The Binkybus: September 2015

Tuesday, 29 September 2015

Kessingland Suffolk 18-21 Sep 15

"We should never trust the satnav" as we splashed our way down narrow country lanes and through some quite hefty floods on the Friday afternoon. It threw it down by the bucketload just as we pulled onto the Caravan Club site in Kessingland and we were offered a pitch overlooking the sea. Quickly setting up, we set off to to the local pub (the Sailor's Home) in the hope of finding the England v Fiji game on the telly. It is an interesting pub. A bit untidy and "sticky", but the beer is OK. The trouble is the locals with their thousands of yapping, ratlike dogs, which they obviously think should yap as much as possible to add to the Dog's Home atmosphere and to stifle any conversation. We enjoyed some very nice fish and chips and the rugby build up was showing on the big screen TV in the next room, so we settled down to watch, only to be kicked out so that they could turn over to the Ipswich poofball game. We were not pleased at having to retire to the other bar to try and watch rugby amongst the yapping locals and yapping dogs. To add insult to injury, when we got home we found that Debs' new coat stank of rancid dog from where she had left it on a chair! At least we won the rugby.

On Saturday we took the bus into Lowestoft, decided it didn't have too much to offer, and so took the bus to Southwold, which certainly does! We had a delightful lunch on the pier and had a happy few hours wandering around this very pleasant town. Well worth a return! I particularly liked the quirky amusement arcade on the pier, with games like "Whack a banker" and "get your zimmer frame across the motorway". Hilarious!

On Sunday I got up early and walked 2 miles to get a newspaper, which we sat and read all morning, had a spot of lunch and a little walk, and then did lots and lots of relaxing.

We are slowly working our way around the East Coast (carefully, and deliberately, missing out Great Yarmouth, so we shall see what Deepest Essex has to offer when we venture further south.

Lowestoft

Southwold

Rutland 5-7 Sep 15

Not too far to travel to this highly recommended site on the south shore of Rutland Water - and we can see why it is so highly commended. It is massive, very well kept, picturesque and, best of all, incredibly cheap. Likewise, the chap who runs it is more than helpful and makes each visitor feel like a long lost friend. Nothing is too much trouble.

We arrived on Saturday morning. pitched up overlooking the water, unpacked the bikes and cycled into Oakham where we watched the Rugby in a fantastic pub, the Railway Inn. Although not much to look at the staff and regulars were very welcoming, the place is very clean and they serve decent beer at excellent prices. What more could you want from a pub! We wobbled back to the site and, tired, relaxed for the evening.

On Sunday we had a little walk along the side of the water to the local golf club, where we had a crafty pint before returning to the van for more serious relaxing. A very good weekend!

Billericay 16 Aug 15

Just a very quick overnighter in the certified site whilst we attended a party in Billericay. Having downloaded the Ordnance Survey map app and then transferred a waymarked trail onto the 'phone, it was a very simple task to navigate cross country to the event, even in the dark.

The app does not spot dogs mess though. Why don't the people who keep these pets clean up after them. Dirty barstewards! The site, Crowsheath Fishery, is very nice with large hardstanding pitches and a very pleasant owner who allowed us access through her gate to ease our navigation to the party. We would recommend it.

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Cambridge Folk Festival 30 Jul 3 Aug

Why spend 5 days camping less than 1/2 hour from home? Well, it is the Cambridge Folk Festival again and the early starts and late finishes (plus a few drinks) make the Cherry Hinton Caravan Club site an ideal base. Mind you, you do have to book it 8 months in advance as it is a very popular choice. What is immediately noticeable is that caravan sites are usually deathly quiet by about 1030pm. When the Folk Festival is on there is usually a murmur of hushed voices well into the early hours as people work their way back from the events. As ever, it was a great festival and we saw some fantastic singers and groups.

Monday, 21 September 2015

Norwich 24-27 Jul 15

We decided to have a weekend away with the Motorhome Fun group at the new motorhome show held at the Norfolk Showground. We arrived on Friday and parked up just before it started raining. We had a quick whizz around the few exhibitors here and then retired to the van for dinner and to listen to the rain. On Saturday it rained. We queued for ages to get the soggy bus into Norwich, had a wander about and a nice lunch before heading back to see the "entertainment". Top of the bill was Bobby Davro, who we found to be totally unamusing and left halfway through his performance. The supporting groups were much better. On Sunday it dried out for a bit and our fridge decided to pack up, so we had a chat with our dealer, who was displaying at the show, and arranged for the van to be taken to the dealership for an engineer to look at first thing on Monday. On Sunday night the entertainment was a local singer/comedian who was 10 times better than Davro. On Monday we went to the dealers who tried a number of fixes, but couldn't get it working (I subsequently got it working a couple of weeks later).

In all, a damp, miserable weekend and we will probably not go to this show again.

