Sun, Sea and Slovenia… well mostly anyway! – 16/5/24

Leaving Venice and Italy behind us, we set off taking the torrential rain with us towards Slovenia. We had decided that we were going to head to Portoroz first which is on the coast, just 8km from the Croatian border as it looked like an interesting point to start our journey through Slovenia.

A little bit last minute, but Keith had remembered that Slovenia has toll roads but no toll booths – meaning that you have to buy a box/tag system and pre-load it with credit before you can drive on most of the main roads running through the country. Therefore entering the country on a toll road is always a bit of a risk not knowing how, or where you can buy the ‘box’ as the fines are quite substantial.

We opted to take the risk, setting up an account online literally 10 minutes before we were crossing the border, and thankfully on the route we had taken from Italy – which did turn directly into a toll road in Slovenia – there was a fuel station on the border selling the ‘DarsGo’ box which is what we needed for a 7.2 tonne motorhome. The chap I spoke to was incredibly helpful, set up the system for us attaching the box to my account and we were off… phew!

Portoroz became popular in the late 19th century for the Austro/Hungarian Monarchy based on its ‘health’ benefits from the concentrated salt water and salina mud and although I am sure it is incredibly busy during peak season, it was actually beautifully tranquil whilst we were there.

We had chosen to stay at Portoroz Marina (45 euro per night) which is nestled right in the centre of the bay, giving us beautiful views out of our front window to watch the yachts as they came and went. We were parked with our nose almost on the beach, which as the tide started to rise later in the day caused a few concerns – thankfully though the high tide stopped roughly 1.5m from the front of the motorhome, and as we are in the bay the water was calm and glistening, just perfect!

The area is set up for cyclists, runners and walkers with several circular routes going up the coast, down the coast and inland… enough to keep us busy for a few days and providing me with a wonderful morning running route.

The walk south took us along the coast into a Marine park and then up into the hills – they were only small, rolling hills – taking in a sculpture park Vineyards, Olive Groves and providing beautiful views out over Croatia and of course the salt fields. Salt that we ended up buying from the salt farmer himself just as he had packed all of his goods away the following day in Piran.

The walk North took us through Portoroz and on into Piran, a pretty fishing village with a castle. Keen to try out some local food, we headed towards a seafood place for lunch that looked interesting – Fritolin Pri Cantini – but as it is effectively a serving hatch where you order your food, they suggest turning up early as it is a small place and you need to find a table. It is a good set up as it shares the tables with the bar next door who provide table service for drinks and also the all important toilets… a perfect match.

We arrived at about 12:45, got a shaded table on the terrace and ordered a grilled seafood platter (albeit with a bit of deep fried calamari) accompanied by a green salad. It was light, fresh and delicious. We would definately go back if we happened to be passing through.

Wanting to enjoy the coast for just a little bit longer as the weather was being kind to us, we headed 20km round the coast back up towards Italy, arriving at Ankaran (Ankaran Hotel and Resort 53.66 euros p/n inc.)

Slovenia only has 46.4km of coastline and unfortunately nestled between Piran and Ankaran is Koper, Slovenias only Port and although I am sure that it is a very pretty town, it meant that the views out to sea from Ankaran were mostly of container ships…. they made for a beautiful shadow on the sun set though!

Ankaran is 4km from the Italian border making my morning run a little different – round the peninsula, up over the hills and a quick dip into Italy and back again. I did have a bit of a panic on the first day when I passed the border control police, wondering what would happen if they stopped me on my way back and wouldn’t let me back into Slovenia…. it was all ok though. Apparently Sundays are their day off should you ever want to smuggle something in, or out of the country… weird eh?

Exploring the area, we walked up into the hills, through the Vineyards and Olive Groves and then around the peninsula which gave us slightly more than we had bargained for. The views over to Italy and Trieste – also a port – were expected, however the route Keith had planned took us down onto the beach where we had to negotiate high tide, doing a bit of paddling whilst also trying to step round the naturists without imposing on their space….nothing like an all over tan!

The following day, after catching up on our washing and a little walk around the Memorial Salt Park in the morning, we set off on a little bike ride. Once again heading up into the hills – even higher this time which was a good test for the bikes – taking in more Olive Groves and Vineyards before coming back down to the coast into Muggia in Italy where we parked up the bikes and had a little walk round. The historic center was pretty small and not a huge amount to write home about, but we were distracted by the gelatrias and felt the need to stop and taste – well it would have been wrong to pop back into Italy on a sunny day and not have gelato wouldn’t it?

The following day, it was time to move on again, away from the coast and heading towards the mountains this time, stopping over in Postojna to see the caves. As a general rule, we don’t tend to go to tourist attractions and especially not on ‘organised tours’ as such, although we are happy to make the exception for something unique and after a little research, these caves did sound pretty exceptional.

We had booked our slot on line for 2pm, so parked up (Car Park 4 @ 20 euros/24hr) and headed off into the caves with jumpers, jackets, raincoats and woolley hats despite it being 20ish degrees and sunny outside.

After collecting our audio guide we got on the train and were happy that we had brought the extra clothing….10 degrees and humid! The railway is the only double track railway of its kind, is the worlds first railway in a cave. and is 3.7km long, dating back to 1872

All I can say is Wow! – glad we did it but no, we don’t need to do another cave anytime soon. It was in Keith’s words, probably one of the most amazing things he has ever seen… and that includes seeing the wierd looking ‘Olms’, or in latin ‘Proteus Anguinus‘…. better known as baby dragons.

The ‘Olm’ is a pale pink, almost translucent creature with short legs with three digits on their forelimbs and two on their hind feet and they move around in the water by twisting their bodies, assisted by the legs. They breathe through gills and rudimentary lungs. They have no eyes but they can “see” everything with the help of skin receptors leading them to be very good at sensing their prey. The wierdest part though is that they can go without food for many years…very odd creatures….all in all quite a unique experience!

After a slightly cooler morning run/exercise routine and breakfast, leaving the caves behind us, we set off towards Lake Bled where we were hoping the rain would hold off long enough so that we could take in some of its beauty…. and we were luckier than we thought we would be.

As the weather forecast was looking pretty wet we opted to stay in Bled (Bled Stellplatz 25 euro p/n), rather than at one of the campsites and it worked well as not only was it perfectly located for us to get some shopping done, it is 1km from Lake Bled and not too far from the Vintgar Gorge.

After lunch, we headed towards the lake to stretch our legs and ended up walking all the way round, being captivated by the views at every clearing in the trees. The clouds were low, leaving the skies looking a little moody but Lake Bled was still the most incredible Turqouise colour… and better still, it was quiet.

The following morning was dry, so taking full advantage and after letting the rolls I had made cool enough to make the sandwiches, we headed off on a little walk to Vintgar Gorge.

Vintgar Gorge is carved out of the rocks by the Radovna River and is situated just inside the Triglav National Park, 5km from Bled. The Gorge itself is 250m high and 1.6km long and protected, restricting the number of people who access it and where you can walk.

The water was so clear and the colour was mesmerizing. The sound, despite being incredibly loud through the rapids, was relaxing.

At the end of the 1.6km path, we circled back up through the woods to eat our lunch before heading back down through Zasip, arriving back at the motorhome just before the weather broke…. perfect timing!

Having threatened to rain but not having arrived, it arrived in its abundance…although not so much of an issue overnight, just ensures that the rivers flow freely and helps keep the area looking beautiful and green.

The rain didn’t bother us too much this morning either as it was a planned ‘rest’ day, although we made it out for a reverse loop of the lake, which despite not being able to see the top of any of the surrounding mountains – or even hills today – still had a ‘special’ feel. There is no doubt that it is a very beautiful place and we consider ourselves lucky to have seen it whilst it has been so quiet.

We have been cooking alot – and even had the BBQ out twice last weekend as the weather was so good…. although I had to remember how to make pittas again as it has been a while!

We haven’t however been cooking many new recipes – its been curries, cobbles, stews, pies and more. The only new recipe that we have now added to our repertoire is a Rich and Creamy Lasagne which has a lovely combination of Squash, Aubergine and Porcini mushrooms amongst other deliciousness…. and yes, it is plant based but you wouldn’t know!

