We realised that we hadn’t been out in Dora for a while. This was mainly due to family commitments and Jo having knee surgery in late September. A while ago we had signed up for a rally with the Adria Owners Club down in Dorset. We hadn’t been on a rally with this lot before but thought we should give it a go. It also included a brewery tour so what’s not to like?

We left late on Thursday afternoon thinking that we would get caught up in all sorts of traffic but the run down was uneventful and in good time. We thought we wouldn’t arrive until around 21.30 but we were on our pitch at South Lytchett Manor Campsite (S4S#224625) well before 21.00. Dinner in the oven and bottle of wine opened. All very civilised.

Friday morning was an early start as we needed to meet at reception at 09.50 to catch the coach to the Hall and Woodhouse Brewery in Blandford at 10.00. As we arrived, we realised that Hall and Woodhouse make Badger beer! One of our favourites so we were very happy.

The group was split into two tours and ours was at 13.00 so we wandered into town to peruse the local shops. All very nice and Jo even bagged a fleece that was on sale. Back at the brewery, we had a light lunch to line our stomachs for the beer tasting later before going on a very interesting tour of the place. Emily, our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the whole process as well as the history of the family. One of the Woodhouse, Jock, was instrumental in setting up the SAS after WWII.

Of course, after the tasting we bought a case of beer although that was for friends who we were seeing the next day. The coach dropped us back at the campsite around 16.45 and we decided to book a table at a nearby pub for dinner. It was only about half a mile away but with Jo’s still recovering knee, that was more than enough given the steps she’d already walked that day.

St Peter’s Finger (yes really) was also a Hall and Woodhouse owned pub which did a great steak and ale pie and even gave us a free bottle of wine. By the time we got back to the van, we just had time to sort ourselves before settling down to Graham Norton.

Saturday was a much more chilled morning before driving over to the National Trust property at Kingston Lacy to meet friends, Rob and Mary. We had a lovely afternoon being shown round the house including a conservation tour before the obligatory tea and cake. We finished off the visit with a walk to the walled garden which seemed to be miles away! Back to Rob and Mary’s for homemade pizzas with their son, Joel and his girlfriend, Ursula. Back to the campsite to catch up with Strictly.

Sunday morning was the start of the Vendee Globe, a solo round the world yacht race that happens every four years. Lasting at least 70 days and covering 24,000 nm. We watched the start as 40 skippers left France to head off south across Biscay and towards the Southern Ocean. We decided to come home after that as we couldn’t really enjoy all the lovely walks around the campsite with Jo’s knee as it is. Back home by 16.00 just as it was getting dark.

On Monday morning we winterised the van by draining her down so there was no water in the system at all, washed her and put her cover on for the next few months. This was our last outing in 2024 but we have had some wonderful adventures (again) in her. Looking forward to 2025 already!

Miles driven since last trip: 290