Cal

He topped it off with some green by rolling around on the freshly cut lawn at home when we got back We only had him at the groomers on Saturday

Ebay. You can have whatever you want sewn into them.

He is getting ready for some new patches now. Getting the same though 🤣🤣🤣

Note to self. Don't let a majority white dog run around in a field full of dandelion again 🤣🤣🤣

We have run out of places to leave Syd on the odd occasion we have to. He had played up for so many people. He hates it if he isn't with one of us. He is also a rescue who had been abandoned and left previously. I don't think he will ever forget that. He always thinks we will do the same even though we obviously haven't and never will. He was 18 months old when we got him. He's 6.5 now. Still no better with the anxiety.

If Syd had hated the boat we would have gotten rid of the boat. Same with the van. Fortunately for us he has a massive sense of adventure and loves travelling. Much the same as us. He has some miles under his belt now. Good job he isn't travel sick 😕

Sydney loved his boat. He loves his van instead now. He's happy wherever we go. He loves an adventure. Tiring work though. 🤣🤣🤣

Just ring them and ask.

We are finding it a great way to get around. We are certainly seeing a lot of new places. It isn't for everyone. Some people really don't take too it. I guess we are lucky that we are both enjoying it and the dog loves it. We still find ourselves attracted to water. But being next too it rather than on it is fine by us right now. Looking forward to our trip to Norfolk and Suffolk in July. It will be our first visit to the Broads by van so we will see how different it feels then I guess. Later in the year we are heading across to France, which if we enjoy it, which I have no doubt we will, opens up whole new adventures outside of the UK and across Europe. Although we still have plenty to be going at in the UK as well. We are aiming to get to the Outer Hebrides next summer.

Day Three A much quieter day today. We did some walking, cooked breakfast on the Cadac outside for the first time this year, visited the dog friendly chocolate cafe which is a must visit if in the area and then settled back in the van for a roast lamb Sunday dinner and a few beers. Day Four. Time to head home and the weather completely changed for the run home. It was horrendous rain for much of the way back. We made good time though and stopped off for a coffee along the way. We did absolutely nothing when we got back. We chilled out and chatted the afternoon away. The van is in for it's MOT, full service and Cam belt change today. So an expensive day for it. But we can forgive it that for the new places we are exploring with it and the journeys it is taking us on. And it will still be a lot cheaper than the annual bill we got with the boat

Day Two A lot more exploring and walking today. The dog was shattered by the end of the day Tewksbury is so dog friendly. Even the abbey is dog friendly here. There are so many old buildings in the town it was easy to get carried away with the photos. Very reminiscent of York in parts. We chose to eat out and ordered an indian takeaway which was the best we have had in a long time and probably the cheapest!

After a few days of nervously watching river levels we did finally set out on our Easter break to Tewksbury and what a cracking few days it turned out to be. Day 1 We set off relatively early to miss the bank holiday traffic. We needn't have worried, there was hardly any. So we had a very steady run down and found somewhere to park for a couple of hours until we could get on site. Eventually settled on our pitch we didn't do too much in the way of exploring. We found a good pub for a few beers and then too the dog to stretch his legs in the local park before settling back into the van for a homemade steak and ale pie dinner and a few more beers.

I did it when we had our own boat

I can see why they are toning down some of their colour schemes. Some of their boats livery was very much "of its era" which just isn't the modern taste. We will look out for them with interest when we visit soon.

Just to follow on the flooding theme for this year we are now desperately watching water levels on the Avon and Severn instead. We are supposed to be in Tewksbury for a few days with the van from Friday and they suffered flooding there over the weekend Watch out Norfolk and Suffolk it is your turn in July

Ours never went to sleep!

I can have a guess where you will be going 🤣🤣🤣 Serious question. Do you never get fed up of going to the same place time and time again? Ranworth is lovely granted. But so are a lot of other places in that vicinity.

Our boat had the tiny and stupidly expensive Camping Gaz 907 bottles. We would use 2-3 of them a year so it wouldn't have taken us that long to recoup the costs of the smaller cylinders. We are getting a direct fill 11kg Gaslow bottle for the BBQ this year once the current Calor gas bottle has run out. Will take longer to pay for itself as we only use a 13kg bottle of gas a year with the BBQ. But it will still work out cheaper in the long run.

It depends how much gas you use I suppose as to how long the bottles would take to pay back. We won't be long before ours have paid for themselves now. I should think in another year ours will have more than paid for themselves. They were cheaper when we bought them and we use a lot of gas in the winter in the van. The heating, hot water, fridge and cooking all run on gas when we are off grid which is probably 90% of the time. On our Christmas/New Years break we used a full 11kg cylinder in 5 nights with the heating on 24/7 which cost £18 to refill. The equivalent Calor is a 13kg Propane (which wouldn't fit in the gas locker) which is about £45 for an exchange!

Another alternative is refillable bottles such as Gaslow. They do a 2.7kg size which is the equivalent of the Camping Gaz 907 bottles. Not cheap to make the initial purchase but very cheap to refill. We use 2x11kg Galsow bottles on the van. Refilled at the weekend at less than £1 a litre and that isn't the cheapest place. A full bottle (22 litres) was under £20. Wish we had known about the little bottles when we had the boat!

Not just in Norfolk. We have noticed here in the Midlands as well. We have both had a nasty flu type bug in the run up to Christmas which wiped us both out. It is still lingering on now. We both thought it was Covid having had that once before last January, but we were both testing negative.

Thanks. Think plan B is going to be a trip to the coast if we can't get in at Rowntree Park. Maybe Scarborough or Staithes.

That was some trip. We did make it to Ripon with Naughty-Cal. But we smashed a second set of props in that week in the process First set we're smashed in on the tidal Ouse when we picked up a tree which sheared 4 of the 7 blades off! Phil at Linton Lock Marina saved the day and found and fitted us a set of props for dirt cheap. Must go there with the van when we get a chance and say hi.

Yes have seen them before. Sadly Sam Smiths pubs are no longer dog friendly so we won't be going in this time!

We are desperately watching river levels on the Ouse at York and hoping for dryer weather for the rest of this month. We have a long weekend booked for my birthday at the Rowntree Park campsite right in the city centre but if river levels don't drop the site will be closed. Current river level: Didn't expect to be watching river levels with the motorhome. Had enough of that with the boat!