Category: 2017 Trips

Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Aug 5th 2017

Posted in 2017 Trips, Attractions, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Scotland, Seafood, Sightseeing, WhiskeyLeave a comment

Ever since Keith and I got together 7 years ago- one (along with many others!) mutual bucket list adventure we wanted to achieve was attending The Royal Military Tattoo in Edinburgh. 10 years ago I spent an entire summer up in Edinburgh playing in a Fringe Show, and Keith's dousing has lived up here for years and years, yet still we've never been able to make it happen. 7 years ago we made a pact that we would and this year is the year it finally was able to happen!

We dropped Jazz with my mum and Alec and boarded our Virgin East coast train on Friday morning. Unsurprisingly, as not only was the Tattoo starting on Friday but so was the Fringe Festival, the train was packed and quite uncomfortable so we settled ourselves in and watched some catch up on the iPads, and actually before we knew it we were rolling into Edinburgh Waverley Station.

Simon couldn't meet us until after work so we had an hour or so to kill- naturally we headed for the pub, one of our favourites the Ensign Ewitt for the first of many gins, beers and drams!

Our very good friend Mark is a sound engineer for the Tattoo and was busy at the castle in his super duper recording van prepping to record that nights show – his job is to record it, edit it and have the official CD on the shelf for Monday's performance. He contacted us and said although he couldn't get away we were welcome to pop up and see his office for the weekend which was exciting, and as always, lovely to see him for ten mins.

It was 4pm and time to meet Simon so we bid Mark a farewell and headed to the Malt Shovel on Cockburn St. The Royal Mile is always a fun place to be at this time of year- lots of people doing publicity for their shows and a really happy, exciting if not slightly nutty vibe all the way!

Once we'd met Simon, Friday night followed in a big catch up, naturally involving a few bars and refreshments! Simon once again showed us some really cool places in Leith and we enjoyed our dinner of Shetland Mussels and beef and Haggis burgers at Nobles.

Saturday dawned brighter than the BBC had indicated, despite a few foggy heads in the O'Gorman/Williams clan! 🤣
Nothing a good sausage and haggis roll, super charged espresso, a pork and Haggis scotch egg and a Bloody Mary, or in Keith's case a Bloody Scotsman (replaced vodka with whiskey!!) can't sort out!

After a lazy morning we took the bus from Leith up to Princes Street where I deposited the boys in John Lewis Gadget section whilst I went off for a shop for an hour. Big mistake- Keith, inspired by Simon's "Smart Flat" has brought a Amazon Echo Dot and subsequently has spent every available minute researching what we can link up to it in our house!
Boys and their toys eh?!

Edinburgh is always such a special place for me, I had a little moment as I dragged myself away from the shops- look at the view from Princes Street- lovely architecture, Arthur's seat- and check out the blue sky!

We opted for lunch at Wagamama's, a treat for me as usually when we go I'm driving- so today I could indulge in my other favourite alcoholic drink, SAKE! KANPAI!

Trying to be sensible (!) we decided to head back to the flat for a nap ready for the excitement of the evening to come.

We made our way back into town 6ish and had a couple of drinks, including one on the mile so we could indulge in some people watching before a delicious curry at Gurkha Restaurant- definitely recommend it there, it's our second visit!

It was now time to head to the castle, I e never seen so many people queuing to get in either! Mark had texted us to make sure we gave ourselves lots of time, he said at the 7:30 showing people were arriving once the show had started. At 9:00 when we were wandering up, we had he previous audience departing and the current audience arriving- so 18000 people and the top end of the mile is rather narrow. Still, the organisation was with military precision, what else would you expect, this is the 68th year!

We were in within 20 mins of he doors opening at 9:45- exceptional!

To show was simply SENSATIONAL. Everything that I hoped it would be and a million times more. The special effects and projectors (all 12 of them according to Mark) casting phenomenal images and patterns onto the castle backdrop, the music obviously, the choreography, THE WEATHER!- everything was just awesome. I will never forget our night there!








We walked all the way home to Leith and to took me about an hour to get to sleep- I had so much adrenaline!
Today has dawned sunny again, hurrah! So we will head back into town. Plans are to try and see the Jacobites exhibition and perhaps see some Jazz.

Then back south tomorrow to see Dad and Jenny, pick up Ruby and Jazz and get some adventures going in our campervan!

Until next time
Lx

Old Buckenham Air Show Review

Posted in 2017 Trips, Historical places, Mini Break, Norfolk, Review, Sightseeing1 Comment

For the last five years we've had to endure driving past signs for the Old Buckenham Airshow knowing we were unable to go because of other diary commitments or us taking our holidays too early. This year however our diary was full of local commitments so for the last 6 weeks or so we've been quietly looking forward to this event.

Old Buckenham airbase was built for the USAAF 453rd Bombardment Group during the war and was home to the legendary James Stewart for a time. It's just off the A11 in between Thetford and Norwich.

Showday soon came around and we'd spent all week planning what to take in our picnic hamper. Yes, that's right- Old Buckenham Air Show is one of the few events we've attended recently that still allows a good old fashioned picnic – despite the fact that there was a very enticing local food (and drink) village as part of the show at reasonable prices.

We bundled Jazz the pampered pooch into the van along with enough food to feed the five thousand, and set off nice and early to secure a good spot! As well as being family friendly (apparently the kids changing areas were very good this year) Dogs are also welcome and catered for with a great big Doggie Watering station.

Car parking was easy and free- all the local air cadets were doing a fabulous job guiding cars in and before we knew it we were setting our stall out in prime position (with lots of others I hasten to add- definitely worth arriving around 10am as gates open).

