Our Travel Blog

Home sweet home

2008-08-30T16:37:00.009Z

We've been back home now a couple of weeks and boy is it nice to be home. Living in the motorhome for such a long time gets to you after a while and it's great to have some creature comforts (and to not have to empty the toilet every 3 or 4 days!).

Scotland was great and the weather was mostly dry. The first port of call was Loch Lomond staying a various lakeside towns and villages. We did plenty of walking and even got the canoe out at Balmaha. Loch Lomond has very clean, fresh water.

Then it was off to Loch Long, a salt water loch which means it's tidal. We stayed on a caravan site right on the shore for a few days. This is where I caught my first fish! Out I went in the canoe with my cheap £18 rod and real and a spinner and spent a few hours relaxing on the loch. I ended up catching 4 mackerel (but I threw them all back). Here is a photo of lock long taken on a walk from the visitor center. You can just see the caravan site in the bottom right corner.

We set off for Glen Coe and Fort William next but found a lovely riverside spot to stay overnight on the way. One of the best things for us about Scotland was being able to take the dog with us (we really did miss her in Europe). Here she is recovering after a hard morning of swimming in the river.

And you just cannot drive through Glen Coe with with stopping to take a photo!

While in Fort William, we got chatting to a very friendly Scottish man who talked us into visiting the Isle of Sky. So off we went. But OMG was it wet and talk about midges! We drove around visiting various villages but eventually we'd had enough of the rain and set off back to the mainland. Don't get me wrong, Skye is beautiful and I'd like to go back some day, but I wouldn't want to live there, not even if I could afford a place like this:

Somewhere I would recommend visiting if travelling round Scotland is Pitlochry. There is a very nice caravan site just on the edge of the town and it really is a lovely place to spend a few days. Plenty of walks and scenery and a nice little town to roam around.

So, what's next? Well, we won't be travelling round in a motorhome again for a while because we have already sold it! But we really are missing Europe and would love to go back so it seems we may have got the travel bug, we just need to figure out how to afford to do it again...

Soon be off again

2008-07-15T12:21:00.002Z

Temporary repairs are now complete on the motorhome (making it fully water tight) and we'll be off the end of this week. First stop is the Yorkshire Dales for the 'around Malham' walk and then on up to Scotland. Stay tuned...

What's next?

2008-07-02T09:37:00.002Z

The damage to the motorhome turns out to be very minor (the fibre glass roof hasn't suffered very much at all and can be repaired rather than replaced) and is only going to cost about £2000 to repair and we're going through the usual process of corresponding with Norwich Union to sort it out. They are being very good though and hopefully we'll get the go ahead in the next couple of days. Then, book it into Brownhills Motorhomes in Newark for the work to be done.

If it doesn't take too long to get it fixed, the plan is to spend the last month of our holiday heading north into Scotland (with a bit of walking in the Yorkshire Dales on the way). I'd like to take Jude up Ben Nevis (but I might end up doing that on my own!), and spend some time at Fort William and the Highlands.

Let's hope the midges don't get us....

A lot's happened since Slovenia

2008-07-02T08:47:00.007Z

Well after spending nearly 3 weeks in the rain in Slovenia, we decided it was time to cut our losses and move on back into Italy; Lake Garda was calling (along with the sunshine). Being a bit of a drive from Bovec we decided to stock up on provisions before setting off and drove round to the nearest food shop, which turned out to be closed, and it had started raining again. Not to be deterred we remembered a similar shop in Bovec center so drove there only to collide with a balcony overhanging the road just where we wanted to turn into the carpark! Disaster had struck and we no longer had a water tight roof to the van. What's more, the owner of the house was non too pleased and couldn't speak a word of English but made it clear he had called to police and was not letting us move until they arrived. Luckily the policeman could speak English and we managed to calm the owner down and exchange insurance details (though it looked to me like we weren't the first to go head to head with his balcony!). Take a look and the lump of concrete sitting on top of the balcony in this photo - that didn't get there from me hitting it with the van:

Now we had a problem as the insurance company advised us that if the motorhome was still driveable that we should get it repaired back in the UK but that meant waiting for another 2 months with the possibility of water doing even more damage if it got in. So a roll of plastic tape later we had makeshift repairs complete and we heading back home (via the lakes in northern Italy of course).