We came to Slovenia without any expectations and having done very little research, and from what we have seen so far, Slovenia is a very beautiful place and incredibly easy to travel in.

The people are friendly and although we have learnt a few words of Slovenian, thankfully most of them appear to speak reasonably good english.

We are just nine days in to our visit and from what those nine days have given…. we are excited about what there is to come. There is so much more to explore – including the food and wine but here is the map of where we have been so far.

Into the hills and beyond – 7/5/2024

We have been truly spoilt over the last week, falling upon the most beautiful locations to stop at and enjoy… so this blog is a little full of photos – for which I won’t apologise!

The last stop in France before crossing over into Italy was Bonneville (Camping Car Park 13.94 euro per night), a lovely little town in the Auvergne -Rhone-Alpes just south of Geneva. Bonneville is a typical French mountain town with a good local market, the Arve – a stunningly beautiful turqouise river which flowed through it, and a castle, all of which accompanied by the back drop of snow topped mountains made it jaw droppingly beautiful and incredibly relaxing.

We spent three days exploring the area – both up into the hills and also along the river – whilst catching up on our washing and shopping before crossing over into Italy – from previous experience, you just don’t know what you are going to find in Italy so we felt it worth being prepared….or as prepared as you can be at least!

Leaving France behind us – unfortunately being accompanied by the grey skies – we set off into the mountains to take the Mont Blanc Tunnel over into Italy. Although we knew this was going to be an expensive option, it cuts the time and distance we need to travel and obviously saves on the fuel consumption as there are less hill climbs…. it was just a shame that the cloud was so low and we couldn’t see anything as from what I understand there are some spectacular spots to stop along the route and take in the views.

10 miles of tunnel, a few hairpin bends and 195.60 euros later we were in Italy surrounded by clouds and it was raining heavily …. perhaps next time we pass this way we will be lucky enough to enjoy the views!

Our first stop was Montestrutto (Miglio 608 Camper Area 12.50 euro p/n)) a tiny village just north of Ivrea. We were the only motorhome on the aire and after setting up and having some lunch, we headed up into the hills for a walk. The rain subsided and we were left with a moody light and stunning scenary – it was a truly beautiful, tranquil area to be in with just the clanging bells from the goats ringing out across the valley.

The following day, waking to birdsong and sunshine and following a beautiful morning run along the Via Francigena, we set off into Ivrea – where my mum had spent six months on sebatical in 1969 as it was home to Olivetti. Ivrea is now a UNESCO site based on its relationship between industry and architecture based upon the Olivetti involvement in the area. Not your typical UNESCO site but interesting all the same, it is pretty enough and although most things were shut on a Monday, we had a good walk around and found a lovely place to eat gelato – so no complaints from us!

A beautiful location to stop off at with another incredible gelataria alongside the Area in Montestrutto – which naturally, we also had to try – somewhere to come back and explore further next time we are passing through.

We moved on again though as Bank Holiday was looming and following previous experiences with the Italians herding towards campsites for weekends in their masses, we had made provision for 1st May by booking ourselves into Mabellina Agricamping (62 euros p/n) just outside Desenzano del Garda.

The Campsite was nestled within the vineyards, roughly 1 mile from Lake Garda and just under 1km from a lovely little non-touristy Trattoria… so we thought it’d be rude not to try out some proper Italian cuisine whilst here.

‘Mama’ was on front of house and ‘Papa’, or I should probably say one of the ‘Papas’ was in the kitchen, and the other was on the bar. All three were welcoming but ‘Papa cook’ was incredibly animated and proud of his food – although what he was saying as he served up the seafood platter we have no idea, all we can say is that he seemed to be very happy!!

We went for simplicity and were not let down, tortellini with a meat based stuffing and pancetta for Keith and a Squash and Sage stuffing for me, both with a butter and sage sauce and a nice amount of parmasan to start, grilled seafood and a fresh salad to share for main and we both opted for Tiramasu to finish. The restaurant only had locals – young and old – I imagine something hard to find near Lake Garda.

The weather was incredibly varied over the five days we were on Lake Garda with the day we arrived being 29 degrees and almost unbearable, changing to torrential rain, then back to an agreable 23/24 degrees which was just about perfect.

My morning runs around the southern part of the lake were stunning – each day the views changed as the sky and clouds changed colours. We took the bikes out to explore Sirmione and Desenzano del Garda – the former being an incredible walled island which we weren’t expecting – lack of research on our part – although we were a little overwhelmed by the quantity of tourists as well as the number of gelatarias per sq foot! A really pretty place but slightly too full on for us, and that was on a Friday in May, not a weekend or holiday season.

Not thinking that we could surpass the beauty that we have seen over the last week – despite knowing our next destination – we finally moved further east to get to Venice (Camping Venezia Village 44 euro per night).

The campsite is located 10km outside the city and felt quite tranquil for the amount of time we actually spent there, most importantly though, Venice was easily accessible. We caught the bus in on Sunday afternoon after lunch to do a little reckie, having pre-registered online and paid our ‘tourist tax’ as you now need to do on certain dates, and set off to explore the non-central areas for fear of too many people enjoying the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon.

We were really pleasantly surprised as we managed to avoid the crowds right up until just before we left and came back towards the bus terminal. I took a huge amount of photos – of which I will only bore you with a few – most of which were completely free of people, we couldn’t have asked for more. We walked up and down the streets between canals, crossing bridges and finding little ‘Osterias’ and ‘Trattorias’ hidden away with people finishing their lazy Sunday lunch and soaking up a bit of afternoon sun.

Such a beautiful city with a wonderful shabby chic feel… it was lovely to be able to soak up the athmosphere as we walked and explored hidden corners of the city.

Whilst checking into the campsite on the Sunday we found that there was a bus and train strike between 8:30am and 16:30 the following day. Although we could get buses and trains outside these hours, it was obvious that they would be packed and as we had read that Venice is one of the most ‘unfriendly’ places for bikes that wasn’t our immediate option as it would normally have been.

You can’t take bikes further into Venice than the bus station and there weren’t any bikes chained up to railings, however whilst doing research previously we had seen that there was a secure bike storage place in one of the underground car parks so decided to try our luck.

Each box was 10 euros for 24 hours, so although not cheap for the short stay tourist like us – it was 25 euros for 30 days, which I guess would help encourage people to be ‘green’ – it meant that we could come into Venice and leave whenever we wanted to, having the confidence that the bikes were safe…. in our minds, 20 euros well spent.

Bikes parked securely, we set off to soak up more of the athmosphere and enjoy more of the beauty we had indulged the previous day.

Despite the mostly grey skies it was warm but not too hot, pleasant enough to explore the humid city without feeling overwhelmed. We walked towards St Marks Square, twisting and turning as we came to bridges and dead-ends, enjoying the architecture and noting the differences between the wealth close to it and further away.

Naturally it was busier as we got closer to St Marks Basilica and the main square, but to be honest, it really wasn’t too bad – we were lucky. We stopped for coffee and people watched which is always interesting, before continuing our walk through the market and out towards the university where once again the athmosphere changed.

Whilst people watching, and curious by the quantity of people drinking the ‘lucozade-like’ drink on the terraces- better known as Apero Spritz to most – I looked online to find that it was a drink developed in Venice in 1920’s, you learn something new every day, shame it took until 2019 to take off though!

A lovely couple of days exploring and enjoying the city along with its hustle and bustle, we are glad we finally made it after our first attempt nine years ago… apparently only about another 76 years until it will be under water and un-inhabitable.

And just to finish our short – but incredibly beautiful visit to Italy – a map of where we have been… we will try not to leave it nine years until we come back to visit this time!

France in full bloom…. 27/4/2024

It has been a long time since we spent any kind of time in France and had the chance to stop at some of its beautiful towns and villages as well as taking the time to enjoy some of the local producers who open their doors to motorhomes staying over for a night or two….so we have been a little bit like children in a sweet shop these last ten days, making the most of every day!

We crossed over on the tunnel on Tuesday (16th April) and opted to stay the first night on a free Aire by the sports field just outside of Bergues town walls. Bergues is only 10km south of Dunkerque, far enough from Calais to not worry about anyone trying to jump in the garage thinking that we were on our way back to the UK, but close enough to not have to think should the shuttle get delayed. The town is pretty enough for a stop over but you wouldn’t go out of your way to visit, it has everything that you need in terms of bakeries, supermarkets, cafes, bars and restaurants and the Aire was easy to access and very tranquil overnight…even a really lovely off road route for my morning run!

