roemin around

Well it seems that Holland is on vacation until 8th May and camp sites are all peak season rates, if they have any space at all! So we decided to reschedule our ferry from Tuesday and cross on following Sunday night to miss all the traffic and hopefully find some empty sites. We are probably too late to see the tulip fields at their best with all the warm, sunny weather in northern Europe.  C'est la vie or dat is het leven.  

The water taxi and our pitches in the background We spent three enjoyable days at The Riverside Caravan Site at Tiddington with Libby and J. Its a very good 'out of season' site being a mile and a half from Stratford and a couple of hundred yards from Tiddington, with its local shops and a regular bus service. A nice feature is the electric water taxi service which runs once or twice an hour and for £1.50 delivers campers to the marina after a scenic cruise down the Avon. The on-site breakfast is popular and  amazing value at only 99p. However, when the site is full I imagine the facilities would be badly stretched. The afternoon tea at Bensons was a real treat and the ladies enjoyed the shopping experience. The weather was very kind with sunny days and chilly nights until we left on Wednesday when it was rather cold and damp with rain forecast.

Changed the leisure battery and packing for a short break to Stratford on Avon this weekend. We are going with Jerry and Libby for their first outing this season.

Morning on the CL at Brecon The battery survived the evening with 5 hours of TV, netbook charging and lights, but I still need to replace it this year before we go away for a longer holiday. The morning mist had cleared by the time we left for a steady drive home through rural England and Wales, which was looking its best in the spring sunshine. There were tens of thousands of daffodils in the verges with hawthorn and blackthorn full of blossom. The route took us via Hay on Wye, Hereford, Worcester and finally Stratford upon Avon before arriving home early evening. An amazing week for March with almost dawn to dusk sunshine every day, although the nights were chilly. All our van systems were proven to function normally. It was good to see Jean, Alan and Adam and we certainly managed to spring a surprise on them.

a tentative paddle Yet another super day but it was time to go home. Met Jean and family for a coffee before saying goodbye and  heading for Leicester. Stopped off at nearby Saundersfoot and I went for the first paddle of the year, it may be sunny but the sea is still cold! After a shop and a rather long fish and chip lunch it was decided to break the journey home and stop en route. sunset in Brecon Hills  There were very few CC or CC&C sites open until the last week in March but we found an isolated CL site in the hills near Brecon about half way home. Just a 3 acre field with two small camper vans to witness the sunset over the mountains and the starry, starry sky that followed. No hookup available - so an ideal opportunity to test the battery and the gas heating!

The family group at Annas World  Another beautiful day dawned, not a cloud in the sky, and a birthday card had arrived in reception for Adam from Mark. Went up the road to Anna's World (she of 'changing rooms' fame) Wildlife Park today to wander with wallabies, lemurs and other hardy animals. We took the van and had a picnic, well almost a BBQ as we cooked some burgers,  in the sun in the parking area. Back at Haven we spent a few 2p's in the amusement arcade and had a drink in the lounge to round off the day.

Woke up to a lovely sunny morning and went off to surprise Jean - success - they were gob-smacked! Adams very chocolatey birthday cake Spent most of the day in Tenby, strolled along the beach at low tide, to buy Adam a present and have a pub lunch (half price of course) and then walked back beside the railway about 4 mile round trip. Everybody except Adam exhausted - we are obviously not used to the exercise yet. Jean's handmade birthday cake was ceremoniously cut and I helped Adam build some Lego while the others dozed/snored. We left Jean and Alan to enjoy the rest of the day with Adam.