Tuesday 16th January 2018
Knowing that we would have to be away early today to get the Santander ferry from Portsmouth we had booked, we decided last Friday to move the caravan over to Hayling Island. The adventure resumes. 🙂
Towing Kilometres – Today: 35 Cumulative: 7,244
We chose a Caravan & Motorhome Club Certified Location, Westcroft Stables. Although it was very wet under foot, and a slightly pricey £13 a night, it served our purposes well. We only stayed at the van for one night, preferring the log burner and endless bar at Mark & Jacqui’s 🙂
Kim & I transferred most of our gear over to the van on Saturday, then Mark & I went over to watch the Bognor Town v Leyton Orient FA Trophy second round match which attracted a healthy 1371 attendance 🙂 Bognor lost 1-2, after extra time.
On Sunday we travelled over to Kent to visit my Mum & Dad, it being the occasion of Mums’ 85th birthday. Paul & Ros also brought 3½ week old Harriet along, Mum & Dads’ 10th great grandchild. We all went for a fine lunch at The Mark Cross Inn.
On Monday we met up again with Karen & Martin, whom we had last seen in Avignon. They took us out for yet another excellent lunch at The White Horse near Petersfield, also known as the pub with no name. It was good to get together again and chat about our respective plans for the next year.
Karen invited us back for a cup of tea and a slice of home-made Christmas cake at their house. Because it will give you luck, she claimed. 🙂
On arrival at their house I received the text telling me the Santander ferry had been cancelled. So much for the good luck! 🙂
We enjoyed the tea and cake but time had come to say our goodbyes. On the way home we rang Brittany ferries to reschedule our ferry. They could only offer next Sunday to Santander, or today, to Caen. They refunded the difference in fare, and offered a £130 fuel allowance for our inconvenience, so we chose that option.
Having made our way back to Middleton-On-Sea we sat down for a late tea with Mark, Jacqui, & Elliot before saying our goodbyes and returning to the van. We cannot thank them, and indeed Kim’s son Matthew, enough for putting us up for the last month.
The ferry eased out of Portsmouth about an hour late this morning but gave us good views of the new aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth, the Spinnaker Tower, and HMS Victory. After a slightly choppy crossing we arrived in Caen at 16:00 local.
Towing Kilometres – Today: 40 Cumulative: 7,284
As I write this we are at Camping Les Capucines in intermittent heavy rain. We have yet to decide on a plan for tomorrow, but as the weather is poor may press on south toward Bordeaux. Must be time for a G & T 🙂