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notjustbacon · 8 years ago

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Coromandel, oh lala!

It was our Terry WorkAway. Meaning third, derived from the Latin word tertius. We learned quite a bit in the month we had already spent in New Zealand, but boy did we have a lot more learning in store for us. The meaning of terry is just one of many of the things that we learned from our two hosts Emily and Terry. This came up one day when Terry told us he was named Arnold... But he goes by Terry because he is the third in his family to be named Arnold. In this article, I will chat about the beauty that can be found in Coromandel Peninsular, about our stay, and what we got out of this WorkAway experience.

Coromandel was by far one of the most beautiful places in all New Zealand. On the drive up we stopped at Hot Water Beach. We got in about 11am and found out that we just made it for high tide, so we were out of luck in terms of being able to enjoy the hot spring water that one can dig into during low tide. Never fear, the beach was very beautiful - made us a little homesick for our favorite Oregon beaches and we enjoyed a couple hours worth of waves and sand before starting our third WorkAway.

After our beach stop and a quick bite to eat, we were cruzing towards our third WorkAway in a small town called Coleville. Google maps directed us to take a 30 minute shorter route using Highway 309, also just know as the 309. It was a beast!! After driving the crazy curvy and narrow roads of the south island, we thought that we had made it through the worst roads that NZ could throw at us - WRONG. The 309 is just as curvy and narrow at parts, but it is also about 20/26 kilometers of gravel road. I know what you might be wondering, "Alice, if it's windy and treterous, why don't you just take a nice slow and cautious drive and not worry about it?" We wish! See, the Kiwi's don't have time or the patience for that. They drive like mad crazy people when it comes to roads like these. And by the time you see them, your heart will just jump out of your chest, onto the road and you will hope that no one will hit it. I mean, somehow we made it without veering off the road, but it was real touch and go at times.

Pulling into the town of Coromandel was such a welcoming sight. It's a quaint beach town with about a 5 block length stretch of mom and pop shops. The boardwalk also includes a grocery store/bank/post office combo store, a couple liquor stores and a gathering of art shops. After checking out all the venues, we settled on some fish and chips. The locals pronounce their orders as "fu(i)sh and chips." It was a bright and sunny day - again such great weather - so we decided to dine outside. It was delicious and almost helped us forget about how horrible the 309 was.

We still needed to drive 30 minutes to our WorkAway in Coleville, so we decided to hit the road right after lunch. We intended on getting to our WorkAway at 2pm, but after all the extra stops along the road, we ended up arriving around 3:30pm. Here's the pictures from our drive in to show what held us up (hint: GORGEOUSNESS):

We were immediately welcomed and put to work by one of our hosts, Terry. Terry is a phenominal human being who is always busy with 5 dozen jobs at a time. The present task was to dig out a mooring from the bay (a massive weight that anchors Terry's sail boats to shore) and to rebury it. He immediately showed us how innovative and resourceful he is with the materials he owns. He used a piece of metal, bent it into a circle and wedged it into the ground around the mooring to prevent the hole (being dug out) from filling back up with water. Eventually, there were four of us working on this and we high-fived at the finale of a job well done.

After work, we refreshed at our house - that's right, house!! Most WorkAways offer you a room, but ours offered us an entire house. Complete with living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and all the fixings.

Before we knew it, it was time to head up the hill (about a kilometer) to our host's house for dinner. Along the way we met their pet donkeys Cocoa and Latte as well as their two dogs: Angus and Seamus.

Our Hosts

Terry and Emily are two of 17 owners of the land they live on. It's been in the family for over 50 years. His family immigrated from the US as political refugees as he puts it... They are quakers who refuse to take part in war and were ready to take part in a new country. Terry says political and ecological interests led them to New Zealand and their current way of living. They have been learning how to integrate different energies all along the way. Currently, their property is completely off the grid (except for internet). How? They use solar power (from their solar panels), wind power (from their windmills), wood stoves for heating, gravity fed plumbing from a nearby stream (that they collect in a large water tank) and composting toilets.

Emily (our other host) was always whipping up something amazing for lunch and dinner! While Alex had come to the decision that he was going to be a flexible guest (and not his strict vegan self), Emily was incredibly accomodating to his diet. In fact, we ended up asking her for 7 of her amazingly delicious recipes!

Work

It was hard, but definitely fulfilling. Exactly what one could expect from living off the grid.

Day 1: Mooring project (discussed above)*.