We left our picnic with our chairs and went for a wander around the show. First up for us was the large display of WW2 vehicles- Keith was in his element, he's a huge history buff and the vehicles were in great condition. He had to drag me past the queue for tank rides! It looked so much fun so maybe next time for that!

There was also a large collection of classic cars to look at including a couple of beautiful split screen VWs 😍. May favourite was the one painted in the colour of my favourite wine 🍷.

Further round the site was a small funfair for the kiddies, a collection of stalls selling camping bits, aviation and wartime souvenirs.

After an hour or so of mooching I couldn't wait any longer to get picnicking- this was timed well as the commentators announced the bar opened at 12:00. Keith went to get some beer whilst I set our food out. He really enjoyed all four of the local ales on offer but his favourite was the Shark.


After a lovely leisurely lunch it was almost time for the main feature and boy what an exciting program it was!

First up was some airplane aerobics and some impressive loop de loops!
This was followed by local pilots The Wildcats doing some amazing synchronised formation work.
A favourite act was next- O'Brien's Flying Circus- where Brendan attempted successfully to land his plane on a moving landing area being towed at 60mph by a car! Which was gripping! He managed a touch down despite fairly strong winds

Next up was our show highlight- star of the film "Memphis Belle" – the last flying B17 in Europe, SallyB. Absolutely sensational seeing her in the air. And when she put her smoke on for her final salute and they played We'll meet again through the speakers- well, Keith and I were blubbing like babies!

How do you follow this?! Well, with the P51 Mustang "the Shark" of course. Listen to the sound of the wind rushing through the gun placements. AMAZING

The Hurricane that was scheduled to fly was sadly unable to fly due to technical problems so instead the Messerschmitt took to the skies.

Next up and another treat- the Spitfire- this particular one is used in all the films. Again- just listen to that sound.👇isn't it fabulous.


After such an indulgence of history and beauty it was onto the lighter fun acts, including Otto the helicopter from O'Brien's flying circus doing all sorts of crazy things that you wouldn't normally see helicopters do!
There were a couple more local pilots doing light aircraft manoeuvres before the finale – a real plane shadowed by a remote controlled 41% sized model aircraft- doing a simultaneous routine. Fantastic. The flying went on for over 1.5hours and was fantastic. We absolutely LOVED the whole show (as you can probably gather by this post!)

Tickets cost £18 (advance online rate) or £20 on the door for Sunday. Saturday is a reduced rate but there were less acts flying. Would highly recommend this for next year.

Campsites close by include Old Buckenham Country Park. Or you can pre book camping at the airfield.

Keep an eye on twitter @OldBuckAirshow for details of next years show and if you want to see more pics of the day search #oldbuckairshow

All pics above were taken on my Sony Cybershop Superzoom //ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=advinamot-21&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=B00IFEWK56&asins=B00IFEWK56&linkId=e233801f00ef97f4ad64e2f77d62eab1&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff.

Until next time
Lx

Looking for something to do this weekend? Look no further!

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Anyone else not on their main summer holidays yet?! We don’t break up until Tuesday and are just itching to get out and about. Luckily we’ve found the perfect thing to do this weekend, and we are really excited about it, so just had to share it! Introducing The Old Buckenham Airshow. It’s on both Saturday and Sunday and is based at a fabulous WW2 airbase, where the legend that is JIMMY STEWART was based back in the war. Yes, that’s right, we’ve just discovered that Keith’s most favourite actor from his most favourite Christmas Film (It’s a Wonderful Life) was stationed less than ten miles from our front door! As Keith said earlier, theres a very strong chance that Mr Stewart went for drinks in our local! Bless him, he’s over the moon!

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We went to the airshow back in 2012, and haven’t managed to go since for various reasons, mainly holidays (!) but we loved it. You can take a picnic, and even the dog is made welcome. Talking of which,  Jazz is rather excited about seeing the Spitfire flying. Keith is looking forward to seeing the B17 Flying Fortress SALLY B (which was used in the film Memphis Belle) and we’ve seen on the ground at Duxford but not flying, whilst I’m extremely excited to be seeing Otto The Helicopter!

Elsewhere at the show, there is set to be local food, drink, tank rides, and a classic car show. Perfect for a day out – what more do you need.

We are lucky and only live down the road, but if you are from further afield, there are several local campsites including the beautiful Old Buckenham Country Park. Tickets are available online at the website and are just £12 for Saturday or £18 for Sunday. Under 12s go free.

We’re going Sunday, so keep your eyes peeled for Ruby the Campervan in the carpark!

Until next time

Lx

A weekend in sunny Suffolk <3

Posted in 2017 Trips, Broads, Campervan Cooking, Camping and Caravan Club, Camping and Caravan Club CS, Gadgets, Local Food, suffolkLeave a comment

Ruby the Campervan has whisked us away for a little bit of a change of scenery for a couple of days. School is now officially out for Summer (hurrah!) but we can’t go too far afield as we’ve got a few days of private teaching and gigs, plus a holiday course to run before our main holibobs.

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Feeling totally drained having had to battle with not only end of term shenanigans, but also a flooded house (arghhh) we were so tired we couldn’t even decided on where to go! We ended up settling on the Suffolk coast for a night for some sea air and then a night in land, at the gateway to the broads at Beccles. Both locations were near to walks we’ve previously done before should we feel the need to be energetic.

