Tag: camping

Le Beach

On By MashleyIn beach, Europe, france, holiday, travelLeave a comment

After a few days at Lac Du Parloup it was time to pack up and head south. Before we came out here I fitted a bike rack so we could bring out bikes and a trailer for Arielle, the idea being that when we got down near the beach we could use the bikes to venture out if we wanted to. Clearly I am not used to how long this additional item makes the van and I managed to snag my rear wheel on a tree.

I’m not going to lie, I did swear and was really annoyed at myself. It transpires that 26” MTB wheels are extremely difficult to come by so that was my bike and the trailer out of action for the rest of the trip.

The drive to where we were staying next, Dunes Et Soleil Marseillan plage took a couple of hours, the kids were well behaved even when we stopped at Lidl, the temperature was noticeably warmer.

Check in was easy and we’d initially booked for a few nights, within no time at all we were setup.

The beach here is lovely, entry to the sea is a very gentle slope and you can wander out a long way and still be only up to your waist which is great for the kids, finally they got an ice cream from the man who walks along the beach with an ice cream trolley, Stella remembered this from the last time we came to France and she was dead set on getting one!

We ended up extending our stay here for another 4 nights at a cost of 70 Euros which is great value. There is an onsite bar that does amazing burgers and Pizzas plus the main drag is well within walking distance as is the local fairground I suppose is the best way to describe it.

There were plenty of rides for the kids and at around 22.00 they’d spent all their tokens and we headed home to be greeted by our first storm.

I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been, the water wasn’t an issue but the wind whipped up pretty quickly, luckily Lolly saw what was going on and came out and held on to the awning while I put some straps in to stop it blowing away, that did the trick and next day everything’s was as it should be, still attached to the van!

We had a great time here and probably would have ended up staying till we went home, we had lovely neighbours from Germany, Belgium and the UK and I even found a working three way fridge someone had chucked which came in well handy for keeping my beer cold!

What we didn’t have was a pool. I don’t mind hanging at the beach but the pool is a nice thing to mix it up for the kids so after seven nights we packed up again and headed to Vias Plage.

AND SO IT BEGINS…..

On By MashleyIn france, road trip, T4 Camper, travel, VW Campervan2 Comments

Lolly and Stella flew to France a few days back and I’m driving to her Mum and Dads place in Argentat to meet them, from there we’ll spend three weeks travelling around France staying in what will be Bumblebees last adventure with us…

Saturday morning at 9am I was all packed up and ready to roll..

The journey to Folkestone was uneventful but the satnav did take me on a rather long winded route as one of the sections of the M20 was closed, the upside was a saw some beautiful countryside I’d not seen before.

When you get on the train, driving through the carriages always reminds me of the Death Star run and I always hope a tie fighter will come screaming past me, never does 😦

It’s all very efficient on the train and with in no time at all Bumblebee was secured and we were on our way..

I took a wander down the carriages to find the loo and saw this which made me laugh

Hopefully they’ll see the funny side of it too.

From Calais the plan was to head to Oreleans and find somewhere to plot up for the night using the trusty all the Aires book, I was aiming for a place called Beaugency which is about 4.5 hours drive. It chucked it down for the entire journey and when I got there the Aire was permanently closed. I looked up another about 25 mins away, got there and also was closed. The next one you had to be a member of a camping club to get in, finally I found a little spot that was actually far more up my street.

As you can see I was the only person there, there is a serviceable toilet, the road it’s next to is reasonably quiet and it’s right opposite a lake.

Everything happens for a reason!

The van is full of stuff so I had to empty the van to get the blinds and bed setup, then find somewhere to put everything, at this point I have realised it’s unlikely we’ll be able to stay at any aires as the space I used to store most of the stuff is where Stella sleeps, we definitely need a bigger van!

As I cracked open a beer a small Mercedes Vito turned up and the owners proceeded to beach their vehicle on a concrete kerb stone, much revving and wheel spinning later they gave up trying to sort it and went to bed.

I had a great nights sleep, probably the best one I’ll have of this trip! I woke up and started to pack up the van ready to roll to Argentat. My neighbours got their van unstuck, rolled out a table and chairs and made themselves some breakfast, very civilised..

I made some tea and munched a BLT I picked up yesterday.

There’s been a lot of activity here this morning, some dog walkers, a chap fishing on the lake and what appears to be a hunting party.

There was also a couple of vans with hunting dogs go past, this place does remind me a little of Lake Crystal from Friday the 13th, I hope they’re not hunting for the local murderer!