Day 2: Finding the blueberry and citrus bushes in the garden rings... AKA weeding.

Day 3: Mowing and raking grass from the garden rings. Not pictured because Terry told me to work on my blog - Done and DONE. See my work about our 2nd WorkAway here.

Day 4: Clearing out, rat proofing, reorganizing Terry's shed. Also pictured is a 1900's antique oven that Terry is selling (comment below if you're interested - I can put you in touch).

Day 5: Finishing touches on the garden rings... Again, weeding, raking and clearing the rings.

Fun

I never thought my first time sailing would be in New Zealand - and that my husband would be sailing us out to the ocean on his first sail. How does this happen? Terry, an avid sailor, offered to take us out for a sail one afternoon. He has his boat set up for a one man operation. He also is the head for a youth sailing organization that helps folks from Coromandel learn to sail. This made him the perfect teacher and guide for our outing. It was magnificent.

Also, Terry led Alex and I on a pretty intense 30-45 minute hike up to the boundary of his family's property. The view is spectacular! On a clear day you can see Rangitoto and the coastline of Auckland from their property. This was one of the BEST hikes of our entire trip, but it wouldn't have been possible without this WorkAway.

We even made it back to the town of Coromandel where I got to try some of the most delicious mussles ever!!! Check out these green shells:

Summary

New Zealand is the most beautiful country that I have ever visited - it definitely won't be the last time I visit. Coromandel was one of (if not) THE most beautiful parts of New Zealand. That said, we were ready for our next stop. While leaving New Zealand and driving back over to Auckland, we were greeted by some of the most beautiful sights: sunrises, sun and even a pod of dolphins.

This is definitely not the last that you will be hearing about New Zealand, but it's time for me to start sharing about our newest stop and new country: VIETNAM!!! In my next article I will be sharing our first week in south Vietnam featuring Ho Chi Minh and the Meekong Delta.

Be sure to check out my Flickr account for all the pictures from this trip. And if you missed our first WorkAway click here - or our second WorkAway click here.

TTFN,

Alice

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desunk · 8 years ago

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12/02/2017 – Ola from the Sierra Nevada!

Hello folks. Hope all is well in your worlds.

It’s been a big gap since the last post, which is usually a sign of how content we are with our day-to-day. We forget to even do the blog with so little in the way of responsibilities apart from the basics (shopping, washing, bog emptying etc). We’re now in one of my most anticipated destinations in Spain, the Sierra Nevada! The drive in was another interesting one, though nowhere near as bad as the run into the Pyrenees when we first got to Spain. Tight bends, narrow roads, huge drops off the side of the road and very steep hills! When we finally pulled into our campsite, just above a lovely little village called Laroles, we were at a dizzying 3900 feet (ish). With the altitude comes the most fantastic view and because no one comes up here this time of year, we got the pick of pitches. We went for the one closest to the edge and pulled up side on so our “patio” is overlooking the valley below. On top of the scenery, the lovely little campsite and the local mountain biking, it’s also much warmer than I’d expected. In the last post, I said I was expecting cold and that no one else could believe we were coming up this far. As it turns out it’s 15 degrees most days and because you’re so high up, the sun feels much warmer. Perfect! We like it so much that instead of the staying 1 week as planned, we’ve now negotiated a good price for the month and are probably staying till the end of February!

So, let’s get down to business. Mountain biking (everyone sighs). The mountain biking is very good but these Spanish boys are sadistic fuckers! They have BTT routes here in the Sierra Nevada, some of which pass right through Laroles. I think I mentioned these before as they had them in the Pyrenees and the Costa Brava. They’re basically cross country routes but are pretty variable. They can have good downhill sections, massive climbs, be very extreme, be very boring and vary from 5 miles to 50. Here at part way up the Sierra Nevada mountain range the climbing is just mental – as you’d expect I guess. On Friday I spent over 2 hours (a good bit of that resting!) riding 10 miles up a hill climbing 3100 feet in total and reaching a highest altitude of 6121 feet. For most people this is misery, as Erin reminded me, but I don’t mind it. I don’t try and break any records when climbing, for me it’s just a means to get fit and get to the good downhill bits. For the local riders, they just seem to want to ride up these ridiculous hills as fast as they can, causing themselves as much pain as possible! They literally get up these hills 2 or 3 times faster than I can and I know it must hurt. I just don’t know how they push themselves on like that!

