Goodbye Cornwall.. UK... Bonjour France...

Across from Teignmouth is Sheldon. Lovely sea side village. We stayed the night in the motor homes outside our good friends Jackie & Peter, NB Imagine,  whom we meet last year on the K & A canal. We spent some time travelling with them and better company would be bloody hard to find
Next day we had a walking tour of the village, such a Cool place...


This little beauty overlooking the harbour cost.....

A meer 200,000 quid... Yep what you see is what the new owner got... Although apparently soon after the hill side behind came down... more costs.....

There's an easy way to cross the harbour... about 500 metres....

The local ferry... been doing it for years... Just walk the plank to get on and off....

After a look around and the sun finally warmed things up...

We sat on a Cafe deck overlooking the harbour with Peter & Jackie....

I've covered Cornwall before with pictures but hadn't been to St, Michaels Mount....
The Castle you walk out to at low tide.....

Standing on the cause way that appears at low tide....

On to places like St Ives, Padstow,.....

The narrow  roads requiring more care be taken not to damage the motor home than last time when in a rental car... Never Be Gentle With A Rental........

Then new ground.....

A look at Lands End.....most South Westerly landfall in the UK....

More narrow road with....

A river to ford for good measure....

Been here before but worth another look.....




Port Isacc... Home of Doc, Martin....

And then I saw it.. Like a Beached Walrus sunning itself with contentment and dreams of a past life forfilled and  a  "I don't give A Shit" about the rest of the world. And it goes to prove.....

If "You Wear Crocs" your a trendsetter.... Thats four of us now.......

Up the top and into Sommerset and theirs a big climb, real low gear stuff, in fact the road is so steep that in Bruces motorhome, halfway up something fell from a locker above the driver and smashed him across the head. With no barriers and about a 400 foot fall to the sea he had to continue driving yelling obsenities for Nat, to hear. Nats reply was that it could have been a bird flew in the window. "They're closed you stupid B-t-- was the reply. Anyway it turned out to be a travel iron they had been given. since been binned....

Found a toilet block to empty the cassette. Put it back in the motor home in position under the crapper. A short while at the next stop Leonie asks, " did you put blue in the cassette after you emptied it"?..
"No, I'll do it now" I say...
"OH I 've just had a Tu Tai" says Leonie....
"Jesus Christ"...
Only one answer for that...

Just need to don the appropriate gear.... Motor cycle googles and hold ones breath....

And then it was time for....

A beer... bout 10c with a wind chill, felt like 2c..... That's Wales in the background....

Next day was warmer.....

Down at sea level and called into Minehead.....

At the train station.... Old school drinking tap......

Then called and had a Geeko at the port of Watchet.....

Seems to be an world war 11 torpedo boat.....The tide was out but get this,,,, It rises 11 metres... 2nd highest tidal movement in the world....

And in the museum....

A life jacket made from cork.....

Back to Oxford for a few days stretched out like a Shanghai getting things sorted and then...

Drive to Dover and onto the ferry..

And entering the Port of Calais.......

Getting Organised....

Been so busy the last 4 - 5  weeks. Picked up our motorhome and drove back to Oxford to park up at Spencers farm and start to get things in order for our trip to Europe.
Bruce and Nat have their motor home there as well also doing Europe preparation and we are counting down the days to crossing the Channel. Planning has been meticulous right down to our travel plan. We'll get off the ferry and turn right, shouldn't go too far wrong.
Sold our car but we have a scooter we bought to have on the back of the motor home for getting to explore European cities as it's not practical to park near the city centre.

Our son Tait arrived via Heathrow to spend 10 days surfing in Portugal with some London living mates so we met him at Heathrow, spent best part of the day with him then picked him up at Luton when he returned and we headed to the south coast in the motor home for some great catch up time before dropping him back at Heathrow for his return flight to PNG....

Meanwhile we had moved the narrow boat a couple of times as our mooring times expired.  We  left our motor home at the Willington marina and will transfer the last of our belongings to the motor home when we arrive. The distance of the delivery trip would normally take an easy 10 - 12 days but we put in some 10 hr solid moving days and did it in 7 days which included two nights in Birmingham..

Parked in Oxford...now got 130miles on clock...

Getting the feel... Certainly a lot less room than a 57FT narrow boat...

No automatic washing machine now... Ringing out the washing... Washing machine on ground at rear.. The tumble drier is a piece of rope in the wind..

Pub down London with Tait and his M8 Nick... A Real Ale pub..

Nick said the beer was good...

 

How come it took me 7 Hrs to drink a pint.... Bloody Aweful...

I'll choose the next stopover...

Back on the Lager .....  every ones happy..

Ex "Rossi" Lex Moto 125.... No back street alley to small...What did I say??..

Trying out the out door dining gear for Europe....

Off down South of UK with Tait...

First stop Sandbanks down by Bournmouth.... "Billionaires Alley", price of real estate reputedly some of the dearest, per sq, metre , in the world...

Friars Cliff... rows of beach huts awaiting the holiday mobs....Lower the verandah, throw open the doors...turn that chalky white body into a Lobster...

 

Then when the tides in swim between the groynes..... More beach huts.. single door, probably only 25,000 quid each...

Tait enjoying the view with the Isle Of Wight in the distance...

The Needles off the end of the Isle Of Wight...

Headed through the New Forest area but the weather was too wet to take decent photos although there was some nice villages....

Sign posts are handy when one doesn't believe the Sat, Nav......

The rain had stopped by the time we made it to Brighton...

A stroll to the end of the pier....




No strolling on the old pier...




Past the bandstand.....

And to the....

Royal Pavilion.. built from 1787, A  bit of the Ol' Curry Muncher styling...

For King George 1V as a beach residence...

Author Peter James lives in Brighton and the Pavilion features in his Roy Grace series of stories...

 

Back to move the NB Nth, to Willington for her new owners...

 

Left Cropredy on a Tuesday morning.. Temperature about 8c with a wind chill making it feel like 2c and heavy showers and strong winds on and off all day....

The NZ flag showing signs of a battering... 2yrs of weather and a couple of black berry bushes as well....

Came across Barry & Sandra, NB AreandAre,  who were heading to Crick. Stopped and had a Yakk....

Temperature raised slightly so Nat, & Bruce resumed their fitness regime along the tow path and raised things more...




Bruce says "I'll sit and watch"...

Heading up the Hatton Flight of locks...

Bruce says "I'll stand and watch"...

 

Two "Tow Path Babes"...

A Bit Sad.....The very last lock  after 2yrs of canal life.....

You can tell it has warmed up.....

As we turn into the marina at Willington, Derby...

A shake down trip in the motorhome to Cornwall was the next mission.
First stop on the way.....

Teignmouth...

The sun was shining....

Although not on their "idea" of a pier...

Came across a line up of...

Early model Motors.. They were being used in a feature film being shot here featuring Colin firth. Apparently about some local dude who entered in a around The World single handed yatch race but left "I'll prepared" so to save "Face" with the sponsors and well wishes took a short cut and made out he was were he wasn't. Rather than be found out and return he apparently "Committed Sideways" at sea never to be seen again although they found his yatch..

More Cornwall and Viva La France soon....