Moving on in the morning though – still with the end destination in mind – we had decided to get some miles behind us and travel South into the Champagne region where Steve and Debs had recommended a lovely small producer (Philippe Hautem, Vaudemange) where they had stayed and bought from previously.

We had a little walk around the village which doesn’t have anything else in it apart from another 5 or 6 small champagne producers, then headed back to meet Philippe’s wife who took us and a German couple, also staying in a motorhome, through the different champagnes they make.

The husband and wife team set up the champagne house from scratch 40 years ago and now run it with their two sons. Over the years they have evolved and developed the process and the different types of champagne they produce, even this year they are introducing two new varieties… one of which is 100% Pinot Noir.

Neither Keith nor I are massive champagne fans simply because we feel there are many wines that are a far better value for money for our taste buds, however it is possibly fair to say that we have just tried too many of the ‘cheaper’ brands as in contrast to our experience, the champagne was delicious, fresh and light. We tried 6 different varieties in total, including one rose and were lucky enough to try some of their ‘aged ‘Old Vines’ champagne from 2012 which they don’t produce each year but when they do it only provides about 300-400 bottles…. this is the kind of ‘free’ stop over that ends up being quite expensive…but we would definately repeat it!!

After a lovely quiet night and a morning hilly run up through the vineyards, we set off towards Troyes (pronounced Trois…as we have now been told!), where we found a lovely Aire a mile outside the center (15 euros p/n inc elec.)

When Keith was looking at the aire he happened to see that there was a restaurant – Bistro DuPont 500m away that had reasonably good reviews which got me looking at options nearby… and it turns out that the restaurant he found was a Michelin Bib Gourmand with several nice looking set menus – which the french do so well, so we thought it would be rude not to try – especially as they could adapt one of their menus to a difficult pescatarian!

The food was excellent – everything from Beluga Lentils with Foie Gras and Smoked Salmon for starters, scallops and a beautiful fish dish for mains, through to a deliciously light cheese eclair….. and those desserts were to die for – unsurprisingly, the restaurant was full on Friday lunchtime.

Troyes itself was a really pretty city with lots of beautiful old buildings – some still part way through the process of renovation so a little shabby chic – but in the main lots of interesting architecture, not too big and a lovely French ‘cafe society’ feel.

We walked the streets in all different directions, sampled the coffee shops and also took advantage of being their on Saturday to enjoy the extended market which, as always in France, proved to be excellent with a huge amount of local produce with everything from Raw Milk and unpasturised cheeses to seasonal vegetables and home made breads.

I even managed to see a beaver swimming up the Old Seine when I went out for my morning run on the Saturday – a first ever for me as I haven’t ever seen a beaver in the wild, an amazingly powerful mammmal… who’d have thought they were just large rats! A lovely place and we will definately stop off here again if we are passing this way.

After three nights and leaving our neighbours thinking that we really were ‘The Mad English’ having decided to do some washing and hang it out just as it started to rain….. we moved on again we decided to stop at another little France Passion vineyard en route – Domain Dury in Bourgogne – just south of Beune, this time to try some Burgundy Whites and Reds.

We arrived and the sun was shining – which before long turned into hail storms as typically is the case in April, but they went as quick as they came and the sun soon came out again and let us go for a ‘dry’ walk which was good. In contrast to some of the other vineyards we have stayed at, this one didn’t offer a tasting but instead had two large fridges full of bottles of wine for people to buy on an honesty basis.

Being a Sunday and with only one other campervan accompanying us by 6pm we expected to pretty much have the place to ourselves… but alas as the rain started again another three motorhomes turned up… appears to be a very popular place – we have only tried one bottle so far which was a Bourgogne Pinot Nnoir and it is fair to say that its flavour enhanced by breathing a little. We are looking forward to trying the other wines we bought, including a Grand Cru over the coming weeks as this looks like a place to come back to.

Switching wine for food, we moved to another France Passion place – Auberge Grand Ronjan, Cormoz, where although they were closed on Mondays, we had asked if we could stay the Monday night as well as Tuesday to get see a little bit more of the area and they were happy to accommodate..

It is a little bit more complicated being pescatarian in France especially when you want to go to off grid restaurants which are a little bit more ‘authentic’ and generally only serve up what is local and in season. I did however call ahead and the conversation made me smile as I tried to explain that I didn’t eat meat, but did eat pretty much anything else including fish and shellfish… therefore in French terms apparently I am Vegetarian….. and, in that case I would also eat Frogs Legs and Snails…no? therefore, loads of options!

Thankfully they were able to do a salad without lardons – which apparantly would also be vegetarian no? and a fish in beurre blanc…. Keith made the most of local and seasonal specialities – Frogs legs and Bresse chicken…it was ok, but we won’t be running back. I know it is supposed to be frog leg season as such but these were pretty small – perhaps he should go for toad next time… The Bresse Chicken however was lovely but as is the case in France, don’t expect to get any vegetables.

It was a really tranquil location and a pretty area so despite the food not being quite up to standard, we had a nice cycle ride and a couple of lovely walks through the rolling hills.

Obviously as we are limited by how much wine we can bring into Europe from the UK now – only 4 Litres per person – we decided to get just one more France Passion ‘fix’ in before we head over to Italy and there are no surprises for this one being another Vineyard – Domaine Aime Bernard et Fils – Silans on the Rhone.

The photos don’t do it justice – it was a truly stunning and tranquil location to stay overnight. Perched on the side of the vineyard sloping down towards the Rhone with the backdrop of the snow peaked mountains. We arrived at lunch time and had a beautiful walk in the afternoon before the rain came, passing beehives and vines whilst enjoying the beautiful turquoise Rhone twisting nearby. Then later headed over to do a ‘degustacion’ – tasting for those who aren’t in the know – of their wines – beautiful fresh, crisp whites and an interesting red ‘Mondeuse’ that neither of us had heard of before…. another six bottles for the road!

Another beautiful, peaceful night with just the bird song and amazing views to wake up to – it’s places like this that make you really appreaciate being in a motorhome and having the ability to travel and meet small producers who are passionate about their products.

Despite eating out a little more this last week and a half we have also had time to play with some new recipes again
– Pashwari naan – a lovely nutty, sweet change to the naan bread
– Pesto lasagne – truly deliciously rich and indulgent
– WIld garlic cheese scones – taking my normal cheese scone recipe and adding a little bit of seasonal flavour (approx 75g of Wild Garlic)

And finally the map. We had planned to travel a little more quickly but as always the enjoyment should be in the journey as well as the final destination and it is always easy to get distracted in France as there are so many beautiful places to visit…. one more stop in France – and then it’s over to Italy… I promise!

A little trip out to the garden county… 16/4/2024

Trying to escape the sodden fields of Berkshire we headed East to explore a little of Kent, the garden county apparently and oddly, somewhere we pass through alot to go to the continent but rarely stop and haven’t ever explored.

First stop was Canterbury, somewhere I haven’t ever been to and Keith has only ever visited as part of hockey tours… so how much he actually saw, or perhaps remembers, is another thing. We booked the Canterbury Camping and Caravan Club site as it was only about a mile outside the center and had hard standing which is still key with amount of rain we have had, despite it apparently being Spring.

I think, we were possibly a little harsh on our judgement having only recently been to Winchester and being pretty impressed, as we found Canterbury a little tired and without a huge amount of appeal. Many of the shops were empty and the town felt a little ‘soul-less’ which was a shame but it was good to see all the same … and some of the architecture is beautiful, including the cathedral.

We had already planned a little gastronomic excursion whilst staying in Canterbury…. well the pub booking actually came before the campsite as we had wanted to visit ‘The Sportsman’ which is in Saltwater for a while now, just not made it.

This time however, we were lucky enough to have a dry day and decided to take the bikes and ride out for lunch …. a bit of a long ride, but it was beautiful and very tranquil. Lunch was exceptional – both service and food…. we will definately be doing a little bit of a detour to come again in the future. Not that we need an excuse but we do feel the need to come back and explore Whitstable as it looked lovely on our brief pitstop en-route!

