Traveling Whitneyss Blog on RealTravel

Porthmadog journal: Porthmadog

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:10:04 GMT

We drove from Llanberis to Porthmadog through some fantastic scenery in the Snowdonia National Park. The roads are quite narrow and someone stopped us to tell we had smoke and flames coming from the back of the truck!!

After a good look around we found nothing and decided that they just wanted us to stop so they could get past :-( If they had flashed me I would have let them through anyway…

We stayed at the Greenacres campsite which was one of the best equipped and cheapest campsites we have been to for quite a while. Result! The weather, as is standard, was not good but ...

Disneyland Paris journal: Disney Part 2

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:07:01 GMT

After arriving in Calais we drove down to Paris taking a couple of days to meet people who are interested in buying the camping car.

Last time we were in Disneyland we bought an annual passport as we knew we would be coming back. The passport is especially good for camping cars as it allows free parking saving EUR 20 a day.

The carpark itself is massive – there were probably 100 camping cars there but it looked virtually empty. There are showers, toilets, water and waste water points – the only thing missing is electric hook-ups! The only ‘complaint’ was that it was pretty ...

Canterbury journal: Canterbury

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:01:05 GMT

On our way out of the UK now and we met up with my Uncle Bud who was generous enough to let us stay with him when we first arrived in the UK.

We met him at the Green Man pub in Chingford, Essex and had a great pub lunch and chat. Then on, around the dreaded M25 (no problems for a change), and south to Canterbury.

We were a little pushed for time so didn’t see much of the town – but what we did see looked very nice. There is a really nice mix of old and new and the people there seemed very friendly.

We carried on to Dover and caught our ferry to Calais – bye-bye ...

Wimblington journal: Wimblington

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:58:45 GMT

Wimblington is the home of some more of my family and we spent 10 great days with them. We really enjoyed seeing them and Jay and Ella loved playing with their three girls.

Unfortunately we didn’t get great weather (a common thread in my blogs…) but we enjoyed it while we could and spent a particularly nice summers evening at a local pub with the kids. My brother and I spent the rest of the evening looking silly dancing at a local disco – great night all round!

It was a bit sad to leave, especially as we wont be seeing them again for a while :-( We have decided to return to ...

Llanberis journal: Snowdonia

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:52:58 GMT

We caught the ferry from Dublin to Hollyhead and we had our first day of sun in ages and, thankfully, a very calm crossing.

We arrived in Wales at Holly Island then crossed to Anglesey Island before finally getting to ‘mainland’ Wales. This is more dramatic than it sounds as there are bridges between the islands – but since I saw it on the map I have shared it with you ;-)

Llanberis is the depart point for the Snowdon Mountain Railway and is located, unsurprisingly , at the bottom of Mt. Snowdon. It should be noted that ‘mountain’ is used in the English sense not the ...

Dublin journal: My Goodness My Dublin

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:44:41 GMT

We visited Dublin in bad weather conditions – bad even by Irish conditions as some of the roads were flooded.

We stayed in the nearest campsite which was nice, but waaaay out of town. It has bus access though, or you can do an ‘open-top’ bus tour which should get you into the city in 45mins. For 45mins read an hour and a half :-(

The weather was so horrendous we only managed two stops. First, Trinity College which has a world famous illustrated book. Apparently, you can only see a couple of pages and the queue for this was around 200m long in the pouring rain. Umm, no. ...

Connemara journal: Connemara

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:38:43 GMT

Rain, rain, rain, rain… no wonder it’s so green.

We stayed at the local Galway campsite which was absolutely horrible – we’ve stopped in nicer motorway services… We had intended to visit Galway city but couldn’t face the bus ride with the kids in the inevitable downpour so we went straight on to the Connemara area.

We drove through a nice scenic road to Clifden where we didn’t stop (raining…) but took the ‘skyroad’ around the hills near the coast. There are some very nice views from here even in the rain. We then doubled back a little to find a road through the mountains ...

Burren journal: The Burren

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 14:00:40 GMT

The Burren is an area stretching across counties Clare and Galway. The Burren used to be under the sea, giving it an unusual landscape covered with chunks of broken limestone rocks.

We visited Aillwee Caves, whose claim to fame is as the home of some bear remains – they were there, but not very impressive. The cave tour is OK and there is a nice underground waterfall and stalactites and stalagmites. Our tour guide also turned the lights off so we could experience complete dark (apart from the flashing lights on Jays shoes that is…). Overall the tour was OK but a bit expensive.

Cliffs of Moher journal: Cliffs of Moher

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:10:41 GMT

We arrived to the Cliffs of Moher in the late afternoon and the sun began to shine! The cliffs are spectacular and a well-known tourist attraction in County Clare. The sheer drops of the cliffs are well fenced so it’s safe to take the kids. The pictures really tell the story, the only thing missing is the noise of the thousands of seabirds that live in the cliffs.

Dave.

Caherdaniel journal: Ring of Kerry (Part 2)

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:00:09 GMT

We travelled a short distance to the seaside town of Waterville, which was tiny but nice. Its claim to ‘fame’ is as the preferred holiday destination of Charlie Chaplin. They have a little statue of him near the beach.

From Waterville we drove on to Caherdaniel and just to the East we stopped off at a little beach. Although it was still a bit miserable the rain had stopped so Jay and Ella went down with bucket and spade ;-) It turned out to be a great spot, first of all Jay found a starfish in a little pool and then, as we were leaving, a pod of dolphins came into the bay!