First stop was lake Garda. We stayed in Garda itself and suffered the opposite extreme of weather, 37 degrees in the shade and unbearable humidity, for about a week before we couldn't take it anymore. Lake Garda and the towns around it are lovely though. Here are a few shots:

And you can't really visit lake Garda without a trip to Verona, so on the hottest day of the year so far we visited probably the hottest city in Northern Italy and stood in the Arena, the hottest place in the city! Yes we are mad, but it was worth it. Verona is lovely and we visited during opera season and the arena was being kitted out ready:

And of course we visited Juliet's house so Jude could stand on the balcony:

Then it was a quick stop at lake Como before heading off on the long drive home to get the van repaired. We took a day trip out on the lake to visit some of the small villages. This was taken from the boat en-route to Menaggio, can you see the dog?

No? Look again, it is lying down and has big floppy ears with a church on the tip of it's nose.

So, after going through the Mont Blanc tunnel and a total of 150.00€ for the toll roads in Italy and France later we arrived back at Calais and managed to get an earlier ferry crossing back to blighty. Being home is a mixed feeling, it's nice to be out of the van and have home comforts again (and baked beans!), but I'm already missing Italy and France!

Out and about in Julian Alps

2008-06-13T09:22:00.004Z

One afternoon a few days ago, while Jude was relaxing at the campsite in Bled, I decided to go for a walk up Galetovec. It didn't look too far on the map but it was quite high up, 1265 meters! Therein lay the problem, an ascent of 765 meters (bled is already at 500 meters) over a short distance means one hell of a steep climb. I got back 5 hours later and could hardly walk! But the views from the top were worth it:

In the photo below you can see Bled lake in the distance, which is where I started from. After this walk I realised I'm not quite ready for Triglav yet (which is over 2800 meters):

Another day was spent cycling up the Vrta valley to the foot of the northern face of Triglav (just to have a look). On the way you get to see this waterfall. The drop you can see is 52 meters. You might just be able to make out the person standing on the right, behind the waterfall under the over hanging rock about midway down:

And this was the view of Triglav when we got to the top of the valley. To be truthfull, we didn't cycle all of the way, it got a bit steep so we went back and got the scooter out of the van and went up on that, which struggled a bit with the two of us on it on the 1 in 4 sections of the gravel road!

Yesterday we drove to Bovec which meant going over the Vrsic pass. The highest point on the road is 1611 meters and you won't believe to way the road twists unless you see it. In a 4.2 tonne motorhome which isn't far off 8 meters long it was a bit scary in places. We eventually go to the top and made it down safely to Bovec, but just look at the view from the highest point on the road:

So we are still in Bovec today but it hasn't stopped raining since yesterday evening. When we parked up the spot we chose was nice and dry but we woke up to find we were in the middle of a small lake. At least the site has wifi and the weather forecast for tomorrow is sunshine! We won't hold our breath for that though!

Messing about on the water

2008-06-07T15:49:00.003Z

Just got back from rowing on the lake. Jude tried her best bless her and for a while she did quite well:

But eventually her arms tired and I had to take over. Like my new hat? We nearly rolled the boat both reaching for it at the same time after a gust of wind blew it off my head into the lake!

How smug does Jude look being rowed back from the island? She was supposed to be rowing me!

And it's started raining again now, oh well!