Friday morning arrived, the sun was shining, so off we set, an hour down the road to Dunwich. Dunwich was once the capital of East Anglia and was the third biggest port in England back in Anglo Saxon times. Now, its home to less than 200 according to the 2011 census, because of coastal erosion, the entire village has gone! It’s a lovely wild, pebbly beach, and has a fab Adnams pub, not that we visited this time.

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We parked up in the huge beach carpark at Dunwich and set off on our walk towards Dunwich Heath, a huge National Trust heathland, that at this time of year is the most gorgeous shade of purple.

2017-07-21 12.48.54-2We thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and were surprised we had clocked up 5.5 miles by the time we got back to Ruby. The walk wanted us to carry on further up past Ruby, but we were shattered so grabbed a picnic blanket, our flasks, and had a relax on the beach for a while instead.

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We realised we were nodding off on the beach so moved Ruby the 15 mins dive to our base for the night- Eastridge Farm Camping and Caravan Club CL at Eastbridge (nr to Leiston). This was a basic site, at only £9 there was nothing other than a waste disposal, a tap and a very VERY basic loo. BUT- it was a huge field and was absolutely silent therefore, in our eyes it was perfect- the sun was shining so we got our stuff out, including sun loungers for the first time this year- and had 40 winks.

We got the opportunity to try out our new Milestone Camping Solar Shower – Black, 20 Litres“>Solar Shower that Dad gave us. We filled it at home and it sat on our dashboard whilst we were walking in Dunwich.

2017-07-21 15.06.48The water was really warm, and so we hung it on the sliding door and took it in turns to protect each others modesty whilst we had a quick rinse. We were really impressed with how it works. It has certainly opened the option of us being wild for more than two nights at a time now (perhaps only during summer though!)

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We had a lovely BBQ that evening, the sun shone brightly for us all night! Keith was in his element as he didn’t even have to get out his seat to get another cold beer thanks to his birthday present 12v Electric Coolbox 

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Around 9pm we decided to have a wander to the local pub, The Eel’s Foot, less than 5 mins walk- perfect. A great selection of Adnams beers and a lovely menu (handy for next time) Despite Eastridge being a tiny hamlet the pub was PACKED! Great to see.

We slept so heavily and had a big lay in, whilst the rain eased off, which it did around 9am. We had toast using my RidgeMonkey MK2 Standard Toaster ‘Black’ with FREE Utensil Kit and homemade jam before setting off towards Beccles. I’ve set a summer goal of doing as much Farm shop shopping/cooking as possible, and knew we’d pass at least one farm shop on our journey. We did- so we pulled in, where we had a splurge, and bought some local chicken breasts, local mushrooms, local scones, clotted cream and loads of local raspberries and apricots to make jam with when we are home. On our walk yesterday we had also picked up a courgette from someone’s roadside stall for 20p!

We arrived at our next campsite, Dove Cottage, (£11.50pn incl. electric and with shower) near to Beccles around midday. We picked this site due to it’s close proximity to Beccles, where we had a 7 mile walk in mind, but in reality, despite it being a glorious day, we both just fancied going straight to the campsite and relaxing for the afternoon! So thats what we did. I made us beef and cheese pannini’s in the Ridgemonkey, we had a little explore from the site then we just set our stall out and relaxed away!  Sometimes you just need to stop! The weather was amazing, and we actually got quite tanned 🙂 We dragged ourselves away from the sunbeds for a cream tea mid afternoon.

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Dinner was a delicious Chicken, mushroom and Courgette risotto and as it cooled off we moved inside and began our Cracker boxset. We enjoyed a very local cheeseboard with cheeses we had brought earlier from the farm shop.

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We had a fair amount of rain overnight but luckily it had cleared in time before breakfast. We were due to have a full English, but it turned into a bit of a disaster – first, the gas ran out on the hob in Ruby. So Keith got out our outside portable one. Then the gas on that ran out. So we changed that over. Then our sausages, which were from our local butchers, and are usually amazing, just would not cook! Put it this way, I was cooking them for 1 hour 20 mins and they were still raw inside. So they ended up in the bin, and we had a well done bacon, eggs, beans and mushrooms. This delay meant that the weather was beginning to take a turn for the worse, so rather than our planned 7 mile walk from Beccles we decided to do a much shorter river walk, which was lovely, and got home just as the rain started.

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We had such a lovely mini break, just what the doctor ordered thats for sure. So just a handful of working days left now before we are off for our main summer holidays to South Wales, via Edinburgh (!) for a night at the Tattoo and Bristol for the International Balloon Festival! So excited about both of these!

Links to our new on board gadgets below (click on the pics)

Until next time

Lx

 

A cheeky night away in Ruby, Norfolk 1st July

Posted in 2017 Trips, NorfolkLeave a comment

The Summer term is always a crazy busy one for us and this one has been no exception! Our normally busy schedule was exasperated when we realised that several concerts we had booked over the last year all fell within 2.5 weeks of each other! So we had a rather busy and musical June seeing some of our most favourite musical icons- Take That at the 02 (with All Saints who were also pretty good!), The Royal Philharmonic at the Albert Hall, Level 42 and UB40 at Newark Featival and then Michael Ball and Alfie Boe at Lincoln Castle! 


A night was free in our diary (1st July) and so we jumped at the chance of getting our errands done and dusted asap and hitting the road. Our destination wasn’t too far- just 15 miles down the road. We were trying a C&CC certified site outside of Harleston called the Orchard. 

Near it was a National Trust managed site with a motte and bailey – apparently the largest in England. Unfortunately the site wasn’t managed at all and there was diddly squat to see, so we sent my new sparkly drone (DJI Phantom 3) up to see and still nope, nothing. So off we went to our campsite where we proceeded to sit and chill and to our hearts content. We were the only people on site however despite it being one of the Camping and Caravan Club “hideaway” sites- unfortunately it wasn’t one of the most peaceful afternoons we’ve had due to lots of noise from the surrounding houses. 