Cahersiveen journal: Ring of Kerry

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:56:12 GMT

We left in the pouring rain for our trip around the Ring of Kerry today. The Ring of Kerry is a ‘circuit’ around the Iveragh Peninsula and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland. It is (usually) so busy that the coaches all travel anti-clockwise and for motorhomes it’s recommended to do the same (we do)

We first visit the Aghadoe Hill, which looked like it would have a lovely view over the lakes around Killarney, if it weren’t for the weather. We then pass through Glenbeigh where I wanted to visit the beaches – but not in the rain :-( and carry on to ...

Killarney journal: Killarney

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:51:25 GMT

At Killarney we stayed at the White Bridge caravan park – which was nice but horrendously expensive (37 Euros) for the services provided. We checked another campsite and it was around he same price. Welcome to tourist-ville.

We ventured out to the Torc waterfall (well worth a look) and after a half an hour of ‘will we, wont we’ took the bikes out for a ride in mild drizzle. Getting the bikes ready proved tricky as we were savaged by ‘midges’ – think tiny baby mosquitoes in swarms. It wasn’t obvious they were biting but as I covered in itchy bites 4 days on – beware!

We ...

Kinsale journal: Kinsale

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:48:50 GMT

Kinsale is south of Cork and is renowned for its great seafood (or so my Lonely Planet tells me). We parked up near the town and wandered in for lunch on a gloomy but dry day. We had great seafood and service at the Blue Haven restaurant – definitely recommend it. After lunch we wandered, rather slowly, around the town, a nice place with a good atmosphere.

Dave.

Cork journal: Cork

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:44:59 GMT

The closest campsite to Cork is around 8km out of the city at Blarney and this is where we stayed. To visit the city we drove from the campsite to Blarney and from there caught the bus into the city.

Corks most famous attraction is the Gaol, but is supposed to be not for kids so we skipped it. Other than that the city seemed to consist of shops and cafes and not much else. It seemed to me to be fairly run down and frankly I wasn’t impressed. It was raining most of the day, which didn’t help so perhaps it is a nicer place in the sunshine.

Although we were right there we ...

Kilkenny journal: Kilkenny - mmm

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:40:30 GMT

As a drinker of Kilkenny from way back I couldn’t resist a visit here! There is a beautiful castle on one side of town with lovely (and free) gardens. The sun was shining and we spent some time walking through here and admiring the old building.

The city is quite small and packed with pubs and restaurants. It has a real buzz and is a nice place to wander around. We also walked up to the other end of town to see the cathedral and the rather odd looking ‘round tower’ which is next to it.

We had lunch on a terrace by the river looking up at the castle and basking in the sun – ...

Waterford journal: Waterford Crystal

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:29:24 GMT

We visited Waterford purely for the Waterford Crystal Factory and did not go into the city at all. The guided tour around the factory is pretty interesting and you see the various craftsmen doing their thing. Unusually for this type of tour the people are all really friendly and happy to explain and show you how they go about their business. If I was being gawked at 8 hours a day I would not be so friendly!

The tour is definitely worth doing and there is, of course, a huge selection of crystal to purchase afterwards. Parking outside with the camping car was no problem although ...

Churchtown journal: Hook Peninsula

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:27:15 GMT

We drove around the Hook peninsula stopping at a small beach for lunch, which was lovely in the sunshine. Not lovely enough to swim in the freezing water as some of the locals were doing though!

The Hook peninsula has a couple of claims to fame including the oldest working lighthouse in the world and secondly, and much more interesting :-) a well-known phrase. “By hook or by crook” was said by Oliver Cromwell and refers to the two places a possible landing could take place in order to invade the town of Waterford. Cool eh!

The scenery around the Hook peninsula is nice, but ...

Tramore journal: Tramore

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:09:51 GMT

Tramore is a seaside village near the city of Waterford. It has a lovely long flat beach lined with the usual seaside fare (in the UK and Ireland at least) of amusement parks and arcades. Again it was a nice warm day (perhaps 20o C) and many locals were swimming (perhaps they are mad?).

We stayed at a nice campsite near Newton Cove. It is beginning to be clear that campsites are nowhere near as common in Ireland as in the UK or mainland Europe, and that they are considerably more expensive. We rode down to Tramore from the campsite (only one if us made it all the way :-)) and on ...

Rosslare journal: Rosslare Harbour

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:06:54 GMT

We spent a few hours in Pembroke looking around the shops and walking around the impressive castle before catching the ferry to Ireland. The ferry travels up a long inlet before getting to the open sea. I thought it might be quite scenic, but it isn’t. Our journey across was very smooth though, so I was happy with that!

We arrived in Rosslare Harbour (nothing to see) and stayed in nearby St. Margarets beach, which was small but nice enough. In the morning we ordered soda bread, traditional bread made with baking soda instead of yeast. Or so they tell me.

Dave.

Broad Haven journal: Broadhaven

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:03:51 GMT

We spent a night of rain in St Davids, the smallest city in the UK (possibly the world?) by virtue of its cathedral.

The next day we drove to Broadhaven, and more specifically the beach. It is an unusual beach as it has a large hill of pebbles, about 4m high running along its length, then a flat stretch of sand going into the sea. I'm not sure if the pebble hill was natural but it was nice to sit on!

