car bought by a King in 1900 (Reg No. A7). On exiting we walked through the grounds and visited the Sandringham Church where the Royal Family walk to on Christmas Day. Apparently nowadays the Queen usually goes by car but Prince Phillip walks and strides out waiting for the others to catch him up. I just hope I am the same at 90+.

Sandringham Church 

All in all a lovely day, helped by the sunshine we had until it went dark tonight.

 Sue at the main entrance to Sandringham

Moving on to West Runton tomorrow so we’ll see what that is like.

Start of our East Anglia trip

Well we stayed a night at Pershore before heading on to the NEC at Birmingahm for the Motorhome and Caravan Show. Despite many, many new motorhomes on display we did not see one that we preferred the design of so fortunately we are happy to stay with More Time. We bought a few little goodies (you can’t go to a show like that and buy nothing) and headed off to a site just outside Market Harborough for the night.

Our new TomTom satnav took us right to the farm, even telling us to turn left into the farm driveway. Once we had negotiated our way through the chickens and cockerel we found the site that has room for just five units, we were the only one there. All we could hear was the cows and sheep and the occasional whinny of a horse in the fields around us.

04.30 saw us awakened by the cockerel (a bit like being at Fowey) but he didn’t continue for long so we went back to sleep. Our facility block at this site was novel, it was a large green room, originally built as a septic tank and more often that not sunk into the ground. This one was above ground and had a double glazed UPVc door fitted to the side. On entering you found yourself inside an 8ft diameter, green walled and ceilinged wet room with heated towel rail, toilet, handbasin and shower, all of which worked perfectly. No problems with condensation here as it just ran off the walls and out of the floor drain.

Facilities block at Arthington Lodge Farm.

Inside facilities block

After a call on the way at a B&Q to get some cable for a table lamp we headed off to Sandringham in Norfolk where we are now. A lovely Camping and Caravan Club site on the Sandringham Estate. We are hoping to visit the house (Royal Familys holiday home) tomorrow (Friday) so it had better be good weather.

Off Again at last !

The Star at Ashton under Hill, good food!

Tomorrow (Tuesday 11th Oct) we are off to spend a night at our favourite little site just outside of Pershore, Worcestershire. Early on Wednesday we will continue to the NEC at Birmingham to visit a Motorhome and Caravan show there. Sue and I are both hoping to sign up for a brief motorhome manouvering lesson that is being offered there, should be fun.

Pershore Bridge

After the show (hopefully it won't cost us too much) we are aiming to visit Sandringham in Norfolk where there is a campsite actually on the Estate. A day or two to explore the area and visit the Royal home should be good.

After there, who knows?

Early October 2011

Have been a bit slack recently with updating this blog as we have been rather busy. Our son has split with his partner and it has been quite messy. Sorting out somewhere for him to live and the arrangements to achieve it have taken some time. We have also sold our boat Half Time and now hope to spend more time on board More Time our motorhome, visiting places not so easy to get to on a yacht..

We did manage to get a couple of trips on the boat in before we sold her but only as far as the River Dart.

A motorhome trip this weekend to the western edge of Dartmoor for a couple of nights provided a more than needed break which just happened to coincide with the splendid late Summer (or is it early Autumn) heat wave. Long walks and a pub about 100yds from our pitch suited us fine.

We are hoping to head off to East Anglia for a few weeks soon and we are just waiting to get our sons furniture delivered then we intend to head off for the rest of October. At least that is the plan.

Towards the end of August 2011

We had a rather damp but enjoyable weekend with our daughter Carly and boyfriend Matt in Clitheroe.

Sue found us a lovely site to break the journey at Ashton under Hill near Evesham. Just a small site with basic facilities but a jem of an area around it. We walked to the pub in the village that night (The Star) and enjoyed locally made faggots, delicious. Next morning we continued up the motorway and after picking up daughter and boyfriend in Manchester continued to Clitheroe. After a less than friendly welcome at the site we settled in and had a BBQ in the evening sunshine. Saturday saw us exploring Clitheroe with it's excellent bustling market followed by another BBQ. You have to make the most of the weather when you can. Sunday was a leisurely day with lunchtime in the pub playing darts and enjoying the local food and beer. After a walk around the park (to ease the conscience) we lazed around in the evening sun having run out of inspiration for BBQs.

Monday saw us dropping Carly and Matt off and returning to our site near Evesham. Unfortunately the pub did no food on Mondays so we ate in More Time instead and watched the setting sun for our windows. Tuesday was more driving along the motorway to complete our trip.