One of the purposes of the trip was to try out our summer duvet – a light 4 tog- which was fab. I’m in love with our duvet cover too! 


 Next day we nipped down to the Albert Hall like you do to see Woody Allen! Amazing! And Keith’s hero!


Ever since that it’s been caos. The next day we had a flood (burst water pipe!) which has left a trail of devastation downstairs – on top of which we have had two exams days 2 concerts and 3 gigs! We are currently carpet and furniture less downstowns so last night we nipped down the road for dinner in Ruby at a local picnic site and dusk walk which was just what the doctor order. 


One week left at school- this time next week we hope to be able to pop away for a night or two to recharge the old batteries! The. 3rd Aug we’re off for our Summer trip! More on that another time! 

Until next time 

Lx 

Our annual Pilgrimage to Scotland Part 3: A quick stopover at the Lake District 

Posted in 2017 Trips, Ale, Attractions, Lake District, Scotland, Sightseeing, Whiskey5 Comments

Ruby the campervan is parked up alongside  Gillside Beck- we arrived here yesterday, Friday, after a fairly longish journey from our Loch Ness Brit Stop. The reason for departing Scotland a day early is stood proudly behind us, and frankly looks scary as hell- perhaps that’s where the name Helvellyn comes from! For a couple of years now, Keith and I have talked about how we’d like to tackle Helvellyn and Striding Edge. For both of us, it’s a personal challenge. Neither of us particularly like hill walking, and I’m terrified of drops, yet I have spent hours marvelling at people’s instagram pics of Striding Edge. I just knew I had to go and give it my best foot forward. Luckily, my husband is also crazy so despite his hatred of walking up hills agreed to attempt it with me, if he weather looked ok on or way home from Scotland. 

So back in February we booked our pitch at Gillside Farm, knowing there was a hefty chance we’d cancel if weather looked bad. We’d been about internet for well over 24 hours and finally picked up 4g as passed through Fort William. Keith as driving and I checked Patterdale – well il be blowed it was only showing full sun for tomorrow. “Off we go then”, I said, feeling the colour draining from my chops! 

Gillside Farm is nestled right at the bottom of the main path from Glenriding up to Helvellyn- so on arrival we decided to check where our oath started, before prepping our rucksacks, making a packed lunch and enjoying a simply cook Murgh Kari curry for tea. The mood in the Ruby was certainly of apprehension! We watched the live election debate before calling it a night. I dreamt that we got stuck on Helvellyn! What a great dream- not! 

Saturday dawned as promised, absolutely glorious. There really is nowhere as beautiful as the Lakes in this weather! Apprehension was again strife! We moved around our daily routine almost in silence- I chucked some venison and a few bits of stray veg into the slow cooker to bubble away ready for our return. Keith packed, double packed and triple checked the rucksacks. By 09:15 we’d had our porridge and cereal bars and were ready to go. I was BRICKING it. 


The first mile is literally uphill. There is no relief from it – it is hard. Really really hard. Loads of people passed us, we were both puffing like a steam train and I was almost ready to chuck the towel in. However-the  views were stunning and that really kept us going. The views to Ullswater were sensational. 

 

After over an hour and exactly a mile- the uphillness became easier! I thought I’d suddenly become super fit but Keith declared “hurray, we are now following the contours rather than crossing them” We were rewarded with great views of Helvellyn and red tarn and actually started enjoying ourselves! 

Before we knew it we were reaching the start of Striding Edge. I gave myself one last talking to and before I know it we were across! Striding Edge if you are not familiar, is a ridge that leads to Helvellyn, England’s 3rd  highest behind Scafell and Sca. It was really, really hard- in fact a man in front of us stopped and turned round- he said he couldn’t cope with it any more- so was going to find the easier path. Keith and I (and jazz!) kept our heads down,took it very slowly and carefully and stopped regularly for photos – AND I DIDNT HAVE A PANIC ATTACK! 

I still can’t believe we walked across that ridge!!!

Getting to the other side my legs were like Jelly. Then we realised we had nasty scramble ahead to get to the summit. It wasn’t a scramble it it literally was rock climbing. Omg. 😳 However the camoradory between all the walkers was fantastic – and as we crossed the last ridge before the summit I had a tear in my eye! We’d done it! Bucket list ticked ✅




After a cheese roll or three we discovered it was as steep if not worse on the way down! Off we set, taking so much care- we even had to carry Jazz over a couple of bits as he refused and dug his claws in! Slowly we descended and 3 hours later we were back at Ruby feeling immensely proud of ourselves! 


We had a swift dram before continuing to the pub for a couple( including a Lake District Gin!!) and returning to Ruby for our venison stew.


Tomorrow we head home (sad face!) we have had a blast and couldn’t have wished for an sweet finish today. We’ve survived 10 whole days in our downsized campervan with no pop top. Ruby is working for us! Hurrah! 

Until next time 

Lx 

Our annual pilgrimage to Scotland, May 2017. Part 2. Wester Ross

Posted in 2017 Trips, Ale, Drone Photography, Scotland, Sightseeing1 Comment

Tuesday

 We had such a peaceful night at the foot of the Cuillin Hills and slept like logs! Unfortunately when we woke up it was still not great weather wise, so we wasted no time in packing up and hitting the road. We made a quick stop at the Spar shop in Broadford before taking the Kyle Bridge back over to the mainland. We had a brilliant time shopping in the Spar, it was crammed full of local food and drink- our major weakness! We popped in for some potatoes and some rice, and came out with over £60 worth of goodies, including some local frozen venison, sausages, veg, a bottle of Misty Isle Gin (whoops, that slipped in the basket!) cheeses, chutney, ales etc. Whoops!


