West Country 21-25 May 16

The Cobra "car" alarm fitted by the dealer to the motorhome has proved to be a huge heap of poo, constantly unreliable and often sounding for no reason whatsoever, so it was time to invest in a new one and the high spec Vanbitz Strikeback ticked all the boxes. Unfortunately the Strikeback has to be fitted at Vanbitz in Taunton and takes a day to fit, so after quite a wait to get a fitting date (as the company is so popular), we set off on a mini tour to Taunton.

On Saturday we trundled across to the Caravan Club site on Cheltenham Racecourse and eventually found the entrance as there are a number of confusing diversions due to a roundabout being resurfaced. The site is actually on the car park of the racecourse and is brilliant, with delightful views over the downs and incredibly friendly wardens. We parked up next to the rails and wandered into town, had a few pints and then set off back getting soaking wet en-route.

On Sunday we set off for the caravan club site at Cheddar, stopping at the wonderful Gloucester motorway services. Their duck and Armagnac pie is to die for! Why can't all motorway services be like this.  The caravan site is another delightful spot with friendly wardens and we quickly set up and walked into the village, bought an ice-cream and then decided to walk up and along the top of the gorge and back through it. A top tip - don't pay the rip off fee to climb the steps - there is a well hidden footpath that covers the same route. With stunning views we enjoyed the walk over, but the route going down was a bit slippery and Debs is not the most balanced of walkers, so the journey was long, slow and arduous. Back through the gorge and village, stopping to buy cheese and scrumpy (has to be done), a quick pint in a great pub (the Bath Arms), then home for dinner.

On Monday we covered the last leg into Taunton and onto Cornish Farm, Vanbitz's own site (and what a great site it is too). We parked up, walked into Taunton, had a few pints  and met up with my niece, Katie, who is working in Taunton, for a delicious curry.

Tuesday was alarm fitting day and Vanbitz took us, and two other couples who were having work done, into Taunton where we spent a few hours in glorious sunshine before walking back to Cornish Farm, completing the very detailed handover and demonstration of the alarm (my goodness it is LOUD!) before entertaining Katie for dinner.

Jellalabad Barracks

Vanbitz

Cornish Farm

On Wednesday it was the long slog back, again stopping at Gloucester services for more pie - nom nom nom.

Vanbitz - can't recommend them highly enough. A brilliant company: www.Vanbitz.com 

Norwich 3-4 May 16

Time for the 1st annual service and habitation check and we cannot believe that we have had this van for a year. Where does the time go?

Luckily the dealer lets us spend the night on his forecourt, so we parked up and had a fantastic Thai meal in the local restaurant. Next morning we handed the van over for the day for the servicing and a few "snags" (the screw had worked loose on the front blinds, the passenger seat plinth wasn't assembled quite correctly and one of the cupboard stays was a bit slack) and off we went in the courtesy car to Norwich for the day.

Our new top of the range, high quality, bed linen from Primani

"Narch"

Caistor on Sea

All serviced, checked and with a clean bill of health we returned home to repack the van for the next trips. The annual habitation check is a great opportunity for emptying out and repacking the essentials - it's amazing how much extra crud get accumulated over the year.