Home is where I park it

Hey bloggers I have not forgotten you all! We are down near Sagres in Portugal now but I have to go into the library for the internet and so cannot post you the things I have saved on my laptop. When we move somewhere new maybe I will be able to! In the meantime if you are interested we are at a little beach called Barranco, you can look it up on Google Earth!

We spent our last night in France at Moliets Plage near the town of Moliets-et-Maa. There is an Aire there with showers at 5 Euros for 24 hours out of season & 11 Euros in season. We stayed in the carpark for free though as the place was a bit of a ghost town with all the shops & bars shut for the winter. We crossed into Spain at Irun, a typical border town with lots of shops selling tat. A good place to stock up on cigarettes, tobacco & fuel on the way North though as they are all cheaper in Spain than France! As we are heading south we dont need to worry about that. Our first day in Spain was glorious with sunshine & blue skies, we took the toll road from San Sebastian to Vitoria Gasteiz which was only 10 Euros & we went through a tunnel 3.5km long! We spent our first night in Spain was spent at the monument of Al Pastor near Miranda de Ebro, there is plenty of room to park there & a bar/resturant & campsite. We spent the next day driving on through the co...

In the area of Carnac & further south we visited quite a lot of other Neolithic sites. France is rich in Neolithic history & there are a huge amount of Dolmens, Menhirs & Cairns around the country. Many are marked on an average road map of France & they are usually well signposted. We found that we often found a few more on the way to one marked on the map. We saw an interesting one near Carnac called Dolmen de Mane Kerionned, there is 3 Dolmens on the site. One is completely underground & on a few of the stones inside there are authentic engravings. At Locmariaquer there is also a Cairn with engravings inside, be warned though the site there is 5 Euro per person entry fee. There are plenty of sites to visit for free including another Alignment at Kerzerho which is impressive even though it is not on the same scale as the Carnac Alignments. One of the biggest Dolmens we visited was the Dolmen de la Frebouchere which has an 100 ton cap stone. We have now finished our...

We visited the Alignments at Carnac to start our Neolithic tour of the area. What an amazing sight! I have spent a lot of time at Stonehenge, Avebury, West Kennet Long Barrow & Wayland's Smithy which I feel are very dramatic Neolithic sights but Carnac is something else! Rows & rows of stones as far as the eye can see, some quite small but others 2-3 metres high. The stones dominate the landscape as it rises up hill & then back down again. The Alignments are divided into six sections as there are some gaps in between in places. From October to March it is free to visit although some sections are closed off. There is an informative visitors centre at the west end of the Alignments which is also a gift shop. There are car parks along the route of the stones which helps anyone with mobility issues. There are also toilets at the visitors centre & at a carpark halfway along the route. In the evening we parked up in the town at an Aire with a few other campervans. Luckily...

Bonjour! We are now in France after a smooth Euro tunnel crossing. The tunnel is a bit more expensive than the ferry but it is quicker & we are able to stay with Busta (the dog) who hates loud noises & I'm sure would hate being left in the van on his own on the ferry. We crossed at about 5pm after stopping at a supermarket on the way to stock up on t-bags & a few other things that are more expensive or hard to get over here! We stopped for the night just 20 miles or so outside Calais at Cap Gris-Nez, the same place we had found when we came back in June. There is a big carpark at the Cap which says not to park overnight, it might just be the summer though I can't remember now. Anyway we found a road just before there that goes down to the beach which has some car parking spaces & campervan spaces. It is free & you can stay as long as you want I guess! Also further along that coast road towards Boulogne are a couple more parking areas, handy to know when you ...

It is time for us to leave the UK again, infact by the time I get to post this up we will already be overseas! At the time of writing though we are in Brighton & leaving in the morning for the Euro tunnel. We have spent 3 weeks staying in Stanmer Park on the outskits of Brighton with some other vehicle dwellers. I have never been anywhere where there are so many live-in vehicles around! Everywhere you go there are live-ins, some not permanant homes but quite a number are. There are a few park-ups in the Brighton area & a couple of sites. It has been nice staying somewhere that feels a litle more accepting than other places in the UK & we have met some great people, some of who we hope to see over the winter on the continent. We have had some work done on the van ready for our trip which meant a few days of not being able to move & a few hectic days buying last minute necessities & doing last minute jobs. We had a few days of beautiful summer like weather whilst the ...

We were lucky enough to get tickets to Alchemy Festival which is one of the few festivals left in the UK that still allow dogs. The line-up was great with Zion Train, RDF, Back to the Planet & Rhythmites being some of the great bands playing. What made the festival extra special was that so many of our friends were there too which was lovely. Also at the festival was a pretty good fire show, (although not a patch on the one at Freekuency Festival in Portugal earlier in the year!) some workshops on wild foods & some nice stalls. There was quite a lot of dance music which wasn't really to my taste but the live music stage more than made up for that. The vibe was amazing & the toilets were pretty OK all weekend. Thanks to the organisers for such a great little festival & thanks to Neil for the tickets :) Here's some pictures...

After my little rant on the UK riots last month I have decided to try & write something now & again with a little more thought & insight than my usual posts about where we have been with my photographs attached. I might not always get to post them up straight away due to not being near the internet but now we have a solar panel & lesuire battery in the van I can write them up on the laptop & post them up when we do get online. Lots of diseases have been eradicated over the last century & there are now vacinations against some others that once could have killed us. People are living longer & yet are we really a healthier society? Many people older than me are always saying that they do not remember so many people having cancer years ago. Is this because we didn't always identify it years ago or has it really increased? There certainly seems to be more children with asthma & alergies than when I was at school in the 1970's. Has there really been ...

Back on the Ridgeway, our favourite place to park up in case you hadn't noticed dear reader, I got a few more nice photos...  spider house  boletus toadstool  curvy beech trees  beech tree stump thanks for looking :) xoxox

Thanks to the encouragement of an artist friend I have been doing lots more drawing & painting. I've always quite liked drawing but have been endlessly disapointed that the end result never really looked like it should have done. After a year on the road without the stresses of work & bills etc I have been far more creative in every way, taking photos, making jewellery, writing & drawing. I have taken up painting after not really doing any since I was a child. My friend gave us some watercolours & so I have been experimenting :) Here's a few of my paintings... thanks for looking :) xoxox