Back on mainland and we took the Wester Ross Coastal route, which was beautiful despite the wet weather. We pulled over for some toast and marmalade overlooking Loch Caron, and carried on towards Gairloch. We really enjoyed this route and can’t recall taking it before. We will definitely return to this area, and hope for some better weather next time. Talking of the weather, just as we were pulling up at our home for the next two nights, Gruinard Bay Caravan Park, the rain stopped, hurrah! 
The pitches at Gruinard Bay Caravan Park have a super view, they are right on the beach front. We however managed to be assigned the pitch closest to the neighbouring graveyard… so we decided to park on sidewards so our door was directly facing the sea. Not sure if we were meant to, but no one challenged us, and it wasn’t particularly busy there. Otherwise our door would have been directly facing the graves! It was a nice enough site, but needed a bit of TLC to say the least. Showers were clean, but very small, and actually only one of each sex, and situated in a rickety portacabin. We enjoyed a chill overlooking the sea for the remainder of the afternoon, and a hearty Spag Bol for tea before having an early night. 


Wednesday arrives and still no sign of rain, so we enjoyed a full cooked breakfast outside before driving off pitch 8 miles down the road to visit National Trust for Scotland’s Inverewe Gardens.


 We enjoyed their pinewood trail first with Jazz, then left him to sleep in the van whilst we wandered round the gardens. They are billed to be the best botanical gardens in Europe. We enjoyed our visit although I think we were perhaps a couple of days late to enjoy the best of the rhodedendrums. Still worth a visit. 



On our way back to the campsite we followed signs for “The Food emporium”, which turned out to be a little smokehouse where we picked up some delicious smoked cod and smoked cheddar cheese.


 By now the sun was back out in force so we scuttled back to the campsite and set up base again. Tonight we enjoyed a lovely BBQ, this time on the gas one as it was bit drafty, consisting of our smoked cod and couscous for starter then steak and chips for main. Yum! Keith washed his down with some very local ales from a small craft brewery down the road, one of which he said was the best he’d had! I also managed to get the drone up a couple of times. A happy afternoon and evening. 


Thursday 
We decided to make an earlyish start as we’d got a few miles to cover today. We skipped our morning cuppa and breakfast, choosing to stop at viewpoint further into our journey to enjoy those. 

Somehow, despite a breakfast stop and a top up Tesco shop, we managed to arrived at our Brit Stop location almost an hour before our first eta! We are now at BritStop no. 841, a tea room and farm shop situated on the quiet side of Loch Ness. We’d never taken the B852 road on the other side of Loch Ness before, and Keith tells me the road is called General Waide’s Military Road. It was a lovely alternative to the much busier A82 . After introducing ourselves, we had a quick bite to eat and set off for a little walk down the road to the Falls of Foyer. What we didn’t realise was that Robert Burns based his poem “Waterfall” on these falls, and they are set within a most spectacular gorge. 

It really was a lovely walk, and we worked up a good appetite to enjoy a nice afternoon cream time on arrival back at the tea rooms. 
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent chilling, tomorrow we have a longer drive towards the Lake District as we have a date with Hellvelln and Striding edge (weather permitting!) on Saturday. Dinner tonight was a very very tasty Simply Cook Haddock risotto. Yum! 

Until next time 

Lx 

Our annual pilgrimage to Scotland, May 2017. Part 1. Norfolk to Skye 

Posted in 2017 Trips, Campervan Cooking, cycling, Drone Photography, Glen Coe, Local Food, Scotland, Sightseeing, Whiskey, Wild Camping12 Comments

Thursday (into Friday!)

Ruby the campervan is parked up at our favourite Scotland Border crossing, Carter Bar, just before Jedburgh. It’s 00:30 (Friday morning) and we were working until 7pm in Thetford. It’s been a funny ol week, we’ve battled illness, workload and a new (unplanned!) motor for Ruby’s habitation sliding door, but somehow we’ve made it here and in record time! If that doesn’t warrant a beer I don’t know what does. Unlike previous stays here, tonight we have company in the form of two other motorhome. Trying to be as quiet as we could, we set Ruby up for bed and crashed out for a hefty deep sleep. 

Friday 

Friday dawns the most spectacular of day’s. We were up by 07:15 and enjoyed actually seeing the view! Usually it’s misty! Not only is it ☀️- it’s also HOT!!! At 07:30 I’m parading around in shorts and a vest top- with NO FLEECE! We had a quick chat with our neighbours before hitting the road again just after 08:00- destination, Loch Lomond, via New Lanark, a UNESCO heritage site near to Glasgow. We followed the Tweed Valley all the way and it was so beautiful, all these years of coming, it’s always a great treat to discover a new gem and has earnt a place on our “next time” list. 

New Lanark was lovely. It’s now looked after by UNESCO but once was a Georgian Mill village. All the buildings have been kept original, and you can go inside many for a fee. We chose not to as it was such a sunny day it seemed a shame to be inside. Instead we took advantage of the 5km woodland and waterfall trail along the banks of the River Clyde. Parking was free which was a nice touch and there is no entrance fee if you are only wandering the village without going inside. Parts of the walk along the Clyde reminded us of being in Colorado. After our walk, we enjoyed some of the New Lanark ice cream which is made on site. 

