After amazing travels to Costa Rica, weve missed #vanlife really badly. One weekend at home, the sun came out, bought a new bbq, so natch the suns gone in, revealing the fact that it's still only the start of a wintry April!!!
(We sensibly turned back from our circular walk in Oare to sanctuary of The Castle pub for a pint of Kentish Ale!)
(Outside Aldi in Oare - where is mum ?)
Packing the van resulted in the sliding access door sticking open again, which immobilises the van. Not for the first time! Things are never easy in a home grown conversion, but we managed to release the catch by opening the inside handle and flicking the rear door catch with a screwdriver. It was snowing lightly and I wasn't at all sure I wanted to fix the door cos an immobilised van would allow us the perfect excuse not to brave the weather !
No excuses left, our planned destination is Kent towards Canterbury for a couple of nights. Pitch Up to the rescue! Reggie (@reggieroothecockerpoo) is excited! The amazing VanNessa is ready. I'm a bit cold just at the thought of this! It's April fools day, what could possibly go wrong??
Amazing walk at Oare around the north Kent coast, trekking the estuary splashed walkways, dive bombed by gulls and other varietal amazing, unidentified coastal ornithology. Punctuated by snow, or hail, and brilliant sunshine , it was a genuine Michael Fish nightmare.
Painters Farm campsite:
Parked on electric pitch with views of cherry orchard, westerly sunset and starry night skies, everything worked! Power in the form of Electric, solar, gas, and diesel came together in an a orchestra of energy and a glimpse of what travelling should be like.
Karma / Come Up-ance : was required.
Well, bed time to the rescue. For Anyone nauseated by our perfect life Insta posts... ..,, a full glass of red wine, deftly balanced ( by me ) on a window ledge, jolted dramatically in slo-mo over the entire van... white duvet, sheets, pillows, mattress topper and mattress. This wasn't the best way to end day 1; but perhaps, when I've got over my sense of humour failure it will become part of the joy of travelling! Fuck that ! What an idiot ! We'd had a great fish and chip supper with more Kentish ale and a bottle of Malbec ... perhaps the clue is there .
Looking forward to day 2 - at least there is an Aldi nearby, we could go buy clean sheets !!!
Whitstable - we walked the beach - had lobster - didn't have oysters - great day - lovely sunny day out by the sea!
Delicious lobster.
Then back to the camp site , where the clear skies conspired to drop the temperature to -1*c!!! which was fine for us, with Nessa's extraordinary diesel heaters , but we felt that the actual campers were braver souls than we could ever be! Respect,.....
Home on Sunday refreshed, envigorated and glad we had braved the cold. Read more about our adventures this year https://www.nhsontherun.com/post/cider-country-first-outing-for-nessa-january-2022
I love how you have become Bear Grylls and an F1 level mechanic through the joy of Nessa.