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Camper update

We received the vehicle’s V5 from DVLA then went to Halfords to get the number plates made up. Sadly we had to get the ‘EU’ style plates which was a disappointment – never mind though, we can probably change them for real British plates later this year….

With the new plates fitted we were free to take the camper for a spin around some local roads and lanes. This was our first time driving a big left hand drive vehicle in the UK and I’d have to say it was stressful. The van is much wider than either of our cars, and it is a whole lot longer so we took it easy and very carefully. I’m glad to say that we didn’t clip any kerbs nor have any heart stopping moments.

On our second outing we parked up at Meon shore and enjoyed the sea views, the photos of our parking are below. Thankfully the car park was quiet, I guess I’m going to have to get down there early in the day to park in the summer.

Parked in 3 spaces at Meon, overlooking the sea

Campers

Well, we dillied and dallied around for a long time as we thought about which camper to go for. We went to the big motorhome exhibition at the NEC in 2015, we visited numerous dealers and crawled over countless motorhomes, we did heaps of analysis on what we liked, what we disliked, what we could compromise on and then finally made up our minds to go for a Hymer B544 after seeing one at Premier in Sussex.

We liked the ample living accommodation, the spacious kitchen and washroom and the large double bed all within a length of 6.5 metres from nose to tail. We compromised on not being able to store bikes within the van, instead they will be secured on the tail mounted bike rack but be protected by the alarm system.

We have yet to drive it on the road as we are waiting for final DVLA approval and registration as we had it imported for us by Bundesvan.co.uk, and we are both really excited.

Here is a selection of my photos of the van, click on any of the photos for a bigger version:

Mountain biking

I’ve had a lovely old mountain bike for almost 20 years, Fiona bought it for me for my 40th. It’s a Raleigh M-Trax 1000L, which is rather basic by today’s standards with its steel frame, 26″ wheels, 3×7 gear ratios and its lack of suspension, but it is a lightweight, sturdy and comfortable bike. I’d not used it for quite a while as it is rather worn out, but its too good to scrap.

A while ago I fitted it with a new 7 speed cassette and new chain, but its gear changing was still erratic. On closer inspection I found that the rear wheel was completely worn out, the gears wobbled from side to side and the freehub was making grinding noises.

Have you seen the price of new wheels? You can pay £hundreds for new wheels.
I finally bit the bullet and splashed out £38 on a replacement rear wheel. This cured all my gear changing problems and now the bike feels as good as new so I’ll definitely keep it for the time being. I have started using the bike again, but only for the less speed focussed outings as it allows me to follow bridle ways and take the muddier tracks down to the seaside, but it is much heavier than either of my road oriented bikes.

Now, it just needs a new saddle and some decent tyres to complete the refresh, but I’ll wait to see how it goes before spending any more as the bottom bracket is rumbling a bit and that might turn out to be an expense I can do without.

Here is a picture of the bike, which I think looks good despite its age:

Day out at Wychwood Brewery

What could be better than a day out at a craft brewery?. I’d read Palmer’s book ‘How to Brew: Everything you need to know to brew beer right the first time‘ ahead of our much anticipated visit to the Wychwood brewery in Witney in Oxfordshire. I had a whole list of things to ask, specifically about how to cope with water when it has a high calcium and bicarbonate content, and the value of protein rests, and I was looking forward to an evening of beer tasting.
Fiona and I packed our stuff in the car and set off for Witney in good time; our intention being to get there early, have a relaxing meal and then join the brewery tour.
We filled up with diesel at Tesco, Winnal, and headed off up the A34. The traffic was busy with a lot of heavy freight, but that didn’t bother me as we stormed along in the outside lane overtaking everything. Overtaking a truck on a slight incline while doing about 70mph (honest) I felt the car give a bit of a jolt and then lose all power. Damn, I had to get to the inside lane and pray the damn thing had gone into its ‘limp home mode‘.
The praying didn’t work, the car slowed to a halt. The A34 is dual carriageway with no hard shoulder; all those trucks we had passed earlier now passed me, many of them were obviously annoyed that our car was now blocking the slow lane and getting in their way.
We piled out of the car, left it with the hazard lights flashing; we moved to a safe location well away from the car and Fiona called the Police. The cops arrived within about 10 minutes shortly followed by a highways agency 4WD which towed us to a nearby layby and the cops called for recovery.
The recovery truck turned up about 10 minutes later, needless to say we were really appreciative of, and very impressed with, the Traffic Police, highways and breakdown people and of Steve who came over to Eastleigh to pick up us and drive us home.
I’d have to admit to being less than impressed with the Audi which is unlikely to be fixed before the end of next week (29th Jan).

