Cogs life

We’d actually visited Freshwater East the say before and really loved it. BUT Freshwaterwest is a beach /cove on another level. First it was almost empty despite there being a heatwave over Wales. We found a tiny carpark maybe for 10 cars and was amazed to find an empty place that our little Microcamper fitted into. The carpark was also free ! So after a short walk over sandy dunes we were stunned by this huge cove/bay with Golden sands and a calm sea. Darcey our Goldie loved it and ran straight to the sea. Carol agreed with me that this might be the best cove/ beach/Bay we’d ever seen. I stopped at the top of the dunes and took some photos, make your own mind up.

We are camping in Pembrokeshire at an amazing site called The Speculation. In an age of grossly overpriced campsites this little gem stands out for being extremely affordable, friendly, has its own pub but most importantly has the friendliest staff you could wish to meet.

Anyone who has done a long journey in an NV200 will know how uncomfortable they are. With that in mind I bought two Mini Cooper S leather front seats off of Marketplace. Today was the first chance I had to put at least one in. I chose the passenger seat as its the easiest and I’d previously converted it into a swivel seat so I thought maybe the new holes would line up. I took the old seat out, still attached to it’s swivel seat thing. Two things struck me, the Mini seat was a LOT heavier than the van seat and that the job would be far easier with the base taken out as . To be honest the actual swap was easier than expected and two holes at the back already lined up and two front ones just needed modifying. So after getting help from my wife to lift the whole assembly back into the van, again this happened quite easily, once in I had to replace 4 bolts and that was it even the seat belt even fitted ! Next it’s the driver’s side wish me luck.

The latest is that i managed to install the drivers seat, it was actually much easier than the passenger one. So I now have two vey comfortable seats in my van !

Our little Campervan waiting at the Shuttle in Calais after covering nearly 2000 miles travelling around France.

On our travels back to the UK we found this amazing park up. Its a Gothic Bridge near a town called Bellac. Its a very short way from the main road between Bellac and Dorat. As there were no signs saying we couldn’t stay there we decided to park up for the night at this beautiful setting.

So we’ve arrived at our campsite the weather is sunny and warm. The staff are really friendly and we were quickly all setup.

As a little update about our journey so far. The NV200 has averaged 57 mpg, it is charged as a car on Toll Roads in France and gets a LOT of attention wherever she goes especially in the campsite with the awning attached. It’s now a life full of croissants, baguettes and lovely French food. There are some friendly chickens walking around the campsite, the most amazing thing is that Darcey our Goldie ignores them completely.

We had a very easy and uneventful trip down to the shuttle which was great. Once over to France we stayed overnight at Le Touqet Aire I thinks its called “La Plage de Paris”. Its one of the very best Aires. The journey down to the South of France was interrupted by a visit to our friends Nathalie and Maurice who are renovating a cottage into a home and B&B they’ve made a lovely job of it.

It was another 4 hour 30 minute drive to our destination of Argeles Sur Mer. More to follow….

We’ve got a couple of night without Darcie our Goldie, so we thought we’d visit Hebden Bridge. We’ve just arrived and so far we’ve had a lovely meal and now listening to an Irish Jig group.

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Today it was nearly 30 degrees. Now you might not know this but Mid West Wales although blessed with stunning beaches and valleys is not normally blessed with Mediterranean weather. So today it was almost a party atmosphere with a lot of people on the beach having a great time.

In fact we did the long walk twice, it was from our campsite to Sea Palling along the beach route. It was on this walk that we saw the Seals and today, our second walk, gave us another breathtaking seal watch.

After the long walk, which is about a 4 and a half hour round trip, it was back to the van for a cup of tea and some biscuits. Today was shopping day so over to Lidl in Walsham to get some necessaties. On our way back and feeling a little hungry we kept an eye out for a suitable pub. After a unsuccessful while we found the Swan at Ingham in fact we’d visited that pub before but now it was completely different. The Swan has several Rosettes to prove its amazing quality and price of its food. BUT the food was stunning and worth every penny.

So now it’s back to the van and re-attach it too the lonely awning. Beer time and then sleep time…. its been another full day zzzzz