It was bike night at Ludgershall again. Lovely warm, dry, sunny evening for the event. As is usual, a thousand or so bikes turned up for the event. Various bars, fish and chip stands and hog roasts materialised to keep us fed. As well as motorbikes, new and vintage, there were quite a few other vintage vehicles and some Steam Punk.
Andrea and Richard visited us for Friday and Saturday. We had an enjoyable afternoon in Oxford visiting the Bodleian library to see the exhibition of Tolkien’s work. Our journey to Oxford was interesting. Due to an accident or road works, the A34 looked rather busy, so car and bus were ruled out. Instead we opted for a return ticket to Oxford from Bicester Village. This is the first time I have used the new line. The cost of the ticket off-peak was very reasonable, and we were also given a group discount.
The exhibition was well worth visiting, especially as these exhibitions are free, It featured Tolkien’s books, his original art work, manuscripts and maps used in his books. There was fascinating stories of how originally he wrote his short stories for bed time telling to his children. When he came to write the Lord of the Rings, he plotted out the journeys on a map of Middle Earth. Tolkien was also a linguist and created his own language for the elves. One book, which defeats most who have bought it, is the Silmarillion. I have yet to find anyone who has completed reading it. I keep seeing the book on friends’ bookshelves, but when I ask,, they’ve never finished reading it.
Afterwards we headed to the Eagle and Child for a drink before heading back home on the train.
Hurry, you can still see the exhibition, it is on until the end of October.
On the Wednesday we set off for Guernsey in Morrison our VW T5 campervan conversion. Arrived at Poole in plenty of time for the hydrofoil trip to Guernsey. The hydrofoil ferry was late leaving, it seemed to take an eternity to load and was totally full. Larger vehicles were asked to reverse on, including one caravan. Needless to say the caravan made a pig’s ear of this and had to give up. We later heard that the previous day’s ferry had been cancelled and that this was why our’s was so crammed.
Eventually, the ferry left in sunshine and made its slow way out of the Harbour and along the coast of Studland. At the Old Harry Rocks it accelerated for the trip across to Guernsey. But at this point sea fog arrived and accompanied us all the way across to Guernsey. We never saw Alderney nor the Casquet Rocks.
On entering the waters between Herm and Guernsey the ferry stopped, turned around and went around the far side of Herm and entered St Peter Port from the south. The lack of visibility and yachts caused the Captain to take a safer, more prudent route. We disembarked and made our way to the Fauxquets Valley Campsite arriving at 8.32. We were welcomed and parked our van for supper and the night.
Today we walked down to King’s Mills and caught the bus to St Peter Port, where Rosemary found a couple of charity shops, so bought more books (oh and a CD for me). Lunch at the White Hart pub and then to the National Trust Victorian Shop. Lovely warm day and it was good looking around St Peter Port.
Today we walked down to the coast, to the Biker Caff (aka Vistas Beach Café) for a coffee and the on to La Grande Mare Hotel. We were looking for the Twinkle the cat, but she was not around. Instead we caught the round the island bus to Saint Peter Port where we then caught the bus back to near the campsite.
Tonight was pizza night, we had pre-ordered our pizza and now decided on the toppings. They were quickly cooked in the new wood-fired pizza oven.
A lovely hot sunny day, we set off to Kings Mill to catch the bus again to The Imperial Hotel, where we intended to walk along the south coast path. Instead we were ceremonially dumped near to L’Eree. The bus was not going any farther, due to some road works somewhere. We walked along the coast to the Imperial Hotel. The orchids were over in the orchid fields, where we had seen them last year. The succulents were well past their flowering.
At the Imperial we stayed for a pint of beer. Had a lovely pint, can’t remember the name, other than it was a London craft beer. We continued along the coast, looked at the German war defences, admired the twinkling blue light in the sunlit sea. Eventually we called it a day and headed to the Route de Pleinmont to catch the first bus that came along. Actually had hoped to change buses at the airport, but alas our bus was late, so we missed the connection. Saint Peter Port, and then back home.
Today we went for a long walk from the campsite through Castel along the green lanes. We headed eventually to the Biker Caff for a light lunch before heading home. Lovely sunset.
We walked down to La Grand Mare to catch the bus going anti-clockwise around the island. The intention and actuality was to alight at St Martin’s and walk to the Auberge. This round the island bus always gets a running commentary from the driver. The journey is a popular trip for tourists and cruise boat inmates.