After a quick lunch we hit the road again passing through Glasgow and onto Loch Lomond. Always an exciting moment for us getting that first view of Ben Lomond. We stopped at the farm shop near to Luss, stocked up with local cider, cheese, venison- all the essentials! before carrying on to the main car park in Tarbet. Recently wild camping in Loch Lomond and The Trossachs has been banned, however they have introduced a fair system of pre purchasing a permit for the evening at £3 per night. We were keen to support it and duly paid our £3 online 30 days in advance, choosing where we wanted our permit to be valid. Sadly, on arrival at 5pm the car park was packed. We managed to squeeze in a space but the area was heaving. Obviously the sunshine and the bank holiday was bringing the world and his wife out, and although we gave it a good hour, we decided it was far too busy for us, and so we set off again, this time heading for the viewpoint at Black Mountains, just beyond the Bridge of Orchy. It was a gamble, would we turn up and find no space, as it was going to be near to 7pm. It was a tense journey, but luckily we arrived to find bags of room, with only one other van there. We bagged the best spot too, so we went about setting up a BBQ and went on to enjoy a fabulous evening. During the evening several other vans arrived, including a caravan, all stopping for some rest before heading north again early the next morning. We had a wonderful evening and slept like logs! 

Saturday arrived and the sunshine was still here. Hurray! The forecast however was not so optimistic, so we set off, stopping for breakfast at Glencoe, always a favourite- good lord, it was SO BUSY! We’ve stopped there every year for breakfast and this year without a doubt was the busiest we have seen. We squeezed on to the end and managed to have our breakfast, I decided to make the bagpiper a cuppa which he enjoyed. Good deed done so off we travelled again, towards Fort William.


 Again, it was PACKED! We squeezed into Morrisons for a top up shop, there were queues everywhere, not too dissimilar to the Christmas Eve shopping experience! I managed to get some local gin, which cheered me up, so shopping loaded in, we set off along the road to the Isles, our destination being one of our favourite sites, SilverSands at Arisaig. We tried to stop at Glenfinnan Viaduct, but couldn’t get parked. Are you noticing a theme here? 

Onwards we went, arriving at Silversands just as the rain began. A spot of rain does not take away the beauty of this place, and once again we were lucky to have a sea front pitch so we settled in, had a long nap and woke in time for the rain to have gone. 10 steps away from our pitch we had the most gorgeous white sand beach. It really is idylic. We enjoyed a beer on the beach, and met our neighbour, Charlie, who turned out to be a lovely fella- always checking if we needed anything from the shop when he went in his car. That evening I cooked us a delicious Simply cook prawn linguine and we went to bed around 11- it was still light! 


Sunday- the weather forecast wasn’t good, which was disappointing so we decided to have a lazy morning. I cooked us a cooked breakfast and just as I was serving up, the sun came out! “Quick”, I said to Keith, “get the outside chairs out, it may not last”! We enjoyed our sea view and watched as people fled to the beach, kayaks and dingies in hand, everyone desperate to enjoy the sun whilst it was there! 

Last night we discovered that the midges are here! Booo! Apparently it’s the long mild winter, but they are here, and in force. Keefy has been eaten alive! And guess what, we’ve left all our sprays at home! During a morning chat to our neighbour, he got brave and asked if they had any repellent he could borrow. Cue Charlie giving us an entire full spray of Smidge, insisting we keep it. What a nice man! 

Ruby is getting a lot of attention. Keith gets stopped several times as he is getting the bikes off! All these years of motorhoming and barely anyone ever speaks to us, yet now we have Ruby we seem to be attracting people for chat after chat! Not that we are complaining, it’s nice to be sociable, and everyone here is just SO FRIENDLY!

 We finally manage to get off, we are cycling 2 miles down the road to Camusdarach Beach- where the film Local Hero was filmed 35 years ago. We came a few years ago but the weather was dull and murky then.


Today, the sun is hanging on in there, so we optimistically pack a picnic and keep everything crossed! The weather gods are certainly on our side it seems, it’s a picture perfect day. This beach is simply stunning. It stretches for probably nearly a mile when the tide is out, as it was when we visited today. When the tide is in, there are 2 beaches not reachable without getting wet! I tried to send my drone up but it wasn’t happening, a badly timed update request means I can’t send it up which is annoying but can’t be helped. 😡 We had a lovely picnic though of cheese, venison slices, fresh baguette, and of course a beer and cider to wash it down. We had such a lovely visit! 

 
The sun was still shining on our cycle back, and it continued to shine the remainder of the day and evening. We sat outside taking in the ever changing view from our pitch- we watched as the tide came in and then went out again.

We had a lovely chat with next door, and shared a drink together. As the evening went on we were joined by several other couples seeking out the best views of the site. Seems we were on the best pitch going- we were happy to share it. I also managed to override my drone so I sent that up to capture the phenomenal sunset. Next door also had a drone, a DJ phantom, so he sent his up too! 

The atmosphere on site was electric. Everyone having a drink, toasting the sun, it was just such a happy atmosphere. There were even people doing yoga on the beach! It’s a really really special place! Obviously the local gin helped of which I managed to make quite an indent and Keefy’s whiskey must have evaporated in the heat 😜 but we soon realised it’s was gone 9pm and we still hadn’t eaten! Whoops! Dinner was quickly cooked and eaten and we enjoyed the last of the sunshine. 


