On the Road Again!

A few changes to the plan, such as it was. Friday we will stop off at Snape Maltings where he been quite a few times as Claire had a friend's birthday coming up. There are loads of craft shops there. We'll park up and I'll get the Nikon out to take a few photos, or maybe the Canon 1100D.   Snape Maltings last time we were there... To save a few quid we'll take a packed lunch and I can turn the gas on to make coffee etc.  The hob can cool as we have a walk around. Then we'll go to to the Waterpump CL and settle in for the night.  It would be nice to have a walk to the pub for a drink though... How much walking about we do is dependent on the weather! Saturday the plan is to drive over to Aldeburgh and see what the parking situation is like. There seems to be one car park that can accommodate a 6m van. Another has a limit of 5.5m!  There is some free parking further down the road the we could look at. Then maybe a short drive up to Southwold?  Who knows at th...

The van has lots of storage under the bed.... We seem to have filled it ll up and we are going for a weekend! Some of the storage boxes contain stuff that is for the van and for us when we go walking etc.  When we go away in the summer we will have to find room for the chairs, and they are quite big even when packed away. Plus a lot more clothes to last three weeks away! The Taylor Made screen cover is in the black bag on the bottom under the floor.  It's massive! When in the bag it's easy 5ft tall.  I managed to fod it in half and it is still a pain the the ass!

Just taxed Vera for the next six months commencing 1st February.  Let's hope the next time I go to garage and turn the key she starts! Another £65 to the government so that I can enjoy riding on the UK's roads that are pretty much worse that anything in Europe.   We can't blame Brexit for that, although some dumb f***s will. " Thank you for using DVLA Vehicle Licensing Online. Your application for vehicle tax has been successful."

With Storm Herminia hanging about into this week  we cancelled the pub stop at Beachy Head. Instead the weather looks better for the weekend and so we are going to pay another visit to our favourite CL near Woodbridge at Waterpump.  Suffolk on the map is inside the red dotted borders.  I emailed Sarah to book a couple nights and will confirm in the week. It is all weather dependent. There are a few places I'd like to go to up there.  Maybe Aldeburgh where I have never been. There's some free parking along the road by the sea. I have set a waypoint on the TomTom to navigate there. It should be a short walk up to the town. It seems the only place to park as both the nearby car parks seem to have a vehicle size limit. It's day parking only that suits us. Of course there's also Walberswick. We have been there before. There's a large parking area there that has a daily charge. As well as those two,  there's Southwold. We have been before and parked up in the moho spa...

The plan was to go this week for a pub stop to The Beachy Head near to Eastbourne in the week and stay over in their car park.  The pub is near the Sussex white cliffs of Beachy Head. But with Storm Herminia still hanging about after this last weekend we decided that we would abort the trip, for now. I had a look on their website where you can book a table and add that you want to stay overnight in a camper or motorhome. Maybe next week?

We haven't had a proper first aid kit for years and we usually just stick stuff in a tupperware! So I bought one. Apparently there are 170 things packed into this zipped pack. Let's hope we never need to use it.

Despite yellow warnings (Storm Éowyn)  for wind we ventured out again in the van. It wasn't that bad when we left. The plan was to go to the White Cliffs as Claire wanted to look at some bags that she saw yesterday at Sissinghurst. Then get the van filled with diesel at Tesco in Cheriton whilst it's still £1.419 a litre. Yes, it's expensive but less than other garages locally. As we drove along the A20 at its highest part near Chapel we had to hold in a bit tighter to the wheel.  Once up at the campervan parking it seemed to have eased off a bit. The waves crashing against the harbour wall looked pretty fierce though. Once out of the van we found it wasn't as mild and calm as we thought. We decided to do the shorter walk in a loop along the cliff and back via the visitor centre to the van.  Reggie seemed oblivious to the wind but I was almost blown off my feet. Luckily it was onshore so away from the 125ft drop to the flat bit below. The port is down another...