Updated on 28th Jan:
Its not good news on the Audi, apparently the cam-belt tensioner has disintegrated. The man from the VW Service Centre called me to let me know. The better news is that the cam belt was replaced only 18000 miles ago and is still under warranty. The A3 will now be transported to VW/Audi and they will take over the warranty fix so I probably won’t get the car back for a few weeks, hopefully without having to pay a great deal towards its repair.

Another update, 15th Feb:
Well, I got the car back on the 10th of Feb with a brand new engine complete with a full 2 year warranty courtesy of the VW Service Centre in Gosport who convinced Audi that it was a warranty fix. I have to say that I am delighted, all it cost me was £72 for transporting the car to Audi so I bought a selection of cakes for everyone at the VW Service centre as a token of my gratitude to them.

Winter Cycling

It’s that time of year to put away my decent road bike to save it from all the salt, gravel and sand deposited on the roads. Its been raining more or less non-stop for the past six weeks or so, and those nice little country roads are now flooded with the run off from the fields which makes progress hazardous on skinny 25mm tyres. I have decided to park the road bike in the garage for the next few weeks and to get the old cyclo-cross bike out of the shed again.

The difference between the two bikes is surprising, the road bike is so light with great brakes, the cross with its knobbly tyres feels very heavy and ‘clunky’ by comparison but will help me keep fit throughout the winter without wrecking the road bike.

After a quick blast yesterday, it looks like the old bike needs a new chain and sprockets as its not changing gear nice and cleanly, and those rim brakes really are awful now that I have become used to disc brakes. What a marvellous excuse to buy a new cross/adventure bike next Spring!

Cycling Saturday 2

I’ve owned the bike (Giant Defy Advanced 1) for 6 weeks now and have had it in for its free 6 week service. I have also checked my times and speeds recorded by my Garmin and am really glad to find that my speeds are a fair bit faster than on the old bike. I have found that I am able to climb hills quicker and am less knackered after a couple of hours in the saddle.

Concorde Club Car Show

The Concorde Club at Eastleigh outside Southampton puts on an annual classic car show and donates the proceeds towards charity. Entry was £4 per person, parking was free – probably the only venue in the South with free parking. The event was well attended with a good number of classic and desirable cars on show; click on the image below to view some of my photos

Marais Poitevin

We visited the Marais Poitevin many times during our 2014 holiday. The Marais around Coulon is a flat, wet and green agricultural area cris-crossed with cycle ways and off road tracks and presents a superb cycling area with numerous places to stop for a full 4 course lunch.

Here are some of the photos we took in the Marais, with many more photos at Charente Maritime.

Rose Cottage

For our 2015 holiday we stayed in this really well equipped and comfortable gite for our 2015 holiday outside Belgeard and not far from Jublains and Mayenne. The gite was set in a marvelously peaceful location with an abundance of wild life including a family of little owls that visited the garden every evening, bats, kestrels, woodpeckers and much more. Living in Rose Cottage was comfortable and easy; it was very well furnished, had a good kitchen, a lovely large bedroom and broadband. What more could you want?

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The gite was a superb base for touring and exploring the region around Mayenne; its quiet and private location provided us with a comfortable, relaxing and stress free home for two weeks while the free wi-fi allowed us to keep in contact with the outside world. Its rural location encouraged us to use our bicycles to explore the local area. The local roads were mostly very quiet, very straight (thanks to the Romans) and were relatively flat with a few undulating hills so were ideal for enthusiastic cycling.

Jim and Eileen, the owners and our neighbours for the two weeks, provided us with charming company, local information and a whole heap of good pointers on settling in France, which is our longer term aim.

All in all, we had a really excellent holiday in a really excellent gite in a really superb location.

Domfront

We visited Domfront twice, the first time it was raining heavily and we passed the time enjoying a long lunchtime, the second time it was a nice, bright and sunny day. Domfront is a small, quiet medieval town, its Byzantine church is well worth a visit.