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| Owner:
squiz Member Member#: 1998 Location: Leamington Spa Registered: 16-06-2006 Diary Entries: 2 Mood: Chilled |
18th September 2013 Mt. Biking: Dieppe Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Rain then sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: French Autumn 2013 Saturday 14th September 2013 – Start of Autumn Adventure :) travel to Rob’s at Sayers Croft. We had a right week of it trying to get ready what with me working nights, trying to get the mountain bikes repaired, also arranging to get my trailer and race board mended and then there was the broken garage door to throw a spanner in the works!!! but at 11.36 we were loaded and ready to go, all we had to do was get our neighbours cat ‘Spencer’ off the van roof !!! Things were going well until we got to Chelmsford when I realised I had forgotten my gps!!!! :( So I had to return to Felixstowe to get it, adding 90 miles to the trip :( We set out again and this time we went all the way to Horsham to pick up the other board with no problem and ate our lunch on the way. Luckily traffic not too bad. Got to Rob and Hannah just before 5 and spent a lovely evening with them chatting, having a walk in the woods, eating the most delicious sweet and sour pork and mixed fried rice dish and played a new card game called The President. Watched a couple of episodes of modern family on dvd which was funny then collapsed into bed in the van! Sunday 15th September – Sayers Croft open day and opening of the Round House – cloudy. Slept until 8 then read for a bit. After breakfast we set out to walk round the Round House opening at 10.15. There were several stalls, raffle, high ropes, make a fire, dress up as a roman, make a leather bracelet, tuck shop, bbq etc... The roundhouse was opened (looking beautiful with the thatched roof now all finished) at 11 by the firemen who came out when the other one burnt down. David made a speech. Then his morris dancers – a black, dark version called the Box Hill Bedlam did some morris dancing – they are the autumn/winter dancers where as the white more common ones are spring/summer apparently. We went back to the van for a coffee then we went back to the fete and past the roundhouse and out through the woods on a walk (no deer :(). We ended up on cranleigh show ground and walked back along the road. Went to the Ewhurst shop for a paper and back to Robs. It chucked it down half an hour before the end of the fete which was a shame :( We went for Mag’s birthday meal tonight at Ask in Cranleigh: Monday 16th September – Mags Birthday :) sunny periods. Mags Birthday:) We had a very slow start to the day and after a lie in and read headed for the caravan to have a lovely shower, do our exercises and have breakfast (didn’t get that until nearly lunchtime!) We went to pick Stephen’s board up which was quite a long way but some nice villages and scenery:) Back to the caravan where Rob made us toad in the hole. Later on he brought in a box and there were 5 presents wrapped in green tissue paper. They had got us the dvd of modern family, a book of card games, a cribbage board and instructions, some fudge and a game for travellers :) Wow we didn’t expect presents Tuesday 17th September – travelling – wet & windy :( We went in to see Rob after breakfast and then we set off for the shuttle. We were a bit late really, the sat nav said it was going to take longer than we thought and we were going to be late for our crossing but then we got stuck on the M25 so we were really late. Our eventual crossing was at 12.50 and we didn’t seem to be hanging around at all. As soon as we got to Calais it started to rain and got heavier and heavier as we drove along the back roads towards Le Crotoy. It was really chucking it down by the time we parked by the sluice. We parked there and had a rest and read our books. Had our tea there too then went and parked up in the road near the beach (where the policeman told us we could park a couple of years ago). The wind has got up and it is still lashing it down – luckily the van is quite sheltered behind a hedge of blackberries :) We watched a modern family episode and started another one but the battery ran out :( Wednesday 18th September – bike and walk :) *** Rain then sunny periods. It was pretty rough in the night but this morning it is just a bit drizzly and the wind has all but gone. We had breakfast and Mag picked some blackberries to go with our porridge. We walked up to the beach then drove off to continue our journey towards Dieppe. Got there and were quite pleasantly surprised. Expected it to be a bit of a dull port but there was a marina and an old town, a castle and a nice sea front with huge white cliffs on either side of the town. We parked up and after lunch we set out to explore on our bikes. It was really good, along the jetty where the ferry comes really close and along the prom then round into the old town and out on a busy road where a lot of car showrooms were and eventually cutting back along the river. We crossed a cycle track bridge and went to the ferry port and along a disused road to another jetty on the other side of the port entrance. Back to the van for a cuppa and then a walk along the jetty again. We left Dieppe about 5 and drove to Le Phare d’Ailly which is a lighthouse strangely nowhere near the cliff top! We followed a path to the cliff top and had a look out to sea then followed another path which started behind where we had parked the van. It went for a considerable way through woods and was a bit muddy in places but really lovely. On the way back we were absolutely thrilled to see a wild boar! I saw him standing in the wood ahead and pointed him out just as he started to run like the wind through the trees :) Brilliant! Back to the van to park up for the night. There is a car with a small caravan in the car park too. Photo Gallery here |
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