I read somewhere the other day, that climbing on the bike doesn’t get easier, you just get faster. Same with running I guess. It does get a bit easier I reckon, but once you get half fit you push on harder which makes it hard as nails again. What goes through these guy’s minds when they’re climbing up gravel tracks that make Furry Way in Helston look like a gentle slope, I do not know. For me it was a bit of a slog but good fun. I pushed a few sections where I literally couldn’t keep the front wheel on the ground but rode most of it, then I reaped the rewards of my hard work with some wicked downhill. No falling off and no flat tyres. Just me, my bike, a long gravel track, some trees, some goats and even a bit of snow. Bleddy hansom!

Laroles is a lovely little place. Everything happens at a snail’s pace (apart from the driving!) and I like it! The shop has everything you need but without the choice overload. It’s not the best idea to try and do a full week’s shop in one hit. The secret is to go 2 or 3 times a week as they have different meats and veg in the shop of varying freshness on any given day, but I like that too! We’ve been trying to get to the village markets without much success, as this is where to get your veg. We were about to leave to a market on Sunday last week, but just before we were about to leave the wind got up. Before we knew it, we were packing away everything outside, battening down the hatches and riding out 30 – 40 mph winds! That was an interesting day! Then I headed out to a village on Monday but it was tiny. A few hundred people for a guess so there wasn’t much there. Next attempt was on Thursday and it was much better!

Orgiva is a town just over an hour’s drive to the west of us. It’s famous for the hippy community that resides in the area, so we had to have a look. The drive over was fun because ‘Sally Satnav’ took us on a diversion over the top of a bleddy mountain, but at least the views were good. It’s strange looking down at the sea from 4000 or 5000 feet because the horizon is so much higher up. On a hazy day, it’s hard to tell where the water ends and the sky begins! We pulled into the car park near the market and got the only space left. There were cars everywhere. The market was exactly what we’d hoped for! I left Erin in the car with the dogs and went on the hunt for food as we hadn’t eaten breakfast. I came back with exactly what I was looking for, a rotisserie chicken and portion of chips which is my favourite part of these markets. The chicken is so delicious! After that, we took Bear (and left Charlie because he hates dogs and busy places) and wondered around the market for an hour. It was so much fun. There were; veg stalls, spices, clothes, aromatherapy oils, handmade crafty stuff, sweets, and much much more. We stocked up on veg and got some goodies while soaking up the lovely relaxing atmosphere. It really was relaxing too. The hippies were exactly how hippies should be. Chilled to the core! There was a woman meditating on a car boot lid, hippies sat about chatting (and smoking!), some hippies dancing a tango in the town square to no music and I even got chatting to an English chap from Milton Keynes, who when it came to say goodbye, told me to “enjoy my journey”. Not trip, or travels, but journey! I liked that too! A good day was had by all, even Charlie, who chilled out in the shaded car without Bear pissing him off for an hour! I like to think he sat and read his book as I fancy Charlie as a bit of a book worm.

I also soaked up a little of the Spanish hospitality yesterday while Erin took an afternoon snooze. Some folks that stayed here last weekend from Almeria came back this weekend to collect their van. Like us, they have a manual car but unlike me, the guy can’t tow with a manual car. The hill out of here is pretty steep and instead of just getting the clutch out and powering up the hill, he made the fatal mistake of riding the clutch. There was soon a very clutchy odour and lots of people stood around the car with the bonnet up. Anyway, they came back to get the van this weekend and stopped one night. Before they left yesterday they did a big Paella for another couple and Tino (the campsite manager) and his wife on the communal BBQ. While they were cooking, they sent over their daughter to invite us “to eat paella with us”, which was lovely given we hadn’t even spoke to them before that. I left Erin in the van snoozing with the dogs and headed over to eat their food and even had half a glass of the local red! It was great having a natter with them, talking food and sampling the paella, blood sausage, rabbit and tapas for an hour before announcing my departure. Before I could leave, the wife of the guy who cooked the paella shot off and told me to wait. When she came back, she was carrying two massive Chinese takeaway containers which the husband loaded up with all the remaining paella. He handed both over to me, giving me instructions on how to microwave it for our evening meal! Like I said, Spanish hospitality, it was quite lovely.

Not much else to tell I don’t think. Will add all the pictures from the market, bike rides etc below. We’re here for another couple of weeks probably, depending on how the weather goes. We had a bit of rain yesterday and the forecast is starting to look a little worse. If we head back to the coast and towards Malaga, we’ll be in 20 degrees enjoying the sun every day. It is getting tempting as nice as it is in the mountains.

