Rijsbergen, Netherlands to Orpington, England.

Our route from Rijsbergen to Orpington

Paul and I didn't sleep very well last night - it was too hot to sleep even though we had the fan on.  Eventually, though, at some point we did manage to fall asleep.

Paul was awake quite a bit earlier than me and read for a bit while I managed to sleep through until the alarm went off about 6:45 am.

We set off for Calais around 7:30 am with the caravan in tow.  Traffic around Antwerp was bad but it wasn't quite as bad as we thought it would be, fortunately.  It was good that we left half an hour to an hour earlier than we could have so that we had plenty of time to get to the ferry terminal in Calais.

The journey was more or less uneventful with a stop for petrol at a garage in Calais before we caught the ferry.   On the ferry we bumped into a couple of people we knew from a German naturist walking group that we joined last year.  Small world!  The rest of our journey to Dover and then to the Naturist Foundation in Orpington went smoothly.

Once we set up the caravan we walked around the Naturist Foundation's property and it was as I remembered it since my last visit a few years ago.  It is a family friendly place with a children's play area, a nice swimming pool with a roof that can be opened or closed, sauna and games courts where volleyball, mini-tennis, badminton & petanque can be played, outdoor gym, a jogging/walking track and much more.  The site also has lovely manicured lawns, a function room/dining room, reading area, bar and much more.   Please note that the photographs are from the Naturist Foundation's website to show you what the place looks like as I am not allowed to take photographs.


We got out our folding bicycles and wound our fake flowers around the handlebars.  The bicycles do look rather nice!

The last few days since getting back to the Netherlands have been hectic.  Paul will be starting work at sea again soon so we had to do a few things:  clear out the caravan and take it to storage facilities (a former greenhouse), take a load of stuff in the garage for recycling, fetch the quad bike and put it in Paul's mum's garage and then finally take the car to an underground garage for safekeeping until we return to the Netherlands.

Gwenny, Paul's sister, came to visit us before we left and then it was all systems go with sorting and packing things that we will need for the next 3 months.

To Mo'orea from the Netherlands

Today we are staring our journey to Mo'orea, Tahiti, and sitting at Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam, waiting for the call to board our flight to Heathrow Airport and then on to Los Angeles, Pape'ete (Tahiti) and then on to Mo'orea (French Polynesia, just across from Tahiti).  It is going to be a very long day ...

First leg of our flight - heading to Heathrow.

A taxi picked us up from Rijsbergen at around 7am.  Traffic was bad all the way to the airport.  I guess everyone is going back to work after a long weekend.  Just as well that we had set off early to the airport - we made it with plenty of time to spare to drop our luggage off, go through security and passport control as well as the long walk to the gate.

Now we are just waiting for the call to board our flight.

Heading back to the Netherlands.

Pen-Y-Bont Caravan & Camping Park

We have fallen in love with the area around Bala and it was heavy hearts that we had to leave and start heading in a southerly direction.

Yesterday we drove down to Brynmawr, sometimes diverting off the main road to shorted our route bit ensuring that the road was still wide enough to tow a caravan.  The drive was pretty so we took longer to get to Brynmawr than what Google maps says. 

Yesterday's route.

It was good to see our friends, Sue and Ian, again as well as their human and furry family.  Initially we left the caravan at the bottom of Sue and Ian's driveway but Ian suggested we bring it up near the house overnight.  So, after a bit of manipulating, Paul managed to reverse the caravan up our friends' driveway and put it on a level spot.  We hoped it wouldn't snow overnight otherwise we wouldn't get down!

Paul getting some attention from Strawberry

Paul had an appointment to attend an appointment in Portsmouth which was a bit of a deviation from our route to the ferry terminal in Dover.  We ended up leaving our friends after the morning rush-hour, making sure we had time to spare for any eventualities along the way.  Fortunately we did leave well in time - parking spots were like gold dust.  Eventually we found parking near a bowling alley that was undergoing renovation, and parked in the bowling alley's car park - hoping that we wouldn't end up with a parking ticket. We got back - no parking ticket, whew.

