On the Road Again... Again

In fact there are never any bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover as they don't actually live in Dover, nor the wider Kent, not in the UK at all. With the van still sitting on the driver and diesel at Tesco in Cheriton still the cheapest it has been for a long time, we decided to have a run out to Diver, a walk on the White Cliffs and then back home via Tesco. As it happened after I got back from Kent Greyhound Rescue, where I volunteer twice a week we did a "big shop" at Sainsbury's in Hythe. Much of what we wanted was sold out or simply not stocked!  Quark FFS! So that was also added into the return trip from the Cliffs. I took the Canon 1100D with me today. The old Nikon D50 had gone to Brighton with us and it never left the van.  As it was sunny and dry, I decided to give the Canon a run out. The thing with digital is you can simply bang away and there's no anxiety about wasting a shot. Anyway.  After a walk we ended up in the café and of course, it was cof...

I haven't made all that much progress with "Summer 2025" yet other than a channel crossing booked and one campsite for the first night booked. My attention has turned to Autumn,  October to be a little more precise. We have been invited to a special event early in the month in France and I have begun to look at the feasibility of going and including it into the holiday we normally have for our wedding anniversary.   I can't say much about the event itself until later in the year but the wedding anniversary will be our 25th - Silver Wedding! So, I have been looking at combining the two events and incorporating them into a trip to France and Spain. I have been looking on RCI ( rci.com ) to use the "banked" apartment and seeing if there are other options to Alcossebre. We have done Kione Playa Romana twice before, lastly in October 2024.  It was  a good week and meant we didn't have to travel all that far once there and could have a bit of R&R. The...

This weekend we went to Brighton. Staying at the Caravan Club's site at East Brighton.  The weather wasn't that good as we drove over from home on Sunday morning. This time we did the more roundabout route on the motorways. The coast route along the A259 from the back of our house takes way too long as we discovered the last time! In the end with a stop at Clacket Lane services on the M25 we arrived on site about 2.30pm. We chose pitch 117 as it seemed to have the least slope. Although we have the Milenco Triple ramps I was hoping not to use them. In the end we did!  Lunch was the Sheldon's Oven Bottom Muffins followed a little later by a Cornish Cream Tea. The rest of the day was spent reading as it rained as well as a few walks for Reggie. We had intended to get a meal from Cafe Phillipe who has a bar by the entrance.  it was open when  we went down but no sign of life. There were some  lovely cakes in the chiller....

When the 14.5 year old dog seems to have go over being happy in the van, the same as he did a few years ago in the car, we thought it was time to change the bed! Until recently he has slept on the floor on the mattress style bed I bought for him for the first motorhome we owned.  Both the Eldiss' had the central lounges with the bed made up from the settees pulled together. When packed away Reggie slept between them on the mattress bed and also harnessed to one of the bed frames. When we downsized to the Malibu we had to find a new solution. That was to put the mattress under the table and affix his harness lead to the stout table leg. It worked at first. Then on our last trip to Dorset he seemed unable to settle. So.. At vast expense we bought a bed that fits on the dinette chair and is held in place by the seat belt and a loop around behind the headrests.  It looks superb.  It means I have to lift the 17kg lump in and out. At home with it in the lounge before fitting, h...

The one that I bought about 18 months ago for the Autoquest 175 was really good for the manual gearbox motorhome.  The pedal lock fitted over the clutch and the brake. The "experts" on Facebook and other groups poo-poo the idea as they say that the thief will simply chop the pedals off and drive on the stubs.  Maybe. But the longer you slow the scum down the better? Of course a professional thief will take whatever and whenever. So with that in mind I decided to get one that fits the two pedal automatic Ducato that our Malibu is built from.  This fits over both pedals. The manual model could only go over the brake and the rest was idle at the side and could be twisted to give some braking. This one is a very firm fit with no play at all. It fits easily enough and comes in a bag for when not in use.  For under £70 all-in it gives peace of mind.

The one that I bought about 18 months ago for the Autoquest 175 was really good for the manual gearbox motorhome.  The pedal lock fitted over the clutch and the brake. The "experts" on Facebook and other groups poo-poo the idea as they say that the thief will simply chop the pedals off and drive on the stubs.  Maybe. But the longer you slow the scum down the better? Of course a professional thief will take whatever and whenever. So with that in mind I decided to get one that fits the two pedal automatic Ducato that our Malibu is built from.  This fits over both pedals. The manual model could only go over the brake and the rest was idle at the side and could be twisted to give some braking. This one is a very firm fit with no play at all. It fits easily enough and comes in a bag for when not in use.  For under £70 all-in it gives peace of mind.

