Hi
We have had the van re upholstered at Regal at Ilkston Derbyshire.
Apart from a few bits and bobs like the stitching running off on the drivers seat and the new curtain's not being the right size we are very pleased with them.

They completed the whole task in one day including all the various trims and all the seating.
Here are a few photos.

Nice break away with the grand kids.

Hi.
We had a lovely 5 day break in the motor home with the grand kids, our first trip since we had it refurbished by Regal.

Well back to the trip!.
We went straight up to Holy Island Northumberland hoping to stay on there, but there were no camping signs every where, so we went to Warren Mills camp site at Budle bay. Expensive but OK. We were very honest because when we got there the office was shut and nobody was about, so we found an empty pitch with hook up and set up camp, then Sandra went round to pay the next morning.

Next day we went back to Holy Island and had a great day out, the grand kids loved it.
There are know amusements and the such but they threw themselves into the scenery and history of the place without the need to spend money, a great day out.
We then went back to Beadnell camp site to try and get on but it was full again, even though it wasn't. Seeing as we were booked on for the next two nights anyway I can not for the life of me see why they couldn't accommodate us for one more.
Instead we went down into Beadnell village near the harbour and set up camp for the night in the car park and then had a day out on the beach till we could go on the camp site.

The grand kids had two good days on the beach rock pooling for crabs, and I learned them to play crash, a card game which they soon picked up and became too good!.

We then called on the way back home in Beamish Museum and a good few hours there, the weather brightening up while we were there.
Then back home to Aldbrough.

Once again I will put some pic's on when I have uploaded them from my camera

Motor home show Pickering.

Hi.
Sandra and I went to the motor home show at Pickering, we had previously booked and intended to stay on Saturday taking in the show and entertainment.
We went instead on the Friday as the weather looked decidedly iffy and I thought the field might be a mud bath if we went later, churned up by the other vans, as it was when we got there it was ok.
Unfortunately Sandra who had been working Friday until 2pm decided she would have a snooze while we were travelling, OK until we hit a bit of road with lots of bends, she was thrown off the seating onto the table where she hit her chin cut it open and this enormous bruise started, I felt like putting a sign round her neck saying I didn't do it, a bit of a downer to start the weekend.

We went round the show on Saturday ignoring the motor homes and concentrating on the side stalls to get various bits and bobs which we needed.
We had our tea and got ready for the entertainment which was suppose to be Freddie Starr but turned out to be the Grumbleweeds.
P J Proby was also on and he was crap, drawling on in this accent which nobody could understand a word he was saying, and that was better than his singing.

On the way back on Sunday we stopped at a fish shop for our dinner, and I can say they were the worst fish and chips I have en counted anywhere ever, totally disgusting and nearly £ 9.00 for both of us. We will never go there again for sure.

It was worth going for the bits and bobs we bought especially the toilet blue which we will need for our 3 months in Spain and Portugal in 2010.
Anyway I will sign off for now

Hello from Aldbrough

Hi.
Well it is a good 3 months since we arrived back in the UK and we are back to the old routine at the caravan in Aldbrough.
We are not using the motor home as much with only a couple of trips off.
One to Beamish with the grand kids with a stop over at the Farnes Northumberland, and then we are going to the motor home show at Pickering at the back end of July, there are a couple of vans we are interested in looking at, and the show on Saturday night has Freddie Star on, it should be a right laugh.

At the end of July the motor home goes in for a face lift as we are having completely new foam seating and then re-upholstered including new drivers and passengers front seats. .

We have just bought a reversing camera from Maplins, and I am just going into Hull to purchase some electrical bits and bobs to hard wire it into the van so it is on when we are driving we can then monitor the trailer at the back, as I can't see it properly when driving. If there is a flat tyre the only time you would know is when it is on fire or somebody flags you down!.

The fishing at Aldbrough has been hit and miss at the moment with a couple of exceptions, I have been lucky enough to catch some noticeable fish, a couple of 18lb common carp, one mirror carp of 21lb and what appears to be the lake record a mirror carp of 24lb.10oz.
But as far as the matches goes nothing only bothering to weigh in once in 4 matches, still there is always this Saturday on Lambwath lake.

Wayne Slob?





Hi.
Well we are both back safe and well, tired but hey ho! its a long way and a long time in a foreign environment, seeing everything like road signs, advertisements, all in a language that is hard to understand actually wears you down.
Then when you get back into the UK it is hard to drop back into driving on the "right" side of the road, and you have to concentrate hard for the first few miles, unlike driving on the continent which I just drop into without any problems, Strange!.

Mequenenza and fishing in Spain in general really stuffed me this year, bugger all.

Never mind the weather more than made up for it it was brilliant and Sandra and myself both have sun tans, it was lovely sitting outside the van in our new carp chairs, talking to the various folk who seemed to want to talk at length about "nothing" in various languages, it is amazing how you can summon enough words, and gesticulating to hold a meaning full conversation with them.