Strolling round lake Bled and up to the castle

2008-06-07T14:13:00.003Z

Well the sun is shining and it's a glorious day so we've been for a walk round lake Bled today, it not a big lake and only takes about an hour and half to walk all the way around. It's very picturesque, with an island in the middle (the only island in Slovenia). Here are a couple of photos of the lake:

In the second photo above, you can probably make out the castle in the background. Here is the view from the top where it overlooks the lake:

Pretty impressive don't you think? We've just had some coffee and Slovenian cake and are heading back to the lake to hire a rowing boat so Jude can row me across to the island! LOL.

Vintgar Gorge

2008-06-06T14:19:00.006Z

We spent today walking from the campsite at Bled to Vintgar Gorge and back again. There has been quite a bit of rain lately and the noise of the water rushing through the gorge was thunderous and with a layer of fine spray, almost like fog, a few meters in height above the river, the gorge had quite an atmosphere. Here are a few photos:

You can probably see from the photo below that a large portion of the walk along the gorge consists of wooden platforms clinging to the cliff walls just above the river:

OMG! While updating the blog the sun has come out for the first time since Tuesday! Right, boots back on and I'm off on another trek up the hills round the campsite before the rain starts again!

Slovenia at last!

2008-06-05T14:23:00.014Z

We've been in Slovenia now for 6 days and so far it has to be the most spectacular place we have visited. We would recommend everyone visit Slovenia, but we aren't going to because we intend to come back and want the place to ourselves!

Our first stop was the Škocjan Caves Regional Park. The caves here are very impressive, the place is riddled with them too. Here is a typical view of the region taken on a walk around the Škocjan Caves visitor center (where we stayed for a few nights on the car park!):

Next stop was Predjama Castle. We can't get over just how beautiful Slovenia is. This was the view from the castle:

And here is the castle itself. There are caves behind it which were used by previous inhabitants as extra rooms, and also more caves below with secret escape routes (that aren't quite so secret these days):

It was another extremely hot day when we visited the castle but we managed to find a cool area. A stream dissapears at the foot of the cliff the castle is built into, and incredibly it is so cool down there that your breath is frosty, and of course it was beautifull too:

The coolness made Jude happy and me even more so, but at least I refrained from doing my "I've conquered the rock" impression:

We had read that the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, must be visited, so off we went. And I have to admit to being very pleasantly surprised, especially considering I hate big cities. We visited the old part of the city and really enjoyed it. What's more, it was clean, not overly crowded and had quite a bit of greenery, a city I would certainly consider going back to:

The cathederal was a big surprise too. From the outside it's pretty unassuming, but venture in through the huge and very heavy bronze doors and you are presented with this:

And the ceiling:

The city boasts a castle which we climbed up the hill to visit. Here is a photo of Jude for Kez with the city backdrop in the distance:

There are three primary bridges across the river in the old town. One of which is the dragon bridge equipped with 4 bronze dragons. This photo is especially for the father-in-law (he'll know why!):

We left Ljubljana and headed for Triglav national park and arrived at Bled yesterday. We are nicely settled into the campsite with the awning up. But so far it's done nothing but rain! We are here for a couple of weeks so let's hope the weather improves!

Italy, part 1

2008-06-05T12:56:00.007Z

The first part of our Italy tour is over. After Pisa we visited Elba Island as the description in the Rough Guide to Italy painted a picture of paradise in our minds. We found the crystal clear water, but not the white sandy beaches, despite driving all around the island:

Still, we had a great time on Elba, and the highlight for me (excuse the pun) was the cable car trip up the islands highest mountain. Well, if you can call it a cable car, it turned out to be a 2 person cage. Jude was very brave:

We travelled up through the clouds and eventually reached the top. You can just see the cable car snaking down the mountain side in this photo of the view from the sumit:

After Elba it was off to Tuscany to visit some of the hill towns that this region of Italy is famous for. Almost everywhere we visited in Tuscany was like a picture post card but my favourite was Massa Marittama. Here is the view we were treated to over looking the town:

Here is a typical Tuscan hill town street, this one is in Volterra, another lovely town that we found. Staying there was free (car park #4!):