Thats all folks.

TTFN!!!

PS - Can’t get photos to upload. will try again later

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desunk · 8 years ago

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15/01/2017 – Everyone survive Friday the 13th?

Hello anyone and everyone. I hope the last week has been a good one in spite of the poor weather and the January blues. I hope you all survived Friday the 13th unscathed!

All’s normal on the magical mystery tour and we’re now a little further south, just outside a town called Aguilas in the Murcia region of Spain. We’ve dropped on a pretty nice campsite after dipping our toes in the very tourism orientated Benidorm / Alicante region. The price is good too which is always a bonus, especially after getting stung for £50 for electricity over an 8-day period at the last place! We had a windy but incident free drive down to the new site, and have settled in nicely.

The Site – is run by an English couple that I’m yet to meet, but seem very nice from what Erin says. They take in abandoned dogs and have amassed quite a pack by all accounts. The head honcho seems to be a wily old character named Merlin who I christened “Dickhead-Dog” after our first encounter! He came wondering over to our awning mat on the first day, and after having a good sniff about, decided to take a piss on the corner of our wind break and on Bears bed. I ran him off and we haven’t had any running’s since. He seems like a pretty cool dude even given his bad first impression. He’s got the run of the place and spends his days sitting with various campers (getting fed no doubt) and taking himself for strolls around the site and the nearby back roads. Another little female dog (kind of a sausage dog / beagle thing) called Maggie comes wondering up every now and then. She’s really sweet and shy. She’ll look at you like she’s trying to hold back her excitement with her tail pinned between her legs until you show her any kind of attention and then the head goes down with her big eyes looking up and her tail comes out and goes mad. She loves a fuss but also tends to dine and dash. I’ve started giving her treats and as soon as she’s got what she came for, it’s off back home to eat it.

It’s got everything we need here with the bogs and washing facilities but without all the crap that draws in the crowds. There must be 40 or 50 touring pitches set on this gravelly stuff, the landscape is pretty typical of Spain (what we’ve seen of it so far) with hills in all directions and everyone’s pretty friendly. It’s the usual mix of nationalities but there seem to be more folk from the UK over wintering now than before Christmas. There are next to no Spanish campers whereas before Christmas there were loads. There’s a few Dutch, some French then the odd Bulgarian or eastern European vans. Mostly English or Scottish though.

The Area – is nice but there is much exploring to be done in the 3 weeks we’re here. We’re struggling to find good walks and I’m struggling to find good rides because of all the private land. A hell of a lot of crops are grown here. So far, I’ve seen acres and acres of lettuce, tomatoes, oranges and I think some lemons. There are polythene tunnels and tents as far as the eye can see in some places with people working the land day and night. There are no hedges like back home so you get a clearer view of what’s being done. There are tractors to do the ploughing and what not, but most of the work is hands on picking and putting down seeds. I saw a bunch of older Spanish ladies pushing massive trolleys into the polythene covered fields having a laugh and a bit of banter. All the polythene tents and tunnels just make me think of E.T and the X-Files. I reckon it’s a big cover up!

As nice as it is to see the land providing for the population, it does get on my tits how much harder it is to explore the area. There are some lovely hills just waiting to be walked and ridden, yet all the surrounding areas are private with gates and signs all over the place. Tracks that look like they’ve been winding around the hills long before these guys added access roads off them, are gated and signs put up all over the shop. It also means that when you do eventually find an open route up the hill, there are no footpaths or trails to follow as no one walks up there and there’s no livestock wandering about. After a long climb on the bike a few days ago, looking forward to reaping the rewards of my work on some lovely downhill single-track or footpaths, I was greeted at the top by the road just ending at a house. I ended up dropping into a dried-up riverbed and following that down the valley but it was pretty rough going. I managed to find a good trail book for hiking and biking on the coast and in the local hills so I’ve got some adventures lined up. Can’t wait! Didn’t go out on the bike today and the days don’t feel complete without an adventure at least every other day which is good. It means I’m craving time outdoors which is the first time I’ve properly had that feeling since living in Wales!