After trying several times to login and getting weird error returned at HTML, I finally got logged in and kicked it off. The time and date clearly visible.  I have never once downloaded and installed the upgrade to my TomTom without it falling over and having to be restarted.  Let's see how it works this time now that I am documenting it! So this time it only failed once.  At 6% updating it lost connection with the device. Except the device screen says it is connected to the laptop! When it restarts it goes back to downloading from the TomTom site. The device came up to say the update was commpleted but whern I go back to the laptop it's updating! Again? The same one? This is a crap system.   Finally at 17:24 it finished!   Hurrah!

Back in November 2024 I booked us a space on the runway at Elvington so that we could go to the Van Love Festival . It's a fair way off and when I checked the dates we almost had a clash! The night before I had already booked us into the Leas Cliff Hall to see the Illegal Eagles in concert. This means that we have an early start to drive up to Yorkshire. It's a fait way and I think it will be quite arduous on a Friday.  The earlier we get across the Dartford Nightmare then we can just dial in the cruise control and plod up there.  Where we will be on the runway is anyone's guess.  We have a standard ticket and so that could be anywhere!  The runway is long and is used on other dates for land speed record attempts! We will be away sometime on the Sunday afternoon. The Festival always finishes with all the vans leaving in a convoy along the runway!  I have seen it on YouTube but it will be a sight to see and take part in. So what about afterwards? It's a long dri...

Yes. Me and Suzi Triplo in Austria on the way to the Wasserbüffel Club Treffen at Schloss Moosham. Sadly this event ceased to exist some years ago.

The gloves were in the top box for months and with it being so cold they were pretty unwearable. They have been indoors for a few days now and they aren't as cold inside. With the weather being in the region of 3°C for most of the last few months it's not as though I will be out on the bike for a while. All these gloves are getting on a bit, much like all my kit!!!

I have been looking at places to go again. Apart from the Shuttle booking and one campsite for the first night we are away,  Ardennen Camping Bertix , I have not planned anything yet. This doesn't mean that over the next four months before we set off that this won't change!  Of course! The current idea is still basically what I had looked at before.  From the Ardennes through Luxembourg, where I hope they still have cheaper fuel (!) into Germany and the Black Forest with an overnight stay in Bühl.  It's close to  Baden Baden . The original plan was to do the Alsace Tour and this could be a good starting point for crossing into France near Strasbourg. Reggie is getting older and he is definitely not a towny kind of  dog and so many places may see us leaving him to sleep in the van whilst we venture out. He doesn't really like traffic all that much!! Admittedly, neither do I go out for a walk. Hopefully, once on the Alsace Tour there will be plenty of o...

I have been looking at places to go again. Apart from the Shuttle booking and one campsite for the first night we are away, Ardennen Camping Bertix , I have not planned anything yet. This doesn't mean that over the next four months before we set off that this won't change!  Of course! The current idea is still basically what I had looked at before.  From the Ardennes through Luxembourg, where I hope they still have cheaper fuel (!) into Germany and the Black Forest with an overnight stay in Bühl.  It's close to Baden Baden . The original plan was to do the Alsace Tour and this could be a good starting point for crossing into France near Strasbourg. Reggie is getting older and he is definitely not a towny kind of  dog and so many places may see us leaving him to sleep in the van whilst we venture out. He doesn't really like traffic all that much!! Admittedly, neither do I go out for a walk. Hopefully, once on the Alsace Tour there will be plenty of open spaces t...

I ended the original post with " I wonder how long this jacket will last?". Well it is still going... The cuff elastic has lost the elasticity and as long as the gloves are covering it's okay. The jacket it still waterproof. https://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-jacket.html

It's almost Meldrew's Sunday again.  I need to look for the quilted lining as it will be freezing again.  I did a click on the tags and the last time I mentioned this was 2023! So at least then I knew where the lining was!!! http://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2023/02/meldrews-sunday-feb-23.html This Sunday we will meet at the RAF Café at Manston Aiport. 

 

Today I started Vera Strom for the first time since December. In fact early December. As expected the battery didn't quite have enough puff in it to start the engine. Not quite enough the turn it over. The starter motor just clicking. With the dbPower unit connected she wheezed over a few times. The fuel pump priming a little longer than usual. The Suzuki is fitted with an interlock that means in neutral the clutch doesn't need engaging to start. Not today. Clutch in and it fires 🔥 up in the end. The other expected problem was the FI code on the dash. This happens all the time when the bike isn't used for a while. Three stop/starts and it clears itself. This time no exception. I taxed Vera again from February 1st and so need to get out and about more than usual.  I have become such a fair weather rider and we go away more often in the campervan. Sunday it should be Meldrews' Sunday and so I need to start looking out my cold weather gear!!!  Today was 2°C (35.5°F) in th...