Of course, the only problem with hill towns are the steps. You just can't avoid them, and Volterra was no exception:

After trundelling around Tuscany we needed a bit of a rest from travelling so stayed for 3 days on a camp site on the side of Lake Tresimeno, a place called Passignano which is just across from Tuscany in Umbria. We where treated with this view every morning:

And as you can probably guess, I had the urge to cycle around the lake and did so on another very hot and sunny day. And yes, I ran out of water part way round and arrived back at the campsite 3 hours later totally exhausted. Mind you, it was 62 kilometers (just over 37 miles) so I don't think I did too badly!

Once I'd recovered from the mamoth cycle ride, we headed off to Venice. We were both eagerly looking forward to visting Venice and had high expectations. Admittedly I'm not really a city person, but to say I was dissapointed with Venice is an understatement! It was dirty, smelly, extremely over crowded, even more over priced, pretty much every surface reachable on foot has a degree of grafiti sprawled on it, and lots of San Marco was obscurred by scaffolding. OK, perhaps that's unfair, but it is certainly the overriding impression Venice left on us. Still, I did manage to get a few shots of how I imagined Venice would be (but I don't think I'll be going back):

After the hustle and bustle of Venice we headed off round the coast, stopping at a couple of beach resorts on the way, to our last stop before Slovenia, Trieste (the city is a bit dull but there is a free motorhome stop over area). If you are ever near this area you must visit the Grotta Gigante, the worlds largest accessible cave and the second largest natural chamber anywhere in the world. For about £5 you get a guided tour and it really is worth it. Here are a couple of photos that give you some idea but cannot convey the scale of the place:

and:

And then it's across the border to Slovenia, another place we have great expectations of...

We're in Italy

2008-05-15T11:41:00.003Z

Last night was mostly spent drinking Italian wine, eating Italian cheese and bread after a day spent wandering around Pisa. Fantastico! Pisa was fab, just look at the ridiculous bell tower.

We didn't go up, even at this time of year the queues are pretty long and they only allow 30 people in at a time - actually that's just an excuse as we couldn't face the steps after a 5 hour walk along the cinque terre the day before - 5 coastal villages with a footpath connecting them and some spectacular scenery.

We are now sitting at a ferry port waiting for the ferry to take us to the Island of Elba (and managed to get free wifi!). We'll probably stay for quite a few days as there is lots to do there apparently. Can't wait...

Some photos (at last)

2008-05-11T17:00:00.011Z

We are now on camping/caravan site in the South of France, a little place called Frejus (mid way between St Tropez and Cannes) and the site has (very unreliable!) wifi. This is our first real stop at a proper site, so far we have mostly stopped at motorhome service areas throughout France (most of which are free with drinking water, and some even have free electric), and it’s nice to be ‘settled’ for a few days before heading off for Italy on Monday.

France is a wonderful country, and the French arrogance we English think of is a myth, they are genuinely friendly and welcoming and they are (rightly) fiercely proud of their language. We wish we had made the effort to learn more of it, but we are getting by.

We seem to have fitted so much into the last 5 weeks that’s it hard to know where to start. Here’s a list of places we’ve been to/stayed at so far (it’s pretty close to our original route):

France:
04/04/08 Cleres
05/04/08 Amboise
05/04/08 Chaumont sur Loire
06/04/08 Chenonceaux
07/04/08 Azay-le-Rideau
08/04/08 Candes-St-Martin
08/04/08 Chinon
09/04/08 Sadroc (Hello to Graham and Pat)
10/04/08 Rocamadour
12/04/08 Albas
12/04/08 Cahors
12/04/08 Puy-l'Eveque
13/04/08 Saint Cirq-Lapopie
15/04/08 Lourdes (what a strange place!)
19/04/08 Arreau
20/04/08 Gavarnie

Spain:
22/04/08 Terragona
24/04/08 Barcelona (F1 Grand Prix)

