10 Years on - Travelling and Living in A Motorhome - Week 9 - Suffolk - Aldeburgh, Southwold, Kessingland

 TUESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2014 Week 9

Church Farm, Aldeburgh, was a ghost site already, but the town was a lovely quaint place with a fantastic tea room that we sheltered in when it poured down. I loved it so much I’m considering opening something similar when we finish our travels. The centre had an Elizabethan council building, which housed the town’s museum, too. Say the word 'museum' and I’m there. The place played an important part in Britain’s defence against the Spanish Armada in Tudor times, and they had on display ‘then and now’ photos of the town and I have to say, apart from the cars, there seemed to be no difference.

We then moved on to Southwold. I wasn’t impressed with the council-run campsite, the only one in the town. It was seriously run down and looked in need of being dragged into the 21st Century. However, I did find the caravan my family used to stay in every year in Porthmadog when I was a child, The Riviera Monaco. It looks a little sad and old these days, but I was over the moon to find one. It looked just like the above picture!

The harbour had flooded that morning, and although the water had receded, it had left all the old black wooden fish huts, café, and the only pub with Wi-Fi closed and cleaning up the mess. Then we headed into town to find a pub with Wi-Fi so we could attend our internet Lions Club meeting. We found The Lord Nelson, and it was a cosy traditional seaside pub, complete with logs crackling on the fire.

What a difference a day makes… When I first arrived, I thought we had travelled back in time and were staying at the end of the Earth. The places seemed so wet and bleak, but the following morning, we walked along dunes and soft golden sandy beaches complete with beach huts and a lovely little pier. My attitude toward the place completely changed, and I fell in love with it. So much so we’ve decided to return to the last three sites
next year when we finish travelling, but it is still part of the tourist season.

We then moved on to Kessingland near Lowestoft and got stuck in mud! Luckily, we were on our new campsite, and they had a tractor to pull us out; my heart was in my mouth for a while, though, and besides, who puts a 4.5-tonne motorhome on boggy clay soil! They knew what the state of the touring field was in, and they even had a dry, hard pitch further up the hill that we could’ve used in the first place. 

Anyhoo, after that little hiccup, we went to Africa Alive, a zoo for African animals… So why oh why did I state there were no penguins???##**!! Derr! We watched the lions, cheetahs and giraffes get fed up close, which was fascinating, and we saw a little meerkat manor up close… they were well cute!

We then met up with friends in Lowestoft and had a great day with their family, we went swimming and then to a Halloween party. It was a very spontaneous costume, thanks to Asda’s Halloween section and some clever artist talent in the makeup department, I became the mad old witch and Del, Evil Skeletor!!! It was a great night, although I wasn’t impressed with the dance troupe’s rendition of

Michael Jackson’s Thriller…

No passion or soul in the routine at all, AND, AND they used a cover version of the original song… Outrageous! I grew up in the eighties and spent many a wasteful hour in front of the TV playing his Thriller video over and over again, learning the dance routine with my cousin. Hey ho. On to Great Yarmouth!

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year travelling the UK in a Motorhome - Week 8 - East Anglia - Felixstowe, Harwich, Woodbridge and a Wedding in Brighton

 TUESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2014 Week 8

Another fun filled week with lots of travelling. As I said in my last we were at Orwell Meadows, the ghost camp, so we left early and went on to Peewit Park in Felixstowe. A lovely little park to stay in and close to Felixstowe town centre.

I quite liked this seaside town as the shopping centre was set back away from the cute little promenade of the seafront, although the weather was a bit dodgy. The flood barriers were all locked in place, and it still had the 'quaint British seaside town' about the place; despite being outside the holiday season now, it was still lovely. Even the dockland area was fascinating. We were meant to catch a ferry over to Harwich, but the ferries had stopped for winter, so we sat in the ferry café watching the huge cranes load and unload massive tankers. I can't really describe the enormity of the ships or the cranes loading the metal containers close up, but they were humongous-enormously big!

We had our first scary moment getting the van stuck in a muddy pitch; I felt a bit embarrassed leaving the campsite with a grass verge looking a bit like a ploughed-up field! Well it shouldn't rain so flippin' much should it?  When the van got stuck in a muddy pitch. I felt a bit embarrassed leaving the campsite with a grass verge that looked a bit like a ploughed-up field! Well, it shouldn't rain so much.

At the weekend, we headed back down to Brighton for a friend’s wedding day, which was wonderful. Only last year, I said, "I haven't been to a wedding for years; I'd love to go to a wedding." within weeks of saying that, we'd received three wedding invitations, and I had been proposed to and planning my own wedding day, and now we were attending our fifth wedding in less than twelve months. I love weddings and find it a huge honour to be invited. So naturally, we had a cracking day and shared a dinner table with some interesting and humorous people.

We headed back to East Anglia to continue our tour and ended up staying in the most beautiful and friendly campsite I have ever stayed in. The Moon & Sixpence in Woodbridge is a family-owned Caravan park with a gorgeous lake in the centre. They have even created a false beach and a little island with weeping willows growing in the centre. Very pretty.
The clubhouse was like walking into your own comfy living room with its own bar and chef! It also had entertainment on, which was a terrific end-of-year party with live entertainment in the form of Mel, considering a lot of parks were slowly closing down for winter. 