Our first trip into town didn’t give a great impression. Lots of graffiti and a shitty beach that doesn’t allow dogs. On our second trip in we got further into the centre and it actually became quite nice. There’s a communal park thing in the middle of town surrounded by coffee shops and places to get food. It felt very Spanish and social with folk of all ages sat blethering, the women in their typical feisty fashion! The gals here take no shit, that is for sure! Erin keeps seeing lads trying to cut in line at Lidl only to get a bollocking from some Spanish bird and getting sent to the back!

The winds picked up over the last few days. We’re quite exposed here and it’s coming through at 15mph most the time with gusts over 20mph. A Spanish lady in L’Estartit warned us that the wind gets up after Christmas here and she wasn’t wrong. The temperature’s been pretty stable at between 15-19 degrees, but that drops down this week for a few days and we’ve even got 2 days of showers forecast. Shocker!!!

What else! Just reading through the post and it’s all a bit boring! Be nice to see some more likes and comments if you have anything to ask about what’s going on. Not getting so much feedback (apart from Mum – thanks Mum!!) so it’s starting to feel like no one’s reading anymore!

Anyway, sorry for the big gap since the last one! Will check back in after a few of my upcoming rides and after a few trips up some hills with the dogs!

I’ve also started using my Instagram account @luke_on_2wheels to post loads of pics of the trip, so it’s worth a look if have an account.

Here’s some pics for those that don’t use Instagram.

Some from the last site: -

Benidorm from the hills

Puig Campana hiding in the clouds

Nice little shack! Location Location Location!

Gotta stay hydrated!

Some beautiful single track that I spend my rides hunting for. And it’s dusty instead of muddy!

Erin chilling on the awning mat as we aren’t using the awning at the moment.

The new site just outside Aguilas: -

Morning coffee on the mat.

Lots of work!

Lots of lettuce!

Lots of oranges

Out riding.

TTFN!!!

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desunk · 8 years ago

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05/01/2017 - Ola from La Vila Joiosa - Alicante!

Happy New Year folks! 2017 is upon is and I've not noticed any celebs die so far which means we're off to a flyer.

We really are off to a flyer actually and I'm having a really great couple of days. We moved to this campsite just outside Benidorm in a village called La Vile Joiosa on the 2nd as kind of a pit-stop before the south coast and I really like it here. Not Benidorm itself particularly but the surrounding area and weather! The site itself is very "efficient" in that it's all very clean and tidy, access in and out is great, the pitches are all very symmetrical and square and there's a big reception and restaurant. Not very picturesque or wild but it has a very nice panoramic view of the mountains to the north and serves as a great base camp to explore them. We've not set up the awning this time as we've decided to use the week to get a good tan on. It's nice not to have that job to do on arrival and before leaving and a windbreak gives us plenty of privacy.

During the drive down we got our first proper wobble on while towing the van. I was doing about 55mph overtaking a lorry when a car shot past going at least 95-100mph. The combination of the suction between us and the lorry (where their wide slip stream envelopes us during the overtakes) and the sudden rush of air from the car zooming past started the wobble and boy did it take a while to settle. As we were heading downhill I just eased off the accelerator to maintain our speed and see what it did, ready to hit the accelerator if it got any worse. It just seemed to last for ages not getting any better or worse before it finally settled. The stabiliser did its bit and stopped any lateral movement at the top of the van taking it of vertical (a proper wobble) and the movement was side to side at the bottom like the van was trying to turn. Wouldn't say a close one but certainly close enough that I'll ease off the overtaking, especially when it's gert big lorries!

In the last few days since getting here we've pretty much just sunbathed, walked the dogs or I've been out on the bike. Yesterday's adventure took me north on a trail around the hills and a lake with a dam crossing thrown in. In the 19 miles covered and 1600 feet of accent I took in some lovely scenery and loved every minute. I did however soon realised the route would be much more fun ridden in reverse. I did most of the 1600 feet of climbing on techy single-track or gravel roads and all the descending on tarmac! I like off road climbing but given the choice of one or the other I ascend on the road and descend on the dirt so tomorrow I'll do the same route backwards! I also bumped into a couple of Spanish chaps out on their motorbikes. A modern BMW Scrambler style thing and a nice Harley. I stopped and chatted while taking photos of the bikes. It was great to meet some bikers but it gave me a real pang for a motorbike. I do miss the motorbike.