At the Auberge, which we visit every year, we had a very good meal as usual. Being a Monday it was going to be quiet, so we had not booked. Why does the head waiter proceed with the charade of saying he is going to search for a table? And when we left he thanked us for our unexpected visit.
Caught a bus from outside the restaurant to Saint Peter Port where we bought some food from the Co-Op, then back home.
I had turned off location support on my phone, so Google has not recorded my movements. I don’t know what we did today. I think it was a lazy day and we stayed in camp reading. R saw a kestrel dive very suddenly, without any hovering in advance, and retrieve a mouse. We also saw some very large, bright green crickets.
Up early and caught the bus to Saint Peter Port for the ferry to Herm and the Rosaire Steps. We walked north and across the island to Shell Beach, where Rosemary spent an inordinate amount of time searching for miniscule molluscs. I believe she was a little disappointed in the lack of finds.
Now we walked along the east coast cliffs, and around the south to the Rosaire Steps to catch the ferry home. Quite a windy day and the gulls were displaying their adeptness for soaring the cliffs.
Back in Saint Peter Port we stopped at the Terrace Rooftop café for a beer before departing back to the campsite.
Last day in Guernsey, so packed away and drove along the North coast to Pembroke Beach and L’Ancresse Bay. How can one bay have two sides with different names! Lunch at the Beach House. R again managed to find some books for sale at a kiosk and even managed to read one that very afternoon & return it! On to Saint Peter Port where we had intended on buying some sandwiches from Waitrose for the trip back. We were confronted by a sign say no sandwiches because of a dispute with the ferry companies.
We boarded the Ferry, leaving after 7.00, and arrived back in Pool after 10.00. Watched the sun go down as we approached the island of England. Home shortly before 1am. Lots of diversions and road closures on our drive back.
The start of the festival season, and I was off to Download on the Thursday evening. Never been to Download before, possibly because it was always close to Glastonbury. No Glastonbury this year, so no excuses. The weather looked passable for the weekend with sun and maybe a small smattering of rain on the Friday morning. This is exactly how it panned out.
I arrived at Download in good time, and went to the Rest In Peace entrance, where I was directed to the Sleepy Hollow campsite. The Sleepy Hollow campsite was a new operation for the year, Google Maps showed it as a freshly grassed field, and that is how it was; I could see the rows of grass with soil between. The field is also on a slope, so pot luck whether you end up on a level area. The wonderful thing about this campsite is you park the car next to your tent, no lugging stuff around. You also have a reasonable sized pitch. If I had been thinking straight I would have taken the camper. I regretted not taking Morrison by the end of the weekend, (Just have to get it past the co-owner.) Cold nights and the inflatable bed sprang a leak, so I was sleeping on the hard, cold ground.
The Rest In Peace (RIP) option has several different price levels, including cabins, Tepees and pre-erected tents. There are also proper loos and showers on site. They also have a bar and entertainment on the Wednesday and Thursday night. I watched a band and some comedy acts before heading to bed. Unfortunately, the quantity of beer drunk soon before going to bed needed more than one trip to the loo during the night.
During the night it rained, and in the morning there was still moisture in the air. Breakfast bap from the nearby van, which I did every day, and then over to the Arena, a pleasant walk through the RIP village and through the Guest Area and then into the Arena. The Guest Area gives a pleasant spot to get away from the masses and sit down at tables and benches to eat and drink. I used the Guest Area for my meals, becoming a Vegan during the day, eating some delicious wraps with salad, humus and falafel. They were distinctly more flavoursome than the pale coloured meat burgers you could get elsewhere.
So in the arena I went for a wander around, checked out the four stages, and the events arena. Looked at the food offerings, bars and shops. There was a real ale bar selling a few beers including Wherry Ale from Woodforde’s in Norfolk. I was all set for the bands,
On the main stage I watched all the bands to some extent, though left Bullet for My Valentine early to go and see Bad Religion
Avatar, Marmozets, Bad Religion and Avenged Sevenfold all provided great performances. Avenged played a cover of Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here”, which was repeated by GnFnR in their set. Coincidence or planning?
Cloudy day to start but cleared up and became gorgeous. I stayed on the main stage, but sometimes spent time back in the Guest Area eating and having a Bulleit cocktail. (BLT)
GnFnR played for three hours. There were some long drawn out solos from Slash. Overall it was excellent, Should be, rumour has it they were paid £5,000,000. Despite there being 100,000 there, it was easy to get close to see them. The area between the front crush barrier and back crush barrier had a large amount of free space. I was amazed. I have been at Reading festival where I have been crushed at the back by the force of people pushing me against the rear crush barrier from the front.