Dave.

Fishguard journal: Fishguard for the fish

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:12:19 GMT

Fishguard is a small port town that is supposed to be very pretty, but when we went was very wet! We stayed at a campsite with fantastic views down into the bay but didn’t see a lot of the town because of the weather.

Dave.

Tenby journal: Tenby

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:07:53 GMT

Tenby is a pretty seaside town with a nice mix of shopping, buildings and scenery. There are two large bays with a peninsula in between. The peninsula has a large ruined castle that you can walk across the beach too, at least in low tide. When we were there it was raining so we didn’t venture across, although it did seem to be closed.

The houses surrounding the bay are all brightly painted and Jay thought it looked like ‘Balamory’ (a childrens TV show). One other interesting feature of the beach is the two lifeboat sheds with big ramps to send the lifeboats into the sea. Must be ...

Cowbridge journal: Cowbridge

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:05:41 GMT

Cowbridge is a village to the north west of Cardiff. It is a fairly quite place and is set in idyllic countryside very much like the area around Bath in England.

We stayed with our friends and had a very relaxing week with them (thanks Lisa, Glenn, Elizabeth, Nia and Noni). I managed to visit some of the local pubs and enjoyed a pint or two of Brains (a Welsh beer). Cowbridge is a popular residential village and as such doesn’t have any main attractions but the surrounding area is beautiful. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos so you will just have to take my word for ...

Lacock journal: Lacock

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:47:17 GMT

Lacock is a small town owned (?) by the National Trust. Its claim to fame is having been used during the filming of several ‘period films’ including Price & Prejudice There is plenty of parking for camping cars and it is a quick walk into the town. The town is very quaint with higgledy-piggledy (technical term) houses. Not really much to do there but a pleasant stroll in the sunshine.

Dave.

Cheddar journal: Cheddar Gorge

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:42:42 GMT

Cheddar is the birthplace of England’s famous Cheddar cheese and also renowned for its gorge and caves. Unsurprisingly there is a Cheddar cheese factory selling the local produce. We were intending to visit the caves, which are supposed to be good, but the £14 per adult entry fee put us off!

In the end we walked up and around the gorge – a steep walk but nice once you get to the top. We did half the circuit and came back via the road, as the kids were tired. That’s my excuse anyways… On the way back down we saw lots of goats on the sides of the gorge, which reminded us of ...

Weston journal: Weston-Super-Mare

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:34:24 GMT

Weston Super Mare – funny name that. WSM is a ‘typical’ British seaside town. Well perhaps typical of when I was a lad… It has a dodgy beach on the brown and murky looking Bristol Channel. It has an abundance of piers resplendent with dodgy amusement arcades and even dodgier food. It has pony rides and sticks of rock. I kind of liked it for that!

I must say we didn’t venture further than the beach and it did seem to have it its share of gastro-pubs, boutiques and restaurants. But to hell with that, I came for the kitsch and I wasn’t disappointed :-)

For those ...

Dav ...

Clovelly journal: Clovelly

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:04:54 GMT

Clovelly is without a doubt the worst ‘attraction’ we have paid to see in the UK. It is a ‘privately owned’ town on the edge of a very steep cliff leading down to the sea. As its privately owned the town charge you to get in, £5 per adult.

For this you get to walk down through a not particularly scenic town with free entry into a ‘fishermans house’ (think old house decorated by your gran). After a serious climb down you get to a small harbour with an overpriced restaurant on an ugly rocky beach. Just to make sure you are enjoying your stay they were remodelling the beach with a ...

Tintagel journal: 'Home' of King Arthur

Tue, 29 May 2007 15:15:05 GMT

Tingatel castle is the legendary home of King Arthur – but apparently its several hundred years too young… Nevertheless everything in Tingatel seems to revolve around the castle.

The castle itself is down a steep hill from the town – Land Rovers are available to ferry the faint hearted. The castle is very much ruined and is actually split between two sheer cliffs with a wooden bridge between. Apparently the castle was always like this but was joined by steps, which have since dropped into the sea. Along with the castle there are the ruins of around 200 other buildings.

The ...

Padstow journal: Padstow

Tue, 29 May 2007 15:06:40 GMT

Padstow is a small town on an inlet, which on first glance is not very impressive. However, once you walk through the town you can see more of the inlet and the sea in the distance. There is a lovely coastal walk, and a great beach where the rocks are made of slate. We whiled away a nice couple of hours on the beach with Jay and Ella – the sun was shining for a change!

Dave.

Saint Ives journal: St Ives

Tue, 29 May 2007 15:00:03 GMT

St Ives is described as the best of all the Cornish seaside resorts and from what weve seen it is. The town is on a peninsula with a surfing beach on one side, and the main town and bathing beaches on the other.

We stayed in Ayr Camping which was very good, although a little expensive, and has the best toilet blocks we have seen. It also has a fantastic view over St Ives so the money is well spent.

Unfortunately, the weather in St Ives was the same as the rest of Cornwall – cold, wet and windy :-( We walked from our campsite down to the coastal path, along the beaches and ...

Lands End journal: Lands End

Mon, 28 May 2007 03:58:03 GMT

We drove through Penzance (where we did some shopping but not much else) to Lands End. Lands End is pretty commercial but nevertheless a very rugged coastline – when you can see it. It was cold and misty and the mists really came in quickly – you couldn’t see the sea from the coast so it was quite thick.

