Thursday 28th June to Wednesday 4th July 2018

Thursday morning we set an alarm, a rare event these days, locked the caravan, and set off for Dunkirk for the 10am ferry to Dover for what turned out to be a hectic week!

We were due to attend the wedding of good friends Ray & Denise on Saturday in Wokingham. My brother Steve was coming over to caravan sit.

We planned to visit with as many relatives as possible and do some shopping for stuff we have been unable to find enroute. We were also collecting our new Thule Omnistor canopy that Kim had purchased online as well.

The ferry was almost on time and an enjoyable crossing was had bar for the feral children running wild. The marked decline in the standard of driving in the UK was immediately apparent. We made our way, via Kims’ folks, to Matthews for a two night stay.

Friday was spent doing said shopping, in Bracknell, a pastime I do not enjoy but it was necessary.

Saturday was a lovely hot day, and for the first time this year I got dressed up in suit and tie instead of usual shorts and tee shirt. We made our way to the wedding venue with the air conditioning on full.

It was great to attend the long overdue marriage of Ray & Denise and meet up with old friends at a splendid venue.

After spending the night, and breakfasting, at the hotel we said our goodbyes and made our way to Runneymede for a picnic with family to celebrate my birthday. I am always amazed how much the grandchildren change between our visits 🙂

Next port of call was Middleton-On-Sea. We had arranged to have dinner at Jaqui & Marks’ where we would be staying for two nights.

On Monday we watched in envy as J & M set off for work 🙂

Around 10 o’clock we set off for Tunbridge Wells to lunch with my Mum & Dad followed by the mandatory tour of Dads’ allotment 🙂

Back to Middleton for our final night before making our way back to Belgium.

Next morning we did more purchasing of supplies before making our way back to Dover. Upgraded our tickets to premium so we could avoid the feral children and enjoyed a glass of Prosecco as the ferry departed.

Arrived back at the caravan in good time to start packing up ready to leave Wednesday morning.

We had chosen a site near Arnhem in Holland as our first stop on our way to Scandinavia. Campsite Dorado Beach near Olburgen is situated on a river with a marina and looked to be a good stopover on our way north.

The site was also still accepting Camping Card to make the stay cheaper 🙂 The trip went smoothly until right at the end when my GPS tried to guide me to the smallest of ferries, but fortunately Kim spotted the problem early enough to not cause problems.

Towing Kilometres – Today: 329 Cumulative: 16,309

Our initial impressions of the washrooms were not good, but fortunately we discovered much better facilities elsewhere on site.