Jul 04

Brockenhurst – July 2025

There was a three month break between excursions as the business of life had been ramped up by a number of factors. Toby starting his Naval basic training being one such factor.

So, we took Hildegard off to Roundhill campsite in the New Forest. We gave this campsite a very good dose of sitting in not least of which was the pitch we chose was right on the edge of the site as far away from civilisation as we needed.

There was much reading and crosswords and card games and not much else.

However there was a baby donkey which we were obliged to locate and photograph.

All in, it was a lovely short break that both April and I needed.

Aug 15

Eastbourne – August 2025

My super awesome wife had the idea back in March to book grandstand seats at Eastbourne air show as I do love a plane. We’d had a conversation about getting there and we decided that we should take the train on the day to save issues with parking and hopefully reduce our stress.

That was until three days before when she received an email saying how a hotel was looking forward to seeing us. Previous April had booked and paid for a room near the seafront and not told her!

We therefore changed to the car and drove the night before. It was a wonderful room (with a kitchen! That we took full advantage of) and just after arriving we went for a walk to get our bearings. It was a short trip to the seafront and we wandered along to the pier and back past a number of market stalls.

Just in time to see the red arrows perform. Which was an extra bonus as they would be there tomorrow as well.

After a nights sleep we slowly roused and went down to get our seats to find a bit of land behind the grandstand where the tents for the display teams where. Loads of guys in Red and Blue hovering around a tent weren’t the red arrows pilots and ground crew because they were obviously based in Bournemouth, where the planes were. So I decided to go and look at one of these.

Had a tour and a sit inside and when we came out I thought I’ll go and speak to a red arrow (who else would it be??) only to find them gone..

After a quick chat with the Only Navy crew there we took our seats and were entertained by a plethora of aircraft, from Hurricanes, Spitfires and a Lancaster to the Typhoon and finally Red Arrows. I was speechless at the end.

5 out of 5 would recommend.

Mar 28

Instow – March 2025

April and I decided on a short break on the North Devon coast would be in order to apply the brakes to what had been quite a busy year so far.

Ideas above her station?

Stayed in the “Commodore Hotel” which was a nice and clean room with a veranda overlooking the bay

Commodore Hotel

We had a wander along their beach, a purely sand beach with its fair share of drift wood. It was a bit chilly (well it is March) and windy but the coats did well. It is on the river Torridge and the views were beautiful. Wish I could say the same for the locals who all seemed a bit scratchy and insular. Not one person seemed welcoming, not a single nod or alright.

Had a meal in a local pub, which felt like a “local pub for local people”. IYKYK. The food was good and it had a stunning view as the sun set.

Had a bit of a rude awakening the next morning as we had decided to not have breakfast and our room phone rang to inform us we were late for it.

We decided to have a look at a local town called Bideford and were surprised with a character from our pasts.

From Bideford we also explored Appledore on the other side of the river.

Appledore

I guess this gets quite touristy in the summer months. It’s looks to be setup for many people to fight over the small beach and enjoy the souvenir shop. Not much else going for it except for what appeared to be a wealth of grumpy people. Similar to the other side of the river.

All that aside we’ve ticked this off as a prospective place to move to.

Feb 18

Cardigan Bay – Feb 2025

We decided to visit the Cardigan Bay Area to see what it had to offer. We stayed in a cute little one room cottage in St Dogmael up a very steep hill. It was small but perfectly formed. cardigan is a lovely area with a good range of shops and lovely beach, river and countryside scenery. We popped to Aberystwyth which was a typical Victorian seaside town, after a ride on the funicular railway and lunch at the summit we headed back to the cottage for a fireside relax.

Nov 10

Treehouse – Nov 2024

April pulled a corker out of the bag. She found a treehouse near a small town called Ticehurst in East Sussex. Yes, you read that right, a treehouse.

It’s a wonderful apartment complete with kitchen, bathroom, wood burner and comfort in every centimetre. We had a number of visitors outside the treehouse: blue tits, robins and this guy (we had to look him up) answers on a postcard please (or in a comment if you like)

We hadn’t seen one before.

Friday 8th

We arrived at about three pm on the Friday and carried our stuff using a wheel barrow and a trolley (which Jez was wholly unskilled at.).

Once in we decided to have a nice quiet evening, it was soon dark and with a chill in the air the wood-burner was lit.

Toasty. We both had a great night sleep and woke fresh in the morning.

Saturday 9th

After a tip off the previous day we got our bikes out of the van and thought it’d be a great idea to go check out a farmers market / Christmas extravaganza in the local town.

One thing they omitted in their tip off is just how hilly it is around here. So both of us were now remarkably sweaty in a garden centre. April did buy a quality hat. Please someone explain socks hanging from the ceiling they almost looked like Christmas decorations but were just plain brown socks.

Cups of tea and cake and bacon sandwiches were high on the agenda and we decided to try and tackle the ride home. Figuring as we had quite a bit of freewheeling on the way there it would be onerous on the way back.

Half way back there was a pub. So we bought a deck of cards and had a drink each.

What’s the name of the game?

Made it back to the treehouse with a feeling that it was a significantly easier cycle on the way back? There were some black deer in a field so Jez stopped in the middle of the road to get a photo.

Once we returned April lit the fire pit. We sat outside in the cool November air warmed by the fire and toasted marshmallows and made s’mores.

Settled in for the night after showers and a lovely meal we watched dirge on the telly and went to sleep.

Sunday 10th

Short walk to a local cafe for lunch. Just a little 4 mile jaunt round a local reservoir. Through stunning tree arches red and orange from the time of year. The water was so tranquil and calm. It was, however, a long way. Both of us were approaching hangry at the end.

We sat and had a small lunch and both contemplated the journey back. We were very worried that we might not make it back before dark.

