What are you all up to
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I had problems with both big toenails and eventually had them both removed. Not very pleasant and a surprisingly long recovery. Sandals are the answer to allow air to get to the toes.
David
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We had to go home yesterday (age related appointments ) we let the the train take the strain ,there was an add appointment letter for OH to make for her eyes managed to get one yesterday, so had return journey in the rush hour, how did we cope, I do not remember it being as bad back
in the 1990s twelve coach train and still some standing untill we got further north
Much fresher this morning ,two more sleeps then on to Sandrinham
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It looks like fair weather here in Worthing this morning. There's quite a bit of cloud around. Perhaps it will be a little cooler this morning. We've just had our first cup of tea since getting up and about to have breakfast of Weetabix with milk and raisins.
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We're now washing the caravan windows and frames plus the front. A lot of dirt seems to collect up from the road when travelling.
It's been reasonably cool this morning, so you'll be glad to know that I've switched the aircon off and opened up all the windows. Plenty of fresh air coming in now but very little breeze. It's getting hotter though as the morning wears on so it won't be long before it's time to shut all the doors and windows and start up the aircon.
We'll be having lunch in the caravan. Steak, chips and peas with a bottle of red wine to go with it. The aircon will be back on by then so that we can enjoy our meal in comfort. We bought a British red wine this time from Tesco for £3.50 when we did our shopping yesterday.
I know there are restaurants with aircon but eating at home is better because we can regulate the temperature to what is comfortable for us. It also saves a lot of money. A meal out would cost at least £30 for the two of us. At home it is about a quarter of that price and I don't have to drive!
Both Smart car and Shogun are now parked next to our caravan under the shade of the tree. Apart from using the Smart car for yesterdays Tesco shopping, we've not used either car since arriving back in Worthing.
I can't type any more now, it's already getting too hot. Time to close all the windows and get the aircon back on! I'll let you have my next instalment once I've cooled down a bit!
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Windows and doors shut now and aircon switched on. Feeling much cooler already! It also cuts out any outside noise of traffic from nearby road, lawn mowers etc.
I know you don't agree but I can highly recommend getting air-conditioning into your caravan, if you haven't already got it. Judging by the posts I've read on here, nobody else seems to have aircon except KjellNN. That makes me worry as to how you all cope with such intense heat. It's a lot easier to cook and clean in aircon comfort than to have to do all these chores sweating buckets!
I recall reading somewhere that productivity went up in the Southern States of America when aircon was first introduced in factories and shops. That proves that you need it!
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We bought a British red wine this time from Tesco for £3.50 when we did our shopping yesterday.
I'm being a bit of a pedant here - but the fact that it says "British Wine" means it's made from imported grape juice. It's not the same as English Wine which is made from grapes grown here.
But if you like it . . . .
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It's a day for keeping doors and windows closed here.
Not because of the weather - but there's a bit of an agricultural whiff in the air. After clearing the grass yesterday we're making sure it grows again.
I don't mind the smell outside. It's natural. Bu I prefer to keep it out of the house!
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Actually you can run ours on 4 amps, Dometic specifically state it is OK to use on 4 amp sites as these are fairly common in Italy and France.
3 good reasons for manufacturers not to fit air con as standard are weight .......30+kg off your payload, not everyone can accept that.......and cost........at least an extra £1500 on the price of a van, they are expensive enough already..........and the roof......not all vans have a strong enough roof, so that would mean additional strengthening leading to additional weight.
Even on the continent, where hot weather is common, you see very few vans with aircon, people just sit out under trees or their canopy. Maybe they have a small fan for inside the van, that is quite effective. But they are acclimatised to the higher temperatures so do not find it such a problem.
I think saying facilities are so much better in UK than the continent is incorrect. There are plenty of sites over here with 16amp EHU, and excellent toilets too. The ones on this NCC site are brand new and rival any Club site. Just been and paid for our stay, the cost was just over 16 euros per night, which includes a tourist tax and unmetered electricity, if only our Club sites cost that little in June!
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Another hot day here 34c in the shade, already 38c in the sun bit of breeze getting up hope it stays. No pool on this site
there seems to be a lack of them in Luxembourg I wonder why. Even small cheaper sites in France have pools. Never mind I can always go for a cold shower
Bit of shopping to do after my cuppa so will get some breeze when cycling, won't complain this time next week we will be home and it will more than likely be raining.
Where to go this afternoon?
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Yes but here you don't have to feed the meter, EHU is included in the site fee and with a seasonal pitch the cost is a lot lower than 16 euros a night.
We paid an extra £2000 for our aircon, a price well worth paying for the amount of comfort we are getting from it.
Everyone on here who has said that they are against aircon have probably got it fitted as standard in their car and no doubt use it everytime they turn the engine on!
