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August and it all change🤯

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So after much scratching of heads and thinking things through, during the summer we made the decision to change our caravan.  We had found Bill Bailey just too big when touring in the winter. We had considered getting a second smaller van for touring but after viewing a Swift Conqueror 560 we decided we could cope with a slightly smaller van all year.  The 560 is a 7.5 metre van with a mid bathroom and a fixed double bed in the back.  This layout gives us the feeling of having separate rooms as opposed to Bill which felt like one big room.  The new van being slightly shorter and a little narrower makes all the difference on the road.  So after a trip to Norwich Caravans the new van was ordered and the date for the swap over was set for Thursday 3 August. We booked a couple of days leave and had a day owed so we would have from the Tuesday through to Sunday to take down awnings, empty Bill, swap vans and put our life back together before going back to work. This ...
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Spring & Summer 2023 @ West Runtom

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 So from Hertford it was off to West Runton to get settled in for our second season working as Site Assistants at the Camping & Caravanning Club site. We arrived on Saturday 11 March and it was really strange driving back down the long drive into the empty site.  Angie & Mick had been there a couple of days but they were out so it was just us.  On letting the dogs out of the car Buffy ran straight off into the woods, which is what she did as we left the year before. She eventually came back. We were on a different pitch this year nearest the entrance and we spent the next few days setting up and building the dog enclosure. The site opened on  31 March and we had a few days to get everything up and running.  Easter then came and we got filled up  with campers just in time for a major fire to break out in one of the electricity transformers over the Easter weekend, all very exciting. The weather was not so great and to mid June was pretty cold. Howeve...
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Hertford, snow & training

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 We arrived at Hertford Camping & Caravanning site on 3 March. The site was a bit damp but our pitch close to the caravan storage was not flooded like some. We stayed 8 nights. As we did last year we attended the Clubs staff road show.  Helen & I had to do this on separate days so we didn't leave the dogs all day.  It worked well as our West Runton colleagues Angie & Mick were also there so we could car share. It also meant we could have drink and a catch up as to what we had got up to over the winter. On Friday Helen went off to do some conflict training and left me again to dog sit.  Oh and it decided to snow☃ The campsite at Herford is in the countryside but within walking distances of the town. Good location for a short stop off and handy for the motorways. The site is open all year and has a great dog walk🐾🐕
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Back to UK the final leg

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 We left St Jean de Luz on 1 March and travelled up to Camping Futuristic just north of Poitiers a 242 mile drive up the A63 and A10. Again we stopped here on the way down to Spain and it is well handy as the site is on 10 minutes off the A10 motorway and open all year. Early start the next day as we had a long drive.  On the way down we had used the ferry crossing Portsmouth to Caen.  I couldn't get a return dog cabin on this route so we used the Tunnel on the way back.  This meant driving up to Calais.  I couldn't find any campsites open and in easy driving distance to Calais so the plan was to use the Aire de al Baie de Somme on the A16.  The route meant that we had to go through Rouen.  All our mapping apps were taking us through the middle of the city and some work on Street view showed this to be challenging for a wide twin axle caravan.  Luckily after a search on the web we found a post on the subject which gave us a route which runs along ...
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The return journey begins

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 24 February & yep it is time to start heading back to UK. Originally we were to leave Alannia on Sat 25 Feb and travel straight to Zaragoza but we decided that this was a bit too long a journey so we left a day early and stopped at Valencia Camper park. This was a great little site just off the AP7 not far from the A28 Zaragoza motorway.  The site is a popular stop as there is a tram station in walking distance from where you can get a tram into Valencia city. It is a busy little site so we were glad we had booked ahead. Saturday 25 Feb and it was off to Zaragoza stopping as we had on the way down at the city's municipal campsite.  On longer drive days we now make sure we stop for lunch when we feed the dogs and ourselves and have break from driving.  Spanish motorway rest areas are not the best but it is better to stop in the ones with facilities as the ones with just picnic areas tend to be used as open air toilets 💩  Pictured right is our lunch stop on ...
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Alannia Costa Brava Resort - Rally Stage 2

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 Our next stop was another Caravan & Motor-home Club rally at Alannia Costa Brava resort. It has to be said that as we weren't really ready to leave La Manga and having few negative comments about the site, it was with some trepidation that we arrived at Alannia.   The site is large with lots of bungalows and lots of pitches. The pitches are a open making it a bit of a car park. At the entrance is a big complex with a restaurant, bar swimming pools. gym, shop etc.  All really smart.  The rally pitches are at the bottom of the site about a kilometre from the entrance. The site is about 15 km from the coast set on the coastal plain between the mountains and the sea. Essentially in the middle of nowhere alongside the AP7 motorway.  Just up road is a wet land nature reserve with miles of water reed reminding us a little of Snape mashes but with flamingos😃 We found a good beach for the doggies at San Pola just behind the salt pans (with more flamingos) Some...
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La Manga - Rally Stage One

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 14 January and our next stop was La Manga campsite which is situated on the Mar Manor, a massive salt water lagoon in the Murcia region.  This was to be our first taste of an overseas Caravan & Motor-Home club rally.  The advantage for us being new to caravanning in Spain was having rally stewards and fellow campers who could give us some good advice. It was also good value.  What we didn't realise is just how sociable and a good laugh it would be.  We had been warned by friends that La Manger campsite is a bit like Marmite  you either love it or hate it. As well as touring pitches that site has a large amount of "parcellas" which are basically shanty like buildings on pitches, they range from an old caravan with a tin roof to a small well appointed villa and everything in between. At first sight they can be a bit off putting but we came to appreciate the character of the place. What we loved was this was by far the friendliest campsite of our trip. Th...
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