January

We decided on Saturday, January 7th to have a night away in Dora, just for the hell of it. What we hadn’t realised was that it was going to tip it down for 24 hours! We didn’t venture far, just to a lovely spot near Uxbridge at a Caravan Club site at Wyatt’s Covert, Denham. On the Sunday, we met up with a friend, Lexi, who has a campervan as well and went for a very short walk in the rain. It was so wet, we didn’t bother to take any photos!

Over the next weekend, we travelled to Essex, firstly to The Swan at Little Totham where we parked up for the night. There is a frost dump mechanism in Dora, which means that should the temperature drop below 4 degrees C, the fresh water tank is emptied so there isn’t any damage to the water system from frost. During the winter, we drain the system down at the end of each trip, including opening the frost valve so the tank empties. Unfortunately, we forgot to close it so when we had filled the tank with water, it promptly emptied itself as we drove to the pub! Luckily, the pub had an outside water tap. Phew. We then went onto Tollesbury and Maldon the next day.

We had our Civil Partnership celebration on Hydrogen and Thistle in June 2010.

Total miles travelled in month: 202

February

Rickmansworth Aquadrome, Hertfordshire with John and Ruth. Their first outing in Dora.

Total miles travelled in month: 56

March

The amazing Long Distance Solo Sailor, Pip Hare, at Harwich Yacht Club. An inspiring evening listening to her talk about her exploits during the single handed round the world yacht race, the Vendee Globe. We stayed at Redlands Campsite, Pin Mill a few miles away so we were able to cycle there (and have a few drinks), although the cycle back in the pitch black was a little hair raising!! Had a lovely lunch at the Butt & Oyster at Pin Mill on the Sunday.

Redlands Campsite and horses at Pin Mill, Ipswich

We also had a cheeky weekend away with our friend, Jo, who also has a campervan. We managed to get pitches next door to each other at Salisbury Hillside Campsite.

Salisbury Hillside Campsite with our friend Jo Plumbe & Molly

Total miles travelled in month: 518

April

Before our main holiday to Norway later in the month, we spent Easter with the Gay Caravan and Motorhome Club at Moreton in Marsh Campsite. It was only a short walk into the town from the campsite. The GCMC made us very welcome with various drink receptions, coffee mornings and even a buffet on the Sunday evening. We even managed a couple of bike rides, including to the lovely farm shop at Daylesford.

On Easter Monday we drove down to Milford on Sea to view a couple of houses. Then back home via Birmingham to pick up Ruth & John as they would be staying at ours whilst we were in Norway.

Norway Trip (opens in new page)

Total miles travelled in month: 2,450

May

After returning from Norway, we had an exciting long weekend in Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest only a week later. We had managed to secure tickets to the outdoor arena for the Final and a sought after space at the marina to park Dora up for the long weekend. We spent our time in Liverpool visiting great restaurants, iconic buildings and generally soaking up the amazing atmosphere that the city had created for all its visitors.

On the way home, we went via Cosby Beach to see the Antony WOrmley statues that get submerged at high tide. Stunning

The weekend after Eurovision, we needed to drive down to Taunton to Somerset Motorhomes so we could agree some warranty work that needing doing. It was agreed that a hairline crack in a side panel would be repaired over the winter. En route we stayed at a lovely spot by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.

Total miles travelled in month: 1,863

June

At the end of May, we went on a little trip down to Kent. We had booked lunch and a wine tasting at Carr Taylor Vineyard. The best part was that they were very happy for us to stay over in their car park, which overlooked the vines as we are members of Britstops. Britstops is a scheme whereby members get to stay over in unusual places. Sometimes they are pubs but can also be cider farms, farm shops and even vineyards. Unfortunately, Liz managed to twist her ankle on our walk to Battle so that curtailed any more walking for the day so it was back to the van to chill and enjoy the view!

As we hadn’t made it to Battle the day before, we drove there and managed to find a car park next to Abbey. Spend a lovely hour wandering round the Abbey and the battlefield of 1066. Then onto Deal to meet up with old friends, Marc and Graham, who we hadn’t seen for a few years. Luckily, Dora just fitted onto their drive, a stone’s throw from the front. After a walk on the front and a lovely supper, we made our way home as we needed to be back home.

Not long after we got back from Kent, we had a few days away at Grafham Water at the Caravan Club site there. Given the proximity of the camp site to Graham Water, we decided to cycle around the reservoir. On the way home, we visited Wimpole Hall, National Trust property.

At the end of the month, we took a short trip down to the south coast to see friends. We first stopped off on Hayling Island at a small CL site that only allows 5 vans to stay. It was set in an orchard and was delightful. So much so that Liz even got her hammock out! We got up early and drove onto Milford on Sea, Hampshire to have breakfast overlooking the Isle of Wight.

The next day, we took the ferry over to the Isle of Wight with our friends, Julie and Yvonne but without Dora. We had a marvellous lunch at the Hut on the Beach just outside Yarmouth. The restaurant even picked you up by jeep. After a wander around Yarmouth, we caught the ferry back to Lymington. We have decided that we would like to explore more of the island in Dora (out of season so ferry and campsite prices are not ridiculously high).

