Tassie's Travels ... our trips in the Camper

Tassie the camper van is off on her first big trip.

As you may know if reading previous blog entries, Jo and I went to New Zealand and Australia at the start of 2024, and visited our favourite place - Tasmania... pronounced locally as Tazzie, but spelt Tassie.... yep - that's the Aussies / Auzzies for you!!??

After each visit to Tassie, we have vowed to return back to the magical island again... so until then... Tassie comes with us on our travels....

We have had a few smaller trips since picking Tassie up at the end of March 2024 from Vantage in Leeds.

Our first trip was homeward bound via the Peak District, staying at Chatsworth CAMC site for 2 nights, trying to work out all the bells and whistles and resulting in setting the alarm off at 23.00 as we tried to lock the doors from the inside!!

Then onto the Cotswolds near Chipping Norton for one night, curiously despite paying a decent amount for the pitch with electric hook up (EHU) they charged 20p for a shower! ... resulting in a"change purse" being added to the van's expanding kit list.

Our next trip out was for 3 nights in Norfolk at Deers Glade, just north of Norwich, the weather being inclement for most of our time there, however the site was great, 5 resident goats, ducks, a fish pond, and roaming deer in the nearby forest all added to the country feel of the site. The lack of sunshine was not an issue as we had a lovely time visiting Cromer, Sherringham, Blakeney and of course a bag of chips on the quayside at Wells-Next-the Sea.

More recently, our latest trip out was a last minute overnighter to Battle (Kent), the site was lovely, very spacious within a wooded parkland, giving a sense of seclusion, the only chatter coming from the multitude of birdsong from the early winged risers. Battle itself was a busy wee place, a lovely abbey and a sign indicating a historic battlefield was nearby. All was peaceful though as we took a walk along the "1066" trail, resulting in a 4k round trip to the local village pub!

Tomorrow we are off on a tour of the west and north of Scotland, our first a stopover in Kendal (Lake District).

The journey leg is scheduled as 308 miles, taking 5 hr 47mins (according to Google Maps).

As we go along our route, I hope to update the Google Maps detail against our actual miles and time taken, mainly to see how much tourist detouring we encounter at a more leisurely pace.

Our 2 week trip will be 90% staying on sites, the remainder off grid and staying with friends,  along the way, there will be Cal Mac ferries, a Highland Games, a lot of hills and lochs, coffee stops, pub visits, bike trips, a bit of canoeing, a trip to Fingals Cave, a horse event at Peebles "Beltane" and a lovely catchup with family and friends.... oh and hopefully a birthday cake and some bubbles as it's my birthday during our trip!!

Overall the basic round return route is a minimum of 1,200 miles, excluding detours and pottering about.

So, getting the van prepped, and what to take... just a couple of the questions pondered....

• What's the weather going to be like - shall we pack for 3 seasons in one day?

• Will we take a week or so worth of clothes and find a laundry?

• Will we take some pre-made meals from the freezer?

• Portable BBQ?

• What spares and supplies should we carry, tool kit, chocks, Add blue for the diesel?

• Woolly hat - yes or not?

• Wetsuit - a bit of sea swimming?

Organising a Scotland trip, the changeable weather ranks high on the agenda of what to take, (despite it being June) so it's lots of layers, waterproofs and some walking footwear.. sorted!

The next hurdle was to get two folding bikes, light enough to go on the rear bike carrier (max load 35kg), or could be stored (folded) in the van's boot for security. The other thought was to have a detachable electric option (the knees on the steeper hills have been crying out for a little support lately). This would give us a bike with both electric and non electric options, a great help based on the terrain, distance and fatigue levels we may encounter, as we would be leaving the van at the camp sites to explore the local areas, thus avoiding the need to find suitable van parking in the smaller towns and villages along the way.

Unexpectedly, we encountered a small challenge, the reputable bike shop where the cycles were bought from, were asked to put on rear pannier trays, suffice to say that not all staff in bike shops know what they are doing- resulting in my bike being replaced with a new one (and new colour) due to "engineeer challenges" Jo's bike had a replacement rack fitted.

Eventually sorted this evening, we are just about ready for the off.... first thing tomorrow we will pick up Tassie from her storage yard, fill up with fuel and a stop at the local shop for the vital basics .. the travel snacks!

We hope you'll enjoy the journey of Tassie's first big trip .. please feel free to comment, suggest places of interest to visit / see.. and thank you for reading 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Hazel & Jo

Alternatively you can also follow the travels on FindPenguins: https://findpenguins.com/6clskfl5et81c/footprint/665f81f9aed3e4-14854976?s=48c2f67778560660cc5b858a939a042378b5fdd8