After a few days at home we were off again in Half Time to join a cruise along the Devon and Cornwall coasts. We met up with the rest of the cruising boats at Plymouth and were disappointed to find that the cruise was stopping there due to lack of boats taking part.We continued with Ian and Joan, our friends on board Eonmor V to Looe where Joan caught a train home after injuring her ankle a few days before.

Egret fishing in Looe harbour near Half Time

Two nights were spent in Looe and a few maintenance jobs were carried out on the two boats, one being to correct an overheating problem on Half Time that had occurred as we entered the harbour. This turned out to have been caused by a build up of mussels etc blocking the water inlet. Once cleared the problem seemed to be solved. After Looe we had a night in Newton Ferrers near Plymouth before returning to the River Dart where we headed straight for Dittisham because we found Dartmouth particularly busy due to the Regatta. One night there and we headed back to Teignmouth to put Half Time on her mooring due to poor weather forecast for the rest of the week (again).

Early August 2011

Came back on Monday night from the River Dart, arriving on our mooring and securing Half Time at just about high water, home for 22.00.



Next morning caught up with chores such as mowing the lawn, washing, ironing etc. Today (Wednesday) collected our Motorhome ‘More Time’ from storage and started to load clothes and equipment onto her. Why are boats and motorhomes always a she? Anyway, off to meet Carly (our daughter) and Matt (boyfriend) in Manchester on Thursday with a break in the journey at Evesham. Have booked a site in Clitheroe for a long weekend returning home some time next week.


We have to be home by Thursday as we are then off on Half Time to cruise the Devon and Cornwall coast. We are meeting up with friends and hope to coincide our vsits to various ports with their regattas and firework displays. We’ll see whether it works as planned and whether the weather co-operates with the itinerary. Due back home late August.

Wherever did we used to get the time to go to work?

Update to mid July

Have been a bit slack in updating this blog but we have been quite busy.


At the end of May we joined a friend on his boat and sailed off for five weeks, exploring the Channel Islands and the North coast of Brittany. We were lucky with the weather and managed to keep ahead of the strong winds etc that plagued so much of the Channel coasts at that time. We crossed to St Peter Port from Dartmouth in nine and a half hours, our best time yet. After a few days there we continued to Lezardrieux before heading upriver to Pontrieux. Our visit here was fortunate enough to coincide with a weekend of ‘ Musique Mechanical’ or to you and I a Barrel Organ fest. It was really quite enjoyable and the weather was superb.

From here we headed East and spent some time in Paimpol where our friend had to fly home to deal with a lack of water supply to his home, his wife was not amused. From here (after a stop of several days but a nice town to spend time in) we visited St Quay Portrieux then St Cast before heading up the River Rance to visit Taden and Dinan. Coming down river from these lovely places we met some friends in St Malo and after a few days accompanied them back to St Cast for a night before sailing off to St Helier on Jersey.

A stop of a few days here saw us heading off to Sark where we moored for a night before going back to St Peter Port where we waited for good weather to allow our return to the UK. At least while we waited we were able to visit Herm by ferry as it was an island that the wether had not permitted us to visit in our own boat this time. We arrived back in Torquay at the beginning of July, completing our circuit nicely.

Arriving home we unpacked quickly as we had an important date to keep. On the morning of the day we had left for the Channel Islands we had bought ourselves a Motorhome. 22ft of motorised living accommodation and we were going to collect it from near Barnstaple the day after getting back. After driving around in a Renault Clio this is a little bit larger but visibility is so good it isn’t too much of a challenge although it does take longer to stop three tons of vehicle I soon discovered.

We have spent our first weekend on it, just outside Ilfracombe where we had to take it back to a caravan workshop to get a problem with the fridge sorted out under warranty. Sue found us a lovely quiet site that had a pub within half a mile in each direction of the entrance. We fell asleep the first night listening to owls hooting in the trees surrounding us, bliss.

Because our boat is called Half Time our motorhome has been nicknamed More Time, I think it will stick.

We are now at home again for a short while before heading off, hopefully in Half Time but as always that is down to the weather.

Further updates as time allows.

Update and plans for June Cruise

Update and Plans for our June cruise


All quiet for the last couple of weeks since returning home. Getting the garden under control, washing, planning the next trip etc, the time just whizzes by.

If the weather is as forecast we should be heading off this weekend to sail across the Channel again. This time we will not have Internet access as our daughter Carly is borrowing Sues Notebook computer (it’s a long story). However, if you are interested our planned itinerary for the next five or six weeks is as follows.