France (again):
28/04/08 Argeles sur-mer
28/04/08 Cap Cerbere
29/04/08 Colliour
30/04/08 Leucate
02/05/08 Lac du Salagou
04/05/08 Ispagnac (Gorges du Tarn)
04/05/08 La Malene (Gorges du Tarn)
05/05/08 Pont du Gard (Remoulins)
07/05/08 Grand Canyon du Verdon
09/05/08 Frejus
10/05/08 Cannes

Our favourite free stop over place has to be on the shore of Lac du Salagou, which we found almost by accident. Here are a couple of photos of us parked up over looking the lake, and yes, that is red wine Judy is drinking! I now have to share it, oh well, at least it is cheap over here.

I decided to cycle around the lake the second day we were there. After about 2 hours I was seriously beginning to regret it. It’s a lot bigger than it looks. I ran out of water and it was very hot and sunny. Luckily I found a natural spring half way round a filled up my water bottles and managed to make it round, where upon I drank ice cold lager and lay in the sun for a while. This photo should give you some idea of the size of the lake.

Home sweet home (for another 15 weeks), relaxing inside the van…

And outside drying some washing at another free stop over (when we were at Saint Cirq-Lapopie):

Here is a shot of the Pyrenees – just to prove how much snow there really was when we drove over them going into Spain, even I was scared, well a bit anyway!

This is the lake that the Grand Canyon du Verdon flows into (just east of Avignon), the water really is this colour.

We spent a morning in a sort of Canadian style canoe, going up the river of the canyon. Apart from the first 5 or 10 minutes that is, as these were spent going in circles hilariously trying to get to grips with synchronized paddling – Jude at the front, me at the rear trying to both paddle and steer. We eventually got the hang of it and made it up the canyon until we reached a gravel bank that narrowed the river flow. Every time we tried to go on, the fast flowing current sent us further back down the river so we gave up and went back to the lake. Here is Jude adjusting her life jacket:

And yesterday, we got the scooter out of the van and went to visit our yacht which is moored in Cannes. It’s still here, look…

And this is where we stay when we nip down for long weekends (we wish)!

The only problem we have encountered so far is gas. No, not too much of the natural kind, too little LPG! We used up our first 6kg bottle of propane in 3 weeks and we only brought 2 of them so there is no way we would have enough for all of our 17.5 week trip, and they can’t be exchanged over here either. Luckily we found some French gas (Frangaz) that can be bought in 10kg bottles and one will just about fit in the gas locker so we have enough for a couple of months.

We are looking forward to going into Italy next week, but more than a bit unsure about speaking the lingo. Neither of us knows Italian so it will be interesting to say the least. From what I’ve heard, the Italians think of speaking English as a sign of prestige and so are more than happy to do so if they can. Let’s hope the ones we meet can and do! We are planning on going to a small island off the Tuscany coast called Elba and the rough guide to Italy says it has crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. If it’s that nice we may never leave!

More to follow soon...

3.5 weeks down, 16.5 to go...LOL

2008-04-29T15:29:00.003Z

Hello everyone. We've gained some pets on the drive down through the Pyrenees - Jude had kittens!!! LOL. It was very funny, every bend was a sheer drop and the snow was very heavy. Quite a lot of the road was impassable and we had to squeeze through round the avalanches.

We found a fantastic beach in Spain to while away the days before heading to Barcelona, Terragona. Fantastic sandy coves with clear turquoise water. Wasn't easy to tear ourselves away for the race but the Grand Prix is now over and Jeez was it hot! Not that impressed with the Spanish, booing and jeering Hamilton and then leaving before the race was over after Alonso retired with engine failure. But after that the atmosphere improved and we had a great time.