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Totally agree with you there Kj , we've been on 15€ sites this trip with free good wifi all over the site, good sanfacs, swimming pool, small restaurant etc. and the freedom to pitch how you like, great holiday this year shame it is nearly over.
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Hasn't there some change in the exchange rates recently that is causing holidays abroad to cost more? Brexit? There are Caravan Club sites here in UK with swimming pools and restaurants for those that want it. Hill Head in Devon springs to mind.
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Malcolm, we've not paid any extra for electricity it's included in the price. There is only a small amount of sites who charge same as UK. Over here folk are not afraid to use gas as it's much cheaper. We have refillable system I would have though living as you do 365 in the van you would have gone for that and a good solar panel, much better than £2000 on air con.
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No frills here, but we never use site restaurants or pools, so we are not missing them!
Malc, the site fee here includes unmetered electricity, their seasonal pitches have metered electricity, there is a seasonal van next to us, unoccupied at present, it has a large solar panel sitting outside.
You cannot compare the nightly equivalent cost of your seasonal pitch with the nightly cost for a tourer, what is the present average rate for a full facility Club site? That is what you need to compare. Oh, and there is free wifi here!
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We have a 100 watt solar panel that was fitted as standard when we bought the van. Admittedly, we don't have refillable gas because we hardly use any gas, so gas is costing us next to nothing anyway, as we need to always be on ehu to run the aircon. The aircon won't work on gas unlike the fridge/freezer.
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Really haven't noticed
all our € was bought when the rates were good and to be honest it's still better than it was a few years ago when we retired. To quote you, "I now have my pension" which between us is just over £12,000 a year extra so what to do, leave it for the kids (who don't need it) or enjoy it as we worked hard to earn it.Prices in Europe are more than UK but that has always been the case since counties joined the EU.
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Malcolm, as you well know I live in Scotland. Why would I travel all the way to Devon to a site that cost 3 times what I pay over the water not forgetting the unpredictable UK weather, anyway we lived in Devon (plymouth) for 2 years so would rather spend my hard earned going to new places.
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I agree you should spend it on yourself, that's what it's there for but you don't have to spend it abroad, if you're going to get more for your money and thereby have a better holiday here, than there! You, yourself say that prices are higher there!
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Just for information regarding air con.......
The old units were noisy, but newer ones are much quieter, though I can only speak of the Dometic ones. We use ours mainly on the low fan setting, set to around 23 degrees, outside the van you cannot hear it, so no need to avoid parking next to us.
I would think that during the silence of night, an immediate neighbour might possibly hear a slight hum, but we never use ours overnight as there is far more noise from it inside the van than outside.
Having had a few trips abroad in our previous van, and OH not liking it too hot, we decided to splash out on aircon in this van as we planned long trips to warmer areas. As Goldie said, a tin box in the sun can get very hot!
Aircon is a bit like a dishwasher........once you have used it you would not want to be without it!
However, we use it only when necessary, and a lot less than Malcolm seems to!
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Yes but there must surely be places within the UK that you have not yet visited and the weather? We had a very dry Spring in UK when it had been so long since the last rainfall that people couldn't remember when it last rained and it's hot, dry and sunny as I type this right now and has been for quite some time.
In the last four weeks, we only had one day on the west coast of Scotland when it rained. The rest of the time, the weather has been mostly dry and sunny.
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I would not say it is particularly more expensive over here than in UK, we find Germany very reasonable. Fuel is cheaper, sites are cheaper, food is cheaper, eating out can be very reasonable.
Some countries are less expensive than UK, others more, so on average, probably very little difference overall.
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Cannot speak for TG, but we have a plan......we are spending time abroad while we have the health to do so, as we get older insurance will cost more, so better to go before then.
We can explore UK later if we wish, but we do take at least a month away in UK every year, this year we have had 12th to 23rd April in UK, then till 21st June over here, then we will be exploring UK till 2nd July.
In September we will have another month away in UK.
Having caravanned in UK and abroad for over 35 years, I reckon we have seen a lot of UK.
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I can't imagine anything more beautiful than Scotland for nature and scenery. So why the need to go abroad when we have it all right here in UK?
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I think it's all about variety and a range of experiences / cultures. We love going to Scotland and have had many enjoyable holidays there. However, also particularly like France and its very varied regions. Although more expensive for most food ( not wine + beer ) and having to pay things like motorway tolls, sites are much less expensive in low season and fuel is also slightly less. It is very much swings and roundabouts. Discounting the cost of the ferry, as we took a long crossing and made it part of the holiday, I think we spent about the same as we would have in the UK, using CAMC sites. If we used a budget crossing, as we have done previously, and I included this in the total, it might have been slightly more expensive.
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