Today's route into the wee hours of tomorrow morning

Traffic to Dover was fine and we had plenty of time to spare.  We were hungry and found KFC in town and stopped our rumbling stomachs.  We arrived at the ferry port a few hours early and were prepared to wait for our ferry which is at 2am.  The check-in chap was going to turn us away as there is no place vehicles could wait for so long (1 hour maximum and we would be waiting for our ferry for at least 4 hours).  We must have looked tired because the chap asked us where we had driven from, so we told him.  Needless to say he took pity on us, managed to find us a spot on an earlier ferry and waived the earlier departure fee (more expensive). 

So now we are on the ferry heading to Calais, France.  Yippee!  Once we get to Calais we will drive straight to Paul's mum's place in the Netherlands and then get some much needed 💤.

A drive up to the edge of the Yorkshire Moors.

We manged to get the caravan off the pitch at Dale Farm without churning up too much mud.  Going through the farmyard we 'collected' a bit more mud and could hear it spattering when we started our drive on the tarmac.  It just added to the 'look' of the caravan and car!

Our route, more or less.  But it took a lot longer than what
Googlemaps shows (because we made stops and drove slower).

We drove up to Yorkshire, stopping in Sheffield on the way to have a look at secondhand pickup trucks.  We have a quad bike and it would be nice to put it on the back of a pickup truck (and tow the caravan at the same time) when we travel so that we can use it to explore areas off-road a bit, as and when.  There were one or two nice trucks but the quad bike would never fit in the back of them.  At least 'looking' gave us food for thought and to perhaps extend our search further at another time, or give up. 

As we got closer to York I had a good cry.  I missed my twin, Clare, (RIP) and dreaded the memories that I would face at her former house when visiting my sister-in-law in Sheriff Hutton.  The visit went better than expected and it was good to see Amanda again after what seems a very long time.  Whilst there we collected the last of my mail that I had redirected to her place in 2016 when I left Derbyshire.  Amanda looked very well and seemed a happier person from when I last saw her.  There had been some major changes in her life and I think the outcome was good.

We left Sheriff Hutton and headed onward to Golden Square Caravan and Camping Park (http://www.goldensquarecaravanpark.com/), just on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors near Sproxton and Oswaldkirk  We wanted to get there before nightfall.  Some roads in Yorkshire can be just as narrow and winding as those in Wales - better to be negotiated with a caravan in daylight.

Once we had settled onto our hardcore pitch at the campsite Paul set about hosing down the caravan and car to get rid of some of the mud that we have accumulated over the last few days.  It made a big difference and no doubt the caravan will be a tiny bit lighter when we eventually leave the campsite.

The shower facilities were really lovely and I felt a bit spoilt.  The floors in the showers were heated.  It made such a difference when stepping out of the shower and not getting our tootsies frozen and stuck to the floor tiles.  It was feet heaven....  And the walk back to the caravan is a breeze - no mud! 😊

A drive to the Peak District & a farm campsite.

Today's route, more or less - per Google rather than our satnav!

Yesterday we left Pencelli Castle campsite and took a nice winding route through Wales and up to the Peak District.  We got the satnav to take us via the shortest route to make it a bit more scenic although on google maps (for this blog's purpose) it is not quite exact but it gives you an idea.  With the shortest routes we had to be careful that the roads weren't too narrow for our caravan but we did have one or two hair raising experiences when we came across a local who would be tearing down the country lanes at a great rate of knots and find us taking up the road.  Needless to say, they either had to inch past us or reverse back to a wider bit in the road.  We nearly got clobbered going around one hairpin bend in the road with high hedges when a vehicle coming towards us came around the bend at quite a speed.  We were fortunate our brakes and his brakes worked very well!

The drive through Wales and the Peak District was lovely and brought back some memories of when I used to go walking in the the Peak District.

Our campsite is on a farm not far from Bakewell and Buxton:  Dale Farm (http://www.dale.farm/).  By the time we arrived both the car and caravan looked as if they had been in a mud-slinging session.  They were so dirty they were almost unrecognisable.  We managed to get the caravan parked up on one of the hardcore sites without churning up the site or the driveway too much.  It was all very muddy because of recent snow-melt and rain, and more mud on the car and caravan didn't matter. 