Sail from Dartmouth to St Peter Port in Guernsey where we plan to stay for a few days. Then on to Herm and Sark – Anchor for a night or two here

Head to Lezardrieux in Brittany for a couple of nights followed by two nights at Pontrieux.

Out of the Trieux river to Isle de Brehat for a night or two.

Then coast hopping via Paimpol, Dahouet, St Cast & St Briac to St Malo where we hope to go up river (through the Rance Barrage) to Dinan for a few nights. There is an old Roman quay that we know of here in the middle of a nature reserve with a picnic site nearby and a tow path to Dinan itself about two miles further up river- it’s lovely there.

From Dinan we will have a night in St Malo before heading across the bay of St Michel to Granville for a couple of nights. From Granville we plan to visit the Isles Chausey which are en route to St Hellier, Jersey where we will be for a night of two.

This is followed by a visit to France again at Dielette before we go across to Alderney (our favourite Channel Island) for a couple of nights before heading back to France to Cherbourg. From here we plan to head further East to visit Barfleur and St Vaast before either sailing straight to Weymouth or having a further night is Cherbourg before crossing (it depends on the tides) After a few nights in Weymouth we will round Portland Bill (inside passage of course) before heading across Lyme Bay for Teignmouth, our home port.

We hope the weather is kind to us for this trip and any finger crossing / prayers / dances you may like to do to aid this would be appreciated.

Should be back on line in July when I can update this and let you know if our plans came to fruition.

New Season on the Water

Half Time was launched on 9th April and we went straight round to Torquay for a few nights R & R before more decorating of David &Tanyas flat.

I then helped a good friend bring his new (to him) Moody 29 back from Portsmouth to Plymouth. An uneventful trip of about 120 miles which took us 20 hrs. My highlight was on my watch during the night (just before midnight) when we were joined by four dolphins for about 30 minutes, weaving around the boat in the middle of Lyme Bay. Amazing phosphoresence as they swerved and dived, magic!

It's now Easter weekend and we have moved the boat into Torquay Marina for a night or two to enable the family to all meet up on the water. There should be seven of us on board, eight if you count Emma, our grand daughter who is almost a year old now. Altogether there should be myself, Sue, Carly (daughter) and Matt (boyfriend) down from Manchester for the weekend, David (son) and Tanya (partner), Jake (Tanyas son) and Emma

Easter Monday (hopefully) will see us heading off from Torquay west again. We hope to make it to the Isles of Scilly this year but as always, the weather will dictate. We should be away for about a month before we need to return for a dentists appointment and then head across channel with Ian ( a friend of ours) for five or six weeks exploring the Channel Islands and Brittany.

Life is for living so we are trying to as much as we can.

Wish us luck.

End of September

We have just returned from a few days onboard Half Time, again in the River Dart. It's a good job we like the river as much as we do and feel very lucky that it is within such a short distance.

This time we were in the river for a sailing rally with a diffrent group that we belong to, this time NAVA (Navigator and Venturers Association). We used to own a Venturer (built by Newbridge Boats) and beacuase it was such a friendly association we remained members when we sold it.

While in the river we had superb weather although chilly at night (it's what you have heating for) but it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, finishing off with a night in Torquay before returning to Teignmouth on the Monday morning.

We passed the 100 nights on board while away and now have been on board for 102 nights this year. I don't suppose that will increase a lot more now that the weather is no longer so enjoyable but who knows.

Today is grey and damp so we do not mind being at home too much!

Back onboard again !

At last, we are back on the water again.

After a longer than intended stay at home in August due to cellulitis in my right leg we are back on Half Time and now in Dartmouth for a Legend Owners Association (LOA) rally here this coming weekend.

My cellulitis was picked up (we think) from showering in some facilities somewhere while away on Half Time. As a precaution now against getting it again (once is plenty) I now take a pair of flip flops to wear while showering, hopefully it will work.

We came back onboard Half Time last Saturday and after a couple of nights in Torquay headed to the River Dart where we spent a night at Dittisham before heading up stream to spend a night on a mooring at Stoke Gabriel, a delightful village that boasts what is allegedly the oldest yew tree in the UK. A further night was spent at Dittisham where we met a friend on board his boat after which he was headed for Totnes while we went downstream to a marina in Kingswear as we needed access to mains power and to fill up our water tank. We have seen two boats arrive for our sailing rally and will head across tomorrow (Friday) to join them and be ready to greet other boats and crews as they arrive.

It’s good to be afloat again ! Fingers crossed now for some good late summer weather.