There are a few ‘attractions’ here but we didn’t bother with them and I wouldn’t recommend a visit unless you are in the area, and bored.

Dave.

Marazion journal: Saint Michaels Mount

Mon, 28 May 2007 03:44:14 GMT

St Michaels Mount is a small island near the town of Marazion. The island is close enough to land to be able to walk too in low tides, but you need a boat in high tides. The island has a castle and some gardens and we were interested to see it having visited the very similar Mont St Michel in France.

We walked across the causeway to the island on a VERY windy day and watched the film about the island. Unfortunately we didn’t get much detail on the relationship with the Mont St Michel so I shall not be enlightening you here… We did get the local legend of the giant who was ...

Goonhillly journal: Goonhilly & Lizard

Sun, 27 May 2007 08:57:01 GMT

As it was STILL raining we decided for a day inside and visited the Goonhilly Earth Station. This is the biggest satellite station in the world and includes the dish (Arthur) that tracked the original Telstar satellite, which broadcasted the first TV pictures from the US to the UK. Its not a great day out, but has some interesting exhibits and is good for a rainy day.

Goonhilly is on a peninsula that includes the most southerly point in the UK, Lizard Point. We walked from Lizard (the town) to Kynance Cove and it was very windy but, thankfully, not raining. The terrain is pretty ...

Eden Project journal: Eden Project

Sun, 27 May 2007 08:45:42 GMT

We stayed in Carylon Bay but didn’t see much of the area. We were here to visit the Eden Project. The Eden Project is the world’s biggest greenhouse – a group of huge golf ball like structures, called biomes, heated to various temperatures to simulate rainforest and Mediterranean climates.

The whole site is located in an old quarry and is very impressive from a distance. As well as the biomes there are several other buildings – including the core with its roof based on the Fibonacci sequence – nice one ;-) The biomes, particularly the rainforest one, are very impressive with huge ...

Dartmouth journal: Dartmouth

Sun, 27 May 2007 08:36:06 GMT

We arrived in Dartmouth on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend and were surprised how busy the campsites were. The weather had been good so lots of people were out to enjoy it.

I should mention that the roads getting to Dartmouth (and through most of Cornwall it has to be said) are pretty narrow for the camping car. It seems to make it worse when you are on the ‘wrong’ side as well.

Dartmouth is a nice, but small town on the mouth of the river Dart. I never could figure out how they named the town though… There are a couple of car ferries to avoid a 30-mile drive to the ...

Lyme Regis journal: Lyme Regis

Sun, 27 May 2007 08:31:04 GMT

Today we drove to Lyme Regis, a small but quaint seaside town with a funny name. There are lots of shops, minimal kitsch, and even a sand beach! I think the sand beach has been imported though, as it’s very small and next to a much larger pebble beach.

We spent some time sat on the beach in the sun watching (and watching out for) the enormous and fierce looking seagulls. Nice place to spend an afternoon.

Dave.

Lulworth Camp journal: Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door

Sun, 27 May 2007 02:48:18 GMT

We drove from Bashley down to Sandbanks, near Bournemouth, and caught the chain drawn ferry across the entrance to Poole harbour. We landed on the Isle of Purbeck, although as near as I could tell it wasn’t an island…

There are lots of nice beaches here with National Trust carparks. Unfortunately they wanted £8 to park the big truck – welcome to England and paying for parking everywhere…

We parked at the side of the road instead – but didn’t realise it was a half hour walk to the beach :-( or it was a nudist beach full of dodgy old blokes :-( or it was cold and windy :-(( We ...

Polperro journal: Polperro

Sun, 27 May 2007 02:40:43 GMT

Polperro is a small and very pretty fishing village at the bottom of a deep ravine. It has a very small harbour complete with fishing boats protected by a large wall and a moving gate. The town seems to look down upon the harbour from all sides with lots of tiny cottages on top of one another – very quaint.

Unfortunately while we were there it was raining pretty hard. One of the local B&Bs is called Sea Haze so i'm guessing this isn’t an uncommon event. By the way, avoid the fish and chip shop if you happen to visit!

Dave.

Bashley journal: Bashley in the New Forrest

Sat, 26 May 2007 13:38:27 GMT

Since the Ile De Brehat we spent another couple of nights in Brittany seeing the coast and getting the final problems with the camping car fixed. On the 27th April we caught the ferry from St. Malo to Weymouth (via Jersey and Guernsey). The ferry took five and a half hours and duty free drinks etc were available (we didn’t realise so had already stocked up in France).

We arrived into Weymouth late and spent the night at Fleet farm campsite which we didn’t really see much of, but we found out later is supposed to be pretty good.

The next day we drove to the Hoeburne Bashley ...

Brehat journal: Ile De Brehat

Wed, 16 May 2007 05:57:45 GMT

The Ile De Brehat is near the town of Paimpol at the start of the Cote de Granite Rose. It is a short ferry ride across to the island and fairly cheap – so long as you don’t want to take your bikes, which was 15 Euros!

The Ile de Brehat is effectively two islands joined by a very small bridge. No vehicles are allowed and it is a pleasant place to wander around. There are a surprising number of houses on the island and the gardens and flowers are very pretty.