I was beginning to feel my age, muscles were cramping up. Festivals are challenging work, lots of walking, lots of jumping up and down. Anyway another great line-up I hoped, and I was not disappointed.
I think the most disappointing was Marilyn Manson. Ozzy was his predictable self, singing all the old Black Sabbath songs. Again I was surprised by the amount of space at the front.
On the Monday morning I was up and out very early and back home before 8, much to Rosemary’s surprise. I was feeling worn out and stiff from the exertions of the festival. Added to that I contracted a cold.
The campsite was not bad, the showers and loos worked well and were not dirty. The late night and early morning flights into East Midlands were rather annoying. They were noisy enough for me in the RIP area. Those camping in the general campsites would have been directly under the flight path. I was also surprised at the time the main acts ended. I was expecting 11.45, it was more like 10.30.
Another predicted warm week, so we were away again by 10 in the morning to drive to Wales to one of our favourite campsites, Fforest Fields. We arrived by 13.00 on the Monday and checked-in. The rest of the day was spent relaxing in the sun and walking around the larger pond trying to photograph some wild life. There were damselflies and Four Spotted Chaser dragonflies in evidence. The pond also has the largest number of tadpoles I have ever seen in my life.
In the evening we were entertained by a couple of Paramotors who performed some aerobatics over the field and even the pond. It was quite spectacular.
Yes, this was a relaxing away stay, because on Tuesday we wandered about the pond again, and around the campsite grounds and woods.
On Wednesday we headed into Hundred House for lunch at the Hundred House Inn. The path crosses some fields and goes through various woods with ponds and ditches alongside. We noticed that this time the fairies have installed at least one window in one of their woodland homes. The fields were in uproar as sheep were being moved around. They are definitely very noisy when they are disturbed and herded. We had hoped to see other odonata on the walk. It seemed to be damselflies and not a lot more. Though we did spy a few banded demoiselle.
Ate at the Hundred House Inn, good basic pub fare and beer. Wish they would import some Adnams.
Rosemary found some crosswort(a weed) near our pitch and proceeded to tell George, the campsite owner, so he could note it down for their next botanical inspection.
In the evening we tried out the bat detector. Not a single squeak. We were though entertained by wagtails performing their mating dances. I had earlier been confused by a bird fluttering around, it seemed to fly more like a New Zealand fantail than a native UK bird. Turned out it was a wagtail.
Thursday our time was up, and we headed back. First tried Builth Wells, but could not park. Their parking machines have not gone cashless yet ☹. So next we went to Bettws where R had spotted a nice house on Rightmove. Not sure we found it, but she did decide it might not be the best place to move to at our age. The roads were steep, narrow and probably impassable in winter.
A stop at Shobdon to look at the St John Church, and the arches which had been removed from the church and erected elsewhere. Nope, we never did find the arches, and the Church, though accessible, is on private land. The church is very white inside with white painted pews; v Strawberry Hill-like (I am told). There was meant to be a visitor centre, but that too eluded us.
It was then on home again, with a quick stop at Starbucks where we crossed the A49. We had used the place as a loo break before, and this was no exception.
BBQ and drinks in our village to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle. The sun shone on the good people of our village.
Our first outing in Morrison this year, the delayed start was caused by our trip to New Zealand. The weather looked good for a few days, so we booked a space in the campsite at Southwold in Suffolk for three days from the Tuesday. We have packing the van and getting away down to a fine art. No preparation until the day of departure and we are normally away by 10. Today was no exception.
We arrived and parked in the campsite, the same pitch 330 as last year. We soon headed out on foot along the harbour, stopping at the Harbour Inn for some liquid refreshments.
Watched a chap cutting the verges using a remotely operated large machine. Looked very exciting, even better than a ride-on.
Refreshed we headed across the fields, then the golf course to Southwold town where we looked for Fat Face to buy me a new top. It had gone, the shop had been demolished, though there was a sign pointing us to the temporary location. Phew. Fat Face purchased, it was time for more liquid refreshments at the Sole Bay Inn, and then back to the campsite along the sand dunes.
Wednesday was another bright and Sunny day, so we though about catching the foot ferry to Walberswick. We had not thought this one through, but we did land on our feet. The notice at the ferry said it was operative only at weekends, though a chalked notice showed that the previous day (Tuesday) it had run. We lurked and sure enough a man arrived on the far bank and rowed across for us, updating the notice board to say it was open today.
