October 2017: France,UK and Bali

Its Monday morning the 2nd of October and time to leave the French Riveria and head north on the A8 motorway towards Avignon where we stopped last year. We find the camp site we stayed next to the river and book in before walking across the bridge into Avignon and towards the huge central market they have at the Halles market . Ok stupid me  forgot its Monday and its closed of course, bugger… We scrounge around the streets for a supermarket and manage to pick up some supplies before walking back along the river as it’s a pleasant mild sunny day. Tuesday morning we pack up and again hit the motorway heading towards Lyon and a camp spot on the Rhone river near Villefranche-sur-Saone. It’s a purpose made spot for camper vans, perfect with the river at the back and easy to get to. We camp up and settle in with the chain saws in the background doing the pruning. Thank god they finish at 4.30pm as there are a lot of trees to prune here. The place is pretty empty but we are soon joined by other travelers in their motor homes as the day ends. Wednesday morning we decide that the motorway can have a rest so we head off on the minor roads, basically following the river and meandering through French villages and country side, much more relaxing and we don’t need to rush back to Calais at this stage. We make our way to a stop at a farm stop near Cissy on the D23, found this through the stop for the night app, its nice, a few spaces, electrical connection and their wine in the fridge with an honesty box, wow can’t ask for more. We are joined by 4 other vans and have a chat with them which seems to be the norm in smaller spots, we tend to find a lack of conversation in the bigger parks. Its Thursday and its back on the motorway heading towards Epernay, this motorway is quiet compared to some and we do about 300km which gives us a toll on exiting of about 40 euro, French toll roads are expensive but if you need to get somewhere quickly its the go. We head to a camp stop at a Champagne house, called Philippe Houtem, their Brut Premier Cru is only 14.60, about $22, a bargain.