This year as we are going to be in France for quite a few days or even weeks this year, I decided to give us more options to park up during the evenings.  So I joined France Passion . Check out their website to see what's on offer.  There's no pre-booking so it's basically suck it and see!  I have been looking at the vineyards around the Alsace region on the way southwards. I am still hoping to get across to Switzerland to get some days in the mountains.  But of course things are open to debate and change. In fact, I am thinking of just a few days in Switzerland and then back into France. We shall see?

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has submitted a bold response to the Government’s Integrated National Transport Strategy call for ideas. The response demands an end to motorcycling’s neglect in transport planning.  MAG is urging the government to recognise motorcycles as a vital part of the UK's transport future. This submission comes at a pivotal moment, following the Department for Transport’s (DfT) admission that "at present, the Government has no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles." MAG’s response highlights decades of policy failures that have reduced mobility, increased congestion, and ignored air quality benefits. A truly integrated, safe, and efficient transport network must acknowledge motorcycling as a sustainable, flexible, and cost-effective transport solution. Key themes outlined in MAG’s submission include: Embedding Motorcycling into the National Transport Strategy.   Consider motorcycling across all areas of transport planning, including infr...

It was a spur of the moment decision to come away again this weekend. We had been away last weekend and still had Malibu Molly on the drive. But where to go? One of our favourite directions was last week when we went to Suffolk. So this weekend I looked at maybe not so far and that was to Sussex and Hampshire.  Nothing really leapt out and called "stay here".  Of the places we have been before none were open at this time of the year. Mostly they open in mid to late March. I extended to researching westwards. Dorset is next.  I came across the Caravan Club site at Hunters Moon near Wareham. The cost for two nights is £68. Hardstanding. Decent loos and wash facilities. Terrible 4G signal and intermittently rubbish WiFi.  The free internet gives one hour sessions with an incredibly low bandwidth. After an hour you can login in again. But it's flakey at best. There is a premium option at £5 a day. I didn't risk that given the poor quality of the free one! As club members...

As there is still no football for me until February 22nd, when Arsenal host West Ham United, and it's still too cold for a fair weather biker like me to be out and about, I thought that we should look to go away again. There is a lot of debate about the costs of the Caravan Club sites and so I went through the usual booking services and then on Google Maps to look for a site to go to for a couple of days.  Amazingly, those that are open aren't that different in price to the Club sites.  In the end I booked us two nights at Hunters Moon near Wareham in Dorset. In fact many of the "independent" i.e. not Caravan Club sites were more expensive.  Maybe if you want a bar and entertainment then the higher costs are okay! It's about a three hour trip to get there and so we need to be away a lot earlier than usual. So far I have paid the £5 deposit and the rest to pay on arrival. With the Club sites you know roughly what to expect regarding quality and cleanliness.  The t...

A better night. Reggie reduced the whinging to more acceptable levels before going to sleep and so we managed to get through the night until around 7am! When I did get up so that he could have his morning constitutional there was a thick frost. I had turned the heating down to 15° overnight. The Truma dump hadn't automatically opened.  I took a couple of photos of the frost and whilst he had his breakfast we had another hour in bed. Of course, once we were awake he was snoring in his bed! We cleared up. The EHU cable where the early morning sun was shining in it was nice and supple. The other 20m was like trying to coil up and iron bar!! We were well on the way to Claire's sister's before we remembered that I had forgotten to empty the toilet cassette!!! Damn. We had a nice chat and coffee with Sally and her husband and just before midday we were on the road to Yoxford and the A12. It seemed to take ages!! Finally away. The roads weren't to busy....

In the old van Reggie had a small seat to sit on alongside the bench seats when they were converted into the bed. In the new van we have a fixed bead at the back and he doesn't get to sleep next to us.  So he comes along and whines and whinges for a while until he goes back to his bed and sleeps. He also likes to go out for his toilet breaks in the middle of the night where at home he sleeps until we get up and let him out.   So our day started firstly at 4.10am and then again at 7.10am.  Firstly loo time and then breakfast time!  We went back to bed and didn't wake up until after 9.30am!  Once breakfasted and glad that the heating and the water hadn't come up with any new errors, we packed away the electric hookup cable and left the site for a shorter day than anticipated visiting firstly Aldeburgh, where we haven't been before, and then to Snape Maltings as Claire wanted to look for a birthday present for hr BFF. According to Park4Night you can ...