Monday, 14 September 2015

Sheringham 17-19 Jul 15

With a nice shiny new windscreen (at last) we set off for Sheringham for the beer festival. As ever with the Incleborough Fields campsite, we had problems choosing a pitch as there are so many and so scattered around, but eventually settled down and enjoyed a Thai Green Curry cooked on the cadac which stank the whole site out!

On Saturday it was up and out for the train ride into Sheringham, a walk down the high street and then into the beer festival where we met up with the Taylors. Fish and chips for lunch and the statutory Cromer crab sandwich for tea completed our day.

On Sunday we had a stroll down to the beach and up onto the hills behind the site and, on Monday morning, headed for home.

Wednesday, 9 September 2015

Crystal Palace 9-12 Jul 15

Crystal Palace again - arrived, pitched, visited Mother, went out for a curry in Twickenham, the in-laws visited the bus for a BBQ on Sat and we went home on Sunday. That is all....

Typical Sarf Larndarn oiks

France & Belgium 11-22 Jun 15

The title should read "Alsace & the Black Forest" but the joys of motoring holidays mean that things can change very quickly and one has to adapt. We arrived in France on Thurs 11 Jun after a very uneventful journey and crossing, stopping at a Carrefour to stock up with cheap fuel and even cheaper wine. As we headed out for the last leg on a newly tarmacked road, a French garcon-racer totally ignored the 20kph speed limit and generated a hailstorm of stones as he sped past. With a loud crack, a stone hit the edge of the windscreen and formed a nice 4" crack which started to work its way across the screen, not helped by the very high temperature. Then the fun began...

We parked up at our first planned stopover, the lovely Chateau du Gandspette and started the calls to the insurance companies. I won't bore you with the unending saga of dealing with these most unhelpful of people, but the bottom line is that the insurance company's windscreen cover agent in France (Carglass - part of the Autoglass Group) will not repair motorhome windscreens. After many frustrating calls, it was finally agreed that we should head for Belgium where there was a better chance of getting a repair under the insurance policy. As nothing could be done until the following Monday, we stayed at Gandspette and enjoyed a good rest, some nice meals and a trip into St Omer for shopping and a poke around.

Very flat is Belgium

Cracking Windscreen

St Omer. Now - where did we leave the bus?

On Sunday 14 we drove to our first stop in Belgium, Camping 17 in Bredene. This is a pretty basic site, but ideally located, and here we discovered the excellent coast tram that runs from the Dutch Border to the French Border along the coast of Belgium. We went to the Pub in the evening and discovered that beer is considerably cheaper - and better - in Belgium.

Mon 15 - After calling Autoglass to arrange for a windscreen, which had to be ordered, we decided on a trip to Bruges. Taking the coast tram to Ostend, we boarded the excellent train to Bruges and had a very nice day bimbling around this historic city, albeit it was packed with tourists and, of course, the lunch was very expensive. We resisted the urge to go around the chip museum!

On Tue 16 there was still no news on the windscreen so we moved up the coast towards Zeebrugge/Holland and found a very nice site, Bonanza 1 in Blakenberge. The site is not so close to the sea and a bit of a walk into town, but is in a nice, quiet residential area. We had a walk along the front and a beer in an excellent beach bar.

On Wednesday we relaxed and wandered around Blakenberge.

On Thu 18 we decided that we would buy a day pass and take the tram from the Dutch border all the way to the French Border. It was a looooong day and one not to be repeated, but we can now say that we have done this amazing feat (yawn).

On Fri 19 we moved to Camping Ter Duinen in Den Haan, a site we had visited many years ago with friends. We wandered into the town, wandered back again looking for food, found nothing and went to bed. Not the most inspiring of sites and we wouldn't go back there again.

On Sat 20 we took the tram to Ostend and a train to Ghent, which, in some ways, we preferred to Bruges as there were less tourists around. The public transport system in Belgium is so much better than ours - our tram ticket on the coast also covered the trams in Ghent. Bargain! There was still no sign of a windscreen appearing and we were being given the runaround, so we decided to bang out and arrange for a replacement at home.

On Sun 21 we crossed back over the border into France and parked up for the night on the Gravelines aire. Gravelines is an interesting place and the weather was fine so we bimbled along the road to Fort Mahon Plage before returning for a glass of wine outside the bus.

On Mon 22 we were up early for the early crossing. So early that we were there before the usual directing staff and found ourselves in the crossing queue when we really wanted to be in the shop for breakfast and wine. It would appear that once you are in there is no way back, so an early crossing was made and we headed to the Ashford Outlet Mall and parked up early for breakfast and a bit of shopping before heading home and, hopefully, a repair of a windscreen by good old UK fitters!

Postnote: The windscreen was eventually repaired at home by Autoglass after we had to wait for a screen to be delivered from - yep, you guessed it. Belgium. You couldn't make it up!