The whole campsite came out to see it dip below the horizon, I almost felt like applauding! Off to bed we went, tipsy but on a massive high to say the least! The next thing I know, and it’s 3am and K is raiding the fridge, rubbing the contents of the the fridge on his legs! Turns out he is in agony with his bites. 😞 An advantage of having Ruby is that he can’t pace any more, however tossing and turning in bed and grumbling is as bad for me to hear. At 4am I suggest we go down to the beach and he goes for a paddle! The seawater helped soothe his legs earlier and I know he must be in agony cos he agreed quickly, so at 4am we were on the beach having a paddle, like you do! 


The seawater must have helped as of course, he managed to get straight off to sleep, whereas I lay away awake for 2 hours! 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 mind you hearing the sea lap beneath you and the dawn chorus is not the worst way I’ve spent a couple of hours. 

Monday arrived and as forecasted, the rain decided to make an appearance. Next door, bless them, gave Keith some antihistamines to help his itching, and also a couple of cans of Tennants for our fridge as a parting gift- how nice was that? We had another couple of people stop by Ruby interested in her conversion, and admiring her, it’s really a very strange sensation for us as unlike many others it seems, we were not drawn to VWs cos of their image! It was just the van which worked for us! Hey ho, it’s really nice to have chats with lots of different people and something that has never happened to us before in 7 years of motorhoming! We waved a sad farewell by 10:15, and rolled into. Mallaig for our ferry to Skye just before 11. “Are you booked on?” the man cheerfully asks. “Er no….”. “Sorry but we are fully booked ALL WEEK!” You could see the colour drain from our faces. What an epic oversight. We’ve done this crossing three times before and never booked. What’s going on?! The man offers for us to queue in the reserve queue for the next ferry at 12:00 although he says there is no guarantee that we will get on. We decided to go for it. Luckily, Lady Luck was on our side and they fit us on, what a relief, neither of us fancied the journey back to Fort William retracing our steps! 


We arrived on Skye thanks to a smooth crossing (unlike last time!) and it’s been raining all afternoon. Can’t complain though, we’ve had our share of good weather for Scotland. We drove to Tallisker, hoping to park somewhere local so we can have a few drinks and a meal in the pub opposite the distillery. Like everywhere else, Tallisker is heaving with people and we struggle to park. 😔 in the end we manage to get a space but we are unable to stay overnight. So we opted for an early dinner in the pub, which was delicious before driving on to a large lay-by on the way towards Sligachan where we settle in for a chill. 

Until next time 

Lx 

A cheeky night away in Constable’s Country, Suffolk May 13th 2017

Posted in 2017 Trips, Camping and Caravan Club CS, Drone Photography, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Sightseeing, suffolk1 Comment

Ruby the campervan is parked up alongside 4 caravans on a very pleasant Camping and Caravan Certifed site, The Briar,  just south of Ipswich. The main draw for us to visit this area, is Alton Water, a man made reservoir complete with cycle path around the circumference. 


The Briar is a lovely grassy CL situated in the small village of Bentley, and offers EHU, a loo and emptying and filling points. It’s very relaxed and at only £15 for the night, and less than an hour’s drive for us it’s perfect location for a one nighter. The owners are lovely and made a point of coming to say hello once we were set up. They’d kindly let us arrive before lunch to enable us to enjoy an afternoon of cycling. They were fascinated with Ruby and were keen to have a nosey, as they are thinking about getting their own Ruby in the near future. 


We enjoyed a quick cheese and ham toastie before we unloaded the bikes and hit the road, less than 3 miles to Alton Water. The weather was cloudy, but not raining, and there were lots of families out and about around and on the water which was lovely to see. The track around Alton water was kept well and our bikes coped well – I was so impressed, despite some steep bits we managed to cycle non stop with no getting off and pushing! We stopped every now and again to find some geocaches and take some pictures, and didn’t rush, the circuit took about 2 hours to complete. There was a lovely wildflower meadow that we passed- It was lovely. 





We cycled back to the campsite, via the local strawberry seller (check out the size of those 🍓 and promptly had a longish nap! I love Ruby naps! Good for the soul! 

We’d decided we were going to be brave and risk an outdoor BBQ for dinner, despite the weather forecast being a bit so so, you can imagine our delight when just as Keefy sparked up, the weather gods took care of the lingering dull skies and the sunshine and warmth we’ve missed recently came out to say hello! It was glorious, we even took our jumpers off and had short sleeves! 


Keefy cooked a blinder of a feast for us; local burgers, pork and apple sausages and chicken, cooked to perfection on our new gas BBQ that we were gifted from May and Bernard, whilst I served couscous, coleslaw and jacket potatoes, which were an experiment done in the slow cooker, but they were fantastic! It really was a lovely evening, and as the sun went down we decided to have a walk to the local for a couple of pints which was really nice. 

Sunday dawned wet unfortunately, so we made the most of a lie in, partly as someone, ahem, had a little bit of a headache. A bottle of red wine followed by two pints of aspall will do that Lydia, when will I learn! By the time I was ready to surface the rain had gone, and so we cracked the bacon and eggs out and I was soon feeling 100% again. We also tried some toast (done in the toastie maker, worked well!) topped with John, the campsite owners Saville Marmalade, which was delicious.


 He caught us mid marmalade sampling as he came to check we’d had a nice evening and was thrilled we were enjoying the marmalade. He also wanted to tell us that having been in Ruby yesterday, his wife had dragged him to Marquis to view two yesterday afternoon!! We had another nice chat before packing up and waving goodbye. The sun had decided to reappear so we pointed Ruby’s wheels in the direction of National Trust Flatford Mill, 3 miles away. Flatford Mill is well known as being the view behind the painter John Constable’s paintings. 