Grange Farm

On By MashleyIn Camper van, T4 Camper, travel, United KingdomLeave a comment


Where we have been staying is a little campsite called Grange Farm which is on the west of the island in a village called Brighstone. It caters for tents, trailer tents, caravans and motor homes with a choice of non electric pitches to grass pitches with hook up and hard standing with hook up and water.

You can also rent an arc which comes with electricity.


It’s a proper farm with a host of resident animals including goats


Alpacas


There are also horses, sheep, ducks and chickens but I didn’t get a picture of those.

There is a playground for kids with swings and a buried boat amongst other things.


At the time of our visit half the facilities were getting a makeover, the ones we used looked a little tired but all worked fine, I’m assuming they will be updated when the others are finished.


There is also a well stocked shop on site that sells most things you would need, a 15 min walk away is the little village of Brighstone that has a fantastic village shop that sells amongst other, things, locally produced ales and farm produce, the sausages are lovely!

At this time of year the campsite is fairly quiet, I’d expect in peak season the view you see below would be quite different.

 

Just past that awning on the left is a path down to a pebble beach where we saw surfers and paddleboarders, there is also a small collection of static caravans you can rent overlooking the sea.

It cost us 80 quid for us both for 4 nights with electric hook up, this is an off season price.

We both loved it here and I would recommend it for a couple or a family as a base on the island, the sunsets on this side are spectacular too.

For more information you can visit the sites website here

Vive la France !

On By MashleyIn france, summer, T4 Camper, travelLeave a comment

In less than 2 weeks we’ll be packing up the van and heading over the pond to spend three weeks driving and camping around France.

We were planning to go to Ibiza but the ferry cost is ridiculous, 650 quid return which I reckon is more than the fuel cost of our entire 3 week trip around France.

Over the last few months we’ve been researching places we’d like to visit and locations we’d like to stay in and as you can see in the picture below a route has been loosely planned.

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Our first port of call will be Mont St Michel, from there we’ll be making our way down the atlantic coast to Biarritz, stopping off at Il de Re, Soulac Sur Mer and Arcachon, a night in Bordeaux and St Emillion, then across to Lourdes, inland to Argentat to hang with the Coups and finally homeward bound via Puy De Dome and Chambord.

We’ll be staying at campsites, my in-laws and Aires we’ve found using this awesome book.

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It’s going to be an epic trip!

By way of preparation some work has been done on the van, new timing belt and water pump, air filter, the old one is below, not great, i’ve seen worse…

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I’ve also invested in a tried and tested diesel treatment that should increase our fuel efficiency by 10% and clean up the injectors, expect a seperate report on that!

I’ll be updating the blog throughout the trip as often as I can for those that follow our travels and we’ll be keeping an eye out for fellow dubbers!

Thats all for now, planning and packing for the next week or so!

Hello summer 2015 !

On By MashleyIn brighton, summer, T4 Camper, Wild CampingLeave a comment

Hello readers, hope life is treating you well!

So it seems the good old British summer has finally arrived, scant periods of sun and warmth enveloped by mainly cloud,rain and school holidays!

Things have been a bit quiet on the adventure front since our return from Scotland with only a handful of trips and a single one nighter!

I’ve spent a bit of time building up a new mountain bike and the majority of our trips have involved exploring the south downs, specifically Peaslake, Leith Hill and Devils Dyke.

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The next big trip for Bumblebee is the Le Mans 24 hour race, about 20 blokes, 2 confirmed camper vans, a convoy of cars and beer, shaping up to be a cracking stag do!

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The van has spent some time abroad with it’s previous owners but none with us, i’m really looking forward to making the trip, the only downside is that Lolly will miss out as it’s a stag do, not for girls!

I’ll post up a full report of how the van copes with the trip to le mans and in the mean time i’ve posted up our first wild camping experience which can be found in the travel section under Devils Dyke 2015

First road trip of 2015!

On By MashleyIn road trip, Scotland, T4 Camper, VW Campervan2 Comments

With my 40th just round the corner we’ve decided to take the whole week off and go on a road trip.

The trip is in the early stages of planning but i’m so excited I thought I should post something!

Looking like we’ll be heading to the lake district first and the to galloway forest, then following a scenic drive to Oban, thats as far as i’ve got but as I mentioned before, so excited…

Been wanting to go to Scotland for ages and now it’s happening, woo hoo !!!