The owner had put on an end-of-year party with live entertainment in the form of Mel, the singer. As this park was for static caravan owners and tourers only, everyone knew one another, and everyone staying in the park made an effort to show their support. It is a bit sad that we are going to miss their Halloween party next week, but we have decided that once our tour finishes in September of next year, we will go back there for a proper stay.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year Around Britain in a Motorhome - Week 7 - Wallasea, Walton-On-The-Naze, and Ipswich

 

WEDNESDAY 17 OCTOBER 2014 Week 7

Essex was a very short and sweet county to travel through. Derek and I lived in the county for far too long 😊, and as I worked around there for a while, I’d pretty much seen most of the place. But we did stay at Riverside Village at Wallasea Island, and it rained and rained and rained and rained... you get the gist.

We have done very well with the weather since arriving back from Cyprus from our honeymoon in mid-August. I couldn’t believe we were still sitting out on our reclining chairs in shorts and t-shirts at the beginning of October, so I guess we can’t complain too much. We’ve had an Indian summer, and now, apparently, we are set to endure an arctic winter. Great, and we’ll be spending it in the northern tip of Scotland as we plan to spend Christmas up there. 

I’ve never understood the British obsession with weather forecasts. My mum used to go on about it all the time, but whoa, betide us if she missed the weather after the six o’clock news! All I used to do was look out of the window and see clouds, wind, rain or sunshine and dress appropriately for the day. 

Now I understand the obsession, having sat in a motorhome while a thunderstorm passed right overhead this week while I was in Walton-On-The-Naze. The whole van shook; it was quite scary, and I usually LOVE thunderstorms.

Enough of the weather for now. So, Wallasea was an odd place. When we checked in, the lady in reception was showing us the map of the caravan site and pointed out ‘the clubhouse’. So we were like, ‘Ooh, let's go for a walk and have a drink in the clubhouse' (orange juice before anyone asks). It was deserted and had looked as if it had been all summer, with weeds everywhere, windows frosted, etc. So we went to this mariner with million-pound yachts moored there, and this clubhouse was also shut with the creepiest, mankiest toilet facilities ever, urgh. (I will save my public toilet phobia for another blog).

Walton-On-The Naze was much nicer; the campsite (Naze Marine) was actually still providing evening entertainment, which was great. We watched a comedy act called We’re Not The Blues Brothers. It was amusing, and the swimming pool was open, undercover, and warm. The seaside town was small and cutesy, with a dinky pier, and I actually liked the area. 

I wanted to stay a few more nights, but we were moving on to Orwell Meadows, close to Ipswich. The site was lovely, in beautiful countryside, although there were no towns close by; we booked over the weekend because it had a swimming pool and a clubhouse, both of which were closed. It was a ghost camp, and we were expecting small camps to be like this after Halloween, not before.

Anyhoo!! Onwards and Upwards, along the East Anglian coastline and on to Felixstowe.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year Travelling the UK Coastline - Week 6 - Essex - Kelvedon - Tiptree Jam - Braintree - Southend On Sea - Mersea Island

 WEDNESDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2014 Week 6 - Different Strokes

This week, we have mainly been in Essex, which has meant sorting out little jobs, like getting the back of the van sorted with my book stickers and promotional material for when we go to book signings and, fantasy conventions, etc. (picture).

We’ve stayed in Kelvedon Hatch, near the 'secret' war bunker, which's not so secret anymore and Steeple Bay Holiday Park near Maldon. Ever stayed in a small caravan park at the end of the season? It’s odd, a bit of a caravan ghost town, and the clubhouse at night is like going to a village of die-hard bingo-crazed people who all know one another (caravan owners’ exclusive club). 

Having said that, there are some lovely places to visit around here: Castle Hedingham. We went here on a medieval day, with knights fighting and jousting and fair maidens showing the tourists around! I love anything like that.

If you have a sweet tooth, there's Tiptree, where the world-famous Tiptree jam is made. They offer a tour of the game and chocolate-producing areas, which offers lots of opportunities to taste yummy products.

I particularly love Mersea Island. You can access via a bridge which floods twice a day as the tide comes in, so you do need to check the tidal times so you don't get cut off if you are staying on the island or you get stuck on the island if you are just visiting. This island is famous for growing oysters, so there are some great seafood shacks along the beachfront. I recommend The Shed. It's simply presented with just crusty French sticks and salads, but it's absolutely delicious, and you cannot get seafood or oysters any fresher than here. There beach area has cute coloured Beach huts and there is a great camp site right of the beach. Thoroughly recommend Mersea. 

Southend On Sea may not be for everyone, but I love it. It's Essex's Blackpool, but smaller. It's got everything you need for a traditional British Seaside holiday town, with a fun fair and a train that takes trips out to the longest pier in the UK. I first discovered the cockney classic, Pie and Mash with Liquor and jellied eels! (I didn't try the eels, though!). And Jaime Oliver even has a temporary restaurant on the pier where he films his seasonal cookery programme.

