Off to Sussex

Up early this morning as it was moving on day. We chose a route to Hastings which took us along roads we hadn’t used before and so after leaving Canterbury we headed for Ashford. The cross country road took us to Tenterden and as we travelled south we crossed the River Rother …

After driving through Hastings we found the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea and stopped for coffee …

The next town on the route was Eastbourne followed by East Dean and down to the Cuckmere Valley …

We wanted to stop at Seaford and found a car park very close to the Newhaven & Seaford Sailing Club where we had sailed our Fireball ‘Thor’ back in the late 1960’s. It had changed quite a lot since those days as they now have a new Clubhouse …

instead of the shack that we’d used and there is a new ramp for the boats from the dinghy park to the beach. After lunch we went over to watch the start of the afternoon race and got chatting with a chap who knew Dave Long our ex fleet captain who is now living in Norfolk and sailing regularly on Hickling Broad! Small world!

It was now just a small hop to the campsite at Sheepcote Valley – well it should have been if we hadn’t missed the road and ended up driving around the Whitehawk estate! We found it in the end though and parked up for a cuppa and a rest.

We’d arranged to meet my cousin Peter at a pub at Saltdean so we drove over and accosted some chap in the car park who turned out not to be him! The last time I’d met Peter was when I was about seven years old so I had no idea what he looked like! We met up though and had a great time chatting about the family with him and his wife Jan and we’re determined to come back some time soon and have a big family get-together. It was then back to the site for a meal and to see a fox walking about the site as bold as brass. Unfortunately it was now dark and I didn’t get a photo of it.

Folkestone, Dungeness and back to Canterbury

Our last day in Kent and we headed down to Folkestone which proved much easier to drive through than we had anticipated. Taking the Hythe road we found ourselves in Sandgate and stopped by the sea for coffee …

We then drove through Hythe and on to Dymchurch where we saw this Martello Tower …

On the minor road to Dungeness we found a free (!) car park so we stopped to give Hamish a run on the beach …

He had a great time as it’s quite a few days since we’ve found a dog-friendly one. There was nobody else around but we saw these lovely old boats pulled up on the pebbles …

this one was definitely not sea-worthy …

After lunch there was a tooting and a train appeared on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch railway …

We now continued along the road until we reached Dungeness …

and then made our way back inland towards Ashford. After skirting around the town we found a cross-country road with a field of poppies …

and a field of plastic which was a strawberry farm …

Back to the campsite and a comment on Kent – Glad we came here but we won’t be rushing back! We haven't seen any oast houses or hops!

Deal and the Isle of Thanet

Today we thought we’d do a circuit which would take us down to Deal and then up to the Isle of Thanet and back. We set off across country to Deal which was pretty straightforward and managed to find the coast road, passing the Castle

before parking up for coffee. There was land on the horizon which didn’t make sense unless it was France! Surely not?

Mike asked a local who said yes it was France and we were very lucky to see it as the weather conditions were particularly favourable. From here we back-tracked a short distance and rook the road into Sandwich. We stopped at a local Farm Shop and then drove on through the town to the Quay …

After crossing the river …

we made our way to the main road and headed for Broadstairs hoping to find the seafront where we could stop for lunch. All was going so well until we saw a diversion which we followed only to be sent round in circles and not seeing the sea! The only explanation I could think was that it’s Friday the 13th so what else could we expect!! We kept going in what we hoped was the right direction and thought we’d find somewhere else to stop when we spotted a road to Minnis Bay which sounded okay. We had a lovely spot overlooking the sea and after lunch took Hamish for a walk along the prom …

After leaving the Bay we made our way towards Margate which was last visited by us in the late 1960’s when we’d raced our Fireball in the Nationals there. Needless to say nothing looked familiar but I got this photo of the Clock Tower as we drove through …

It was now back to the main road and after topping up with fuel at Whitstable Tesco, we came on back to the site for a lazy afternoon.

Isle of Sheppey

We had a very lazy start to the day today. With no wildlife waking us at 6am we didn’t stir until nearly 9am! So after breks and tidying up we set off to visit the Isle of Sheppey which was somewhere neither of us had been to before.

As we approached the bridge it look awesome …

but what a fantastic view from the top of it …

We drove to Queenborough where we found the old harbour and we stopped for coffee …

We then drove on to Sheerness and Minster where we stopped overlooking the beach for lunch …

After lunch we made our way across the island to Leysdown-on-Sea which was very rough and full of statics. We then had to retrace our steps as the road was a dead-end and on our way back we noticed a road to the Ferry House Inn and an RSPB viewpoint. It was a very old road which took us across a completely uninhabited part of the island until we reached a couple of farms and the pub. We could look across the River Swale towards Oare …

and then we went to the viewpoint to watch the birds and have a cuppa. However it was this little chap who got captured on my camera …

the birds were all flying too quickly for me! As we left though we spotted these two Oystercatchers sitting on a fence and then they took off …

It was now time to leave the island and I got this shot looking eastwards from the bridge …

and driving around Canterbury on our way back ...

When we arrived at the site Mike received a phone call from his doctor at Treliske. She said not to worry about the blood test but to enjoy our holiday and she would see him on our return. What a nice lady!

Off to Kent

We were up early today as it was moving day.

After saying our farewells to Ann and Derek, the couple in the motorhome next to us, we set off at 10am. It’s always sad when we leave Norfolk but we’ll be back again in late September.

The route to Kent took us down the A11 and M11 before reaching my least favourite road – the M25! Driving east was a first for us and we soon reached the Dartford Crossing …

followed by the Medway crossing …

It was then the A2 and M2 on our way to Canterbury. The Club site here is much bigger than the Norwich site and it seems to be much quieter. No trains, cockerels, geese or ducks - only rabbits …


which are thankfully silent!

Off to Norfolk

Up early this morning and as it was lovely and sunny we took Hamish for a walk along the towpath. We were admiring the boats …

and crossing the canal on the nearest bridge …

Then it was back to the RV and all set for Norfolk! We took the quickest route which meant M4, M25 and M11 but there were no problems and we finally arrived at the Norwich Camping and Caravanning Club site where we were shown to our pitch which will be home for a week …

If you want to follow our daily adventures then you need to look at our Broadland Blog for the next week.

Off on Hols!

We left Cornwall today and headed for Wiltshire and the village of Sells Green where the Devizes Camping and Caravanning Club Site is situated. After a good run we arrived and were shown to our pitch for the night. We took Hamish for a walk along the canal in the evening and then we enjoyed this lovely sunset …