Total miles travelled in month: 667

July

We journeyed up to Cumbria, Armathwaite to be precise, to go to our first festival in Dora. The forecast wasn’t great but the weekend promised to be an event filled. We had some wonderful massages as well as saw some great bands. The heavens had opened all day Sunday so by Monday morning the field we were parked in was a quagmire. Luckily, there were plenty of women there who kindly gave us a shove to get us going and we slip slided down the field to the track. A great weekend was had and it was wonderful to spend time with Lexi.

We had a holiday planned with friends in Cornwall in the first week of August so we decided to drive down in company over two days with Poppy and her owners, Ben and Liz. Our first stop was Clapton Farm, Crewkerne, Somerset. A lovely little site with just a few other vans.The next day we went onto our second stop at Langstone Manor Park, Moortown, Devon via the gorgeous Devil’s Cauldron waterfall and gorge.

Total miles travelled in month: 897

August

After a lovely time in Fowey with Dora neatly tucked up in a car park for the week, we continued our sojourn in Cornwall by driving to Higher Harlyn Campsite. The weather was pretty atrocious with very high winds and rain so we all went to the local cinema to watch Oppenheimer. By the time we came out the rain had stopped and the winds had lessened.

Back to the New Forest to celebrate a friend’s 60th birthday with a visit to the Rufus Stone. We found a pub that had a field behind it to spend a couple of nights. The field was quite wet and with a downpour due on the Sunday evening, we decided to move into the car park overnight. So glad we did.

Next stop in August was to Norfolk for a couple of nights at a pop up campsite at Holkham Hall. Whilst busy, being near the Bank Holiday weekend, it was still very pleasant and we had discounted tickets to tour the house. There was electric hook up, toilets and showers and we were able to trial our new Cadac gas BBQ as it was lovely weather. We cycled into Wells Next the Sea and visited the amazing Holkham beach.

We then drove over to the Sandringham Estate as we had booked a spot in a field on the estate as we were going to see Robbie Williams in concert. The weather was atrocious all day so we were expecting the evening to be the same but it stayed dry – thank goodness! We somehow managed to still cook a BBQ but I think the double rainbow says it all. Mac and Ketan were going to sleep in a tent but with the bad weather, we managed to squeeze all four of us in the van with Liz sleeping in the garage under the bed!

Total miles travelled in month: 940

September

Spain trip (opens in new page)

Total miles travelled in month: 2,137

October

Friends Sue and Sheila kindly drove Dora home from southern Spain so that we could fly out to Greece to be on our boat.

In late October, we decided to have a few days away in West Sussex. We drove down to Shoreham by Sea to meet friends. After a lovely lunch and afternoon tea stop, we made our way to Newhaven where there was a Park4Night stop but there was a height barrier and the whole area looked a bit dodgy. By this point, it was tipping down with rain and many of the roads were starting to get flooded. With high winds and more rain forecast, we thought it would be a good idea to try and find a spot on the esplanade at Seaford. It was a lovely spot despite the weather. We did have to be careful getting out of the van without our wellies!

The next morning after a fairly noisy night of crashing waves, we left our parking spot to drive up to South Hill Barn as we wanted to walk to the Coastguard Cottages in nearby Cuckmere Haven. Donning our wellington boots, we had a lovely walk to the cottages with fabulous views across the estuary.

After a breakfast in the van, we then drove onto Hove to meet more friends for lunch at Shelter Hall on the seafront in Brighton. Lovely lunch and catch up. We then left just before it got dark to drive to Arundal. There was a park up underneath the castle on a quiet street. Despite being late October there was around 30 plus cars and ‘vans of one sort or another. Some cars looked abandoned but as there were no parking restrictions, you could see why. It was another miserable evening from a weather perspective but that didn’t stop us walking into town to find a cosy pub for a swift half and a roaring fire. Back for dinner in the van and a wonderful night’s sleep with an extra hour as the clocks went back!

We had a quick look around the town in the morning but as it was still pretty miserable we then made our way onto Petworth House, a National Trust property. We had forgotten to bring an umbrella with us from the van so we had a half mile walk to the house from the car park in the pouring rain. We toured around the house including listening to a short talk about the kitchens and servants’ quarters. There was an underground passage between the kitchen and the main house so the servants had to run along the passage with the food so that it stayed hot. Apparently, the kitchen was separate so that the dinner guests didn’t have to smell the food cooking! It had finally stopped raining so we had lunch in the van before making our way home. A lovely short adventure.

Total miles travelled in month: 789

November

We needed some warranty work done by Somerset Motorhomes who we had agreed with could be done out of season and, indeed, out of warranty as it suited us both. We drove down to Taunton in early November via Weston-super-Mare to visit an old school friend of Liz’s and stayed overnight so that we could be at the service centre by 10am. The work would take a couple of weeks so they lent us a courtesy car in the meantime. Ten days later, all the work had been completed and they had also added an external BBQ point that would run off the LPG rather than individual canisters. One less thing to carry and we usually have plenty of LPG as we have two tanks.

We then drove home via Glastonbury as we were so close. Unfortunately, we arrived around 4pm and almost everything was closed but we did manage to have an early supper at the Queen of Cups restaurant whose owner had been on Masterchef The Professionals a few days before. Wonderful Arabic tapas. We ordered far too much but it was delicious.

Total miles travelled in month: 362

December

Too busy with family to do more than check she was okay, which is relatively easy to do!

Total miles travelled in year: 10,881