Moving on, we headed to a CL (Lydden Farm CL £20pn) that I had found, nicely positioned between Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. I was a little concerned in so far as there wasn’t any hard standing and a couple of the comments mentioned access was tight… but the owner assured me that the fields were ‘well drained’ and access would be fine so we set off confidently, well semi-confidently at least…

To be fair, it was only the first 20m of the last 300m and although the hedges had just been cut, which was a huge benefit, the farmer had caught one of them which had pulled a large, solid branch out making access a little squeeze. We made it through with just a little tickle down the sides and thankfully and once settled, Keith went back to check out the branch and found a way to secure the troublesome branch back into the hedge, making it slightly easier for my exit! The field was chalk under the grass and well drained so despite the huge quantities of rain we didn’t sink.

Margate had a small but lovely old town which was quite eclectic and lovely large sandy beaches but as much as I love a 2p machine, there were slightly too many amusement arcades and rock shops for us unfortunately. Ramsgate, again had lovely beaches but not a huge amount else, although to be fair to it – we did visit on a wet and windy Sunday so most things were closed and looking a little grey.

Broadstairs, however, and the walk along the promenade from Ramsgate to Broadstairs was lovely. It is a beautiful small town which used to be a fishing village and evolved into a holiday destination in Victorian times, hence much of the architecture is of that era. A lovely circular walk on a slightly grim day enabling us to learn more about some of the Kent seaside towns.

The final destination of our trip to Kent was Little Norword Farm CL (£22 p/n) which is just outside Sittingbourne and close to the Isle of Sheppey, a beautifully prepared site. We were welcomed by the father as the owners were away, accompanied by two boxes of beautifully fresh eggs…. what could be better!

We headed out for on the first afternoon to have a little walk and made a round trip through some local villages, taking in the views of the sea before arriving back at the motorhome – a pretty area. The second day we decided to head into Sittingbourne to have a look around and decided that next time, we would probably skip the town itself unless we needed something specific… it was even a bit of a struggle to find a coffee shop!

And then finally, as we were so close to the Isle of Sheppey it would have been rude not to go and have a look, so we jumped on the bikes and cycled across to the other side of the Island to where the Nature Reserve is. Unfortunately, it was slightly more built up than we expected and the roads were busier with traffic so, although we did make it to far the far tip – Leysdown on Sea – stopped for a coffee on the seafront by the amusement arcades, we didn’t stay long before turning around and heading back again…. a good 42km round trip. We are glad we did it – and perhaps it would be better during ‘holiday season’ – but I don’t think we will be coming all the way over here again soon.

Following only three days back at the farm we did a quick trip across to the Cotswolds to Moreton on the Marsh where we had found a nice little place just outside the town to stay for three nights. (Pebbly Barn CL £20 p/n)

A perfect location to explore if you like walking – who would have known there was a ‘Four Shires Corner’ ? But also to catch up with Pete and Liz who live locally, and we also had a last minute surprise coffee with Matt and Jonathan who were also passing through the area… this is one we will definately be coming back to.

Although we have had a few meals out, we have also been cooking a little more and experimenting with a recipe book that we had put in a cupboard and forgotten about – thank you Ian, one of the Bosh Boys’ books has some great recipes in it.

– Cheesy Mac and Greens – a great one pot cheesy pasta dish with whatever greens you have in the fridge
– Goan Fish and Prawn Curry – quick and easy and full of flavour
– Onion Rice – real depth of flavour with a lovely twist
– Saag Aloo – a Bosh alternative which although slightly more complicated, full of flavour and deliciosness
– Rogan Bosh – a really quick, tasty dish
– Falafel Wraps – yes, we have been trying out another new recipe and this time wrapping them up in tortillas

…and finally just as we are embarking on our next trip the map of where we went in March…

Spring is in the air….. or is it?? 12/3/24

After a couple of weeks back at the farm, we headed West for four nights in Bath to catch up with old friends. It’s always nice to be back in Bath, although we never really see a huge amount of it any more …. or do alot more than eating, drinking and social…. but when combined with such good company…who is going to complain?

This time however, we put the bikes to their first ‘proper’ test and on the Sunday cycled over to Timsbury to catch up with James and Claire – what would have been a beautiful route if we weren’t in the clouds and the roads weren’t rivers – a 22 mile round trip on counrty lanes through undulating hills… I think I am converted!

Following Bath, we headed South East into the New Forest to Milford-on-Sea where we had booked Vervaine, a tiny little fish restaurant we had planned to visit a couple of years ago, but they had to cancel at the last minute due to a bereavement.

We had found a campsite (Lytton Hall, £25 per night inc.) which happened to be just round the corner from some friends in Everton so were able to not only catch up with them, have some lovely walking exploring the area a little more, but also endulge in some lovely cuisine…. If all waffles were cooked like this one – I would be a convert… gruyere and parmasan cheese mixed in but so, so light and the liquorice ice-cream for the pre-dessert was also fantastic. Both fish courses were cooked exceptionally, the only negative was that both were quite one dimensional in texture and very similar in flavour which was a shame, but worth the visit.

It was quickly time to move on again, so on Thursday we headed to Winchester (Morn Hill Caravan Club Site, £36.80 pn inc.)

After arriving on Thursday lunchtime, we headed out for a little walk to stretch the legs closer to the campsite, exploring the country lanes down into Easton where we fell upon a Village Shop which happened to be inside The Chestnut Horse Pub. We felt it rude not to have a look and check out their produce and as it was a bit grim outside stopped for a refuel. The Pub/Village Shop had obviously been recently converted or regenerated as it was light and airy, offering huge glass windows to look out onto the wet and rainy courtyard whilst eating home baked delights and drinking a glass of wine or supping a smoothie.

With the sun breaking through the clouds we headed into Winchester the following day and soon realised that we hadn’t actually ever been before… or perhaps we passed through to come to a friends wedding many years ago – but neither of us remember anything so were more than pleasantly surprised.

Whilst scanning the local eateries I fell upon a place called Piecaramba, a small Pie cafe just off the main thoroughfare and we figured it would be wrong to pass it by and not try bearing in mind the pies looked so good. The cafe was basic but adorned with comic book characters – the toilets being a little haven for Star Wars fans! As we walked in, the table in front of us had just been served a double pie which looked amazing (one pie stacked on top of another, accompanied by all the trimmings)… however, we both opted for singles but with the crispy onions, grated cheese, mash and mushy pies….leaving a little space for the cherry pie with custard for dessert.. not culinary delights, but certainly good hearty food.. a nice little pit stop!

Winchester itself is beautiful and well worth the visit. Architecturally it is wonderful mix of new and old, green areas and higgledy piggledy buildings with a bustling main street … a proper market town… or I should probably say City.

We walked not only around the center, but also out to St Cross and Catherines Hill taking in the beautiful rolling hills and the plethora of cycle routes – a really lovely place. We took advantage of a couple of interesting coffee shops along the way, one of which was Proudfoot & Co. run by Eoghan a Welsh/American who is passionate about cookery books, foraging and natural remedies. The coffee shop/bar doesn’t serve alcohol or coffee but the cocktails and drinks menu is multi faceted and offers something for most palates, whether you are after a warming hug of a drink or a refreshing kick…..as well as a number of interesting accompaniements from one of the 600+ cookbooks that he has collected/inherited from his ancestors – the Malt Loaf was to die for….

Our short trip away soon came to an end and we headed back to the farm for a couple of busy weeks as always….this time slightly more educational in the form of a cookery course and then a Natural Beehive making course.

Keith had been doing some research looking for a local Supper Club with the hope that there may be somewhere local offering family, home cooked Indian foods bearing in mind Slough and Maidenhead have such an eclectic community. Unfortunately we still haven’t found anywhere but he did fall upon a Punjabi lady offering cooking courses in her home, so we took a punt and had a go and are now happy to say that we have a couple of new dishes under our belt…a couple (including the chapati’s) have also been tried and tested at home since.

