Southern England

Since the Brighton Breeze VW event we have had mixed weather, at the moment we are averaging one day of sun to one day of rain, so most of the time we have been staying two nights at our stops.

We have cruised down the southern coast, through Sussex, Hampshire, Dorest and Devon.  We visited Tintagei with the hope of staying at least one night on the cliffs, but the wind there made that an impossible ask as there was no way Mildred’s roof would withstand those winds (and due to our now very cramped living conditions in the van, sleeping downstairs is no longer an option).

(some of the highways (two way) we have travelled down this week)

Along the way our best stops were:

Looe – a quaint wee fishing village on the southern coast.  A 30 min downhill walk to the village, where we wandered the streets and had a traditional Cornish Pastie for lunch – as what else would you have in Cornwall?

Dulverton, where the sun shone and we experienced a lovely traditional English Sunday roast, complete with Yorkshire pudding.  (Why does this update seem to be all about food?) 

And we visited Bath (where we purchased one HUGE suitcase that we are now juggling in the kombi (that’s to carry MOST of our purchases home to avoid duty and GST at customs).  Yes, sadly we are starting to make moves to sort out poor Mildred for her shipment home – in the meantime we hope her axles don’t collapse.

(Experienced skipper needed to ensure you don't end up down the drop)

Today we did the requisite visit to Stonehenge, which was surprisingly right on the roadside, then onto Winchester, where we were turned away from camping as all their pitches aren’t hardstanding (gravel) so no motorhomes allowed.  It is suffice to say all the ground we are seeing now is either water logged or flooded.  Most, if not all, campsites are now only taking bookings for the hardstanding sites, so limited space.

We decided to head back to Bognor Regis as we didn’t get a decent look on the way through, thanks to the rain.  This afternoon we are catching up with our washing (last bed change for this trip) and tomorrow we will visit the town.