Today we got Molly out of storage and set off for Sissinghurst for a walk around the grounds and of course a coffee! This time as we were in the storage yard we left the car in our space, and left from there rather than home. This meant we went a different way through New Romney. The route that TomTom planned came a cropper as the road at Brenzett was closed and we ended up going a long way around the block. We decided that coming back we'd go our usual route through Ashford and the M20. At the Castle, there were no volunteers manning (personing?) the gate and so there were cars filling up the coach parking. There was a VW camper in the second part where campervans and motorhomes park up. I parked there.  Molly has the sliding habitation door on the right and so parking on the end of the parking area with the left on the road side was okay. Luckily I retracted the step... Our first stop of course was coffee! We took our own brownie from Aldi. Usually we sit outside but ...

With the Shuttle and first night already booked, I am looking at the route that will take us from southern Belgium to a second overnight stop that will mean we can embark on the "Alsace Route". I am of course looking at Camping-Car Park aires and there are a few to choose from.  One in particular is actually across the Rhine at Bühl . It's not that far from the suggested route that I found on "Into the Alpine" website . Whether or not we can find anywhere to park a 6m van in Strasbourg and get to look at the city is another matter.  It may be a case of bypassing the southern HQ of the EU Parliament and go to the next place on the suggested route.  I am also looking at Colmar for a night or two as it is in the middle of the route and will give us time to relax and also to take more time looking at the scenic places on the way around.   I think sometimes as we are always "going somewhere" we tend to miss out on a lot of places and over plan the...

With the trip in mind I dipped into Microsoft's AI generator to get a picture of Molly in Brighton. No matter how much info I typed in, getting a true representation of Molly didn't happen. We are there two nights. Last year we went for a weekend trip staying in the Caravan Club site just up from the Marina area. This year we return to the same site but not at the entire weekend as we have advanced a day in the calendar.  The chances of us getting to park outside the pier is very remote. So AI to the rescue. The van isn't quite a Malibu but is a Ducato! The second image is more fanciful but might almost turn into a partial reality in the Autumn. 😉  Once I have worked out where we are going to go on the Summer trip I'll start to look at the Autumn trip to Spain again.  Maybe we'll give Alcossebre and the timeshare another try. Earlier in the year, October 2024,  there were so many places still open that weren't when we stayed in November ...

After last week's journey up to London for the North London Derby my next to the Emirates Stadium was for the visit of Croatian champions Dynamo Zagreb. A win was essential for Arsenal to ensure they finish in the top 8 of the new format. Finishing outside the 8 means two playoff games. Avoiding that is essential. After a high of beating the Vermin last week, the down of letting a 2-0 lead crumble to 2-2 with Villa, it needed a performance. We were on top from the first whistle. It was frustrating to end the first half at 1-0. Especially after 11 shots with only 2 on target.  The Zagreb fans were far more accurate with throwing bottles and other objects at our players taking corners in front of them. Zagreb came out better in the second half but we simply took what they could muster. More wasted opportunities with free headers before Havertz finally headed the second. The game was capped off at 3-0 with Ødegaard scoring in added time. Unless some of the teams from 9th d...

After a few days of poring over maps and the internet for routes and overnight stays I have booked the first night of the holiday.  It's in Belgium. I looked on the various sites and the Caravan Club actually came up with the best looking place. The site looks good and is called Ardennen Camping Bertrix. It's about 215 miles from the Eurotunnel arrival area to the site.  I have planned it to be non-toll all the way.  Of course we need to stop for shopping when we get across.  There are plenty of opportunities before we cross the France to Belgium border around the south of Lille.

With the cold weather I was a little worried that the van's battery was going to drop with it not being used. So we went and got it out of storage and went to the White Cliffs again. The view of the outside from inside the van. We haven't done this before!!! Reggie now has one. The visitor centre and cafe. Malibu Molly and Reggie!

