Poole

Yesterday evening we walked to the lighthouse at Portland Bill to watch the sunset. An oil painting of purple, pink, orange and grey hung above the blue-black inky sea. 

This morning rested from a peaceful night's sleep we marvelled at the view. the sea topped with white, a little livelier than yesterday and a bright blue sky with a whisper of white. Soldiers exercised on the nearby grass area and walkers slowly started to appear.

As we left Portland we decided to stop once again at the car park on the causeway and take a walk on Chesil Beach, a shingle spit stretching eighteen miles across to Abbotsbury.

The stones shifted under our feet as we climbed to the top where we sat and took in the view. Then a drink and sorbet in the cafe before heading home to Poole.

Keen to make the most of our trip we decided to call in at Swanage on the way as it would be our last chance before the town became overrun with holiday makers.

This year eight campervan spaces have been allocated in the main car park, all of which were full so, we parked in another bay and ate lunch and soon one van left. For some reason parking is for daytime only, no overnight sleeping. It is becoming increasingly annoying that some councils cannot see the advantage of allowing the vans to stay overnight. We know local shopkeepers and owners of food outlets want them there. There is a parking area on the seafront for about six vans from 8 pm until 8 am. But although tempted we had reason to return home. So, we made the most of our afternoon visiting some second hand shops and galleries. Then Angela fell over again, her right knee the casualty this time.

Back in Poole, Marge pulled on to her new driveway and was greeted by one of our neighbours keen to take a look inside her and hear about our trip. After unpacking the van quickly, we walked in to town for a meal, then strolled back through the old town busy with diners sat outside the many restaurants. Since we left a week ago the town had sprung in to life, and it felt good.

Next week we will return to Buckinghamshire, and hopefully marge will come with us.

Oh and our new mirror, the  main reason for our trip survived the journey home in one piece!

 Portland

Seaton had proved to be a good move, and the night passed without any problems. This morning the seafront slowly came alive. In the sea a group of early morning swimmers barely broke the smooth glassy sea water. On the nearby headlands vegetation lit by the morning sun clung above the rocky outcrop below. As we breakfasted in Marge the esplanade came alive quietly and sedately. Everyone was friendly. Our faith in humans had been restored, thank goodness.

The grotto mirror safely tucked up in our bed, we fired up Marge and began the short drive to Lyme Regis where it turned out there was no room for Marge. The car park was full and chaotic, so we promptly left and moved on to Charmouth busy and chaotic as well. Fortunately an overflow car park on a grassed area was relatively quiet and empty so we settled Marge there.

Next to us a couple produced a cold box and served themselves up plates of cold cuts, cheese, cheese biscuits and lemon mouse. Then tea with marvel. We didn't even know you could still buy marvel. After that the straps were dropped on the ladies top ready for an afternoon sunbathe by the car. Did this sum up retirement? We hoped not. 

Charmouth beach was busy. In the last few days, we've seen an increase in holiday makers and wondered just how many of them would normally be abroad. We walked to the far end of the beach averting our eyes from bodies squeezed in to too small bikinis on people who thought they were on a beach in Spain. We were tempted to say, this is the costa del Dorset love, we don't let it all hang out here. Charmouth is renowned for cliff falls, and we climbed (never learn do we) over some fallen scree and rocks looking for fossils, but to no avail. The area seemed to have been picked clean.

Car parking time up we strolled back to Marge the straps were still down but the lady now had a blanket over her legs. there's nowt so strange as, well you know. She reminded Angela of one of those ladies you see on a humorous seaside postcard. After hearing the lady's opinion on covid, immunisation, insurance claims, holidays etc we prised ourselves away. The weather was beautiful and we'd enjoyed our time at Charmouth and the stunning views along the coast back to Lyme Regis and Weymouth. 

We were going to head back to Poole, but the weather was so lovely we diverted to Portland stopping in a large car park by the causeway behind Chesil Beach. But after a while it became obvious it might not be a good idea to stay as the other vans began to leave, so a quick look on the internet found the Pulpit Inn over near the lighthouse.

£10 a night on the grass area beside the pub with views towards the lighthouse and out to sea. We had a drink sat outside the pub and talked to a lady with a micro camper the same size as our Citroen Berlingo car. We've been thinking of making a unit that converts our car in to a micro camper for some time just for the fun of it. Love Marge as we do, sometimes her size can make places we'd like to visit inaccessible, this way we'd have the best of both worlds. 

Rib eye steaks cooked on our outdoor grill whilst enjoying a beautiful view in a safe area, our faith in van life has been restored. 

 Seaton

After breakfast this morning we walked out

with Trudy & Andrew and their dogs to

Kennall Vale, a beautiful woodland with

remnants of it's industrial past as a

gunpowder factory. 

En-route as we walked through the village,

we admired the colourful flowers scrambling

over stone walls. There was something to

admire at every turn. 

At lunchtime we bid our farewells and headed
into nearby Penryn where we stopped to lunch
by the harbour. The tide was out, and boats sat
on the mud flats in a state of collapse, waiting
to be righted on the incoming tide. In the
shallows a lone swan dived into the weed
taking advantage of the low tide to feed.
lunch eaten we drove to a nearby industrial
estate to collect our grotto mirror from
Creams warehouse.

The mirror seemed a lot larger than we

remembered and to keep it safe for the

journey we secured it across our bed. 

The drive from Penryn to Exmouth was long

and tedious. We'd decided on this visit to

Exmouth to stay on the seafront, cost £11.00.

Mistake. After we'd showered, eaten our

evening meal and taken a short walk we

were displeased to see some young girls

parked right next to us in their car playing

music loudly. After a few words were

exchanged we decided it best to move on.

Time now 9.15 pm, too late to drive to Poole, 

so we re-routed to Seaton where we are now 

spending the night.

As soon as we arrived some young men in vans

admired Marge. She just an't help herself!

they've gone now, but assured us we'd be O.K.

here. So, here's hoping. It certainly seems very

quiet at the moment. According to Google, the

population of Seaton as a whole is older than

the Cumbrian average (odd statistic!!!), and

older than the national average.hopefully

tomorrow morning the view we have now of

the headland in the darkness peppered with

a few lights will be fantastic in the morning.

Mean while, the logistics of the grotto mirror

have to be addressed so we can go to bed!

 Ponsanooth

Did the atrocious weather yesterday actually happen? And did England 'just' lose their football match with Italy? 

This morning Marge and our outdoor clothing were still a little wet so once we were dressed, we moved down to the car park at Pendennis point where Marge could bath in the sunlight of a new day and we could put our soggy clothing and shoes out to dry.

As we breakfasted, enjoying 'proper' coffee from a nearby vendor we enjoyed the views across the river Fal to the Roseland peninsula, Angela shared a few left over rice crispies with the gulls. The tan and cream sails of the sailing boats billowed in the light winds as they headed for the open sea and the clouds skimmed across a backdrop of blue. It was Monday morning. It's great this van life, our Mondays are like other people's Sundays.

After a telephone call with Angela's son Chris, we packed up Marge and headed to Posanooth, just a short drive away, to visit our friends Trudy and Andrew. It is not long since we last saw them but we had plenty to catch up on as we enjoyed a salad lunch. Water topped up in Marge, we drove out to Mylor harbour from where we walked to Flushing, stopping to take in the views across the Penryn river to Falmouth.

By now the evening sun lit the boats that rocked contently on their anchors. Andrew had booked a table for a meal in the Seven stars pub for our evening meal, a welcome rest after the walk, for us, and the dogs.

The walk back to the car at Mylor, partly along Flushing beach was picturesque, tiny shells sparkled in the sand and the calm water reflected a rainbow of colours from the boats in the harbour.

It was a beautiful evening, what a contrast to yesterday.

We are now settled in Marge who is parked at the front of Trudy and Andrews bungalow. You have this spot all to yourself Marge, no need to worry who might be joining you, so enjoy.