I had found a Natural Beehive making course a while ago that was being run at a local bio-dynamic, organic farm in White Waltham which is where we buy our Vegetable box from when they are open for the season. It was an unusual but interesting course, with the objective being to provide a wild hive for honey bees to populate and make into their home, encouraging pollination naturally. Keith set off prepared for a full on day’s work but I don’t think anything would have prepared him for the size of the tree trunk that he was carving out and turning into a hive…. just to put the pictures into perspective, the tree trunk only just fitted into the boot of the VW Golf and weighed in somewhere between 30-40kg once hollowed out. A really interesting day – albeit apparently quite hard work…. I didn’t go. The Wild Beehive has been donated it to the farm – all we need to do now is get a cap sorted for it and work with the farmers to get it hoisted into a tree where it will live and hopefully become a home for a new honey bee colony.

Moving from one type of Beehive over to another… we snuck in a little visit to The Beehive in White Waltham last week too… a lovely treat of fresh seasonal produce from Wild Garlic soup and Rabbit Lasagna for starters all the way through to Rhubarb Souffle for dessert. Highly recommended if you are in the area.

The main event this month however, was Keith’s brothers’ 50th birthday which we all celebrated last weekend along with the absolutely amazing ‘Cookie Monster’ cake baked by one of Carly’s ex-pupils…. such a cool cake

…and as always just so that you can see where we have been…. our little triangular map from the last trip

Blown into the New Year…. 14/2/2024

Where does time go when you are having fun and who stole January…and half of February? It appears to have come and gone so quickly, although to be fair 2023 feels like along time ago now too… or is this just a sign of me getting older?

The weather has been mixed to say the least, the fields and pathways are saturated but every now and again the weather is stunning and dusk on Holyport Green captured the colour perfectly last weekend… just to re-enforce how lucky we are in the UK.

As we got back from Belgium later than expected in December, we missed out on a little bit of the pre-Christmas build up and catching up with lots of people, who for some reason get more socially active towards the end of the year – us human beings really are quite odd! We did however manage to reorganise and catch up with a most people, in addition to enjoying a pre-Christmas meal out at The Greyhound in Beaconsfield – still one of our favourites – just before they closed for refurbishments. A wonderful meal yet again and the little bottle of home made Irish Cream was indulgent to say the least… I think we are almost regulars now, this could be dangerous!

We finally bit the bullet and put the deposit down on e-bikes just before Christmas – something Keith has been trying to persuade me to do for a while now – but it just appeared to be the right time and place. Therefore although we didn’t actually pick them up until the end of the first week in January, we started the New Year thinking about how we could start making the most out of them and we have to be fair, used them alot more in the last 5 weeks than we expected. The bikes are great for shopping – we have some mighty fine paniers (bags on the side of the bikes in case you don’t know what they are), but also for exploring slightly further afield and even for a trip to the pub for lunch last week, somewhere we would have previously driven to so not only more environmentally friendly, but also got to both build up an appetite and work off some of the food! . 

This blog is a little food heavy – even more so than normal as it has been a busy 6 weeks or so – apparently we need to build up extra padding during the winter months to keep warm!

We have actually tried a few new places recently which are more local to the farm, one which stood out and probably on the watch list going forwards is The Borough in Maidenhead. It is a small place currently serving small plates along with an excellent selection of wine but they do also offer a tasting menu which is what we opted for.

We set off on our travels again in the third week in January, this time heading down to Sussex for 9 days to explore a little further. Our first stop was Brighton, staying at the Caravan Club Site which is about a mile from the Marina (£20.40 p/n inc.). We had been meaning to come down to Brighton for ages to catch up with friends but each time we tried something got in the way. The campsite is tucked away at the back of East Brighton Park and is well spaced out – the tucking away was a bonus as the winds whilst we were there were horrendous, at least we had some protection.

On Saturday, after a blustery run along the seafront, we caught up with Lee, Miranda and kids for a long circular walk over the downs from Kingston, taking in Lewes and returning to Kingston for food in the pub. Although it was windy whilst on the ridge, it was nothing in comparison to the following two days so we were lucky. A beautiful walk, lots of very fresh air and a great catch-up.

The following day the morning run was definately a little harder but at least the return was slightly better due to the prevailing wind…. views out to sea were limited unfortunately as the greyness and rain was definately looming. We packed up some lunch though, and headed for a walk along the seafront into Brighton and beyond, passing back through Hove to explore the lanes and see what had changed since we were last here. Still a lovely place, but definately too big for us to live in now… we prefer a little more tranquility and less built up! Later in the evening, we did however also manage to catch up with Roger and Abbi in a great family owned Italian in the Marina – definately somewhere to go back to so all in all a lovely few days.

Moving a little further down the road, we arrived at Scallows CS (£23 per night inc.), a little campsite just outside of a tiny village called East Hoathly in the beautiful East Sussex countryside. We managed to get a lovely 10km circular walk in just after lunch on the Monday which took us through East Hoathly, Muddles Green and Chiddingley, then a cycle ride through the beautiful little windy roads up through to Heathfield on Tuesday morning followed by another lovely circular walk. It is fair to say that there is alot of beautiful countryside to explore in the area – you just need welly boots to do so!

Moving on again – all of about 10 miles – we arrived at our next stop which was just north of Uckfield, White House Farm CL (£25 per night, Inc.). Once again, we had picked the location to explore the area a little more as although we both spent alot of time in Sussex when we were younger there are so many places that we haven’t visited – or don’t remember even if we did – and the countryside is beautiful.

The area surrounding Uckfield is quite built up, but I guess that is innevitable as it is a larger town and quite close to several other larger towns such as Hailsham. It doesn’t take too long though to escape the concrete and get out into the countryside where the fields and hills roll into the distance and Buxted Deer Park is beautiful.

As we always like to look out for interesting places to eat on our travels, Keith had found the Horsted Place Hotel, which is just South of Uckfield. A stunning location and an incredibly elegant hotel offering an excellent set lunch menu at amazing value – not quite sure how they did it, nor why the place wasn’t full… perhaps just one of those secrets you shouldn’t share?

Last but not least though, last Wednesday was the biggest celebration of the year – just pipping in ahead of my nephew (Zak’s) 18th in December – my mothers 80th birthday.

Looking at her face I would say she liked the mini firework… or was it the brownie??? If I could make her smile like that every day I’d plant one in her breakfast!!

We have of course been cooking too. Keith has been playing with the yorkshire pudding recipe, and although it wasnt in the motorhome it was a pretty exceptional display of growth… and tasted pretty good too. And I had a go at a Pistachio and Blue Cheese Crown, Raspberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Bars some Vegan Haggis, some over sized pasties and another Biryiani recipe – all of which were pretty good too.

Pistachio and Blue Cheese Crown – adapted from Nadiya’s recipe
Raspberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Bars – another Nadiya recipe
Vegan Haggis
Vegan Biryiani – Adapted from a Happy Pear recipe
Feta and Spinach Parcel – Adapted from a Jamie Oliver Recipe
Jerk Pastie – combining an old recipe with the bread/pastry used on the Feta and Spinach parcel…. a success, I would say.

And of course, just before we head off on our next trip…. the map of where have been!

Happy Birthday Fawks and Happy Festivities to all…. 27/12/2023

Where has the last year gone? I know that we didn’t actually take delivery of Fawks in the UK until January, but he was delivered to Belgium a year ago. So it was time to go back and have the annual ‘habitation check’ and sort out a couple of little warrantee issues.

Although the weather is a little unpredictable at this time of year, we wanted to try and get a little bit more out of our trip than just the habitation check, so had once again arranged the campsite in Brugge to see the Christmas markets. Perhaps third time lucky? Then as a last minute impulse, also decided to squeeze in a couple of nights in Antwerp.

So, following on from a quick stopover in France in Hondeshoot as we normally do to stock up on some cheese and wine, we had a few nights in Werchter with Jurgen and the team who carried out the habitation check and work on Fawks before we headed over to a very cold and slightly snowy Antwerp for the weekend.

We had booked to stay at City Camping Antwerp (36.22 euros p/n) which over the winter is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It is a pretty basic campsite without hard standing located in the high emissions zone on the opposite bank to Antwerp itself – but it worked perfectly for what we needed.

Although I had been to Antwerp about 25 years ago – and it had definetely changed since I was here last – Keith hadn’t ever been, so although two days isn’t a huge amount of time, it was enough to give a good taste to decide whether we wanted to plan to come back again. 