Why?  We have the Bluetti AC70 power bank as a backup power supply and I have been looking for a solar panel setup.  The idea is that we can try some wild camping and ensure we have a power supply if there's no EHU. So a folding solar panel is a good idea. I asked a few questions on the Bluetti owners site and it looked that Allpowers panels were good value and also waterproof just in case it rains.   Various Google searches showed that the 200w panels are in excess of £200. For what we need that's simply too much. This make and model ranged from £89.95 at Amazon to £149.95 at other sellers. You can guess which I went for, with next day delivery... Why go for 100w? Cost I guess plus the reviews from users have been claiming that the 100w Allpowers was putting in up to 80w really into the power bank from the sun.  It might not sound much but when connected to the AC70 when we are on a site in the summer it will be out all day. Now all I need is sun to test it!!! ...

It's not that I have any intention of going to Brussels but after the previous post I had a look at their LEZ and have booked electronically. Done.

Since being diagnosed with prostate cancer back in November 2023 I have upped the level of events I do to raise money for the charities. In fact I have been taking part in Tacheback and Movember since 2006! This time I am doing the simple thing of walking a marathon in January 25.  Currently as far as last night, 15th January, I have 24.44 miles under my belt. Many of them done with Reggie but a lot of them done walking to and from events, like the football at Arsenal,  and my volunteer job at Kent Greyhound Rescue. I don't have many pictures and have yet to wear the t-shirt on the "journey", mostly because it has been freezing in Kent for the last few weeks!! So here's some pictures of greyhounds.... Tyrone - my favourite https://runthemonthme.prostatecanceruk.org/fundraising/my-walk-the-month-in-january-25

The North London Derby for me is one of the highlights of the season.   The North London Derby Not because of the excitement, nor the quality of the game, but that Tottenham aka Spurs aka Vermin, are the nearest neighbours haling from the former Middlessex borough and now the London Borough of Haringey. Until the expansion of London and the destruction of Middlesex as anything other than a postal county in 1965, Tottenham was in Middlesex. Not London.   Anyway.  The day game-day started for me at 1625 when I set off for the four mile journey to Folkestone West train station for the 1657 high speed train to London. I arrived just in time to park and rush across to the platform.  Why does it take 20 minutes to go four miles? You'd have to ask the clowns in front of me that go 24mph (indicated) through the fixed speed cameras that are set to 30mph! I got a seat and that can be a miracle some times. We arrived on time at 1754 and I met up with friend Helen and ...

Our annual Fred Hill memorial run will leave from the Ace Cafe as usual – please gather from 10:30am for an 11am start. This year marks 41 years since Fred died in prison! You will need a ULEZ compliant bike, or to pay for access on the day. Ride of about 30-40 minutes at normal London speeds into central London – meeting at main entrance for Pentonville Prison, where Fred died in ’82, while serving another sentence for fighting for bikers rights.

  VOLUNTEERS NEEDED To cover the MAG Stand either Saturday, Sunday or both.   We are looking for four people each day for the duration of the event which runs from the 8th to the 9th of March.   If anyone is interested in helping, please contact Steve Wykes –  edinburghmag@outlook.com   Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.  

It's that time again when I have started to look at where to go for the early Summer holiday.  Whereas I do like Spain I do prefer to go in the autumn away from school holidays and when the weather is less extreme, i.e. hot. We have toured France in the van a few times and we have been across many times on the motorcycle and in the car. After going to the Picos in Spain last May, I do like the idea of a mountain or two.  I was looking for ideas on the internet and came across a site that is essentially about tours in the Alps in France, and one of them is "Alsace".  Places and ideas for stops in a short distance between Strasbourg and Mulhouse. Essentially south along the lands bordering the Rhine, and the border with Germany. This site also has a tour called "Furka Pass".  Looking on the map currently Google Maps can't plot a route as many of the passes are snowed in. Changing the date to June works for some of the alpine passes! But oddly not all. More go...

Boy was it freezing!   Back in the 00's we were told that with global warming that the south-east of the United Kingdom, i.e. where I live in Kent, would have a "Mediterranean Climate". The Mediterranean at the closest point to my house is around 700 miles. Roughly about Marseille. Meteo France has today's average to be 16° Centigrade. In Kent it is 1°C. Might not seem much but when you think it's January 12th.... Overnight it's 9°C, and here it's -2°C!   Okay, in Canada it might be worse, but we don't have things in place to make this the "norm"! The farmers were told they needed to adapt to that massive temperature increase and grow Mediterranean crops!  Instead, we have solar farms and thousands of houses going on the land. The ice and frost on the roads meant that we didn't want to keep Reggie out too long. I guess we are lucky on our roads that we never see the gritter out putting down sand and salt to keep the roads free for traffic...

