Out with Molly - Brighton Weekend

What a start on Friday. After a week of pretty much Noah style rain across the south it was looking like a totally shite weekend weatherwise.

Friday was raining all day. All morning. We managed to load the van between showers. 

We set off around 11am. The satnav said a little over two hours. In reality it was more like 3.5 hours! Flooded roads. Crap roads through Hastings and Bexhill. Roadworks that were around 20 yards in length but two mile queues each side....

We eventually arrived at the Caravan Club site and checked in. We were blue pegs this time - hardstand no awning - we headed up to the quieter section and pitch 108. It seems many of the pitches need ramps. Backing in meant to get level that even the third level wasn't enough. Most Elddis vans are nose down anyway. Going in forwards and we are level, no ramps needed.

We had a short walk between rain storms and booked our pitch with the site managers.

The onsite caterer was closed and the site manager said that the guy was on holiday and not back until March 1st. Oh well.

The evening was upon us and the TV worked, once I remembered how to set it up and get it tuned in.

Saturday

Raining on and off all morning. I made a few runs out for water in the red can to top up the fresh water. The hot had run out and it took time to refill the heater tank. The pump moves water into the water heater. Once it is empty it needs to refill.

We are on EHU and so don't need to use our gas.

Around 2pm it looked like it might be better and we togged up and went out. It was drizzling a little but dried up quickly. The sun even made a brief appearance and we both needed sunglasses!

The walk to the Marina is about a mile. All downhill...  😉

We wanted to go to Asda for batteries as the AAA in the TV remotes had packed up and of course we didn't have any spares when needed.

Now we do!

Unfortunately the Free WiFi at the site only lets you have an hour at 1mb! Not enough to stream anything on the phone let alone to use the Fire Stick.  So the new batteries made no difference!!

We had a walk from there to McDonald's for coffee. And forgot to use the WiFi!! Toffee latte not that good. A bit watery.

From there the plan was to find the sea!

It's easier said than done as once in the Marina area signposting becomes very small. The building and destruction next to the Marina makes it even harder. Once clear of this the seafront opens up. 

On the right in the picture above is the Volks Railway terminus. Closed at this time. The construction fencing surrounding it too. Maybe as part of the works they'll spend some money tidying up all the Victorian buildings that look in poor state.

Madeira Drive itself goes all the way to the pier. There are footpaths alongside the cliff about halfway up and at the top. There are buildings built into the cliff. They all look as though they need work and upkeep. 

Maybe the City Council has other priorities?

From here we walked back to the site. The walk up from this side seemed easier than the walk down!

I took a few photos of the campsite too.

Dinner tonight was pasta and Bolognese sauce.

Sunday

Up late. It's Sunday after all. After breakfast we tidied up and set the satnav for home. 

First stop was the motorhome service area. We drained both grey and freshwater. No point carrying unnecessary water at 1kg per litre of water. 

There was also a "CamperClean" black waste dump and cassette cleaner. It was £3 so decided to use it and get it all cleaned up. 

I usually empty and rinse it out and then add some cleaner and neutraliser. 

This weekend is the Brighton Half Marathon. So the A259 was closed but we could retrace our steps back towards the Amex Stadium and the A27.

This time there was heavy traffic in the same area from the campsite to the Amex via the racecourse as when we came in.

The rest of the way home through Bexhill and Hastings was pretty clear. This time we avoided the laughable "ring road"  and went along the seafront. Some places look as though they are being done up in Hastings. 

We were back home about 2.30pm. The rain had held off again. 

So our first weekend away of the year is over.

Before we go away again we have Molly's MoT and services.