It was a picture perfect day, so we enjoyed a 5 mile circular walk from Flatford through the Depdale Valley.   I can’t think of anywhere that is more English- with green meadows, a perfect river running through, rowing boats, ducks and ducklings, a tea shop, and 16th century buildings to peruse. 


We enjoyed a lovely cream tea overlooking the bridge and then a local ice cream before heading home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead.
What a lovely bit of escapism- and now it’s less than two weeks til our next trip- one of our favourites, Scotland. 

Until next time 

Lx 

Tulips in Holland; May Bank Holiday 2017 part 2

Posted in 2017 Trips, The NetherlandsLeave a comment

Ruby the campervan has moved just over half an hour down the road to a new campsite, we are now at Camping de Liede on the outskirts of Haarlem. Haarlem was once the brewing capital of Holland so it seemed like a good place to spend a day exploring! We were up quite early and had a simple breakfast of porridge, a first time for us trying the instant porridge cups in Lidl, where you just add hot water. At 45p each there are a cheap and easy breakfast and require minimal washing up, so perfect for quick getaway mornings such as today.


The weather was lovely and so we set off with a real spring in our step, looking forward to exploring a new area, even if it was only just down the road. We passed the queue for Keukenhof, wow, it is a popular place! Again, I’d say try and avoid driving- cycling there is the way forward! 

A quick stop at an ATM in Haarlem and we were at our campsite, again just before 11:00 – luckily the man let us on with no problems. He was much more laid back than the lady at the previous campsite, saying basically we could park wherever and however we like. We went and settled the bill, and unloaded our bikes, and set off for a cycle to the centre, just 20 mins, or 4 km away. 

We soon arrived at the centre of Haarlem, a pretty little square with interesting looking buildings and a lovely church tower. The sun was well past the yard arn so I dragged Keith for a pint ( he took a lot of persuading 😉) at a cool place I’d seen online. It’s called Jopen and is in a church but now is a microbrewery and they have a large selection of home brewed beer, some using recipes from the 1400s when Haarlem was all about brewing. It was really cool inside, although we couldn’t sit inside with Jazz, luckily it was glorious sunshine so we sat in their beer garden, watched the world go by and had a couple of rather strong and absolutely delious beers accompanied by the local bar snack, bitterballen- a delicious fried ball served with local mustard. Yum.

 



Feeling ever so slightly tipsy, we left the bar and took a wander around the rest of the town. It’s really pretty and has a trendy feeling about it but is much quieter than Amsterdam, which is only 15 km away! There are lots of little canals running through the side streets and a picture perfect windmill on the main river. The main river is full of boats, differing in size, some small rowing boats, many larger, more expensive day boats. It has a very European feel here, there are loads of nice looking places to eat and drink, and we really enjoyed spending a few hours wandering. We found a brilliant cheese shop and picked up some amazingly mature cheese, so brought rather a lot in our drunken state, she ended up vacuum packing half of it! 



On our arrival back to Ruby, the sun was still shining so we decided to get the chairs and table out and have a Pot of Earl Grey and the rest of the Stooplewaffels. They are just so delicious, we hope to buy some more before we go home!


As the sun went down it became chillier so we showered and moved inside. The facilities on site are pretty good, although they have a strange system of 4 showers all set at different temperatures- no individual control on each shower.  Despite us being very close to Schipol airport, airline noise is minimal – in fact we enjoyed watching them come into land. (I’ll just fetch our anoraks now! 😂)

Dinner was Chicken and ham risotto with saffron from my camping cookbook, oh it was delicious and perfect for Ruby as it only needed one pan. We had an early ish night, all this cycling and fresh air always makes us so tired!


Monday dawned with the usual pitter patter on the roof you may expect on bank holiday! Never mind, it’s a travel day for us, we had a bit of a lay in before cooking a full English breakfast to see us through the day (who am I kidding!) and hitting the road. We took the scenic route from Haarlem towards Lisse, passing through Hillegom on the 208, to try and catch some more fields of tulips. Having now travelled a fair few miles in this area we reckon the best batch is directly around Keukenhof. We pulled in and took a couple of pics and brought some more Stooplewaffels for home along with a novelty wooden clog to hang on my shed at home with some tulip bulbs. Hehe. 


Onwards towards the Hook of Holland for our afternoon crossing. Check in closed at 1:30pm so we arrived at 1:00pm thinking we would need 15 mins like at Calais to sort Jazz’s passport out. We couldn’t find any signs of the pet passport area so went on to the check in area (no queue!) asked where to take Jazz. The lady said, I deal with that here. We passed over the 3 passports and she passed us a micro chip scanner, which we used,  and within a minute we were on our way onto the ferry. Exceptional. And opens the question why doesn’t the eurotunnel do it like this? 

Unfortunately I can confirm Jazz is NOT a fan of the ferry however. As soon as he realised where he was he began shaking so much he couldn’t even bark 😞😞😞 I had to man up and be strong as we left him for 7 hours in the kennel. He’s got water and blankets so will be fine. 

So here we are, somewhere on the sea between Harwich and Holland. What a fabulous bank holiday weekend we have had! For anyone thinking Holland is too far for a mini break, we totally beg to differ. Budget wise, we are fairly sure we’ve spent less than bank holiday onsite in U.K. Site fees come in at €50; fuel, just over a quarter of a tank, door to door; Ferry £200 (with Tesco vouchers making up the rest) Keunkenhof €16 each, €20 on beers in town.

This has been our first 3 night trip in Ruby and we are chuffed to bits with her. Happy days. More adventures to come later this month with our annual pilgrimage up to Scotland. 

Until next time 

Lx