Today is our 3rd here in Britain and it is proving to be an interesting journey so far.
Last night we stayed in a little pull-in area off a country lane in East Creech, near Corfe Castle.
We set up camp and had pasta for dinner then crawled into bed about 7:30pm. It was a long, long night and at 1:30am I was wide awake wondering how on earth I’d make it through the next 6 hours. I must have been awake for a good hour, contemplating sleep and whether my bladder felt full. By the end of the hour I had convinced myself my bladder was in fact full and had to wake Aaron to get out of the van. He insists on sleeping next to the door for safety reasons but this is not good when I feel the need to get up at least once during the night.
In the end we both needed to go and while outside in the dark I could hear some quite angry barking type noise close by. I assume it was a badger. It was in trying to identify the sound that it occurred to me that I had heard somewhere that badgers can be quite vicious and suddenly I was a little spooked. I couldn’t get back in the van fast enough!
And so it proved to be a very long night and by morning I felt very sore. Too much time in bed and every part of my body seems to ache. Both Aaron and I had to do some very early morning stretches to iron out the kinks.
After a quick breakfast and some steaming hot real coffee (I brought the plunger) we washed some clothes in the large saucepan. An interesting experience but we have to make do.
And so we set off through the back country lanes, driving through small country towns looking for somewhere nice to stop for lunch. Mid morning we stopped in Weymouth when we spotted a McD’s. No we did not eat there. We just parked the car and made use of the free WiFi connection they offer (Thanks to Jay & Bex for that suggestion). Then we tried to leave Weymouth (not exactly a pretty village) and got caught in the most horrendous roadworks-induced traffic jam.
The traffic in this country is unbelievable. Everybody owns a car (maybe even two) and they’re all new and expensive by the looks of things. Do the British really have no money? If that’s correct then it’s all going on their cars!
We finally exited Weymouth and eventually arrived in Abbotsbury, a small but attractive village. We could find no free parking and so we thought we’d keep driving until we found a free place to pull over. A sign indicating the beach was at the start of another long, skinny lane and it seemed like a good idea. There were only a couple of pull in areas along the way and they were pay & display only, and then we got to the beach and there found a parking area for maybe 30 cars. Just a gravel area but just to get in the gate was 3.50 pounds. “No!” we both said in unison and Aaron quickly backed out. Every beach access in these little towns, as we are quickly finding out, is pay & display, and they don’t even have sand!
And so we drove up out of Abbotsbury and eventually found a pull in area on the shoulder, way up a hill overlooking the town. We made ourselves some sandwiches and stood in the biting wind and looked back down over what would have been a fantastic view except for the haze. What the hell is the haze? I really, really have to Google it because it is driving me insane not being able to see any views.
We drove on through more little villages. One of them had it’s only thru road closed for roadworks and so everyone was diverted up and over the hill and then down a very, very long winding lane. It was a two-way lane, 1 car wide and all was going well until we approached a sharp corner and another car came around at the same time in the opposite direction. We pulled sharply too the left and found ourselves up a bank with the left back wheel up in the air, the front left well wedged into soft ground and the van leaning perilously on a 45 degree angle. I was so scared the van would tip I leapt out Probably not the best thing to do in hindsight as it was my side up the bank. We were completely and utterly stuck on this blind corner with traffic coming at us from both ways until there was an almighty snarl up involving maybe 50 cars.
We can only be grateful that one of the vehicles that managed to get itself around the corner was a truck with a tow bar and strops as all attempts to push and rock by various other motorists had failed. The truck managed to pull us backwards and down off the bank and then it took a good 10 minutes for the traffic snarl up to undo itself as we all had to take turns to squeeze past each other. Everyone was incredibly good natured about it but I was a shaking mess. I was absolutely convinced the van would tip and land on its side and that we would be forking out hundreds of pounds to have it fixed.
Anyway, we came out unscathed and meandered our way towards Lyme Regis. We have set the TomTom to avoid motorways and fast routes so basically we are spending most of our time driving along the skinniest, bendiest lanes the TomTom can find. They totally freak me out so I am in constant need of having to pee because my nerves are shot to pieces. However, we are seeing some of the most fabulous old villages that is well worth the nerves.
Aaron is driving and although it is supposed to be a shared driving trip I do not yet have the courage. Aaron doesn’t seem to find any of it very stressful but it is tiring and he’s managing a good 12 hours sleep every night.
We eventually arrived in Lyme Regis, and for an English seaside town it is quite lovely. Unfortunately we’d already had banana sandwiches for lunch otherwise I would have definitely had fish and chips at the seaside takeaway bar that had a queue of people out the door the whole time we were there.
From there we made our way to our last stop for the day, Sidmouth. Yet another seaside town, this one was quite a different town altogether and definitely aimed at the retired or older resident/traveller. We found a car park (more pay & display); the smallest towns are the worst, quite often we have to drive straight through because there’s maybe only a 5 minute walk through the town from a tourist perspective but there is no free parking. Even the small town supermarkets make their shoppers pay for the privilege of parking there. We just can’t afford to pay for parking every time we get to a new village otherwise we’d run out of money for essentials like good English cider!
Aaron decided we should have dinner at the pub and it proved to be a good suggestion. The menu choices were extensive and Aaron decided on a plate of selected seafood and I a crab and prawn salad. Aaron likes to sample all the different brews on tap and I’m checking out some of the ciders.
After dinner we headed back out of town the way we had come as we had seen a little pull in area we thought might be good for a night’s camping. We pulled into a little area that was a forest regeneration project. The tree’s had recently been clear felled and so it was quite open. Aaron tried to find us the least conspicuous place possible to park and when we got to the end of the track we decided to park up. Aaron started a 3 point turn and got half way through the manoeuver and then the wheels started to spin. We were stuck. What had looked liked fairly firm ground was in fact a wonderfully soft hummus. We got out and surveyed the situation. This was not good. We were parked somewhere where we should not be and the thought of trying to get a local to help or an AA man to come and rescue us was not a desired option. And so we spent several minutes scrabbling around collecting branches and twigs to fill in the gouges made by the tyres. Eventually we made it out with me reversing and Aaron pushing from a horizontal position with his feet up the trunk of a tree. We drove back along the track, stopping on a dry hump of ground and there we parked for the night.
I wasn’t overly happy about it, having been stuck once already, but we didn’t have any other free options at that point. And so we settled in for the night, eventually waking at about 4am to the sound of rain. After 10 minutes of it Aaron made the decision that we needed to leave. He jumped in the front seat and took off. Maybe 100 metres down the road he pulled into a tarmac carpark which was for various walking tracks. It hadn’t been an option the previous evening because it was full of cars but at 4am it was deserted and perfect for our needs.
As we prepared to leave about 7:30am the cars started to arrive again. One older fellow who stopped was walking 3 dogs, one of them a beautiful whippetX. He told us a lovely story of how his son had acquired it. Late one night he discovered the dog walking along the road and so he put it in his car. The next day he went back and discovered the owners, a band of gypsies, and he gave the dog back to them. A gruff man thanked him and threw the dog in a shed and shut the door. As the son drove off the dog managed to pushed the door open and raced down the road after the car, he saw it, opened the door, the dog leapt in and he sped away with his new best friend.
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