The islands together are fairly large and bikes really would be ideal – of course there are plenty of bike hire ...

st michel en greve journal: St Michel en Greve

Wed, 16 May 2007 05:52:01 GMT

After Paris we drove back to Brittany for some repairs to our trusty camping car. We stayed at St Michel en Grave, a very small town on a very big beach with very big tides.

The campsite was Les Capucines and we were very impressed with the site and its facilities for a reasonable price. The gardens are beautifully maintained and it is more like staying in a formal park than at a campsite.

Dave

Disneyland Paris journal: Euro Disney

Wed, 16 May 2007 05:41:09 GMT

Since it’s a big jump between Madrid and Paris a quick update on where we have been. From Madrid we drove back to L’Estartit and stayed a few nights at the Les Medes campsite where we stayed when we first entered Spain.

We then went back into France and stayed with our friends in La Chapelle Blanche for about a week and from there drove up to Paris. We stayed a night in Parc de la Colline, which was very overpriced. We then went to Disneyland where we found we could stay in their carpark for 20euros a night – water, toilets and showers are available.

Disneyland was ...

Madrid journal: Madrid

Tue, 15 May 2007 16:35:11 GMT

From Toledo we headed up the autovia to Madrid and driving through the traffic we really noticed that this is a major city.

Our campsite, Camping Osuna, was about a 10-minute walk to the Metro and from there about 45 minutes into the centre of town. We headed in our first afternoon to the Palacio Real, which was free on a Wednesday. This is a huge and very ornate building – some of the rooms have amazing details. There is a pretty good armoury with suits of amour and the like, including some suits for kids!

The next day we got ourselves a two-day open-top bus ticket that ...

Toledo journal: Locals fed up with Tourists?

Tue, 15 May 2007 16:07:44 GMT

The drive from Cordoba to Toledo was quite a long one and it seemed a lot colder and wetter when we arrived compared to when we had left. Hopefully this is simply a cold spell and not a taste of things to come as we head north.

Toledo is a walled city built high above a river gorge and within its walls the town is full of beautiful old buildings – and when we went was heaving with school kids touring the place.

The town is very nice for a wander around although we didn’t visit anywhere in particular. Toledo is famous for its steel and marzipan, oh and braised partridge. I ...

Cordoba journal: Cordoba

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:36:28 GMT

We cycled into Cordoba from our well-located campsite on a Sunday. Our main destination was the Mezquita. A mosque built, um, a long time ago – and then converted into a church.

The outskirts of Cordoba were very quiet but around the Mezquita there were lots of people enjoying a sunny Sunday. The Mezquita itself is very impressive with nearly a thousand columns with double arches in red and white stone (see the picture…)

The outside walls of the mosque have been converted into typical cathedral alcoves and in the centre there is an area of grand vaulted ceilings and a pipe ...

Ronda journal: Ronda

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:32:57 GMT

After nearly a week recovering in Tarifa we drove to Ronda. The road is very pretty passing through the pueblos blancos, white painted villages in the hillsides. Ronda is situated in the mountains on the edge of precipice, I am not sure how high up it is, but it is considerably cooler than Tarifa.

We cycled into Ronda from our (quite nice) campsite – lovely downhill ride with the kids on the bike seats. The town is quite pretty with the main feature being a bridge crossing the river gorge. It is very high and apparently they threw prisoners off it during the civil war. There is a ...

Seville journal: Beautiful Seville

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:27:02 GMT

Our campsite in Seville was Camping Villson a nice leafy place, and more importantly close to a bus into the city. Seville is quite a big city, around ¾ of a million people and much bigger than I had expected.

First impressions of the central part of the city were bad – wall-to-wall roadworks making it hard to walk anywhere. Its fair to say Spanish OHS is not up to par with the rest of the EU…

Second, Third and Fourth impressions however, made up for the first and once past the roadworks it became clear what a beautiful place Seville is. The city seems to have ...

We ...

Chefchaouene journal: Blue Chefchaouen

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:27:11 GMT

The drive from Moulay Bouselham to Chefchaouen was uneventful except for a small town between Ouezzane and Chefchaouen (Pont something?) where a load of school kids played chicken with us :-( This was the exact same town this happened in a month ago on our way into Morocco and also near where rocks were thrown at us. If you are driving this way you have been warned!

The campsite at Chefchaouen is above the town, which itself is high up in the mountains, so there is a great view down. The town is really beautiful with houses painted either white or a blue that must be seen to be ...

Moulay Bou Selham journal: Moulay Bouselham

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:11:03 GMT

From El Jadida we got the tolled autoroute north. The autoroutes were very good – although not as cheap as I thought they would be – still it was nice to be able to cover ground quickly. That said, it was a Moroccan autoroute, see the picture for evidence.

We bypassed Casablanca and went right past Rabat/Sale (after a wrong turn) and onwards to Moulay Bousselham (MB). MB is on a big lagoon one side and the ocean the other side, and is famous for its waterbirds. We camped right next to the lagoon, which was very scenic. There were lots of people offering boat rides on the lagoon ...

Tarifa journal: Windy Tarifa

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:50:06 GMT

Tarifa is the most southerly part of Spain, and mainland Europe I believe – only 15kms from Africa (Tangier in Morocco) across the straights of Gibraltar and you can see it clearly on a good day.

