SIGNING OFF FOR A WEEK!

Hi there,

I thought I would post this just in case anyone started getting hopeful that I had taken the hump and quit the Forum!

The thing is that we are moving North starting tomorrow morning and (not having a dongle like some of the really, really well off people on this Forum - you know who you are) I will probably be incommunicado for four or five days (just like those really rich people who don't know how to work their dongles).

Goodnight for now.

Ian

PS
I've just realised that I may not actually be missed; so I have decided to take the hump at that anyway!!!

Hi Ian !! I'll miss your posts. I hope your move North is a planned one and not because you are unhappy with where you are. Also hoping it all goes well Cath

Ah he is missing the rain and the snow

We haven't missed you yet, Ian

Ian, I thought you had booked long stay at that site,for the discounts?
regards
Mike

Hi there,

We are back in Skegness where we have enjoyed a bright but chilly day!

We did intend to stay at Camping Marjal for the winter but over a period of about two weeks Helen managed to develop a variety of complaints ranging from the trots to an infected tooth root (where a crown had fallen off). She became so fed up and miserable with herself (and pretty cranky to boot!) that we decided it would be easier for both of us for her to be miserable at home!

We left Camping Marjal on the Tuesday morning and arrived here in Skegness Saturday lunchtime.

We came home via Alicante > Zaragoza > Pamplona > Bayonne (stopover on motorway services) > Poitiers (stopover at Futuroscope campsite) > Rouen (stopover on motorway) Dunkirk (stopover in DFDS car park) > Dover > Skegness.

The run across Spain was superb and had very few sections of peagé. If you have kids then it would be great fun getting them to find all the Watch Towers that line the route into Zaragoza.

At Bayonne we had a fantastic night listening to the hailstones stotting off the roof of the van; which actually replicated our last visit there back in 2008 when our December attempt to cycle to the Spanish Border from Toulouse was stopped due to a hailstorm!

At Rouen we hit a huge traffic jam caused by the main bridge over the Seine being blocked off for repairs. It was pitch black and raining when we left Rouen so we decided to stop early and pulled into a motorway services at about 8pm. The rain rapidly turned to snow and we woke to about 2 inches of the stuff piled up against the wheels the next morning so we delayed our start until about 10am to let the traffic clear a path on the motorway.

It worked for us but we did see a couple of poor souls in the ditch and tracks through the slush that showed exactly how they had got there!!

We finished off our shopping in Dunkirk and ambled down to the ferry terminal at about 6pm to see if we could get on to an earlier ferry. No problem. For an extra £72 (over and above the £64 already paid) we could go that very evening or, for nothing, we could bed down in the DFDS car park and leave at the planned time of 0600hrs the next day!

We bedded down for the night, sailed the next morning and arrived safe and well just after lunchtime on Saturday.

I am back.

Best regards,

Ian

PS Helen now all sunshine and light!! The meds must be working!!

Glad you got back home safely Ian hope Skeggy is warmer than Berwick !

Doesn't a week pass quickly.......... We all missed you terribly

Welcome back, Ian. Hope you had a great time

Regarding the extra ferry payment ,Dutto. The staff seem to have some discretion if you are coming back early because of sickness. You could try limping a bit going to the office, but more honestly, they let me go free the night before, because I asked them nicely as a favour, if I could be home early to get a full days rest before work.

Its your innocent look Peter that probably did it

Peterm wrote:.............. You could try limping a bit going to the office..............

Peter,

How did you know that a motorbike accident in my youth left me with one leg nearly three inches shorter than the other?

Seriously, when it was the old Norfolk Line we regularly turned up early and got ushered on to the ferry without a problem. In one case we were 24 hours early and the lad in France just waved us through and on another occasion we had to go to the Office in Dover to pay the £5 difference between the one we had booked and the one we were sailing on.

Norfolk Line advertised that if you turned up "one sailing either side of the time booked" you would not be expected to pay anything extra or forfeit your booking. It was a big selling point for us as we were usually driving down from Scotland on the way out and from the south of France on the way back.

Now that it is DFDS they seem to be running a different system. As demonstrated last Friday woe betide anyone who turns up at a different time to the one booked; for whatever reason!

Best regards,

Ian

PS My left leg really is nearly three inches shorter than my right and without my built-up shoe limping is more a necessity rather than a ploy!

DuxDeluxe wrote:.......... We all missed you terribly

....

That's what the last sniper said when I asked what the "bang" was!!

Many thanks.

Ian

My grandfather fought in WW1 and found out the hard way that you are supposed to duck when being shot at. Not the real story of course but just about the only thing he would say about his battle injuries (Passchendaele) and experiences. My brother and I (well, OK, my brother) traced his regimental movements during that time which was both interesting and humbling.

Both my legs are three inches shorter than the other. I had three wishes......

DuxDeluxe wrote:

My grandfather fought in WW1 .........

My granddad was on the Somme when they fired the first bullet.

He was sat at home with a cup of tea when they fired the second one!




Ian