34 degrees
















Our journey down or is it up to Honfluer was very relaxing taking 2 overnight stops to complete the 600 odd miles from Spain, the first stop in Andora a land locked country between Spain and France. The scenery is stunning as it is a skiing country with big mountains and lots of snow, we stayed at an Aire de service well into the snow line at 1500 meters, it was bloody cold during the night.
The second stop was in an Aire de service in France, this time at near sea level, it was a very nice place and we would stay there again.

When we arrived at Hornfluer it was quite miserable weather, blowing a gale with frequent rain showers, but it eventually bucked up and we had a lovely walk round the medieval town.
We finally made our way to Calais for an overnight stop in preparation for taking the Channel tunnel, which we went through in the early hours of Tues morning. Then the final trip back to exchange one tin box for another!.

We can not Wait for the trip next year!.

But not until we have annoyed some of the fish on the caravan pond.




Ready for the off next day.

A misty day in Mequeneza

Hi.

The crappy wifi signal in Mequenenza is getting even more iffy that is unless somebody has sussed out I am nicking their signal and spit their dummy out, somebody keeps turning the signal off.

I have been fishing most days now from about 12am to 12 pm and have bugger all to show for it apart from a sun tan, even fatter and being totally chilled out.
To be quite honest I couldn't care less if I catch anything or not, OK! one 40lb er plus would be nice, I think I blew that with the 2 that cracked me off when we first arrived still we have another 6 days to go and I am still whipping them up into a frenzy!.



Not a cloud in the sky but the moon is peeping out!.

(Double click any image to see full size.)











There are hardly any carp coming out of the lake, the ones I know about are from a lad who called in for a chat while passing a couple of days ago, he was on his way to catch the ferry from Barcelona to Ibiza to sell ice cream for the season, he said he always stops to break his journey with a spot of fishing here , he caught two, one at at 18lb and one at 15lb.
There was Eric the optician and his wife Leslie from Royston near Barnsley, he said he had caught one 28lb and that is all the fish I know about. Eric and co were a right laugh and we spent a good afternoon talking to them and they were the first to see the new DVD (Comedy) I made of the time when we were fishing the Barragem at Markadia Portugal.
Oh! I was told by one of the fishing guides who pop's in to see us there have been 2 Siluro (catfish) caught in the town length, one of 175lbs and one 130lbs. He was moaning that the punters were giving him grief because the carp were not crawling up the line, I suppose you can see their point they have come from the UK and are only here for a few days, and expect results. I wonder if Mequeneza is now a spent force with its glory days well over, if it is, it is a shame as so many folk over here rely on fishermen as it is the only tourist industry of any size, especially as it is over 100 miles away from the Costa holiday beaches.

I think when we come next year we will have a “Tourist Information” sign hung on the van as we seem to have a constant stream of folk stopping to ask about stuff and where they can camp without the Garda moving them on, even asking if they can stop for the night near us. “Get on with it mate its nothing to do with us”.

Well we should be in Honfluer at the mouth of the river Seine on Friday the 27th of march to have our Evie checked by the vet and then have her passport stamped up, we will probably stay for a few days as it is a beautiful medieval place and only about a 4 hour drive to the chunnel, which we have to arrive at on the 31st in the early hours of the morning. We set off through at about 5.30am and arrive in the UK at 4.45am, it must be the Tardis!.

Hi from Mequenenza.

Sandra and myself are fine and getting nicely sun burnt as the weather here at the moment is sweltering after the first few days when it was foggy and then blowing a full gale, (for 4 solid days).
That didn't sit well as we could not have the satellite dish up for Coronation St and Emerdale for Sandra!.
Today is Wed the 11th of March and time is storming on and we will be making our way back home in a few weeks, the time has flown and I can speak for us both that we have never been bored once, even when the weather was a bit challenging.
Talk about challenging the fishing here certainly is, so far no fish!, even though I am fishing into the we small hours and sometimes through the night.
We fish and sunbathe during the day, have our tea about 5/6 pm then Sandra settles down to a couple of hours telly now we are back into Astra 2 satellite which has all our home channels on. I sit in the front passenger seat to watch the rods just in case something picks up the bait, which is 2 no 25mm pellets.
I have had 2 runs at about 11 pm on separate nights, the first broke me off after a few Min's the second as I picked up the rod both fish were enormous and felt like steam trains, maybe they were Saluru (Catfish). I have had a few alarm bites but they might have been line bites.
I have just been speaking to one of the local guides who told me where to get a wifi signal, and bugger me it works albeit at only 11 meg, and it keep dropping in and out, but hey ho beggars can't be choosers.
We have become word famous over here as every body keeps dropping in for a chat and discuss the fishing or lack of it, it seems nobody is catching anything at the moment, well this hot weather should warm the water up, we still have 13 more days fishing here.
We can get water at the local Pesca Articles shop (Tackle shop), as long as we buy stuff off him he seems fine.
Talking about tackle Sandra took our Evie down the far bank for a walk yesterday and there was two guys fishing with poles, being nosey she went over to have a look and promptly stood on one of his whip poles and cracked it, she paid him 50 euros to get a replacement. what can I say!, I thought she was deaf not blind.

Any way I will sign off now and let you know what is happening later.