The campsite was pretty empty which surprised us, but probably due to the Christmas markets not opening until the following weekend. Thankfully there were plenty of pitches to choose from and it was dry and cold, as although we had been told the pitches were hardstanding – they werent. 

After parking up on what looked like the ‘least soggy’ pitch, we headed out to do a little recky to see what Antwep had to offer.

As the campsite is on the opposite bank of the river there were two options….. ferry or the tunnel – we opted for the tunnel (St Annas Tunnel) which was built in the 1930’s and is 572m long and 31.57m under the river with the most beautiful wooden escalators taking you down (and back up the other side) which reminded me of those that used to be in place for the London Underground in the 1980’s… rattling and moving all the way!

Antwerp is a beautiful city with a fantastic mixture of architecture, cafe’s and boutique shops and the bitter cold and winter light gave it an extra special Christmassy feel.. The freezing temperature – it was -3 plus the wind chill – however gave us many an excuse to pop into a cafe to get some shelter and enjoy a bit of Belgium hot chocolate and coffee, they do do them so well!

We woke on the Sunday morning to the most incredible sunrise. Unfortunately by the time I got back from my morning run , the pink sky had disappeared and quite quickly, it started to snow…. as if we needed an excuse to increase the number of pit stops as we explored Antwerp!

From Antwerp we headed to Brugge, where we had booked once again to stay at Camping Memling (25 euros inc.)….. this time we made it though and were really surprised as to how quiet it was bearing in mind the Christmas markets had already started.

Both Keith and I had been to Brugge before, although once again our last visit was 25-30 years ago so alot had changed unsurprisingly. So after lunch, despite it being a bit grey and drizzly, we set off into town to walk around the perimeter to find the four remaining windmills – there used to be 25 – and to work our way around the waterways to see what Brugge had to offer – apart from Chocolate and Beer that was!

Like Antwerp, Brugge is a wonderful city – albeit a small one – with some incredibly beautiful architecture. Each and every building is a different shape, size and has a different facade. Being a World Heritage site almost every building is impeccable too which makes it even more lovely to admire as you walk along the sides of the canals and explore.

We were only in Brugge for a couple of nights as with Antwerp, and although we weren’t only visiting for the Christmas market if we had been, we would have been disappointed as not only was it fairly small, the stalls they had which weren’t food and drink were just full of tatt… which was a shame.

We made up for it though with a fantastic meal at L.E.S.S, a wonderful restaurant that we had found through an American Express offer and although we probably wouldn’t ever go there and pay full price for the food, it is fair to say that it was exceptional…. and we got to eat moving seaweed which made our day!!

Despite being booked on the Shuttle to come back to the UK on 6th December, whilst in Antwerp we noticed water coming from above the windscreen on one side when we dropped the jacks down and had contacted Jurgen as we were concerned there was a leak. He had asked us to go back as soon as possible so they could have a look but we decided that instead of cancelling Brugge again, we would head back afterwards and delay the Shuttle.

So on Wednesday morning we headed back towards Werchter and after some investigation they resealed the marker lights as there was some condensation and we thought we were good to go again… until we dropped the jacks again on the Friday morning.

We moved the Shuttle once again and this time they pulled the front of Fawks apart to investigate further, resealed the marker lights again… just in case, turned the heating up to ‘Sauna’ level, as well as installing fans to help dry the area out…. a full on operation! As the area was so wet we decided to leave it to dry out over the weekend and test it on the Monday as we still couldn’t physically see any water coming in when the area was sprayed.

Monday morning came and the area was far dryer. Jurgen ordered replacement marker lights from Phoenix but by this point we were fairly confident that there wasnt any water ingress, it was just a build up of condensation which we would have to manage better. We have always been really good at having windows open both during the day and overnight, as well as additional ventillation whilst showering and cooking – however, along with the increased level of insulation on the Phoneix to the old motorhome and us not having the heating on very high, it obviously wasn’t enough.

Thankfully though there wasn’t a leak and no damage was caused – which is the most important thing. And we now know what we need to do to manage it better going forwards. Unfortunately though, it then took another four days to track down the replacement marker lights which had been ‘express delivered’…… sods law! Needless to say we arrived back into the UK 10 days later than planned, although looking on the bright side still 9 days earlier than last year when we travelled back on Christmas Day!!

Although I am not convinced it was worth staying the additional 10 days for, the delayed return meant that we did make it into Leuven to see their Christmas Market which was better than expected – may just go back if we end up here whilst it is on again next year!!

It has been a busy ten days since we have been back but we have managed to catch up with a few friends and family and as is our way, have a fantastic Christmas day Curry bonanza in the motorhome… what more do you want out of life?

On a food front, apart from switching away from the Electric Yoghurt maker and now using a Thermos flask – yes, a standard food thermos flask – to make our cultured yoghurt which not only doesn’t use electricity also takes up less space…. we have also found a couple of new delicious recipes to share

– Veggie Hotpot – a proper winter warmer
– Mushroom Rice with Smokey Chickpeas – The original recipe called it a Paella but I am not convinced the Spanish would take that well… although a lovely flavour combination, albeit we still need to work out how to get the chickpeas crunchy.

We are settled for a few weeks now, ready to start thinking about new adventures in 2024…. Happy New Year to one and all!

…. and just in case you are interested the route we took – albeit with a little bit of a detour covering the same ground when we went back to Werchter from Brugge….

Taking in the last bit of Autumnal beauty…. 29/11

Time appears to pass me by too quickly as here I am again catching up on the blog when I had planned to get it out a couple of weeks ago. We snuck away for a quick trip to take in some more of our beautiful British countryside and although we were only away for nine nights we managed to cover three different locations – two of which new to us – stopping at each for three nights of tranquility.

Our first stop was Broadway in Wiltshire, where we have been before, and although it is a little touristy due to its ‘picture perfect’ architecture and surroundings, it is a place we could keep going back to as it oozes beauty, especially at this time of year when the leaves are in colour and the grass is very green!

We previously stayed at the Caravan and Motorhome Club Site which is far bigger this time however, we had found a little CS to stay at (Northwick Farm £30 per night inc 10A elec), far more our kind of place as not only is it a beautiful, tranquil site with lovely views, we also had it to ourselves!

Despite the rain and muddy terrain it was a lovey few days combining a bit of walking, a little bit of mooching round the shops and a pub lunch with Liz, who came over to meet us with the dog for the day.

It was however, all too quickly time to leave Broadway behind us again and on the Friday we headed all of the 11 miles further West to Pershore where we had booked into Goodleigh CL. (£21.33 per night, electricity on a meter)

The CL was lovely with enormous, hard standing, serviced pitches all managed meticulously by a father and daughter team, providing huge amounts of information for walkers and cyclists both in the immediate vicinity and further afield.

Pershore was about a 10 minutes walk from the site with a good spread of cafes, pubs and restaurants in addition to possibly the smallest Abbey in the UK. The town is known for its Plums – yes, I did say Plums – with a ridiculous number of varieties being grown in the area dating back to 1827 and they even have a festival to celebrate them.

Needless to say, Pershore lacked Plums this time as we were too late for the season, but it did give lots of beauty – albeit in a very muddy form – as we explored a little further afield along the river and into the hills.

On the Sunday we had booked a table at the Swan Inn in Birlingham and set off on a 9/9.5 mile circular walk taking in the Malvern Hills and surrounding area. Despite being very grey and a little soggy under foot it was still beautiful, and although the muddiness meant it took us slightly longer than anticipated to get there, it was well worth it. The welcome, the food and the service – despite us being kitted out head to toe in wet gear and muddy wellies – were impeccable…. we will definately be back for more.

Moving on again on the Monday we set off after a wet and very windy morning run to Warwick. Warwick is a place that I had wanted to visit for a long time but we had just never really got round to it.

We had booked the Caravan and Motorhome Club Site (£26.80 per night inc.) which is in the middle of Warwick Racecourse and although the views were not quite as impressive as Cheltenham Race Course, it still wasn’t too bad. There was a lovely route around the racecourse which proved to be incredibly popular for many a dog walker and served well for my morning run, and the campsite itself was incredibly quiet which considering how close it was to the center of town and also the motorway was good.

