Brockenhurst, New Forest (Day 2)

Of course we're still at Brockenhurst, not quite ready to return home yet. After a damp start the morning blossomed and the day warmed. Summer at last. Angela took a walk down to Brockenhurst village to purchase venison burgers from the butchers. Planning ahead she bought two extra to freeze at home ready for our next outing in Marge. We feel it won't be too far away.

Upon her return to the campsite she smiled at the sight of a large herd of cows invading the cricket pitch. Someone will have fun clearing up after them before the next match. The sight of these large bovines also made her realise that our whole time away has been spent in and around nature.

Flora, fauna and wildlife. We've loved all and every minute of it. Returning tomorrow to the large town we live in will be difficult. Fingers crossed our house there will soon sell. We've just received news from the agent that we have a viewing on Friday. We are forever hopeful of a positive outcome. Eighty people left the campsite this morning, and only twenty are due in today, which will be nice. Spending the last night of our trip here has given us a chance to reset. As we enjoy the afternoon sunshine and look forward to our barbecue this evening we think of the Dutch cycle tourists we spoke to yesterday evening. They should have arrived in Salisbury by now. We wish them a safe and enjoyable journey to their destination York.

Brockenhurst, New Forest

You didn't really think we'd return home just yet did you? No. There's always time for another night away. And there really was only one place to return Muddy Marge to.

 The Holland's Wood campsite at Brockenhurst, where we took her for a trial night before setting off to Scotland. The summer school holidays are just beginning, so the site is a little busier now. But the weather warm we were able to sit out and cook outside. This evening after our walk we stopped to talk to some Dutch cycle tourists. We won't have time for a cycling trip this year sadly, but we'll be back on our bicycles for a trip next year. God willing. 

Being back on our home turf feels a little strange, and the thought of returning home a little daunting. But we know the weeks will pass by quickly and that there is much to do to prepare Marge for her next trip. She needs a little mechanical attention and a few tweaks. For now we will enjoy this stunning area. The ancient oak trees and the free roaming animals who retreat into the trees at night and who will be back on the site early in the morning. Scotland seems a million miles away now.

Thame, Oxfordshire

The campsite around the fishing lakes near Banbury turned out to be a real find. We think we'll definitely stop there again one day. Being so close to the M40 motorway, meant our drive down to Thame would only take around an hour and a half.

At Thame we layed flowers on John's parents grave before visiting Angela's son Chris and his family. It was nice to be able to sit out in their garden which had undergone a makeover, and catch up. That is the one problem with us travelling, we don't get to see our family so much. Staying overnight in a 'proper bed' seemed strange after so long. And sitting inside seemed even stranger. Now the weather has settled we just want to keep on travelling, but alas we must return home for a few weeks now.

Fir Tree Campsite, Warmington, nr: Banbury

Ten weeks ago we set off on our trip. We expected to be home last weekend, but as you can see we aren't. We are now aiming for this Sunday, or Monday or maybe Tuesday. We definitely have the travelling bug. Our stay at Coco's wild camping was great. The weather beautiful and the vista stunning. We asked the son and daughter of the owners  who collected the money what the weather was like in the winter. 'Christ, it's bloody awful'. O.K. The site is open 365 days a year and is popular on New Year's Eve. They even have a sited caravan here, (with no services), called the 'Love Shack'. Sleeps six. How does that work then? Across the way as night fell the young lady continued to fascinate one of the men. By now she was fully covered. His wife commenting, 'do you feel more comfortable now'?

We were expecting a beautiful sunset yesterday evening, but it didn't materialise, however a spherical moon glowed in the sky, it's normal milky white tinged by the last colours of a sunset far away. This morning around four o'clock clock Angela was up for the toilet. A marshmallow pink sun tinged the marshmallow white clouds. It was beautiful. But Angela doesn't sleep well and couldn't risk missing the few hours sleep on offer before morning to watch the sun rise fully. 

This morning whilst we packed up to leave a Liverpudlian lady asked if she could photograph Marge. Well there's a surprise. Right Marge no shenanigans we've dipped your wheels into Wales, time to head back to England. Angela had found a small campsite in the country near to Henley in Arden and close to the M40 motorway.  It was beautiful. A large Victorian house at its centre. We were directed under some apple trees in the shade which was perfect as the temperature was 28 c. It reminded us of a French campsite. Angela went off for a shower, managing to lock herself in! After a lot of tugging at the door she was free. Back at Marge John announced we were leaving, and he went off to the reception to ask for our twenty pounds payment to be returned. A group of 6 teenage girls (celebrating finishing school), with a ton of stuff and three large tents were setting up (how many more were expected?). We know how this goes, having experienced this situation before.

Tired we headed into Stratford upon Avon to make a plan and John found a site at some fishing lakes near Banbury. Result.