But Spain isn't for us and we are now back in the south of France, and having a wonderfull time at another sunny beach location - Argeles sur-mer. Superb, free camping with free water and wonderfull food and wine. 37p a bottle! God we love France. If you haven't seen us by the middle of September we will have decided to stay! ;-)

Sorry no photos again but we are in another internet cafe paying by the minute. So until next time, love to all. Missing you loads.

Derek & Jude.

PS - Kez, we love you loads.
PPS - Inlaws, I hope the dog isn't fat!

Quick update

2008-04-17T13:54:00.002Z

Well we are in it, on it and doing it. Just stoped by an internet cafe in Lourdes to let you know we are OK and having a great time. Will be off to Spain next week. Best place? Saint Cirq Lapopie in the Lot Valley, closely followed by Chaumont in the Loire Valley. Photos and more to follow when we are not paying by the minute.

Love to all.

Route change

2008-03-27T14:33:00.003Z

Following recommendations from people in the know, we have decided to visit the Dordogne on the way down through France to Barcelona. So now the plan is a week or so in the Loire Valley, followed by a week or so in the Dordogne before heading into Spain. Will still be crossing the border through the Pyrenees National Park but further to the east.

Ferry is booked!

2008-03-27T14:27:00.003Z

Finally got confirmation from Book F1 that the tickets will be with us soon so the ferry has been booked! Book F1 have been great, they are making a special effort to send our tickets to us weeks before they would usually do so. Now we just have to get road tax for the motorhome and scooter before we go (luckily you can apply for road tax up to 2 months in advance). I'll post a photo of the motorhome when we get it out of storage.

The Route

2008-03-06T16:33:00.007Z

So, where are we going exactly?

The plan is to travel down the west side of France stopping in the Loire Valley, Bordeuax, Pau and the Pyrenees.
Then, into Spain and a leisurely drive down to Barcelona, stopping at Benasque on the way.
Following the Spanish GP at Barcelona, we will be heading off north back into France to Millau to see the bridge.
From here we have to skirt round Cevennes National Park to see the roman aquaduct at Pont Du Gard.
Then it's a case of hugging the south coast of France to Italy, visiting Saint Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco on the way.
OK, so now we are in Italy, a first for us both. Well be travelling round the coast into Tuscany. Visiting Pisa and Florence. And generally hanging around in Tuscany.
When we eventually get bored with Tuscany, it's off to Venice for some culture and ice cream!
And then a bit more of Italy before we enter Slovenia.
We'll spend around 4 weeks in Slovenia (google maps doesn't route plan so no link!) before heading back into northern Italy.
Of course, when around northern Italy you really must do Lake Garda and Lake Como!
This is where we enter Switzerland and head for Interlaken and Grindelwald.
And if we have time, a trip down to Geneva to visit friends not seen in over 10 years.
Then it's up, through the Naturparks in Germany.
And finally, 1 more country before heading back for the ferry: Belgium

Quite a route I'm sure you'll agree, about 4000 miles I think including the drive to and from Dover. 5 months just doesn't seem long enough :-)

Won't be long now

2008-03-06T16:17:00.006Z

Only another 3 weeks before we are off - hopefully that is! We are waiting on tickets for the F1 GP at Barcelona to arrive before we leave can and have been told that they may not arrive until two weeks before the event which is on 25th-27th April! Which to be honest is a bit of a pain, because we can't book the ferry until we know what date we are leaving, and we can't get the CCI card until we book the ferry either!

It had better be a good F1 GP!

Those we leave behind!

2008-03-04T13:07:00.007Z

Meet our daughter Kerry (which she hates being called - prefers Kez) and our dog Cassie. Aren't they both cute?

Kez is studying at Lincoln university so can't come with us and we aren't taking Cassie as we don't want the hassle of getting her in the UK on the way back (blood tests and stuff) or run the risk of her getting ill. And of course we would like the freedom of not having to get back to her if we leave her in the van.

Cassie is staying with her Nan & Grandad (and if the pair of you read this, don't let her put on too much weight while we are away!!!)

We'll miss them both terribly!