Here’s some pics of my last ride in Les Cases on the 31st December when I lost and found (the next day) my spares bottle with £100 of stuff in and the ride above from yesterday: -

Les Cases 29th December

First ride La Vila Joiosa

For most of the ride I could see the mountain "Puig Campana" which I was fixated on during the drive in and constantly stare up at from the campsite. I got to see it from the west this time but it's most spectacular view is from the south. Worth reading the Wikipedia listing about it as it kind of has 3 peaks, two of which are separated by this notch. There are legends about how it got their and one is that the chunk was cut out and knocked into the sea during a sword fight! Some bleddy sword and some bleddy boy to knock that out!!! I'd love to walk up it but at 4613 feet it's a pretty serious day and I'd want to take a proper day sack with a bivi bag in case I couldn't get back down before nightfall. Plus you'd want to climb it with someone and I don't think Erin's keen on going up, plus we couldn't drag the dogs up there. I'll just have to settle for staring longingly up at it and remind myself how much of a bastard it'd be to get up (but worth it!). I took it for granted climbing with Dad when I was a kid and now as an adult I'd love his skills to come guide me safely to the top!

Some photo’s of Puig Campana

Being in between Benidorm and Alicante we're obviously pretty spoilt in terms of what's on offer locally. We had a KFC on the first night, our first takeaway in a month or so, and yesterday we headed out for a lounger and some other bits. The shopping centre / mall type thing was still very much in Christmas mode which was weird! Lights and decorations everywhere and Christmas music blaring out of the speakers. I quite enjoyed having a look about though. I think if I lived in America I'd be like a teenage girl always heading to the mall for shopping and food! Anyway, by the time we'd been into Benidorm for the lounger, Erin had been for a look in the shopping centre and booked herself in for a hair cut, I'd been in the shopping centre for a look and Erin had done the Lidl shop, over 3 hours had passed! By this time it was dark and I was flagging having not eaten enough after my ride, so grumpy Luke came out to play closely followed by grumpy hungry Erin. Big day yesterday and a good sleep was had by all. Today it was sunbathing most the day then a walk with dogs after the worst of the heat had gone. We need to get our tan on as we’re still pretty white!

I’ve just asked Erin if we’ve got any funny stories as I couldn’t think of any which is strange. She’s reminded me of loads, most of which involve me being too deep in “travelling mode” leading onto me doing stupid things.

1st is the Cockerel here. He’s fucking mental. I reckon he’s in his twilight years and snoozes on his rocking chair too much, losing track of time. Sometimes he does a “cockadoodledooooooo” in the morning when he’s supposed to, but never at the same time. He’ll have a go in the afternoon most days when he loses track of time and thinks it’s morning. Middle of the night is a popular time when he obviously just jumps the gun a bit. He also changes pitch mid performance, almost like a key change but less controlled or deliberate. When he goes off in the day its like he hasn’t cleared his throat. He just wakes suddenly, thinks “fuck I’m late”, and tries to belt one out instantly. Then every now and then he just goes mental and doesn’t stop for half an hour or more. He’s a character, that is for sure, and I’d love to go over and meet him! He’s a bit of a legend in fact.

The other one was my trip to the campsite shop here. Wondered in, asked for a baguette, bottle of water and bottle of milk. He presented me with a 12 inch baguette, a litre of milk and 1.5 litres of water then asked for 8 quid! As you do in these situations I asked “HOW MUCH”, to which he confirmed the same price which was shortly followed by me giving him the fucking money! I always do that. I just go all dazed and instead of saying “That’s too much, I won’t bother”, I just pay, and wander home in a daze. Then I tell Erin and get a swift bollocking! Would’ve cost about 3 quid in Lidl! Then I get mad and don’t want to talk about it.

Then there’s my new tactic for scaring off potential neighbours. The pitch next to us is empty and it’s busy here with lots of people walking around with the site map checking out the pitches. If anything big parks next to us they’ll block the 10:30 to 12:00 sun and we’ll have to wait till the afternoon to commence sunbathing. To combat this, I’ve started sunbathing in my pants. I’ll pop up from behind our wind break if I hear folk browsing the pitch next door and have a quick sweep around our flooring thing from the awning. I even went for the classic “man thong” today and tucked as much of my boxers up my arse as I could just to be sure. There’s no real divide between pitches so this tactic works well as I’ll be their view for the duration of the stay. Erin thinks it’s funny but it seems like perfectly reasonable behaviour to me which I think is a bad sign.

An obligatory pic of Bear. Erin and Charlie have been camera shy this week. I’m the only one taking pics as usual!!!

That’s all for now. Moving on down to the south coast on Tuesday so will post from there.

TTFN!!!!

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