Photograph off the internet to give you an idea of the Dale Farm campsite

We discovered that we would have to cross a muddy farmyard to get to the toilet/shower facilities.  Fortunately I had brought my gumboots with me for some reason or another so they came in handy but they had to remain outside when stepping into the caravan.  I hoped that it wouldn't rain overnight otherwise I would step into water-filled gumboots.  Paul didn't fare very well - he didn't bring his boots.  He wore Crocs clogs and his feet sank into the mud a couple of times...

Well, it is a farm!

We noticed that a woman was camping in a tent on a terraced pitch near us.  The tent was sizeable but camping during mid winter???!!!  And there was still snow lying around ...  I hope there is some form of heating in the tent or that it is well insulated.  Brrrrr....

We went down to the local pub for a nice enough pub meal.  We found a table next to a roaring fire and soon felt cosy.  The pub-owner's cat soon joined us but spent much time on Paul's lap.  Apparently Paul was sitting in the cat's usual spot!  It was nice to have kitty company.

When we got back to the campsite got into our dressing gowns and picked our way across the mud, in the dark, to get to the shower.  It is a paid meter shower.  So Paul had to traipse back to the caravan to get some coins to operate the shower.  And it had started to rain outside...  I think it was about £1 for 5 minutes but we BOTH managed to shower within those 5 minutes - we didn't have many coins!  I'm small so I don't take long in the shower, fortunately.

On the road again and an x-ray.

Today's route

Yesterday we took a slow drive from Fairwood Lakes Holiday Park to a campsite on the north side of the Brecon Beacons in Wales, enjoying the scenery along the way.  Pencelli Castle Caravan & Camping Park (http://www.pencelli-castle.com/) is a nice family run campsite with nice views of the Brecons. 

After setting up the caravan we drove over a mountain pass to Brynmawr and spent the evening with friends.  It was good to see Sue, Ian, their human and fur family.

Our caravan

Today we headed back to Brynmawr to see a doctor about a sore finger.   I wrenched my right middle digit (sods law!) during a high speed speedboat ride in New Zealand whilst in Akaroa and didn't get it seen to at the time.  It's still sore so I decided to do something that something had to be done about it because joint is still very sore and swollen on the side of the joint and I've been using a makeshift splint to keep it straight. 

I was referred for an x-ray and we went to the hospital in Ebbw Vale, not far from Brynmawr.  I didn't have to wait very long for the x-ray bit unfortunately the results weren't given immediately.  They should be to hand in about 10 days... oh well.  I hurt my finger three months ago so another wait for the results won't make any difference.  But the problem is ... we will be out of the country and heading to Tahiti before the results are to hand.  So in the meantime I will continue to strap the finger and hope it sorts itself out.  If it is still sore when we get back to England in June, I will see what can be done further.

Snow has been forecasted for tomorrow ! 

Keeping busy.

Snow at last!

Last Saturday it was Paul and his mum's (Betty) birthday.   Family members popped in to see Betty to wish her happy birthday and to wish Paul a happy birthday too. Gwenny (Paul's sister) arrived on Thursday night and we took her to the train station in Breda later that evening.  It was snowing (for a change!) so I drove carefully - fortunately with no mishaps.  It was good to see Gwenny again and also to see other family members too.

The snow was lovely but it didn't last very long.  We keep hoping that the canals will freeze solid enough to skate on them but the freezing weather doesn't last long enough.  Hope springs eternal ! ??

We had hoped to go to England this past week but didn't want to leave Betty because she wasn't particularly well and could hardly walk.  To to be idle, we have been busy sorting and clearing out Betty's garage (still so much to do!).  Paul also managed to fix the broken car spoiler and put it back on the back of the car (it was destroyed in an automatic car wash...).

We also bought a small secondhand
T@B (teardrop shaped) caravan

and brought it to Betty's place and have been getting it ready for our travels - flushing out the water system, filling the water tank, getting some linen out of storage for it; put in the camping cookware, etc.  With a bit of luck we may head over to England on Sunday or Monday for a short break and bring the caravan with us.