At Walberswick we happened to bump into some Kingswood villagers in the car park, Ian and Judith who were having a week in the area birdwatching. Exchange of birding notes. Went down to the beach which both of us remember, from 35 years ago, as being sandy. It isn’t now, with patches of sand & shingle. Lunch at the Bell Inn, very nice, and then we continued our walk along bridleways, (where Rosemary found an “exciting” plant) and across the River Blyth, returning back to the campsite.
Thursday was Adnams Brewery Tour Day. I was booked in, on my own, for a tour and beer tasting. A small group of around 12 people were shown around. The highlight at the end was a beer tasting where we sampled 6-8 beers. Well worth the trip. Adnams brewery is now pretty high tech, with the most energy-efficient brewery in the UK, all German technology. We then stocked up on some beers at the shop, two suitable mugs to use with our new (to us) chrome-plated New Zealand teapot, and headed for lunch at the Sail Loft.
Friday was our last day, packed up, again this is so easy in Morrison, and so we were soon away after breakfast. We headed to the RSPB at Minsmere, where we walked around the main hides overlooking the scrapes, and were impressed by the badger fencing. The Sandmartins put on a great display as they gathered insects and returned to the cliff to feed their young. On the way back from the scrapes we encountered a Tawny owl perched in a tree, and an adder wandering across the woodland floor.
Very early morning rise to catch our flight to Sydney. The airport bus arrived on-time and we were soon checked in. All baggage and hand luggage checked.
At Sydney, hand luggage checked again, and Rosemary small pair of scissors from her Swisscard were confiscated. I got scanned for explosives residue. The next flight was to Singapore where we had to get off and back on again. Here R lost another pokey thing from the same gadget. The security at Singapore was dire, and so slow. It must have taken well over an hour to board the passengers.
The long haul now to Heathrow where we arrived early in the morning, quickly through passport control and then baggage. (Last bag off?) Smooth bus trip to Lucknor, where Kiera and Neil were waiting for us. But odd to see spring flowers and new leaves.
Today we locked up the bach as we weren’t coming back and headed over to Collingwood. On the way we passed Peter and Nic’s old properties where we saw the present owners were still harvesting olives and selling olive oil on the roadside.
In Collingwood we stopped at the old Courthouse, now a café, for coffee. The café was busy for seemingly a small place out of season.
The Collingwood beach had an array of driftwood wigwams built at the high-water mark.
Back to Takaka where we looked around the shops. Lovely furniture in one shop made from the roots of driftwood trees with glass table tops. I would love one of those at home. There was a group of South African singers who were touring. They presented an impromptu busking in the market place to build up some support for their performance. We took a look in the local art centre where local artists exhibit. Some pretty good photographs from a young photographer.
For lunch we ate at the Wholemeal Café. Huge busy café.
Now it was back in the car to Nelson and over the hill again. The traffic lights were now working, and were green for us all the way through. Packed our bags and left for Nelson airport where we flew to Auckland for the night. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, used the airport bus to get to the hotel. Embarrassment as I had to get the driver off the bus to help me purchase the ticket. Seems I was placing the credit card into the machine upside down. Had a final meal in the hotel.
Today we drove to Golden Bay in Peter’s Mini. Nic stayed behind because she was working and our visit was only for the night. The drive is along the only road to Golden Bay up, over a mountain and down the other side. This road had been badly damaged during a cyclone with parts of it washed away. There were long sections of one-way where we had to wait for our turn. Traffic controls were being installed, and they seemed to be concreted in, so looks like they will be there for the long term.
At Peter’s bach, the removal lorry soon arrived, and furniture was quickly unloaded. Beds were erected so there was somewhere to sleep for the night. Heating /cooling was also tested. Peter’s bach is in easy walking of several restaurants and bars.
We drove along the coast to The Abel Tasmin park and parked at Tata beach. This is also a DOC camping site and looks well worth staying at if we were here again. The beach is a huge long sandy beach coloured Golden. Going back we took a look at the Abel Tasmin monument which is due to be upgraded with commemoration to the Maori side added to it.
We then drove into Takaka for a meal at the Roots bar. Several ales on tap and a great menu to choose from. No band was playing tonight, but you could see they often had people playing there. Takaka appeared lively, and a shop selling vinyl and other items appeared to be a meeting place for many.