Unlike the rip-off money grab in London where the socialist anti motor vehicle Stalin charges non compliant £12.50 a day to pay to pollute, the European countries let you apply for a sticker for the front window that allows entry to cities and LEZ areas depending on you level of pollution.  France has Crit'Air and we have a class 2 vehicle.  Germany has a similar system but it's numbered the other way, so we have a class 4 sticker. This is for a Euro 6(D) vehicle.  They both cost less than £5 including postage and last the life of the vehicle!!! Theoretically, in times of high pollution, the city with the LEZ will issue a decree saying which number of sticker is allowed into the LEZ. If the decree, in France, says 2, then 3 and above are banned.   Currently Belgium has a free system, but is split into two, with Flanders and Wallonia being separate areas.  I have applied for the Flanders one and might try the Brussels one. These are electronic with no sticke...

I have signed up again to do the charity run with the bears! Last year I was unable to use the bike as 8 had just got back from Assen and had a coolant leak. So I did my leg from Folkestone to St Leonard's in the car. It was in the middle of the night. I got back from Assen at 9pm. Went to bed and at 3.30am set off to meet the bears and the riders on the previous leg. The handover guy's bikes at St Leonards. Safe in the car!!! These are the bears that a relayed around the country to raise money for a different charity each year. In 2023 I ended up doing two legs that took me from the new McDonald's at Cheriton, near Folkestone, to Maidstone Fire Station and them upto Chatham. At the last minute the woman I was to handover in Maidstone dropped out.  It wasn't to hard work as it was a Sunday afternoon. But hanging about by the fire station for over an hour was a bit of a chore. I couldn't leave until the scheduled time. At least the...

Another change I have made is to put all the Malibu Molly blog posts into a blog of their own. For the time being posts that were here have been duplicated but from today they will only appear on Malibu Molly . I've been suffering with a bad case of man-flu and have had time to sit down with my MS Surface and duplicate posts.  Travel posts will still go to Travellerspoint and these will appear in the links from the drop down menu - top left on the home page. Malibu Molly

Why? "On the road again" doesn't really do the job any more.  Once it was all about trips and holidays on the bikes but evolved into many other things. Many of the bloggers I used to interact with seem to have stopped and that is a real shame. So. It was time for a re-brand. A new theme for the blog, a new layout and a new name. Stick with me!

Last year saw levels of concern for the interests of motorcyclists significantly decline under a new Government. The Government needs to prepare for MAG’s lobbying to be far louder and prouder in 2025. Despite glimmers of hope in the first half of 2024, the general election marked a change of trajectory for the fate of UK motorcycling. Riders saw early promise with motorcycle licensing reform on the agenda and a default motorcycle access in bus lanes consultation. But hopes were dashed after the general election with a shelving of licence reform and a shocking refusal to accept the overwhelming evidence in favour of consistent national policy on bus lane access. The bus lane access consultation outcome issued in November carried a comment that was heard loud and clear by all riders around the country.  “At present, the government has no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles.” This statement has been repeated directly by the Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, in a written...

Another trip out over the holidays and once again the destination was the White Cliffs of Dover. Again no bluebirds. Over or otherwise. We did get to park in one of the six designated spaces for campers which was a miracle, but we shared the spaces with five cars.....  It was very cold with the temp gauge on the dash showing 2ºC with a wind chill off the sea that would have brought it even lower. We had our own coffee with us, three Colombian coffee pods from the Tassimo machine at home put in a flask.  As well as a walk we had a sit in the van to watch the ferries coming and going from the port below, Even though I took the Nikon with me I have taken only one photo today.... on my phone. Where next?  With "winter" due any day we may not be going out very soon.