I can only have a blog about travelling through Essex if I mention Braintree and Halstead. I love this little market town, but I may be biased as I lived in Braintree for a year. Halstead has the most amazing antique warehouse, which was featured in the fabulous 90s TV series Lovejoy. And I have to say that this area of Essex is where Lovejoy was regularly filmed, so if I ever feel I need Braintree or Essex, I watch a little of Ian McShane!

Del and I took a little detour back to London for a night this week ten years ago to attend the Different Strokes Annual Convention. Since Derek suffered his stroke twelve years ago, he has raised funds for this noble charity, which helps with knowledge, rehabilitation, and support for young stroke sufferers, their families, friends, and carers. I can honestly say it was a moving and humbling experience for both of us.

Derek had already raised money for them in the past by doing a 101-mile walk (when doctors told him he would never walk again and then said he would only ever walk with a stick!). He proved the doctors wrong and then went on to do a 101-mile swim a few years later. Different Strokes have given him and continue to provide help and support. We believe more awareness about stroke needs to be raised, like knowing what signs to look out for in recognising a stroke and acting fast when it happens to get the necessary clot-busting drugs to that person as quickly as possible.

For me, the best parts of the day were the uplifting and heart-warming stories that stroke survivors shared of how they coped with their new lives after stroke and how they have found the positive from something that has left some of them with challenging disabilities. An inspirational and humorous speaker was Megan Giglia, who had a stroke at just 27 years old, an active, healthy young woman who was a sports coach and carer. Two years later, Megan 2 (as she calls herself) has found love with “One who loves her for who she is” and is now representing Team GB in the Rio 2016 Para-cycling team. She said, “The way I look at it, Megan 1 had no chance of competing in the Olympics, but Megan 2 has every chance.”. Since meeting Megan, she went on to win a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic games and was awarded an MBE at the 2017 New Year's Honours list. Amazing!

We heard an acceptance speech from the husband of the recently deceased Mal, who won the Volunteer of the Year Award. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Despite her own illness and disabilities from her own stroke, she worked tirelessly campaigning for stroke survivors and fundraising for Different Strokes.

Then there was the learning aspect for me; despite being married to a stroke survivor, there were a lot of things I didn’t kno
w myself about the condition or that the level of treatment and care differs greatly depending on which part of the country you live in, which was shocking. (More facts and figures will be provided in the next blog post.)

I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Clinical Neuropsychologist Jo Johnson, who has written and published a book – Shrinking The Smirch; by using a metaphorical creature to explain some of the problems stroke survivors suffer, especially self-esteem and self-doubt, she demonstrates how those harmful little monsters (Our Smirch) constantly nagging away at us in our heads and how it can be shrunk or changed to something positive, (I noticed quite a few NLP techniques in there) and as Jo delivered her speech it was quite obvious to me that anyone and everyone could read this book and recognise themselves in there.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Motorhome Life - Week 5 - 30 September - Isle of Sheppey - Maidstone - Ramsgate - Margate

 Disclaimer: 10 years ago this week I posted below, I'm sure Isle of Sheppey is now lovely!

Isle of Sheppey, hmm, what can I say that's nice... Hmmm, well there were a lot of retro caravans on the site, which I love, so walking around the campsite was nice... Umm. That's about it really, Sheerness, the main town, and a dowdy old town it was with a sea wall you can walk along. Oh, and we discovered why Peter Andres goes to Iceland! This place needs some serious injection of cash into it. 

Honestly it could be made into a lovely little seaside town, unless of course we turned left when we should have turned right! Leysdown on the other side of the Island was more touristy, with lots of camp sites, but had one street down to the seafront, which was basically Amusements Arcades and Cafe's.

So onto Maidstone... We stayed at Bearsted Park, lovely place couldn't fault it, but not much else is going on here. We went into Maidstone and wondered around the shopping centre, then found something amazing! A restaurant called The Buddha Belly. All you can eat, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean buffet restaurant for just £8 a sitting. So for lunch I had Thai to start, Indian for mains, then finished off with pizza and garlic bread for desert. Totally amazing! Needless to say, we didn't eat for the rest of the day.

Kent is meant to be the 'Garden of England', and I'm not sure we saw it's true potential. I loved Canterbury, but I think I'd like to go back again and have another look around. We did only pass through Margate and Ramsgate, so maybe in a few years we return to see if there has been any changes.
We spent the weekend in ‘T'Big Smook’, in that there London town. And what a joyous weekend it was. Abbey Wood Caravan Park is a woodland oasis in the middle of a built up area of the inner city. Granted we were locked in at night with a twelve foot high electric fencing and camera's everywhere, but we did feel very safe! Public transport was frequent and easy to negotiate and we did a river cruise on the Thames and saw a lot of the major sights.

We also went to an olde worlde London style pub, which I love, because it just feels all lovely and cosy, like a real pub should look like. We then watched Lucy at the Empire Cinema at Leicester Square, which was a cracking film and I may blog about in my book and arts blog The Beyond However, I will say it was very thought provoking film, if not a little scary. Del seemed to think so! 

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales