Shaftesbury and home to Whilton - 23rd Sept ‘19

Going home day today. Pack up was a long one as we were getting Brunnehilda ready for her 2 week “holiday” in Shaftesbury. The leave time of this site was particularly early as well - 10.30am!

Every day’s a school day and another lesson was learnt today - always make sure the jockey wheel is square on when you are hooking the car up. We couldn’t get the car down onto the hitch as the jockey wheel bracket was stopping me dropping the van down low enough. After 10 mins, a lot of kicking the wheel and a lot of words used that Harry would have said ... “don’t say that Grandad!”, we sorted it!

See pros and cons list for East Fleet Farm Club Site below. We left at 10.32 and arrived at Blackmore Vale at just gone midday. We had a chat with Paul and Pete and left them with Brunnehilda for a couple of weeks. It felt very strange driving off down Sherborne Causeway and leaving her on the forecourt! She’s in good hands though!

Lunch at the Salt Cellar on Gold Hill in the centre of Shaftesbury. I had the creamy fish soup and it was about as nice a bowl of soup that I’ve every tasted! This pescatarian thing is working out well!

After a coffee stop in Abingdon, we arrived home at about 4.30. No putting Brunnehilda to bed at Whilton Marina this time - straight home to unpack. Including putting Isabella in our bedroom for storing - what will Kim say with another woman sharing her bedroom???!

Until the next time ....

Pros and Cons of East Fleet Farm:
Pros:
1) Great position right by Chesil Beach / The Fleet
2) Well stocked shop
3) Fabulous toilet and wash facilities - especially everything being all together in one cubicle
Cons:
1) No 4G and rubbish WiFi
2) Staff & guests unfriendly. Lack of eye contact and no “hellos” - albeit begrudgingly in most cases
3) Pitch right next to the playground - very noisy especially if sitting out. Ok if they’re your kids but not so good if they belong to someone else!
4) The request to park our “foreign van” facing the hedge - the caravan equivalent of being out on the naughty step
5) Showers don’t stay on - need pressing every 30 seconds or they turn themselves off 

A very long walk into Weymouth - 20th Sept ‘19

A nice sunny day but very very windy. My hat, like it’s owner after curry, coffee and a walk, kept blowing off! Indeed, with 2 of the said “blow offs”, the hat managed to launch it self straight at the current Mrs Pitts. As you can imagine, the wearer was deemed more culpable of the crime than both hat and wind!!

The newer toilet block on this campsite (there are 3!) is particularly nice. The toilet, hand basin and shower are all together in one cubicle. In other campsites the morning ablutions feel more like a safari supper - the toilet for starters, moving onto the shower for the mains and then finishing off at the basin to clean teeth.

A very pleasant breakfast of cheese and mushroom omelette - in the sun with Brunnehilda sheltering us from the worst of the wind. We were out by 11.30. And out was a walk along the coastal path into Weymouth. It’s only 3 miles by road so I estimated a couple of hours following the coast. We arrived at South Quay Weymouth 5 hours and nearly 10 miles later!

The walk was very interesting geographically. Not spectacularly pretty as Chesil Beach https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesil_Beach prevented us from seeing out to sea. We went by some military places - shooting ranges and ammo dumps. However, it wasn’t too hilly and but for the strong wind would have been near perfect.

We were very lucky too. We stumbled across the Crab House Cafe at Wyke Regis https://www.crabhousecafe.co.uk/ A splendid little seafood restaurant- very quirky, fabulous food (I had mussels and spicy fish fritters, Kim had pollock) and friendly staff. We both thought it reminded us of an American beachside  restaurant.

The walk from Wyke Regis to Weymouth was along an old railway line so there was some shelter from the wind. We stopped at Sandsfoot Castle for a wee rest bite.

So at 4.30 we found ourselves in our usual position - arriving somewhere when everything is shutting! We did manage to find a nice little tea shop open until 5 - Library Harbour Cafe.

We walked the 3 miles home along the main road- stopping off at Starbucks for a caffeine injection!
We arrived back at the campsite in time for a shared fish and chips from the mobile van (Bennett’s Fish & Chips). I have to say they were very good!

Tea, reading and backgammon before bed. And boy after 13 miles of walking every bone in our bodies were ready for it!

Whilton to East Fleet Weymouth -19th Sept ‘19

Just a short stay this one and no Isabella so we are expecting quite an uneventful few days.

We left Whilton at about 10.30. We did bring Isabella along with us but more for the ride and company than the use. Autumnal clothing packed as well, although the weather looks nice for the first couple of days.

After a brief stop at Tot Hill (Newbury) to take on board Starbucks coffee and McDonalds chips, we arrived at East Fleet Farm caravan site just on the outskirts of Weymouth at just gone 3. http://www.eastfleet.co.uk/

It took us a long time to get set up. Don’t know why though? I think we were both still tired from a sleepless night last night. I can never sleep the night before a trip but I think I have now passed this mental condition onto Kim!

I also managed to half full Brunnehilda with “non-drinking” water! We were annoying a motorhomer who was waiting for us to finish so we moved on when I realised and filled her up the slower way later.

The site is lovely. It overlooks Chesil Beach https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesil_Beach and is yards away from the water. The shoreline is very muddy as it is sheltered from the sea by the beach a few hundred yards out to sea. No possibility of a paddle but good for wildlife. It is also right on the Jurassic Coastline Footpath.

Our pitch is right opposite the toilets and the very impressive playground - the Twinnies would love it! I expect in the summer this would be a very noisy place to be,  but in mid September it was fine. The site seems very nice, except ...... no 4G! WiFi is free but that’s for a reason. It’s as reliable as a Boris Johnson promise!

We didn’t fancy a walk - reference the previously mentioned knackered-ness - so we set off to Weymouth via car - about 2 miles. We walked from the Asda car park down to the quay and found a little cafe called Nanna Moons. We grabbed a seat in the window (it wasn’t busy!) and watched the boats and people go by as we ate a pleasant but far from memorable scampi in basket / hummus panini.

We stocked up at Asda before making our way back to Brunnehilda and a cup of tea and game or 2 of Backgammon. We were sleeping soundly in Brunnehilda’s welcoming, cavern-ness Teutonic bed by 10 o’clock!

Oh and another thing ... we encountered some more caravan racism this afternoon! We were asked to motor move Brunnehilda in “front first” so that our nasty foreign door was facing the same way as all the English doors. Which means that we have a close up view of a hedge from our kitchen window. It’s not that they are unfriendly it’s just that they seem to want to let you know that you’re different from them! As a “white middle aged straight man” (copyright Auld Music) , I have never experienced any so called “harmless passive racism” - Brunnehilda has opened my eyes to it. Something to blog about separately when I can be arsed!