The Summer of Content

After the brilliant and moving stay in Ieper, I was half hoping to get to Brittany for a week, but family admin got in the way so I ended up on P&O's super Spirit of Britain heading back to the UK. Mind you, I was well chuffed to spot a 1969 Bailey Maru and a dinky little T@b in the queue for the ferry.

Back in Blighty, I ended up frequenting my usual CL and CS haunts in the South East while doing family stuff and going to work at the day job.

One caravanning task while back was to review the Mitsubishi Outlander and the new Swift Challenger Sport for the magazine, both of which are now published so I can blog about them.

For the exterior pix I decided to try out the 85mm 'prime' lens for my camera, a Canon EOS 5D MkII. The results were utterly amazing. It looked almost as if the outfit was superimposed on a background:







Absolutely stunning quality. I felt that I'd been driving a Porsche at 60mph and for the first time had opened it up on the open road. Trouble is of course, now I want to upgrade the rest of my lenses…

August saw me back at the Caravan Club Site in Alderstead Heath:







Of course, that meant a cream tea at Fanny's Farm Shop, a Surrey institution:






After that, a trip to the Caravan Club Site at Crystal Palace.

Now, you may recall in the entry about Ieper that sometimes I end up going to places that I'm not really excited about, only to find out that they are brilliant when I get there. Crystal Palace is another case in point.

I didn't fancy towing the Airstream around the South Circular through Catford, but it was no bother. And I fell in love with the Crystal Palace site! Not just because it is handy for London, but it is right next to a lovely park, and there are some superb independent shops and cafes in the area. I really, really enjoyed my stay and it's now on the list of places to return to.









After my week in London, I had 10 days off. The intention was to go to Brittany as planned in July. But the cost of the direct ferries was prohibitive, so it was to be DFDS via Dunkerque or nothing. And to go from London to Quimper via Dunkerque was 460 miles. The same distance would also get me to Oban and a ferry to the Outer Hebrides.

I umm'ed and ah'ed, but deep down I knew what the 'right' decision was going to be….

Remembrance

One thing I never lose sight of is how very lucky and privileged I am to have somehow managed to wangle the lifestyle that I have ended up with.

One of the things I do is write touring articles for magazines. As I often say to people, it's not a holiday, but it sure beats working for a living.

In other words I get to go to all these lovely places, but rather than relax and unwind I'm dashing about with my camera, researching stuff, interviewing people, and charging about from here to there like a madman.

And I absolutely love it.

One of the interesting aspects of such a task is that I end up 'having to' visit places and do things that I would otherwise not normally choose to do of my own free will.

Such an 'imposed' task was the town of Ieper in Belgium. It's better known by its French name of Ypres, or even the English slang 'Wipers'.

I'm not really into battlefields, military history, and all that. So I went along to Ieper to do my job, do my research, take my snaps, and head home. It was a pleasant-ish task that I had to do.

The reality?

It was anything but a task. It was one of the most deeply moving and humbling experiences that I have ever had the privilege to encounter.

As I learned more and more about the hardships and the sacrifices made during World War 1, it was very hard at times not to be moved to tears.

The municipal museum in the town is a great place to start, and thereafter head off on your own to some of the military graveyards. Big ones such as Tyne Cot are immensely moving by the sheer number of graves and some indication of the scale of the monstrosities. But these big name places naturally attract the tour groups, so it's hard to take a moment to yourself. My tip? Get off the beaten track, go to one of the smaller, less popular graveyards, and use that time to reflect. And believe me, there is so much to take in that you do need to just sit and reflect for a few hours. Deeply, deeply moving stuff.










On the practicality front, the municipal site in Ieper is in a great location, about a 10 minute walk through a nature reserve to the town. And great value at €14 (2011) for a fully-serviced pitch. This site was a great find using my free Alan Rogers iPhone app.









The town itself has been carefully reconstructed since its total decimation in World War 1, and very smart it is too.









Every evening at 8pm, 365 days a year, the Last Post is sounded at Menin Gate as a mark of respect to those who have fallen. I ended up going every evening, it was such a beautiful ceremony. It takes on different styles every time as different guests speak and perform. Highlight during my visit was some beautiful singing by a school choir from near Edinburgh, followed by a very brave lone piper who was but 12 years old. Utterly, utterly wonderful.


















After one of the most humbling and moving weekends of my life, it was time to head home. What an incredible few weeks I'd had!

Germany & The Netherlands

After the exertions of the Euro Gathering, it was time for a bit of R&R. A days driving North took me to the German city of Oldenburg. I parked up at the municipal site and spent an entire week catching up with my very dear old friend Peter.

Peter is the perfect host. For every meal we sat down to, there was enough to feed an army.

This was a typical light breakfast:





Or possibly a little pizza for dinner:







We spent the entire week just faffing about, mainly taking his beautiful Great Dane Anne for long walks in the Upper Saxony countryside:






And a daytrip to the lovely city of Bremen:






And dinner in funky restaurants in Oldenburg:






Waiting for the level crossing, I spotted this novel idea of a moveable living space using recycled containers - looks cool!






It was a fantastic week.


From there, I headed to the North German coastal town of Norddeich, just North of Norden near the border with the Netherlands. I was hoping to get a little kitesurfing in.

The site was pleasant enough, but… well, let's just say that it didn't FEEL right. You know what I mean. The coastline in the area is hugely overrated. There is grass verge, and at low tide there is mud. It's not pretty. The site was OK, but the very expensive wifi system did not cover every pitch and I had to use the laptop outside in the children's play area… and I 'lost' a whole day trying to do my laundry, the machine breaking, and the reception being closed till 3pm.

Oh yes, arrivals were only accepted between 3pm and 6pm. And to stay on after the midday check-out until 2pm (even though arrivals were not accepted till 3pm) would incur a whole extra night's fee. All this was carried off with an air of superiority and smugness like you wouldn't believe. And it got hot. Really hot. Here's a pic of the Alde control in the Airstream. This is reading 34 degrees inside, and 30 degrees outside.






As you can tell, this is not a place I will be coming back to. Ever.

I guess what made it even worse was that I knew that my Airstreaming friends were having a jolly good time parked up in the yard of our Dutch friends Axel and Annieta.

So, there was only one thing left to do, and that was to join them.

What a FANTASTIC weekend!

In addition to Axel, Annieta, and their family, there ended up with three UK Airstreams and two NL Airstreams in their 'yard' enjoying an impromptu gathering. And I found the North East corner of the Netherlands to be a lovely, lovely, place.

We had A LOT of fun:














Sadly though I had to leave after the weekend. I had a 'job' to do in Belgium. And that's another story…