It is also a windsurfing (and wind turbine) mecca, because its damn windy. Tarifa is a small town with lots of windsurfing, and particularly kite-surfing shops. We didn’t spend a long time in the town itself but it has a much younger vibe than most of spain at this time of year.

The same can be said for the campsites and once we found a good one, Rio Jara, we spent 5 nights there. ...

El Jadida journal: El Jadida

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:45:13 GMT

El Jadida

We drove from Taghazoute to Safi taking the coast road from Essaouira, which we had heard was very scenic. It was scenic - until the road disappeared into several kilometres of destroyed road that was barely driveable. This added at least an hour to our journey so I strongly recommend the main motorway route.

We spent a night in Safi at a reasonable site and saw a nice sunset and the lights of the city. Next day we drove the coast road to El Jadida, which was much better.

El Jadida is a former Portuguese city and is famed for its walled Citadel. The Citadel ...

Taghazout journal: Taghazout

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:39:53 GMT

The drive from Sidi Kauoki to Taghazoute is only around 150kms but takes a lot longer than you think it will! You travel inland until you reach the town of Tamri and then along a spectacular coastline. This area is very popular with surfers and the waves looked fantastic even from the car.

We drove to the campsite at Taghazoute, which is a few kilometers south of the town and right on the beach. The beach is fantastic, however the campsite is among the worst I have seen. We spoke later to people who had stayed there and it sounded even worse than it looked! We drove back north ...

Sidi Kouaki journal: Sidi Kouaki

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:47:15 GMT

Sidi Kaouki is about 10kms south of Essaouira and is a tiny place, home to a few fish stalls/restaurant and a couple of hotels.

We stayed here one night and had a fantastic lunch at ‘Mustaphas’ fish stall. The ‘campsite’ is extremely basic and extremely cheap – although they did have hot showers, which were actually better than some of the proper campsites we have stayed in. Morning bread delivery was by donkey and the bread man banged on our window to see what we wanted! He had a surprising selection of what came to be known as the donkey bread in his two saddle bags ...

Essaouira journal: Windy City

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:42:48 GMT

The trip from Marrakesh to Essaouira was fairly uneventful down a straight and pretty boring road. However, as we got near Essaouira we saw local goatherds at the side of the road pointing and gesturing. This is not uncommon for Morocco, but when we looked we saw the holy grail of photos – goats grazing up a tree!

No one seems to be sure how they get up there, and as the goatherds wanted money for a photo we think they may throw them up as the tourists arrive ;-)

The campsite in Essaouira was small, crowded and for the most part pretty horrible – its only saving grace being ...

Marrakesh journal: Marrakesh

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 11:18:41 GMT

We left Ouarzazate in the rain and headed over the (in?)famous Tizi-n-Tichka pass towards Marrakesh. The pass winds up to 2260m and it wasn’t long before the rain turned to snow. While the snow was falling quite heavily it was only settling in a few places, and only then at the sides of the road so the drive was quite easy. Unfortunately (or fortunately from Claire’s perspective!) we did not see the famous views from the pass :-(

We arrived to an extremely wet and muddy campsite in Marrakesh. As it rains so little here they don’t bother too much with drainage so when there is a ...

Tinerhir journal: Todra Gorge

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:20:33 GMT

We left the Erg Chebbie dunes with only one of our group needing a tow through the off road ‘piste’ and headed for Todra Gorge. On the way the wind really picked up and we drove through a dust storm. All windows shut and vents closed to keep the dust out was a bit uncomfortable – would be awful in summer when its baking hot!

We were taken to a carpet shop near Todra Gorge and looked at some beautiful rugs – although the sales guys weren’t too keen to tell us the price. After 15 minutes of telling us how fabulous the rugs were he finally told us they were 36000 Dirhams – about ...

Ouarzazate journal: Ouarzazate

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:09:12 GMT

We drove to Ouarzazate along the Route of 1000 Kasbahs, although to be honest it wasn’t all that impressive!

Our campsite was very crowded and very basic – actually we thought it crowded when we arrived, then they let another 20 or so camping cars in!

We visited a ‘cooperative’ which was making carpets and various other handicrafts and selling them at fixed prices – good to get an idea of realistic prices before hitting the souks! We came out with three carpets :-)

We also had a look at the kasbah which, due to its position in the valley was used to collect (extract? ...

Merzouga journal: Erg Chebbie Dunes

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:04:26 GMT

From Meski we drove to the Erg Chebbie dunes near Merzouga. On the way we stopped at a fossil shop which had all manner of fossils and minerals to sell at fairly reasonable prices. We bought another piece of agate and bought Jay a piece of meteorite which was quite cool. They had loads of sinks and tables made out of fossils embedded in polished ‘marble’ – but a bit heavy for the truck!

We passed through Risani then over abut 10kms of rough track to get to the Auberge/Campsite. It was actually easier than I thought and we all made it without a tow from Ray (our tour leader). The ...

Meski journal: Source Bleu Meski

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:50:43 GMT

We drove today from the Cedar forest to a small town called Meski. The drive was over a mountain pass past some spectacular countryside – it seems every few hundred kilometres the landscape in Morocco changes dramatically.

We camped at the ‘Source Bleu’ which is a beautiful campsite in an oasis. The campsite was idyllic with palm trees everywhere and a natural swimming pool (complete with fish) fed from the spring (or source).

