Quick London break to see the David Attenborough Earth Experience for Jez’s birthday. I had thought I had booked a lovely hotel, but this turned out to be a well decorated hole in the ground. We were in the basement, with work going on in the rooms around us, the bathroom was apparently an arctic experience we were not expecting, and the staff smoking area was outside the window. (Yay for staff that start at 6.30!) 1 out of 10 would not recommend.
However the real reason we went, the Earth Experience was fabulous. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Short break to visit Gloucester, we were just going to visit the city, we had a treasure trail that took us through the town and along the canal, (which I was not expecting). It was all very lovely, we even ended up being able to visit the light show in the cathedral which was a nice surprise.
After Gloucester we spent a few days in the Cotswolds, exploring the cute villages and walking along the streams. It was all a bit wet as usual on our holidays but still very relaxing.
So on the way to our narrow boat break in northern Wales, we stopped for a few nights in the Malvern Hills. Unfortunately the weather was rather wet, so the view was so misty we were unable to see the hills or the valleys.
We did pop into Great Malvern which was very pretty and we will definitely pop back when the weather is brighter.
Now all the pesky kids have gone back to school we can take Hildegard for her first proper adventure!
We decided to head West! So Friday night we stopped off in Ocknell, New Forest to break up the journey and spent a lovely night with the horses and cows. We started the day in Lyndhurst for breakfast and after a small disaster where we discovered the toliet in the van was leaking (Yuck!), we took a meander through Bolderwood. We then continued to mooch on down to Plymouth. The next few night were supposed to be camping at Plymouth Sound campsite, but as it is quite exposed and rather windy we decided to just stay one night. Sunday was spent doing a trail around Plymouth Waterfront which is a nice way to break up a long walk, followed by lunch in the pub.
Sunday night we moved to Hen Den Orchard Campsite, just up the coast from Torquay. The site is lovely, sheltered in an orchard with lovely facilities.
Monday morning we set off to Paignton to do another treasure trail. After we had a good mosey around and stopping for some lunch we managed to get the answer to the mostly childrens trail completely wrong! However Paignton is very lovely.
After a few days in the van we decided to treat ourselves to a hotel for the night. We managed to find the Bridport Arms. It is positioned right on the beach with a sea view and was just what we needed. So after another walk along another beach, we had dinner in the hotel, a warm shower and a comfy bed.
After a restful night in the hotel we set off towards our final destination of Lulworth Cove. Along the way we stopped off in Weymouth because we hadn’t seen enough variation of beaches! Although we did get to eat chips with the donkeys so all was good with the world.
Finally on to Lulworth Cove, always a favourite, we climbed the view points, sat and had cake on the cove and then slept over at Durdle door. What a lovely end to a great few days.
As our lovely neighbours especialy Colin put in so much hard work to polish and spray Hildergard to help her look fabulous, we treated them to a night away in Yeovil. I know what you are thinking, ‘Yeovil, that is not much of a treat’, but you are forgetting it is near the Fleet Air Arm Museum, which is a good day out.
So off we went to a nice set of appartments, popped into to town for some food, narrowly missing the worst band/karaoke know to man! Then off to the museum for a great day with some wonderful people. Good times had by all!
Having thorougly enjoyed both the creation of and excursions in our Vauxhall Vivaro, a need grew within us and it all revolved around the phrase: “A Lady of a certain age”.
They are to have toilets in campervans, was the cry. It’s alright for you men who can just hop a bush. Ladies require toilets.. Gentlemen, on the other hand, have much simpler requirements we wanted to be able to stand up. No stooping please.
So with those in mind and luck and a fair wind we purchased Hildegard. She is of Germanic descent but mostly speaks with a Swedish lilt.
We have spent the better part of two years with her and she has been transformed.
We started with the outside.. Knocking back any large areas of rust round the door seals, had to take the rear and side doors off in order to create new sections of them as the rust had gotten to them.
April maticulously went round the body, clearing off and treating any rust she could see.
We started by having a look inside and roughly planning where everything should go, and what we would like out of the new van.
we then proceeded to take all of the sides and floor out, which resulted in exposing all her dirty secrets. She previously helped a block paving company carry a number of pallets of bricks and in some cases a digger! Her floor and ceiling left a lot to be done.
Ceiling RustCeiling RustCeiling RustCeiling RustMore Ceiling RustCeiling RustFloor RustRust in the sides where a repair had been doneWhat a repair this was!Floor RustFloor RustWheel Arches were a bit rustyMore wheel arch rustStarting to grind the RustGround the rust offThese Angle Grinder Sanding disks are greatMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingMore GrindingHoovering the FloorNice Clean floorLots of Kurust LaterSome more KurustReady for PaintMostly Painted.