After an initial reckie to check out Warwick we decided that apart from a pretty interesting looking coffee shop and a Castle that appears to be more of a theme park, it was a little lacking in substance – perhaps my fault for having great expectations. So, looking at the map we decided that we would venture over to Royal Lemington Spa the following day to see what it had to offer stretching our legs at the same time.

It was about an hours’ walk, all off road alongside the river, then the canal and finally through the park and in contrast to Warwick, Lemington Spa had a lovely feel to it. The park (Jephson Gardens) was beautiful and almost like an Arboreatum with its enormous variety of trees and the Aviary and it had a lovely town center made up of a mixture of boutique shops, restaurants and cafes – well worth the day trip…. and apart from a 30 minute burst of rain. We even managed to stay pretty dry and have a picnic in the park admiring the beautiful autumnal colours.

On our final day before we headed back to the farm we decided to explore a little further in the other direction. We walked along the canal and fell upon Hatton Locks – 21 locks rising 45 meters over a distance of roughly 2 miles – not too shabby considering they were built in 1799!

All in all the visit to Warwick was turning out to be quite an interesting one…. lots of beautiful places to explore, we just had to look for them, perhaps I should do a little more research into our surrounding areas in the future!

We have now finished our Mushroom Foraging Course for 2023 – I say for 2023 as it turns out to be quite addictive so we have put our names down again for next year. The whole process has been hugely educational and interesting and we have met some lovely people along the way. We reckon that we could possibly identify 4 or 5 edible mushrooms now, which although sounds pretty poor, is actually a really good number considering that there are so many similar looking fungi that could be poisonous…. maybe we will get into double figures by next year.

Believe it or not but the two photos below show the same species of funghi – The Trooping Funnel’ at different stages, all of which we growing within about 5 meters of one another. It just shows how they can change dramatically depending on how old they are … and we are talking about hours, rather than days difference in some cases.

The whole process of Mushroom foraging has opened up our eyes – as well as our whole families eyes – to incredible array of fungi out there in all different shapes and sizes and we now just have to get foraging and cooking!

We haven’t been cooking many new recipes in the last few weeks but we did return to an old favourite in a slightly different form… Falafels in sourdough tortillas…. absolutely delicious!

And I risked everything and cooked kipper kedgeree. A step outside my comfort zone as although I love fish, I am not a great fan of anything with lots of bones and with this recipe pretty much everything – skin and all – goes in albeit chopped up pretty small! It worked though and apart from a couple of the fin bones that I hadn’t filleted properly, I ate it all and it was pretty tasty. Whether I would cook this version again instead of our normal one I am not sure, but the spice level and flavour were good.

And finally, just a little map to show you the route we took…. we have already left on the next installment but I will do my best to update the blog a bit more quickly when we get back this time!

Homeward Bound for school holidays…and a little more 2/11/2023

Well, although I had good intentions to finish the blog pretty soon after we came home from our last trip, it just didn’t happen. Life sometimes just takes over and other things took priority. Doesn’t matter as it is a good opportunity to look back over some recent photos with blue sky and sunshine just before we head off again for a next little trip!!

My last update was from just outside Durham with some cheeky little goats and lots of hills, following which we moved on to Barnard Castle Caravan Club Site (£35.40 per night) for a couple of nights.

Despite the rain we managed to enjoy the beautiful little market town which was scattered with coffee shops and antiques and the most impressive chateau which now houses the Bowes Museum. A beautiful tranquil area with lots of rabbits and rain and a fantastic array of local cheeses!

Heading southwards we decided to revisit an old favourit ‘The Cud Life’ just outside Harrogate so we could meet up with Mandy who had gone back home to Leeds following a pretty rough bout of Covid. Thankfully, now pretty much fully recovered from Covid she came and met us for lunch and a good catch up out of the rain – next time London!

We love this area as the scenery is so dramatic and managed to get one of my favourite walks in over to Knaresborough enabling us to take in a picnic on the River Nidd and get some of those beautiful views of the viaduct from the castle…. another place with lots of lovely coffee shops!

A hop skip and a jump further south and we got to one of the best small Campsites we have found this year ‘Lakeside Meadow CL’ which is just outside Asbourne (£23 per night).

The Campsite was situated on the edge of a lake and forest with lots of beautiful walking and a couple of excellent pubs closeby. We had chosen the area to catch up with Kevin and Petra as they are moored up not too far from here and are always up for a good feed! This time we were lucky enough to have the Red Lion Pub in Hollington less than a mile from the campsite whose speciality is Pie….. it is fair to say that all of the food was pretty good and well worth a return visit.

The last stop of the trip was back to see Gail and the kids – or not really so ‘kids’ any longer as they are both pretty much adults now – in Lutterworth. We stopped at our usual CL ‘Orchards View’ and were not disappointed by the normal Leicestershire beauty of hay bales and far reaching views.

Having had a lovely trip up to Scotland and back the plan was to spend the summer back at the farm mainly to avoid school holidays but also to celebrate a couple fo big family birthdays…. a weekend starting with sunshine and a BBQ, ending up inside with another amazing birthday cake made by Carly….

Summer was busy as always and we made the most of the weather but as always time passes far too quickly and September was soon upon us, providing a little opportunity for us to pop away for a few nights to Bath to celebrate Jo and Mikes’ 25th wedding anniversary and also to Cheltenham to catch up with Pete and Liz – a lovely few days and the campsite at Cheltenham Race Course is pretty spectacular….. might need to come back for a race day if we can get a spot.

We have been keeping ourselves busy doing a little ‘Fungi’ hunting… well more specifically, we signed up to a Mushroom foraging course over a period of four Sundays during October and November. We had been talking about doing a foraging course for a little while but a few weeks ago we found a beautiful Giant Puff Ball mushroom which kicked me into gear of searching something out to give us a little more ‘shroom’ knowledge.

We have completed two of the four foraging courses, the third one taking place this week and each one is incredible. The amount of information and variety of funghi that are out there and when you start looking – you need to walk slowly and adjust your eyes – there are hundreds of them out there of all different shapes, sizes and colours…. it is mind blowing!

The above are only a selection of what we have found both whilst on the course and also whilst out walking since…. so far we haven’t actually gained the confidence to eat any of the ones we have found on our own…. I think its one of those situations where the more you know, the more your fear…. and yes, the first one on the second row down was a ‘Dog Stinkhorn’… better known as a dogs willy.

The last couple of months have gone quickly. Keith has been playing a support role to his mum who had a hip operation mid September – or actually more so for Molly, the dog as she needed walking – so we have been keeping a low profile whilst experimenting a little more with cooking and some lovely eateries.

I’m only mentioning a couple of favourites as there have been a few over the last few months. The first being The Beehive in White Waltham, where we have been before and this time we took Keiths mum for a birthday pre-op lunch….. and the broccoli and stilton soup was to die for.

…and the second also a second visit but this time to The Greyhound in Beaconsfield for lunch. It was as exceptional as the dinner we had previously as well as the tasting menu that we have had a Loch & Tyne (and yes, we have been back there too) …can’t ever have too much of a good thing!

Believe it or not, the following was a three course set lunch menu but they just kept coming with the delicious additions in between courses…. including a pre-dessert of scones and clotted cream!

Now with the exciting, exceptionally beautifully presented food over I can show you some of the new recipes that we have been trying…. although I possibly should have put these first as they look fairly disappointing after the above.

Can you tell that we have been watching Nadiya’s Spice series…..

– Courgette and Chickpea Curry
– Smokey Aubergine Deep Pan Pizza – Taking the base of one of Nadiya’s recipes with what appeared to be an odd flavour combination but was actually really delicious with a warm touch of spice
– Brown Lentil Dhal – another quick and easy Nadiya recipe
– Cauliflower and Red Lentil Curry – A lovely, lightly spiced curry which is really simple to make
– Tuna Bhuna – It was supposed to be crab as per Nadiya’s recipe but they didn’t have any, so I switched to Tuna and although Crab is more delicate, the tuna works well too
– Green Tomato Tarte – with a random, self planted tomato plant giving a really good quantity of fruit we felt the need to make use of them and this recipe delivers on flavour and ease
– Spicy Mexican Tomato Tarte – when the Green tomatos ran out I looked for an alternative and is equally as tasty and the cumin in the pastry adds a lovely touch.