Meski is the home of the two local guides on our tour, Hassan and Hamid, and within the campsite were the shops of some of their family. The downside ...

Azrou journal: Cedar Forest

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:46:14 GMT

We left Meknes today for the Cedar forest. Our first stop was on a hilltop with lots of people selling semi-precious stones and a beautiful view across the mountains. Jay managed to find some good stones on the ground including some pieces of quartz.

I bought some pieces of quartz and agate, and a small decorative knife from one of the vendors. We arrived to our destination somewhere near Azrou by lunchtime and while we were not deep in the forest it was very nice, although a bit muddy.

We went for a walk in the forest and Jay and I had a ride of our bikes and late afternoon ...

Meknes journal: Meknes & Volubilis

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:29:25 GMT

Today we drove towards Meknes along some roads that Ray (our tour leader) had described as being equal to or better than European roads. Hmmm. I don’t remember teenage boys playing chicken with the truck or being pelted with rocks last time I was in Europe…

The first stop showed a nasty dent on the living area door – not happy!!! That said, for every rock thrower and person ready to be squashed there were 20 people waving and smiling as the convoy went past which was very nice.

It would seem that Moroccans believe they are invincible from getting hit by vehicles so they ...

Ceuta journal: The Spanish Gibraltar

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:11:29 GMT

We met our Moroccan tour group yesterday near Algeciras in Spain. The company taking us across is Desert Detours and the tour leader is Ray.

We set off first thing for the port and caught the fast ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta. The ferry was modern and fast, but who the hell leaves unsecured ‘wheelie’ bins on the car deck of a ferry – bumping up against my truck!! No damage done, anyways…

Ceuta is a funny place, a bit like the Spanish version of Gibraltar, as it is a Spanish enclave in mainland Africa. We arrived in Ceuta and took a drive around trying to find some shops. ...

Estartit journal: Birthplace of Dali

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:26:59 GMT

After leaving Lake Maggiore we made our way down to the mediterranean and slowly around the Italian and French riviera and into Spain where we are now.

We spent a morning in Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dali, and we visited his Museum - the Theater Museum Dali. I have seen a Dali exhibit in London so have seen some of his more famous work. The museum has a lot of paintings as well as some sculpture. Mae West cum apartment was pretty cool as was the huge picture that, from a distance, looks like a mans head. In fact we didn't even see the whole mans head thing until we took a ...

Gibraltar journal: The Rock

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:18:38 GMT

From Granada we headed back to the coast at Marbella where we spent a night (during a fierce storm) and then drove on to San Roque near Gibraltar. The wind was still raging and we had to take it very slowly for fear of either being blown of a high bridge or being nagged to death by my co-pilot.

We spent a few nights in the La Casita campsite, which is staffed by some very friendly people, but overall is way too expensive for the facilities provided. We also spent a night in the Gibraltar truck stop (in Spain) which is a muddy, but very convenient for entry into Gibraltar.

Af ...

Granada journal: Blizzard!

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:38:39 GMT

We set from Isla Plana on a nice Sunny day of perhaps 18o for Granada, about 300km to the West. When we stopped for lunch we noticed that although still bright and sunny it was now 4o outside! bye bye summer :-( After lunch we entered what looked to me like a dust storm - kinda yellow and foggy but still sun shining through. 'Thats not dust, its snow' says Claire, 'Yeah right' I laugh.

30 minutes later we are doing 40 kmh through a blizzard, snow is settling on the road (about 5cm), and the only gritters and snowplows are going the other way. Doh! No problem for the trusty truck though ...

Isla Plana journal: Isla Plana

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:04:42 GMT

We stayed at Isla Plana for a few days and really it wasnt too memorable. Our Campsite (Los Madrilles) was OK, fairly unremarkable really except for the swimming pool which was filled with water from a thermal spring - not quite warm enough but then it is January ;-) Sunset was pretty as well.

Dave.

Benidorm journal: Costa del New York

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:50:30 GMT

We left L'Estartit for a long drive down to Benidorm down the Autopista, or the Route du Paege as I like to think of it. Toll roads. You get a ticket when you get on - you pay when you get off. This is the correct way. A paege (toll both) every 20kms or so to charge you 2 euros is not...

The country on the way didnt seem to change much - we both commented it was quite like Perth (Australia). Quite rocky and dry with sparse vegetation, and this is the middle of winter! We arrived in Benidorm with the sun going down and it was a spectacular site - I never realised it was so big!

As I ...

Stresa journal: No Stresa

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:48:03 GMT

After Livigno we made our way down through Italy and to Lake Como. We intended to spend a night or so there but couldnt find a campsite so we went onto Lake Orta. The lake was beautiful, but the campsite (at Orta) was a bit short of facilities - unheated bathrooms in -ve degrees is no fun...

Next day we went to Stresa on Lake Maggiore to spend a final day with my brother and family. A word of warning - Stresa is not very camping car friendly so if you driving one find a backstreet to park on. We took a boat tour on the Lake and visited a couple of the Islands, Pescatori and Bella (both ...

Livigno journal: New Year Skiing

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:41:20 GMT

After spending Christmas with our friends Ben and Isabelle we traveled to Livigno to meet up with my brother and his family who were there for a one week skiing holiday.