Well where to start? After a 48 year wait I finally returned to my birth place taking my lovely with me! I had booked the trip in a bit of a strop early hours of New Years Day, this meant that I didn’t really read the details of what I was organising. This left us with a honeymoon that we needed to prove we had been married within 18 months, (we got married in 2009) and a booking for a ‘person’ on who we would be able to call to organise our needs.
After a 12 hour flight with a very quick stop off in Dubai we landed in paradise (with just a few tears from me). As we were tired and had never had a ‘person’ before we ended up not really managing to meet them and instead ended up in a taxi. This however turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we met the lovely Vijay. The drive to the hotel took about an hour and by the end we were both very well educated and acquainted. We arrived and after sorting out booking into the ‘honeymoon’ we had a very strange green drink and set off for our couples massage.
We had arranged with Vijay the list of things we wanted to visit and after booking him for 3 days we settled in to the resort. The food was fab, the drinks were free and the sun was shining. Before we get into the days out explanation there are a few memories we want to make sure we write down. These are basically a list! There was the lovely bar tender who made us fab cocktails and the best Mauritian rum thing that tasted amazing. There was the lady who looked after the room, god forbid you moved her flower arrangements on the bed! Then the squeaky pedalo, we even enjoyed hearing other people using it during the week. Next came the cake, which arrived one dinner time as a congratulation to our recent nuptials. All this was topped off with the ‘it’s a red light because it’s romantic’ dinner on the beach. Jez ate an amazing Australian steak and we were kept company by Gethlen the crab who kept us entertained. We tried many very early mornings to watch the sunrise, and manged it but through the early morning cloud. We tried many late nights to see the milky way, we got caught in the rain, had to avoid crabs in the dark and saw a clear view of Scorpio and really only saw the edge of the milky way but had fun doing it And all this without even leaving the hotel.
When we final did leave the hotel the first thing we got was the shock of our lives, or should I say near death. On the first day we had with Vijay we met in the early morning and set off in his car. Just to say the hotel was on the beach, but surrounded by fields and in the middle of nowhere, so when Vijay said ‘just a little surprise’ pulled off the road into a field and pulled a 12″ knife from the passenger seat we really thought I was going to end as well as begin in Mauritius. After he ushered us out of the car he wandered into the field, Jez and I were just left looking at each other wondering if we should be saying our goodbyes, however Vijay looking completely relaxed appeared, with a branch of sugarcane and proceeded to prepare it for us to eat. Thus beginning the many ‘little surprise’ of Mauritius.
Day one we firstly went into Port Louis the capital. We saw the different buildings and history and visited the citadel overlooking the port. After that we went to the history museum, and looked at the Dodo, and into the spice market where we spent far to much money on spices. We did however get treated to a local meal of pakora and yogurt drink all while sitting with the locals in the market. Vijay showed us the temples and the brightly coloured castings. Part of the day was wanting to visit the botanical gardens as I have photos from when my family lived there, and I was able to recreate some of the images. I was lovely being able to see things that have not changed in many years that my family would have also seen. Then we had another ‘Little surprise’ as Vijay stopped in the middle of a village and led us to a cave in the middle of nowhere. It really was lovely but strange as it was just in the middle of the street. The final visit of this very busy day led us to Flic en Flac where my family spent their down time. It was strange being in the same space and a bit emotional as I have photos of my Dad camping at the beach.
On our second day exploring the island we headed to Gris Gris again this was lovely as I have photos of my dad at this beach and there was a tower similar to those he maintained for the navy. Another ‘Little surprise’ of a flooded volcanic crater. This was on the way to the Black River Gorge and Alexandra Falls. This is where we discovered the joy of salting pineapples and adding tamarin to make it taste fantastic! Next Vijay took us to a local restaurant and we had palm salad and Jez had a local beer again amazing!! Then onto the Seven Coloured Earths, this is a strange phenomenon where in a fertile area of land, there is a large space that nothing grows and the different minerals in the ground make it beautiful colours. Then we stopped at the gorge itself and saw a lovely rainbow in the waterfall. Finally ‘Little surprise’ the biggest statues of Hindu gods ever. It was a sight to see.
Our final day exploring took us round on our way to Vascous in search of where my family had lived and worked. All ending in a sunset on the beach at La Preneuse beach.
We had a wonderful time and a holiday to never forget!
After the stress of the past few months and GCSE’s etc, we decided to make the most of Toby breaking up early and jetted off for a few days in the Canary Islands.
What they fail to tell you is that Fuerteventura is situated in a wind tunnel which mad things like playing tennis really very interesting.
We spent most of our time on the resort eating, drinking, swimming and being windswept. We did visit the local village which happened to be having a festival of Mary blessing the sea which was very lovely but very busy. Toby amused himself by throwing himself off the local quayside worrying both us and the locals but managed not to harm himself. He did however end up with really bad sunburn (will he ever learn?). We had a meal in a small restaurant and I had an amazing mojito. Nice break but not a place to revisit.
