Canterbury Two - Day 1

After our stay a couple of weeks ago we decided to come again.

The £17.50 a night on a grass only (no EHU) pitch was still running and so we booked another two nights. This time from Sunday to Tuesday.

Packing the van up for two nights with our new larger outdoor mat and table we collected from Go Outdoors last time, was simple enough.

I set the route to miss the narrow roads but TomTom Camper decided to choose the narrow road way. Until we got pretty much to where it thought we should be and my route.  Then it sorted itself out.

On arrival we were met by the warden. I kept my foot on the brake so that the stop/start system didn't drive away. 

On the Ducato when you come to a stop, the system stops the engine. When you release the foot brake, the engine restarts.  With an automatic, the van simply drives away....

Except it didn't this time. The engine didn't start. I put the gears into park and tried to start the engine. Nothing. Just a clunk. An error message flashed up in the info box, too quick to see properly.

It still wouldn't start so for the first time in four years of Mayday breakdown insurance we called them. 

The Green Flag guy called quickly and arrived in about 25 minutes. After we went through everything he jump started it. 

We went down to the pitch and did some diagnostics.  Everything came up as it should. The clunk sounded like the battery wasn't charged but the checks showed it was charging and holding the charge. 

He suggested contacting our dealer to see if they can check it over or try a Fiat Professional dealer. Both are actually in Canterbury.

Once he had gone we decided to move pitches.  The one allocated was too difficult to level the van. At reception they gave us a other pitch. Or rather a choice of two. One already occupied and one free. We chose that one 

The van behaved okay.Multiple stop starts, manually with the ignition key, to get it on the ramps.

We did nothing for the rest of the day. A few walks with Reggie.

We discovered the nature reserve and managed a few hundred yards before Reggie turned around. It's the most he has walked for a while.

What will tomorrow bring? I need to call Choose Leisure to see if they have any ideas.

We will see when we come to start it.

(It took ages to post this blog as the router with the #lebara SIM was unable to get more than 2mbps in this location. )