Livigno is in Italy but very close to the Swiss border and at around 1800m is one of the highest settlements in Europe. There are two ways to get there in winter - either from Switzerland near St Moritz or from Italy near Tirano. We decided to go through Switzerland as the distance was almost identical but it was significantly cheaper with tolls.

The pass from the Swiss side is very high, in fact we descended quite ...

Livigno journal: Very friendly

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:41:10 GMT

Seelbach journal: Naked in the Black Forrest

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 12:35:04 GMT

We drove from Kayersburg to Seelbach along some very scenic back roads through the Black Forrest to our campsite. Schwarzwalder Hof is probably the best campsite we have stayed at for quality of facilities. It is situated in Seelbach with direct access to the forrest on both sides. When we walked in the forrest we collected some branches from the home of the christmas tree for our very own mini version ;-)

Schwarzwarder Hof has an excellent 'wellness' centre with heated indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms and various other things for cooking and freezing your body. Being Germany ...

Obernai journal: Route du Vin

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:35:57 GMT

The Route du Vin stretches through the Alsace region from somewhere near Strasbourg to somewhere near Mulhouse. It is, in case you didnt figure it out, a road going through lots of wineries. Its very touristy and very well signposted, says my book - right...

The French, as a rule, dont believe in maps. When you live here and see something advertised in a nearby town it will always say something like: 'Fete du Pain, Salle Polyvante, Drumettaz Clarafond'. No address, as if you are supposed to just know where it is. This is fine in Drumettaz where there is only one road, but they do this in ...

Strasbourg journal: Christmas Markets

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:09:15 GMT

Strasbourg is in the Alsace region near the Rhine river which marks the boundary between France and Germany. We went to Strasbourg for the Christmas markets - and it seems so did most of the rest of Europe... Our first day in the markets was a Saturday afternoon/evening and it was absolutely heaving. You could barely see the stalls, even stopping was hard in the crowd, although our twin pushchair served as a handy battering ram.

Strasbourgians (?) take their Christmas markets seriously and basically most of the old town is a giant market. Its definitely more touristy than some weve seen ...

Freiburg im Breisgau journal: Freiburg and Europa Park

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:04:22 GMT

We were on our way to Strasbourg when we saw the signs to Freiburg and decided to stop in. We stopped in a 'parkplatz' (a place to park with power and water and not much else) about 15 mins from the city and wandered in for a look around. Freiburg is a pretty city, at least the old town, and has a nice friendly atmosphere a little like Bern in Switzerland (Claire didnt think it was like Bern, but Im writing...). The munster (church) in Freiburg was impressive although covered in Scafolding and a lot of the other buildings, particularly the Rathouse (town hall).

There were Christmas ...

La Chapelle-Blanche journal: Our Other Home!

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:58:31 GMT

We have been travelling back from Brittany to the Rhone Alpes over the last few weeks. We spent a few days travelling around Brittany mainly to test out the camping car. Then we drove down to Lyon where we spent 3 days in the very average and quite expensive Camping International campsite in Dardilly. While here we spent a day in Lyon. I find Lyon a strange place - it never seemed very big to me , but every time I visit I seem to see another part of the city. It also helped that it was warm - 18oC at 6pm in late November!

After Lyon we went to La Chapelle Blanche, a small village on the ...

Lannion journal: Its here!!!

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 15:00:38 GMT

Finally after a few extra days of waiting with baited breath we hitched the caravan up for the last time and drove to Britways Car just outside of Lannion to pick it up.

We have been dealing with the owner, Jean-Paul Abalain, since we signed on the dotted line at the exposition in Saint Brieuc. We found him, Jose and Laurent very helpful and understanding, especially of our extremely limited French! Luckily Jean-Pauls English is pretty good so we made him practice it ;-)

The new toy is a 2007 Model Adria 660SP. Its a ‘capucine’ (it has a double bed over the drivers seat) and is ...

Ploumanac'h journal: Waiting in Brittany

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:48:04 GMT

It was nearly time to pick up our new toy (a camping car or motorhome) so we headed to Brittany to Ploumanac’h.

Hypothermia was beginning to set in (no heating in the caravan) so we splashed out on a hotel enroute and booked ourselves a mobile home in West Camping. The mobile home and the campsite was great – the owners were very friendly and helpful and we would definitely recommend it.

They did look a bit concerned/amazed at the stuff that came out of our caravan. In fact they lent us a second mobile home to put it all in, and we nearly filled that one too - Incroyable! The ...

Europe journal: Europe by Motorhome (with kids...)

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:51:00 GMT

This is the journal for our upcoming trip around Europe, by motorhome, with kids... We (Dave, Claire, Jay (3 years) and Ella (7 Months)) being of perhaps not sound mind, will be starting our journey very soon from Brittany in France. No firm plans as yet except to head South for the sun!

Aix-les-Bains journal: Mountains, lake, home...

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:35:24 GMT

This is a 'pre travel' entry I guess. Aix Les Bains, in fact Drumettaz Clarafond, was where we lived for nearly 2 years.

The countryside is magnificent! The Lac du Bourget in the valley with the massif of the Dent du Chat (cats tooth) on one side, and the Massif de Bauges national park on the other side. You can ski in winter and swim in the lake in summer (I dont recommend the swimming in winter...)

Aix itself is an OK town but really nothing special. It is a popular 'spa' town and attracts many French visitors who take the 'cure' in the waters. Most of the vistors and inhabitants ...