The site is perfect. Marge is parked in the adult section right by the lake. The children in an area a little further away from the water. The lady managing the site loves Marge. She owns a left hand drive VW T25, which was the vehicle John expected to buy to replace our crafter van. Fir Tree Campsite was a great find. Beautiful views, tranquillity and wildlife. On the hill the sheep bleat. There's just something missing, oh the oyster catchers. 

Coco's Wild Camping, Llandrindod Wells, Wales

John had read about Coco's Wild Camping site on the internet and was keen to visit. So we decided to cross the border on our way home and stay a night here. The weather is perfect. Light winds, beautiful summer sunshine and a warm 23 c. The drive through the beautiful Welsh countryside was interesting. Ask Angela what she thought of one of the A roads we drove along! As the the Tom Jones song goes, the grass here really is green. 

Coco's, named after one of the resident donkeys is a one hundred and forty acre wild camping site set on a farm. Goats roam free, and the views are absolutely stunning.

And a special treat for us is, there are Red Kites soaring right overhead. When we lived in Longwick the Red Kites were a common sight, and we miss them.

This evening we will take advantage of the fact you can cook on a wood fire, something we've missed since leaving Scotland a week ago. It'll be nice again to fall asleep and awake to birdsong and bleating sheep, even if the Welsh sheep do sound a little angry. We are also hoping for a starry night. We are literally in the middle of nowhere. As always there's plenty to entertain us. A young girl's just been dropped off in a car. Her shorts a little too short. Her small tent erected in no time by the two men in the campervans either side of her. The only facilities here are a few composting toilets dotted around.

The one nearest to us is nearing it's level. It also has a sign in it saying 'nice arse'. We think the men in the campervans opposite might agree. 

There's definitely a Coco the Donkey theme going on here!

Arrowe Brook Farm, Greasby, Wirral

The drive down from Kendal in the lake district to the Wirral was long and tiring. Despite the heavy traffic we kept moving. We'd tried to telephone the little campsite at Greasby in Arrowe Park Lane, but no one ever answered the phone, so we just turned up.

Twenty five pounds paid to the man who only takes cash, don't worry so do the Scottish, so we're prepared. A shower and yet more washing of socks and pants and we set off to visit John's daughter. We haven't seen her or her family since Christmas, so we're looking forward to spending the evening with them, catching up over a delicious Indian takeaway. As always, the time passed quickly and by ten we were back at the campsite.

This morning yet more showering and topping up of our five litre water bottle. We're not used to paying this amount to stay somewhere so felt we needed to get our money's worth. This campsite was only our sixth stay on one in the ten weeks we've been away. We didn't rush to leave, next stop for us is Wales. 

Kendal Cricket Club, Kendal, (Day 2)

After the cricketers left yesterday evening we sat watching and listening to the Oyster Catchers as they scoured the manicured grass on the cricket field. Since the very first day we arrived in Scotland they have been present almost ever day. We consider them to be our guardian angels. We cannot explain how much joy they give us. As we always do when we stay here in Kendal, we walked into town to pick up a Chinese takeaway. To us Kendal means Chinese. 

This morning with time to kill, as we were only planning to move a short way over to lake Windermere we walked back into town for morning coffee. Stopping to look in the outdoor shops, taking time to look at the architecture and history of the town. First impressions of Kendal are a down at heal town, buildings blackened by traffic pollution. If you visit and look a little deeper you'll see a town with interesting shops mixed with high street stores, beautiful buildings and many plaques explaining the towns intriguing history. 

Back at Marge, The county teams of Cumbria and Cambridge were still playing cricket. Angela desperate for the toilet was straight on the Boxio, warning John not open the back door, otherwise the sight might distract the teams from play. We lunched, the beautiful weather, tropical to us pleasant. Last night's stormed had passed by without coming near, but we'd heard of heavy downpours in nearby regions. Lunch eaten we planned to leave for South Windermere by mid afternoon. Our overnight stop was at the Lakeside centre, ten pounds for the night, and we wanted to arrive once the day visitors had left. But John couldn't find his car keys! Haven't we been here twice before this trip? The chances of finding them this time nil. There was no way we could be third time lucky. So we walked back into town, retracing our steps of this morning and yesterday evening. Stopping at shops and pubs to see if they'd been handed in. At one shop a helpful lady posted an appeal on the local Facebook. The day was slipping by. So to make something of it we walked up the hill to Kendal Castle.

Our legs already tired and complaining from walking around town. The castle belonged to the Parr family. Yes the family of Catherine Parr the sixth wife of Henry VII.

Back at Marge, Angela a little despondent we weren't going over to Lake Windermere reminded John we were still searching for his keys. Low and behold he found them in our fruit cupboard. They'd fallen off the shelf above through an opening. There were no words! So our ten pounds tonight will be given to Kendal Cricket Club. Sadly for them they were beaten by Cambridge. 

Beautiful disguised Buff Tip moth, though not so effective on a white painted wall.