The weather has come over and its turning cold and wet. This morning I woke about 5am with back spasms, I’ve had a bad back for about a week now due to some exercise I did that I don’t normally do. Really dont know why I did them, just the weather I suppose and being outdoors more so I increased my normal routine, unfortunately it was a bad move on my part and really should know better with my experience. It feels pretty bad and I’m not sure if I can drive far  but we head off anyway and I’m in a fair bit of pain. After 10 minutes I have to stop and try something different, so we roll up a towel for back support and apply liberal doses of tiger balm then head off again hoping for the best. Seems that the clutch movement is causing most of the issue so I try to minimize that with managing the speed. We are not on the motorway today deciding to use the minor roads instead and head west past Reims and on towards Amiens. Our camp spot tonight is in Ailly-sur-Noye which is not far from Villers-Bretonnaux, the roads take us through many small french Villages, past numerous farms and generally a pretty easy drive considering the back issue. I seem to be absorbing all the countryside and villages as we pass through knowing we only have a day till we leave, sounds a bit crazy but France seems to do that to me and I know I can’t wait to come back. We did have a funny meeting today, we had stopped at an Aldi at Fismes along the way and Vic did notice people staring at me as I had shorts on, so we are in the carpark having a coffee and the French man whose wife was the one in the supermarket comes over and has a chat in French. Well I had to point out I dont really speak French and took him around the van to show the Australia sticker and flag. He nearly bloody fell over, “Australee” he keeps saying, shaking his head he cant believe it, starts mentioning Kangaroo’s among his French and we had a good old laugh with neither of us knowing what the other person was saying, it was nice interaction with the locals. Its Saturday the 7th October and the morning is fine but cold here at our camp site, we are the only ones here so shows that the season is running down or we are so out of the way no one comes here? Anyway we stop for last-minute shopping and head of on the back roads towards Abbeville and skirting around Amiens, passing a few cemeteries from the war with there distinctive white crosses all laid out, again it’s a nice easy drive through the country and we eventually make our way onto the D940 which we know takes us along the coast to Calais. We make it to our stop at Wissant and join 20 or 30 other vans also either in transit or passing through from the ferries and the rain and wind is coming in with a force that makes us wonder what the crossing will be like tomorrow? Our ferry is booked for 7.40am so it’s an early start Sunday and we drive the 30 minutes along the deserted roads and queue for all the customs checks, plus the van gets checked twice for people smuggling and eventually we board a pretty deserted ship for the channel crossing. You will be happy to know it was smooth without any issues and we depart back in England with a long drive in front of us. We actually chose Sunday to do this as it’s all on the motorway and we have a better chance of not getting stuck in UK traffic along these roads. Plus we have a stop on the way in Oxford at the storage place to pick up our excess stuff, little drama there as I cant remember the code for the gate and doors, luckily I did write it down and eventually remembered where! Back on the motor way and we arrive at Warwick racetrack where are booked to camp for the night. We booked here as its close to where we need to store the van tomorrow and it has washing machine and dryer facilities and we manage to get all the bedding and clothes washed and dried before we head off tomorrow. Its Monday morning the 9th of October and we pack up, empty all our tanks for the winter storage and head into Warwick where we have made an appointment with an osteopath to look at my back and hopefully provide some relief.  Looks like I have a pinched nerve, sciatic probably and no easy cure, although I do feel better when I leave. We make our way to the camper van storage near Stratford-upon-Avon and after a few drive pasts eventually find the turn off. Must be a few hundred vans and caravans parked here, seems to be a growth business. We have it all settled, lock up the van and make our way to Stratford on the bus before getting the train into Birmingham. As we arrive into Birmingham I receive a text message telling  us our flight tomorrow has been cancelled. OK that’s not good as we have a flight booked out of Barcelona at 1.00pm so I manage to rebook the flight for later in the day although Ryan Air charges me $200 to do so, I manage to get that refunded after some time online with their chat line. To cut a long story a bit short, we get to the airport only to have the flight delayed anther 2 hours and dont arrive at our hotel in Barcelona until about midnight, big day with a small amount of travel. We have a few hours next morning and take a walk up past Place Espanya and onto the steps up to the Catalonia museum with views across Barcelona city. We only have an hour or so and are off to the airport to catch our flight to Hong Kong. We arrive in Hong Kong about 2.00pm and catch the airport train to Kowloon station before getting a cab to our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui along Nathan Rd. We join other local Chinese for a dumping soup in the back streets that are teeming with people. We are pretty knackered so it’s an early night as more flights tomorrow. Tomorrow brings a great breakfast with dim sum, cant ask for more that and we are off to the airport again and our flight is to Kuala Lumpur then Denpasar Bali where we arrive about 10.30pm due to all sorts of delays and eventually crash at our hotel in Sanur about 12pm. Next morning I book a ferry for 11am to Lembongan island which is about 35 minutes by fast ferry from Sanur, we have booked a cottage at dream beach for a few days so hope its good.

The ferry ride is Ok, its a pretty modern boat with plenty of life jackets, which I took note of as soon as we boarded. Bali ferry services do not have a great reputation so you really need to check a few things when you board even though its only a short trip across the straits, make sure there not overcrowded, have plenty of life jackets and that the weather is moderate with no storms approaching and you should be ok. The transport from the ferry stop on Lembongan is with tuk tuks, not my favourite vehicle and if you thought some roads in Europe where goat tracks you aint seen nothin yet. There are bits of road between the pot holes but not much and the trip is a bumpy careering tour until we reach our stop at Niti Huts. The property consists of 5 bungalows, pool and restaurant and is reasonably new and comfortable.

It’s not long before we are prone on a sunbed and enjoying the laid back atmosphere. I’m a bit restricted with travel on these tuks tuks so we find it a bit isolated here, there is a restaurant or 2 within walking distance and the Thai one is really good but after a couple of days we are ready to move on so we break our booking which was for 6 nights, pay a nights fee and catch the ferry back to Sanur on Tuesday. In the mean time Vic helps a girl who came off the motorbike outside the hotel and is in shock but luckily not badly injured, we take her with us on the tuk tuk back to the ferry. Simple message, dont ride a motor bike in Bali unless you are very experienced and wear a helmet, otherwise you might die. We dont have a hotel booked when we arrive back but check out one, it’s not what we want but have a happy taxi driver show us another and it’s just right so we book in for 3 days, enjoy the sun and restaurants on the beach. Turns out to be a very friendly hotel and we make the most of our last days.