…. and now its almost time to hit the road again for a few more adventures before Christmas!

Dunoon and beyond – 18/7/2023

Moving on from Sandringham we started on the way is North as the ultimate destination was Dunoon… we just had a couple of detours arranged en-route…. first stop being to see Paul and Carly (Keith’s brother and wife) in their new home in Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire.

Having only moved to the area three weeks before we arrived we felt that it was important to help them check out their local area to ensure it was future proof… a pretty good CL (Stone Cottage CL, Cleatham £15 per night) and a fantastic pub (The George) Although to be fair, they had already done a pretty good job by finding an amazing Farm Shop (Uncle Henry’s) as well as a pretty good Fish and Chippy…. we think all of which are worth another visit!

It was a lovely couple of days of catching up – not to mention gastronomy – as always, and although unlikely that anyone will ever be passing through or visiting the area as it really is the middle of nowhere, I highly recommnd the CL, The pub, Fish and Chips and the farm shop – whose parking is big enough for most motorhomes!

Leaving Lincolnshire behind us – and in fact England too – we headed North, crossing the border into Scotland and arriving at Kirk Loch, just near Lockerbie, where we had booked to stay on the small council run campsite right on the edge of the Loch (£28 per night)

The wardens at the campsite had given us very clear directions as apparently if we came in from the opposite direction there would be lots of cars parked on the road making access difficult. With the welcome we had, we thought that it couldn’t have been a huge amount more difficult than the route we took – but to be fair to the wardens, they probably had no idea that the golf club had a charity event on and the cars were going to be parked all over the place….and that isn’t to mention the coach. All was good though and Keith did a stirling job avoiding both walls and cars and by the time I drove out on the Monday the road was completely clear!!…. and if we had have come in the other way we would have had the additional obstruction of low hanging branches too…

Despite being a little wet – that wasn’t just the Loch – it was a lovely quiet location and very pretty walking and running…. it’s just a shame that the town had definately seen the last horse bolt as there really wasn’t anything else there.

It was just for a couple of nights though and we moved on getting to Gourock, just East of Glasgow just before lunch to buy our ferry tickets and to do some food shopping before crossing over to Dunoon….buying the return ferry tickets in advance and not on the ferry is almost half the price so well worth it.

Fawks’ first trip on a ferry and it was a little one at that! Despite wanting a bit of action, he was pretty happy about the fact that they had carefully placed him in the middle of the boat when the spray started coming over the front….muttering something about it not being good for his nuts or something similar….

It is only a 20 minute ferry crossing and although the skies looked pretty grey and nasty, it wasn’t too choppy at all as it is fairly protected by land, although if you are particularly against ferries you can drive all the way round which would probably take a couple of hours.

We had popped up to see Ian, a friend who moved over here in his motorhome 9 months ago and we can definately see why – it is stunning…… it is just a shame about the midges!

Walking along the seafront wasn’t an issue and actually for most of our time there we didn’t have too much of an issue with the midges during the day… morning or evening but the last night they got into the motorhome and ate both of us alive whilst we were doing the washing up after dinner – perhaps we should we take that as a hint to leave the washing up to the morning in the future!!

If it wasn’t for the midges we would have taken more time to travel round the islands a little and explore the area further as it is very special, we will however just have to return when the midges have either been burnt to a crisp (unlikely as I am not convinced that the heat wave will be making it that far North), or frozen to death…. so we moved on and headed South again for now, to Jedburgh.

Apparently Jedburgh was far enough South to escape the midges…. albeit some decided that they felt it important to come with us in the motorhome they were soon alured into that bright blue light, it was just unfortunate that the bites live on, and get worse.

Despite being the Jedburgh festival we had managed to find a fantastic CL (Bairnkine £18 per night). It was however – like most of Scotland – very, very hilly…. the morning run wasn’t for the faint hearted with 150m ascent but it is fair to say that the countryside just kept on giving – and these were just the views from the CL we were staying on.

Despite the weather being a bit of a mix, we appeared to have been lucky enough to have missed the worst of it whilst we were out walking, running or doing our exercise in the mornings – and of course the rain just makes everything that much more luscious.

As we enjoy the punishment of hard walking, we stayed four nights in Jedburgh before moving slightly further South, crossing back over into England and into the Northumberland National Park. – which in turn was incredible generous with its beauty and surroundings…

Last year we stayed at a little campsite about 3 miles outside the Park and it was amazingly beautiful, however we had walked passed Brandon Farm CL (£18 per night), and in fact had also tried to book it without any joy, but earlier this month they opened a second site and this time, we were in luck and got a pitch.

Brandon Farm CL is just inside the National Park which means that many of the walks and trails are that much more accessible without having to play with the trafic… always a benefit we find, especially when out for a morning run!

We were only there for 3 nights but managed to get some fantastic walking in, only really touching the tip of what was on our doorstep, we can definately see this as a place we come back to on a frequent basis…. and we fancy trying out Jess’ cream teas which she delivers to the motorhome as well as The Bosk, a little restaurant just over the bridge and round the corner!

Moving on though we did a short hop, skip and a jump over to Alnwick – which we passed through last year (or should I say round as the bridge in town is too low for us to get through) without stopping and had been told it was worth a visit.

We had found East Cawledge CL (£22 per night) which was just on the edge of town, next to the A1 and booked it for a couple of nights thinking that it’d suit a purpose for access if nothing else, but actually it was really peaceful and right next to a beautiful forest as well as a cycle path alongside the old railway line out into the countryside and towards the coast… perfect for walking and of course more very hilly morning running!

Alnwick is a really lovely market town with a pretty castle and lots of interesting shops and eateries – worth a visit if you are passing through, we will be back to explore further, especially over towards Alnmouth as it is such a beautiful area and pretty accesible.

Managing to dodge the rain – well whilst we were out walking at least – we headed that little bit further South, with our next stop being just outside Durham in a little village called Witton Gilbert (Old Bridge End CL £16 p/n).

We arrived just before lunch and somehow managed to get set up and sorted – it really doesn’t take much despite being a very sloping pitch – before the skies opened and the electric storm set in. And it was a pretty impressive (and very close) storm…. so close in fact that when we headed up the road after lunch to the farm shop at the top of the hill we found that they had been hit by lightening.

The skies cleared up as quickly as the storm came in and the following day after another hilly run, we jumped on the bikes and cycled into Durham to check it out.

Luck had struck as Durham was hosting a Brass Band festival over the weekend, which although by the sounds of it was a bit of a washout on Saturday, had everyone dancing in the streets on the Sunday…. some fantastic music and ambience to go with the beautiful architecture….can you believe that it costs £200,000 a week to maintain and run the Durham Cathedral??? It is beautiful, but wow…. that is some hefty sum.

Durham is a really interesting city, far smaller than either Keith or I expected, most of which is contained within the city wall perched up on top of the hill…. and occupied by the university, including the castle itself which must be a fantastic place to live – Harry Potter here we come!

The sun stayed out for us and even enabled us to catch up on some washing on Monday – helped by the incredibly strong wind, and we had a lovely circular walk through the forest and back past the cheeky goats at the farm…. I think someone quite fancied himself!!

Tuesday morning however was very different, and the clouds came over and it has been raining on and off ever since…. ah well, shopping and moving just a little bit further south to Bernard Castle.

We have been cooking, we just have too many good recipes that we need to repeat them occassionally to remember what they were like! The new recipes we have been playing with recently are as follows:
– 3 Bean Paella – a great mix of flavour and texture
– Dhal with poached eggs and Raita – Delicious served with Nan bread for breakfast, lunch or dinner
– Pav Bhaji – an unusual flavoursom dish made with Marrowfat peas
– Salmon and Brocolli Quiche – Quick, simple and delicious alternative to a pie
– Kolamba’s polos (Jackfruit Curry) – really tasty spice combination only found by chance as we were given a tin of Jackfruit!
– Tomato and Cucumber Raita – refreshingly tasty to go with any dish
– Upside down Fish Pie – A transformation of fish pie as we know it ….. but a pretty good alternative!

and of course the all important map up until yesterday morning at least….