Tuesday 8 May 2018

We're on our Way Again!!

Tuesday 8th May 2018
Parking Place Coordinates 53.06426, -1.39653

Well, where to start!  We've been residing at Butterley Bank CL for last 53 days and most of them have been quite busy so our time here has literally flown by.  During our stay here (without the modern comfort of electric hook up) the English weather has continued to test our metal and we've 'enjoyed' many of the elements  it has in it's arsenal including snow⛄, wind, rain๐ŸŒง️ , more rain๐ŸŒง️๐ŸŒง️, and even more rain๐ŸŒง️ ๐ŸŒง️๐ŸŒง️ (which resulted in lots of gloopy sticky mud!!) But now, just as we're getting ready to move on the sun has taken pity on us and has been out playing for the last few days ๐ŸŒž๐ŸŒž!



Maximus William Varney 
If you read my last post which was published back towards the end of March you might remember that one of the main reasons for our visit home was to spend some valuable time catching up with all our family and friends, but we probably wouldn't have come back from sunny Spain quite so early if it wasn't for the fact that we were desperate to meet the newest addition to our family!

Unsurprisingly, we've also had to complete loads of more mundane tasks like visiting Doctors, Dentists and Osteopaths, and  during our time here we've also treated T4rdis2 to a whole now look - we've been reupholstered by Regal Furnishings who specialise in revamping motorhomes and caravans.  Our old soft furnishings were of grey leatherette that looked very tired, and in places, it had torn at the seams.  However, our new finished product looks so much cleaner and brighter that we're really very pleased with it, so for us, because it's our home, it was money well spent!



Another big chunk of our time has been spent sorting out lots of admin and route planning in readiness for our next big adventure which will be a 4 month (and maybe + a bit) tour of Scandinavia.  Our ferry (which includes the luxury of a day cabin) leaves Harwich at 9am on 9th May and will deliver us to the Hook of Holland by about 5.30 their time.  From there we're going to aim for the Het Groene Hart Camper Plaatz in the Haarlemmermeer Polder - a camper stop which we've stayed at before and which is situated in the bottom of a drained old lake!  We're going to stay there for a couple of days and then our vague plan is to move on into Germany and then Denmark from where we'll cross over the toll bridge into Sweden and then proceed up into Norway - but I'll tell you more about all that as we go because this post is supposed to be about what we've been doing while we've been home!

That would include lots of very precious time babysitting and playing with our Grandchildren, several family outings,  lots of feasts with both family and friends, and additionally, we've very much enjoyed looking after John's Mum while John's sister Val and her husband John nipped off for a couple of very well earned breaks in their motorhome.   We've also spent some time ensuring that T4rdis2 is well organised and fit for the task of conveying us for the  many many miles that this tour is likely to cover. 

But finally our last weekend came around and thankfully perfect weather prevailed so a picnic with all our close family present was organised and thoroughly enjoyed by all! 


From the left - Louise, Vicky, Thomas, Adam with baby Max, Jack, Ben with Evelyn, Sarah and Paul.


I'm not sure who managed to bag the most goes on the cart but occasionally you could
even spot a BIG child zooming down the hill!

Big Bro Jack keeping a careful eye on Little Bro Max
Father and Son - They said they were smiling
but I'm not quite so sure!
Big cousin Tom looking
after little cousin Evelyn

Momar having a cuddle with
 2 of her favourite boys




And finally most of us wending our way home after a truly lovely day out - the memories of which will have to keep us content until we can do it again when we get back in September - Thanks everyone.








Then finally on Monday (7th) we had another nice surprise!  A couple who we've previously met at Butterley Bank and who are fellow full timers arrived on site and it was great to have a chat and compare notes of our recent travels.  However unfortunately, although they'd had a lovely 7 month tour, on their way home and in the South of France they got broken into and lots of their possessions had been nicked.  On the brighter side their van wasn't badly damaged and they didn't seem to be letting the incident dampen their spirits - but their tale really has made us more security conscious and we certainly won't be straying far without first ensuring our alarm is set!


And now, as I'm tapping out these lines we're  finally well on our way to the start of  our new adventure.  We've already enjoyed a lunch stop on the edge of the beautiful Rutland Water  which provides a water supply to one of the UK's driest and most densely populated regions.  This lovely reservoir is set in 3,100 acres of parkland and has a 23 mile perimeter track for cycling and walking, as well as large grassy shores for lazing, games and picnics - me thinks a return visit is brewing!

Then, after our delightful picnic we recommenced out journey - slow to start, but now we're nicely cruising along the M11 towards the Grange Farm Campsite which will put us in nice range of Harwich Port for tomorrow morning.
Parking Place Coordinates 51.85176, 1.15746

Anyway, that's all for now - but rest assured I won't be leaving it so long as I did last time until my next blog.

Take care ๐Ÿ˜˜๐Ÿ˜˜

PS - John and Val - thanks for coming out of retirement especially to deliver our parcel๐Ÿ˜‚!
PPS - Mum - we both hope your feeling much better xxx


Click here to see our UK camping spots