Tomorrow we fly back to Melbourne and in the last 4 months we have:

Visited 17 countries, some more than once, taken 12 flights, 25 ferries and drove 12000km in our motor home, also emptied numerous bottles of wine, all in the name of travel!

Thank you all, see you next year…..

 

 

 

September 2017: France

So we stay 3 nights at camping Baciccia which is nice but its time to move on,  so we head off along Via Aurelia or the SS1 which follows the coast and arrive at Imperia, but the camp site wants 40 euro so that is way too much so we park instead at the Camper site nearby for 15 euro which is enough (!) for a piece of gravel. Next morning we head to camping Por La Mor at Latte near Ventimiglia, along the SS1 with its insane traffic and Italians who can’t drive or park, maybe we should have taken the motorway but its boring. We stayed here last year and you can walk through to the beach where it’s basically deserted and when the sun is out its magic. Great spot we stay 2 days, plus the Conad supermarket a short walk away has one of the best deli’s for fresh meat, pasta and cheese before you head into France.

 

Its Saturday the 23^rd of September and we leave Por La Mor and cross over into France via the A8 motorway, its numerous tolls and tunnels, head past Nice and camp at Camping Pinedes near La Colle-sur-Loup. The weather is ordinary, very cloudy but not much rain, we are hoping the forecast is correct and it’s just for today. Sunday turns out to be a nice day and we walk up to the village of La Colle-sur-Loup and surprisingly find a massive market off the main street and within the old village. They have gone the whole hog here and we have an abundance of people in period costume, bands playing and marching up the streets, a wedding too although where not sure if that was for real, also an array of food, pigs on spits, and original arts and crafts. It was very very crowded and not sure if it was a celebratory day or a regular occasion, but this wasn’t your everyday weekend market it was something special and we where lucky to stumble on to it. The afternoon was spent in the sun for some and others in the shade with a book, very pleasant day.

Its Monday the 25^th November and we pack and leave our camp site and head further along the French coast. Our first stop along the coast near Cannes finds the campsite shut, so we move on to the next and they want too much so we sit and re-evaluate our plans. Back onto the motorway and we exit at Frejus and head to Les Jardins du Mai-Tai, it’s just after 12 and everything is shut so have some lunch and a nap till it opens at 2pm. Nice spot, so we camp here among all the Dutch, just about every car, van and camper-van had Dutch plates, they sure get around. We spend the afternoon in and out of the sun, reading books and doing sweet bugger all (SBA). Tuesday morning is nice and we head off on the bikes, firstly coming across the market in Frejus, a typical French market with food and produce plus a large clothes section. Trouble was I spent all the cash yesterday so we just have a look and head off to find the coast. We head down a few one-way streets to find dead ends but manage to find a path to the water. You have to remember this the French Riviera between Cannes and St Tropez so I don’t imagine the property is cheap, plus they have total waterfront views so its pretty good. We have a bit of a look, but it’s not really suitable for bikes, but you can walk along the water and there is a path so its worth a go, also couple of good spots to put your sun bed if you have one. We head further into the older area of Frejus, past some nice beach areas, a campsite we might move to tomorrow, and a movie set on the beach. Need any Aussie extra’s? No were good mate, ok . The old town of Frejus is nice, has your ancient wall remnant, cathedral and typical French square, we have some Quiche, of course, sit in the square and devour these before the bike ride back to the camp. Afternoon is in the sun with the books and SBA. Its Wednesday morning and we decide to move to the camp site we saw yesterday and arrive there about 10.30am, its huge but pretty vacant so we find a nice site and park up. Quick set up and we are off to the beach for a few hours. Perfect, the French Riviera set out before you and the sun at about 24 degrees, not hard to take that’s for sure. We have another bike ride in the afternoon and settle in for a really pleasant and mild evening. Thursday morning gives another mild start to the day and we walk down to the village for some groceries, bread and maybe a Quiche from the boulangerie. It’s a bit warmer today and the beach is inviting so there’s not much discussion here, the beach it is, and a perfect Autumn day on the French coast.

We end up spending 5 days here, it’s a nice spot, not too many people as its winding down and we have everything we need nearby. Sunday is a bit of a cloudy day but it’s not much point moving as we need to start to head back up through France to Calais so we can catch the ferry Sunday the 8^th.