According to my phone it was a 15.8 Km round trip. We arrived back shortly after the sun had set (but it was still light – just)

April has again knocked it so far out of the park there is no ball to retrieve.

Log burner is lit, showers had, feet up, yawning.

Sep 28

Cotswolds – September 2024

As we had a cold and wet few days, in the van and on the boat, we decided to book ourselves into a nice hotel for a warm shower and a comfy bed. We stayed at the Beckford Inn in the Cotswolds. After getting warm, Jez was not very well, we wandered around Broadway, coming across the man cave which we photographed for Josh. We had some lunch and then returned to hotel for some drinks, games of cards a lovely hot meal and a nice nights sleep.

Sep 23

Chirk canal – September 2024

We picked up the boat about 2.30pm and after transferring all our gear and a very quick lesson in boat management, we set off towards Llangollen. On our very first day we had to navigate a long tunnel, over the very high Pontcysyllte aqueduct. Beautiful views, if not a bit nerve wracking.

After a chilly night on board, we set off into Llangollen. It was a very cute little town, where we wandered along the river and had a nice lunch, with of course Welsh cakes.

After lunch we went back over the aqueduct and then moored so we could walk to the bottom of the aqueduct.

Back on the boat for a few hours towards Ellesmere where we would be turning around. The canal was wet and rainy but relaxing and the scenery was beautiful.

Finally over the Chirk aqueduct, which April thought was actually much prettier and back to the marina to disembark.

Oct 20

New Forest – 2 June 2024

After a stressful few days, we decided to pop off to a field for some R&R. A few sunny days in the forest with some wandering and chilling were just what was needed.

May 11

Mediterranean Cruise – May 2024

A very early start. Up and dressed at 4am in the car and off to Bournemouth Airport for our flight to Mallorca. By half past 6 we were on the plane,

We arrived in Mallorca, collected our bags and found a representative and we were shepherded into a coach which left in short order to take us on a whistle stop (a term I might use again) tour of Mallorca to the cruise terminal. By 1pm we were sipping cocktails on the deck admiring the view of Mallorca and its cathedral.

The boat left at about 6pm for the next port which would be after a full day of cruising allowing us time to familiarise ourselves with the boat.

Day 3 – Livorno

We awoke and were in Italy. The weather was gorgeous and we had arrived in Livorno port where coaches awaited us to take us to Florence.

Florence is a beautiful city steeped in history with a remarkably impressive cathedral. We sat in the Piazza Dela Signoria with statues of David and Hercules and then wandered along the river to the Ponte Vecchio to look at the jewellery shops. As we were in Italy we of course had to have some Gelato which was delicious.

The tour guide they provided was eager to tell us all about how “very important” the history of “Tuscany” was and if you’re not sure how they’re pronounced. Ask April.

Following the tour of Florence, we were whisked off in the coach again to Pisa. Where we saw the tower watched a load of people take silly photos and sat on the grass awaiting the coach home.

Day 4 – Villefranche

Villefranche was astoundingly beautiful. The boat had to moor in the harbour and tenders had to ferry us between it and the harbour. April saw some excellent French cock as he hadn’t realised there were lots of people outside his bedroom window until he’d fully opened it.

We caught a coach and were on our way to Cannes. This was on the first day of the 2024 Film Festival and we saw one famous person. The guy who played Jonny Depp’s Oompa Loompa.

We then set off for Nice which was much “nice”r than Cannes and as we were in France now we had crepes in the park. Where Jez used a pay as you go loo.

Once we returned to the boat and watched some lifeboat drills we were off to our next destination.

Day 5 – Toulon

We decided to stay on the boat today as none of the excursions were up our street and the French naval were doing submarine drills in the harbour so we could watch that (amongst other naval activities).

April had booked a spa day for herself and was thoroughly looking forward to a facial (which turned into being covered head to toe in algae wrapped in tin foil under a duvet in a pair of paper pants).

We made full use of the seclusion deck at the front of the boat and enjoyed a very relaxing day.

Day 6 – Barcelona

Fucked up is an understatement for Barcelona Cathedral. It’s an absolute ADHD of a building, as, to be honest, are Gaudi’s other buildings. Somebody should have prescribed him methylphenidate.

Holy moly, today was a busy one. The coaches were packed (and had an obnoxious Yorkshire Man). However the old town of Barcelona is beautiful and we spent a good amount of time wandering attempting to find the national pudding (as we had in France and Italy) of Churros to no avail. Instead we ended up at a Mexican restaurant that evening which is the closest we could get. they did have Churros \o/.

Day 7 – Valencia

Again the excursions weren’t for us so we decided to stay on board. Jez had a massage and a weird foot test and April stayed on the relaxation deck. Later on Jez did a backstage tour of the cruise liner and met the captain.

Day 8 – Mallorca

Home time (sigh). We had to vacate our cabin early in order to catch the coach back to Mallorca airport.

Arrived at the airport nice and early where there was nowhere to sit for the four hour wait for our flight.

All in all April and I had a nice time. The Mediterranean Sea was eerily calm for the duration of our trip. Which I suppose is better than any kind of rough. We did feel the trip was very “peopley”. Not a lot of places to take yourself away from the hubbub when needed. Luckily the cabin had a balcony which did afford us some alone time whilst the masses played bingo, sunbathed in the way or generally raised their noses at you.

Apr 18

April’s birthday – April 2024

My lovely husband wished me away to a beautiful hotel to be spoilt and pampered for my birthday. Lovely view from the room, nice meal in the evening followed by a spa day and cream tea. The only issue was the couples ‘salt’ treatment, after rubbing salt on each other, a steam then cold shower (much screaming) then rinse and repeat with pink mud. We were then locked in a dark corridor and couldn’t find our way out.